Finally updated. Sorry it's aken me a long time to get back in to writing fanfic, everything here has changed so much lol. Please read and review!

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Chapter 10

Dumbledore's Army

Restless Nights Pt. 2

When Harry and the other Gryffindor boys burst in to Professor Snape's office, the last thing they expected to find was Fred rolling around on the floor wrestling a poor defenceless House Elf (who looked more than upset about the whole thing), and George rummaging around in the ingredients store cupboard. Most surprising of all was Professor Cavill, who was stood just outside the store room with arms full of ingredients that either George intended to use, or which were in the way. Harry coughed, discreetly. The three conspirators turned sharply to look at their gate crashers. Relieved to see their brother, the twins began a tirade of explanations, only a few of which the boys heard. Amongst them was the notion that Snape had in fact stolen some of the twin's ingredients for himself, to use in his "evil potions of death". Ron expected nothing less of his brothers; he was more interested in why Nigel Cavill was helping them. All eyes fixed on Nigel.

Nigel laughed nervously. "I was hoping to find Snape, but happened upon these two. Figured I had nothing better to do so why not give them a hand?"

Dean tilted his head somewhat confused. "I thought Professors were supposed to make sure we don't do things like this…."

Nigel smiled wisely, "but then we'd never have any fun would we? Anyway, everybody back to your dormitories now if you don't mind…" The teens narrowed their eyes and stood motionless for a moment. Nigel furrowed his brow, "Now!" Hesitantly, the group sauntered off back to their dormitories; Harry forged the Professor one last look, questioning his sanity, before leaving Nigel alone with the twins. "You two also better scurry off. I don't think you'll find your wortweed in here."

Simultaneously, the twins sighed. "Fine, well thanks anyways", with that the twins dejectedly sauntered from the room. Nigel frowned and looked to the stash of potions in his arm. Knowing his luck Snape would walk through the door any minute. Hurriedly, he placed all the ingredients back in what he assumed were the right places. He then turned his attention to his original mission, finding the drafted potion Snape had been bragging about in the staff room.

* * * Girls Dormitory * * *

Meanwhile in the girl's dorm, Ginny found herself lying in bed, tossing and turning from frustration. Her hair, which was still damp from her shower earlier, was sticking to her face. She just couldn't get comfortable.

"It's like when I see him, I just get this excited feeling, like I've just been told I have a surprise and I'm not sure what it is…" Lavender giggled. Parvati playfully threw a cushion at her.

"Come off it! You need to just pluck up some courage and ask him. What's the worst that could happen?"

Lavender shrieked excitedly. "What do you think Ginny? Would you mind?"

Ginny groaned and threw herself upright. "Just ask him already! I don't care. Just stop talking about how delicious you find his calf muscles!" With that Ginny exaggeratedly fell back into her mattress.

Lavender and Parvati shared a knowing look. They both smiled and then squealed excitedly. Ginny powerlessly pulled her duvet over her head and buried herself into her pillow.

* * * Draco and Luna * * *

"Do you ever want to dye your hair?" Luna asked Draco who was beyond exhausted of her stupid questions.

"No!" he spat venomously. "Do you?" He looked at her hair. It was near enough the same colour as his. Luna shook her head happily. She was just pleased to have someone new to talk to.

"No, although I did once get my hair cut. It was awful….. I cried for days." Her sentence trailed as if her mind was somewhere else.

"That bad?" Draco asked blandly. The pair was stealthily dodging from rock to wall to tree, following their professors, who seemed to be heading towards the Whomping Willow. It was just past mid night, perhaps the most daunting time to be hanging around the edges of the Forbidden Forest. Draco looked back into the eerie blackness of the forest boarder. Shudders ran up his spine. The fruit loop Luna was stilling banging on about her haircut. He looked at her blankly.

"And so then I was bald for the next three days until my father could find the right ingredients to grow my hair back… It really was a difficult time." Draco narrowed his eyes confused.

"Right…"

"Shhhh!" Luna hushed. Draco was about to complain about the extent of his conversations compared to hers however she silenced him further with her hand. She pointed to their Professors who were descending into the roots of the Willow tree.

Draco closed his eyes painfully, remembering his past experiences of the Whomping Willow. "I'm not going in their!" He exclaimed.

Luna shook her head dismally. "Fine, I'll see you about then".

