The next day, the Golden Trio were away to potions, but Erica and Parker had a free period so they were watching all of the students try to get to their classes while McGonagall was trying to deal with them all.

"Parker, Parker, can you come here please?" McGonagall called to her.

"Oh, this can't be good." Parker muttered to Erica before she jumped down and made her way over to McGonagall, "Yes Professor?"

"Shouldn't you be in potions?" McGonagall asked.

"I was told I had to get an outstanding at my O.W.L.S to do potions this year." Parker informed her.

"Well, Professor Slughorn has said that anyone with an Exceeds Expectations will be able to take his class." McGonagall told them.

"Screw your gran, Neville. You are the best at Herbology and you can take it no matter what she says." Erica announced, quite loudly actually.

Parked looked over at Erica before back at McGonagall, "Brilliant. I guess I'll be going to Potions."

She began to back up as McGonagall spoke again.

"Oh, take Weasley with you. She looks far too happy." McGonagall told her.

Neville waved at Erica before smiling as he walked out towards the greenhouses.

"Of course." Parker nodded before she walked over to Erica, "We have to go to Potions."

"But why? I only got E-" Erica was cut off.

"McGonagall said Slughorn lowered the bar so we can both go." Parker looked at her taller friend,"I'm sure it'll be fine anyway."

Parker pulled Erica off the platform they were previously standing on. They made their way to the classroom and pushed open the door, causing everyone to turn and look at them.

"Ah, Miss Malfoy. You brought someone with us, I see." Slughorn looked at Erica.

"Hello Professor." Erica waved slightly, looking at Ron.

Ron gave a confused look as to why she was here.

"Get your books from the cupboards." Slughorn told them before they went to the cupboard.

Only two books were left, a nice and tidy one, and a tattered, old one. They had a mini scuffle over the books, leaving Erica with the tattered book. She shrugged and took her seat as did Parker. Slughorn then went on about if you could make a perfect vial of Draught of Death, then he would prize you with a drop of Liquid Luck or Felix Felices. They all started but Erica noticed something strange. The instructions in her book were different. Some things were crossed out and a new method was written in the margin. Thinking she just had a copy with corrected misprints, she followed the instructions she was given.

"How did you cut that?" Hermione asked while her bean flew somewhere else.

"It says to crush, not cut it." Erica replied, a bit confused that Hermione was asking her, usually it was the other way around.

"No, it specifically says to cut it." Hermione stated.

Erica raised her brow, in her book it stated that it needed to be crushed. Erica shrugged before continuing forward. Soon enough, Slughorn came over to Erica as she was finished, putting a small leaf in the cauldron.

"Merlins beard. It's perfect! As promised.." He handed the vial of Luqid Luck to Erica.

Erica looked at it, highly confused. People around her were just as confused as her, knowing she wasn't always the best at Potions.

"Use it well." Slughorn warned her before walking off, the Herd walked up to her.

"How did you do that?" Hermione asked.

"I followed the instructions." Erica answered, picking up her book.

"So did we." Ron nodded, "We couldn't even cut our beans until you told us to crush them."

Erica put her book under her arms as they walked out of the class.

**

"So let me get this straight. You have a book, that's property of who?" Hermione asked.

Erica opened up to the beginning of the book,"The Half-blood Prince."

Parker looked at the book quickly, "Can I see that?"

Erica shrugged,"I mean, as long as you give it back."

Erica handed the book to her friend.

Parker looked at the book, skimming the pages before handing it back to Erica, "Cheers."

"Sectumsempra?" Harry asked, seeing the spell that was on the page.

"Don't ask, we've never heard of it either." Ron told him, leaning back in the chair.

"Whoever the Half-Blood Prince is.. He has some pretty harmful spells." Parker sighed.

"I wonder what it does." Harry thought as Erica took out her vial.

"Bad things." Was all Parker replied with.

"So what are you going to do with the Luqid Luck?" Hermione asked Erica.

"Don't ask me, I didn't even think I'd get it." Erica admitted, putting it away again.

"Maybe something will just come up." Ron shrugged.

"Something always comes up." Harry reminded them.

"True." Parker nodded, "Are we going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?"

