Edit 4/25/09: Fixed some grammar and spelling mistakes.
. . . And Me With It
By Allanasha Ke Kiri
Chapter 11
Saturday, September 21st
The rest of the week was spent answering the various questions asked of him. Several (such as 'what will we be doing?') were answered with a simple 'you'll be told if you join.' Others (such as why he was allowing Slytherins and why he seemed to trust them) were not so simple and took several minutes to answer, and he was late to several of his classes. By the end of the week, Harry was sporting a constant headache that he somehow managed to hide from everyone else.
Somehow, he also managed to keep his smile as he answered every question. Never once did he, outwardly, lose his patience (which had him thanking his time in Slytherin for helping him perfect his masks). Harry wondered how many would be attending.
All in all, he was happy with his performance, as no one seemed to know anything was wrong, or so he thought.
Saturday evening, he arrived at the Great Hall ahead of everyone else. Of course, he figured that was because he was a half hour early. Once the door closed behind him, he relaxed against the wall, closing his eyes. His headache had grown.
Sighing once, he tried to relax his facial features, hoping to ease his headache. The sound of one of the doors opening had him straightening.
"Professor," he greeted.
"Drink," Snape ordered, thrusting a vial at him.
"Sir?" Harry asked, taking the vial, but eyeing it warily.
"Headache potion."
Harry blinked. "I don't--"
"I don't want to hear it. By my count, you have had one for the last several days, and, if you plan on doing this . . . club adequately, then you need to be at your best, limited thought that may be. Drink."
Harry sighed. Apparently he hadn't been as good as he'd thought, but drank, barely stopping the moan of relief when the pain slowly faded. Snape nodded once before moving away. They waited in silence for the others to arrive. They did so 15 minutes later, and as a group.
"Is this everyone?" he asked.
"This is," Malfoy told him, stepping forward.
Harry nodded, making a quick count. 9. Not bad. He'd been hoping for more, but it would have to do.
"Alright, if you'll follow me, I'll show you were we'll be meeting."
"You were serious?"
Harry paused, turning to the speaker. He felt a smile tugging on his lips at the sight of Jarod.
"Yeah, I meant it. If you want to join, you're welcome to. Now, come on, or we're going to be late."
They silently followed him. He forced himself not to look back, trying to show them he trusted them. It was easier than he thought it would be. He figured it was because he'd been one of their number for a while.
"Wait here," he said when they reached the corridor.
Silently, he strode its length three times, ignoring the sneering Slytherins.
"Potter, what are you . . ." Snape trailed off as the door appeared.
Fighting back a smirk, he opened it and strode inside, the Slytherins following quickly. Conversations halted around them. Harry paused long enough to glance around at the students and to 'require' a platform. 'Hearing' him, the room formed one. Still silent, Harry strode onto it.
"Welcome," he said finally, his voice echoing through the otherwise silent room. "As you know, this is the DA. If you're here by mistake, I suggest you leave now." He paused; no one left.
He grinned. "Alright then. If you're here, that means you're willing to put in the time and commitment, and to put aside the house prejudices. I'm glad that so many of you can do that.
"Hermione, if you'd come forward."
Hermione quickly left the crowd to stand at the base of the platform.
"Due to the need for secrecy, and the want to have some form of surprise over our enemies, we have come up with a way to prevent anyone from talking about what happens in here to, or around anyone not in it; to do so would prove disastrous. If you're willing to join, even with this restriction, please come forward and sign your name on the parchment."
Several people shifted, but none came forward.
"Aren't you going to sign it?"
Harry blinked. "Of course."
Without hesitation, he knelt to take the quill from Hermione and signed his name. Hermione's was the only one before his. After that, several came forward. Zacharias Smith was the first one. Harry stepped back to watch. He smiled when the nine Slytherins pushed their way forward to sign their names.
Finally, everyone was done. Hermione glanced up at him, silently asking if he wanted her to do anything else. Harry smiled and held out his hand for the parchment and quill. She handed them over with only a raised eyebrow.
