-1Title: Nothing Will Change.
Summary: What'll happen if a certain member of the trio happens to stumble across the past? Actually, what happens if that certain member falls in love with someone in the past? Will she ever want to return back home? How will Hogwarts manage during the time Miss Granger has left? HrG/RL.
Spoiler: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince references.
Chapter I: Dumbledore's Army.
Chapter Dedication: To my /half/ sister, Caitlin. I will always love you, despite your autism. You're the best to love, you're the best to laugh with, you're the best picky eater I've ever seen. Don't worry. To me, you're my true sister, and not some stupid half-related sibling.
Disclaimers: This fan fiction may appear to be using certain characters from the Harry Potter series, but that's why it's called a fan fiction. In no way am I re-writing the Harry Potter books. This is just my only form of entertainment, awaiting the release of the seventh book.
Author's Note: Click on my profile and visit my homepage for the link to my other fan fiction, "Will You Forget Me?" and you'll also find that there's a link there for a link to my newest fan fiction, the one you are about to read. Enjoy!
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Steam discharge from the familiar scarlet engine as the Hogwarts Express was ready to leave the platform, transferring the students from King's Cross to the whereabouts of the Hogwarts castle. Everyone seemed mostly to be in a rush to aboard the train, not only from the limited amount of time the train had to wait for them, but from the storm that had already been pouring from the gray sky. Lightning seemed to appear every five seconds or so, followed by a roar of thunder within each strike. As soon as Hermione found her way into an empty compartment, followed immediately by Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, they closed the door and attempted to dry off. Hermione had issued steam from the tip of her wand, which helped with drying off her clothes, before getting Harry and Ron to do the same.
Once everything was settled, Hermione had Crookshanks relax on her lap, seeing that she had left him in his cage for quite a while during their drive to the platform. Crookshanks immediately shook off any rain that dampened his tangled ginger fur, and shortly fell asleep, purring ever so lightly. Ron had finally accepted the fact of having Crookshanks around, probably more jealous of the cat being so calm compared to Pig. He had been twittering in his cage that caused quite a racket. However, it wasn't nearly as loud of a noise than what the weather had just outside the train. As soon as the Hogwarts Express pulled away slowly from Platform 9 and ¾, Harry, Ron, and Hermione focused themselves into a conversation.
"Harry, you really did make a good decision with coming back, you know," Hermione began to say as she kept her eye on him. "With everything that's going on… I mean, it just wouldn't be the same without you this year."
Harry stared at her, but gave a weak smile. Honestly, Hogwarts was his home, and always would be. If he was to leave it before reaching his seventh year, it would make him later regret his actions. (Well, he didn't really want to deal with the glances Hermione has been giving him, but she normally said nothing. Mostly, Harry believed Hermione was trying to give her full support with every choice Harry made, but tried not to do much to stop him from doing what he wanted to do.)
"Hermione, you've said that about twenty million times since he's told us he'll be coming back," Ron spoke before Harry could give any comment.
"I know that, Ron," Hermione said, "but I really am glad."
"You just wanted to be back for the school work and to finish your N.E.W.T.s… otherwise, all of that studying would have gone to waste," Ron smirked, hoping to get Hermione to give in, but she said nothing in reply to him.
"I really should be getting to work on destroying all of those Horcruxes," Harry stated.
Hermione turned her head to face the stormy window, before glancing back at Harry. "They're out there, of course… but I'm sure Hogwarts would be safe this year. Headmistress McGonagall," (with much emphasis on Headmistress) "made sure that extra security has been given to the castle. That breakthrough last year seemed to change everything. We all thought Hogwarts was safe."
"Hogwarts is safe," Harry spoke. "I just think Snape was being quite the--"
"Harry!"
"--to betray us and lead Voldemort's followers into Hogwarts quicker than Apparating. And with Dumbledore not there to do anything about it since he was gone with me…"
"Harry, don't go blaming yourself with this," Hermione spoke as calmly as she could. "We can't change what happened. In my personal opinion, I believe that I agree with those who say that we die for a reason. We should still remain loyal to Dumbledore. I agree with how hard it seemed to deal with the fact that Dumbledore was becoming weak, but he's still strong in my view. And for him to remain strong, we who believe in him should stay strong, too. It'll seem as if he never left us."
"Fat chance," Ron muttered.
Hermione sighed. "Honestly, I wouldn't want to be focused with school work this year. Well, for me, at least. I don't know about you two, but I think it's time we bring back the D.A."
Ron's face lit up. Harry's seemed to have, too. In unison, they asked, "Why?"
Hermione scoffed. "It's obvious, isn't it? For one, it'll help us reunite and remain loyal to Dumbledore. And, for another, now that everything is changing before our eyes, it seems as if it's not for the good. To bring back the D.A., we may be saving quite a few more lives. With the D.A., our practicing with defensive spells will definitely make us much more stronger."
"How are we going to do this?" Ron asked.
Another flash of lightning came, followed by a roar of thunder, as Hermione thought of planning the return of Dumbledore's Army. "Well, I thought we might do this even longer than last time. Most of the weekends, we'll spend time with going over the spells we previously used, as a review. This could also help anyone who plans on joining and haven't even been through the D.A. in the first place. Also, we shouldn't keep this much of a secret anymore. This is opened to anyone."
"But what if Voldemort finds out about this?" Harry asked.
Hermione sat in thought. "Hmm. Well, I'm pretty sure he may want to stop us, but… from the way that you've been describing him, Harry, it seems that he may feel he's still superior and with forming the D.A., it'll appear as if it's just some regular Defense Against the Dark Arts class. I can't really say what he'll do, because… well, I'm not him."
"I don't think he'll find this D.A. as some normal class we're taking," Harry shook his head.
"Harry, as I've said, I'm unsure about this. Honestly, I thought this may have been a good plan when I thought of it over the last few weeks of summer. Maybe I haven't put much thought into it."
Ron sighed. He had been watching the storm through the window, but really didn't seem too attentive on the stormy clouds. "You know what?" He turned his attention back to his friends. "We should do it. I mean, who cares about You-Know-Who now! I say we should just do this… for Dumbledore."
Hermione stared at him. "Well, if you agree with the plan, I have an idea on what our first lesson should be. I've thought of this just now. Fearing Voldemort's name is… well, it won't help. That's what Voldemort wants. If it's so much of an issue in the Wizarding World, no wonder why no one has tried to stop him… with the exception of you, Harry, but the point is… Voldemort won't be pleased if one of his followers reports to him that his name is now being said across the Wizarding World. In fact, it may show that he's weakening."
"You've got a point," Harry stated. "I see what you mean. It'll show to Voldemort that he's not the most feared wizard anymore."
"Exactly."
Ron stared at the two. "Well… what are we waiting for then? Are we going to… stop Voldemort or not?"
Harry and Hermione smiled. If they could get everyone else to speak the Dark Lord's name, who knows what might happen! In fact, the three spent the rest of their evening in the compartment, discussing how they were going to bring back the D.A., when they would plan their schedules for meeting, what they might learn in each D.A. lesson… Their conversation lasted until they've arrived at Hogsmeade station where their carriages were awaiting to bring the students to Hogwarts.
McGonagall's decision was to keep Hogwarts opened. The Ministry of Magic, though reluctant, felt that it did not matter to them anymore. They sent out notices to students, and future students, that if they were to return, it was their decision. Promises of strong security placed upon the castle made some of the students want to return. If any student wanted to stay home, then they were free to by all means. Some of the students insisted that they wanted to returns, with much difficulty of persuading their parents.