Order

Chapter Eleven

The next day went by quick, Tonks left in the morning to do something for the Order and most of the day Erin spent in the drawing room, but that’s where she spent most days. That night she was in her own bed again, there had been no more mysterious bangs and she was no longer that scared, always a bit worried though. She had finally fallen asleep, when she was shaken awake.

“What?” she barked, pushing Sirius’ hands away from her shoulders.

“There’s been an accident” he told her, looking grim
.

“What?” she sat up quick. “Remus?”

“No, Moony’s fine.”

“Harry?”

“Harry’s fine… it was Arthur Weasley, he was attacked.”

She looked at him, her mouth hung open.

“Harry and the Wealsey children are on their way here now; Dumbldore didn’t give me orders as to what to do with you, Harry’s still not s’pose to know you’re here.”

“What are we going to do then? Will Mr. Weasley be alright?”

“I don’t know, he’s being taken to St. Mungo’s… and I think it would be best if you stayed in your room for right now, we will think of something in the morning.”

“Ok, you will tell me if Mr. Weasley’s alright or not, won’t you?”

“Of course I will… you should get some sleep though.”

But she couldn’t sleep, she could hear voices coming from the floors belong, at one point it sounded like shouting, as the hours past slow, ever so slowly, the sun rose, it was still gloomy and gray outside, but it was better than the black of night, around seven am Sirius came back, he slipped into her room quick.

“Arthur is alright, he’s going to be fine, Bill Weasley is with him now, Molly is around her somewhere and the others are asleep.”

“Oh, that’s good” Erin, nodded, suddenly feeling very tired.

“In a few hours Molly will wake them and go visit Arthur… we haven’t gotten word from Dumbldore about you yet, he’s most likely busy” said Sirius.

“That’s aright, I think I’ll take a nap… I’ve been up since you woke me anyway.”

“Alright, I’ll wake you once they leave” Sirius left her and within a few minutes she was asleep. She was awoken hours later by Sirius once more. They went down to the kitchen where the evidence of someone who had been cooking showed,

“Molly saved you a pate” he told her, he placed it in front of her and she stared at it and then looked up at him. She began to eat; it was indeed good, a bit clod, but good. There was something weird about the taste though, it was obviously made with magic… she didn’t know how she knew it, but she knew it. After a bit Sirius left her in the kitchen, she sat there quite alone for awhile, thinking; she was going to meet Harry, after months of wondering what he was like, she was finally going to meet him. But he must be upset over this attack, Sirius had just told her it was Harry who saw it happen… in a dream of some sort, she didn’t want to meet Harry under bad circumstances, even if Mr. Weasley was going to be alright. After she finished eating she returned to her room, she would stay there till Harry went back to Hogwarts, this was neither the time nor place to meet Harry. Sirius then came into the room once again.

“Why’re you back in here?”

“I think I’d better stay here…”

“Why?”

“I don’t think it would be good for me to be down there, just in case they come back.”

“Oh, about that; I just got word from Dumbldore, he says you are to be just like any other Order member, tell Harry that you are in the Order, a newer recruit and are staying here for a bit.”

“But what if Harry doesn’t buy that?” she asked, worried.

“He’ll believe us, we’ve gotta tell the whole lot that, of course Molly will know the truth, but it’s best if none of the children know.”

“I don’t know if I even want to meet Harry… I mean sure I do, but not at a time like this” she muttered.

“You can stay up here for a bit if you’re not ready, I’ll have Molly bring you some dinner” Sirius told her.

She nodded then there was a bang from down stairs.

“That must be them, I’ll check on you in a bit” with that Sirius left the room. Erin spent the rest of the day in her room, drawing and rereading Hogwarts A History. At six O’clock Molly Weasley brought up her dinner. After she ate she spent the rest of the night drawing again. The next morning she was feeling very tired of being stuck in her room, she wanted to leave it, but didn’t at the same time, that was when Sirius came back.

