Draco woke up Tuesday morning, with a feeling of happiness. It was odd. Then he realized why he was happy and came to his senses. He had just woken up from his favorite dream with the mystery girl, who looked surprisingly like Erin. Draco had been having this dream every night since Erin�s arrival.
Draco sat up and let the warm morning sunlight reach across his face. He got up to get dressed.
"She is beautiful," Draco thought to himself, "And we are good friends." But she was a girl� or a woman and the kind that took complete power over a man, using their heavenly beauty to take advantage of their prey. Draco knew many of these females. Erin was just like all the other daughters of his father�s friends, and all of them, choosing Draco as their next victim. Draco saw through all of them, though, all of them� except Erin. Erin was different.
Those other girls didn�t affect him the way Erin did. Draco�s mouth didn�t go dry, he didn�t become tongued-tied, and he was able to think clearly around those girls. These things only happened whenever Erin smiled, or whenever the sun shined on her face so that her hair shone and eyes glittered angelically.
"What am I doing?" Draco thought aloud. He couldn�t believe what he was thinking about.
"Even if I did like her, father said, �She�d be my downfall.� Whatever the hell that means," but Draco knew, no matter how much he detested his father, he had to trust him. Lucius knew things Draco didn�t.
Draco walked down to the dining room. There was his mother and father; Erin was still sleeping. He sat down at a seat to eat, not making eye contact with his tablemates.
Erin joined them a short while later, beaming with happiness even more than usual.
"Good morning, all," she said brightly. Lucius must have just remembered something because he summoned Draco into the next room. Draco followed reluctantly, knowing what was most likely going to happen.
"What have you been doing this past week?" Lucius stipulated. Draco said nothing; he didn�t know what his father was getting at.
"Getting to know Erin?" he said in a sarcastically sweet voice. Down came his staff upon Draco�s side and again on the other. Draco kneeled on the ground, trying to nurse both sides at once. He got up and walked back into the dining room.
"Lucius, was that really necessary?" Draco�s mother asked sympathetically.
"Of course it was!" Draco�s father answered with a swing to her back. Erin let out a mortified, surprised scream. That was a mistake.
"Trouble you my dear; this hitting and all," Mr. Malfoy asked maliciously. Erin was silent and just glared at him. He grinned maliciously to match his voice. There was the last beating to finish off Lucius� morning. He had hit Erin square across the face with his staff.
"Shall we go?" He asked his grin wearing away.
Draco and Erin followed him as they made their way to Hogwarts.
They got to the castle and Erin just stood there in awe.
"This is great!" she muttered under her breath. Draco and Mr. Malfoy led her through the great oak front doors. There, a woman, who Erin did not know, was standing, waiting for them.
"Good morning Mr. Malfoy and Draco," she greeted them. She gave Erin the impression of one of her old teachers: very old, and very strict.
Draco nodded to her as if to say, "Same to you," without speaking.
"Good morning to you as well," Mr. Malfoy answered, "This is Erin Quinn, the student to be enrolled this year."
"Good morning, I am Professor McGonagall," she said politely.
"Good morning Professor," Erin replied.
"Very well. If you will all follow, we�ll go meet Professor Dumbledore, and get you sorted," she said.
They followed her. They walked past the Great Hall, up a couple of staircases, down a couple of corridors, until they reached a large, stone gargoyle.
"Fizzing Whizbees," Professor McGonagall said. The large gargoyle sprang to the side, exposing a set of large marble steps.
They walked up the steps into a big, round office, which was Dumbledore�s. From a door on the other side of the office, an old man appeared, happening to be Professor Dumbledore.
"Hello, Lucius," he said.
"Good morning, Albus," Mr. Malfoy replied.
"Ah, hello Draco, and you must be Erin." he said, "Wonderful to see you again." Erin had no idea what he meant by this, but still answered him politely.
"Good morning, Professor Dumbledore," she said sweetly.
"Yes," he said, "As you have guessed, I am Professor Dumbledore, and you have already Professor McGonagall. So I guess we should just get on with the sorting then," he suggested.
