Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Author's Note: I need help naming the new student-run organization. I don't want to name it the DA or anything associated with Dumbledore. If anyone has ideas, please let me know :)

Also, please read the clarification notes at the end of this chapter.

Please enjoy this next chapter :)

Rose settled further into her chair as she snuggled into the comfy blue jumper her Nana Molly had knitted for Christmas as she listened to Albus, Scorpius, Mei, Lily, Lysander, Hugo, and Lorcan talk amongst themselves in the common room of the Head's dorm.

Rose was extremely happy to be back inside Hogwarts. It seemed that things were better inside the castle than outside. Hogwarts was a safe haven. It was its own impenetrable fortress of protection against the increasingly dangerous outside world. Rose was only too thankful for that after the events at Christmas time.

Rose stopped playing with the bracelet Scorpius had given her for Christmas as the conversation in the room took on a more serious tone. It seemed like now was as good a time as any to start planning their new defensive organization.

"I still think we should call it the Anti-Brotherhood League. The ABL for short," Hugo said as he placed his arms behind his head and placed his feet on the coffee table.

"Get your feet off the table, Hugo. Seriously, it's disgusting. Besides, we can't name it so obviously. The Brotherhood isn't above hurting children or students. We shouldn't give them any more reasons to attack. Naming our organization the Anti-Brotherhood League would be like a slap to the face. They wouldn't just ignore something as glaringly obvious as that. We need to be more subtle," Lily said as she attempted to shove Hugo's legs from the coffee table.

"Yeesh. No need to get testy. It was just a suggestion!" Hugo said as he ground his feet into the table to make Lily's job that much harder.

"OK, so the Anti-Brotherhood League is definitely out then. Does anyone else have any suggestions?" Scorpius asked as he dumped Hugo onto the floor. "That's for putting your stinky feet on my table," Scorpius said as Hugo got up glaring.

"Hmm," Albus said as he stroked his cheeks in thought. "My mum came up with Dumbledore's Army because at the time a horrible witch named Umbridge, who was backed by the corrupt Ministry and Fudge, decided that children didn't need to protect themselves against Voldemort because there was 'no way' that he had actually come back. Mum suggested Dumbledore's Army since it was what Fudge feared the most. Do we know what the Brotherhood is most scared of?" Albus asked as he glanced around the room.

"From what I can tell, the Brotherhood doesn't have any fears. They have a shocking disregard for life, including their own member's lives. It's pretty much the same as the Death Eaters," Mei said.

"Well, isn't the Brotherhood attempting to rid the world of so called corruption?" Or something along those lines?" Lysander asked.

"The Brotherhood is attempting to create a utopian world where prejudice and violence don't exist. They're maniacal, extremist hypocrites. Extremism is never the answer. The world already saw a war in which a megalomaniac tried to create his own dystopian world where Purebloods ruled supreme. Now we just have another megalomaniac some twenty years later trying to do the same thing by wiping out those who are prejudiced or had lived during times of prejudice. To them it's different, but it's the damn same to me. Different messages and goals, but the same tactics. Violence, intimidation, coercion. They aren't any better than the Death Eaters, even though they claim they are," Rose said bitterly. She could just feel her face turning red.

Everyone looked at Rose in shock. It was very rare for Rose to get mad. She was usually one to think things through before acting. But now Rose looked like she could easily kill someone.

"Easy there tiger," Albus joked. His grin faded when Rose turned to glare at him.

"Look. We know the Brotherhood hates being compared to the Death Eaters and to Voldemort's regime. Can we work with that?" Scorpius asked to diffuse what would have turned into a long fight between Albus and Rose.

"I suppose so," Lily said uncertainly as she snuggled up to Lysander.

"I don't see how mum came up with such an awesome name! Naming things is hard," Albus said as he began to pout.

"I still say we go with the Anti-Brotherhood League," Hugo said.

"No, Hugo," Rose, Lily, Scorpius, Albus, Mei, and Lysander all said with varying degrees of annoyance and frustration.

"Fine! Let's use some of your brilliant ideas then. Oh wait, you don't have any!" Hugo snapped back.

