Hey guys! Surprise! Another chapter to my story that I probably should've finished about two years ago lol, please don't hate me. Anyways, hope you all enjoy! And thank you to all the new followers and I hope it doesn't disappoint!

CHAPTER NINE: HOG'S HEAD

The next morning my head was filled with confused thoughts about Theodore, confused thoughts about Granger, and of course my mind was always filled with confused thoughts about Potter nowadays, who was sitting behind me in Divination, giving me a curious look as I tried my best to ignore him. Sitting next to me, I noticed Draco seemed to be in a bit of a sour mood as well which was nice, as he wasn't nagging me about something but instead stuck in his own head and staying silent. Greengrass was the third party at our table again which was odd but I hadn't argued against it; if Theodore had sat next to me I probably would've ignored him and I didn't want to hurt his feelings.

Professor Trewlany was going on about some nonsense or other, to be honest I couldn't be bothered to listen for my headache was growing steadily the more she spoke. I was just thankful there were no crystal balls placed in front of us today.

"Are you two okay?"

Daphne's high pitched voice was lowered to a whisper as she looked back and forth between my brother and I and I saw, once again, genuine concern on her face as she asked. Maybe she really did just want to be my friend now since the whole Montague thing. Either way, she'd have to prove it.

"We're fine," We said together and as always, had to smile at the fact that despite being two completely different people, the effect of the twin bond did have us speaking at the same time still. Daphne didn't look convinced but she didn't speak up after that.

Divination felt like it was going on forever. I could feel not only Potter's gaze on me but also Granger's and it was starting to raise the hairs on the back of my neck. I'm sure she was wondering if I'd gotten her very vague and uncalled for note but I really didn't have the patience to tell her that I had. Besides, I wasn't even sure if I wanted to continue our meetings anyway but I knew one way or another I was going to have to tell her.

"Merlin's beard, is there any way this class can go a little faster?" I muttered mostly to myself but Draco had heard and simply rolled his eyes at me. Clearly he didn't have the patience for me today. I sighed, trying my best to focus and failing miserably. I peeked over my shoulder slightly and saw Granger staring at me, her big brown doe eyes clearly asking me the question I already knew she was dying to ask. Beside her, Potter was trying, and failing, to not look at me as I glanced at them and his eyes, as green as ever, were filled with curiosity. It made me want to hex something.

I turned around, huffing in annoyance. Why did it seem that all of a sudden the Gryffindor's were acting even more obnoxious than they already were? It made my blood boil how they had to get their noses into everyone's business without even being asked to. My last encounter with Potter had been when I'd reluctantly apologized to him and ever since then he'd been acting like he was waiting to be alone again to talk to me. Like that would ever happen! He was still an obnoxious git and I didn't want anything to do with him. He didn't even say nasty things to me in the hallways anymore. It was infuriating. And Granger, as civil as our meetings had been, was too perky and carefree for me to ever want to interact with her in any other way than in a business style.

"What's your issue?" Draco whispered.

"Bloody Gryffindor's," I hissed, hoping that those two pests behind me had heard me and decided to leave me alone with their incessant staring. By the way I still felt chills on my neck I was guessing they didn't take the hint. Draco didn't say anything after that but simply glared at the three lions behind me and I found comfort in the fact that Draco would always find them just as annoying as I did.

And finally, finally! Divination had ended. And something inside me told me it was going to be a very long day.

And I was right. Everywhere I went I felt as though Granger was eyeing me, wondering if I had gotten her note and eager to talk to me about where we were going to meet. I didn't even know if I wanted to meet at all! And yet there she was, practically around every corner, staring at me and raising her eyebrow at me and once I swore I saw her mouth 'did you get it?' It was driving me mental! I was about ready to eat one of those puking pastilles from those weasel twins just to get away from everyone and get some peace of mind. And Draco was no help either. As soon as Divination had ended he started on about his usual rants with me, telling me that I needed to behave myself better and that I shouldn't have put Mother on the spot yesterday and how I had disrespected Father. His mood was particularly foul today and I just wanted to get away. The only one who wasn't annoying me was Jojo; she followed me around mostly all day and kept running between my legs to let me know I wasn't alone. It was nice but my headache did not subside no matter how hard she tried.

"You okay, Cessy?" Theo had asked during lunch, sweet concern written all over his face, blue eyes looking at me like I was the sun.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just not hungry." I had pushed around my food, trying to ignore Granger's burning gaze at me from across the hall once again and Jojo nudged her head into my arm. She seemed to be my only saving grace today. Theodore looked upset by my answer but didn't push the subject further. He could clearly see I was in an off mood today and, bless his heart, he knew I wouldn't be in the mood to talk at all. I'd have to make it up to him somehow. He really was a great friend to me.