"No you won't", Draco retorted. It fell on deaf ears however. In fact, it didn't fall on anyone's ears. Before Draco could even comprehend how, Luna had somehow managed to get herself into some weird dialogue with the tree. His eyes widen. She really was a lunatic!

* * * Hogsmead * * *

Hermione found herself being dragged through the streets of Hogsmead, rather than walking. Jasper had a tight grip on her arm. He seemed rather keen on her leaving the sleepy village. "You know I can walk by myself right?" She asked him, somewhat irritated by his behaviour. Jasper didn't turn to look at her. Nor did he reply. Hermione struggled against him, trying to scratch at his hand. This did cause him to stop.

"You're a slayer", he mused with a perplexed look on his face. Hermione found the way his brow furrowed quite alluring. "If your only arsenal is scratching me, then you are a hopeless case." He then continued to pull her towards the Shrieking Shack. Hermione didn't bother trying to reply. There was no point. Anyway, she had always felt that it is better for someone to be expecting less of you than more. And at the moment she felt like winning Jasper's approval, rather than disappointing him. "How are you feeling anyway?" he asked darkly, trying to ignore the smell of fresh blood.

Hermione had been trying to forget the pain. The wound was still stinging; however thanks to that monster back there, it was now throbbing. Hopefully the wound would get treated before an infection had chance to work its way into her system. Jasper seemed relatively unsympathetic now to her plight. Hermione was rather disappointed in all honesty. "It still hurts. I'll be fine though. I'm pretty sure it's not too serious. It just needs cleaning." Jasper remained silent. He seemed satisfied.

As they drew nearer to the Shrieking Shack Jasper's pace slowed. His body became arch and tense. Hermione frowned and tried to engage her slayer sense to see if there was anything she had missed, but as far as she could tell the coast was clear. She sensed nothing out of the ordinary. He ground to a stop, and somewhat dazed, looked to her. Hermione saw something in his eyes that she could not place. It unsettled her. She had never seen eyes so devoid of emotion. "Will you be okay from here?" He asked her distantly.

Hermione tried not to betray her uneasiness. "Of course! I've walked this way plenty of times before. I'll be fine." Jasper regarded her in silence. Once again Hermione felt like she was talking to a brick wall when she asked timidly, "Are you okay?"

A flicker of emotion ran through the vampire's eyes, although Hermione could not make it out. "Of course. I have a few other things I need to take care of tonight." He explained flatly. "I'll see you around". He turned and began a hasty retreat back to the village. "Try not to get into any more trouble", he called over his shoulder.

Hermione was left alone to wonder if she had done something wrong. Why did she even care if he was sulking? He was nothing to do with her. She wasn't left to her own devices for too long however. Just as she was about to head into the Shrieking Shack, she heard familiar voices bickering. Perplexed, Hermione climbed a grassy bank at the side of the road and hide behind a hedge. At first Hermione couldn't fully distinguish the voices. They were still some distance away. It appeared as though they were coming from inside the Shack itself. Taking a deep breath, the slayer tried to hone in on her astute abilities. The familiar drawling voice of one of her professors caught her attention. Snape! No doubt he was up to no good. Curious, Hermione peered over the bushes.

The slayer was somewhat startled to realise just how distant she was from the Shrieking Shack, yet she could still hear voices from all this way! It wasn't long before she recognised another familiar voice. "Dumbledore..." she murmured. Why on earth was he in the Shrieking Shack with Snape? Hermione didn't have long to ponder on the subject. Dumbledore emerged from the Shack, followed by Snape, Lupin and McGonagall. This was something Hermione would usually be discovering with Harry or Ron, not on her own, crouching behind a bush, after recently fighting the forces of non-Voldemort evil. For a moment her mind wandered to her best friends. It was lonely doing all this stuff without them. At least if they were here Hermione could wind up unimaginably frustrated with Ron's ineptitude, and mildly irritated by Harry's obsession with going out of his way to find trouble. That was what she missed. These days she only had herself to be frustrated at.

Sighing, Hermione tore herself from her own thoughts. The Professors appeared to be making their way to the village. It didn't take the slayer long to catch on why they had chosen the route of the Whomping Willow. They were trying to avoid the Ministry officials. Why though, was another matter? Hermione gave them a two minute head start before she began to clamber out of her hiding place. However as she did, she was caught off guard by another set of voices.

