Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series, it's plot or characters. I own my plot, my characters and anything else you don't recognize unless otherwise stated.
Have: Thank you for being my first reviewer
Updating/rewriting this (7-10-16) This chapter has been updated.
Remus looked over at Erin and gave her hand a small squeeze as they walked through the Hogwarts Express train looking for an open compartment. Erin chewed on her bottom lip as she looked around.
"We'll be fine." Remus said to her softly. "Let's find a compartment." Erin nodded, her short hair bobbing as she did so. After a few minutes of searching they still couldn't find an empty compartment. Remus sighed and knocked on a random door before opening it. Three boys inside stopped their conversation to turn to the door. "Um, hello. Would you mind if my friend and I sat with you? There are no other empty compartments."
"Sure." A boy with short light brown hair said.
"Thank you." Remus said. The two came in, Remus closing the door behind them.
"My name is James. James Potter." He said with a smile as he stood. "You can sit by me." He said as he moved aside some empty candy containers then gestured to the space beside him.
"Thank you." Remus said again. "I'm Remus Lupin, and this is Erin Norton." Erin gave a small shy wave as she peeked out from behind Remus.
"Sirius Black." The boy with the shaggy brown hair said with a small wave.
"Peter Pettigrew." the last boy said with a small smile. "No need to be scared." He said. "We don't bite." Erin smiled back as the two sat down, Remus next to James who sat across from Sirius and Erin across from Peter. Peter's eyes widened.
"Y-y-your teeth!" He said as he pointed. Erin's eyes widened and she closed her mouth, covering it with her hand before she looked at the other two boys. Their eyes were wide as well. Remus gave Erin's had a squeeze, ready to defend her.
"You're a vampire?" James asked as he stared.
"I thought they were only stories." Sirius said. "Never seen one in real life."
"I thought sunlight burns your kind." James said. Erin flinched slightly and looked down at 'your kind'.
"She's only half-vampire." Remus said. "Sunlight doesn't affect her. It's just uncomfortable for her."
"You're not gunna bite us are you?" James asked her.
"She doesn't bite." Remus said with a frown as he gave the hand he was still holding a comforting squeeze.
"Are you one too?" Sirius asked. Remus shook his head.
"No."
"Oh well that's good." James said. Erin frowned sadly, moving closer to Remus as he started to glare at James. "Uh-! Not that there's anything wrong with being a vampire, or a half vampire. You seem like a cute girl- Ah- I mean nice girl." James 'corrected' as he looked away with a smile. Erin smiled slightly which made James grin at her. Sirius over exaggerated an eye roll as Peter chuckled. Remus shook his head slightly.
"So you two obviously aren't related." Sirius said.
"Erin's my best friend." Remus put an arm around her. "We went to school together."
"Ah muggle school. Sure won't miss that." Peter said with a small laugh.
"What house are you hoping to get into?" James asked.
"Well, hopefully the same." Remus said. "But I think Erin might be a Hufflepuff." He teased. Erin nudged him slightly with a smile.
"Everyone in my family has been in Slytherin. " Sirius said with a frown.
"My parents were in Gryffindor." James said with a proud smile.
"Both of your parents are wizards?" Erin asked.
"Yeah… why are yours not?" he asked as he tilted his head.
"We're half-bloods." Remus said.
"Me too." Peter said with a small smile. "Just my mum is a witch."
"Mine too." Erin said quietly as she returned his smile.
"I'm a pure-blood." Sirius muttered.
"So… that's how you're a vampire and a witch?" James asked. Erin nodded.
"M-My mum's a witch. My father's a vampire." she said quietly.
"Ah." James said. The group was silent for the next few moments. "Uh, the sweets trolley already came round." he said as he gestured to the candy containers. "But it should be a car or two down if you two want anything. We've uh, heh, already eaten a lot of what we got. You're welcome to what we have left, though." He said motioning to the opened boxes and packages between him and Remus.
"Thank you." Remus said. Erin looked over and saw that there weren't any chocolate frogs left.
"I-I'll go get us something, if you'd like." Erin said as she looked at Remus. He gave her a look that asked 'are you sure?'. When she gave him a smile and a small nod he nodded back.
"Alright then. Chocolate-"
"-Frogs, I know." She said as she stood making him smile.
