Erin Mckinnon loved painting and anything similar to that. She loved painting people she loved or people that were in her dreams. She loved to sit by a nearby lake and just let the brush dance across the canvas.

As much as she loved reading books and poetry and wrote something on her own, she dreamed of becoming a famous painter. She dreamed about her paintings being in famous museums all over the world.

Currently, she was working on a Christmas present for Hermione. She never worked on something this hard and long. She tried for it to be perfect.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," called Erin with a brush in her teeth.

"Honey, dinner is ready—" It was her mum. "Erin! I told you to get ready, you look like a mess!"

"I take it as a compliment." One thing I forgot to mention that Erin had paint all over her clothes, hands, and face. "I'm working."

"On what?" Gwendolyn got closer to the canvas and took a look. "Oh, she's very pretty."

Erin stared at the polaroid she took of Hermione and thought about that day. She could still smell her perfume. "She is."

The woman watched her daughter and smiled. "Who is she?"

"Friend from Hogwarts."

"This doesn't look like Daphne, Astoria nor Luna," Gwendolyn paused. "And even though I've never met him, this doesn't look like Theodore Nott either."

Erin knew what her mum wanted to say. She rolled her eyes. "I have many other friends than those four, mum. This is Hermione Granger, she's a Gryffindor from my year."

"Hermione Granger," Gwendolyn repeated. "I think I've heard that name before. It's pretty, hard to forget."

"I mentioned her in my letter for you and dad in first year, at the very beginning. I said she's abnormally smart, remember?"

"Oh, yes," Gwendolyn rembered before shaking her head. "Take a shower and change into that dress grandma bought for you."

Before the woman left the room, she quietly laughed and whispered to herself while looking up;

"You see that, Marlene? You must be dancing happily in heaven right now."

***

Hermione realized that she had a little crush on Erin since third year. The Slytherin had looked more mature than before summer holidays. Her lips got a bit bigger and face slimmer, only this made her look like a whole new person.

Hermione started watching Erin in classes they shared together, not too much to stop paying attention in class completely, but enough to learn a few things about her.

How Erin bit her nails and the skin around, how she bounced her legs and how she took a deep breaths everytime she was nervous (somethings that she still does now).

Hermione didn't know why it took her that long to realize. She was normally not oblivious about these things. For example, she knew for a fact that Ginny liked Harry and he liked her back. Hermione knew that in third year she liked Ron and in fourth she may have slightly liked Viktor Krum. But Ron and Viktor shared one thing that Erin couldn't relate to. They were boys, Erin was a girl. Maybe that was why it took her more than a year to realize.

At first, Hermione thought she was only admiring Erin, that she wanted to look like her, because Erin was truly beautiful. Like a dream, like the ocean.

Ginny confessed to Hermione that she likes both girls and boys but Hermione never thought about she could be like that too.

Not until now.

***

Erin took a bus to a street close to Grimmauld place.

She was a little nervous about spending almost a week with Hermione. What if she did not want to be friends with Erin anymore? Hermione was maybe the one who decided to lean down but what if it was a mistake and she regrets it all now?

Erin thought about all these things, almost missed the bus stop, if Hermione wasn't waiting for her and didn't call her name.

After nervously getting off the bus, Erin greeted her friend with an awkward "hi".

"Hi," Hermions greeted and hugged her. "I doubted if you would come. . ."

Was Hermione referring to the fact they almost kissed?

"I wouldn't dare to dissapoint you," Erin let off her trunk and embraced Hermione back.

After all the greeting, they decided to start walking to Grimmauld place where Sirius lived, Hermione in lead.

A twenty minutes later, they arrived.

After Erin learned that Sirius lived there with his family, she laughed. "Pureblood supremacists living among Muggles? Ironic."

Suddenly, Alastor Moody appeared next to them. "Memorize and think about number twelve, Grimmauld Place, Mckinnon, Granger."

"Wha—"

"Do as I say," he said.

Soon, a battered door emerged out of nowhere between numbers eleven and thirteen, followed swiftly by dirty walls and grimy windows. It was as though an extra house had inflated, pushing those on either side out of its way.

Erin froze and stared at it. "What in the Merlin's left but cheek just happened?"

Hermione smiled and grabbed her hand. "Magic."

Erin now understood why Hermione told her to meet in the evening.

The trio walked inside the house that appeared out of nowhere.