He glanced it over, though he already knew there was one name that wasn't on there.
"Professor Snape," he called. "I don't see your name."
"I do not see how I would need to Mr. Potter," Snape drawled from the door, keeping up his appearance.
"As I said before, it's a matter of secrecy. If even one wrong person were to overhear you talking to, say Dumbledore, about us, it could prove disastrous."
Snape raised an eyebrow. "What are the consequences of speaking of it?"
Harry opened his mouth to respond, but closed it a moment later, frowning.
"I don't know."
"You signed it without knowing what it did? How utterly Gryffindor," he sneered.
That brought a bought of grumbling from the crowd (and uneasy shifting from the Slytherins), but Harry just shrugged.
"It's not like I'm going to go spreading it about, sir," he responded dryly. "Hermione could you tell us the consequences?"
"Certainly," she grinned. "To violate this contract will result in you being purple and nude for a seven hour period-"
Harry felt his jaw drop. "You didn't!"
"I did," she chirped, obviously pleased with herself. "Fred and George helped."
"I didn't think you'd actually do it."
"I wasn't planning to, but nothing I came up with was half as brilliant. Besides, I highly doubt anyone's going to tell anyone with this on their heads."
"What?" someone breathed.
Harry sighed. "Hermione has charmed the contract so that if anyone violates it they will be nude and purple for seven hours. And, if I'm correct, any attempt to dress will result in said clothes vanishing."
"That's kind of steep."
"He's the one that suggested it," Hermione shrugged.
"You're the one who went with it," he countered.
"That's not all of it," Hermione told him. "Besides being nude and purple, great big gold letters will spell out across your head and shout, quite literally, ever secret you have ever kept."
Everyone blinked in astonishment. Including Harry before he turned to Snape. "I'm sorry, sir, but everyone present must sign. If you are unwilling to, we can always find someone else."
Without bothering to respond, Snape strode forward, students quickly hurrying out of his way. Sneering at Harry, he grabbed the quill and parchment, quickly signing his name before handing it back.
"Excellent," Harry said. "There's a desk over there for you, sir, unless you'd rather roam."
"I'll sit."
"Alright," he said, turning his attention back to the students. "All I want to do today is find out where everyone is. I want you to pair up with someone from a different house and duel. I'll be roaming around making suggestions."
As everyone began pairing, Harry placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder. She glanced up at him. He flicked his eyes to the Slytherins. She slumped, briefly, but squared her shoulders and went to ask Blaise to be her partner. Blaise blinked once, but accepted with a nod.
He was about to mention something to the crowd, but Neville, Ginny, Luna, and Cho approached them as well. Neville paired with Crabbe, Ginny will Cassandra (A slytherin fifth year), Luna paired with Goyle, and Cho ended up with Nancy (another Slytherin fifth year).
"What did I say about your prejudices?" Harry demanded, gaining everyone's attention. "So far, I still see you clinging to them, with the exception of Luna, Ginny, Hermione, Cho, and Neville. If you wish to stay, I suggest you get over them right quick. For now, you four, go pair with one of the Slytherins."
He watched the two pairs grumble, but obey. Harry frowned at them, hoping things got easier soon. Silently, he reminded himself to thank Snape for the potion after class.
With a quick thought, several dueling rectangles formed.
"Begin whenever you're ready," he said. "If you finish a duel, continue until I tell you otherwise."
For several minutes, he watched them start their duels. Then he hopped down form the platform and began to make his way to each group. He nodded several times, making mental notes as to where everyone was, and giving compliments, and criticism, where he could.
Crabbe was mostly just dodging Neville's spells, occasionally trying one of his own. They failed, for the most part. Harry called a halt to their duel.
"It's pronounced, impedimenta," he said.
Crabbe stumbled over the word.
"Impedimenta," he repeated, keeping his hand away from his wand.
