A New Friend or Foe

Chapter Thirteen

It had been a week since Erica had told Harry she couldn't be his friend anymore, and already, life at Hogwarts began to slide dramatically downhill—not just for Harry, but for Erica as well. It didn't help matters, Erica reasoned, that they days had grown almost unbearably cold and dreary, and that the sky was a constant, repulsive shade of gray. Perhaps it was the foul weather that was making everything seem so bad. But she knew it wasn't.

She knew it was the guilt gnawing at her heart, and the pain of having let Harry go. But she hadn't. Not really. She still cared for him, but she couldn't see how he could even stand to look at her after what she'd done to him. He had been unusually quiet and cranky since that unfortunate night, and although he didn't act angry with her, he didn't acknowledge her existence either.

She wished they could be together, with all of her heart. Maybe, someday, she would find a way out of this. Possibly, they could still be friends again. The only problem was, would he be able to find it in his heart to forgive her?

Harry didn't understand, even after a week of trying to figure out what possible motive Erica would have for deserting him. His desperate mind had come up with some quite crazy ideas: she had found out about his previous crush on Cho, and had gotten angry with him, but this was rather preposterous—they were only friends, and Erica didn't seem the jealous type. Also, there was his rash assumption that Malfoy had seen how much they liked each other, and had put some sort of curse on Erica to make her turn against Harry, but this too seemed like a very unlikely explanation.

Finally, he just had to admit to himself that he had no idea what had caused Erica to behave like this. He hadn't talked to her about it; he had decided that it was best to let her cool off some before approaching her about it.

Erica stood nervously outside of Professor Twitty-Twitch's office, trying to forget about the anger in his voice when he had met her in the hallway and demanded that she meet him in his office as soon as possible. Her stomach was churning unpleasantly, and she knew what this must be about: her ignorance of Harry.

"Come in."

Erica took a step forward, hesitated, then pushed the door open. "Hello, Professor."

"Erica." Twitty-Twitch's face was pinched with controlled anger, and his hands, although twitching in a most undignified manner, were folded tightly and pressed against his desk. "Sit."

"Of course, Professor."

"It has come to my attention that you have not been doing the duty your father has asked of you."

"Professor, I have!"

Twitty-Twitch raised an unconvinced eyebrow. "You have, have you? Tell me, Erica. What exactly did your father request that you do?"

Erica felt tears prick the corner of her eyes, and she struggled to keep her voice steady. "He wanted me to be-befriend Harry Potter. T-to lure him into a false sense of security. And lead Harry to him so Father can get his—his revenge."

"Too true. At first, I was very impressed. I was able to send positive reports to your father. But now…Erica, it seems that you are not speaking to Harry anymore. I mentioned this to your father last night in the Forbidden Forest, and he was very displeased."

A deep fear rooted its way into Erica's heart. "What did he say?" she all but whispered.

"He told me to relay to you this message: 'You are to bring Harry into the Forbidden Forest tonight, or your life will be forfeit.'"

~Emachinescat ^..^