Author's Note: First off I have to tell you how incredibly lucky we all are. A few weeks ago, my computer crashed and this story looked to be doomed. That's right, doomed, as in gone. But thanks to my wise mother, it was saved with the help of some computer technicians. So now I'm back with another chapter! I know, you can all groan now. Anyway, thanks to Nitya and Kalie for being my beta readers and also a special thanks to the Wonks for getting me through this tough time. This chapter is dedicated to all of them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
PREPARATIONS AND PREJUDICES
December's weather was as cold and bitter as late November's had been. By the end of the second week in December, many of the students around Hogwarts were getting colds and had to receive some Pepper-Up Potion from Madam Pomfrey. Students with steam pouring out of their ears were not an uncommon sight.
One fourth year Ravenclaw girl was so busy trying to cover up the steam pouring out of her ears that she ran right into Harry as he was heading to Dumbledore's office for his Occlumency lesson.
"Sorry," she said hurriedly and then looked up at Harry. "Oh!"
"Don't worry about it," said Harry bemusedly. "Are you okay?"
"Me? Yes-er-I'm fine, Mr. Potter," she replied, blushing.
Harry blushed too. "You can call me Harry," he told her, causing her to blush even more.
"I'm Sinead," she replied. "Sinead Cassidy."
"Nice to meet you," Harry said with a smile. "I hope you feel better soon, although I'm sure that Pepper-Up Potion is doing its job."
Her face was as red as a cherry. "Er-thanks, Harry."
He smiled again. "Well, good-bye."
"'Bye," she murmured as Harry walked away, continuing on his way to Dumbledore's office.
He muttered the password and rode up the stone steps before knocking on the door and waiting to enter.
"Come in," called Dumbledore and Harry entered to find Cornelius Fudge sitting in the chair Harry usually sat in before beginning his Occlumency lessons.
"It looks like I've showed up at a bad time," Harry murmured.
"Yes. Unfortunately, Harry, we will have to wait until next time. But I do suggest you continue working," Dumbledore told him.
"Yes, sir," Harry replied. Wondering what Fudge wanted out of Dumbledore, he turned around and left, rushing back off to the common room to talk to Ron and Hermione.
"He must be feeling the pressure finally," Hermione said matter-of-factly after Harry told her and Ron about Fudge.
"And he should, shouldn't he?" Ron said. "I mean, how many blunders has he made when it comes to You-Know-Who?"
"Exactly," Hermione said. "The public is now against him. They blame him for not listening to Harry and Dumbledore and now everyone's paying the price. It's only a matter of time…"
*****
Several days passed since Fudge's visit to Dumbledore. Harry managed to get in another Occlumency lesson and at it Professor Dumbledore asked him a question.
"So, when are you having another one of those 'Army' meetings?"
"Huh? Oh-that! Er…quite frankly I'm not sure, Professor," Harry replied, shuffling his feet.
"Well, official clubs meet every so often," Dumbledore said with a bemused expression on his face. "Perhaps it is time for the D.A. to meet again."
"Yes, sir. Maybe the Friday of the next Hogsmeade weekend," Harry suggested.
"Ah, that would be this weekend then," Dumbledore murmured. "You had best get word out."
"Yes, sir," Harry said and took his leave so that he could prepare.
The next day, Professor McGonagall swooped up and down the Great Hall, getting the names of those who would be staying over the winter holiday. Harry, Ron, and Hermione signed up immediately.
"Mum and Dad won't be pleased," Hermione told them, "but I'm going to tell them that I have a lot of studying to do and that as a prefect Hogwarts needs me over the holiday."
Ron smirked. "Lying to them now, are we?"
"I'm not lying to them!" Hermione said indignantly.
"Well you aren't exactly telling the truth," Ron said with a snicker.
Hermione glowered and before she could say anything, Harry said, "Y'know Ron, it sounds like you don't want her to stay here with us."
Ron gaped. "What? Of course I do! I was just…I was just…"
Hermione's anger melted away into a giggle. "Stop while you're ahead, Ron."