“You can’t keep staying in your room; you have to come out sometime.”

“I’m quite comfy, really” she lied, she was bored that’s what she was, and desperate for some human contact, she felt like a prisoner, she now had a few found appreciation for Sirius.

“Were putting up some Christmas decorations...well Harry isn’t, I’m not sure where he has gotten to.”

“Yeah well…” Erin trailed off.

“Come along, go down and get something to eat, its lunch time.”

“I’m fine…”

“No, get down stairs” he said firmly. “There is no need for you to stay in your room, we have everything worked out, and you’re an Order member.”

“Alright.,…alright” she muttered, as he pushed her out of her room and shut the door behind them. She went down the stairs while he went to look for Harry, once she was at the bottom there was a girl, with bushy hair, that had snow in it, standing there, Erin hadn’t even realized it had started snowing.

“Who are you?” the girl asked.

“Er…um…” Erin then shot back up the stairs where she found Sirius about to walk down them. “There’s some girl down there, with bushy hair and she asked who I was…”

“Bushy hair?” Sirius asked. “That must be Hermione.”

“Hermione?”

“Yes, she’s Harry’s friend.”

Sirius walked past her and down the stairs, to greet Hermione, Erin hurried back to her room and took her spot on the bed back, five minutes later Sirius was once again trying to make her come out of the room.

“Your becoming a pain in the ass… you know that?” she barked at him, as he pushed her once again, out of the room. She found herself in the kitchen, where there was a sea of red heads.

“Who’er you?” one of them asked, he looked an awful lot like the one he was sitting next to.

“This is Erin, she’s an Order member.”

“We’ve never seen you before…” the red haired boy trailed off, he didn’t look much younger than her.

“I’m newer….” Erin trailed off; remembering what Sirius said Dumbledore said.

“You don’t look any older than us, that’s rubbish, Sirius” said the boy.

“Look” said Sirius, looking a bit annoyed. “Erin here; is a great Order member and a fanatic cook, and she’ll be saying here a few days.”

Sirius then left the room and Mrs. Weasley then walked in. The twin boys continued to look at Erin.

“This is Fred and I’m George” said the one next to the boy who had been talking the whole time.

“Nice to meet you” said Erin, sitting down.

“How old are you?” the one she now knew as Fred asked.

“Nineteen…”

He looked slightly annoyed then turned to his twin, who shrugged.

“Erin, dear, would you like a bit of lunch?” Mrs. Weasley then asked her.

“Yes, that would be lovely.”

After she ate lunch she then wondered into the drawing room, she could hear commotion on the floors above but paid no mind to it, until she heard a loud voice singing in the hall, she walked out to see Sirius going through the hall, singing some wizarding Christmas song.

“Are you drunk?” she asked him, trying to suppress a laugh.

“Not at all” he smiled, beamingly and went through the kitchen door. At dinner once again Mrs. Wealsey cooked, and once again it tasted different, but still very good. She had finally met Harry, she had walked in to see a James Potter look-a-like sitting at the table, the only difference was he had a different nose and a lightning bolt, shaped scar on his forehead. She stared at him as she took a seat next to Fred Weasley.

“Hello” she said coy, every eye was on her, Mrs. Weasley was busy cooking and Sirius was helping.

“Aren’t you the girl who ran up the stairs this afternoon?” asked the girl with the bushy hair.

“I am… the name is Erin Ev…er… just Erin” she looked down at her lap, she was a horrid liar.

“She’s in the Order” said Fred.

“Yes, I am… are you all Weasley’s?” she asked, changing the subject.

“Well, Harry and I aren’t.”

“Well of course you’re not…” she trailed off, Harry looked up at her weird. “Neither of you has red hair… all the Weasleys have red hair after all.”

“I’m Hermione, by the way, Hermione Granger and this is Harry Potter” Harry was looking at her again, as if she was about to praise him or something, he was famous in the wizarding world, but she didn’t want him to think she knew his life story before he told it to her.

