Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They all belong to the gifted Joanne Kathleen Rowling so don't sue me! All I have are my plot and my computer =).

A/N: Things are still pretty stale in this chapter but you'll learn that Hermione is kind of 'different'. Whether she's good or bad in the end, I'll let you guys choose cause both ways are just as challenging to write and I can't choose =). So just leave me a note on what you want Hermione to be and who you want her to be with. Thanks. Since I took so long to update, this chapter is much longer.

The Order of the Phoenix

Waiting for Cho in the broom shed, Harry could not help but smile at the thought of how lucky he was. None of his friends were angry with him and he had the girl he loved as his girlfriend. Life just couldn't be better. Then his face darkened. What if Voldemort tried to hurt them? He couldn't bear losing any of them. Sirius was also in danger though he was at Hogwarts. His name had not been cleared and moreover, he still had to help Dumbledore. Classes are not progressing fast enough for him. He needed to know more to defend against Voldemort. All the late night classes were helping but they were still just not enough. He needed to find the stone. That was his only hope. Deep in thought, he didn't notice Cho sneaking up behind him and froze momentarily when two strong arms snaked around his waist from behind.

"A penny for your thoughts," Cho said as Harry turned to face her.

"Huh…I wasn't thinking of anything…" Harry muttered.

"What's wrong?" Cho asked upon seeing Harry's troubled face.

"Er…Nothing," Harry stated.

"Is it Hermione?" Cho guessed.

"Nope. It's rather difficult to explain." Harry tried to close the topic with that excuse.

"Try me," Cho smiled. He was just so easy to figure out.

"Voldemort's gaining power fast," Harry mumbled.

"Was that difficult to say?" Cho tried to ease his disturbed self, though she felt rather worried.

"I can feel him getting stronger and if he gains more power, he'd be practically invincible." Harry continued, glad to finally get this off his chest.

"Don't worry so much. Here at Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore would be able to protect the school." Cho gave him a comforting hug.

"Professor said that I was the only one who could defeat Voldemort and that's only if I have the stone." Harry said bitterly.

Stunned and suddenly afraid that she might lose him, Cho, trying to make her voice appear neutral, replied, "What stone?"

Tentatively, Harry described what Professor Dumbledore had told him at the beginning of the term. He felt so relieved to finally say it all out. Even Ron and Hermione did not know the least of it all. Cho just kept her silence and listened without interrupting. She understood that this was a difficult time for Harry and he was pressurized by the hopes of everyone. It was as if everyone's lives lay in his hands and he was only a fifteen-year-old boy. She herself was afraid over the harm the reign of Voldemort can cause and Cedric's death last year just made everything seem more real. Knowing better than to say anything, she just hugged him and let him seek solace in her arms.

After a while of silence, Harry finally looked up and said brightly, "Ready to fly?"

"More than ready," Cho teased, glad that he was more or less back to normal, though there was still a glimmer of unrest in his eyes.

On reaching the Quidditch Pitch, they immediately took to the sky and had fun just enjoying the feeling of being in the air and each other's company. They laughed and chatted in the air, chasing each other about, challenging each other on occasion, forgetting their worries momentarily. They even let out the Snitch, daring the other to take it before each did.

"Ready to admit defeat?" Harry smirked after catching the Snitch ahead of Cho for the umpteenth time.

"Uh…" Cho flashed Harry an innocent look before darting to his side and snatching the Snitch from him, "Never."

"Hey…Cheater, asking to be punished huh?" Harry threatened cheerfully.

"Only if you can catch me," Cho flew off.

Chasing after her, Harry yelled, "With that broom of yours, it'd be easy to catch up."

"Maybe…But then again, maybe not." Cho pulled into a steep descent and landed gently on the pitch.

Landing only seconds after her, Harry stalked towards her, snarling playfully, "That bodes badly for you."

"Really?" Cho smiled.

"Definitely." Harry murmured before kissing her.

"That didn't feel like a punishment," Cho kidded.