"So I've been wondering," Harry said quietly. "D'you reckon all of the D.A. members kept those charmed Galleons we had last year?"
"I dunno," Ron replied. "I still have mine."
"So do I," Hermione said vaguely and began to look around. She scanned the Hall, gave a little shrug, got up, and walked over to the Ravenclaw table where Luna Lovegood, Michael Corner, Terry Boot, and Padma Patil were sitting.
"What's she doing?" Ron asked.
"I have no idea," Harry replied.
She returned two minutes later with a smile on her face. "Well, they all kept theirs, so hopefully everyone else did. What's your plan, Harry?"
"They did? Good. My plan is to inform them when the next meeting is and spread the information by word of mouth. I reckon it will work, don't you?"
"Perhaps. It could alienate a lot of students though-younger students," Hermione pointed out.
"We could put a sign up in the common room," Ron said.
"And what about Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin students?" Hermione asked.
Ron's eyes widened in horror. "You actually want Slytherins there?"
Hermione gave an exasperated sigh. "Ron-have you been listening to Dumbledore at all? This school needs to be unified. If we exclude the Slytherins we-"
"We'll lose two hundred students in the fight against You-Know-Who," Ron finished dully. "I listen to you, believe it or not."
"I'm amazed," Hermione muttered.
*****
By the end of classes, Harry walked down to Professor Lupin's office to ask if he could borrow the room again.
"Ah, Harry, come in," Lupin said when he opened the door. "What can I do for you?" he asked when Harry stepped in.
"Well-er-I was hoping to have another D.A. meeting tomorrow-"
"Say no more. The room is yours. Besides, the mandate is that every student organization must have a teacher to supervise, so I will be more than happy to do so," Lupin said with a smile.
"Great. Thanks, Professor."
"Of course."
Harry left and headed to the library, where he was to meet Ron and Hermione.
"Ugh! This Transfiguration essay is impossible!" Ron groaned when Harry took a seat.
Hermione ignored him. "Did you get the room?" she asked Harry.
"Yeah. Lupin's happy to let us use it," Harry replied as Ron glared daggers at the reference book he was using.
"I figured he would. He seems to think the D.A. is an excellent idea," Hermione said.
"Yeah, he and Sirius gave me all of those defense books last year, remember?" Harry said as Ron jabbed the parchment he was writing his essay on with his quill, blotting ink all over, causing him to swear viscously.
"Yes, he did," Hermione said, nodding. "Plus clubs are an excellent way to unify the Houses, which is what Hogwarts is truly after. You're doing your part, Harry." At that point, Ron grabbed his wand and smacked it against the parchment, igniting it.
"Eh, I just want to prepare people for the war," Harry replied and Ron quickly put out the fire.
"Exactly. Unity is an added bonus. Ron, will you stop playing around and actually study? This is a library after all," Hermione scolded. Ron gaped at her, his mouth opening and closing like a fish's.
"Come on," Harry said, "let's go back to the common room. Maybe Ron will be able to concentrate more there."
At that, Ron crumpled the ruin that was his Transfiguration essay. They all stood up and left the library, heading up towards the seventh floor, but before they got there they heard some snickering coming from one of the corridors, followed up by a male voice saying, "What are you going to do now, Mudblood?"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione quickly followed the fresh bout of snickering and found five fourth year Slytherin boys surrounding a smaller figure. "Hey!" Harry yelled.
The Slytherin boys turned around. "Look boys, it's the great Harry Potter," said a chubby brown haired boy.
A weasel-looking boy beside him sneered. "And his little sidekicks, the Mudblood and the Muggle-lover, are with him."
"Watch your mouth," Ron spat.
"What's going on here?" Hermione demanded.
The chubby boy cackled. "We don't answer to Mudbloods, Mudblood."
Harry whipped out his wand and pointed it at the boy's throat. "Then you'll answer to this," he said in a deadly whisper. "You!" he said to the person beyond the Slytherins. "Come here."
A girl emerged from the crowd and ran over between Harry and Ron. Suddenly, someone burst around the corner. "Siobhan!" a girl exclaimed.