"Alright," Erin said. Professor Dumbledore gave Erin the impression of a young boy trapped in a very, very old man�s body.
Professor McGonagall, who had left the room, now came back in. She was carrying a stool and a patched and frayed old wizard�s hat. She set the stool down on the floor and the hat on top of it.
"Erin come up and sit on the stool while I put the sorting hat on your head," Professor McGonagall commanded.
Erin went up to the stool, and sat down. She put the hat on her head. She stared out the window, feeling slightly embarrassed. Then she heard a small voice inside her head:
"AH," it said, "Yes, I�ve heard all about you. The girl who is coming to Hogwarts at the beginning of what should be her sixth year...
Hmm, now let�s see. This is going to be difficult, very difficult. There�s plenty of courage I see, and a very bright mind, very bright. You are ambitious, very ambitious. You have a thirst to prove yourself, but where to put you?
You would do well in Gryffindor, yes, but that wouldn�t help you achieve your desires�
I think� Better be�
Slytherin!"
"Yes," Erin yelled, jumped up and hugged Draco, who was smiling. Erin looked over at Mr. Malfoy, who was also smiling; smiling a very big, malicious smile. She looked over at Professor Dumbledore, her new headmaster. She thought, for a second, but how could it? She thought he was looking at Mr. Malfoy. The twinkle no longer in his eyes, and wearing a look of great anger and worry, but it disappeared, just as quickly as it had appeared.
"Very well, Erin," he said, with no tone of anger or worry in his voice, "Minerva, would you please go and get Professor Snape?"
"Certainly, Albus," she responded and left the room.
"Professor Snape is the head of the Slytherin house," Professor Dumbledore explained. Erin, of course, already knew this. It had come up many times during her and Draco�s conversations of Hogwarts, but she nodded politely.
Then, the next second, Professor McGonagall returned with another Professor, who must have been Professor Snape.
"Good morning, Professor Snape," Erin said.
"Good morning to you as well, Erin. What a pleasure to have you in Slytherin," he said with a twisted sort of smile on his face. He then greeted the headmaster, Lucius, and Draco.
"Professor Snape," Dumbledore said, "I think it would be a good idea if you and Draco gave Erin a tour of Hogwarts. Show her all the classrooms, the Great Hall and tell her about Hogwarts, too. Talk to her about the House Cup and the Inter-House Quidditch Cup and such."
"Yes, sure," Snape answered. Erin already knew about these things to, but she didn�t dare correct the headmaster. (Erin was a very good suck-up.)
"Ok, I will meet you too at the front doors when you are finished. I need to stay here a have a� uh� little chat with Professor Dumbledore," Mr. Malfoy said.
"Alright," Erin and Draco said at the same time.
"Shall we go?" Snape asked.
"Sure," Erin said as she allowed herself to be shown out of the office.
They walked all around the castle. They looked at classrooms, the many staircases, and The Great Hall. Erin was most excited, though, towards the end of the tour. They were going to the Slytherin common room. The entrance was a bare stretch of stone wall.
"What�s the new password," Snape said to himself, "Oh yeah, �basilisk�" The stone door concealed in the wall opened.
It was a long, underground room. The walls and ceiling were made with rough stones. From the ceiling, hung chained, round, greenish lamps.
There was no fire in the fireplace. The room was quite chilly and dimly lit. Above the fireplace was mantle that was elaborately decorated and carved.
Erin sat down in one of the high backed chairs and said, "This is awesome!"
"I�m glad you like it," Snape said, beating Draco to it.
"Yeah," Draco said, "Same here."
When they finished giving Erin the tour of the common room and her dormitory, Erin and Draco went down to the front doors. Mr. Malfoy was there, waiting for them.
"Was your tour enjoyable, Erin?" he asked as they neared the doors.
"It was brilliant!" she said smiling.
"Very well then," he said softly, "Shall we go?"
Erin and Draco both nodded. They walked out the doors and made their journey back home.
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