"Oh my God Hugo! You are so immature!" Lily said as she glared at Hugo. "We already told you why your idea wouldn't work! Stop acting like James and Fred!"

"Maybe I wouldn't have to act like them if everyone else would lighten the hell up! Seriously! You guys have all been involved in some sort of drama these last few years! Excuse me for trying to have fun and keep things light!" Hugo responded with more anger than anyone knew he was capable of. "You say I'm the one who needs to grow up! Well look in the damn mirror! You and all your stupid love drama. Don't accuse me of being immature when none of you were able to get your shit together. This accusation goes both ways from where I stand!" Hugo added before he left the common room with a bang!

Everyone was silent after Hugo's abrupt exit. No one really knew what to say. Their own personal dramas had seemed like the most important thing in the world, when in reality, they weren't that important at all.

"I didn't know he felt that way," Lily said in a small voice.

"I don't think anyone knew. Hugo bottles up his emotions. You don't know what he's feeling until he suddenly starts yelling," Albus said.

"I had thought he started acting like James and Fred so that he could get girls," Lysander said as Lily smacked him across the back of his head with a glare.

"The why or the how come doesn't matter. What matters is that he's right. We've been so caught up in our own dramas that we failed to see how it impacted those around us. I should go see if he's alright," Rose said as she got up to leave.

Rose knew exactly where to go. Scorpius liked to go down to the Quidditch pitch when he was angry, Albus liked to go to the lake, and she liked to go to the library. Hugo had always loved birds. Whenever he was upset, he would go to the Owlery.

When Rose entered the Owlery, she could hear Hugo talking to the birds. Rose could faintly hear snippets of a, "not fair" and, "show them immaturity" before making her presence known.

"Hugo, it's me. Can we talk?" Rose asked as she climbed the ladder to the first landing.

"Fine," Hugo said from his position amongst the birds.

Rose grimaced as she maneuvered her way onto the landing and around the numerous amounts of bird poop. When she finally got to where Hugo was sitting, she was sweating.

"Glad to see you finally made it," Hugo said sarcastically after having watched Rose's painfully slow maneuverings.

"I just wanted to see if you were OK. You left kind of suddenly," Rose said as she chose to ignore Hugo's veiled insult.

"Oh I'm fine. Peachy. It's just nice to know someone actually cares," Hugo said bitterly as he stroked the owl next to him.

"Of course we care Hugo! You're family, and I'm your sister! We kind of have to love you," Rose said as she attempted to joke.

But this time Hugo was serious. He wasn't smiling or making jokes. He was just staring moodily into space as he petted the owl.

"Really? Because it doesn't seem like anyone has actually cared for the longest time," Hugo finally said.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked concerned.

"You and Albus have always been close. And I understand that. It used to be the same with Lily and I. But then you and Al started to hang out with Scorpius. It was obvious from the start that you liked him. And it was obvious that he liked you, even though he didn't realize himself. So not only was Albus taking up your time, but now it was Scorpius. And then Lily started having feelings for Lysander. It had been the three of us, and then all of a sudden I was the third wheel. Even when Lily was with Brent I was still the third wheel. All Lysander would do was talk about Lily and hate on Brent. Not only was my sister preoccupied with some guy, but my two best friends didn't even care anymore. That's why I started hanging out with James and Fred. They were the next closest to us in age, and they seemed like they were always having a good time. Besides, pulling pranks got me attention. I wasn't just Rose's younger brother anymore. I was Hugo Weasley, the most innovative prankster since James and Fred," Hugo said.

Rose sat back and took in everything Hugo had said. She had had no idea that her brother had felt that way. He always seemed happy and carefree, which was something she had always been envious of.

"Hugo, why didn't you say anything? How were we supposed to know what you were feeling if you didn't say anything?" Rose asked.

"Would you have listened?" Hugo asked as he turned to look at Rose.

Rose honestly couldn't answer that question, which was very eye opening. She hadn't been the best sister or the best friend. Rose vowed to do better and to pay more attention in the future.

