It was night, a stormy night and Erica was sat in her and Neville's shared bedroom. She listened closely and heard the rumble of thunder growing nearer.

"Right. I managed to get Frank sorted into bed." Neville sighed as he walked into the room.

"Is he alright? He didn't sound like it earlier." Erica turned to him.

"He should be fine now. I gave him some hot cocoa." Neville nodded.

"He may not admit it but he really is a sweet boy." Erica told him.

"I know he is." Neville smiled softly.

"Bedtime?" Erica raised a brow.

"Bedtime." Neville nodded and got in beside her.

"Sweet dreams, Nev." Erica yawned.

"Night Erica." Neville hummed.

Erica nodded slowly as she drifted off to sleep. Neville lay back and closed his eyes, sleeping as the thunder roared. It couldn't have been that long, maybe half an hour when Erica awoke to a strange sound along with the thunder. It was muffled though, so she couldn't hear it that well. Although when the thunder went off again, so did the noise. Erica slid out from under the covers and wandered down the hall, towards the noise. When Erica walked down the hall, she heard some sniffles from.. Frank's room. She slowly approached the door. Erica knew how Frank felt about her so she debated just walking in or knocking first. She decided on the latter, carefully knocking on his door. After about a minute or so, the door ever so slightly opened and she seen Frank looking up at her; red puffy eyes.

"Frank?" Erica asked quietly.

"What do you want?" Frank moved behind his door.

"Well, I heard some noises coming from your room and wanted to make sure you were alright." Erica explained.

"I'm fine." Frank grumbled.

Erica sighed and looked at him,"I'm not as stupid as I look, Frank."

"Yeah you are." Frank nodded.

"Just tell me what's wrong.' Erica looked at him.

"..I'm scared of the thunder." Frank muttered.

"What?" Erica raised a brow, she hadn't heard him.

"I don't like thunder." Frank spoke louder.

"Is that all? Well, that's alright." Erica told him,"Do you need anything?"

"..No." Frank shook his head.

Erica could tell he needed something though.

"I won't judge, I promise." Erica told him.

"I don't want to wake my dad." Frank sighed.

"I'll try my best not to." Erica stated.

"Could.. Could I have some hot cocoa?" Frank asked.

"Sure, just give me a few minutes." Erica nodded, making her way downstairs.

Frank took his time before he followed after her. Erica made her way to the kitchen and took out a mug, starting to make his hot cocoa.

"I'm sorry if I woke you." Frank crossed his arms as he walked in.

"It's perfectly fine, Frank." Erica told him as she took out a bag of marshmallows.

"It's not fine." Frank sighed.

"Yes it is." Erica assured him, putting some marshmallows in the cup.

"You know what? I shouldn't have woken you." Frank shook his head.

"I don't mind, Frank. Really, I don't." Erica stated, pouring hot cocoa into the cup.

Frank sighed and sat down, "Thank you."

"It's not a big deal." Erica handed him the cup.

"Will you have some?" Frank asked.

"I'll probably just make some coffee." Erica answered, taking out her own cup.

"Didn't your friend.. Parker tell you not to drink that?" Frank raised a brow.

"She's a hypocrite, she drinks it too." Erica shrugged,"Besides, I'm not tired."

"You were sleeping." Frank pointed.

"You don't need to sleep." Erica rolled her eyes and poured herself a cup of coffee.

"We need sleep so you're not tired." Frank rolled his eyes.

"Frank, I know what I'm doing. I've done classes and shifts on no sleep and look how I turned out." Erica picked up her cup.

"Well you did sleep in the woods for a year, that explains you." He scoffed.

"That wasn't my choice, I was on the run." Erica told him.

"And you left my dad alone." Frank pointed.

Erica sighed,"I literally had to flee my brother's wedding, there was no time to contact anyone."

"You have time to contact everyone else quickly." Frank shrugged.

"We were wanted criminals, we couldn't do anything in case we were tracked." Erica looked down at her gloved hands,"Can we stop talking about this now?"

