A few weeks had passed since the announcement of the champions for the Triwizard Tournement. Everyone at Hogwarts hadn't really been talking to Harry, they were mad at him. Even Ron.

Meanwhile the Ruby Duo, Erica and Parker, were sitting in the courtyard going over homework.

"I don't get it." Erica sighed,"I'd rather be reading my dragon book."

"Dragon books won't help us next year for exams." Parker leaned against the pillar.

"But my dragon book is interesting."

"I know hun, I know." Parker turned and lay on the grass.

Erica sighed and sat beside her.

"I'm not ready for exams."

"Me either."

"We'll get through it together." Parker hummed.

"Because that's what best friends do." Erica smiled.

"Exactly." Parker chuckled.

Erica sighed,"Just a little look at the dragon book?"

"Fine." Parker nodded.

"Yes!" Erica smiled, hurrying off to grab her dragon book.

Parker laughed and sat up as Draco jumped down from the tree he was in, seeing Harry.

"Oi Potter!"

Harry sighed and turned to him,"What do you want, Malfoy?"

"Me and my father have a bet you see, I don't think you're going to last ten minutes in this competition." Draco shrugged,"He disagrees."

Harry rolled his eyes,"Of course he does."

"He doesn't think you'll last five." Draco scoffed.

Harry sighed and turned, he couldn't be bothered with Draco right now. He'd just had an argument with Ron and now this?

Draco quickly got out his wand, pointing it Harry's way.

"You dare try cursing a wizard when his back is turned?!" Moody yelled as he hobbled over, firing a spell right at Draco.

"Holy shit." Parker jumped and ran to find Erica.

Erica was just skipping out of the school, her dragon book in hand.

"Draco is getting a row from Moody!" Parker clapped.

"Ooh, this I have to see!"

"Hurry up then." Parker ran back to the courtyard where Draco was no more, just Moody lifting something with his wand.

"My brothers a ferret." Parker gasped, covering her mouth.

"It's perfect, he's reached his true form!" Erica giggled.

"He's a flying ferret." Parker laughed as the crowd around them grew.

Moody was throwing Draco about in the air with his wand as the crowd of students laughed

"Professor Moody, where did you get that ferret?" McGonagall pushed through the crowd.

"It's just Malfoy, Professor." He continued.

McGonagall glanced towards Parker, seeing she was fine before she looked at the ferret,"You- Oh Merlin!" She quickly grabbed Draco and turned him back into his normal self.

Draco quickly scrambled to his feet and hurried off,"My father will hear about this!"

"Yeah, yeah." Parker rolled her eyes.

"Was that a threat?!" Moody yelled after Draco.

"You. My office. Now!" McGonagall pointed at Moody.

Moody sighed and hobbled off, looking at Harry before he did so.

"That was so cool." Erica whispered.

"What... The fuck." Harry chuckled.

"I need to get better at transfiguration so I can do that." Erica smiled.

"Hey, Harry?" Parker turned to him,"Did you figure out the first challenge?"

"Dragons." Harry nodded,"Hagrid told me."

"Well Erica, you can help Harry." Parker nudged her.

"I can, I can!" Erica excitedly opened her book.

"So all I know is that there is gonna be a bunch of dragons... What ones can they get here easy?" Harry asked,"And which ones are the least... Aggressive?"

"None of them." Erica hummed,"But if you're looking for less aggressive dragons I'd say the Antipodean Opaleye and the Common Welsh Green, maybe even a Swedish Shortsnout."

"Right." Harry sighed.

"I'd say... You don't want the Hungarian Horntail, they're the biggest and most dangerous." Erica told him,"Or the Chinese Fireball."

"So I hopefully won't pick that." Harry nodded.

"You better not." Erica shook her head,"You won't outrun it, if you do. They're fast."

"Thank you, Erica. I'll remember all this." Harry smiled.

"Of course." Erica smiled back,"Hm, I should probably put this back."

"We have class soon, hurry back." Parker patted her arm.

"I will." Erica hummed as she hurried off.

As she was walking down the hall, she saw Cedric across the hall with his friends.

"Oh, Ced! Ced! I have something to tell you, it's about the first challenge." Erica ran up to him.

"You know what it is?" Cedric raised a brow.

"I do, it's dragons." Erica nodded quickly.

"Dragons?" He chuckled.

"Yeah, and I'm really good at those so if you want I could... I could help."

"That would be great, Erica." Cedric smiled.

"Right." Erica opened her book, flicking through the pages.

"So what do we know?" Cedric crossed his arms.

"Well, my best guess is that they'll all be purebred females." Erica hummed,"I recommend trying to avoid the Hungarian Horntail and Chinese Fireball."

"Those sound... Not good."

"No, they're not. They're pretty dangerous... Very dangerous." Erica sighed.

"They wouldn't let us die though, right?" Cedric looked at Erica.

"I don't trust those guys.." Erica shook her head.

"I'll get through it." Cedric sighed.

"You better.' Erica pointed.