"I'm sorry Hugo. I've been a horrible sister. I was too caught up in my own problems to notice how you were feeling," Rose said ashamedly.

"You're not a bad sister Rose. You're a great person. You can just be a bit dense sometimes. Don't worry though. It runs in the family," Hugo joked with a smile.

Rose smiled back. She was happy to see Hugo back to being his upbeat self. Maybe hanging out with James and Fred had been a good thing for him. He was certainly more confident and self-assured than he had ever been. Too bad that self-assurance and confidence was born out of feelings of isolation and bitterness.

"Hugo, just promise that you'll talk to me if you're ever feeling like that again. It isn't healthy to bottle up your emotions like that," Rose said gently as she placed her hand on Hugo's shoulder.

It was Hugo's turn to grimace. "Yea... Blowing up on you guys probably wasn't the smartest idea. I guess Lily was right about the immature thing," Hugo said sheepishly.

"Yes and no. Lily's right. You bringing up the Anti-Brotherhood League when we had already kindly rejected the name was a bit immature. But, you aren't more immature than the rest of us. We all have our moments Hugo. One of your moments happened to fall at a time when emotions were already high strung. You shouldn't have brought it up, but Lily shouldn't have gone at you for it. You were both in the wrong," Rose said as she thought back to the events that had caused Hugo to leave.

Hugo and Rose lapsed into a comfortable silence as the owls hooted and fluttered all around them. It was quite relaxing and calming. Rose could easily see why Hugo loved being up here.

"It's really nice here Hugo. I can see why you always come up here," Rose said to break the silence.

"Yea, it's pretty great. And no one comes up here unless they really need to because of all the poop. Oh, and thanks Rose," Hugo said.

"You're welcome? What are you thanking me for Hugh?" Rose asked confused.

"For caring, and listening to what I have to say. It's hard enough as it is. Being part of a famous family, and being mum and dad's kids. Everyone expects us to be perfect, or to act a certain way. Sometimes I don't even know who I am because I'm too busy trying not to let everyone down," Hugo said as he fiddled with his hands.

"Remember how we were young and the paparazzi followed us everywhere?" Rose asked.

"When we were younger? They still follow us around everywhere when we're not at school," Hugo pointed out.

"Well, that is true... But remember that really bad story about how one of the tabloids printed that nasty argument saying that mum and dad were getting divorced and that they were fighting over us because the paparazzi happened to snap a picture during one of mum and dad's arguments? You were six and I was eight. Mum was yelling at dad because he had wanted to buy you a bunch of candy, and mum said no because we had already gone for ice cream. You were crying, and mum was yelling, and then dad started yelling back. I had my hands over my ears because I didn't want to hear them yelling. Since we were in Diagon Alley we were fair game for the paps, who took advantage of the fact that mum and dad had forgotten that we were in public. The next day while I was grocery shopping with mum, I saw the article. I started to cry because the magazine claimed that our family was falling apart. When mum saw me crying and asked me what was wrong, I showed her the article. Once mum saw the title, she apparated us home without any of our groceries. Do you remember what happened next?" Rose asked her brother who looked as if he was trying to remember what had happened that day.

"Vaguely. It's hard to remember though because it was ten years ago," Hugo finally said.

"Well, mum left me crying in the family room where you were playing while she went to find dad. You came up to me and gave me the biggest hug and told me it was going to be alright, even though you had no idea why I was upset in the first place. Then I did a stupid thing. I told you that it wouldn't be alright because mum and dad were getting divorced. Then you started to cry too. That's how mum and dad found us," Rose finished.

"Oh yea! Now I remember! We were both crying when mum and dad came back into the room. They both exchanged their 'look' that they do when they think we don't notice before they went to pick us up. Mum went to me and dad went to you. I remember that they just held us for a while until we were finally calm enough to listen," Hugo said.