And when the day finally came to an end I knew I had a choice to make. Would I go meet with Granger? Or would I shut down our meetings and just continue my research by myself? Even though I was pretty sure that by myself I'd get absolutely nowhere. I was smart, but not Granger smart.

"What should I do, Jojo?" I huffed an annoyed sigh as I walked along the corridor alone, heading toward the Slytherin common room. Dinner hadn't ended and I'd ended up leaving the table with Draco and Theodore looking after me curiously. Thankfully Greengrass had told them I was just tired; she was being oddly helpful lately.

Jojo looked at me and meowed with a knowing look on her sweet face. I peaked a glance at the clock tower as I passed one of the courtyards. It read 6:15. Granger's note had said 6:30 so if I decided to go I'd most likely be late.

"Well that's not helpful," I told her. She continued to stare. I weighed the options in my head. If I went to meet with Granger there was a serious issue of me acting more and more like a bloody Gryffindor, at least where their beliefs lied. It was true, as Potter had pointed out, I did believe the coming darkness was a major issues that the Ministry was trying to cover up using the ugly toad Umbridge, but that didn't meant I wanted to join the Gryffindor's for tea and cake. They were reckless and selfish and never think before they act and it was infuriating. And every single one of them were magnets for trouble. I could never see myself diving into trouble just for the hell of it. The lot of them did that without any hesitations-I would certainly hesitate. Plus I'd be late and I had a feeling Granger wouldn't let it go that easily. However, if I didn't go I would be abandoning my search to find out what the bloody hell was happening with my birth mark and that wasn't something I really wanted to do. Granger and I had only found a little information on birthmarks but something inside of me was telling me we were close to making a break through on something important.

I looked down at the small crescent mark and saw once again that it had darkened slightly and huffed in frustration. Why did it keep doing that? What did it mean? Why did my mother act so strangely when I'd asked her about it? And more importantly, did it mean something bad? I needed answers and it was clear I wasn't going to get them on my own. I could've always asked Snape but the last time we had spoken he seemed reluctant to give up any kind of information on it. I could tell he knew something just by his demeanor but I couldn't exactly force him to tell me what he knew. Plus, being my teacher, he'd just make me do the research myself anyway. And Draco, however much I loved my brother, was acting like a complete git and was no help at all considering he wanted to just forget about the whole bloody thing. I mean, who could forget about having a vision, certainly not me but Draco had no problem ignoring it and it drove me mad. Granger was really the only person who had helped me, whether she knew it or not.

"Ugh! Fine! I'll go!" I yelled at Jojo and she immediately went sprinting back down the opposite end of the hallway, towards the courtyard where I'd have to make the long and cold trek to Hogsmeade. "Silly cat, knew the answer the whole time and didn't want to tell me." I shook my head. If only my classmates knew how smart my cat really was.

By the time I'd made it to Hog's Head Jojo had ditched me for the warmth of the castle and my nose, toes and fingers were frozen from my journey. I was about ready to have it out with Granger about changing our meeting place when the door opened and she was standing in front of me with bright excited eyes and a grin so wide it hurt even my own face. However, underneath the bright smile I could tell she was a bit nervous.

"You found us!" She was beaming and clearly ignoring my scowl when she grabbed onto my arm and pulled me into the entryway of the little tavern that smelled like dust and old shoes. It was only after she had closed the door and I had pulled my arm out of her iron like grip that I tilted my head at her and frowned, confused and a little irritated.

"Us?"

At this her smile faltered a bit and her eyes were cast down, avoiding my steely gaze.

"There's been a bit of a change to our meetings,-" She began and I crossed my arms over my chest, glaring while she explained what exactly was going on. "-As you know Harry was starting to catch on to us."

"Potter can be easily avoided. He's not the brightest," I chimed in and she sighed, exasperated with my antics already. In fact I was surprised she hadn't brought up my tardiness.

"Not the point. And he's clever when he wants to be,-" She shook her head getting back to the point. However I had also noticed she was ushering me further into the tavern; I glared still as she did so. "-the point is, you and I made a pact, and I intend to honor it, but I came up with another idea that may also suit our needs where Professor Umbridge is concerned."

"Umbridge? What's Umbridge got to do with our agreement?" Now I was super confused. Granger and I had made a pact for me to get information on my mysterious birth mark and for her to work on her self defense. None of that involved the toad.

"Umbridge's got everything to do with it, in fact."