"Yeah, are we going go to the Three Broomsticks?" Hermione asked them.

Ron nodded, "If we all have nothing better to do."

"Right, Three Broomsticks tomorrow." Erica stated, picking up her book.

"Then it's sorted." Parker got up from the floor, "Where will we all meet?"

"Outside of the Three Broomsticks?" Harry suggested.

"That works." Hermione nodded.

They all headed to bed for the night, ready for the next day.

**

"God its warm in here." Parker rubbed her arms when they walked into The Three Broomsticks.

They all sat down at a table when Erica spotted something out if her peripheral. Dean and Ginny were making out in the corner and she wasn't happy.

"Okay, let's not get feisty." Parker told Erica while they sat down.

"What is it?" Harry asked, not sure what the issue was.

"Ginny's snogging Dean." Parker whispered.

Harry noticed and started looking around awkwardly, Ron not looking impressed either.

"Honestly you two, what would Ginny think if she turned around and saw Ron snogging me?" Hermione questioned, looking at the siblings.

"Does that mean you want to snog him?" Parker raised a brow, half joking.

"N-no, it was hypothetical." Hermione stated, blushing slightly.

Parker nodded slowly before she turned to Erica.

"Hermione's blushing." She whispered.

"I know." Erica whispered back, going to get a drink.

Soon enough, Ginny and Dean stopped and acted like nothing happened. Erica walked back over with a tray and sat it on the table.

"You didn't drop them that time." Ron clapped.

"I'll remember to drop them on you next time, don't worry." Erica chuckled, sitting back down.

"You're too kind." Ron rolled his eyes.

"Oh, I know." Erica stated, taking her drink.

Everyone else took their own drinks and sat them next themselves.

"Did anyone else feel weird last night?" Hermione asked suddenly.

"What do you mean by weird?" Erica questioned her.

"Like.. Something was going on inside Hogwarts." Hermione sighed.

Parker glanced at Hermione before she took a drink of her Butterbeer.

"A bit but I didn't think much of us." Erica shrugged, taking a sip of her drink.

"I'm sure it was nothing." Parker shook her head, "It was cold last night, maybe you were just getting chills."

Hermione nodded and that was really the end of it. They'd been there for a while and decided to walk back to Hogwarts to enjoy to snow.

"If we were to all have a snowball fight, who do you think would win?" Parker asked while she kicked some snow.

"I'm not sure maybe-" Erica stopped before pointing,"Possession!"

"What?" They all looked to the direction where Erica pointing.

Suspended in mid-air was Katie Bell. She was a seventh year and they recognized her from the Gryffindor quidditch team. Soon enough, she fell to the ground and Hagrid walked up behind the Herd.

"Step back, don't get any closer." Hagrid told them while he picked up Katie.

That's when Hermione noticed the package wrapped in brown paper which part of a necklace was poking out.

"Don't touch it 'Mione." Parker shook her head, "The same thing could happen to you."

Hagrid picked up Katie and began carrying her back to Hogwarts as Ron picked up the package, careful to only touch the paper, as they set off after him. Once back in Hogwarts, they were all standing in McGonagall's office with the necklace.

"Why is it, when something happens, it is always you five?" McGonagall sighed.

"Believe me Professor, I've been asking myself the same thing for the past six years." Ron replied.

"Maybe you should just keep us in a locked box so nothing else bad will happen." Erica suggested, actually kind of serious.

"It needs to be inspected first." McGonagall stated while Snape walked in.

"I received the news about Miss Bell." Snape stated, walking over to the desk.

"Yes, this necklace supposedly possessed her." McGonagall explained.

Snape lifted it up with a spell and examined it for a few minutes.

"This necklace is indeed cursed." Snape informed her.

"What does that mean for Katie? Will she be okay?" Hermione asked.

"That depends, she's recovering at St. Mungo's." Snape told them, setting it down.

"If she was delivering it to Dumbledore, that means whoever cursed Katie, wanted to curse Dumbledore instead." Ron realised.

"So, there was really no good outcome." Erica sighed, looking at the necklace.

"As long as we keep this out of harms way, we should all be alright." McGonagall nodded.

"I believe you should be going now." Snape stated, looking at them.