Harry turned to see the girl he had met a few days ago, Sinead Cassidy, running towards the girl. The girl ran over to Sinead and hugged her fiercely. "Are you okay?" Sinead asked. The girl, Siobhan, nodded weakly.
"What did they do to you?" Harry asked her, not moving his wand away from the boy's neck.
"He threatened to dunk me into a toilet," the girl said and began to sob.
Harry's eyes blazed as he turned back to the boy. "You slimy piece of-"
"That will be a detention for all of you," Hermione said, cutting Harry off. "Names-now!" she demanded.
"Morgan, Youngblood, Simms, Zervas, and Shelton," Sinead said, eyeing each one of the Slytherin boys.
"I will be informing Professor Snape," Hermione murmured. "Get back to your common room."
The boys looked at Hermione in disgust, then to Harry with his wand pointed at them. Obviously deciding it was better to follow Hermione's instructions than get hexed by Harry, they turned and left. Harry lowered his wand.
"Bastards," Ron murmured.
Hermione sighed. "I have to go to Professor Snape's office." She frowned at that and turned to the Cassidy sisters. "You two had better get back to your common room as well. Harry-Ron, I'll see you soon."
Harry and Ron turned in the opposite direction and continued on their way to Gryffindor Tower. Along the way, Ron was cursing the Slytherins.
"Unity," he spat and then cursed so strongly that even the portraits on the walls cringed.
"Watch your mouth, sonny!" an elderly lady wearing a monocle scolded
"Bite me," Ron suggested as they passed her.
The portrait gasped. "Why I never!" she exclaimed as Ron rolled his eyes.
"So Harry," Ron went on, trying to forget about the Slytherins, "the ball is about a week away…any idea who you're asking?"
"Nobody at the moment," Harry replied. "I mean, we don't need dates, do we?"
"It would be nice though," Ron said.
Harry gave him a shrewd look. "Who are you asking?"
Ron's ears went red. "Well I…I-er-I have an idea…I just haven't gotten around to asking her yet," he said sheepishly.
Harry chuckled. "You better hurry, mate, or someone else might ask this girl of yours. Speaking of girls…we haven't heard anything about Hermione or Ginny when it comes to dates, have we?"
"Ginny's going with her boyfriend," Ron scowled. "I swear, if that Finch-Fletchley does anything to her…"
"Relax, Ron," Harry said soothingly. "We know Justin; he's okay."
"We thought the same thing about Dean too, remember?" Ron muttered.
"I have a feeling there's more to the story than what meets the eye," Harry said as they approached the Fat Lady. "Red nose," he murmured and the portrait swung forward to admit them.
"Ginny told us what happened," Ron said as he climbed into the common room.
"But she was being rather vague, wasn't she? I dunno, maybe I'm just being stupid," Harry said, heading up to the boys' dormitory, Ron following right behind him.
"She just needs to choose her boyfriends more wisely," Ron said, glancing at Harry.
Harry chuckled. "The overprotective big brother mode never leaves you, does it?"
"If you had a little sister, Harry, you'd understand perfectly," Ron said and laid down on his bed. "I'm tired. I think I might turn in early."
"You do that. Good night, Ron," Harry said and grabbed his mother's diary from underneath his pillow.
"What's that book you're reading?" Ron asked, his eyelids drooping.
"Just something I found," Harry replied. He didn't think Ron would understand his urge to read his mother's diary. The redhead, Harry feared, would probably laugh at him.
"Oh, okay," Ron said with a yawn.
"I'm going to go back downstairs," Harry told him. "See you later."
"Uh-huh," Ron said.
"Don't forget to do your Transfiguration essay," Harry said with a grin and at Ron's groan, he left.
Settling himself into a seat, he opened the diary just as the portrait opened and Hermione entered. "I don't know if Snape believed me, but he's going to force those boys to go with their detentions."
"Good," Harry said.
Hermione saw the diary in Harry's lap. "Reading again, are you? How far along are you?"
