Another slow update, but hopefully I'll pick up the story at this point and keep it moving more. We'll see what happens. :)


The weekend went by fast. Frodo found himself, when he wasn't studying, playing chess with Aria in the Ravenclaw common room. It was growing late at night and already they had a semi-quiet game. And yet, Frodo had to ask Aria something.

"Are you well now?" Frodo asked her, curious.

"Yes," Aria said, adding further, "I mean, it's still a ways away until the end of term. I don't need to worry about it too much."

"Well…" Frodo turned around. True, he and Aria had the common room to themselves, but it was Everhart's face in the flames. "Everhart. Look, I…"

"When were you going to say that Harry, Ron and Hermione started a group?" Everhart asked them.

"You knew?" Aria asked, concerned.

"Mundungus Fletcher informed the Order and the Firebird what's going on," Everhart said, addressing the two. "Just be careful. Choose your meeting places more carefully. Anyway, I'd better go. Good luck." His face vanished in the flames. Frodo stared at the dying fire with unease. Surely Harry, Ron and Hermione knew this already, but given the Educational Decree put up, Frodo had no doubt that Umbridge knew as well.

"I'm sorry, Frodo," Aria told her boyfriend, kindly.

Frodo gazed into her green eyes. "For what?" He understood. "I'll get to training you, Sam, Merry and Pippin soon. I just… need a plan."

Aria kissed him on the cheek. "Then let's hope it's good."

"Right," Frodo said, as Aria departed up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. He sighed, lucky to have a steady relationship with his girlfriend. Then again, he really needed to find out what room Harry, Ron and Hermione would use for their lessons.

Frodo wandered the corridors during the afternoon hours of the weekdays. He didn't have anything better to do, and yet, he half-expected someone to come and talk to him. His wish was granted the moment Harry, Ron and Hermione approached him.

"Frodo!" Hermione said, ecstatic. "We found a room to practice."

"Dobby found the room," Harry corrected her.

"Wait 'til you see it," Ron said, grinning nonsensical.

"Right." Frodo said, looking away from Ron to Harry and Hermione. "That's good news. I should perhaps tell Aria about it."

"She went on ahead. She's still searching the seventh-floor corridor for something," Hermione told him.

"Maybe she's looking for the room, too," Ron admitted.

"Without me," Frodo said, a little testy. He wasn't surprised Aria going off on her own. He would have done the same, but then… oh, why not search for her.

"We'll meet you up on the seventh floor. Yeah?" Ron asked him.

"Yes, you will," Frodo said, facing the trio for a second. He darted up the stairs and hallways without question, let alone speaking to anyone. He had to reach the seventh-floor corridor before Aria found the room, wherever it was. He was surprised she didn't tell him first-off. He slowed down, his heart racing inside his chest. There was Aria, still searching for something. "Aria, what are you doing? You couldn't wait to find the room, before telling me."

"I didn't know where you were," Aria said, admitting freely.

"Frodo, Aria, it's this way!" Hermione said, waving them on.

"Come on," Frodo said, grabbing her sleeve.

"Frodo," Aria cried, stopping him in his tracks. "You're not mad, are you?"

"Next time, tell me before you go off on your own," Frodo said, extending his hand. "Why not start now?"

Aria took his hand. "Well, I would have told you where it was. I was just doing some exploring."

Frodo sighed. Maybe she had a point. "I'll take your word for it."

"So you're not mad," Aria asked him, curious and confused.

"Why would I be mad?" Frodo asked her in turn. He glanced over at her, grinning her way. "Come on. Let's find the room." It didn't take him and Aria long to find the trio, who stood in front of a wall.

"It's here!" Hermione said, explaining to Frodo. "Only you've got to really need it and the doors will appear."

"I need to prove to people that I'm right about Sauron," Frodo said, "that we need to fight him."

"I need to prove that I'm not just an authoress to be pushed around," Aria said, bold and fierce.

"And there we go!" Ron said, as the doors appeared before them from the wall. Frodo watched in awe. Just another magical room with hidden qualities. He shook his head.