"It wasn't." Harry smirked. "This is." Harry kissed her thoroughly.

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The coming Saturday was the Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin Quidditch match. Both Cho and Draco were excited at facing each other. They knew each others skill and both would love to win the match against each other. Being the captain of Slytherin, Draco tried to choose players with more skills instead of brute strength but none of the Slytherins were great and in the end he had to go for strength, as the skills of all the Slytherins were basically the same, lousy. He himself had improved after training with Harry and Cho at times and he knew that he had to catch the Snitch if Slytherin was to win. He did not like the Slytherins but he still wanted his house to win. On the other hand, Cho was confident about the match. Ravenclaw had basically the same team as last year except for two chaser additions. But the two new members were equal to if not better than the previous two chasers so they had a pretty good chance of winning the match. The only thing was that Draco had a faster broom than her.

That morning, the school was excited to see its first Quidditch match in about a year. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were both rooting for Ravenclaw, leaving the Slytherins to cheer for themselves. Harry was basically the only person who went to wish Draco good luck. As both teams left for the Quidditch pitch, Harry also left to have a word with Cho before her match.

Walking up with her to the broom shed, he said, " Fancy your chances in the match?"

"Definitely. Other than Draco, the whole of the Slytherin team are really awful. I wonder if they would even stay on the broom without falling." Cho teased.

"Aw, over-confident, aren't we?" Harry grinned.

"Even though you did wish Draco luck and not me, I still think Ravenclaw would win." Cho carried on teasing mercilessly.

"Since you're so confident, I doubt you even need luck." Harry returned her teasing.

Cho tried to look hurt while Harry continued in mock exasperation, "Oh fine, G'luck."

"Not sincere enough," Cho joked.

Kissing her, Harry murmured, "How sincere do you want me to be?"

"Well…that should be sincere enough if that's a good luck kiss," Cho said cheerily.

"I give up," Harry exclaimed as they entered the broom shed.

"Oh, gosh." Cho exclaimed.

"What?" Harry asked instantly, wondering what changed the subject.

"My broomstick…" Cho pointed to the three pieces of it on the ground.

"Who did it? Harry asked.

"I don't know. I don't think I have any enemies unless it's some Slytherin loser. Now how am I to play in the match?" Cho said angrily.

"You can use my Firebolt if you want." Harry offered.

"But…" Cho started to say.

"It's only my spare broomstick anyway. I'll go to my dorm and get it for you." Harry cut in.

"I can use one of the school broomsticks instead." Cho said.

"If you use a school broomstick, you'd fall off it before some Slytherin." Harry teased.

"Criticizing my flying skills now." Cho replied, with more frustration than anger.

Happy that she was no longer looking angry, Harry cajoled, "No, but you'd feel more comfortable on my broomstick. At least, you have flew on it before when we were practicing together."

"Wouldn't it be unfair if I use your broomstick?" Cho asked.

Amazed that she would still be thinking of unfairness at this time, Harry chuckled, "What someone did to your broomstick was unfair."

"Well…" Cho said, still rather uncertain.

"Just use the Firebolt. It would be fine." Harry assured her.

"Okay," Cho said, seeing that Harry was not going to back down.

"I'll go and grab my Firebolt while you talk to your team members." Harry gave Cho a peck on her cheek before dashing off.

By the time Harry sprinted all the way to his dorm and back, both teams were already on the pitch. Cho's team members were all miffed when they heard about her broomstick and they all suspected that it was one of the Slytherins. The whole school was surprised when they saw Cho walking over to where Harry was. He just passed her his Firebolt and whispered good luck before walking off to where his friends were sitting on the stands.

"Why did you lend Cho your Firebolt? Ron asked.

"Her broomstick was harmed and cannot be used." Harry said shortly as he had also been thinking about that.

"Maybe she harmed it herself so that she can use your Firebolt." Hermione said a little maliciously.