"Hey, if you don't mind would you get us some more Pumpkin Pasties and a few Liquorice wands?" James asked.
"Could you get me a Cauldron Cake as well?" Peter asked. "Please." He added quietly.
"Okay." Erin said.
"Here." James reached into his pocket before holding out a small handful of coins. "I'll pay for ours." He said with a smile. Erin nodded and he poured the coins into her hand.
"A-Anyone want anything else?" she asked, glancing towards Sirius. He shook his head.
"That's it." James said. Erin nodded again and left the compartment.
The sweets trolley had in fact been two cars down. Erin purchased the requested sweets and a few Blood-flavored lollipops for herself. On her way back she looked out the window at the passing scenery and, since she wasn't looking where she was going, accidentally bumped into a black-haired boy. The red-headed girl beside him gasped as the two fell to the floor. "I'm so sorry!" Erin said as she stood, picking up whatever candy she'd dropped before she offered a hand to the boy. He ignored her hand or didn't see it and stood on his own before brushing off his robes. Erin smiled apologetically to the girl with him. The girl gasped as her eyes widened. The boy put himself between the two when he noticed what the girl had seen. The boy glared at Erin who looked like a kicked puppy as she took a step back. Her eyes started to water and she bit her bottom lip. He stopped glaring as he watched her look down. Before she could move past them and run the girl moved past the boy and smiled at Erin.
"I'm Lilly Evans." she said with a polite smile. She nudged the boy with her elbow.
"Severus Snape." He muttered.
"E-E-Erin Norton." she said quietly as she continued to look down at her feet. "I'm sorry for knocking into you." she said as she glanced at Severus quickly before she moved around the two and fled back to Remus and the others. She pretended not to hear the red head call after her.
As she neared the compartment she heard loud laughter coming from it. She peeked inside to see the four boys talking and laughing. Erin suddenly felt a pang in her chest as she took a step back. She didn't want to ruin the moment they were having by interrupting. She turned to walk away and gasped as she almost bumped into Lily. Severus stood behind her, looking out the window.
"I'm sorry." Lily said. "I just wanted to apologize." Erin frowned in confusion as she tilted her head slightly. "When I saw your... your fangs-… I grew up with stories of-"
"It's okay." Erin said quickly as she looked down. "I know the stories. You think I'm a monster; I'm used to it." She said quietly.
"No-! That's not what I'm trying to say." Lily said with wide eyes. "It just startled me. I didn't mean to upset you."
"It's fine..." Erin said.
"Are you sure?" Lily asked. Erin looked at her to see Lily was genuinely concerned about her feelings. She peeked a glance at Severus to find he was looking at her almost suspiciously. Erin looked back at Lily and forced a smile with her mouth closed.
"Yes. Thank you." she said quietly. The door behind her opened and Remus leaned out. He glanced at Severus and Lily before looking at Erin.
"I was just about to come looking for you." He said. "Are you alright?" he looked at Lily and Severus before he stepped out.
"I'm fine." She said with a nod.
"Lily Evans." Lily said with a polite smile. She looked back at Severus and nodded her head towards the other two.
"Severus Snape." He muttered.
"I'm Remus Lupin. Nice to meet you."
"Well, we'd better get back to our compartment." Lily said. "It was nice to meet you two."
"You too." Erin said quietly as Remus put an arm around her before guiding her back into their compartment.
"Nice you've got everything." James said with a grin. Erin put the sweets down beside him before handing Peter his Cauldron Cake.
"Thank you." He said and she smiled at him before sitting down.
"We were beginning to think you got lost." Sirius said before biting into a liquorice wand.
"I-I accidently bumped into two other first years." She said.
"Maybe you need glasses." James suggested.
"Yeah, you could be blind as a bat." Sirius said before the two chuckled.
"Bats aren't really blind." Remus said with a frown.
"We're just teasing." James said with a smile. "We don't mean any harm." He added as he looked at Erin as she opened one of the wrappers of her lollipops.
"Are those blood-flavored?" Sirius asked. Erin's cheeks went pink.
"Must be." James said with a small chuckle. Erin slouched down a bit, as if trying to hide herself, and Sirius nudged her food.
"Just teasing." He reminded her with a slight smile. Erin slowly started to smile back.