Rachel was cold. It wasn't the same type of cold that came from being outside on a winter day or falling asleep without a blanket, it was a cold to the bones chill that was hard to get rid of, even after taking a hot shower and being wrapped in blankets.

It occurred to her that she should pay attention to her surroundings. She didn't know where she was, though she thought that she should. The floor was done in shiny black tiles, her school shoes clicked against them when she took a step. She was in her uniform, so that probably meant it was a school day. She couldn't remember what class she was supposed to go to next or if she'd done the assigned homework.

The walls were made of the same black tiles, with torches set at regular intervals. The torches burned with a white-blue light that reflected off the tiles. When she turned to look behind her there was only darkness. She couldn't go that way. She started walking forward, the click of her shoes against the tile echoing around her. This was the right way to go, she was sure of it.

It wasn't long until she could see the end of the narrow hallway. There was a plain black door waiting with a silver door handle. She needed to go through there. What she needed was right on the other side. She began to walk faster, eager now that she knew what she was doing. She came to a stop right in front of the door, reached for the handle, and then there was nothing but darkness.

Rachel blinked a few times as she realized that she was laying in bed. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she felt chilled. She'd been dreaming, but she didn't think she'd ever had a dream like that before.

Sitting up, Rachel wished that she had another blanket. She'd never felt that way about her bed in the Slytherin dorm room before. Even if the dungeons outside the common room were cold during the winter, the common room and dorm rooms themselves were kept relatively warm. Maybe she was sick? Her skin was clammy. She could still feel her heartbeat and she practiced taking slow breaths to calm down.

She wasn't upset, or scared, or worried, or any of the things she usually associated with waking like this. It hadn't even really been a nightmare. Nothing bad had happened, it had just been a hallway and a door. Maybe she had dreamed something else and she just didn't remember it?

"Meow?"

"Midnight," Rachel whispered, feeling the dip in her mattress under Midnight's weight as she jumped up. "How do you always know when I'm awake?"

Midnight started purring as she shoved her face against Rachel's hands.

Rachel began petting Midnight, accepting the comfort she was being offered. Midnight often kept her company after she woke from nightmares, though she hadn't figured out how the cat knew she was awake before she even lit her wand. Kneazles were supposed to be incredibly smart, and Midnight was part Kneazle, but they still weren't mind readers. Kneazles were also supposed to be loyal, and while she did favor Millie, Rachel still found Midnight in her bed at least half of the nights they were in the dorm.

It didn't take long to realize that she wasn't going to go back to sleep. Her heart rate had gone back down, but she still felt unsettled. She pushed her pillows back so she could lean against them and took her wand and glasses from her bedside table. She had the Defense OWL guide as well, since that was what she'd been reading before she'd gone to bed, and she had a quill and some parchment for note taking.

She pulled her curtains back a little ways so that she wouldn't wake any of the others, but instead of opening her book she switched her wand to her left hand and whispered "lumos". Now that she could see properly, and now that Midnight had found a place to cuddle up next to her legs, she put her book on her lap, a piece of parchment on top, and began to write.

'Dear Sirius and Remus,

I hope things are still going well and that you're managing with the carpet and the wallpaper. I bet I won't recognize the place when I see it next.

It's been a busy week at Hogwarts. We got a new Beater and Chaser for our team, but one of the people I said couldn't join the team threatened to curse me! Severus gave him detention for a month. Classes are busier than usual - everyone is obsessed with OWL preparation. Well, almost everyone. Our new Defense teacher doesn't seem to care much about our OWLs. We're not even learning spells in class, just theory.

Remus, would you mind telling me what textbook you used for the fifth years? We're going to try to set our own curriculum, but we need references. Also, if there are specific topics you think we should focus on, that would be helpful as well.

Sirius, do you have any advice for us for the fourth meditation? I think I understand what it's supposed to feel like, but I'm not sure how to hold it for a long time.

I also have a weird question. Do either of you ever have dreams that seem normal, but your body seems to think they're nightmares? I dreamed about a black tile hallway with a black door at the end, and I wasn't scared in the dream, but when I woke up my heart was racing and I was freezing. I don't think I've ever had a dream like that before and I don't know what to make of it.

Anyway, otherwise Hogwarts is pretty normal. I asked Severus and our first Hogsmeade weekend is on October 28th. I hope I'll be able to see both of you then, but I understand if you're not able to come join us.

I hope you both are well and safe.

-Rachel'

She peered at her letter for a while, waiting for the ink to dry. It had been a little bit impulsive to write it now, but she didn't think it said anything too bad. She probably wouldn't have written about the dream if she'd waited to write it later, but it was possible that Sirius or Remus would have advice. And if not, that was okay too.

Setting aside the letter, Rachel opened her OWL guide and began to read again, being careful to make sure she didn't get ink on her bedsheets when she took notes.

"How long have you been awake and studying?" Pansy asked sometime later as she pulled back her bed curtains.

Rachel blinked at her. "I don't know, I didn't check my watch. Is it time to get up?"

"Just about. Rachel, we don't take our OWLs until June. You don't have to stay up all night studying," Pansy said as she pushed her feet into her fuzzy slippers.

"I didn't, I just woke up and couldn't get back to sleep." Rachel set aside her book. She had enough time to take a shower before breakfast. She slid out of her blankets, careful not to disturb Midnight's sleep.

"Does Professor Snape know that you do that?" she asked.

"Not really," Rachel said, picking out a clean uniform from her wardrobe.

"I won't tell him then," Pansy said. "Not unless you think I should."

Rachel shook her head. She didn't want Severus to worry about her more than he already did. "It's not a big deal. He doesn't need to know."

"Alright. You don't want to take a Sleeping potion, or Dreamless Sleep?"

"No, it's not that bad," Rachel said, collecting her small bag of shower things and her clean clothes. She and Pansy left the dorm room together and went into the bathroom that was reserved for fifth, sixth, and seventh year girls. Two of the showers were already occupied. Rachel realized that she was still chilled. Maybe she really was coming down with something. She went into the nearest curtained area, changed out of her nightgown, and hurried into the shower stall. The warm water was a welcome relief and she started with washing her hair. By the time she was warm and clean, her dream had mostly left her mind, replaced by thoughts about what they'd be covering in class that day.


Rachel didn't bother releasing the Snitch when she went out to Quidditch practice on Wednesday. She knew how to Seek. Their focus needed to be on training Martin and Stephen. She left Stephen to Scarlett's tender care. Both of them were still on the ground, swinging Beater's bats in the air, stopping, adjusting, and then swinging again.

Martin was with Draco and Adrian. They weren't bothering with Chaser drills just yet. Right now it was passing the Quaffle as they flew in tandem around the field. Every so often they came to a stop, huddled together, and then started flying again. At the very least Martin wasn't dropping the Quaffle.

"I want to train a Keeper."

Rachel adjusted her broomstick so that she was facing where Miles had flown up to her. "That wouldn't be a bad idea. Do you have anyone in mind?"

"No, and there's the problem. I don't know any of the younger students. I don't even know which of them fly," Miles said.

"I don't either." Rachel turned back so she could see where Martin was passing to Draco. They all came to a stop again, Draco motioning in the air as he described why Martin shouldn't pass that way. "Maybe you could put something on the noticeboard offering Keeping lessons. See who shows up?"

