"I'm not going to say I told you so – actually screw it, I told you Umbridge was reading your mail."
Harry glared at Ophelia. They were in Charms class, and Ophelia had snuck up to the table he was sharing with Hermione and Ron in pretence of retrieving the bullfrog she was supposed to be silencing.
"Just leave it Ophelia, ok?" He replied, glaring again. "Hermione's already told me, I don't need to hear it again."
Ophelia gave him a death glare back, "Well apparently you do, since you didn't listen to me yesterday. If she'd caught him-"
"I know Lia; he'd be back in Azkaban this morning." Harry replied, stabbing his wand in the direction of the bullfrog on his table. It started whistling like a kettle.
"Silencio," said Lia distractedly, silencing the frog. "Well he better not try it again. And for merlin's sake, don't try to write him to tell him that."
"He's not that stupid, he won't risk it again!" Ron interjected. "Silencio!"
The raven he was trying to silence cawed loudly. Ophelia scoffed.
"Oh leave it out, it's a hard spell"
Ophelia responded by Silencing Ron, and walking back to the table she was sharing with Tracey and unfortunately, Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass. Daphne wasn't quite as vile as Parkinson, but still looked down on Ophelia, giving her looks that would normally be saved for dragon dung. Needless to say, Ophelia didn't like her.
"You seemed chatty with that lot Trace muttered, "Not going all Gryffindor on me now are you?"
Pansy's eyes lit up upon overhearing this. "I wouldn't be surprised if she was shagging Weasley. Poor people need to stick together, y'know." She sneered.
Oh, if only you knew. Ophelia thought, remembering the previous night with George.
"Shove off Pug face." Ophelia shot back, and Greengrass actually laughed. Pansy glared at her and stalked off to Malfoy's table, where she draped herself over him like a simpering idiot.
Ophelia gave Greengrass an inquiring look.
"That was funny." Was all the other girl said, before getting back to her work.
Ophelia rolled her eyes and focused her attention back on Tracey.
"The idiot wouldn't give me back my bullfrog. Thought I was trying to steal his. Like I'd want to steal a sodding frog." She gave as an explanation.
"What an idiot!" Tracey replied.
"Yeah," Ophelia repeated, glaring at Harry again. "An absolute idiot."
Later that day, after dinner Lia was walking to the library. As much as she hated herself for it, she needed to finish her homework. When she'd started Hogwarts, she'd dismissed the essays her teachers had set them, and hadn't bothered. After a particularly horrible detention from Snape cleaning cauldron bottoms without magic, she'd decided it would be easier to finish the work, no matter how mind numbing it was.
She'd found the library the easiest place to get the work done, without the presence of Malfoy and Parkinson in the Slytherin common room and dorms.
Ophelia was walking past a slightly ajar closet when a pair of arms enclosed around her and dragged her into the darkness.
"You know you don't need to kidnap me when you want a snog, George."
The arms around her dropped and spun her around to face him.
"How'd you know it was me?" He said annoyance evident in his voice.
"Now that'd be telling. Lumos" Ophelia muttered.
She looked up at George and sniggered. She couldn't help it. His red hair was plastered to his skull with water, and his face was streaked with mud, as were his Quidditch robes. Which were dripping with rain.
"You look like you've had a good practice." She snorted, "You look-"
George cut Ophelia off with a swift kiss on the lips. She didn't complain, and returned it. George responded by deepening the kiss, and Ophelia bit his lip playfully.
"Kinky." He muttered, breaking the kiss for a brief moment.
"So, in a broom closet George? How cliché can you get?" Ophelia said after a few more minutes of kissing him.
George rolled his eyes. "Is that all you think about? I just wanted to kiss you! And as for the closet, keeping it secret was your idea."
Ophelia grinned at George's grumpiness. "Bad Quidditch practice then?"
"You don't want to know. Now shut up and kiss me again." He replied, leaning in to capture her lips with his again. Ophelia let him get his way for a few more minutes then grinned against his lips.
"You know if you really wanted a stress release…"
George stopped kissing her again. "Ophelia, please. Not tonight, ok?"
Ophelia stepped back from him. "Alright, what's got your knickers in a twist?"