"I will. And I know you'll be cheering me on." Cedric smiled.

"Of course I will, you're one of my best friends."

"And you're mine. Just don't tell Brad." He chuckled.

"I won't tell Brad." Erica shook her head,"He doesn't need to know."

Cedric hummed and hugged her,"Love you, kid."

"I love you too, Ced." Erica hugged him back.

"You better get to class."

"I will, I will." Erica ran off with her book.

*********************************

The Herd, minus Harry, were in the crowd. Every dragon had been chosen... Except the Hungarian Horntail.

"It's just his luck, isn't it?" Erica sighed.

"There it is." Hermione pointed as the dragon was brought out and Harry walked out of the champions tent.

"He's dead." Erica shook her head.

"They can't let him die... Right?" Ron looked down at Harry.

"Oh... So now you care." Hermione nodded.

"No. I'm just wondering." Ron shrugged.

"You care." Erica nudged him.

"I'm mad at him."

"What if I told you that there's a high chance he's going to die?"

"Then... I would care a little."

"Good, because have you seen the size of that Horntail?" Erica pointed,"That's a full-grown, purebred female with maternal instincts!"

"I see it, Erica." Ron sighed.

"That dragon could and would want to kill all of us if it wasn't chained."

"I know." Ron nodded.

"He's running!" Seamus pointed.

"He better, because she can see him."

The dragon turned to face Harry, shooting fire from her mouth. Harry ducked behind a rock and Erica let out a small sigh.

"Call your broom, Harry." Hermione cursed.

"We brought it for him and he hasn't even-" Erica began as she picked it up, only for it to fly from her hands.

"Accio!"

"Finally." Parker clapped.

The broom flew over to Harry, him jumping on it and flying off with the dragon following after him quickly. The chains broke and the dragon flew towards Harry, towards the castle.

"Oh shit." Dean turned towards the others,"Where's he gone?"

"I don't know." Ron shook his head.

"There he is!" Neville pointed as Harry flew back, grabbing the egg.

"Thank god." Erica let out a sigh of relief.

"Yes!" Everyone from Hogwarts cheered as Harry lifted up the egg.

*********************************

Erica was walking along to Gryffindor common room so she could celebrate with Harry and the rest of the Herd.

"Where do you think you're going?" Hannah walked towards her.

"I'm going to see my friends." Erica tried to keep going an ignore her.

"Did you tidy the dorm?"

"My side." Erica nodded.

"I told you to do the other side as well. My side."

"Why would I clean your side?" Erica looked over at her,"Besides, you'd probably not like how I do it anyway."

"Because I told you to clean my side. Can't you get that through your thick skull?" Hannah pushed her into the wall.

Erica shook her head as she hit the wall. She wasn't scared... Well, she was but Hannah didn't need to know that.

"Hannah, I'm not wasting my time picking up your shit."

"Ooh? Are you talking back to me?" Hannah scoffed,"You know what happens when you talk back to me Weasley?"

Erica tensed,"Hannah, just leave me alone."

"Watch your back." Hannah gave a fake smile, pushing her into the wall again before she walked away.

Erica hugged her arms close to her chest as she continued to Gryffindor common room. Just... Just calm down.

As she turned the corner to go up the stairs, she saw Parker just at the top of the stairs.

"Oh- Parker." Erica smiled, hurrying up the stairs.

"Hey Er." Parker turned around.

"Come to celebrate with the others?" Erica asked.

"Of course." Parker hummed.

"Me too, let's go!"

Parker linked arms with Erica and ran to the common room,"Password, Miss Weasley, if you may?"

"Shit- What is it now.." Erica mumbled,"Uhm- Sherbet Lemon."

"Thanks, Fat Lady." Parker waved as the door opened, the two walking in.

"Just letting you know now, that was a guess." Erica sighed,"She always filters through a few every now and again."

"I might just stick to your secret passageways." Parker shrugged.

"That's what I was going to do before I found you."

"And you stuck with me because I'm the best." Parker smiled.

"... Sure."

"What do you mean 'sure'?" Parker gasped.

"I meant what I said."

"Who's the best then?" Parker asked.

"Cedric." Erica hummed.

"But I'm second best?"

"Hm, yeah. I think you've taken over Percy's spot." Erica nodded slowly.

"Oh wow, top three." Parker smiled.

"Top three." Erica chuckled.

"Come on." Parker walked further into the common room where everyone was cheering.

"It's nice to see those two being friends again." Erica gestured to Harry and Ron.

"For now." Ron chuckled as he and Harry walked over.

"No, the whole 'enemies' thing was a bad look on you."

"I thought it looked good. It gave Ron a style for once." Harry shrugged.

"No, he was looking at you like Percy looks at me." Erica sighed.

"Percy doesn't glare at you Erica." Ron rubbed her back.

"Yes, he does." Erica crossed her arms.

"He's an angsty teenager."

"He won't write back anymore."

"He's busy with the ministry... Don't worry." Ron sighed as Harry was picked up by the older twins.