"Maybe. I just don't want you to be starting from scratch again next year and no one on the team knows Keeping but me," Miles said, moving next to her so he could watch.

"I appreciate that." The fewer people they had to replace next year, the better.

"Every team is losing people after this year. Hell, the Gryffindors are losing four. You better cream them next year."

"We will," Rachel said with a small smile. That game at least should be easy. The Gryffindors were losing two Chasers and both Beaters. While it made them formidable this year, next year they were going to fall apart.

"Harper giving you any more problems?" Miles asked.

"No. I've been avoiding him. Professor Snape has him in detention for a month." Rachel still thought that was a little excessive when he hadn't even cast a spell at her, but she wasn't about to argue with him about it.

"Well, watch your back."

"I do," she said, looking over at Miles. "What are you doing after you leave Hogwarts?"

"Suppose that depends on my NEWTs, but probably somewhere in the Ministry. MLE, possibly." Miles glanced at her. "I guess you already know what you're doing after Hogwarts?"

"Potions Mastery and hopefully playing Quidditch for the League," Rachel said, feeling more confident about it now that she had Severus' approval.

"You'll be busy, but that's not surprising," Miles said.

"Miles! We're taking runs on the goal!" Adrian called.

Miles rolled his eyes and flew back to the goal hoops.

Rachel circled around, watching where Scarlett and Stephen were now hitting a Quaffle with Beater's bats. She'd never seen Lucian train Scarlett this way, but Scarlett had already been pretty proficient when she'd joined the team last year. She hovered where she could see all of the team, Draco and Adrian coaching Martin while he lined up to take shots on the goal to her left and Scarlett and Stephen to her right.

It was strange how little had changed. She'd seen the Dark Lord return almost three months ago and yet here she was, watching over the team as they practiced. They went to classes, did homework, studied for their OWLs. She had started reading the Daily Prophet again but nothing seemed out of place.

Maybe she was being foolish, expecting there to be differences. Plenty of people didn't even believe the Dark Lord was back.

It wouldn't last. That much she was sure about. The Dark Lord wouldn't hide forever. He was waiting, working, but not forever. She jolted on her broomstick, nearly unbalancing herself. That happened sometimes when she was thinking about the Dark Lord, and she wasn't sure if she was just psyching herself out or if she actually knew something somehow.

"Rachel, come show him how it's done!" Draco called, holding up the Quaffle.

Rachel flew over to them, accepting the pass from Draco and faking Miles out to score on him. She flew down to retrieve the Quaffle and then passed it back to Martin. "That won't work on Ravenclaw's Keeper, but you can use it on the others."

"Did he let you score?" Martin asked.

"No, I didn't. She's hard to read," Miles said, sounding irritated.

Rachel shrugged. "You try."

Martin took the Quaffle and flew around to make an approach on the hoops. He tried a double fake out, nearly fell from his broom, but Miles only just barely caught the Quaffle.

"Better," Rachel called. "Do it again."

They spent the rest of the practice making runs on the goal and showing Martin all the tricks they'd picked up over the years.

"How was Stephen?" Rachel asked Scarlett once they were in the changing rooms.

"We have a lot of work to do, but his swing is much better than it was before. I might let him try out the Bludger on Sunday," Scarlett said as she pulled her shirt over her head.

"Alright. Don't baby him too much. We're facing Hufflepuff the third week of October," Rachel said, sitting down to take off her shoes.

"I won't, but it's easier to fix a swing on the ground than it is when you have a Bludger coming toward you. I read a Quidditch coaching book this summer," Scarlett said.

"Okay. I trust you. Let me know if there's anything you need my help with," she said, changing back into her uniform without bothering to shower. It had been a light practice.

"We'll want to practice with the Bludger while the Chasers are working, but not yet. I want to make sure he can actually aim with it first."

"Good plan," Rachel said. She would much prefer if they didn't have any injuries while she was team captain. "You can get back to the castle alright on your own?"

"I can, I'm waiting for Stephen. Can you get back alright?" Scarlett asked. "Fergus said that Harper has been hanging out near the pitch. You might want to wait for one of us."

Rachel hesitated and then drew her wand. "I'll be alright. I'll be expecting him this time."

"If you're sure," Scarlett said.

"Sure enough," Rachel said, knowing full well that Severus would be telling her to wait and walk back with the team. She left the changing room, her wand drawn and her bag slung over her shoulder. There was somewhere she'd been intending to go ever since she'd returned to Hogwarts, but she'd never been alone to do it.

There was no sign of Harper, or anyone else, by the Quidditch pitch, so Rachel made her way back to the castle. Once she was in the entrance hall, instead of turning left to go through the large open doors to the Great Hall, she opened the door to the right and went down a short flight of stairs. She walked past the alcove with the barrels that supposedly somehow led to the Hufflepuff common room and all the way down to the painting of the bowl of fruit. Tickling the pear seemed natural now and a few moments later she was in the kitchens.

Most of the House Elves were busy bringing food to the tables, but two approached her.

"Hello," Rachel said, kneeling down so that she wasn't looming above them.

"Hello, miss. Does miss wish for something not being served tonight?" one of the House Elves asked.

"No, not at all. I just had some questions and I hoped you'd be willing to answer them," Rachel said.

The House Elves looked at each other before looking back at Rachel. "We can answer some questions, depending on the questions. Some things the students aren't allowed to know," the second House Elf said.

"Okay," Rachel paused, trying to figure out what to ask first. "What are your names?"

"I be Filky, this be Posey," the first House Elf said.

"Nice to meet you, Filky, and you too, Posey," Rachel said. "Are you happy here at Hogwarts?"

"Hogwarts is the best place to be," Posey said, standing taller.

Rachel noticed that wasn't really an answer. "Do you want to be here?"

"We are proud to serve at Hogwarts and to serve Professor Dumbledore," Filky said, straightening their tea towel.

"Are the House Elves at Hogwarts treated well? Are you given a place to live, and enough food to eat, and time to rest?" Rachel pressed, not feeling reassured by their answers so far.

"We are treated very well. We elves have rooms, we work in shifts, we eat after the students and the staff eat, and Professor Dumbledore never lets anyone hurt a Hogwarts House Elf," Posey said.

Rachel nodded. "That's good." It was good, but it didn't really address the real problem. "What would you be doing if you weren't at Hogwarts?"

"We'd have a family to serve," Filky said.

"What if you didn't want to serve? What if you wanted to do something else with your life?" she asked.

Filky and Posey looked at each other again. "We are proud to be House Elves and proud to be of Hogwarts. We don't want to be anywhere else," Filky finally answered.

"Are there any House Elves that don't serve a family or another place?" Rachel asked.

"No, miss. House Elves serve. It is what we do. We care for our families. And we care for the professors and students," Posey said. "Did miss need anything else?"

"No. Thank you for talking with me," Rachel said, getting back to her feet.

"Yes, miss," Posey said.

Rachel exited the kitchen and walked back along the hallway with a frown. The Hogwarts House Elves seemed to be well treated and in better spirits than Kreacher had been in. But it still seemed wrong and she had no idea what to do about it. She couldn't just ask Severus to ask Professor Dumbledore to free the Hogwarts House Elves - they'd just wind up serving another family, maybe in a place where they weren't treated well. Maybe Professor Dumbledore could pay them? And if they wouldn't take the money, he could set it aside for them for when they needed it. It was the best - and only - idea she had so far.