George spluttered. "What?"
Ophelia rolled her eyes. "George, I can tell something's up. Spill."
The Weasley twin sighed. "You know those snack boxes me and Fred are developing?"
"I am aware of them, yes?"
"Well, we tested the Fever Fudge this morning and…well…it's had some unpleasant side effects."
Ophelia couldn't help herself. She sniggered again. George glared at her.
"Sorry," She said, looking up at his mardy face. "Sorry." She reiterated, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek. "What are they? I might be able to help."
George looked down at the ground. "It's embarrassing."
"George, it might be something I can help with. I know a few healing spells."
"I'vegotboilsonmyarse." He muttered, still looking down
Ophelia's eyebrows burrowed in confusion. "You've got what?"
George left out a breath. "Boils."
"On your-"
"Arse, yes."
Ophelia blinked. "Oh."
George grimaced. "And after Quidditch they really bloody hurt. Throbbing like-"
Ophelia silenced him quickly. "Ok, ok, I don't need to know! So that's why you don't want to…" She trailed off, biting her lip and looking up at George.
"Pretty much, yeah. Sorry." He replied, enveloping Ophelia in a hug.
"It's ok, you idiot. Though I'm sorry to say I don't know any cures for boils. Maybe you should ask Pomfrey?"
George laughed. "Yeah right, I'll just walk into the hospital wing and flash her my behind should I?"
Ophelia winked, "She'll be a lucky woman."
George grinned. "You're in a good mood today, something amazing happen to you last night?"
Ophelia scoffed. "I'm going to ignore the innuendo there. But something did happen after I left yours last night…"
And she told him the story of Sirius' head in the fire.
"And now Potter's being all arsey with me this morning because he knows I was right." She finished.
"Oh he's a wily one, our Harry Potter." George responded. "Seriously though, Sirius won't try it again. He's lucky Umbridge didn't catch him."
"Yeah…" Ophelia said, absent mindedly.
George lifted her chin up and smiled at her. "It'll be ok. At least you sorted things out with him from the other day, hey?"
Ophelia had told him of her disastrous visit to Grimmauld Place.
"I guess." She smiled, and leaned up again to kiss him.
"As much as I want to stay in her and snog you senseless, Fred's going to wonder where I am in a minute." He said, tearing himself away from Lia.
"Twin senses are tingling?" Lia asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Something like that," George replied. "See you."
And he whisked quickly through the door, leaving Lia alone in the broom closet. She waited a few minutes before leaving herself.
Keeping things secret was kind of fun.
The next day, the rain was hammering down so hard on the castle Ophelia was surprised the windows didn't break. The storm raged around a misty black fog that reminded her of the presence of dementors. Lia shuddered, remembering the boggart attack in Grimmauld place. She averted her gaze from the window, and looked to the front of the classroom where Professor Grubbly Plank was explaining about the eating habits of Knarls.
"Now, as the similarities between Knarls and the common hedgehog are so many, we can expect them to have similar digestion to each other. However…"
Lia put her head down on the desk. When she'd looked up at the great hall ceiling this morning, she'd expected Care of Magical Creatures to be cancelled due to the bad weather. It was not. They'd moved into a ground floor classroom, and were now being treated to a theory lesson.
Ophelia sighed with relief when the bell finally rang for lunch. She picked up her untouched quill and parchment, and stowed them away in her schoolbag. She was just wondering whether to go to lunch in the great hall, or finish her Potions essay when someone hissed her name.
"Lia!"
She looked round to see Harry Potter nudging his head to the left, signalling she should follow him. Ophelia sighed and stomped over to where he was stood round the corner.
"What now?" She muttered, looking at him with unimpressed eyes.
"We've found somewhere to have the first defence meeting." He replied, glancing round quickly. "Tonight."
Lia's eyebrows shot up. "Where?"
"On the seventh floor. Opposite that tapestry of Barmy Barnabus getting attacked by trolls."
"This school has a tapestry devoted to a troll attack? And I thought Grimmauld Place had unconventional decorations…" Lia mused.
Harry grinned. "So you'll be there?"
