Previously...

The objections died down after that. The entire crowd signed the parchment, one at a time, before slowly trickling away, leaving me with Harry, Ron, and Hermione as they cleaned up their stuff.

"That went rather well," Hermione said with a grin as she buttoned her coat. "They all seemed fairly interested."

"It wasn't the worst idea you've ever had," Harry admitted begrudgingly.

"No, it wasn't," I said as I picked up my bag. "I'll see you guys in a few hours, all right?"

Ron frowned. "Where are you going?"

"To see your brother."

Someone had to have squealed.

That was the only explanation. How else could that hag Umbridge have learned about our little secret club? Literally days after our covert meeting in Hogsmeade, a notice was posted, stating that any clubs unapproved by her would have all of the members expelled.

"Who do you think told?" I whispered in a low voice as Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I made our way down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"My money's on Zacharias Smith. The bloke's trouble-"

"Wait. Who is that?" I interrupted.

"That Hufflepuff with the dark hair," Ron said.

"Oh. I didn't really like him."

"Me neither. It easily could have been him! Or Michael Corner-"

Hermione snorted. "Of course you want to blame Ginny's boyfriend. You just don't like that he's with your sister." Apparently, after I'd gone to visit Bill, Hermione had accidentally let it slip to Ron and Harry that Ginny wasn't exactly single.

"He's too old for her!" Ron huffed.

Hermione just rolled her eyes. "Besides, if anyone told Umbridge, I'd know about it. I sort of... jinxed the list that we all signed."

Harry's eyes widened. "Really? That's brilliant!"

"Well then it has to have been someone who was eavesdropping in the pub. Someone with close ties to the Ministry," I reasoned.

"Who cares who told? It's after the fact. The point is, we now have to be extra cautious. We have to watch what we say about this in public," Harry said firmly.

"So we're still going to do it?" We spun around, coming face to face with Neville, Dean, and Ginny, the three of them eagerly awaiting Harry's reply.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, so much for being cautious and watching what we say."

"Of course we're going to do it anyway," Harry breathed.

"Excellent," Fred said, his hand appearing on my shoulder as he and George joined our group. "This should be rather amusing."

"Wait, here come the Hufflepuffs... And Michael Corner," Ron sneered.

I raised an eyebrow. "Uh, should we be seen together?"

Hermione, however, was already on it. "Sit down!" she was mouthing towards the others. "Later! Sit down!"

I turned to the others. "Spread the word, will you? Subtly. We don't need to draw attention to ourselves."

"Right," Ginny said, heading towards the Ravenclaw table. "I'll talk to Michael... and the others." Ron scowled as his little sister approached her boyfriend, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before beginning to speak in hushed tones.

The letter crinkled in my hand, the words swimming together before my eyes. How could this be? Why... Why would he do this? It didn't make any sense, not with what I knew... I glanced down at the words again.

Sorry, Avery. I can't see you tonight. I have to work late. Maybe some other time.

-Bill

Fear flowed through me as I looked up. What if I was right? What if... What if...

I came to with a start, my head jerking slightly as I roused myself from the vision. That was strange, I thought, shaking my head slightly. Why would I be so afraid of Bill working late? Was he hurt? Was I worried that he was going to overdo it? I desperately searched my mind for some clue as to when the vision was to take place, but to no avail.

Glancing around, I realized that the seat besides me was empty. The same seat that Harry usually occupied during History of Magic... I turned to Ron. "Where's Harry?" I whispered.

He gave me a weird look, but answered anyway. "Don't you remember? Hedwig came to the window. Harry says she's hurt. He's taking her to the Hospital Wing."

"Hedwig the bird?"

He rolled his eyes. "How many other Hedwigs do you know?"

"Well excuse me, but it's not every day an owl goes to see a doctor."

Ron snorted. "Maybe in your world."

"So then McGonagall thinks someone intercepted her?" Ron asked as Hermione stood, her arms crossed.

"Yeah." He tilted his head to the side. "You don't seem very surprised..."

"Well what with the escalating war climate, of course more and more owls will be intercepted," Hermione reasoned. "Who was it from, though?"

"Snuffles."

I raised an eyebrow. "Does that mean we're seeing him tonight?"