"Rachel, there you are," Millie said. "We were starting to worry about you when the rest of the Quidditch team showed up."

Rachel blinked and realized that she'd traveled all the way to the Slytherin table in the Great Hall without thinking about it. Severus would not have been pleased that she'd been that unaware of her surroundings. "Sorry, had to make a stop," she said, knowing that Millie would think she meant the bathroom.

"Charms homework and then Herbology OWL study tonight," Theo said, reaching for the bowl of buttered peas. "Millie and I have been looking through the Defense study guide, it seems like we covered a lot of it last year."

"I've been reading it too, I have a few spells that I'll ask Professor Snape for help with. I also asked Remus about the textbook he used for fifth years," Rachel said, serving herself from the casserole dish. She wasn't that interested in the casserole, but she wasn't much interested in any of the food that was being served either. She put back the serving spoon just in time for someone's thrown scroll of parchment to land in the casserole dish.

"Sorry, send that down to Amy," one of the fourth year girls called.

Rachel picked the scroll out of the casserole and passed it down the table.

"Don't throw things at the dining table, it's poor manners," Pansy called back.

"Anyway," Millie said. "How was practice?"

"Fine. We've got a lot of work to do if we want to beat Gryffindor," Rachel said, poking at her casserole before taking a bite. It was pretty good, but it didn't really make her feel more hungry.

"Ginny says that about Ron," Millie said. "A whole team of Weasleys. It's a good thing the twins finish at Hogwarts this year."

"It's a good thing they didn't have more children or you'd really be playing an entire team of Weasleys," Theo said with a small smile.

"Probably for the best that they didn't," Rachel said. She was sure Ginny didn't want any more siblings than she already had.

"You finish eating, I'm going to go try to catch Isobelle," Millie said, suddenly getting up.

Rachel turned to watch as Millie chased her sister to the doorway.

"That's still not going well," Theo observed.

"Not really," Rachel said, watching for a moment before turning her attention back to her casserole. She poked at it again before giving up and reaching for a bread roll instead. She tore it apart and began to try to eat small bits of it, pacing herself with drinking some pumpkin juice in between bites.

"Don't like the casserole?" he asked.

"It's fine," she said. Why was everyone watching what she was eating? It was bad enough that Severus was constantly trying to get her to take a Stomach Soothing potion.

Millie came back and sat down with a heavy sigh. "Pansy, how many points would you take from me if I hexed my sister?"

"Just do it where no one is watching and no one will take points from you, not unless your sister tattles to a professor," Pansy said.

"She would. She absolutely would," Millie said. "I don't know why I bother."

"Maybe give her some time? Let her come to you if she needs something?" Theo suggested.

"Then my mom will send me a Howler saying I'm not looking after her properly," Millie said, grabbing a bread roll and tearing it apart rather violently.

"Then make a deal with her. Both of you write home saying that everything is fine and that you're checking on her regularly. Your mom isn't here watching, she won't know," Daphne said. "That way you don't have to deal with your sister and she doesn't have to deal with you."

"Maybe. If I can get her to listen to me for long enough for me to tell her about it. Every time I try to talk with her she just runs off," Millie said, glumly eating her bread roll.

Rachel managed to finish her roll. "Why don't we go get started on homework. We've got two feet to write."

"Two feet on Substantive charms, lucky us," Theo said as he got to his feet. "You know it's bad when even Professor Flitwick is piling on the homework."

"It's going to be like this all year," Millie said, picking up her bag.

Rachel didn't point out that it wasn't likely to be any better when they were in NEWT level classes. And really, they weren't doing that much more than they were last year. Just less independent research.

"I need to go to the library," Luna said as she came up to them, her wand behind her ear and her bag dangling off one shoulder.

"Weren't you in the library for like an hour after class?" Millie asked.

"Yes, but I got distracted. This time I actually need to find the book I was looking for," Luna said, frowning for a moment before she cleared her expression.

"Do you want help?" Theo asked.

"That would be nice, yes," Luna said.

"Alright, detour to the library, then the study room," Millie said. "How did your prefect tutoring session go?" she asked as the Gryffindors joined them.

"We helped some first years with the Wand Lighting charm. They're still just learning the theory, but we had them practice a few times too. I think it went well and I think more people will come to us for help as they see that we're useful," Hermione said as their group made its way out into the entrance hall.

"In other words, people gave us weird looks or ignored us. Hermione asked some of the first years if they wanted help," Neville said.

"And they said yes. And we helped them. It will get better the more we do it," Hermione insisted.

Ginny's sly grin to the rest of them let them know what she thought of that idea.

"Charms and then Herbology," Hermione said as they began climbing the staircase.

"With a quick stop in the library," Millie said.

"Emphasis on quick," Theo said, the corner of his mouth quirking up.

Rachel shook her head. At least they could study together, even if they had a lot of work to do.


"Begin reading chapter two. There will be no need to talk," Professor Umbridge said, pausing to look over them for a moment before taking a seat behind her desk.

Rachel flipped her Defense textbook open to the chapter index. There were thirty eight chapters total. Reminding herself that it could be worse - they could be acting out the book - she opened it to chapter two. It detailed situations in which they were allowed to respond with Defensive spells.

A glance to one side revealed Hermione sitting in her seat with a frown and tapping her quill against the edge of her book. A glance to her other side showed Millie looking glumly down at her book. To her front, Dean Thomas was scribbling something on a piece of parchment and Daphne was looking out the window.

Rachel shook her head and began to outline the chapter. She expected the assignment would be to write another summary or essay about the chapter, so she might as well get some of the work done now. The chapter itself was absurd. People didn't walk up and say 'Hello, I'll be attacking you now, you should use a Shield charm.' Rachel very well remembered being attacked in her first year and she suspected that most attacks were like that - someone sneaking up behind you and silently casting a spell. Most people would probably use worse than Stinging hexes though.

"Miss Snow," Professor Umbridge said.

Rachel looked up, as did every other student in the classroom. "Yes, ma'am?" she asked.

"What are you doing? I asked you to read chapter two," Professor Umbridge said.

"I'm writing an outline of the chapter while I read it, Professor Umbridge," Rachel said, remembering to be absolutely polite.

"Bring it to me. Now," Professor Umbridge demanded.

Rachel collected her parchment and walked to the front of the room, all too aware that the entire class was watching her. "Yes, ma'am."

Professor Umbridge frowned as she read Rachel's outline. "This is substandard work. You are leaving out all of the details," she said.

It was harder than Rachel expected not to point out that it was an outline, it wasn't supposed to have all the details. "Yes, ma'am."

"If your essays are of this quality you will not do well in my class. Return to your work," Professor Umbridge said, handing Rachel back her outline.

"Yes, ma'am," Rachel repeated, taking the parchment and reminding herself that obviously her essays weren't like her outlines and she would do fine. Besides, if Professor Umbridge gave her poor grades, Severus would already know it wasn't Rachel's fault.

Neville gave Rachel a sympathetic smile as she returned to her seat and Rachel forced herself to smile back.

She sat down and began working on her outline again, this time making it more detailed so that if Professor Umbridge demanded to see it again it was one less thing for her to complain about. Rachel nearly set down her quill as she had the weird revelation that Professor Umbridge was a lot like Aunt Petunia. It wouldn't matter if Rachel's work was perfect, she'd find something to complain about. And it wasn't really Rachel's fault.