"Of course I will. You'll need someone who's actually half decent at defence right?" She smirked, raising an eyebrow at Harry.
"Oh shut up. You'll help me though, with the teaching bit?" He asked her, anxiously.
Ophelia rolled her eyes. "I said I would, didn't I? And I fancy putting that Smith idiot in his place. Know what you're doing yet?"
"Disarming Charm." Harry muttered, looking up at Lia for her approval.
"Back to the basics, good idea. How half the morons in this school manage to point their wands the right way round is beyond me."
Harry laughed. "Meet us there at half seven. The meeting starts at eight."
"Sure thing Professor Potter." Ophelia replied with a mock salute, before turning away.
"Hey Ophelia" Harry called out, stopping her. "Are we cool now?"
Lia scoffed. "Please Potter; you've never been cool in your life."
And she turned on her heel and walked away.
"So tell me again how you got detention with Grubbly Plank?"
Ophelia sighed, trying to remember the details of her cover as Tracey looked at her questioningly.
"I told you, I forgot to do the homework again."
Tracey looked at Ophelia like she didn't really believe her. Then she sighed and flopped back down onto her bed. The girls were enjoying some rare time when they had the dorm to themselves.
"Fair enough. What do you reckon she'll make you do?"
"Lines, hopefully. I don't very much fancy mucking out fire crabs, or whatever crazy animals she keeps in her office."
Tracey pulled a horrified face and Ophelia smirked.
"Better get going or you'll be late."
Lia looked at the clock at the side of Tracey's bedside table. It read 7:15.
"I suppose. Give Parkinson a hex for me when she comes up to bed?" She said, standing up.
"You know it."
The two Slytherins grinned at each other before Lia left the dorm. Luckily the common room was busy enough tonight that she could slip out without getting into a fight with her classmates like usual. Malfoy had it out for her ever since she hexed him on the stairs a few days ago, and she couldn't be bothered with a confrontation tonight.
She made her way up to the seventh floor and along the corridor to the tapestry Harry had described. There indeed, was Barabus the Barmy, attempting to train Trolls for the Ballet, and subsequently getting clubbed. Who made things like that?
She looked opposite the tapestry to see…
A stretch of wall.
Great. This had all been some practical joke Harry made up to get back at her for being right. And now she felt like a complete idiot for falling for it.
"Lia!" A voice that she recognised as Hermione's called out. "You found it ok?"
Ophelia glared at the three fifteen year olds approaching her.
"And what, exactly was I supposed to have found? There's nothing here!"
"You'll have to ask Harry that, we've got no idea either." Ron muttered.
Ophelia looked at Harry, who was examining a piece of old parchment with his wand.
"Filch is on the second floor, and Mrs Norris is on the fourth…" He was muttering under his breath.
"What are you doing? Is that a map?" Ophelia asked him, looking at the parchment that was adorned with moving black dots.
"Wha- oh yeah. Marauders Map. Our dads made it when they were at school together." Harry replied, moving it so Ophelia could see.
It was indeed, a map of the whole of Hogwarts, and the moving black dots were its inhabitants. Ophelia looked closer and could see the name "Ophelia Black" written next to a black dot labelled "Harry Potter."
She looked up at Harry in amazement. "This is awesome!"
"Never mind that now, I can't find Umbridge on here." Harry hissed at her, resuming his pursuit of the map.
"There she is." Ophelia pointed with her wand at the dot that was thankfully, stationary in her office.
"Right lets go then." Harry said, folding up the map to Ophelia's dismay, as she was still examining it. "Dobby said to walk past this bit of wall three times, concentrating hard on what we need."
"Dobby?" Questioned Lia, looking at Harry like he'd grown an extra head.
"House elf. That doesn't matter; we need to be ready before eight." Harry answered her. "Ok? Let's do it."
The four of them then started walking past the wall after initial hesitation.
We need a room to do defensive magic in, so I and Harry can teach these dweebs how to really fight. Where no one else can find us…
Ophelia's eyebrows were burrowed in concentration. Ron had his eyes screwed up, Hermione was whispering, and Harry's fists were clenched. After they'd walked past for the third time, Ophelia noticed that a large door had appeared.