It took two more tries, but Crabbe finally got the pronunciation right. Harry moved on to the wand movement. He got it more quickly. Harry nodded and stepped back, motioning them to continue. He watched them a moment more before continuing on, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
"Good, Hermione. Great job, Zabini."
"Protego!" Hermione said in response to Blaise's slicing curse.
"It's better to dodge those, Hermione, saves your wand for a retaliation."
Hermione nodded once to show she heard.
"What's the score?"
"2" Zaini said. "Conjunctivitis"
Hermione quickly dodged that one "Expelliarmus, 3" Hermione replied.
"Good," he said, moving away.
He stopped Goyle's duel to give him a few tips on pronunciation and wand movement, but otherwise, didn't have to do much. Harry found himself smiling, his first true one since returning, when he called a halt to their duels.
"Excellent!" he told them. "I now know where you are, and by the next time we meet, I'll have a rough schedule ready. I suggest you review the spells you've learned, both offensive and defensive, you never know what may be needed.
"Now, I would like Crabbe, Goyle, and the original DA members to stay, but the rest of you are dismissed."
He waited patiently for the room to empty, leaving him, Snape, and the ones he'd requested to stay. Still smiling softly, he walked over to Crabbe and Goyle, who looked decidedly uncomfortable without Draco.
"Hey," he said,
They nodded in greeting.
"I meant it when I said I wasn't going to let anyone fall behind. If you're willing, I'd like to give the two of you some private lessons. You know, help you catch up."
They looked at each other a moment before turning back and nodding once.
"Great!" he grinned, turning to go. "Oh," he continued, glancing back over his shoulder. "You do know that nobody can talk about what happens here to anyone not a member, right?"
Without waiting for a reply, he went to the waiting DA members. He gave them a soft smile.
"It's good to know that you remember most of what I taught you last year. That means that I'll probably call on you to demonstrate something while I explain it. If you would prefer not to, tell me now so that I know." He paused to let anyone object. No one did.
"Great. Now, one last thing. I'm going to be counting on you to bridge the gap between the houses and the Slytherins, as you've had more experience."
"But, Harry . . ."
"Yes?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at Annetta Maren, a Hufflepuff 5th year.
"Uh . . . Are you really sure we can trust them?"
Instead of answering, Harry turned to Hermione.
" 'Mione, how did you're duel with Zabini go?"
Hermione blinked several times before she could answer. "Well enough. We were about evenly matched, and he didn't try to cheat."
Harry nodded. "Luna"
"Gregory is more than he appears," Luna answered vaguely, unknowingly confirming something Harry had wondered. "He has several gifts he has only to acknowledge to receive."
Harry blinked once, deciding to think about those implications later. "Okay, Cho?"
"Better than it could have been," she answered with a shrug. "She didn't even sneer."
He nodded his thanks. "They're trying. The least you can do is return the favor. And yes, … I would hate to think I have to throw one of you out."
"But what if they're spying?"
Harry raised an eyebrow. "And how do you suppose they'd get the information to anyone without a price?" He looked them over again, silent long enough to make them squirm. "I'm not asking you to trust them, or even like them, just be civil to them, okay?"
He got murmurs in response. Harry fought the urge to sigh.
"You can go now."
Only Ron and Hermione seemed to hesitate, but when he nodded for them to go, they did. The room fell into silence when the door closed behind them.
"That . . . went better than expected."
Harry nodded, finally allowing a sigh to pass his lips. "It did. I actually expected a blood bath. Might have had one anyway, if Hermione and the others hadn't approached the Slytherins."
He turned to see Snape regarding him with a raised eyebrow. "The others would not have done so without Ms. Granger, and she, in turn, would not have thought of it without your . . . hint."
Harry sagged. "Was it that obvious?"
"Only to someone who was watching you. My Slytherins will have known."
"Great," he said, moving to sit in a chair across from Snape's desk. He really didn't want to deal with curious Slytherins. They had a tendency to watch.
"After tonight they will be watching you. I can guarantee that they will notice your time with Mssrs. Crabbe and Goyle."