Harry looked down at the date. "Would you believe I'm already into her second year?"
"Her second year? Really?" Hermione said, sitting down next to him. "That's great. What's she like?"
"She's exactly like what everyone says she was like: kind, caring…" Harry sighed. "I wish I had known her."
Hermione looked at him in pity for a moment before leaning over and wrapping her arms around him. "I'm sure she's very proud of the young man you've become," she said quietly.
"I hope so," Harry said just as quietly. "I hope they both are."
Hermione pulled back and looked at him straight in the eye. "They are," she said firmly.
Harry frowned slightly. "How do you know?"
"Why wouldn't they be?" Hermione asked back.
"My mom was into academics and my dad was into mischief. My marks aren't the greatest and I doubt I have made any of the Marauders proud," Harry said.
"Your marks are good," Hermione countered. "A little more study time and I'm sure you could do very well. I mean, you received ten O.W.L.s, didn't you? That's excellent! As for the Marauders…didn't you ever see the pride in Sirius's eyes when he looked at you? Professor Lupin looks at you the same way. I'm sure your father would too."
Harry sat back and sighed. "I just don't know."
"They're proud of you, Harry, I know it," Hermione said.
"So," she went on, "are you ready for tomorrow and for next Friday?"
"Yeah, I'm ready for tomorrow. I'm not exactly ready for next Friday though," he replied.
"Why not?" she asked.
"Ron seems to have it in his head that we all need dates. I, quite frankly, don't want the hassle again. If I'm going to go with someone, I want to make it a friend and not some girl I may like because I don't want to be nervous or anything. I just want to relax and have a good time."
Hermione smiled. "Isn't that everyone's goal? To have a good time?"
"I can't do that if I am wondering about what to talk about with my date. Friends make things casual. Hermione," he said, turning to her, "who are you going with?"
Hermione laughed. "I'm in your boat, Harry. I'm not going with anyone. I'm content to be with my friends-I don't need a date."
Suddenly, an idea sprung into Harry's mind. "Well, why don't we go together? That way we know we'll both have a good time, we won't have any trouble with conversations, and Ron won't bug us about not having a date."
Hermione turned a bright red. "You want me to be your date?"
"Sure," Harry said and suddenly felt a little self-conscious. "Unless you don't want to, of course."
"No, no, I do. It sounds like a good idea. I'd love to be your date, Harry," Hermione said, turning crimson again.
Harry smiled. "Great. It's all settled then." He picked the diary up off his lap. "D'you want to read this with me?"
Hermione gave Harry a blank look before murmuring, "Sure," and leaning closer to him to read.
*****
The next morning, Harry and Ron got dressed and went down to meet Hermione in the common room before heading down to the Great Hall to begin their day. They found Nearly Headless Nick floating gloomily along outside the doors.
"Hey, Nick," Harry greeted. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, it's of little consequence," Nick said, a scowl forming on his pearly white features. "I just wish people wouldn't make such reckless mistakes."
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.
"Well, after Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore was sacked, I received a letter stating that I would be admitted into the Headless Hunt," Nick said.
"That's great!" Harry said with a grin.
Hermione only frowned. "And then what happened?"
Nick sighed. "I received a letter yesterday stating that it was all a mistake and that as I am not completely headless I cannot join the Hunt. They're toying with me, that is for certain," Nick said indignantly. "Now, if you'll excuse me…" He floated off.
"Mental," Ron muttered and walked inside the Great Hall.
"Poor Nick," Hermione murmured and followed Ron. Harry glanced at the ghost one more time before following her.
"So, Harry," Ron said, sitting down, "I was thinking about how we both need dates…here's my plan: if we don't have dates by Monday night, we'll spend Tuesday asking anyone and everyone."
Harry laughed. "Sorry, Ron, but I actually found a date," he told him.
Ron looked stunned. "Really? Who?"
"Hermione," he replied, nodding towards her. "We decided it would save us both a lot of hassle if we just went together. No awkwardness, no boredom-it will be good."
Ron had turned a bright red at the mention of her name. "Really?" he said in a squeaky voice. "That's…that's a great idea."