"Of course-"

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Hermione interrupted, beginning to pace the length of the common room as she spoke. "What if someone else read that letter? What if now they know-"

"Know what?" Harry asked. "That something is happening at the 'same time, same place?' That's hardly enough information for us to be caught."

"I just think we ought to be cautious. What with Death Eaters on the loose, and Umbridge getting more and more strict... We can't take as many risks as we did last year. We need to play it safely, quietly-"

"Thank god for that," I muttered. "I've had enough near-death experiences for awhile, thank you very much."

"You get used to them, after awhile," Ron said, standing up as he grabbed his bag. "Come on, now. Let's head down to potions. No need to get detention for being late."

And so we trekked down to the dungeons, the cool air surrounding us, a chill climbed up my spine as I walked. Something wicked was coming my way, something was going to happen...

"Neville, no!"

The next thing I knew, Harry and Ron had their arms around Neville's waist and were pulling him back, rather forcefully, away from Malfoy. The blond ferret had a look of shock plastered on his face, as if he was surprised by Neville's sudden violence. I turned to Hermione. "What happened?"

She shook her head. "I have no idea. Malfoy was just prattling away about St. Mungo's, and then Neville just snapped."

"Weird," I muttered.

"Very."

I didn't respond, though, because the weirdness I was referring to wasn't about Neville, but about Malfoy. I had been so sure that I'd sensed something cruel and vindictive... Was it Malfoy? But I immediately shook the thought away. No, it couldn't be Malfoy. He may have been a slimy prick, but that didn't make him evil.

Yet.

Maybe I really hadn't sensed anything then, maybe it was just a false alarm... As we filed into the classroom, Snape's voice rang out. "It appears that we have a guest today," he drawled, inclining his head towards a corner.

I swiveled my head, peering into the dark depths of the room... to find Umbridge, perched on her stool. For a moment, a slight grin slid onto my face. I hadn't been wrong; there really was something evil here.

"Instructions," he continued in his normal drawl. "For the Strengthening Solution you will be continuing to make are on the board. You have until class ends. Begin."

A flurry of activity followed his announced, as students stood and hurried to the supply cupboard, desperate to quickly gather their ingredients. Umbridge sat on her little stool in the corner, making notes on that same annoying clipboard as we worked. It wasn't until near the end of the period, however, that things got interesting. Snape was in the process of sniffing at Ron's cauldron, his potion murky green when it should of been blue, when Umbridge approached. "A Strengthening Solution is extremely advanced for students their age. I'll be speaking to the Ministry, to see if we can't get it removed from the course," she said sweetly, causing Snape to straighten up, his eyes narrowing. "However, they seem to be on track, so to speak. Now, how long have you been teaching here at Hogwarts?"

I watched his face out of the corner of my eye, looking for some sign of annoyance or anger. "Fourteen years," he said rather stiffly.

Umbridge made a little note on her clipboard. "And you didn't originally apply for the position of Potions master, am I right? You actually applied first for the Defense Against the Dark arts position?"

His jaw flexed for a fraction of a second, before the smooth facade was back in place. "Correct."

"And you didn't get the job?"

I rolled my eyes to Hermione. "What kind of a question is that?" I muttered.

I could see Snape's patience wearing thin, his sneer deepening as he answered Umbridge, echoing my sentiment. "Obviously."

"And despite the fact that you keep being denied this job, you continue to apply for the post anyway, do you not?"

Hermione and I exchanged glances, amazed with how far this woman was willing to push. Evil bitch... "Yes," Snape said sharply, his eyes narrowing once more.

"And do you know what qualifications you're lacking that are causing Dumbledore to deny you the post again and again," Umbridge asked, a small smile on her face, as if this was fun for her.

"Perhaps you should ask him."

"I will, don't worry."

"I wasn't," he snapped, before rounding on Harry and giving him a zero for the day.

"But I'm sick of charms," I complained, rolling my eyes as Snape demonstrated another spell for me later in the evening. I was once again at my remedial night class, leaning how to do the basics as my peers got to sleep. Though in all actuality, I wouldn't be sleeping, anyway. The meeting with Sirius was in a few hours, and I'd be going straight from my lessons with Snape to see him... I shook my head. "Can't we move on?"