Erica nodded slowly, trying not to think about it.

"Who wants to see me open it?" Harry held up the egg.

"Yes! Do it!" The whole room cheered.

Harry laughed and opened the egg. The egg then began to screech loudly which caused everyone in the room to cover their ears. Harry quickly closed the egg, looking at it in shock as the older twins lowered him to the ground.

"What the bloody hell was that?!" Ron pointed.

"So... I guess we're not finding out what the egg means so quickly." Neville shook his head.

"Not when it's just screaming at us." Hermione shook her head.

"Everyone go to bed." Fred sighed.

"Great." Erica shook her head.

"Why don't we sleep on it?" George suggested.

"I'm sure we'll all be able to figure it out with some rest." Hermione agreed.

"I can walk you to your common room if you'd like.." Neville suggested to Erica.

"Oh, that would be nice." Erica smiled,"As long as you don't get locked out of here."

"I'll remember the password." He assured her.

"Good, let's go." Erica smiled.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow." Parker waved.

"Did you see what Moody did to Draco?" Neville asked as they walked.

"Yeah, I was there." Erica chuckled.

"You were?" Neville smiled.

"It was amazing."

"What happened?"

"Well- I don't know exactly. But I left him with Harry and Parker and when I got back, Moody had turned him into a ferret."

"That's a nickname." He nodded.

"It was incredible." Erica shook her head.

"If only he stayed that size." Neville sighed.

"Permanently." Erica agreed.

"Maybe we can help Harry together for the egg." Neville looked at her.

"I've already helped once, I don't mind doing it again." Erica hummed.

"Great." Neville stopped outside the Hufflepuff common room.

"Well, goodnight." Erica gave him a small smile.

"Goodnight Erica." Neville waved.

Erica turned away from him and headed inside the Hufflepuff common room.

*********************************

The next day the Herd were sitting at the table, Hermione running up to the table and slammed a newspaper on the table.

"Jesus 'Mione- Warn a girl, okay?" Erica rubbed her eyes

"Look at this." Hermione scoffed,"Miss Granger, an ambitious girl seems to have a taste for famous wizards. Her latest prey is no other than Bulgarian Bon-Bon Viktor Krum." She read from the newspaper

Erica held back a chuckle,"Looks like Rita's found a new target."

"She did it with Harry too." Hermione sat down, looking at Harry,"Harry?"

Harry was looking over his shoulder at the Ravenclaw table.

"He's more interested in someone else. A certain Cho Chang." Ron nudged him.

Harry jumped and spilled the water from his mouth,"What?"

"Admiring Cho?" Ron teased.

"No. I don't like her." Harry shrugged.

"Sure you don't." Erica nodded slowly.

"I don't." He shook his head.

"Harry, none of us are stupid." Hermione sighed.

"Okay... Maybe a little." Harry sighed.

"Could you make it anymore obvious?" Erica raised a brow.

"You're drooling over her." Parker pointed.

"Is it really that obvious?" Harry asked.

"Just a little."

"A little- Look at him!" Erica pointed.

"Ask her out already." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"She has a boyfriend." Erica shook her head.

"Who?" Harry turned.

"Cedric." Erica shrugged,"You didn't know?"

"No, I didn't." He shook his head.

"I thought everyone did."

"He's a little slow." Parker patted Erica's back.

"Again, little?" Erica blinked,"Doesn't Cho make it obvious? I mean, she always reminds me."

"Because you both don't like each other." Patker shrugged.

"I like Cho."

"She doesn't like you though."

"She'll get over it."

"I'm sure she will, hun." Parker sighed.

"Like, I was his best friend first." Erica crossed her arms.

"I know you were."

"And he's my neighbor."

"You tell her that." Parker nodded.

That's when the family bird, Erroll, came flying in.

"Oh god, what now?" Ron sighed as a package landed in front of him.

"Open it up then." Harry nudged him.

Ron sighed and opened the package, lifting out a... Well, it looked like an ugly brown dress.

"Well it does match your eyes." Parker looked at the box,"Is there a bonnet- Ah!" She lifted a bonnet out the bag and held it up.

"Shut it." Ron shook his head,"Erica, I think this is yours."

"I'm good, you can keep it." She shook her head.

"Ginny?" Ron turned to her.

"I'm not wearing that, it's ghastly." Ginny told him.

"They're not for your sisters Ron, they're for you. They're dress robes." Hermione chuckled.

"For the ball?" Ron blinked.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"I have to wear these? To the ball?" Ron sighed,"Kill me now."

"I mean... They'll suit you dancing." Harry hummed.

"Harry, say that with a serious face." Ron gave him a look.

"I can't." He shrugged.

"I hate myself."

"You'll look fine." Hermione assured him,"Now... We all have dancing lessons."

"Ooh, that sounds nice." Erica hummed.

"Not for us." Harry shook his head,"Apparently we have McGonagall."

"Oh, you'll have so much fun." Erica chuckled.

"Come on." Parker got up.

"Have fun~" Erica stood up as well.