"Are you okay Ron?" Hermione asked as she dished up breakfast for all three of them.
"Bloody fantastic," Ron croaked and gave them a rather forced grin. "Why wouldn't I be okay?"
Hermione frowned and didn't reply while Harry just shrugged. "So it looks like you'll be the one finding a date by Tuesday," he said.
Right at that moment, Hunter, Dylan, Ally, and their friend Laura walked up next to Harry. "Harry," Hunter said, "there's a rumor going around that there's to be another D.A. meeting tonight. Is that true?"
"Yeah," Harry replied. "Same time, same place."
Hunter nodded. "Great. See you then."
Harry grinned. "Okay."
The four first years walked down the table and sat while Harry, Ron, and Hermione finished up their breakfast.
"Let's go get ready," Hermione said and got up. Harry and Ron followed her out.
*****
The day went by quickly and before Harry knew it, he was walking to Professor Lupin's classroom with Ron and Hermione for the D.A. meeting. Butterflies began to rise in his stomach again.
"Hey Harry! Harry!" someone called from behind them.
Harry turned to see Sinead and her little sister Siobhan running up towards them. "Hello," he said and gave them a small smile.
"Is it true? Do you really run a Defense club?" Sinead asked, her brown eyes shining.
"Er-yeah," Harry replied, feeling some color rise onto his cheeks.
"Wow. Mind if we come?" she asked, motioning to her sister.
"Not at all," Hermione replied, smiling. "The more the merrier."
Sinead grinned. "Great! Thanks!"
"In fact," Hermione told them. "We're heading to it right now, if you'd like to join us."
"Sure!" Sinead said happily and, with her sister, followed along behind Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
When they entered Lupin's room it seemed to be, if possible, more full than it was the last time. Harry gulped.
"Knock 'em dead, mate," Ron said with a grin and gave him a shove to the front of the classroom.
Professor Lupin smiled from his place in the corner as Harry turned to face the crowd gathered inside the classroom, which went silent the moment he skidded to the front of the class.
"Erm-hello," he said to everyone lamely, then cleared his voice and willed his nervousness to leave him. "Welcome back to those who were here last time and welcome to those who weren't. Er-I was planning on doing a slight review of the Disarming Spell and then move on. So-er-partner up and start disarming. Remember, it's 'Expelliarmus.' Good luck."
Everyone immediately followed his instructions and soon the room was filled with people shouting the Disarming Spell. Harry walked around, praising people or correcting them. Then, after about fifteen minutes, he called their practice to a halt.
"So, who thinks they have the Disarming Spell down pretty good?" he asked.
Several raised their hands and Harry scanned them. Finally his eyes rested upon a boy his own age off towards the left side of the group. "You," he said, nodding to the boy. "What's your name?"
"Zabini," he replied. "Blaise Zabini."
It was then that Harry realized that he had found a Slytherin. "Er-well, Blaise, would you please come here?"
Blaise Zabini stepped away from a smaller Slytherin boy who looked exactly like him and walked up next to Harry. "Yes?"
Harry got out his wand. "I'd like to see how well you know the Disarming Spell," Harry replied, raising his wand, as did Blaise. "On the count of three…one-two-three!"
"Expelliarmus!" they both shouted.
Their spells hit each other head on and bounced off, hitting two other people, causing their wands to fly. Harry nodded in satisfaction. "Very nice. Thanks, Blaise."
Blaise simply nodded and then returned to his spot next to the smaller boy. Harry turned back to the group. "That sometimes happens," he explained, "when two people say a spell at the same time. Anyway, time to learn a new spell…
"I would teach you how to stun somebody, but I'm not going to teach you how to knock out your opponent yet. Instead, I will teach you how to slow them down. It's a very nifty jinx and it has come in quite handy several times for me-the Impediment Jinx.
"So, every repeat after me, please…Impedimenta!"
"Impedimenta!"
"Very good. So here's what I want everyone to do with their partners: one will run at the other and the other will shout, 'Impedimenta!' If all goes well, your partner will slow down. Everybody ready? Right-off you go."