Frowning, Harry replied, "How could you say that, Mione? She was devastated." He knew that Hermione was a tad upset about his relationship with Cho but he drew the line at her insulting his girlfriend.

"Just a comment." Hermione tried to cover herself up.

She was furious that Harry loan his Firebolt to Cho. She wanted to pay Cho back for stealing Harry from her by making her forfeit this Quidditch match or using one of the lousy school broomsticks, but she never expected this. "Never mind, Cho will get her retribution. This is only one failure. I will get Harry in the end." Hermione thought.

The match started, and with a superior broomstick, Cho had a head start on Draco. The Ravenclaw beaters found it relatively easy to stop the Slytherin chasers, with bigger and slower targets to aim at. The Ravenclaw chasers were up by fifty points when the snitch first came into sight. Draco saw it first but Cho gave chase and blocked him superbly when she realized that she would not reach it before him. Within that few seconds, the snitch disappeared.

"Aw Cho, why did you have to block me?" Draco complained good-naturedly.

"Easy, because I want to win." Cho smiled.

"By the time the snitch next appears, you guys might be leading by more than a hundred and fifty points." Draco muttered.

"Your team in not playing really well." Cho said.

"You do not need to console me. They're playing like shit." Draco said.

"Good luck then." Cho said.

"I need it," Draco said before they flew off in different directions.

Soon the Ravenclaws were leading by a hundred and twenty points. The snitch then appeared again. Both Cho and Draco saw it at the same time and were at approximately equal distance from it. Having a better broomstick and no bludgers shot at her, Cho reached it first. As the Ravenclaw team landed triumphantly, Draco was ruing his defeat. He knew he had to find a better team. None of his chasers scored and none of his beaters even got a glimpse of a bludger. Their size did not even count as the agile Ravenclaws dodged the bigger Slytherins easily.

"Tough luck, Draco." Harry called out as he weaved his way through the crowd to his girlfriend.

"Yeah, I need a much better team." Draco walked off, shaking his head, deep in thought.

Reaching Cho, Harry teased, "Neither of the Slytherins fell off their broomsticks."

"Well, they had better balance than I thought, I guess." Cho replied.

"You all overwhelmed them," Harry grinned.

"Yeah, I wonder how Draco's taking it?" Cho said.

"Not too well, but he knows that he has a pretty lousy team." Harry replied.

"Thanks for your broomstick." Cho was about to return the Firebolt to him.

"Keep it until you get a new one. You need it to practice and possibly for your next game." Harry said.

"But…" Cho said.

"No buts alright. Keep it." Harry grinned.

"Okay, but I'll return it soon." Cho replied.

"So how're you going to celebrate the win?" Harry smiled.

"What do you suggest?" Cho teased.

"Not celebrating with the rest of the team," Harry inquired, still smiling.

"There's time before and after…" Cho said mischievously.

"Well, I might take you up on that offer." Harry replied, wrapping his arms around her.

"Might or will?" Cho murmured before their lips came together.

******************************

Trying to make Harry jealous, Hermione hung out more with Ron, who was elated at finally being noticed by her, and pretended not to mind about Harry and Cho's growing relationship. But both Draco and Jessica thought that Ron and Hermione's closeness was real and were jealous. Though neither professed their love, seeing their loved one with someone else was torment. Draco became lonelier with Harry spending more and more time with Cho, and also jealous that Ron got the only girl he had ever loved. He threw himself into studying and seldom talked to anyone other than an occasional word with Harry or one of the Professors. Jess knew that Ron being with someone else was all for the best but she couldn't pretend to be indifferent to Ron and Hermione's seemingly newfound relationship. Consequently, she became closer to Dudley and the rest of the Gryffindors as the others seem to have found their other halves. Harry also noticed his growing distance from Hermione and thought that she probably needed more time to get used to his relationship with Cho. He was also glad to see his two best friends together, though he knew that Draco liked Hermione too.