"Guys!" she said, stopping in front of it.
Harry pushed his arm out and slowly turned the handle.
The room was huge, lit up by torches hanging from the walls, not unlike the ones in Ophelia's common room. There were large wooden bookcases lining the walls, Hermione's doing, Lia guessed. The floor was adorned with cushions and pillows, and Ophelia recognised Dark Detectors littering a shelf on the far end, including secrecy sensors and a foe glass.
Hermione squealed, and ran to the bookcase without further ado.
"Look at these books! There's everything we need here!" She exclaimed, looking around the room. "Wait, what?"
Hermione had stopped at a mysterious flask. She picked it up carefully and opened it as Harry, Ron and Ophelia watched cautiously. She sniffed.
"Fire whiskey…?" The Gryffindor's eyes first showed confusion, then annoyance. "Oh Ophelia!"
Ophelia grinned. "My bad." She said, just as a gentle knock sounded at the door.
The four looked around as Ginny and some other Gryffindor's from Harry's year entered. Ophelia was sure one of them was Neville from the train, but she had no idea of the other's names.
I should really start paying attention in class more. She thought.
It didn't take long for everyone else to arrive. When Fred and George came, accompanied by their friend Lee, George gave Ophelia a wink. She grinned, despite herself.
"Well you've obviously found the place ok!" Harry was saying to the group, and Ophelia turned her head round to face him. He looked awfully nervous.
"It's fantastic!" A raven haired girl said, flashing a winning smile at Harry.
"Remember when we hid from Filch in here George? It was just a broom cupboard then." Fred frowned, looking at his brother.
Ophelia's face burned at the mention of broom cupboards, remembering their encounter the previous night. She glanced at George, whose ears were poker red with embarrassment, and determinedly looked away again.
"Right, well I've been thinking about the stuff we should be doing first" Harry continued. Hermione raised her hand. Ophelia inwardly groaned. "What, Hermione?"
"We ought to elect a leader." Was all she said?
Ophelia thought this was a stupid notion. Anyone with half a brain in their head knew that Potter was running this show. But no, they eventually had to vote on it, in order to "make it formal".
Hermione interrupted Harry once more to suggest they come up with a name for the group. After a short discussion, they decided on "Dumbledore's Army," a name that Lia secretly liked.
When the name was decided Hermione pulled out a parchment with a group of signatures on it.
"Oh that reminds me, Ophelia, you still need to sign this!" She called out looking around the room for her.
Ophelia cursed Hermione under her breath as the attention in the room shifted to her, and she found herself the receiver of some very dirty looks. Probably remembering her outburst in Hogsmeade.
"Right, ok then." She walked over and took the quill from Hermione's outstretched hand and quickly signed "Ophelia Williams".
Keen to get the attention back onto Harry, she turned to him. "So, Disarming?" She said, spurring him on.
"Oh, right. Well, I was thinking we should start with the Disarming charm, you know Expelliarmus? "Harry said to the group. It's basic but I think that-"
Zacharias Smith called out in a snotty voice. "Oh please. Like that's going to help us against You-know-who."
Ophelia's grip tightened around her wand. If there weren't so many people in here she could get a clear shot at him…
"I've used it against him, and it saved my life in June." Harry said in almost a whisper. The group silenced, and Smith's mouth hung open unattractively. Harry looked nervous again.
"If you think it's beneath you, you know where the door is." Lia called out, moving to stand next to Harry and squeezing his arm reassuringly.
No one moved.
"Right." Harry repeated. "Let's…divide into pairs and try it out."
As the group stood up and paired off, Harry turned to Lia.
"Thanks." He smiled at her.
"No problem. It's like good cop, bad cop." She said, using a muggle phrase she'd heard before. "Just please, don't make me pair with Neville…"
Indeed, Longbottom was the only person left partner less. Harry sighed.
"You can practice with me." Harry told him. "Ophelia you can watch and help the people who are getting it wrong." Ophelia grinned, glancing at Smith. "But be nice." He said, noticing her gaze.