Rachel pondered this for a minute. Aunt Petunia's requests had been unreasonable. It was no wonder that she'd never been satisfied with what Rachel had done, but it really didn't matter how well Rachel had performed the task. Aunt Petunia never would have been happy with her, just because she was Rachel. In a way it was almost the reverse with Severus. He didn't really get angry with her because he cared about her. Now that she thought about it, it was really nice.

She realized that Professor Umbridge was watching her and focused her eyes back on her book, but she felt like she'd just learned something that was very obvious in retrospect. There was nothing she could have done to make her time at her relatives' house better. It had really been all about them. The entire notion was oddly freeing. She returned to her outline, but her mind wasn't really on it at the moment.

"Your assignment for this week is to write an essay about the circumstances in which you should or should not use Defensive spells. Sixteen inches and due at the beginning of our next class period. You are dismissed," Professor Umbridge said as the chimes signaled the end of class. "Miss Snow, turn in your outline to me."

Rachel blinked and reminded herself of what she'd just learned. This was all about Professor Umbridge, it really didn't matter what Rachel did. Obviously she shouldn't give Professor Umbridge an excuse, but she couldn't make things better either. "Yes, ma'am."

"Would you like my outline as well, Professor Umbridge?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, please hand it in," Professor Umbridge said.

Rachel finished packing her bag and handed in her outline to Professor Umbridge once again. "Thank you, ma'am," she said for good measure.

Hermione handed her parchment in as well and their group left the classroom together.

"Why-" Neville began.

"Wait until we're in the study room," Theo said quietly, glancing behind him.

Rachel looked back as well and was relieved to see that Professor Umbridge wasn't following them.

"Why did you offer her your outline?" Neville asked once they were safely ensconced in the study room.

"To make a point," Hermione said as she sat down.

"There's no need to. She won't get it," Rachel said, pulling her History book and her two-way book out of her bag so they could work on their next essay.

"It's absolutely not fair," Hermione insisted.

"It's not, but that's not going to stop her," Rachel said.

"Rachel's right, unfortunately. The best thing we can do is be polite and stay out of her way," Theo said, shaking his head.

"It's not just that it's not fair to Rachel, it's not fair to any of the students. This isn't just about our OWLs, it's practical. There is a war on and no one is getting taught anything." Hermione shook her head, a furious frown on her face. "This isn't right."

"But what can we do about it? We're figuring out what we need to know, but that doesn't do much about the bigger situation," Millie said, fiddling with the cover of her book.

"Well, as prefects, we could offer to teach Defense to our House, but that doesn't help anyone else," Hermione said, seeming to consider it.

"What if we didn't just teach our House? What if we taught anyone who wanted to learn?" Neville suggested.

"Like a Defense club?" Theo asked.

"We could do that," Hermione said, her expression changing from upset to thoughtful.

"Would anyone want us to teach them?" Rachel asked. She couldn't see people just accepting them as teachers.

Millie nodded. "I think they would, especially if it was you, Rachel."

"Me?" Rachel asked.

"Sure. The entire school saw what you can do last year during the Tournament. I don't know that we'd get many older students, but a lot of them drop Defense if they don't need the NEWT for a career. But I bet we could get some of the third and fourth years," Theo said.

The door opened and Luna and Ginny came inside, both looking tired.

"I hate the day after Astronomy," Ginny said as she dropped her bag on the table. "Bad Defense lesson?"

"Just the usual. What do you think about us starting a Defense club?" Millie asked.

"I think it's a good idea. We're not getting anything useful in class," Ginny said immediately.

"It would have to be a secret," Luna said as she sat down.

"You're right. Professor Umbridge would put a stop to it as soon as she found out. So that leaves us with a few difficulties. We have to figure out who would want to join us, but we have to make sure they're someone we trust before we ask them," Hermione said.

"Start with what they think about Professor Umbridge, then about whether or not they want to learn Defense, and then suggest the idea but say it has to be kept a secret," Theo said. "But we have to approach people individually, we can't just ask people to spread the word."

"We should do this slowly, a few people at a time, just in case," Neville said.

"I agree. We should each try one or two people we can trust and then see what their response is. If it's good, we can try a few more people," Millie said.

"I don't know anyone to ask," Luna said.

Rachel frowned, wanting to ask if Luna's roommates were still being cruel to her, but not wanting to ask in front of everyone.

"That's okay. For this part we only want people we really trust," Theo said. "I'll ask Blaise. I got to know him a bit over the summer and he's okay."

"We can ask Pansy and Daphne, they're good at keeping secrets and they trust us pretty well," Millie said.

"I don't know who I would ask," Hermione said, now frowning. "I don't want to ask any of my roommates."

"You can help me ask Angelina, Alicia, and Katie then," Ginny said.

"I might ask Colin, he seems the right sort," Neville said. "He's always been kind to me."

"That's probably enough people for now, just so we can see how people take it," Theo said.

"There's also the matter of what exactly we'll be teaching them," Hermione said, tapping her fingers against the table. "We'll have to figure out lesson plans that are appropriate for a wide range of years."

"Let's start with seeing if anyone wants to do this before we add more work for ourselves," Rachel said quickly.

"Agreed," Millie said. "Right now we have two feet of the Werewolf Code of Conduct, which, may I say, after knowing Remus, is a bunch of hippogriff shit."

"It's downright prejudiced," Hermione agreed. "The essay itself should be simple enough, I already have the notes in our two-way books, then we're scheduled to study Potions OWL material, then dinner, then Herbology essays, and the Care of Magical Creatures OWL material."

Rachel pulled out a piece of parchment, ready to get to work. They could worry about forming a secret Defense club after they'd studied.


Severus returned to his classroom after dinner, his mind busy. Just prior to dinner he had taken Malcolm Baddock to the hospital wing for an exam. The results had been confusing. There was no evidence of physical or magical abuse and Malcolm was in good health except for the fact that he was starving.

Malcolm had insisted that he didn't know why that was and that he ate regularly and that he had received appropriate meals over the summer.

Poppy had insisted that Malcolm receive a Nutrient Restoration potion once a week and that she would be doing a diagnostic exam each time to see if the situation was improving.

Severus had decided to give Malcolm another few weeks to adjust to being back at Hogwarts before he attempted to question him again. He also intended to ask one of his prefects to discreetly watch Malcolm at meal times and see if he actually was eating. Tracey Nettlebed would probably be a good candidate for that - she was both sensitive and discreet. If Malcolm was indeed eating and his health did not improve there was clearly another problem at hand. Perhaps a carefully concealed Wasting curse, or perhaps a medical issue that the standard diagnostic charms weren't capable of detecting.

If Malcolm wasn't eating of his own volition, that was another problem entirely. He didn't know how to solve it for Rachel and he knew Malcolm far less well.

He sat down at his desk with a pile of third year essays to grade and glanced at the clock. Harper Young, his fourth year Slytherin who had threatened Rachel, had been precisely on time to detention each night. Severus suspected he was waiting in the hallway and only entering the classroom at exactly seven o'clock. This was Harper's fourth night of detention and Severus was starting to get a feel for how to approach him.

Sure enough, Harper walked into the classroom, his head held high and his expression impassive, at seven o'clock.