Soon people were running and others were shouting the incantation to the Impediment Jinx. Harry was pleased to see how well most of them were doing. Other, naturally, were having a bit of trouble.
"Impedimenti!" shouted Ally Warrick's friend, Laura.
"No, it's 'Impedimenta,' Laura," Harry corrected.
"Oh-right. Sorry," she murmured sheepishly.
Harry grinned. "It's quite alright. It can take awhile to get some of these spells and considering you're a first year, I'm actually very impressed."
Laura blushed. "Thanks, Harry."
He smiled and walked away, watching other people, until his eyes fell upon someone he had not expected to be there: Cho Chang. He was about to walk away, but she turned at that precise moment and their eyes met. She gave him a small smile and then walked over to him.
"Hello, Harry," she said.
"Hello, Cho," he returned, a little wary of her. After all, the last time they had spoken to each other, she had slapped him.
"It's nice to see the D.A. together again," she murmured, looking around.
"Yeah," he said and then asked before he could stop himself, "What are you doing here?"
She faced him again, but the anger he expected to see was not prevalent on her face. "We acted like little children the last time we spoke," she said. "I'd like to be friends, Harry. I don't want to fight."
"Neither do I," Harry said quietly. "I'm sorry I said such a horrible thing about you regarding Cedric. I was completely out-of-"
"It's okay," she murmured. "Part of me now believes you were right."
Harry frowned and was about to reply when suddenly the door burst open and the blonde-haired and blue-eyed Mara Frost entered with a hard, cold look on her face. Her eyes did a sweep around the room and she murmured, "So it's true."
Harry, against his will, stepped forward. "Can I help you?" he asked.
Her eyes narrowed and became even more icy as she glanced down at Harry. "I was under the impression that clubs cannot be run by students, Potter, and therefore this club is illegal. Plus, it goes against the Educational Decrees made last year."
"Those Educational Decrees were repealed, if I remember correctly, Frost," said Lupin loudly from his corner. He walked towards the back of the room where Harry, Cho, and Frost stood. "And the rules for clubs are that they must have a teacher to advise them. I am the advising teacher for this club, so it is perfectly legal."
"It is not ethical to have a sixteen-year-old boy teach his fellow students dangerous spells," Frost spat.
"He isn't teaching them 'dangerous' spells," Lupin said evenly. "I would never let him teach a spell that could possibly harm the students."
"And what spells has he taught them already?" she asked.
"The Disarming Spell and the Impediment Jinx, that's all," Lupin told her. "No harm there."
She turned to Harry. "What are your next plans?"
"I was thinking about the Leg-Locker Curse, the Jelly Legs Jinx, and perhaps the Full Body Bind," Harry said. "I don't understand what could be wrong with those spells."
"There's nothing wrong, Harry," Lupin said. "Nothing illegal is happening here, Frost. There are no Death Eaters among us. You can go back to your patrolling now."
She scowled at him. "Y'know, Lupin, you've become as arrogant and superior as Potter and Black were. And where has that gotten them? Dead, that's where!"
"Get out!"Lupin roared as all of the students watched the two. Beside Lupin, Harry was shaking in anger. "Get out or I'm going to speak to Dumbledore about you!"
Frost snorted. "How mature," she muttered and with one final glare at Harry, she spun on her heal and left.
Lupin turned back to the group and looked around. "That's all for tonight. Everyone, get back to your common rooms."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione quickly left with everyone as they all charged out the door.
"What in blazes do you think that was about?" Ron asked.
"I dunno," Harry said angrily, pushing his way through the students.
"She had no right to barge in on us," Ron said, following Harry. "What's with her?"
Harry stopped so abruptly that Ron ran into him. "She hates me," he said. "I don't know why, but she hates me, and she hates Lupin too. The question is, why?"
"Who knows?" Hermione said from beside Ron. "Did she go to school with Professor Lupin and your parents?"
"Yeah, she did," Harry said. "I don't know who hates me more, her, Voldemort, or Snape."