Ginny kept an eye on the Great Hall doors as she absentmindedly placed food on her plate. Neville watched for a little before finally stopping her when she overstocked on rolls.

"What's going on, Ginny?" he inquired. She glanced at him, a little distracted by Ron and Hermione's entrance sans Harry.

"What, Neville?"

"You're about to eat the entire table, Ginny. What's going on?"

With one more look to the doors, Ginny finally looked at Neville. "I'm sorry. I just…have you seen Harry? I haven't seen him all day."

"Neither have I," said Ron as he sat down across from his sister. His worried expression sent a shiver down Ginny's spine. Even Hermione seemed disconcerted. "He wasn't in any classes. I thought he might have overslept, but when I went back to check on him, he wasn't there."

"Where do you think he went off to?" Neville mumbled.

Every eye turned to the table at the front of the hall where the professors were situated. McGonagall was missing, but so was Eliander Gwinnett, the interim Headmaster sent by the Ministry.

"You don't think he's in trouble again, do you?" Ginny wondered aloud and Ron suddenly looked very alarmed.

"You think Gwinnett-"

"Oh, Ronald, shush." Hermione shook her head. "Firstly, nothing the Headmaster has done so far has given us any reason to suspect he's on You-Know-Who's side. Secondly, even if he was with Gwinnett, notice that Professor McGonagall is gone as well."

"You seem awfully sure he's okay."

"And you seem awfully sure he's off somewhere being tortured. Goodness, Ronald. Not everyone from the Ministry is in league with Him. Stop being a pessimist and have faith that Harry's at least smart enough not to do anything to get himself in trouble. Not with things the way they are."

Ronald huffed for a while, but Ginny did not notice. She was again drawn to the door, but snorted derisively as Malfoy and Zabini entered.

"Here comes Zabini's dog," someone from Ravenclaw called and chuckles erupted all over the Hall. Malfoy, who had in fact been lagging behind Zabini, cast a dark look upon the house table before striding towards the Slytherin table. Ginny noted Zabini's eye roll as he silently joined Malfoy at the table. The others had watched the two as well.

"How the mighty have fallen," Hermione said with significant satisfaction. "It's less than he deserves, being allowed to even be here, but at least he's got it under these terms. Doesn't seem like anyone much wants him around, save Zabini."

"Which is strange, since Zabini doesn't usually follow anyone around," said Luna as she sat down beside Ginny.

"What do you mean?"

"She means nobody's really noticed Zabini until now," Neville piped in. "He's second in class, you know."

Ron grinned and nudged Hermione. "Guess we know who to, huh?"

"Well, they can't be too close," Hermione said, ignoring the flush in her cheeks from Ron's words. She gestured towards the Slytherin table. "Look."

Sure enough, Montague was at it with Malfoy and, like in Hogsmeade, Blaise sat idly by and watched the larger boy shove Malfoy out of his seat. Malfoy leapt to his feet, face hot and wand out. Incoherent words were shouted back and forth and soon people were standing on benches and tables to see the duel that was taking place between the two Slytherins. Ginny couldn't help but notice that Blaise was still sticking to the sidelines, quietly fading out of sight from all. But she saw him. He was simply drifting to be behind Malfoy rather than near Montague. She caught a glimpse of his wand and then suddenly Montague was immobile, but not in a full body bind kind of way. He was frozen in place, wand outstretched and pointed straight at Malfoy. His mouth struggled to form a hex, but seemed to stumble over the words. And it was clear by the look on his face that something very wrong was taking over his body. He dropped the wand and, with a loud yell, rushed for the hall doors. His group of friends snatched up his wand and followed him out, leaving a slightly perplexed Malfoy staring after them.

But Ginny had not missed a beat. She had seen Blaise's lips form the words of the Unforgivable curse that had taken hold of Montague. And it shook her down to the core.

Whether because his new 'companion' enjoyed this superiority that came with having pulled Malfoy's butt out of the fire once more or because the man simply had nothing better to do than hang around the disgraced and ostracized embarrassment, one thing was certain. Blaise looked much too pleased with himself as he strolled along side a fuming Draco.