"It was Malfoy." Harry told them Professors, "Draco."

To which Snape and Parker looked at each other.

"Harry, thats a serious accusation." Parker quickly responded.

"Indeed, Where's your proof?" Snape asked.

Erica looked at Harry as if to say,"This is your mess bro."

"I just know." Harry told them.

"You just.. Know." Snape said slowly, "You must have rather good gifts, gifts mortals can only dream of getting. How grand it must be, to be the Chosen One."

"Look at the time, it's time to leave." Hermione told him, starting to pull Harry out of the classroom before he said anything else.

Snape then gave Parker a small nod while she left the class with the rest of them.

"Draco was here when Katie's incident happened. I don't see how it could be him." Parker told Harry while they all walked.

"They're rivals, it's only natural." Hermione sighed, arms crossed.

"What time did you say it was?" Parker asked.

Erica checked her watch,"It's lunchtime."

"And Ron's first game." Harry patted Ron's back.

Erica took the vial out of her pocket and looked at it as they sat down. After a literal second, Lavender came up to Ron and patted his shoulder. Erica shook her head disapprovingly after she walked off, still holding it.

"You can't use it, that would be cheating." Hermione stated, looking at her friend.

"Use what?" Parker asked, looking at the girls while the guys talked.

"The Liquid Luck." Hermione told her.

When Ron had his back turned, Erica took his cup and dropped something in it before setting it back. Ron saw her returning it but drank it anyway.

Parker looked at Ron before she spoke, "How'd you feel, Ron?"

Ron looked up confidently,"Come on Harry, we have a game to win."

Both boys then headed towards the field as the girls still sat.

"You could get expelled for that." Hermione looked at Erica.

"It's only called cheating if I get caught." Erica chuckled slightly, leaving to go to the stands.

It was a Slytherin vs Gryffindor game, both equally competitive. The girls got to the stands as did everyone before the game started. Erica gave Ron a wave from the stands as the game began. Halfway through the game, Ron was defending all of the quaffles that came his way.

"How much did you bloody use?" Hermione asked.

Erica shrugged as the match continued, Gryffindor in the lead by a long shot.

"This is not going to go well for the Slytherin common room later." Parker sighed.

As expected, Gryffindor quidditch team won and they were all celebrating.

"I still can't believe you cheated." Hermione stated, arms crossed.

That's when Erica took out her vial and revealed that she hadn't used any of the potion.

"You.. didn't use it?" Hermione asked.

"Ron only thought she did." Parker told her.

"I should do it more o-" Erica began before cutting herself off.

Right in front of them, the girls saw Lavender pulling Ron down and began making out with him practically. Hermione quickly walked off, Harry and Parker following after her as Erica walked into a secret passage way. She knew she'd end up breaking something if she didn't go to cool down. Parker and Harry soon seen Hermione at the bottom of Gryffindor tower stairs, crying. She had small butterflies flying around her. They sat down next to her, Parker hugging Hermione's arm and Harry looked at her.

"I like the butterflies." Parker told Hermione, looking up at them.

This caused Hermione to smile slightly. They stayed there comforting her for a while before deciding to head back. On their way they say Neville holding a cupboard door shut tightly.

"What's going on in there?" Parker asked.

"Erica's in there." Neville stated.

"Shit." Harry sighed, "Not to happy with the.. Ron situation?"

He looked at Hermione then the cupboard.

Neville shook his head,"I knew she got overprotective but I wasn't expecting this when she told me to lock her in."

"Some of us aren't too happy about it either." Parker rubbed Hermione's arm.

Then the cupboard went silent. After a few seconds, Neville unlocked it and Erica walked out.

"You alright now?" Neville asked as she walked out.

"I think she may need another minute." Harry looked at Erica, who still looked equally pissed.

Erica took a deep breath and punched the wall,"Alright, I'm ok now."

"How long were you in there for?" Hermione asked.

They were downstairs for at least roughly five minutes.

"As soon as you left, I ducked into a passage and then got Neville to lock me in there." Erica informed her.

"I think.. We should all head to bed. Try not to get to angry over the night." Neville suggested.

"I agree." Harry told them.

They all split off, heading back to their common rooms for the night.