"You really are the most irritating witch I have ever met!" Draco whispered harshly as he tried to push Luna off him. Hermione's breath caught in her throat. Luna had tripped over the threshold and had landed softly on top of Draco, who had been knocked onto all fours.

"Well thank you…. I think you meant that as a compliment", chimed Luna's unaffected voice.

Draco growled and regained his footing. "Just shut up will you! Right", he fired while brushing leaves and debris off his cloak, "Where did they go?"

Hermione couldn't resist this gem of curiosity. Daringly, she stepped out of her hiding place. "They went towards the village", Luna and Draco gasped and drew their wands. Upon sighting Hermione Luna immediately lowered her wand and beamed at her friend.

"Hermione! Fancy seeing you here! Are you following the professors too?" Hermione furrowed her brow.

"Not as such, what are you two doing here…. Together?"

Draco insulted at any suggestion of his being remotely civil towards Loony Lovegood immediately lowered his wand to protest. "If you must know Mudblood, we're following Dumbledore. The only reason we happen to be in the same place at the same time is because Loony here won't leave me alone!" Hermione narrowed her eyes threateningly.

Luna nudged him playfully, which Draco did not appreciate at all. "Draco ran in to me, and then Dumbledore ran in to us, then we got the hint that we should follow. Or not follow. We don't know, but we followed any way…" Luna seemed somewhat lost in her train of thought. "So what are you doing here anyway?"

"Yea Mudblood! What are you doing here?" Shot Draco.

Hermione let her anger subside as much as her pride would allow. "What is it to you Malfoy?"

Malfoy found himself angering quickly. "Well, considering your out of the grounds, on a school night-"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh no! Not a school night!"

"Shut up Mudblood! You know, two hundred years ago, your kind wouldn't even be allowed in the same classroom as my kind!"

"But we're living now, and while you two are having this very pleasant discussion, we're losing Dumbledore…."

Hermione scowled fiercely at the Slytherin. Draco returned it with a discontented sneer. Luna did have a point, which they both recognised. The willowy Ravenclaw drifted off silently after the Professors. Hermione, watching Draco out of the corner of her eyes, followed Luna protectively, knowing the danger lurking out there. This was the last thing Jasper had wanted for the Slayer.

* * * The Hogs Head * * *

Like many a Witch and Wizard before them, Dumbledore and his companions had found themselves at the Hogs Head. It seemed that these days the Hogs Head was the centre for most ominous gatherings. Luna commented on how it as most likely due to the foreboding décor, and the heavy wooden tables which had many a gouge in them. Most likely they were due to quarrels after a drink too many. Hermione however had grown fond of the Hogs Head. Since that fateful meeting there last year, the place seemed to transform in to a building of character and atmosphere, in the Slayers eyes anyway.

"Ugh", spat Draco as the trio crouched behind a small collection of dustbins. His expression was the epitome of disgust. The bins were along one side of the pub wall, and unfortunately for the students, they were below the window. This meant that to gain any kind of view of the Professors, they had to rest their hands on the bin lids and peer in. The group appeared to have chosen a rather unfortunate seat at the back of the pub. Hiding here was no advantage to the students. They could neither hear anything nor see much other than the back of Snape's particularly greasy head. "This is such a waste of time!" Draco shouted frustrated. He kicked the bin angrily causing it to send the other two tumbling over. Rubbish spilled out into the street. A passing Wizard looked on disapprovingly. His eye focused on Hermione and fixed her with a rather peculiar look, as if she had been the one to knock the bins over. Hermione scowled at Draco, who seemed to have escaped the old man's notice.

"Well done Malfoy!" Hermione spat.

Luna in the meantime had lifted the bins back to their normal positions and was in the process of trying to cover the rubbish with fallen leaves. "How do you think we're going to get in without being noticed?" Luna questioned with a handful of leaves covering her face. Draco and Hermione watched her bemused. She really was an odd little thing.

Hermione sighed and turned back to the Hogs Head. "I think the best way in would be to go through the back and sit at a table behind that big post there". Draco followed her gaze. It seemed a good enough spot. Close to the back door, and separated from the Professors by a big wooden supporting column. The pub was fairly busy, so getting in undetected wouldn't be too hard. Surely…..

