"You did WHAT?" Erin yelled at Harry when she came to visit him and Ron in the hospital wing the next morning before classes.
"Will you keep your voice down?" He asked. "I have to know what Malfoy is up to. I just know he's doing all these things—"
"Harry," she said softly and Harry's mouth immediately closed. He knew that tone. "Draco is not doing all these things. Why can't you just believe me? He's under so much stress right now and you're just making it worse. How can you honestly put Kreecher and Dobby on this? I've told you, Dad has told you, Dumbledore has told you! Why are you still doing this?"
"Because I know he's just pulling the wool over all your eyes. This is Malfoy we're talking about."
"Harry, Draco is under so much pressure between Voldemort and everything else in his life. Haven't you noticed? He hasn't been eating, he's barely sleeping, and even his and Kaeli's relationship is strained because of it. Leave him alone! Please, Harry, just leave him alone."
It was a few days later after Harry and Ron had gotten out of the hospital wing. They were all in the Gryffindor Common Room working on their loads of work. Erin had her work in three piles, to be done, started but not finished, and done. She had to take time out to look over Harry's and Ron's work for them. Usually she had to look it over two or three times, but at least they were getting it done. Hermione and Ron were still a little bit on the outs since Ron had broken it off with Lavender and Hermione was still seeing Viktor, but at least they were talking again, which was nice in itself. Seamus came in. "Hey, Harry, I'm supposed to give this to you."
"Thanks," Harry said taken the piece of parchment. "Oh, and I heard you were really good in the Quidditch game against Hufflepuff."
"Well, I tried," he said shrugging.
"I really appreciate you and Dean doing your part to help out the team. Being an alternate is just as important as the other positions." He said seriously. "Any way, thank you."
"I really enjoyed it," Seamus said smiling before he went off to find Dean.
Harry unrolled the parchment and read it silently to himself. "I have another meeting with Dumbledore tonight." He told the others.
In an empty classroom the spells were flying, Louisa, Dean and Kaeli Monson, and Mira where practicing dueling. Draco had been busy so they invited Mira instead and she had accepted eagerly. She would have loved to have been a part of the DA last year, but she didn't talk much and people thought she was like most of the other Slytherins, stuck up and having a superiority complex. This year she had more friends than she really knew what to do with. She was spending time with Ginny and Luna and with Erin of course. She was getting to know Kaeli and Dean better and Louisa was really nice as well. They practiced until there was a knock on the door, someone looking for Louisa. She excused herself and Kaeli and Mira joined up to see if Dean could handle both of them.
Erin was asleep when Harry returned from his meeting with Dumbledore. She was curled up in one corner of the couch in front of the fire with an old tome open in her lap. Harry picked up the book curious to see what she had been reading about and was surprised to see it was the prophecies of Rowena Ravenclaw. It was open to somewhere in the middle talking about a wolf and the moon fairies. Harry had never heard of moon fairies…they weren't in Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. Erin stirred. "Oh, hey, how did your meeting go?" She asked sitting up and stretching.
"Not too bad. He showed me about Tom Riddle working for an older woman, it turned out she bought this locket with an 'S' on it for Slytherin and a cup belonging to Hufflepuff. She was killed two days later by Voldemort, of course, but the Ministry convicted the poor woman's old house elf for it."
"That's terrible."
"So many people wrongly accused or dead because of him." Harry shook his head. "It isn't right."
"I won't pretend that everyone was innocent," Erin said. "Goodness knows Morfin certainly wasn't, but I hate to see people sent to prison for things they didn't do."
He totally agreed on that one. Sirius spent 12 years in Azkaban for a crime he didn't commit while the real traitor spent 12 years as a rat being pampered by the Weasley family. It certainly wasn't fair. "He showed me another memory as well. His own. Voldemort sought a position here before his transformation."
"To teach?" Erin asked. "Seriously?"
"Yes, he applied for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position."
"That is laughable," Even though Erin wasn't laughing.
"Very," Harry agreed. "And ever since then they can't keep anyone for more than a year. But this wasn't the first time he asked for the position. He asked Professor Dippet, the Headmaster before Dumbledore for the position as well when he was leaving school. He was denied then too because he was too young."
"Why did he want the teaching job?"
"Dumbledore said it was because he wanted to be at Hogwarts, not to teach anyone."
"And why—"
"He has ideas, but nothing more than that. He won't tell me until I get that memory from Slughorn."
"Then you have to get it."
He nodded. "I really do. This puzzle can't be solved without it. It's the key to everything, I know it."
Erin had just gotten back from Care of Magical Creatures class. Most of it was spent with the centaurs. Some of them had come out of the forest for Louisa to examine them. They knew she was studying to be a healer and Hagrid had gone and asked them as a favor to him because she really wanted to know how to treat other creatures as well as wizards and witches. Magorian had been very resistant to let his herd go and see her, but he paused when he heard she was a McCormack and lived in Portree. Hagrid wasn't sure why that made a difference, but Magorian gave leave to those in the herd that wanted to go and see her. He wouldn't stop them. They spent all of class time asking questions, drawing the different centaurs who came, and Louisa was examining them, with their permission.
Anyway, Erin had just gotten back to the Gryffindor Common Room and was greeted by a strangled yell. "Ronald Weasley! That was right in my ear!" She said rubbing her ear with her palm. "What's wrong?"
"They've announced the Apparition Test. I haven't been able to do it yet."
"That is no reason to shout in someone's ear."
"Easy for you to say, you're so good you have private lessons."
"Oh, please. I only know because I could do it in the future and so I know how in the past."
"How does that even make sense?"
"I've given up trying to make sense anything in my life." Erin told him. "I just do it. Now I'm going to sleep for a while. I'll probably be a year older that I am by the end of this school year."
"If not more."