"Mum showed us the magazine article that said they were getting divorced, and she showed us the picture the paparazzi took. She said that the media tends to sensationalize everything, just so that they have something juicy to write about. When she read the article out loud, it became apparent that the journalist and their so-called sources didn't have a clue what they were talking about. We all ended up crying because we were laughing so hard by the time she had finished reading. Mum then turned more serious. She told us that we would unfortunately be followed by the paparazzi all of our lives, and that the public would always be watching us because of the family we were born into. Mum said that we shouldn't be scared, but that we should take it in stride. She then said that we shouldn't pay attention to what they wrote about us because they would most likely be lies anyways. My favorite part was when mum said that we shouldn't feel the need to act like something we weren't just to get approval. By that time I was already being compared to mum. She said that the only thing we should be worried about was being ourselves. Hugo, what mum said ten years ago still stands today. You shouldn't ever feel that you need to act a certain way to get people to like you. People will like you for who you are, not who you think you need to be," Rose said.

Hugo was silent for a few minutes as he let the power of Rose's words sink in. "Hmmm, I wonder why you're always being compared to mum," Hugo said as he punched Rose on the shoulder lightly.

Rose just rolled her eyes. "Still making jokes I see," Rose teased.

"Yea, why not? I feel like jokes are just a part of my personality at this point. It feels natural. It doesn't feel forced. Maybe this is what I needed. I needed to gain more confidence. Although now people are saying that I may have overshot in that department," Hugo said with a wink.

"God forbid you get any cockier!" Rose said with an exaggerated eye roll. "But, as long as you're happy, that's all that matters," Rose said.

"Yes sifu Rose," Hugo said as he mock bowed.

"Hugo if you don't stop I'm going to be forced to hug you," Rose said as she held her arms out for a hug.

"No! Not a hug! Rose, get off! I have a reputation to maintain! Cool guys don't get hugs from their older sister! Rose!" Hugo said as he attempted to break free from Rose's vice-like grip.

"Stop being a baby Hugo! Enjoy the love! God forbid someone walks up here this late at night!" Rose joked as she finally let go of a disgruntled Hugo.

"Whatever. I should go. I don't want to be caught after curfew," Hugo said as he started climbing down the latter. "You coming?"

"In a bit. I'm Head Girl. I wouldn't get in trouble. I'm just going to stay up here a bit longer and think," Rose said.

Hugo just nodded and climbed down the latter. The last thing Rose heard before being enveloped in silence was, "I guess big sister hugs aren't the worst thing in the world."

Rose, Scorpius, and Albus were sitting in the Headmistress's office. Tonight was their monthly Anamagi lesson. They were supposed to have used the Christmas break for practice, but so much had happened that practice had become impossible.

"I take it that you didn't practice over break," McGonagall said as she glanced at the trio's nervous looking faces.

"We were going to, we swear. But after what happened at Malfoy Manor, practice just seemed impossible," Rose answered truthfully as Scorpius and Albus nodded.

McGonagall sighed. She hadn't really expected them to practice after she had found out about the events on Christmas Eve at the emergency meeting Harry and Ron had called. The children, which is what they still were in McGonagall's eyes despite them being legally of age, didn't even know about what had happened to Melissa. McGonagall hated that she needed to be the one to break the unwelcome news to them.

"I expected as much. We heard about what had happened at the Order meeting. It wasn't how any of us dreamed we would be spending our Christmas, but sometimes things can't be helped. But, now we must focus. It is imperative that you guys become Animagi. I will not sugar-coat things with you three. We are going to be involved in another war. The only question is when. Having three Animagi would be tremendous help to the Order, which I've heard you plan to join as soon as you graduate," McGonagall said as she looked at the three.

"We understand Professor. We want to stop these guys as much as you do," Scorpius said as Albus nodded furiously.