"Mr. Young, tonight you will be cleaning the work tables without your wand. You can find what you need in the cupboard under the sink," Severus said.

"Yes, sir," Harper said, his resentment obvious in his tone. He collected the bucket, soap, and sponges and began to work at a slow pace.

Severus began grading essays, splitting his attention between watching Harper and marking mistakes with his red inked quill. The third years were at the point where some of them could make coherent paragraphs, and one of the Ravenclaws even had an introductory paragraph, but none of them yet seemed to grasp the idea that they could do more than look up potions ingredients in library books.

Sometimes he thought Hogwarts needed to teach writing as a separate - mandatory - course. It would save all of them a lot of headaches. It was the sort of thing that children were expected to know before they attended Hogwarts, along with basic mathematics, reading, and grammar. That was well and fine for students whose families could afford tutors or who had parents who engaged their children in educational pursuits, but every year there were students who were reading and writing at a much lower level than was expected, or who couldn't use a scale to measure ingredients.

'An essay is not merely a list of ingredients and their properties. The topic was how the ingredients in the Confusing Concoction interact at the three stages of brewing. - D,' Severus wrote across the top of a particularly bad essay.

He set the essay aside and turned his attention to Harper, who was now scrubbing the work table in front of Severus' desk. "If I'm not mistaken, Mr. Young, you've become friends with Mr. Pike over the past year, whereas you didn't associate much with him before."

Harper looked up. "He's an acquaintance, sir. We share a dorm room."

"Along with Mr. Higgs and Mr. Cowley," Severus said, watching as Harper scowled in response. "Is there a problem in your dorm situation, Mr. Young?"

"No, sir," Harper said, though he was now looking down at the table he'd been scrubbing. "Do you really intend to keep me in detention for a month, sir?"

"I do."

"That's not fair. I didn't even cast a spell." Harper paused at Severus' raised eyebrow. "Sir."

"Your detention is not just about your misconduct on the Quidditch pitch. I am aware of who you are bullying and why. I will not tolerate bullies in my House, Mr. Young," Severus said firmly. He'd already talked with Fergus Cowley and Scarlett Lympsham about Harper's behavior, which appeared to be deteriorating rapidly.

Harper threw down the sponge he'd been using. "They're lying about me! You can't trust them! They're half-bloods, of course they're telling lies about me!"

"I am a half-blood, Mr. Young," Severus said, glaring at the boy.

Harper looked shocked for a brief moment before he resumed his expression of rage. "This isn't fair. I'm going to write to my parents and have them take up the issue with the Board of Governors. You will be sacked!"

Severus was unconcerned about being fired, but he was concerned over why a boy who he hadn't had issues with for three years was suddenly having such extreme reactions. "You are of course welcome to write to your parents and I would be happy to inform them and the Board of Governors as to the behavior that led to your detentions. However, if you'd like to explain your behavior to me, I am willing to listen."

"I should have had a spot on the team. I was the best flier trying out!" Harper declared.

This was all about Quidditch? Really? "And your behavior to your House mates?" he pressed.

"They don't like me. Fergus and Stephen whisper about me. Scarlett laughs at me and she tells lies about me to the other girls. It's not my fault!"

Severus prevented himself from sighing. Adolescent drama was not his forte, even after all these years of being Head of House. "What are they saying about you?"

"I don't know! They just look at me and then they laugh." Harper sat down on one of the stools and folded his arms. "Michael is the only one who is nice to me."

"I will speak to your year within the House and make it clear that bullying anyone is not acceptable. But your behavior toward them must change as well, starting with any prejudice against half-bloods or muggleborns," Severus said, seeing the opportunity that had not been taken in his own schooling.

"And the Quidditch team?" Harper asked.

"I will not change the line-up of the Quidditch team. That is entirely the captain's choice as long as no students on the team are failing their classes," Severus said. "And on that note, do not draw your wand on another student unless they are threatening you with their wand."

"It's not fair," Harper repeated.

"Life is not fair, but we must live it anyway. Mr. Pucey and Mr. Bletchley are finishing at Hogwarts this year. You'll have a chance to try out for the team again next year," Severus said, though he suspected after that display that Rachel wouldn't let Harper on her team while she was captain. He certainly couldn't blame her.

"And I still have a month of detentions?" Harper asked.

"Yes. I suggest you use that time to reflect on your own behavior and how you want to change it. Also reflect on how you would like your Housemates to respond to you. Your next four years of schooling does not have to be miserable, but you must be a part of making them that way."

"And you'll actually talk to them? About not making fun of me?"

"I will. I am a man of my word," Severus said. It would not be an enjoyable conversation, but he would see to it that any bullying behaviors were ended, even if they were bullying a pure-blood bigot.

Harper frowned but resumed scrubbing the work table. Severus picked up his next essay and hoped that he'd begun to make enough of a difference to prevent Harper from following the same path he'd followed.


"Do you want to read it?"

Rachel looked up from her Potions OWL guide to find Pansy standing next to her with a piece of parchment. "Letter to your parents?"

"Yes, I wrote it with Professor Snape this afternoon," Pansy said, handing the parchment to Rachel.

Rachel had kind of been trying to avoid this. She felt uncomfortable reading Pansy's mail, especially when it was about her. "What did your parents say about the last letter?"

Pansy sat down on the edge of Rachel's bed and glanced in Daphne and Millie's direction before looking back at Rachel. "They said that I should tell you that you shouldn't let your father pick your friendships for you, which is very hypocritical advice considering they picked all my friends for me."

"Were they okay with us being friends before, well, everything?" Rachel asked, still not looking at the letter.

"When they believed that Professor Snape was loyal, they didn't mind, but they told me to watch what I said around you. This was in our first year, and I told them that it didn't really matter what I said because you were mute and weren't going to tell anyone. They pointed out to me that mute people could still write, which I have to admit I didn't really think about until you started writing out messages for us," Pansy said, shrugging with one shoulder.

Rachel didn't know what to say to any of that. She gave in and began scanning through the letter. Pansy wrote about what they'd learned in their classes, noted that Rachel had woken early on Tuesday and had passed the time by studying, and wrote about Professor Umbridge taking Rachel's outline in Defense class. "How is any of this going to help them?"

"I think it's rather the point that it doesn't," Pansy said, accepting the letter back from Rachel. "Professor Snape said writing about you waking up early sounds private and intimate, but doesn't reveal anything they didn't know, and that writing about what happened in Defense class gives them a way to verify what I'm writing with someone else. It establishes that I'm being truthful now, so it will be easier to lie to them later."

"This is insane," Daphne said from her bed. "You're going to have to do this all year."

"I know, but it's important and it's necessary. Oh, Professor Snape says we should come up with a list of things for you to tell me that seem like secrets but aren't really," Pansy said.

Rachel had no idea how to even begin writing such a list.

"Daphne's right, this is nuts," Millie said, coming to sit on the other side of Rachel's bed. "I get why you have to do it, but how long are they going to let you get away with sending them useless information?"

"Professor Snape said that we are also establishing that I'm a lousy spy. The point is for me not to be good at it. In fact, it's much safer for me if I appear bad at it. I want the Dark Lord to think I'm useless. Actually, I'd much prefer it if the Dark Lord didn't think of me at all." Pansy hunched her shoulders.

Rachel nodded. "That's what Professor Snape was trying to do with me, make me seem less capable and interesting so people weren't interested in trying to kill me early."