“Nice to meet you” she told them. “Do you both go to Hogwarts?”

“Um, yes, of course” said Hermione. “We’re in fifth year.”

“I’ve never been to Hogwarts before… is it nice?” Erin asked, she didn’t want to stare at Harry, but she had noticed his eyes, they were bright green, just like hers, she wondered if there were long lines of Evans with green eyes and now a Potter.

“Oh, it’s lovely” said Hermione.

“Where did you go to school at?” Fred asked her.

“Oh, um, in Canada…” Erin lied, she hated lying.

“How long have you been in the Order?” Harry asked, she bit her lip staring at him once again. She hoped he didn’t notice the eye thing, he might figure it out, and so she looked away once again, determined not to look at him anymore.

“Er, since September… late September.”

“Do you guard the weapon?” Fred then asked.

“The...the what?’ she asked, confused. “What weapon?”

“Don’t give us that rubbish; Sirius said Voldemort is after some weapon” said Fred.

“I’m sorry… I don’t guard the weapon” Erin told him.

“It’s just as well, she can’t tell us what the weapon is anyway” said the girl with red hair.

In the days to come the house was a lot noisier than normal, Sirius was in the best mood Erin had ever seen him in, hanging Christmas decorations all over the place, even on the stuffed elf heads. On Christmas morning Erin awoke to find a few gifts at the bottom of her bed. This made her feel bad, she hadn’t gotten anyone anything, she hadn’t been able to leave the house. She opened them anyway. One was from Mrs. Weasley, she gave her a light pink sweater, the next was from Sirius, it was all the old school books he found in his room and the last one was from Remus, that was her favorite, it was a slandered Dark Arts school book, giving her all the spells and such she had learned with him and also a nice section about dueling, which she needed, for she was not a very good dueler at all. Erin wondered down stairs where she came to see Remus himself in the hallway.

“Merry Christmas, Erin” she smiled at him, bright.

“Merry Christmas…I loved your gift… but I didn’t get you anything.”

“Oh, it was nothing, really” Remus smiled. “I’m happy you liked it.”

“When will we be doing another lesson?” she then asked him, as they walked down the hall.

“Not till after the holidays, I’m afraid.”

“I expected as much, I would like to have another try at the Patronus” said Erin.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “We can do something else; maybe try a hand at dueling again.”

“No, I want to do the Patronus.”

“If your…” but he stopped talking, for there was now crying coming from the kitchen, they walked down the basement kitchen’s steps, they heard voices and sobbing.

“Always thought he was a git, right, Fred?”

“Right George, Percy’s nothing more than a humongous pile of rat droppings, if you ask me…”

“What’s the matter?” Remus asked, looking at a tearful Molly Weasley and the Weasley twins trying to console her.

“Percy sent back his jumper” said George, looking worriedly at his mother. Erin didn’t feel it was the right time to ask who Percy was so she just took a seat at the table.

“You two go wake up the others, I’ll handle this” said Remus, Fred and George nodded and left the room, Remus then talked soothingly to Mrs. Weasley telling her that Percy was just confused and he will come to his senses one day, Erin watched, trying not to smile, Mrs. Weasley was quite sad after all. But she couldn’t help but thinking how nice Remus really was. Just then Sirius walked in.

“Happy Christmas, everyone” he smiled, once he saw Remus’ arm around Mrs. Weasley and the tears that were being shed by her, his smile fell. “What happen now?”

“Percy” said Remus, sighing. “Now, listen Molly, its Christmas, can’t let the kids see you crying on Christmas now, can you?”

“Your…your right, Remus, of course, I have to perk up” she said, wiping away the tears, heaving a great sigh. She went to the stove and began making breakfast. Sirius motioned Erin to fallow him out if the kitchen, she did just that and she followed him up the stairs and into the hall then to the drawing room.

