Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; not the plot, not the setting, not the characters. I'm just making a few changes. You should be able to recognize them. =D

A/N: Please keep up the reviews people, I know there's so many of you reading who aren't reviewing. Those of you who are, thank you so so so much! I love them all. There are several new people reviewing and I'm soooo grateful for that! Thanks guys, keep it up!

I also want to apologize for the long break in writing. For one, I really want to get this section of the story done right, so it'll take a while. Also, I'm preparing to go to college in just two weeks, so I'm a bit overwhelmed. I will try to update soon. Sorry for how short this chapter is!

Chapter 25

The room was deadly silent. Umbridge had left nearly an hour before, Harry and Hermione standing ahead of her at wandpoint. Ginny had exchanged a silent and frantic look with Hermione as she walked past. It was clear in that moment that the older girl had no idea what she was doing. She was making this up as she went along and while Ginny was usually in favor of instinct, the last thing she wanted was for her friend to dig herself an even deeper hole than the one she was already stuck in. She barely had time to convey that before Hermione turned away, a determined expression on her face. No matter what happened, she was going to make sure Harry got to the Ministry to save Sirius. If that meant lying to Umbridge and praying the toad wouldn't see through it, she'd do it. Something that had always been true about Hermione was her determination. When she was loyal, she would do all in her power for that loyalty; when she was a rule-breaker, she did so with a thoroughness that would have made mob bosses impressed.

The ticking of the clock was the only thing to remind Ginny that time hadn't suddenly frozen, leaving her, the other members of the DA, and the Inquisitorial Squad standing there, exactly the way Umbridge had left them. Occasionally, one of them would send a nervous glance in someone else's direction, hoping to catch their eye and figure out what to do next. More often than not though, it was one of the Slytherins that moved, shifting positions, yawning, or poking one of their prisoners with their wands and snickering evilly. Draco had given up taunting Ron when he'd realized he wasn't going to get much of a reaction out of him. Oddly out of character, Ron was standing there silently, staring fixedly at the window. Ginny could tell he was thinking, but what about, she didn't bother trying to guess. Her own mind was preoccupied.

Her head was filled with the image of Harry sitting there, shoulders hunched, being interrogated, the feel of his hand on hers as he absently ran his finger over the raised skin of her detention scar, the frustration of not knowing why she felt this way when she already had a boyfriend. She was completely preoccupied so that she hardly even noticed Goyle's hand cutting off the circulation in her wrist. It wasn't until Neville kicked her in the foot that she even noticed that Ron was trying to catch her attention. At first she sent Neville a pointed glare, but he ignored it and attempted to nod in Ron's direction without seeming too obvious. Finally, Ginny understood what he was doing and she looked up at her brother. He mouthed something she couldn't make out before Draco gave Ron a good shove.

"What part of 'shut up' did you not understand, Weasley?" the blonde Slytherin asked, poking Ron in the gut with his wand.

"I could ask you the same question," Ron muttered, just loud enough to be heard.

Draco raised his wand threateningly, but Ron just grinned and said, "Besides, all I was trying to say was that I fancy a snack."

"Oh you do, do you?" Draco sneered. "Well, I'm afraid you've forgotten that purebloods don't serve blood traitors. It's the other way around."

"You don't need to serve me, Malfoy, you ruddy git," Ron said, rolling his eyes. "I've got my own. If you'd just ask your trained ape to let go of me, I could get them myself." He nodded in Crabbe's direction, since the large Slytherin boy had him in a half-nelson.

Draco glared at Ron for a second before a grin spread across his face. "Go ahead, Weasel. Have your snack." He waved his hand and Crabbe reluctantly let go of Ron.

For a moment, Ginny watched in confusion as Ron stretched and rubbed the spot on his neck where Crabbe had been choking him. He took his time, until Draco's grin began to turn into a sneer, and then, as deliberately slow as he could manage, he reached into his pocket and retrieved a number of wrapped candies. He started to count them and as he shifted them in his hand, Ginny recognized them at once. The insignia and the colorful wrappers were unmistakable. She could barely keep herself from laughing, and she could see that the same was true for Ron. He carefully selected a Puking Pastel and began to unwrap it at a measured pace.

"It's downright selfish of you to keep those all to yourself," Draco drawled, eying the candies with envy. "I think it's only fair you pace them around."

"You're right," Ron agreed, taking both Ginny and Draco by surprise. But then, much to Draco's irritation, he headed straight for Luna, handed her a candy, and moved on to Neville.

"Not them, you idiot," Draco sighed. He stepped forward and snatched the Nosebleed Nugget from Luna. "Help yourselves, boys," he said to the other Inquisitorial Squaders. They stepped forward greedily, snatching the candies from Neville and Ron.

"No, don't," Ron said half-heartedly.

But it was already too late. The Slytherins all had a piece of Weasley's Wizard Weases candy in their mouths by that time and within moments, the effects began to sink in.