* * * Gryffindor Common Room * * *

"He definitely was up to something that professor!" Exclaimed Dean suspiciously. He regarded his house mates. They boys, upon returning to the common room, had found a particularly comfy spot on the sofas in front of the fire.

Ron looked to Dean, "yea. I mean come off it! Why on earth would he help the Twins? They're nothing but trouble. Do you think he's working with them?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't think the Twins need any more help causing trouble you know. They do well enough on their own." There was a momentary pause before Harry continued somewhat pensively. "Maybe he was trying to find Snape, because he wanted something? And when he saw the Twins there, he saw an opportunity to have a rummage for what he wanted instead of asking Snape?"

Seamus laughed, "Or maybe he was just doing what he said he was doing?"

The group of wizards all looked at each other, sharing knowing glances. "This is Hogwarts! When is any one doing what they say they are doing?" Neville concluded. "Take Hermione! Where's she? She isn't on the Marauders Map." Harry and Ron looked to each other worried. Neville had a point. Where was Hermione?

* * * Hogs Head * * *

Little would her friends expect, but Hermione was sat at a table in the Hogs Head with none other than Draco Malfoy, while Luna Lovegood tried to order drinks. She had been at it for some time now. In fact, nearly twenty minutes. There was no one else at the bar; however the bar tender had absolutely no interest in serving her. Luna returned to the table defeated. All the while the slayer had been doing her best to ignore Draco, while he had been doing his best to irritate her. So far he had deliberately scowled at her more than once, which she had only ignored, he had tried to 'accidentally' kick her, and even gone as far as to scratch 'MUDBLOOD' on the table with the end of his wand.

"He won't even listen to me!" Sighed Luna exacerbated. She flopped down in her chair. "What did I miss anyway?" She asked glumly.

Hermione filled her in. "Not much. Snape's complimented Dumbledore on his choice of cloaks, and then insulted Lupin's decision to be present at this meeting. Then McGonagall scolded Snape, but remarked that Dumbledore's cloak was 'the most excellent shade of turquoise'."

"Who could've guessed secret staff meetings would be so jam packed with juicy information?" Draco grumbled, wondering why on earth he had been lead to believe this was anything other than a wild goose chase.

Luna tried to reassure the pair that they were here for a reason and began a lengthy speech on Dumbledore's 'meaningful gesture'. Hermione had no interest in what was being said. Her eyes were darting about the room. Huddled up in small corners were couples, in one corner a shady figure who seemed more than keen to avoid much attention. To Hermione he seemed harmless enough. A group of three wizards were sat in the middle of the room, cheerfully drinking and signing. That's when Hermione spotted him.

In the far corner of the room, by the main door, was sat Jasper with a young woman in her twenties. The woman was about twenty five and quite pretty. Hermione's stomach turned. The woman laughed at something Jasper had just said. He smirked at her in the same way he smirked at Hermione. Narrowing her eyes, the slayer watched the pair, unaware of the turn in conversation at the Professor's table. The owner of the Pub seemed to have worked his way over to their table collecting glasses and was held up in the discussion.

"I need you to block up that last passage Aberforth", Dumbledore instructed in a hushed voice. McGonagall looked at Aberforth curiously. Luna and Draco both picked up on the awkwardness between the owner and the professors. Particularly Dumbledore, which was uncommon.

"I'll do my best, but resources are limited you know. Blocking that entrance will require a fair bit of patience…. And a beautiful statue to put in front of the finished result… and that will cost galleons…" The owner replied.

McGonagall rolled her eyes. Dumbledore only smiled. "I'm sure we can come to some arrangement."Aberforth grumbled doubtfully. "Now! Any more news on the situation with the vampires?" Hermione's ears pricked up. She turned to look at the Professors table, tearing her eyes away from the intimacy between the vampire and the blonde woman.

The rugged inn keeper only shrugged. "Last I heard, you were bothering poor Yolanda about that lot?" He picked up a few emptied glasses. Hermione's heart pounded.

"Yolanda!" She gasped. Draco and Luna looked to their fellow peer confused. Hermione only shrugged and turned back to the conversation.

"Yes, indeed I was bothering her", replied Dumbledore with a guilty tone to his voice.

Lupin jumped to the headmasters defence. "I'd hardly say he was bothering her! He only asked if she could look in to this whole business about a Ministry delivery on the train. That doesn't necessarily involve the vampires!"