Harry took of his glasses to rub his tired eyes. "Just what I need," he mumbled.
"What are you're plans for after Hogwarts, Mr. Potter?"
Harry blinked at the sudden change of subject. "Uh, well, I've wanted to be an Auror since I found out about them, but Draco, my Draco that is, said that I'm a decent teacher. He convinced me to think about it."
Snape leaned back in his chair, eyebrow raised. "And?"
Harry shrugged. "I enjoy it, I guess. It's an odd sort of rush when someone learns a spell they couldn't do, and I know that I'm the one who helped them." He felt a smile tugging at his lips.
"Indeed." There was an uncomfortable pause. "Your Mr. Malfoy was correct, Mr. Potter. You are a decent teacher. Better than some of the incompetents we have had in the recent years."
Harry snorted, torn between amusement and irritation; amused at Snape's description of their past DADA professors, and irritation that he was only better than some of them.
"We've had a few decent ones. Remus, for one. The fake Moody wasn't so bad either; if you don't get into the whole entering me into the tournament and sending me to Voldemort. Everyone else kind of sucked though."
"My point exactly, Mr. Potter."
"I don't think I should though."
"Why not?"
"Every Defense teacher we've had has either died, been fired, been a death eater in disguise, or been incredibly inept."
Harry could have sworn he saw Snape smile, but shook his head, it was only a smirk.
"Which is why you would be perfect."
Harry blinked, then cleaned out an ear. "Huh?"
"You are, obviously, not completely inept in the subject. I doubt you will ever be a Death Eater. The ministry will, no doubt, never attempt to get you fired, and you still stubbornly refuse to die. You are perfect for the cursed defense position."
"Er . . . thanks."
Still in a state of shock, Harry stood and moved to the door. "Oh, Professor?"
"Yes?"
"Thanks for the potion."
He was gone before Snape could reply, and, as such, never noticed the thoughtful frown the man had as he stared after him.
"Ah, Severus!" Albus grinned. "Lemon Drop?"
"No," he replied, curtly, as he slid into a chair.
"Very well. How did the meeting go?"
"Nobody died."
Albus nodded, eyes twinkling. "Always a good thing, my boy. Do you know what he plans to teach them?"
"Nothing I can say," he replied.
"Severus," Albus said, chidingly.
"I cannot talk of it without serious repercussions, Albus. Ones I will not risk by telling you anything."
"Repercussion?" Albus asked, eyes blinking.
"It is one of Potter's ideas. It prevents anyone leaking any information to anyone not of the club."
"Surely it cannot be that bad, Severus."
Severus raised an eyebrow. "Granger enlisted the help of the Weasley twins."
Albus' eyebrows shot up to his hairline.
"As I said, Albus, should you wish to know, join the club." He sneered.
"I'm sure, young Harry will make an exception for me," Albus said. "After all, the things he teaches them could be of great help. And I do believes he knows I will not go to Voldemort with the information."
Severus watched the headmaster chuckle a moment before responding, hoping it didn't activate the charm. "Potter signed it as well, and I highly doubt he will be going to the Dark Lord either.|"
"Did he?"
"Yes, no exceptions were made," Severus drawled, standing. "If that is all, Albus, I will be leaving."
Severus did not give him anytime to respond before exiting the room. He had to admit though; he liked knowing something the headmaster didn't. It was a very nice change.
Here you go ^_^
It's longer than a few of the past chapters have been. Not a lot happened, I know. But it gets the story moving again, which is always a good thing ^_^.
Also, I am very happy (and admittedly, proud) to say that quite a few of you knew that it was Luna at the end of last chapter even before my AN. My muse is preening lol.
Oh, and I had someone praise me for being able to write and edit these chapters in 3 days. I don't. I have these chapters pre-written up to chapter 25 and I'm working beyond that.
Erm … That's all I can think of so. I hope you enjoyed it!
Allanasha Ke Kiri