He scowled. "Not until you're proficient," he said dryly. "Which, at this rate, won't be for another year."

"Hey, you said we'd be ready to start the Ultimate Power stuff in a few weeks. Don't go changing the date on me now," I said, shaking my bangs out of my eyes.

"Well then maybe you should work harder. If you have any hope of catching up with your peers, you're going to have to become more diligent and efficient," he snapped.

Though his words were slightly insulting, I just rolled my eyes. "You're just mad because Umbridge chewed you out today."

He blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"You know," I said, waving my hand around. "She questioned your ability to teach. Actually, she kind of made you look like an idiot."

His jaw tightened. "And this information is supposed to make me want to help you?"

"Oh come on," I said lightly, sliding onto one of the desks. "Everyone knows you hate her."

He raised an eyebrow. "And why would you say that?"

"Well because everyone hates her. It's, you know, the circle of life, and all that. People are born, people grow up, people die, people hate Umbridge... It's a rite of passage."

"And it's up there with dying, is it?" he sneered. "Well then aren't I lucky to be partaking in such an eventful rite of passage."

"You know, you can pretend that you're indifferent to her, but the fact is that no one is. She's a cruel person, and even McGonagall can't stand her."

"Well, if Professor McGonagall dislikes her, then of course I shall follow her example," said with a roll of his eyes.

I raised both of my hands in the universal don't-shoot pose. "I was just saying that you could vent to me about-"

"And why, in the name of Merlin, would I ever want to do that?"

I shrugged. "Because we're surprisingly alike, you and I. Both smart, sarcastic, decent at potions-"

"I'm kilometers above decent, you silly girl-"

"I am, or course, nicer, funnier, and friendlier, given that I actually have friends, which is more than you can say-" He opened his mouth to interrupt, but I barreled on. "However, we both hate Umbridge, and I guarantee that we both thought she was completely out of line today."

The anger that had been settling around his features dissipated as he raised an eyebrow. "Do we?"

"Yes. Thus, we share some common ground. You know, something to discuss so these little lessons aren't so awkward." I shrugged, tilting my head to the side. "We could potentially be allies against Umbridge, though we'd, of course, have to keep contact between each other at a minimum. I don't want to accidentally kill you, or something, out of anger."

I was so sure he would growl, or snap at me, telling me to stop messing about and to get back to work. But no. Instead, a corner of his mouth lifted a smidgen, and for a second, I could believe that he was amused. Though, it was just for a second. "Try the spell," he sneered at last.

I stumbled into the common room later that night, the Golden Trio standing at attention in front of the fireplace. However, when they saw that it was just me, they relaxed. Harry turned towards the fire, revealing the head of Sirius Black. "Go on," he said.

Sirius grinned. "Avery," he said with a nod of his head. Then he addressed Harry. "No, I definitely think this defense club of yours is a brilliant idea."

"Really?"

"Yeah!" Sirius said with a roll of his eyes. I sat down on the rug next to Hermione. "Given the nutter that's lurking outside of Hogwarts, waiting to slowly kill us all, learning how to defend yourself might be a decent idea."

"Well when you put it that way," I muttered.

"Umbridge could catch us," Hermione pointed out.

But Sirius just tilted his head to the side. "No doubt she might. But at least you'll be able to defend yourself when you get expelled."

Ron grinned. "I like the way you think, mate."

"Of course you do," Hermione scoffed.

"Now then," Sirius continued. "Where will you hold your meetings?"

Ron, Hermione, and I exchanged looks as Harry shrugged. "No idea."

"What about the Shrieking Shack?" Sirius suggested.

"Right, because no one would notice twenty kids traipsing around the grounds late at night towards the Whomping Willow," I pointed out.

"Besides," Hermione added. "It's too small."

"We could use an empty classroom-" Ron began, but Sirius just shook his head.

"No, that could be even more noticeable than using the Shrieking Shack. If you keep on disappearing late at night into a classroom, students will start to get suspicious. They may think you're using the room for... other purposes." He raised his eyebrows to make his meaning known. Harry and Hermione both blushed as Ron and I rolled our eyes. Neither of us were phased by Sirius' sexual insinuation. Ron did have five older brothers, and I wasn't exactly a virgin...