"Merlin," Daphne muttered as she peered over at them.

"Well the Triwizard Tournament sure messed that up," Millie said, shaking her head.

"In more ways than one," Pansy agreed.

"Actually, there's something we wanted to talk to you both about," Millie said, glancing at Rachel. "But it has to be an absolute secret. No friends, no parents, no one."

"What sort of secret?" Pansy asked.

"Nothing to do with the Dark Lord or anything," Rachel said quickly. "Just the sort of secret that would get us in trouble if the professors knew."

"Count me as intrigued. I'll keep it a secret as long as no one is getting hurt," Daphne said.

"Yes, same," Pansy said.

"We're thinking about starting a secret Defense club," Millie said, reaching to pet Midnight as Midnight jumped up on the bed to join them. "Obviously we aren't going to learn anything in Umbridge's class, and it's our OWL year. We need to practice Defensive spells."

"And not just for our exams. With the way things are going, people need to know how to defend themselves. But Professor Umbridge would definitely put a stop to the club if she heard about it," Rachel added.

"She would," Daphne agreed. "Who would be in this club?"

"The rest of our study group to start with. We're asking a few more people to see if they're interested before we make any plans. If no one is interested we won't bother," Millie said.

"Well, I'm interested. Defense is an utter wash this year and I actually want to do well on my exams," Pansy said.

"Can my sister join too, or is it just our year?" Daphne asked.

"I don't see why Astoria can't join as long as she won't tell anyone," Rachel said after glancing at Millie.

"Then I'm interested too, but I won't tell her about it until we actually know if it's going to happen," Daphne said.

Rachel sighed as Midnight laid across her open Potions guide. "I was reading that, you know."

"She's trying to get you to stop studying. It's Friday night. Take a break, do something fun," Pansy said.

They'd only been back to school for two weeks and Rachel wasn't even sure what she would do for fun. It was too dark and late to play Quidditch, she couldn't listen to her Walkman in the castle, and she was too tired to read.

"Let's put some of the blankets and pillows on the floor and play exploding snap, we haven't played for ages," Daphne said.

"We haven't played that in forever, do you have the cards?" Pansy asked.

"I do," Millie said as she got up. "Let's play. Come on, Rachel. Let's take a break."

Rachel glanced at her watch and then at Midnight. "Alright, let's play for a while."

Five minutes later they had a pile of their blankets on the stone floor, pillows to sit on, and Rachel passed out a few chocolate frogs from her stash. Millie was already sucking on a sugar quill, and Daphne had brought out a tin of treats her mom had sent her with.

"I bet the boys aren't having this good of an evening," Daphne said as Millie started dealing the cards.

"Hard to have a good evening when your roommates are Crabbe and Goyle," Pansy said.

Rachel held onto a chocolate frog with one hand so it didn't escape and checked her card with the other. "Oh, I got Bertie Bott. I don't think I have one of him. Why is it that almost all these cards are of old wizards?" she asked, looking at the cheerful white haired man who was in bright purple and blue robes.

"My mother says it's because society doesn't like to acknowledge the accomplishments of women," Daphne said, peeking at the cards she'd been dealt.

"And you basically have to be pretty old to have done something worth being on a chocolate frog card," Millie said, dropping her sugar quill in her lap as she spoke.

"I suppose," Rachel said, putting the card on her bed so she'd remember to put it in her album later. "I can't believe it's been over four years and I'm still missing a bunch of cards. Ron Weasley is only missing one."

"It's a great scheme though, isn't it. I bet chocolate frogs wouldn't be nearly as popular if people weren't trying to collect the cards," Pansy said, opening the chocolate frog she'd been given. "Do you have Mungo Bonham?"

"I do have one of him," Rachel said. She checked her frog and decided it had stopped moving enough that she could eat it.

"Alright, let's play," Millie said, setting the remaining playing cards down and turning over the top one.

Rachel took a bite of her frog, set it aside where she wouldn't squish it, and grabbed the cards she'd been dealt. Time to play.


At breakfast on Saturday morning Rachel took a glance at the front page of the Daily Prophet before setting it aside in exchange for a bowl of oatmeal.

Theo picked up the paper and opened it on top of his plate. "I don't know why we bother with the Daily Prophet. We'd be just about as well informed by reading The Quibbler."

"And we'd be far more entertained," Millie said, busy putting slices of bacon on top of her toast, followed by a fried egg.

"Could be worse, could be Witch Weekly," Rachel said, pouring a small amount of maple syrup into her oatmeal and stirring it before she began to eat.

"There is that," Theo agreed, turning the page.

There wasn't much owl post on Saturday - many of the students took the opportunity to sleep in on the weekend - and Rachel was surprised when a barn owl landed in front of her with a book shaped brown paper package and a letter. "Oh, I didn't mean for him to actually send me the book," she said as she realized it was from Sirius and Remus. She reached for a piece of bacon and tore off a chunk of it to give to the owl. The owl gulped it down before flying away.

"That's the Defense book that Remus is suggesting?" Millie asked as Rachel opened the package.

"Seems that way," Rachel said. Defensive Magics and Protections by Balfour Dotes would at least be an interesting read. She opened up the letter that had been sent with it. Most of it was in Remus' handwriting.

'Dear Rachel,

Renovation is continuing, albeit slowly. We took a peek in the attic the other day and promptly closed it up again. That's a job for another day. Or perhaps another century.

I'm sure you're very busy at Hogwarts, I remember my OWL year a little too well. Remember to take breaks. I've sent along the book I used with the fifth years, but I believe you know most of the material already. I suggest practicing with your study group, but otherwise you're likely already prepared to take your Defense OWL.

As for your dream, I suggest that you speak with Severus or Albus directly. I'm aware of the location you describe, but I can't imagine you've seen it in person yourself.'

Rachel frowned. Remus thought the place she'd dreamed was a real place? Maybe that meant it had been a vision from the Dark Lord? But it was so unlike the other visions she'd had. She didn't know what that meant, but she supposed she should tell Severus. She returned her attention to the letter, this time in Sirius' handwriting.

'Remus is right, as he usually is. You're ready for the Defense OWL, just keep in practice.

The fourth meditation takes some practice with channeling magic. Start by holding your wand and pretend you're about to cast a spell. Keep that feeling as long as possible, take a short break and then try again. After a while, try it without your wand. It should be about the same feeling, just less intense.

We'll be there on the 28th. Let's plan for noon in the Three Broomsticks like usual. Write to us before then.

Love from Sirius and Remus'

"We should be able to see Sirius and Remus on the first Hogsmeade weekend," Rachel said, tucking the letter into the cover of the book.

"That's good, it will be nice to see them again," Millie said.

Rachel nodded. She'd write a thank you letter tonight. She tried to go back to her oatmeal, but her stomach was twisting in knots again and she felt oddly shaken. She really didn't like the idea that the Dark Lord had been in her mind and she hadn't even realized it. Looking up at the staff table she noticed that Severus wasn't present. He must be having breakfast in his quarters.

"I'm going to go see Severus, it's almost time for us to leave," Rachel said as she got to her feet.

"Already?" Theo asked.

"Yeah. I'll see you in our study room a little after ten," she said.

"Can I borrow the Defense book while you're gone?" Millie asked. "I'll give it back to you when you get back, I just want to see if it's the same stuff that's covered in the OWL guide."