Frank looked down as well, "..Why do you wear gloves?"

Erica froze for a moment, she didn't really know what to say,"It's... Personal."

"Personal?" Frank raised a brow.

"It happened a long time ago." Erica shook her head, she hated remembering back then

"..I'm sorry for bringing it up." Frank cleared his throat.

"Oh, it's fine.." Erica told him,"I could... Tell you, if you want."

"I thought it was personal?" Frank asked.

"It is but I can't just hide parts of me just because I don't like looking at it." Erica answered.

"So what happened?" Frank raised a brow.

"It was my fifth year and Hogwarts and I wasn't doing so well.." Erica began slowly,"I was grieving over my brother abandoning me and everything else was not helping at all."

Frank nodded, "Are you okay with that brother now?"

"Of course, we tell each other everything." Erica told him,"We had this horrible teacher though, Deloris Jane Umbridge..."

"Umbridge? I've.. Heard that name before." Frank wondered.

"You have?" Erica turned to him.

"I overheard my mum and dad talking about her one time." Frank nodded slowly.

Erica nodded slowly before continuing,"Well, the ministry didn't believe Voldemort's return and my friends and I stood up to Umbridge. Then, she gave us detention."

"That doesn't seem so bad.." Frank trailed off.

"It didn't seem like that to me either. It was lines, harmless lines but she these... Demon quills." Erica told him, taking off one glove to reveal the scars.

'I must not assist in telling lies'

Frank just stared at Erica, "I.. I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Erica assured him,"There's something my friends don't know, though."

"You've never told them?" Frank raised a brow.

"I never told them what's under the other glove." Erica stated.

"What's under the other one?" Frank asked.

Erica took off her other glove to reveal the scars on her other hand. I will not be violent.

"..What did you get that for?" Frank slowly looked up at her.

"I beat up Draco Malfoy because he was being a d*ck to Neville and I." Erica explained.

"Oh." Frank nodded slowly.

"I never had the heart to tell him what happened when Umbridge escorted me away." Erica sighed.

"I'm sorry." Frank sighed.

"You don't need to be." Erica told him, leaving her gloves on the counter.

"Does dad know?" Frank tilted his head.

"Yeah, I told him. He wouldn't let me leave that corridor until I admitted something was wrong." Erica chuckled lightly.

"Thank you for telling me this." Frank sighed.

"You're welcome." Erica smiled,"Now, back to bed."

Frank sighed before he got up,"Night Erica."

He quickly left.

"Goodnight Frank." Erica hummed, taking their cups to the sink.

Erica heard his door close as she walked up the stairs. Good. She made her way back to her room but wasn't planning on sleeping. Maybe there's some tidying she could do.

"Erica?" Neville yawned.

"Yeah, babe?" Erica asked casually.

"What are you doing up? It's early." Neville sighed.

"I had to deal with something." Erica told him.

"With?" Neville sat up properly.

"Frank, he needed some comfort." Erica told him.

"Is he alright? Do I need to go see him?" Neville sighed.

"He should be fine now." Erica assured him.

"Are you sure?" Neville asked.

"Definitely." Erica nodded, sitting beside him.

"Are you okay?" Neville leant his head on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Erica told him before realizing,"Oh, I've left my gloves downstairs."

"Hey. You don't need to hide them from me." Neville gently held her hand.

"I know, I'll just get them before work, I don't want George to see." Erica nodded.

"You'll need to tell him eventually." Neville sighed.

"Therefore, it can wait.' Erica finished.

"Soon, Erica." Neville pointed.

"Do I have to, though?" Erica asked him.

"Yes." Neville nodded, "He's your brother."

"But I don't want to." Erica crossed her arms.

Neville gave her a look.

Erica sighed,"Fine, I'll tell him."

"When?" Neville hummed.

Erica thought for a moment,"I'll try tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay, I'll be with you the full time." Neville gently held her hand.

"This is why I love you." Erica leaned against him.

"And I love you too." Neville chuckled.