"I'm afraid you don't understand. At least not all of it. You still have classmates missing. We don't know whether they're alive, or if the Brotherhood has killed them like they did Nigel. Furthermore, Melissa was brutally attacked on Christmas Eve. She was the one who snuck the body into the Manor and wrote the message on blood. However, we do not think that she was the one who actually tortured, killed, and stripped Nigel of his skin. We think that she was attacked because she made a mistake in dismantling the wards on her way out. As of now, Melissa is in the burn ward in St. Mungo's with serious 3rd degree burns from a dangerous variation of Fiendfyre. Melissa's body bursts into horrendous purple colored flames every 15 minutes. Harry and Ron are trying to extract information from her, but we haven't had any luck so far since she has had serious psychological damage. The only coherent sentences we can get out of her is that she hates Rose Weasley. Apparently she is under the delusion that Rose was the one to end her and Scorpius's relationship. That was over a year ago. This does not bode well for her, or the Aurors," McGonagall finished gravely.

"That's horrible!" Rose said at the same time Albus said, "Melissa was in the Brotherhood?!" Scorpius for his part remained silent in shock.

"Yes she was Mr. Potter. We believe that she was the inside mole. Mole or not, she was still a student of Hogwarts. She was underage when she became involved in the organization," McGonagall said.

"But I caught her snooping! We should have just expelled her then!" Albus said enraged.

"At the time we had no reason to believe that Melissa was the mole. Are you saying you disagree with the numerous detentions I gave her at the time?" McGonagall asked dangerously.

"With all due respect, I think she should've been expelled! After all the shit she put Rose and Scorpius through? She was a bully! Besides, she chose to be in the Brotherhood! That to me seems like a bad egg. Rotten eggs can't become unrotten, no matter how hard they try," Albus said harshly. He missed Scorpius's quick look.

"You do not know enough to make those calls Albus. Although you are legally an adult, you are still quite young. You are too easily swayed by your emotions. People change. I have seen it all," McGonagall said as her eyes flashed.

Albus was about to respond, but he was cut off by Rose.

"Albus stop! It doesn't matter what she did in the past! What happened to her sounds horrible. No one deserves to be burnt with Fiendfyre. Besides, Scorpius's dad joined the Death Eaters! Look how much he's changed! Do you still consider Scorp's dad to be a bad egg? People change Al. It's all a part of growing up!" Rose said furiously. She had seen Scorpius's face when Albus had insinuated people couldn't change no matter how hard they tried.

"But that's completely different!" Albus said.

"No it's not! No matter how big of a bitch Melissa is, she is still capable of change. My dad was an ass all throughout his school days, but now he's one of the best people I know! Don't judge something unless you have all the facts Al!" Scorpius said.

Albus just stared at his friend in shock. It was usually Albus calling Scorpius out for being a jerk, not the other way around.

"I didn't mean that people couldn't change... It just seems unlikely that someone as self-centered as Melissa could care about anyone enough to make the effort to change," Albus said placating.

"Well, some people said that about my dad too," Scorpius said.

"Seriously Al. You need to work on your approach," Rose added.

"Anyways, I just wanted to let you three know about Melissa since it appears that the only thing she can remember is the breakup. Healer Thomas said that she may only remember that event since her mind had been so fixated on it prior to her attack, or because she simply is unable to recall any memories after that point. We all hope for the first. If it is the first, then her memories should be able to be recovered. If it is the second, then we wouldn't be able to get any useful information," McGonagall said as she steered the trio back to the topic at hand.

"But wouldn't the constant part about her bursting into flames every 15 minutes need to be addressed first before anyone tried to regain her memories?" Rose asked as she shuddered at the thought.

"Yes, it does. So far everything Healer Thomas and his team have tried has been fruitless. This is a variation on Fiendfyre. We fear that the only way to reverse the damage is to understand the meaning and workings of the spell itself. Your mother has been doing some independent research, but she hasn't found anything. Fiendfyre is highly potent and dangerous, so it has only been used a handful of times in history. Or at least to our written knowledge," McGonagall said.

"So what can we do?" Scorpius asked. He may not like Melissa, but no one deserved to go what she was going through.

"You three need to focus on becoming Anamagi. I understand that you have a lot on your plates with this being NEWT year, Head duties, and Quidditch Captain duties respectfully. However, it is highly imperative that you become full Anamagi before the school year has ended. I want you three to work diligently. I hope to see results at our next lesson. Another thing you can do is set up that defense organization that Harry has suggested you do. You will have the school's full backing, and any supplies you might need I will personally oversee to. You may use the Great Hall or the Room of Requirement. Whichever is more convenient to the three of you. Have you made any progress with that?" McGonagall asked.