At the sound of the new voice I felt my spine stiffen and could tell Granger was nervous by my reaction from the anxious look in her eye. I turned my head and sure enough Potter was there, messy hair, gem green eyes, and a smug expression on his face as if he'd been waiting for me. Which it seemed like that's exactly what he'd been doing. My defenses were instantly on alert and I glanced around, noticing not only Potter but Weasley as well, in fact their whole litter was there in fact. Lots of faces from different houses I began to notice and I felt my head start to spin. All of the Weasley's, Longbottom, Thomas and Finnegan, Loony Lovegood and Cho Chang from Ravenclaw, and a handful of others from other houses. No Slytherin's.

What the hell is going on? Am I being attacked?

"And I heard that comment about me not being bright but I'm choosing to ignore it, wouldn't be a very good way to start off our new secret club I think." He grinned cheekily and I couldn't help my face from giving him the most dumbfounded expression I'd ever managed to make. It seemed to thrill him even more.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?"

"Welcome to Dumbledore's Army," He said proudly and gestured to the group of people behind him. Most of them were scowling at me, which was not a surprise.

My jaw fell open as Potter finished his sentence and in a split second I decided they were all insane and I couldn't help but laugh. It was uncontrollable; I felt giddy, bubbly laughs falling from my mouth as I looked at these people, my peers, assembled together to form some sort of dueling club. What, to get back at Umbridge for not letting us use our wands? To purposefully get caught and get expelled? They were absolutely insane! I laughed and laughed, until Potter finally looked annoyed with me.

"Something wrong, Malfoy?" He sighed and I could hear Granger beside me quietly whisper his name as if to tread lightly.

"Yes, Potter as a matter of fact something is wrong, with all of you! You bloody Gryffindor's and your self righteousness think that forming a little club will solve all of our problems? This is asking for trouble! It's asking to be expelled! And if you think I'm joining this dueling club of yours then maybe you need to check yourself into St. Mungoes because there's clearly something lacking in your common sense!"

"You agree though..." He spoke confidently and it irked me even more when he stepped closer to me, blocking my view of the other dolts in the room so I could focus solely on him. "You believe they're our problems?"

Salazar's spit!

It seemed he had caught on to what I'd so stupidly admitted while on my little tangent. Maybe he really could be clever when he wanted to be.

"That's besides the point, Potter, the point is I'm not joining." I glared and he glared right back, both of our energies pulsing around us angrily until finally Granger separated us and suggested that I simply hear them out.

"Hear you lot out? What, hear about how you have some master plan to put Potter in charge of our defense against the ark arts whilst keeping it a secret from Umbridge who is currently tearing the school apart and will undoubtedly find out about this club and punish us all severely? Am I close, Granger?" I sneered at her and she looked at me with her wide brown eyes, pleading for me to please just listen. It's too bad she didn't know that is all my brother had been trying to get me to do since our birth.

"If you could get your head out of your arse for five seconds maybe you'd see this isn't a bad idea." Weasley came over then, putting in his opinion although I couldn't begin to describe how unwanted it was. Both Potter and Granger gave him a look I couldn't decipher-disappointment? Annoyance?

"Coming from you, Weasel, I doubt that very much."

"It was practically you're idea." Granger once again grabbed onto my arm and I whirled on her.

"Excuse me?" I was seething now, how dare these people suggest I would ever come up with such a ludicrous idea! "You're the one that came to me! If Montague hadn't of been practically molesting you you never would've needed my help in the first place. Don't ever suggest I thought up this moronic idea of yours."

"Montague what?!" Weasley barked and Potter looked equally confused and part of me felt bad for outing Granger the way I did but since she had the audacity to suggest I would ever willingly try to get myself expelled by creating an illegal secret dueling club she had it coming. Granger's cheeks turned bright red at the mention of it, however, and I felt myself deflate just a tiny bit. It was harsh of me to out her, I wouldn't have wanted my business spread like that either.

"I shouldn't have said that, Granger." My god, apologizing to another Gryffindor, would the world ever stop being so cruel?

"Doesn't matter,-" She said, shaking her head and instead producing a piece of parchment with the neat scrawl I recognized to be hers at the top spelling Dumbledore's Army. On it were the names of everyone in this room. Except for me, that is. "What matters is that we want you in this group. You and I are the ones that made a pact for ourselves to help us better ourselves and this is the same idea only a little bolder." She reasoned and I scoffed.

"We were doing research and self defense, Granger, not using spells against one another. It's a little different." I looked at both her and Potter and I could tell from their stubborn expressions that they had made up their minds.