"I didn't need your bloody help on anything," Draco growled as they ascended a set of stairs towards their next class. "I would have-"

"What? Clammed up?"

Draco cast a disparaging glance at Blaise, though he knew it would do no good. He was used to hearing jibes from the Gryffindor lot, but not from his own and especially not from a man most in Slytherin referred to as the Second Resident Ghost of Slytherin. Though he would die before admit it, it stung to feel this overwhelming disrespect and animosity from those who had called themselves his friends.

Blaise noted Draco's silence and let his amused look fall off. Throwing salt on open wounds was not his policy, whether they deserved it or not.

Draco recovered, however, and a small smile came to his pale features. "Quite a nice bit of magic, though. Wasn't aware you knew those."

Blaise shrugged nonchalantly, not much for praise. Draco nodded anyway in approval. "I bet Montague thinks twice about coming back near us again."

Rolling his eyes, Blaise picked up his pace. Draco was alright as long as he wasn't taking credit for shit he didn't do. Then he was just as annoying as everyone else.

McGonagall waited until Gwinnett left the office to release a sigh of relief. She set her gaze on the young, raven-haired man that sat across from her.

"You are very lucky, Mr. Potter."

"I'd hardly call detention for a week lucky."

She waved her wand at the door to lock it before gesturing to him. "You could have been in much more serious trouble. The Ministry…" Here, Harry looked up curiously. McGonagall shook her head sadly. "Their hold comes stronger everyday, Mr. Potter. I am doing my best to keep them at bay, but I fear that He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named has strengthened his hold irrevocably."

Harry's brow furrowed into a dark frown. "He's getting closer."

McGonagall's eyes flashed with some fear, but it was immediately replaced with determination as she went about reorganizing some things on her desk. "These dark times will get darker. I know…I know that you have lost so much. We asked so much of you at so young an age. I am quite sorry that we could not have prepared you all for what will come."

"Ministry isn't helping." Harry's voice was like venom and the professor was quite shocked to hear it. "They cancelled DADA."

"That was my own doing." At Harry's surprise, McGonagall nodded. "So many students have been pulled, whether because they feel Hogwarts is no longer safe or because they do not trust a Hogwarts without…well, the point is that there are still many students here and, as I'm sure you've witnessed, the motives of some are incredibly ambiguous. To have a class with such an air of animosity hanging would be very dangerous, especially for the older ones. I could not risk it. Friend and foe look to similar now."

"And now we have no way of preparing ourselves," Harry muttered before standing. "They're just leaving us unguarded, aren't they?"

"Mr. Potter," McGonagall called from her desk just as Harry reached the door. "Perhaps I did not make myself clear. A Ministry approved class on defense would certainly be very dangerous. I could never allow a class to exist."

Harry looked back at McGonagall for a moment before leaving. Her words churned over in his head and the more he thought on them, the quicker his pace became. Classes would be over by now, so he sprinted for the Great Hall where he was sure to find Ron and Hermione at dinner. He entered the hall just as Ginny was coming in.

"You look like you've been on a 5K," she commented, touching his face. "Are you okay?"

He nodded and led her to the table where Ron and Hermione already were. Ron's relief let Harry know that he had been missed.

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Sorry. I was just…I needed to get out. But that's not the point." He glanced around and then shook his head. "I need to talk to you all later, okay?"

They all nodded, seeing Harry's anxious expression. In an effort to put some attention off himself, Harry looked around the Great Hall.

"Where's Malfoy?"

The expressions of his friends immediately shifted to nervous excitement. "You didn't see what happened this afternoon," Ron said. "Malfoy and Montague got into it during lunch."

"They've been at each other since Malfoy showed up, but Montague's been pushing hard."

"I'm not surprised," Harry said. "I'm sure Montague's heard how much of a disappointment Malfoy is."

"He used an Unforgivable."

Every eye turned to Ginny. She flushed and shook her head. "Not Montague. Zabini. I saw him do it."

"Are you sure, Ginny?" Hermione looked incredibly worried and rightly so. "Which one?"

"The Imperius Curse."