"Right on the count of three- one, two three-"
Over a dozen voices shouted Expelliarmus as wands flew about all over the room. Ophelia observed, noting that the majority of the group had bad aim, more than half of them had not disarmed their partner at all, and some of them hadn't even be able to point their wands at their opponent before they'd got disarmed. Ophelia sighed, and entered the fray.
"You're flourishing your wand too much," She explained to a fifth year Hufflepuff she thought was named Ernie. He looked at her in confusion.
"You don't need to move it around so much." She said. "It makes you take longer to cast the spell, meaning that your opponent's got longer to realise you're about to attack him. The best way to use a disarming charm is before your enemy gets a chance to attack you, so you've got to be quick. Like this – Expelliarmus!"
Ophelia flicked her wand sharply, and Ernie's wand came shooting out of his outstretched arm towards her. She caught it deftly, and threw it back to him.
"Got it?" She asked, as he caught his wand.
"I think so." He muttered. "…Thanks."
Ophelia managed a smile. "You're welcome."
"You're not a half bad teacher." A familiar voice sounded in her ear. Lia turned round to see George grinning at her. She grinned back.
"Who'd have thought it?"
"Care to impart some wisdom on me and Fred? Or are our duelling skills already second to none?"
Ophelia raised her eyebrows. "Well seeing as you both are using this time to torment our , I can't really pass judgement on your duelling skills." She retorted. The twins had indeed been disarming Zacharias from behind. "Not that I'm complaining, the boy's an ass."
Fred snorted from behind George. "I don't think Harry appreciates as much as you" He said, pointing out the black haired boy as he looked pointedly at the twins. "I much prefer you as a teacher."
Lia smiled. "Aw, shucks Fred that means the world to me!" She said sarcastically as Harry walked over to them.
"Sorry Harry Couldn't resist" George said hastily, squeezing Ophelia's hand quickly before moving to actually practice with Fred.
"We were right to start with the basics." Ophelia stated, looking around the room with Harry.
He sighed. "Yeah. I didn't think it would be this bad though. I mean-" He got cut off as a spell hit the bookcase behind him, and a book lept off the shelf and hit him on the head.
"Sorry Harry!" The blonde Gryffindor whose spell had hit him called out.
"That's ok Colin." Harry replied, sighing again. "I think it's time for a time out."
He aimed this statement at Ophelia, who agreed.
"OK, stop!" He shouted. "Stop! STOP!"
The students were too engrossed in their duelling to hear him. Ophelia rolled her eyes.
"STOP!" She bellowed, and the room silenced, save for the sounds of a few wands clattering to the floor. She looked pointedly at Harry, who just shook his head and grinned.
"That wasn't bad, but there's definite room for improvement." He said. Some of the teenagers looked forlorn at this statement.
"The main problem is aim." Ophelia said loudly, looking around the room. "You've got to really concentrate on where you want the spell to hit. And look at where you're pointing your wand, don't just assume that because it's in the same direction as your opponent it's going to hit them."
Zacharias Smith glared at her, and she glared pointedly back.
"Thanks, Lia." Harry said, "Now, let's try it again."
The spell work was better this time, and Harry and Ophelia spent their time walking around the group and giving tips. Ophelia was impressed with Harry's knowledge; he seemed to have a natural ability for duelling like her. The only further incident was when Cho Chang from Ravenclaw set her partners robes alight, but Lia thought this was more because of Harry's presence then lack of ability.
The meeting ended at ten past nine, when Hermione pointed out how late it was getting to Harry. They agreed to meet up again the following Wednesday. Ophelia was just about to leave, George had winked at her slyly as he left, and she quite fancied pulling him into another broom closet, when Harry approached her.
"That was good." He said, grinning.
"Yeah, there was great improvement by the end." she said distractedly, glancing towards the door that the twins had just walked through.
"Next time, I was thinking we could cover shield charms." Harry said, following Ophelia's gaze to the door. "I know you're pretty good at them-"
Ophelia raised an eyebrow. "Pretty good? Please Potter, don't insult my skills like that. I'm incredible at shield charms."
"Yeah well that was why I was hoping you'd lead the next session." He replied, smiling wickedly at her.
She sighed. "Fine. But if I get anymore sass from that Hufflepuff prick, I'm hexing him."
"You have my full permission."