Ten

A woman, a man and a dog stood by the Leaky Cauldron early on a Thursday morning. Those who saw them would find nothing shocking about them, but Erin felt nervous, expecting to be recognised at any moment. Remus had assured her again and again that no one knew that Sirius was an animagus, and it did not seem odd to see them both at Diagon Alley. At first the plan had been different; Erin was going to show up with Sirius only. Then, Remus offered to accompany her in case something happened so that Sirius would not be forced to reveal himself. The truth was Erin felt safer with Remus there as well. She looked down for a moment, observing Sirius in his animagus form.

"It still seems very strange to me." She commented out loud. "Is he comfortable like that?"

Remus shrugged.

"He always says that the only thing that bothers him about being a dog is fleas."

Erin grimaced, she never wanted to know how it felt like to have them. Remus spoke again.

"Shall we start?"

"Sure."

Erin took out her wand and used the sleeves of the jacket she was wearing to cover her hands, so people would not realise she was using it. It was not cold, but she had to hide it somehow. They both began to walk muttering the spells to avoid being heard although there was almost no one in the street at that time. The sun was already starting to rise so they had to hurry up. Sirius was ahead of them, but not too far from their sight.

They had agreed Erin would take care of the spell that allowed to track and locate the people who passed through the street. Remus had already traced the base of the drawing in order to adhere the power of the spells to the paper, and Sirius would cover all the possible corners he could get into.

Until halfway down the alley, everything went smoothly but when they reached the crossroads between Gringotts, which was on the right, and Knockout, the street next to the Alley, Sirius took a turn and Erin stopped dead. She had a horrible memory from a day she escaped from his parents' store because she was bored and ended up going down that street without realising it. It had been traumatizing for a ten-year-old girl to see a shop window full of small heads piercing her eyes.

"Erin?" She heard Remus calling her.

"I'm coming." She replied and squeezed her wand harder.

They had to include that street on the map whether they liked it or not because Death Eaters usually arrives at the Diagon Alley entering from there. Besides, it was childish to fear something like that at her age. Wasn't she an Auror? Erin walked again more quickly to reach Sirius and Remus while looking sideways at both sides of the street, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did in the end, nor was there any reduced head that made her get goose bumps. She just kept walking, though closer to Remus than she had been before. If he noticed she was afraid he did not say a word and Erin doubted very much that Sirius would have noticed. Even as a dog he still had the same bearing as in person, he moved with elegance and his black hair shone. The journey through Knockout barely lasted a few minutes and they were once again back in Diagon Alley. They passed in front of all the closed stores without a soul crossing with them, without anyone noticing what they were doing.

Erin was relieved because if it really worked, they were going to have a huge advantage, and what was more important: they could save a lot of people in the event of an attack. The days she had spent feeling useless had been worth it only for that moment.

Once they had almost finished walking the entire street, Sirius stopped in the middle of another intersection and Erin stood just as she had done before but this time it was not because of fear. She knew that street by heart, she could almost see the green door of her parents' shop from where she was and pictured her mother humming to herself while pacing around the shop.

"Are we done?" Remus asked.

They had reviewed the routes and streets they were going to follow before leaving the house and they all believed they had to stick the plan as much as possible.

"Yes." She replied.

"Let's go, then."

It would have been very easy to follow just a couple more streets and get where she wanted to be. However, Erin did not wish to have any special treatment. They could not add all the places the members of the Order frequented because that would be impossible. She herself would have to make sure her parents were safe if something happened there, that was all she could do.

The three of them returned to Grimmauld Place and Erin did not mention her thoughts. They went straight to the library, aiming to finish what they had started. Erin was still half asleep after having woken up so early and thought that nothing was going to make her concentrate more than a coffee. She was completely wrong. As soon as Remus placed the map on the table and Sirius laid his wand on it, Erin could no longer look away. She understood perfectly what Remus had referred to by fixing the spells on the paper. Rays of light spread over the parchment and new lines which followed the drawing Remus had made suddenly appeared. She had been surrounded by magic all her life, but she was still surprised by the most remarkable things. When it was her turn Erin couldn't believe she had taken part in it.

"I never imagined I would do this again." Remus said as he revised the map.

"This is crazy." Erin added. "Are you sure you were only fifteen when you made the map?"

Remus did not stop working while answering Erin, but a laugh escaped from his lips.

"Don't flatter us too much, it could go to Sirius' head."

Erin laughed too when he heard Sirius protest. They had been great wizards since a young age and that was one more evidence.

"To be honest, I don't know anyone else who has escaped from Azkaban." Erin pointed out. "And you, Remus, were by far our best Professor of Defence against the Dark Arts."

He pushed his wand away and smiled at Erin, who was sitting next to him.

"Well, thank you very much. You were already a great student then, Erin, and look at you now."

The truth was that she could feel proud of herself; Hufflepuffs had always been underestimated.

"You should think of a nickname." Sirius said. "To sign on the map, unless you want to use your name."

"Yes, I should." Erin admitted.

They were Padfoot and Moony for obvious reasons and even if she didn't find anything special to distinguish herself with, using her real name next to their nicknames would have stand out.

"You have a couple of days to decide. I think I should revise it properly before Harry's birthday, but we can't delay it more than that." Remus spoke.

Erin nodded. The time to take Harry to the burrow was approaching and so was Bill's wedding. There were barely three days left for the weekend.

"I'll think of something." She assured them.

After that Remus announced he would take the scroll to finish it and left the house, so Erin and Sirius were left alone again.

"I'm going to have a bath." He said. "I don't feel fully awake."

Erin understood it well and left the room to go the kitchen. She made coffee and then picked up a couple of biscuit to eat while reading something. She wanted to return to the library and wait for inspiration to come for her nickname. However, when she was about to turn in the hall, while taking a bite of a biscuit, she noticed a door partly open to the left. She had never seen it like that before and did not know what was inside. Erin did not consider herself a nosy person but at that moment, curiosity overcame the rational voice that told her it was none of her business. Hadn't Sirius told her to feel at home?