"This could be fun," Frodo said, following the others inside. To his amazement, he was inside a large room, complete with a small side chamber fit enough for five people to work in. It was the books that interested him. There was so much on hand magic and its uses. Already, Frodo felt his insides swelling with giddying delight that it was almost impossible to stop. He jumped upon hearing Aria's voice.

"Do you like it? It's the Room of Requirement," Aria said, leaning against the wall.

"Like it? It's perfect," Frodo said, looking around in amusement. "It's exactly what we need to get started."

"So Frodo, what are you going to teach us today?" Sam asked, a second after he was dragged into the room by Merry and Pippin.

"I think…" Frodo was cut off. He heard Harry perform one of the spells. He got an idea. "Expelliarmus, but through use of hand magic. Um…" he slammed a stick on a stool, which transfigured into a living statue of a dwarf. "I'll give you an example, and then I want you to try. Expelliarmus!" The second he did that, the stick moved away from the dwarf statue's hand. Frodo was pleased. He waited until the dwarf statue had the stick again, before stepping aside to let Sam stand upfront. "Now you try."

Sam nearly had the dwarf statue after a few tries. He wasn't used to working with hand magic. That was Frodo, Merry and Pippin's profession. And yet, by the fourth try, he flicked his wrist once. That did the trick. The stick was tossed off to the side.

Frodo smiled, nodding his approval. "Well done, Sam, for a first try. You did it."

"Yeah. It felt good, Mr. Frodo," Sam said, even though he had a sour look on his face.

"Our turn," Merry and Pippin said, standing side by side as two dwarf statues stood side by side, facing them. They readied their hands, flicked their wrists and said, "Expelliarmus!" Well, Merry was successful in his first try, but Pippin ended up with the stick smacking against the stone ceiling.

"I've done better," Pippin said, sheepishly.

"Lucky try, Mr. Merry," Sam said, annoyed.

"Let's do it again," Frodo instructed.

It took about three more tries before Pippin manage to get the spell right. Even then he knew he needed to practice the spell more. The first try simply wouldn't cut it. Frodo knew that as he told his three hobbit friends. And yet, there was one member who had yet to participate.

"Your turn, Aria," Frodo said, approaching her.

"Actually, this is your thing. I'm just…" Aria was cut off. Frodo scooted her in front of a new dwarf statue. She told the four hobbits, nervous, "I can't do this. My magic is nothing more than sparks."

"Just try it," Frodo encouraged her. "It's all right."

"Okay," Aria said, readying her arms and hands. She raised her hands in the air. There were those blue sparks again. She thought really hard and said, "Expelliarmus!" There was a yellow blast shooting out of her hand, which jetted towards the dwarf statue, nearly sending it into a fright. Aria stared, disappointed at the effort. "I don't think I can do this."

"Relax." Frodo said, moving his hand behind Aria's wrist. "Calm down. Focus on the stick. Now breathe and…"

"Expelliarmus!" Aria cried, as Frodo flicked her wrist. She felt so calm. And yet her hand moved with his. To her surprise, and delight, the stick was tossed away from the dwarf statue. "That was easy."

"Try it again," Frodo said, kissing her cheek. The effort worked again. Another stick was thrown away, done by Aria. He smiled. That was the encouragement she needed, and he was glad of it. But he knew that wouldn't be enough, for on the third try Aria barely had control of the spell. He knew that would happen in some way. By the fourth try, Aria was exhausted. He massaged her shoulder for a bit. "Why don't you take a break?" He told the others. "Keep going and keep practicing. And Aria, when you're ready, try again."

They practiced until Hermione told them the lesson was over for their group. Frodo understood, stopping the others from practicing the spell. By that time, Aria sat down on a stool, worn down and exhausted. He sighed, knowing he worked her too hard for today, but also knew that it wasn't easy using hand magic, as he well knew when he first started learning how to use it. Either way, it had been a trying first day, but one Frodo was glad of. It meant that they weren't listening to Umbridge and Courter teach Defense Against the Dark Arts and the Introductory course. And that was good in and of itself.