Ron shook his head. "I don't believe it."

"What, that he did it?"

"He's in a crowd full of people! Somebody would have noticed!"

"I noticed, Ron!"

Cheeks tinged pink, Ron glared at his sister. "I mean, someone near him would have noticed! It's not like you could mix it up with another curse."

"How do you explain Montague suddenly running away?"

"He ran away?" Harry interjected and Hermione nodded.

"He just kind of froze for a second and then ran out of the hall. It was strange. I thought maybe he had been put in a body bind, but…the Unforgivable makes more sense."

"Not just an Unforgivable," Ginny added. "He did it by just mouthing the word. He didn't have to say it aloud and he barely moved his wand!"

An uneasy feeling washed over the small group as they all turned to the doors to see Malfoy walk in, Zabini with him. Harry frowned, remembering his brush with Zabini's foot.

"How dangerous do you think he is?" he heard Ginny mumble just as Zabini's eyes darted towards the Gryffindor table.

"Well, he was brazen enough to perform an Unforgivable curse on a classmate in a room full of witnesses," Hermione said. "I think it's safe to assume he's fairly dangerous."

Appetite gone and anxious to share what had happened with the professor, Harry stood up and gestured for the others to follow. When they arrived in the commons, they found a quiet corner for Harry to convey his thoughts.

"I think McGonagall wants me to start up the DA club."

They all stared at him with some surprise. Hermione shook her head.

"Harry-"

"We're not getting Defense classes this year and we all know what happened last year," Ron interrupted, already on board. "We need a way to prepare ourselves. Sitting around on our hands waiting for You-Know-Who isn't going to help."

Harry's expression reflected his surprise at his redheaded friend's words and the startled look it put on Hermione's face. Ginny touched Harry's hand, worry flashing in her eyes.

"Harry, are you sure? It's dangerous for you-"

"Doing nothing is dangerous," he snapped and she retracted her hand. He sighed, giving her an imploring look. "Ginny…there's nothing left. With…" His throat tightened at the thought of the departed Headmaster. When Ginny leaned in, he shook his head vigorously and sat up straight with a new blaze in those tired green eyes. "I'm not going to sit and do nothing. He would want…he would want us to do something."

A solemn mood fell over the small group at the thought. Ron noticed the tears that formed in Hermione's eyes and quietly took her hand, squeezing it.

"We do this for him," he muttered and Hermione nodded sadly.

"You're right, Harry. He would want us to do something. Not just sit idly."

"So we do this?" Ginny said, pulling out a galleon. Ron's eyes widened.

"You've had that the whole time?"

Rolling her eyes, Ginny handed it over to Harry. "Not all of us throw things away, Ronald."

"I didn't throw it away!"

"Then where is it?"

Cheeks red, Ron scowled at his sister. Before he could open his mouth, Hermione had interjected with, "Do you think all the old members will still have there's?"

"If they're like Ron," Ginny muttered.

"We can spread the word by mouth," Hermione said quickly before Ron could get a word in. "I know several students who want to practice defense."

Harry nodded, turning the galleon over in his fingers. "When, though?"

"With Gwinnett watching, it'll be difficult. I'm certain that as soon as he gets a whiff of this club, things will come down like Umbridge."

Ron winced. "That wasn't pleasant."

"Of course not, Ron." Hermione sighed. "With things the way they are, we'll have to be extra careful. Can you imagine what may happen if we were caught?"

"Let's make it Thursday," Harry said, waving his wand over the galleon. "We'll spread the word to those who won't have the coins."

"What will we do, though?"

Eyes turned to Ron, who blushed and rolled his eyes. "I mean, what will we do in the club? What kind of spells?"

Harry's brow furrowed. "Most everyone at this stage knows some basic disarming and freezing spells. Maybe shield stuff…last time we worked on Patronuses."

"Why don't we start with that and work from there," Hermione said, already scribbling things down. "Review is the best way to figure out where everyone is at."

Harry nodded. "Okay. But, remember. We have to keep this quiet. Professor McGonagall already warned me about the Ministry. This has to stay out of sight or we'll have serious problems."