Meanwhile, Hermione spent more time at the library. Remembering what Harry had offhandedly mentioned about the third task of the Triwizard Tournament last year, she had an idea that she could bring back the dead. She researched many books, thinking that if only she could bring back Cedric, Harry would be hers. She went through book after book but nothing came up. She knew she had to research the Restricted Section if she wanted to find out more but she needed a teacher's slip for that and there was practically no way she could get one. But then again, she was the top student and if she wanted to do additional research, the teachers would not be suspicious. So, maybe there was a way after all.

Unable to keep her mind off Hermione and Ron, Jess found her eyes always straying towards them. Resolving to stop this mad obsession, Jess suddenly found her eyes reverted to Hermione and was shocked to see an evil gleam there. Jess immediately followed Hermione's line of vision and was stunned to see Hermione's eyes riveted on Cho. Thinking that her eyes might be playing tricks on her, Jess wrote it off as some error but she found herself observing Hermione more and noticed that Hermione was not as all right about Cho and Harry's relationship as she had said she was. She also remembered what happened to Cho's broom and suspected it was Hermione and not one of the Slytherins who harmed it. Uncertain as to what was really going on though she had her suspicions, Jess decided to just keep her eyes open and find out more before she says anything to someone else. Besides, she was supposed to protect Harry and whatever Hermione was planning might affect him too. (A/N: More on Jess will be revealed soon. Wait patiently…=).) The thought that Ron might also be hurt crossed her mind but she quickly suppressed that thought. "Remember all the instructions drilled into you. Don't you let them down…" Jess thought angrily to herself.

Subsequently, Jess found excuses to accompany Hermione about and even followed her with an invisibility cloak at times. (A/N: She had one too. Where did she get it? Just wait and see…) A week passed and she was close to frustration. Not only did Hermione behave perfectly, Jess had also caught Hermione together with Ron on many occasions. Though they were not kissing, she still felt insanely jealous. Just when she was about to give up, she realized how often Hermione spent in the library. Hermione always spends a lot of time there but it seemed that she had spent even more time there lately. She did not follow Hermione to the library earlier as she had thought that Hermione only went there to study but now there seemed to be a huge possibility that the library could be the key to the mystery. After seeing Hermione only doing homework in the library, Jess started to leave but when she saw Hermione suddenly entering the Restricted Section, she forgot all thoughts of leaving and followed Hermione. She was astonished when she saw Hermione pulling out books on bringing back the dead and such.

Knowing that this is the most she could find, Jess left Hermione to her 'extra' research and went for a walk about the school, hoping to piece together what was happening. Suddenly, she recalled something about a student dying in Hogwarts last year. Maybe that student was who Hermione wanted to bring back but how could it be related to Cho. She reminded herself to find out more about this and was turning back to the school when she bumped into Dudley.

"How's it going? Haven't talked to you alone for a while." Dudley asked.

"Um…" Jess mumbled, not sure whether to tell him or not.

"We're both here to protect Harry, so if it's related to him…" Dudley tried to make her talk.

"Well, I found Hermione behaving strangely lately and have been following her about this past week. Today, I just found out that she was trying to bring back some dead person. I think it's that guy who died at Hogwarts last year but I'm not sure why." Jess explained.

"What? You know all this and never told me." Dudley exclaimed.

"I only suspected all this. I just found out about an hour ago." Jess said crossly.

"Now what are we supposed to do?" Dudley asked.

"I don't know. I think that Hermione is jealous of Cho but then, how is this all related?" Jess replied.

"Wait a minute, Hermione is jealous of Cho?" Dudley had a stray thought.

"She pretends not to, but I always see her looking at Cho and Harry." Jess said.

"I got it," Dudley said, not even listening to what Jess said.

"Huh, what?" Jess was confused.

"Cedric was Cho's ex-boyfriend." Dudley said.

"Cedric??" Jess asked.

"The guy who died last year." Dudley said impatiently,

Jess caught on. "So you mean to say that Hermione wants to bring Cedric back so that Cho would leave Harry and…"

"Yes." Dudley said.