"Well where do you think we should go, then?" Ron asked.

Sirius frowned. "No idea. Let me sleep on it, and I'll get back to you. Maybe tomorrow. What time do you think-" He stopped speaking his face growing stiff as a sudden feeling of panic sprang through me, rising up from my stomach.

I locked eyes with Harry's godfather, and an understanding went trough us. Something was wrong... "Sirius," I warned, nodding my head. But before I'd even gotten his name out fully, he'd gone, disappeared back into the flames.

"Why did he just-"

Harry stopped speaking suddenly, as a large, bejeweled hand began snatching at the empty air where Sirius' head had previously been poking out of the fire. In a flash, the four of us were standing, yanking our bags from the floor, and bolting for our respective dormitories.

"Merlin! That was a close one," Hermione whispered as we threw our bags to the foot of our beds. "Did you see... Did... The hand-"

Parvati gave a small whimper, twisting in her sleep. Putting my finger to my lips, I drew back the curtain around my bed, ushered Hermione inside, and then followed her, shutting the curtain behind me. Quietly, I took out my wand and cast a silencing spell, allowing for only the two of us to hear what we were talking about. Satisfied, I put my wand back in my pocket. "You were saying?"

But she had just risen an eyebrow. "Someone's caught up in her little magic lessons."

I rolled my eyes. "Snape's a better one on one teacher than he is a group one. Then again, I may just be saying that because when he bites, I bite back." I shrugged. "Either way, the lessons are definitely interesting."

"You know what else is interesting? How Umbridge knew where Sirius would be," Hermione said, lowering her voice automatically. "How on earth could she have guessed what 'Same time, same place' had meant?"

I made a face. "Dumb luck?"

But Hermione shook her head. "She must be watching the fireplaces. That's probably how she knew that someone was there who wasn't supposed to be. She probably had no idea it was Sirius Black, just that it was someone unwanted."

"Can you imagine what she would have done is she had known it was Sirius?"

"Probably stormed the place," Hermione said with a small laugh. "Though if you think about it, she has to realize that Harry was the person Sirius was meeting, given the letter from Hedwig."

I sighed. "Yeah, she's probably got that figured out by now. Which means she'll be suspicious of him."

"Which means she'll be suspicious of us by association," Hermione pointed out.

"Well then," I muttered. "This should be a fun semester."

"I don't know why you even bothered to show up when you're not going to be prepared," Darcy snapped at me, her eyes hardening as I botched up the hip hop routine again.

"Sorry," I said sincerely as I brushed away sweat from my brow. "I'm been so swamped at school. There hasn't really been time-"

"To practice? To get good? To try and improve so we can win?" Darcy shook her head as Tyler and Anderson quickly lowered their eyes, silently lending support to our crew's leader. "You're letting us all down. Your teammates! Have you forgotten what that's like? That winning is why we work so hard? That it's our goal?"

"My life's just hectic right now, Drace-"

"Well I doubt it's going to get any easier," She sneered. "So you need to either learn how to deal, or fall apart completely, but this half-assed thing you're doing isn't working for me." My sixth sense tingled, telling me that she'd said something important, that her words were foreshadowing a major event and that if I could just make the connection... But then she spoke again, and the moment was lost. "Now. Try it again."

Harry contacted me the next day, telling me he'd found a place for us to practice Defense Against the Dark Arts. "Is it big enough?" I asked upon hearing the news. "You know, for, like, twenty people?"

"Hopefully," was his only response.

It wasn't exactly what I'd call reassuring.

However we followed him anyway. The four of us arrived at some deserted corridor on the seventh floor twenty minutes before our intended meeting time. "Well?" Hermione asked. "What now?"

"Give me a minute," he mumbled, pacing back and forth in front of the wall.

"He has no idea what he's doing, does he?" I muttered to Hermione.

"You know, I think I'm inclined to agree with you on this," she whispered back.

"You two have no faith," Ron complained. "He definitely knows what he's doing-" Suddenly, he was cut off... By a door magically appearing in the middle of the empty wall. Ron recovered from the shock of the Secret Door first, and he grinned at us. "Told you."

"So," Harry said, rather awkwardly once everyone had arrived and seated themselves on the floor surrounding him. "Welcome. Glad to see that you've found the place okay."