Goyle doubled over, holding back the need to vomit. Draco's nose was pouring out blood like a faucet. The rest were all suffering from various symptoms, but mostly, they were spilling their lunches all over the floor, walls, and furniture. Ginny could just imagine Umbridge's face when she saw the mess that had been left for her. It was a horrible sight. With the Inquisitorial Squad incapacitated, the DA members did not waste a second. They all easily broke free of their captors and, raising their wands, quickly stunned all the Inquisitorial Squad without even the semblance of resistance. For Ginny, however, a stunning spell simply wasn't enough. She'd always been a natural at the Bat-Bogey-Hex, and she put it to good use. Draco looked far worse than the rest by the time she was done. After a moment of shouted spells the sounds of sick students subsided and a momentary silence fell over the room.

"Brilliant, Ron!" Neville said, grinning broadly.

"That really was a stroke of genius," Ginny agreed, surveying their work. Draco was laying with his head resting on Goyle's stomach, still bleeding from his nose all over his cronies' white school shirt. Crabbe was laying on his stomach with his rear end raised in the air. The others were covered in bile, blood, and boils in various degrees. Ginny finally looked up at her brother and the two of them couldn't help but smile broadly at each other. But that quickly faded as she had a moment to think.

"Now what?" she asked.

Ron shrugged. "I suppose we go after Harry and Hermione."

"We don't even know where they went," Neville pointed out.

They had to admit that he had a point, but they weren't about to stand there and wait for the Inquisitorial Squad to wake up, let alone leave Harry and Hermione out there alone with Umbridge. Whoe knew what was going on where they were?

Suddenly Ron spoke up. "I think I do know where they went!" Then, speaking to the air, "Hermione, you're a genius!"

"What? What is it?" the rest of them chorused, following Ron as he rushed out of the room, racing toward the stairs so fast that they could barely keep up.

"Grawp!" Ron shouted over his shoulder.

Luna, Ginny, and Neville exchanged confused glances.

"Who's Grawp?" Ginny demanded.

"Hagrid's half-brother," Ron said, waving his hand as if to dismiss the subject.

"Hagrid's what?" Neville stuttered at the same time that Luna cried out, "Oh, good!"

They didn't have time to voice their bewilderment any further for lack of breath. They all rushed down the stairs and out the Great Hall so quickly they sent more than one second year stumbling over themselves to get out of the way.

The grounds were cool and wet for a day in early summer, even in the evening. Their footsteps were muffled in the grass until they almost seemed like a group of phantoms running across the field. They reached the bridge and their footfalls turned to an incessant drumming. Ahead, Ginny could see two figures running in their direction and she felt herself breath easily for the first time in more than an hour when she saw bushy brown hair bouncing up and down and the glint of light reflecting off of glasses. Harry and Hermione slowly came into view, and the two groups of friends pulled to a stop feet from each other.

"How'd you get away?" Hermione called before she'd even stopped running.

"Puking Pastels," Ginny answered, smiling with mingled relief and pleasure at the memory of the Inquisitorial Squad bent double from Fred and George's wonderful inventions. "It wasn't pretty."

"Told them I was hungry and wanted some sweets," Ron continued. "'Course they told me to bugger off and ate the lot themselves."

Hermione tilted her head to one side. "That was clever, Ron," she said with a hint of admiration and more than a little surprise.

He shrugged, grinning. "It's been known to happen."

"It was brilliant," Neville supplied, brushing off Ron's modesty. Then, turning towards Harry he said eagerly, "So, how are we getting to London?"

The others nodded and turned expectantly towards Harry. To Ginny's irritation, he looked cornered, like he wanted to say something and didn't know how. When he spoke, it made her curl her hands into fists.

"Look, it's not like I don't appreciate what you've done, all of you, but…" His eyes scanned the group, falling on Ginny last. He didn't linger on her, but looked quickly away instead as he stepped forward and pushed through them all. "I've gotten you into enough trouble as it is."

His shoulder brushed against hers as he passed, so lightly that she almost wasn't sure it had happened. She turned to watch him leave, too angry to speak. Neville, on the other hand, did not let Harry get away without speaking his mind.

"Dumbledore's Army was supposed to be about doing something real," he accused. Harry slowed and stopped, but didn't turn. "Or was that all just words to you?"

They were all staring at him now. His shoulders were tight and his head was tilted down slightly as he watched the floor for what felt like a long moment, though Ginny knew that it was barely even a second. He turned until he could look at them, though his body was still half turned away, like he was ready to leave at any moment. They were silent.

Ron shifted his weight, almost tentative as he spoke. "Maybe you don't have to do this all by yourself mate," he suggested, and Ginny was surprised by the tone in his voice, almost pleading.

Harry could hear it too. He watched Ron for a long moment, silent as he took in his friend's statement. Then, he looked at each of them individually, his resolve crumbling visibly.

He licked his lips and looked skywards for a second, taking a deep breath. His tone was clearly hesitant and frustrated as he spoke, but Ginny thought she almost heard a hint of relief in the words, though she couldn't be sure. "So how are we going to get to London?" he relented.

He had them there. None of them were old enough to apparate, and even if they could, no one could apparate in and out of Hogwarts. Brooms would be too slow, and they wouldn't have enough. Suddenly, Luna, who had to that point been silent, smiled that ethereal smile of her and said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, "We fly, of course."