"Oh my, how are we going to stop this?" Jess exclaimed.

"For one, we can't tell Harry." Dudley said.

"Why not? He can stop all this from happening." Jess was confused again.

"He won't believe us. He's too loyal to his friends. Believe me, I've been living with him for fifteen years." Dudley said.

"And I don't think you guys have been close until last summer," Jess smirked.

"It was the Order's orders. And I had to suck up to those Dursleys to let me stay after they took the Order's bait and adopted me when they found out that they couldn't have children. Anyway, I think that Petunia didn't want to get fat either. Back to the main point, I had to keep an eye on him so I should know." Dudley said smugly.

"I guess we can take turns at following Hermione about and find out more before we do anything else. I don't think there's a way to bring someone back from the dead anyway." Jess suggested.

"There might be a way in Dark Magic." Dudley said tentatively.

"Well, I doubt Hermione would resort to that." Jess said.

"Alright," Dudley agreed, amid a little reluctantly.

"So, you never told me how you managed to fool Harry that you weren't a wizard." Jess changed the subject.

"From what I know, I was an orphan and only came to know about magic at about the same time as Harry. He got to come to school here but I had to have magical knowledge injected in me. It was also then that I found out that the Order put me with the Dursleys to protect Harry. By then, I already had about ten to eleven years of Muggle knowledge so fooling Harry was pretty easy. I was happy to know that I had to come to Hogwarts to protect Harry this year. Living with the Dursleys is like hell. I even had to have that 'fat' spell on me. I'd also never been away from the Dursleys so my astonishment at the wizarding world is real. That's about it." Dudley explained.

"Wow, what a life. You're lucky Professor Dumbledore asked us here this year." Jess smiled.

"By the way, should we tell Professor about Hermione?" Dudley asked.

"I think we should find out more first. He would believe us but we're not sure about our theory yet." Jess replied.

******************************

Looking up from his game of wizard chess with Harry, Ron saw Dudley and Jess entering the common room. He was surprised that he was upset to see them together. He had been happy to have grown closer to Hermione lately and hoped that they could have a relationship together. After all, he had liked Hermione for like ages. But he didn't know what he felt towards Jess. He had been happy to go to the ball with her even though they only went as friends. The one he truly loves is Hermione. Jess is just a friend. Satisfied, he turned back to his chess game but he still had a niggling thought that he had the wrong mindset.

Meanwhile, Hermione was in the library, frustrated that she could not find anything to help her in her quest. Finally, as she made one last attempt to delve deep into the load of library books, she found one weird, totally black book. Feeling excited, she opened the book to read but there was nothing inside. Thinking that this book might help her, she brought the book with her out of the library, promising herself that she would return it if it doesn't help.

******************************

Lord Voldemort saw the girl taking the book and laughed menacingly, "So the girl took my bait, Potter will be dead soon."

"Yes, master. Potter will no longer be a threat." Wormtail said in agreement.

"He was never a threat. I am much more powerful than him." Voldemort said.

"Yes, master. I was wrong." Wormtail said fearfully.

"Since you're so apologetic, I won't punish you. But next time…" Voldemort threatened.

"It won't happen again." Wormtail shuddered.

Voldemort motioned to the other man in the room, "Malfoy, your son is siding with Potter."

"Draco is no longer my son. He is not a Malfoy." Lucius Malfoy said resolutely.

"He had talent but he chose the wrong side. I will prevail." Voldemort said.

******************************

Harry woke up drenched in sweat. What did Voldemort mean by saying that the girl took the bait. Who was the girl? Wasn't Lucius Malfoy in Askaban? Not caring that it was the middle of the night, Harry dashed to Dumbledore's office. When he entered, he was surprised to see Jess and Dudley there as well.

"What's wrong?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

"Um…" Harry looked towards Jess and Dudley.

"You can trust them Harry. They're part of the Order of the Phoenix." Professor Dumbledore said.