"Sure," Rachel said, handing Millie the book. She left before she could be questioned further.

It was a quick walk to Severus' quarters and she found him in his armchair with a cup of tea and the Daily Prophet.

"You're early," he said, glancing at the clock on the mantle. "Have you had breakfast?"

"Yes, oatmeal," Rachel said. It wasn't exactly a lie. She'd eaten a few bites of the oatmeal. "I think I might have had a dream that was influenced by the Dark Lord."

Severus put down the paper immediately. "This past night? Come sit down."

"No, Tuesday morning. But I don't know if it was actually a dream from him or not, it wasn't like the others," Rachel said, sitting down on the couch and wrapping her arms around her middle. "I didn't realize it wasn't a normal dream until Remus said he knew the place I'd dreamed of."

"Why don't you tell me about it?" he asked, looking concerned.

"I was in a black tile hallway. The floors were black tile, and the walls. There were torches on the walls. And I could see myself, I was in my school uniform. That's never happened in any of the visions I've had from the Dark Lord," Rachel said, hoping he would tell her that meant it wasn't a vision.

"What did you do in the hallway?"

"There was darkness behind me, so I walked down the hallway. There was a black door with a silver handle, and I knew that I had to open that door and what I needed was just beyond it. And I was cold, very cold. I was still cold when I woke up. I was about to open the door when I woke up, and my heart was racing," Rachel recounted.

"How did your scar feel, both during the dream and afterward?" Severus asked.

"I didn't notice anything. It's been prickling a little bit this week and it has twinged a few times."

"Can you describe what you mean by twinge?" he asked.

Rachel frowned as she considered how to describe it. Finally she lifted her hand and traced along her scar with her finger. "It's like someone doing that, but on the inside of the skin. What does it mean?"

"I don't know," Severus said, also frowning.

"Do you think it was a dream from the Dark Lord?" she pressed.

"It's possible. You said that Lupin recognized the hallway from your description? How did that come about?" he asked.

"Oh. I couldn't go back to sleep, so I wrote a letter to Sirius and Remus asking if they'd ever felt like that after a dream. Remus also sent me the Defense book that he taught the fifth years with while he was here," Rachel explained.

"You're aware that you can ask those questions of me?" Severus had switched to a more neutral expression, but he was definitely covering up something.

"I know. I didn't want to wake you up in the night because I had a weird dream and by the time classes started I wasn't really thinking about it. And I do want to ask you some Defense questions, but later when we've sorted out exactly what we're studying," Rachel said, wondering if she'd made Severus feel bad by not coming to him.

"I'm happy to help with whatever you need," Severus said.

"Pansy told you that I was awake that night, didn't she? It was in her letter," Rachel said.

"Was that alright with you? You can say no to something that is in the letter and we will rewrite it."

"It's fine. I just. I didn't expect Pansy to tell you that. She said she wouldn't." Rachel had recalled yesterday that Pansy had said she wouldn't, but Rachel hadn't wanted to confront her over it.

"Ah. I tricked her slightly as I suspected you were staying awake. I asked her which nights she'd noticed that you had remained awake. If I had asked her if you were staying awake, she likely would have remembered not to say anything. Is there a reason you asked her not to tell me?" Severus asked.

"It's not that I remain awake. It's that I wake up and can't go back to sleep. It's different," Rachel corrected. "And I didn't want you to worry about me."

"I will always worry about you. Giving me more information does not cause me to worry more. I can't help you unless I know what is going on," he said.

Rachel shook her head. "Nothing is going on. Everything is pretty much the same."

Severus paused for a moment before nodding once. "I want you to tell me if the situation in Defense class escalates beyond what it is now. Pansy informed me of that as well."

"It was fine. She took Hermione's outline too. And, there's not really anything we can do about it." Rachel felt much better about dealing with Professor Umbridge now that she understood how it would work. She didn't like it, but she understood it.

"Regardless, I would like to know what is happening," he said, checking the clock once more. "We should begin walking to the gates if we're going to make your appointment."

"Do I need to keep seeing Torey every week? For a while I saw her every other week, and that was okay." It had been something Rachel had been meaning to bring up for a while now, but she hadn't wanted to push so close to the incident with the third task. But it was a new school year now.

"I would like you to continue to work on your issues with Torey concerning eating and sleeping before we consider reducing your appointments," Severus said.

Rachel bit her lip to stop herself from saying that she didn't have issues with eating and sleeping, knowing that Severus wouldn't agree. She ate, most of the time, and she slept, most of the time. That was pretty good. "What would you want in order for me to see her every other week?" she asked instead.

"We'd need to have a discussion with Torey first, but I want you to be eating at every meal and I want you to be able to return to sleep after nightmares. How has your anxiety been since we've returned to Hogwarts?" he asked, standing up.

Rachel stood as well. "Not bad. No anxiety attacks."

"Good, I'm glad that has improved. Why don't you ask Torey what she would want to see from you before reducing your appointments?"

"Okay, I can do that," Rachel said. If she could convince Torey, Torey probably could convince Severus. That didn't seem so bad. And then, after therapy, she could come back and study as they'd planned to have a before lunch OWL study session and then homework after lunch. She followed Severus out of his quarters and office, lost in thought as she prepared herself for seeing Torey.


"How was the Wizengamot session?" Severus asked as he sat down.

"Precarious. We have more voting losses than I anticipated. Nothing of particular importance was pushed through, but I'm not so blind as to not know they have something in the works. The next time I'm summoned, we will not be so lucky." Albus looked distant for a long moment before he focused on Severus. "You indicated you needed to speak to me today?"

"Yes. It seems likely that Rachel has experienced another vision influenced by the Dark Lord, though we're not certain," Severus said. He'd been thinking it over for the past few hours and given what Rachel described he thought it was more likely than not that it had been sent by the Dark Lord, though he didn't know for what purpose.

"What was the vision?" Albus asked immediately.

"She dreamed of herself in a hallway with black tiles on the floors and walls, culminating in a black door with a silver handle. When she attempted to go through the door she woke up feeling cold and her heart was racing. She said she felt nothing in her scar at the time and that she's felt what she terms as prickling and twinges in general," Severus recounted.

Albus steepled his fingers. "That is the hallway on level nine of the Ministry of Magic, leading to the Department of Mysteries, where the prophecies are being housed. I have been stationing Order members there to alert us if the Death Eaters or Voldemort attempts to gain access."

Severus frowned. "Do you think the Dark Lord is sending these visions to Rachel on purpose?"

"The previous visions, perhaps not, but this seems intentional." Albus looked distant again, his eyes unfocused as he seemed to stare through Severus. "He must realize that luring her there is impractical. She is too well guarded for that."

"But not too well guarded to be abducted, both by Black and during the third task," Severus pointed out.

"In both those instances she was taken from Hogwarts grounds. I can't see a way for her to be taken to London while she's guarded within the wards and we have no visitors. Also, he would have to somehow bring her through the Ministry in secret. You can't apparate beyond the atrium."

"If not luring her there, then why show her the hallway leading to the Department of Mysteries?"

"That is an excellent question that I think we both need to put further thought to. Please continue to have Rachel monitor her dreams and her scar. Perhaps she should write down any dreams that she has so that she has a clear recounting of them if they seem suspicious in retrospect. Also, have her continue to monitor her scar, just in case," Albus said.