"Harry will help us learn spells that we'll need to defend ourselves with if we ever want a chance at fighting V-...Voldemort."

Hearing the name always sent a shiver down my spine and hearing it from Granger made no difference. I sighed again, feeling most of my fire die out as I looked at all of these hopeless sods. They really were going to do it whether I joined or not. Finally I was beginning to understand. They made this group not to defy Umbridge, not to try and get into trouble or to get into the Headmaster's good graces, it was to fight the evil that would inevitably come. The evil that Potter had already faced time and time again and the same evil that loomed over my family. The darkness that I personally tried to fight at every chance I got.

I looked over at Potter and saw his look of anticipation. Granger was probably wrong about all of them wanting me to join this little club considering the moment I had stepped inside the room I was faced with nothing but snarls and dirty looks but I could tell from Potter's face that he really did. It was incredibly odd that Potter of all people wanted me to join them, weren't we enemies not five weeks ago?

And something inside of me was telling me to do it.

Not to join with the Gryffindor's and not to purposefully get caught and certainly not to bond with Potter, but for my brother. Something was telling me to join them to help protect him. Images of that supposed vision my brother and I shared swam in my head and the dread it brought to my heart almost made me want to cry. Draco needed protecting. I couldn't let him become one of them, one of his followers, a mindless selfish vicious bastard willing to kill anyone in their path to get what they wanted. I would always protect my brother, that was inevitable, but doing it like this? It would bring too much attention to me, especially if people found out about it. Draco was trying to have us fly under the radar, not jump into the spotlight.

"Potter,-" I said his name quietly but it caught his attention, his eyes were focused on me and it made my heart beat faster with nerves for what I was about to do. "Could we step outside for a moment?"

He simply nodded his head and followed me out the door.

The second we were outside the bitter cold hit me like a force and for the first time in about twenty minutes I could fully focus once I turned to him, voice shaking and head whirling.

"Why?" I asked. He raised an eyebrow, not following my train of thought. "Why me?" He answered with no hesitation.

"Because we want the same thing, Malfoy." His voice was even and calm. He had clearly given this a lot of thought and I couldn't seem to wrap my head around it. Had this been what all of his lingering stares were for? How long had they been planning this?

"You don't know what I want." I defended, weakly.

"I do, actually. For weeks I've seen you hold your tongue around Umbridge about her prejudices and her beliefs because of your brother. Don't try to deny it because I know how often he tells you to behave." He cut me off even before I could try to defend myself and at this point I was at a loss for words. As he spoke he stepped closer to me and I was honestly starting to believe that he had some serious personal space issues. At least where I was concerned. My heart beat faster and faster. "I saw how Cedric's death affected you. I saw how you reacted when I told Umbridge Voldemort had returned. I know you know there's evil's out there that we can't possibly face without defensive magic and I know you know this is the right thing to do."

"Fine," I spit out, "-you're right. I do think it's the right thing to do. I do hate Umbridge just as much as you lot and I do believe we're meant to be learning about defense magic. But why me, Potter? Me of all people. Do you know who I am? Do you know what family I come from?" My voice wavered at my admittance and I saw his expression change from confident to understanding. So, he knew. I had had a feeling he'd known about my father for a long time but I had never once uttered any type of truth to him. Knowing he knew made it all the harder to speak and I was starting to feel as though I was having a slight panic attack.

"You're not your father." He said quietly, urgingly. His eyes bore into mine, trying to tell me he knew who I was.

"No, I'm not, and do you know what he does to me because I'm not like him? Do you know what would happen to me if he ever found out I'd joined something like this?" My words were practically a whisper as I spoke, afraid of my father hearing however far away he was. It was the truth, no matter how much I believed in the fight against evil and no matter how much I wanted to protect my brother and mother with all of my heart I had a reputation to uphold. If Lucius ever found out I betrayed my family like this, and Merlin's beard if the Dark Lord ever found out I'd betrayed my family, what would happen to them? Torture, misery, and death. I knew this to be true and even though Potter's argument was solid and convincing I knew I couldn't do it. There was too much at risk.

And yet, my mouth had other plans as it usually did.

"Just don't put my name on the roster."

Potter took a moment to simply look at me; he gaze was roaming my face appreciatively before a small smile appeared on his face. It made him look less tired, I noticed.

"Consider it done."

Author's Note:

Ooooh Cecily is gonna be a part of the DA! What do you guys think so far? Is she bad at being a Slytherin? Does Harry see something in her that she can't see herself?

Let me know what you guys think and thanks for reading!

~Alyssa~