Aberforth leaned in to the table. "Bit of a coincidence if you ask me… Don't you think? Unknown object brought in to the village on your Hogwarts Express, by the Ministry, and now all these Vampire attacks! The Ministry has been taken over! Everyone in the pub could tell you that! It's obvious. Hogwarts is just a pawn in Voldemort's games. You ought to be careful you know?" Hermione surveyed Draco's emotions carefully upon the mention of Voldemort. His eyes looked suddenly tormented. It seemed as though his mind was telling him one thing, and his morality another. Draco caught her staring.

"What?"

Hermione shook her head. "Nothing". Why was he here? Really? If Dumbledore really had suggested that Luna and Draco follow him, surely there must be a purpose to his hearing this conversation. Perplexed, Hermione let her attention wander back to Jasper. He seemed happily unaware of her presence. He was moving closer to the girl. Hermione was curious to pick up on any sort of vampish tendency towards the girl, thankfully however, she detected none.

"Anyway, Yolanda has gone missing. No one has seen her in days…." Aberforth's voice trailed off. The professors looked to each other concerned.

"Perhaps", drawled Snape, "She has gone to London to track the source of the delivery? She is very dedicated in her work. That is why she was asked specifically to carry out this task."

Aberforth shook his head. "I doubt that young master Snape. She was last seen headed in to the forest. However, she does have a habit of wandering off. Let's just hope she returns… in one piece".

Hermione looked to Luna. Luna usually had something insightful to say on these occasions. Luna however only tilted her head and smiled. She was obviously just as clueless as the slayer was. It wasn't long before the Professors got up to leave. The students watched as they departed. Dumbledore, who was the last to leave turned quickly at the door and looked to their table. He smiled, and that ever so familiar twinkle in his eyes reassured them, that what they had just witnessed was for a purpose.

"Crackpot!" Draco murmured under his breath. "What was the point in any of this?" He didn't expect an answer, nor did he receive one. "I'm going to the bar".

Hermione and Luna watched him unaffected by his decision. "What's wrong with you anyway Hermione?" Hermione looked to the young Ravenclaw confused.

"What do you mean?"

Luna smiled knowingly. "You haven't taken your eyes off that guy over there now for ages". Hermione followed her line of sight. Beyond Luna sat Jasper. His hand was stroking the woman's cheek tenderly. Hermione cast her eyes away.

"I thought it was someone I knew, and I wasn't quite sure until now…." Her eyes met with Luna's. Luna knew that wasn't the whole truth, but refrained from pushing any further on the topic.

It was at that moment Draco returned to their table empty handed. "He didn't even look at me!" He complained. "I'm leaving", he resolved, and got up and walked towards the back door. "I'm never coming back here again!"

Hermione and Luna sighed before getting up to follow him. Hermione afforded herself one last look at Jasper, however he and the Blonde had disappeared, nowhere to be seen. Hurt, Hermione left, following Luna and Draco, who were both up ahead. It was quite an unexpected sight. Luna was bickering on about something or other, while Draco tried his best to ignore it, all the while keeping his cool.

* * * Snape's Office * * *

Nigel had searched through every draw, cupboard and shelf. As far as he could tell the potion recipe he sought was not here. It had taken so long for him to look through everything and put it back in its exact position that the night had slowly dragged by. Maybe Trelawney was a bit off in this prediction. There was no disappearing potion anywhere. Defeated, Nigel fell back in to Snape's chair. He removed his glasses and rubbed his sore eyes. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for the long trek back up to his quarters. Just as he stood up, an ink splattered piece of parchment caught his eye.

'Disappearing Potion'

'Gives the appearance of death for as long as desired, allows intractability of drinker and offers invisibility for approximately six hours'

"Bingo!" Nigel beamed.

* * * Hogwarts Entrance – Some hours later * * *

"And that's when I realised that myself and Draco were actually invisible the whole time! That's why we didn't get served. We didn't even have to hide! How silly is that? I should've just thought of that before!" Luna declared proudly.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Of course we weren't invisible. How did this Mudblood here see us?" He questioned pointing to Hermione. Luna frowned, contemplating an explanation. Hermione glared at Draco as he walked off smirking. "Stupid Ravenclaw!" He sniggered. "How on earth are you not a Hufflepuff?"

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