Severus inclined his head in tacit agreement.

"Are you considering telling her about the prophecy?" Albus asked, his eyes refocusing on Severus.

"I have considered it. It would be an additional burden on her, but I'd rather be the one to tell her directly than have an outside situation force our hand," Severus said. He wasn't sure what the limits were on what the Dark Lord could do to Rachel's dreams. He would rather she was informed by him than left questioning what the Dark Lord told her.

"She is still very young. You know her well, Severus. Would the burden of the prophecy, and all that occurred because of it, distract Rachel from what she needs to be learning and preparing for?" Albus asked.

Severus hesitated. He wasn't certain he could say that Rachel was doing well. Better than just after the previous school year had ended, yes. But he didn't believe that she was fully healed from her past experiences. He honestly wasn't sure that there was a way to fully heal - Merlin knew he still carried the wounds of the past with him. "Perhaps it should wait. At least for now. We can monitor the situation with the dreams and determine what I need to tell her."

Albus nodded. "A sensible precaution, I agree. How fares the rest of your House?"

"I believe I am reaching an accord with Mr. Young and his yearmates. I am still monitoring the situation with Mr. Baddock. There was no evidence of direct abuse, but Poppy is treating him for malnutrition. The situation with Miss Parkinson is in hand for now and I am reviewing the letters that her parents send. The rest is as it was the last time we spoke."

"Good. Let me know if there is something that needs my attention. Was there anything else?"

Severus shook his head and got to his feet. "I'll keep you informed."

"I appreciate that I can rely on you," Albus said, returning his attention to the pile of parchment on his desk.

Severus let himself out with the odd remembrance of being a spy reporting to his war master. He'd done his best to separate his life as a spy from his life as a teacher, but the overlap made it difficult to keep the distinction. His trust in Albus was complicated and he did not often like to dwell on the topic. Strangely, he trusted Albus far more as a war master than he did as a headmaster. Pushing the notion out of his mind, Severus returned to his office. He still had things to do before the day was over.


After breakfast on Sunday the group went up to their study room with plans for homework and OWL preparation. Rachel had Quidditch practice after lunch, which would be devoted to training her new teammates, then more studying, then dinner with Severus, then a break before bed. She found she didn't mind the study schedule too much, they took a lot of small breaks and just chatted.

"Has everyone asked who they were going to ask about the Defense club?" Hermione asked once they were all seated and had taken out their books and parchment.

"Blaise is in. He's worried about passing his OWL, especially after I told him Professor Umbridge wasn't going to let us practice magic at all in class," Theo said.

"Pansy and Daphne also want to join, and Daphne wants to bring her sister," Millie added.

"Colin wants to join too and he wants to bring his brother, Dennis. Are we alright with having second years in the club?" Neville asked.

"I don't think it will be a problem. We can teach them the upper year spells even if they can't do them just yet," Hermione said.

"Angelina, Alicia, and Katie all said yes, but Fred and George want to join too. And if we let Fred and George join, I feel like I should ask Ron too," Ginny said, shrugging.

"Can Ron keep it a secret?" Theo asked.

"I think so. I'm hoping this will get him over his Slytherins are evil thing," Ginny said.

"That would be nice," Hermione said. "I'll let you and Neville approach him. I wish we had a better way to reach people in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff."

"I could ask Cedric. And his friends from last year who trained with us," Rachel suggested.

"I'd like to see Cedric again, he was nice," Luna said with a nod.

"And, maybe some of the other members of the Slytherin Quidditch team? Possibly some prefects too?" Rachel asked, trying to think of who else would be a good fit.

"What about Susan and Hannah?" Neville asked.

"Terry and Anthony might also be a good fit," Theo said, nodding.

Hermione made a face of concentration as she counted on her fingers. "If everyone says yes, that puts us at almost thirty people. I think that's probably about as much as we can manage and still keep this a secret. I also want to make sure it stays a secret. I have a bad feeling about Professor Umbridge."

"I do too," Luna said. "The Muahorns don't like her at all."

"Would everyone be okay if I asked Draco?" Rachel asked, not entirely sure she should ask.

There was a silence in the room as everyone traded glances.

"Do you really think he'd want to join us?" Millie finally asked.

"I don't know," Rachel admitted. "It just feels wrong to me if I ask Adrian, Miles, and Scarlett, but not him. I'm not asking Martin and Stephen yet, I don't know them well enough."

"Do you think Draco can keep it a secret, even from his parents?" Ginny asked.

"Actually, I think he would. Don't get me wrong, I'm not Draco's friend and he's not speaking to me very much right now, but I know from last year that Draco keeps plenty of secrets from his parents," Theo said. "He's kind of a pompous jerk, and he's a bigot, but I think it would be alright."

"Is there any chance at all he'll turn away from the Death Eaters?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know. I hope so. He's not a Death Eater yet at least," Rachel said, tracing the edge of her Charms book with her fingertips. "I don't want to give up on him just because of who his parents are."

"I say ask him, but casually and carefully. Find out what he thinks about Professor Umbridge and the Defense lessons first," Neville said.

"Yes, and make sure he knows the club is people from all Houses," Luna added.

"And I'll find a way to make sure that no one can tell about the club, not even Draco," Hermione said, nodding. "We also need to figure out when and how to hold our first meeting. I was thinking maybe the Hogs Head, since students don't usually go in there."

"No, that's way too obvious," Theo said quickly.

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"We'll stick out and we can't control other people seeing who goes into the Hogs Head. That's how rumors get started. Obviously The Three Broomsticks wouldn't work very well either." Theo frowned as he thought.

"We can't really do it in the school or on the school grounds either," Neville said.

Ginny looked up. "Actually, we could do it on school grounds, if we had a big enough distraction. We could set up a game of Chaser's Folly and invite everyone who we want to join the group. We hold the conversation while the game goes on, and it just looks like a bunch of people watching the game."

"That's a great idea," Millie said.

"Well, we'd have to tell people to keep it to themselves and not to leave the castle as an obvious group, but if we did it the Sunday morning after Hogsmeade we should be able to get away with it," Hermione said. "Let's not tell anyone about the meeting now, just see what people think of the idea. In the meantime, before the meeting we can come up with some lessons that we want to teach."

"I borrowed the book that Remus sent to Rachel, it has some good lessons," Millie said.

"I think we should start with the basics and work our way up. Everyone in this school has years where they missed instruction in Defense because of a bad teacher and the only time we've really had a lot of practice was with Professor Moody. We should be able to make it through all of the spell focused OWL material in a year if we meet once a week," Theo suggested.

"Maybe we should write down ideas for lessons and then put them in an order that makes sense, getting more difficult later on," Neville added.

Rachel nodded. "Let's come back next weekend with ideas for lessons and see what we've got."

"Good. Alright then, we have a Transfiguration essay to do this morning, then Arithmancy OWL prep. This afternoon we have Ancient Runes translations and History OWL prep," Hermione said as she consulted her planner.

"I almost feel like I could take my OWLs this year after listening to all of you prep," Ginny said.

"That's even better, you'll have two years of preparation before you take your OWLs," Hermione said, almost looking jealous.

Theo shook his head, but he was smiling. "You're all insane. Let's get started on Charms, we've got two feet to write."

Rachel smiled and flipped open her book. At least they were never bored.