"Huh?" Harry was confused.

"It is a group of people whose main purpose is to defeat Voldemort. We are separate from the Ministry and don't work well together." Professor Dumbledore explained.

"But Jess and Dudley…" Harry asked.

"They're also part of the Order." Professor Dumbledore said, also explaining how they were here to protect Harry and how Dudley had protected Harry all his life.

"Thanks you guys, but I can protect myself." Harry said.

"The more people, the better." Professor Dumbledore said.

"Yeah," Jess murmured in agreement.

"Who else are in this Order?" Harry asked.

"Sirius, Professor Lupin, Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall and a few others including myself." Professor Dumbledore said before suddenly remembering, "Oh, you are too."

"Me? But…" Harry said.

"Yes, you. And you can't back out. There is a magically created quill, called the Phoenix quill, and it writes the names of future members when they are born." Professor Dumbledore explained.

Harry was shocked. He had come to talk about his dream and now had more than enough information to boggle his mind.

"How come I was only told now?" Harry asked.

"We only tell members when they are fifteen. Well, these two are exceptions. Dudley had to know to protect you and Jess is my niece." Professor Dumbledore smiled.

"So is anyone else in the fifth year a member?" Harry inquired.

"Yes, Draco. You both can come to my office after breakfast. Then I'll explain to you both more about the Order." Professor Dumbledore replied.

"Draco?" Harry wondered why him.

"His father is a death eater but Draco is his own self. He was also like you, given a choice to choose between going to Gryffindor or Slytherin but he chose Slytherin because he was still under his father's shadow. But he has matured over the past few years and finally joined our side. He, like you, has powers he is unaware of, but will grow into his powers soon." Professor Dumbledore said.

"Oh…" Harry said.

"So what was your dream about?" Professor Dumbledore questioned.

"Huh," Harry was shocked that the Professor knew what he came about.

"The only thing that could cause you to come to my office at this unholy hour is a dream," Professor Dumbledore had a twinkle in his eyes.

Harry described his dream and both Dudley and Jess were shocked to hear about the girl part. Professor Dumbledore was still calm and composed, as if he expected all this.

"Professor, I know who the girl is," Dudley and Jess said at the same time.

"And who might that be?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

Looking at Harry uncertainly, Jess muttered, " Hermione."

"No! It can't be Hermione." Harry yelled.

"Calm down, Harry. Let Jess explain." Professor Dumbledore soothed.

Jess explained what she had found out and left Harry dumbfounded. "It can't be. She seemed to take my relationship with Cho fine. Hermione had been my best friend since first year. She can't do this to me." Harry thought to himself in denial. But there was also the niggling thought that Hermione had taken the news of his relationship with Cho too easily. She had also accepted his apology readily. And now Jess had evidence. What was really going on?

Trying to change the subject, Harry asked, "Is Lucius Malfoy out of Askaban?"

"The Dementors had turned to Voldemort so yes, Malfoy is out." Professor Dumbledore said.

"What about Draco and his mother?" Harry asked.

"Narcissa is Voldemort's sister. Naturally, she is on his side. I think Draco is taking this news pretty badly. He will probably stay in school during the holidays." Professor Dumbledore said.

"Oh, anyway, I had better go back to sleep. G'night." Harry said.

"Harry," Dudley was about to call when Professor Dumbledore motioned for him to let Harry go.

"Why did you…?" Dudley started to say.

"He needed time to absorb this news. That is his best friend we are accusing." Professor Dumbledore explained.

******************************

angel: Thanks so much for reviewing. Glad you liked the story so far. Well, I think it'll be H/C as I rather have a H/C or Mary-Sue. I don't really see Harry with Hermione or Ginny yet. =) But then again, for Harry and Cho to be together, it might not be easy.

Zenya: I usually write once a week. Faster if I've no school, longer if I've got tests or exams.

All others: Thanks for reviewing. Do leave suggestions and comments.

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