“Happy Christmas, Erin” Sirius smiled at her, she laughed.

“Happy Christmas, I didn’t get you anything, I’m sorry” she told him.

“Oh, that’s quite alright” said Sirius, just then Remus walked into the room.

“I will be escorting them to Mungo’s today, would you like to come along, Erin?” Remus asked. "Dumdledore said it' would be alright if you did."

“No, I think I’ll stay with Sirius, give my best to Mr. Weasley though” Erin told him, he nodded then turned around and walked out.

“You should go” Sirius told her. “It would get you out of here for a bit.”

“No, I’ll stay here, no one should be alone on Christmas after all” she told him, looking at the huge Christmas tree, that covered the whole of the Black family tree.

“I think Molly should be done with breakfast by now” said Sirius, she nodded and fallowed him back out of the room and back into the kitchen. But he had been wrong, for Mrs. Weasley was still busy cooking, sniffing lightly. Sirius offered to get the turkey and disappeared in the pantry. Erin then left the room once more, going to her room to get her wand, Mrs. Weasley had offered to show her a bit of cooking with a wand, Erin wasn’t sure if this was still the plan, but went to get the wand anyway. When she came back everyone was in the kitchen and Sirius was stuffing the turkey as he had done for Thanksgiving, Erin then went to help him. Hours later, after having a big Christmas lunch, Dung and Mad-Eye showed up to accompany Remus to ST. Mungo’s with the Weasley’s, Harry and Hermione to see Mr. Weasley, there was a bit of an argument between Dung and Mrs. Weasley about the car he showed up with, but at last they left.

Most of the time they were gone, Sirius and Erin sat in the drawing, Erin busy working on her latest drawing; a Christmas tree, modeled after the one that was gleaming at them.

“Do you like Harry?” Sirius suddenly asked.

“Of course, we haven’t really talked much, but he seems alright…why?”

“Just wondering, is all…” Sirius trailed off, looking to be in deep thought. “Have you seen Kreacher?”

“Not lately…why?”

“No one seems to know where he’s gotten too, maybe we should have a look” said Sirius.

“I think that might be a good idea….” She trailed off, setting down her paper and pencil. “I’ll look down here, if you want to look upstairs.”

“Alright, let’s hope he’s stuffed it” said Sirius as they made their way out of the drawing room.

“You’re so mean... no wonder he doesn’t like you” Erin smirked at him.

“He doesn’t like anyone” Sirius mused, as he went up the stairs. Erin looked around, in the kitchen, in closets, she couldn’t find the house-elf anywhere, or so she thought, for when back into the hall to go find Sirius, Kreacher; the house-elf was standing there, hunched over, muttering.

“Where have you been?” she asked him, his eyes widened, just like anytime she had talked to him before.

“He was in the attic” said Sirius, who was now coming down the stairs. “Found him lurking.”

A few hours later everyone came back from the hospital, Mrs. Weasley angry about how Mr. Weasley tried stitches, but they had gone horribly wrong. And after dinner, while Erin, Sirius and Remus all sat in the drawing room, Remus told her of how he had talked to a new werewolf that day.

“He was very apprehensive of course, but I think I gave him a few good idea of how to manage, you know.”

“Of course you did, Moony” Sirius smiled, Erin was glued to this story the whole time, werewolf’s fascinated her. “You know, Erin, in some of my old Dark Art books you’ll find a bit about werewolves, if you’re so interested.”

“Yes, and in the book I gave you, it’s a bit of an updated version, not much has changed though, sadly, there is the Wolfbane now though, that’s an improvement.”

That night she sat up for hours, looking through all the Dark Art books she had gotten, reading every little detail of werewolves and how to identify them, she thought some things were a bit too much though, after all, Remus was one of the nicest men she had ever met, she didn’t feel scared around Remus, or concerned, she felt safe. He was sweet and nice, nothing at all how the books described a werewolf.