Erin had to smile at the sound of laughing people in the room close to The exit. She also heard an older man's voice singing Christmas songs, she thought that it must be Sirius black, even though she never met him.

Hermione lead her friend to the kitchen, where almost everyone was.

"Hermione, Erin!" Ginny was the first one to notice the girls's presence. She stood up from her chair and ran to them, embracing the girls. One of her arms was around Hermione and the other around Erin.

"Hello, Gin," Erin greeted with a bright smile. "Wait, I got something for you."

Ginny gasped. "But I don't have anything for you!"

"Don't worry about it, I didn't buy it," Erin pulled a black choker out of her bag. "I found it in my room and for some reason it seemed like something you would wear."

"Thank you so much," Ginny put it on and posed.

"Very attractive," said Erin with a grin.

Fred and George came into her sight and suddenly dissapeard. And then, she felt a palm on her shoulder, making her jump. Erin put her hand on her chest where she felt her heart beating fastly. As if it was about to jump out of her chest.

"I'm too young to die," she said, looking up at the twins that were smiling innocently down at her.

"Do you want to try our puking pastil?" Fred — or George — held up a pastil.

Erin scrunched up her nose. "No, thanks."

"George, Fred, leave the poor girl alone," said a short woman, hushing them away from Erin. "Hello, Erin, I'm Molly Weasley.

" Hello," before the girl could say anything, she was pulled into a tight hug.

"Mum, don't break her bones," said Ron who approached them with Harry by their side.

"I am not!" Molly said but let the girl go.

"Hey, Erin."

"Hello, Ron," Erin greeted him and then Harry, who awkwardly waved. "Oh, Mr. Weasley, I'm glad you're okay."

"Better then ever," the man thrutfully smiled. "Erin, you are a muggleborn, right? We are still not sure what is the duck in a bath for."

"A duck in a bath?" Erin repeated. "Ah, I'm not sure. It's for children, I think. I had one when I was younger. . . "

"Erin Mckinnon!" A voice behind her said.

Too much attention, she thought to herself. Don't panic, don't panic, for everyone's sake, don't panic!

Erin turned around to be met by an older men who she had seen on papers around wizarding world as a wanted serial killer.

"Hello, Mr. Black," she handed out her hand and he shook it.

"Call me Sirius," he said, smiled and pointed at a man beside him. "This is—"

"Professor Lupin!" Erin interrupted.

"Nice to see you again, Erin. Are you doing good?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Oh, and," she again dugged into her bag, "I found this in a photo album my parents have."

She handed him picture in a frame. It was Sirius and Lupin with tho babies. The one a young black haired man was holding was little Harry and the one Lupin was holding was little Erin.

Sirius gasped. "I remember this! It was taken in Dorcas and Marlene's house. Marlene was crying because it was the first time you said her name and Dorcas played to be offended because it wasn't her name you said. Oh. . . And I think you, Erin, then vomited over Remus. . . "

"That was not neccessary to mention, Padfoot," mumbled Lupin.

Erin pursed her lips. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay," he waved it off. "I've had babies vomiting over me before," he nodded towards Sirius, making Erin and the others laugh.

Sirius dramatically rolled his eyes and looked at Erin's eyes. "Oh, Godric, you have perfect eyeliners! You have to teach me, mine don't even look like siblings!"

"They don't even look like friends," George — or Fred — called from behind.

Yep, Erin loved it there.

She turned around to face Hermione. "Oh, Mione, I almost forgot." That was a lie, she wouldn't forget about giving someone — not only someone — a gift that she worked for for days.

Erin pulled a wrapped canvas out of her bag. As Hermione started unwrapping it, Erin said, "It's not something big, if you want to throw it away, you can, I understand—"

"Oh my, Erin!" Hermione gasped and put her hand over her mouth at the sight of the painting she was on. "This is. . . This is the best gift I've ever gotten," she put it on table and threw her arms around Erin.

Erin smiled and wrapped her arms around Hermione's waist as the Gryffindor whispered, "I cannot thank you enough, you're the best," she pulled away. "I got something for you too."

Hermione handed her a book.

Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson.

Erin looked up at her in surprise. "How did you—"

"You once said Hope is the thing with feathers. It's the only poem I know of Emily, but I knew it's by her. I hope you don't have it yet."

Erin shook her head. "No, I borrowed it from library a year ago but it's do good to have one of my own." She gave Hermione a quick kiss on a cheek and whispered, "Thank you."