"Well, we have enlisted the help of Mei, Lily, Hugo, Lysander, and Lorcan. We were trying to figure out a name for our organization. We were planning it a couple days ago," Albus said.

"Well I'm sure that the three of you can come up with a decent name. If you cannot, just make sure that you post notices in every common room under the guise of extra lessons in Defense Against the Dark Arts for years 4 and over. Those who are committed to the group will find out what it is really about at the meeting. That is another thing I hope to be updated on next lesson," McGonagall said.

Scorpius and Albus took that as their cue to leave. Rose was following right behind them when she heard the Headmistress ask her to stay behind for a few minutes.

"Rose, I think we need to talk," McGonagall said.

"What about?" Rose asked slightly nervous.

"I heard from an anonymous source that you may have used wandless magic a while back while you, Lily, and Mei were fighting against members of the Brotherhood. Is that true?" McGonagall questioned.

"Yes. I'm still not sure how it happened to be quite honest. I had lost my wand when I had fallen, so I was virtually defenseless. I kept on saying 'accio wand' over and over again as I tried not to panic. After a few tries my wand just flew back into my hand. Do you think it happened because I was stressed? Is that normal?" Rose asked.

"It is highly unusual. The last recorded Wandless was Merlin himself. Wandless magic seems to be an ability only awarded to the most powerful magical beings. Goblins and House Elves are able to do it easily, but wizards and witches have always struggled in that department. To answer your question; I do not believe your use of wandless magic was a coincidence or brought on by stress. If you really are a Wandless, you will be able to control your magic using your mind alone. This is incredibly rare and valuable Rose. Do you mind if we test this out?" McGonagall asked as Rose nodded wordlessly.

"I want you to leave your wand on my desk, and I want you to go and stand across the room at the door. Good. Now I want you to concentrate on your wand. I want you to try to summon it. For now, say the incantation aloud," McGonagall said.

Rose blushed but did as McGonagall said anyways. It seemed rather silly to say the incantation aloud without a wand in her hand. Nonetheless, Rose couldn't help but feel disappointed when nothing happened.

"Don't be discouraged. I didn't expect anything to happen the first time. Go on, try again," McGonagall said.

Rose nodded and tried again. This time her wand did a weird roll over movement before it fell to the ground in front of the desk. Rose lowered her eyes in concentration as she said the incantation once again, in a more determined and forceful voice.

Rose was surprised when the wand suddenly shot up from the floor and into her hand across the room. Her shock soon turned to excitement as an intense feeling of accomplishment spread through her body when she caught sight of McGonagall smiling proudly at her.

"Congratulations. I knew you could do it!" McGonagall said.

"Thanks! So does this mean I'm a true Wandless?" Rose asked.

"Yes, it does. I wish for you to take private lessons with me for the rest of the term. If you are to become an Anamagi and an accomplished Wandless with complete control, you may be unstoppable," McGonagall said.

"OK," Rose said somewhat hesitantly. Did she really want to be unstoppable? Wasn't that what Voldemort was trying to become? Unstoppable sounded like too much power. With great power comes great responsibility. Did Rose want that much responsibility in her life?

Those were the questions that kept circulating around in Rose's head as she headed back to the Head Dorms for some much needed sleep.

Thanks for reading! :) IMPORTANT! Read notes below for clarification.

To be clear, Melissa was the mole for the Brotherhood. She joined of her own violation, but she soon found herself to be in over her head. After not meeting Bernard's standards, Melissa was cursed to be in perpetual pain and her mind was messed up to the point where an entire year of her life is missing from her memories.

Although Melissa did nasty things and appeared to be a nasty person, she is not as far gone as the likes of Bernard, Bellatrix, or Voldemort. There is still hope for her.

Another clarifying note is that the Brotherhood knows about Rose, Scorpius, and Albus training to be Animagi. They do not know that Rose is a Wandless.