"It's perfect," Parvati mumbled. "However did you find it?"

"Oh, a little house-elf told me," Harry said quickly, before speaking once more. "Anyway, I think that... Well, to start out we should-" He paused, his eyes widening a bit. "Yes, Hermione?"

Turning from my spot on the floor in between Fred and Ginny, I saw Hermione, her hand up in the air. She smiled at Harry. "We need to elect a leader."

I made a face. "Are you lobbying for the position?"

She blinked. "Not at all-"

"Well then Harry's the leader," Cho Chang said, rather viciously.

"Right, but we should make it more official. Vote on it, and all to make it more proper. So, all for Harry?" Everyone's hands flew up. "Any opposed?" Silence rang out in the room as Hermione nodded with joy.

"Er, okay," Harry said in a surprised manner. "Now that that's done- Yes Hermione?"

"We should have a group name to help promote unity and team spirit," she stated, matter-of-factly. "Not to mention that it will give us something to refer to outside of the meetings. I mean, we can hardly go around talking about The Secret Defense Club, or what not."

Ron snorted. "Is that really important?"

I thought back to what Darcy had said. "You're letting us all down. Your teammates!" Was I really? Was I ruining something special because I didn't feel involved in the team anymore? Was our lack of unity slowly making my team dissolve? No, unity was important. It had to be-

"Are you all right?"

I turned my head, blinking rapidly as Ginny came into focus, an amused expression on her face. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, we're discussing team names. That's the kind of thing you'd have an opinion on. In fact, normally, you'd have shouted your opinion at the top of your lungs by now."

I scowled. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

I sighed. "Can't I just be boring for one day?"

But Ginny just shook her head. "No. Not you. It just doesn't happen."

"Then it's decided," Hermione said rather loudly. "Dumbledore's Army, the DA, is what we shall be referred to as from now on."

"Right then," Harry said, trying to reign in the conversation and to steer it back to the topic of defense. "Now that we're finished with all of that, let's start going over some of the basics. We'll begin with the Disarming Charm, Expelliarmus..."

I sat at The Three Broomsticks, alone in a booth, a butterbeer in my hand as I waited for Bill to arrive. It was Friday night, our usual date night, and it seemed that he was running late. I tapped my foot, cracking my knuckles as I waited. I wanted him to hurry up and arrive! Waiting for him was boring, and I had so much to tell him about the DA-

"Avery!" he said, appearing before me at the booth. He leaned down and I opened my mouth to kiss him, hungry for him after being apart for a week. But in a second, he'd pulled away, leaving me with a surprisingly chaste kiss.

"You're late," I said, raising an eyebrow. He was still standing before me. "What are you waiting for, a veiled invitation? Sit down."

He ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head quickly. "Actually, I can't stay. I have to go back to work. Late night, you know. I would have written to tell you, but Sirius explained to me what happened with Umbridge, and, well, I didn't want to risk my letter being intercepted. You know?"

He was rambling, but I just stared. "So, what? Are you breaking our date?"

"So I can work!" he added quickly. "That's all. I promise... Is that all right?'

"Of course it is. If you have to work, then you have to work. But I'll still see you next Friday, right?" I asked reaching for his hand.

But he was already pulling away, heading for the door. "You know it. See you later!"

And he was gone. Suddenly, I was alone again, with just my weak drink as company. And as I stared after him and towards the door of the pub, I got the feeling that he had just lied to me. He was keeping something from me. No, something wasn't right.

So school has started again, which is fairly depressing. But fear not! I'm still here! I'm really excited for the next chapter; it'll develop Avery's relationship with Bill some more, so it should be fun.

On a different note, a few weeks ago I posted a Ron/Hermione oneshot called Slippery. It's pretty cute, so please go and check it out, and tell me what you think!

Thank you to all of my reviewers last chapter: sailor-tin-foil, The Reader, Hati, GumiBearOnAShortBus, brilliantblonde, tree1138, arrowheadhunter, anonymous, shopoholic06, and julieakaweirdo. I really appreciate it!

So please encourage me to update faster and RER: Read it, Enjoy it, Review it... And I Love it! Really, I do.

Lurve,

-Selene