Chapter 11 – The New DA


His transfiguration class had been simply awful. The lingering nightmare from last night had put him in a bad mood, and as a result he had been restless the whole morning. He decided to skip lunch with the others and headed straight for the library for some peace and quiet. He rounded the corner and saw Luna there looking around for something, with a small first year Slytherin boy mocking her.

'Hey Loony, did you find all your stuff yet?'

She frowned at him but seemed uninterested in responding.

'Loony Luna, did you know they call you that?' he grinned at her.

'HEY YOU!' Harry yelled at the kid as he quickly walked over to them.

'Do you know who I am?' He said menacingly to the first year

'Y-y-yes' he stammered

'And did you know Luna is my friend?' He snarled.

The first year's eyes were wide open with fear now.

'Oh … I didn't … sorry, err…'

'I don't like people insulting my friends' he articulated very slowly, lowering his head so he was eye to eye with the little brat.

'I ... I didn't know … I'll never annoy her again… I promise' he stuttered and ran off.

He turned around and grinned at Luna, who had a surprised look on her face.

'You didn't have to do that you know; I've learned to ignore them.'

'What are friends for?'

She looked at him curiously and then smiled.

'Well I'd better get to my class, see you Harry.'

He watched her go and felt a twinge of sympathy for her. He knew what it was like to have people tease you all the time because you were different. After all, he had grown up with Dudley.

'Hey Luna, wait. Do you want to join me and Neville tonight? We're thinking of starting up the DA again.'

She turned around and looked at him curiously, as if she was surprised by the invitation.

'Oh, that sounds good; I really enjoyed the DA last year.'

'Same place as last year then – seven pm. See you there?'

'Ok see you there' she smiled airily and walked off.

He arrived early at the room of requirement, and saw that it was filled with thick pillows around the walls this time – perfect for dueling or practicing spells. He had thought about inviting some others – Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Cho – but he really wanted to focus on his own development too instead of spending all this time just teaching others. Besides, this was a favor for Neville and Luna; he felt a bond with them and wanted to show them he thought of them as friends.

'Hi Harry!' the excited voice of Neville said behind him.

'Hey Neville, brings back memories doesn't it? Being in here I mean.'

'Yeah, I've been looking forward to this all day. So what are you going to teach me?'

'Well I invited Luna Lovegood along too, so we'll wait for her before we begin, but I thought we might just practice dueling.'

'Sounds great! I've been practicing a lot you know, I've gotten a little better since last year.'

'Hello' a dreamy voice said from the doorway.

'Hi Luna, come on in. We were just waiting for you.'

She came in and smiled at both of them, with her usual unblinking stare.

'Right' Harry said, 'Well let's get started. I thought we might practice some dueling today. How would you two like to have a go against me?'

'Err are you nuts Harry? You'd slaughter us …'

'No I won't, you see I'll just be blocking your attacks. That way you can get better at attacking and I can get better at blocking.'

'Oh … oh all right' and Neville seemed to grow less afraid and took out his wand.

He spent the next ten minutes dodging and blocking their attacks, until finally Luna managed to hit him with a disarming spell and he was knocked into a pillow.

'Where did you learn all those blocking spells Harry?' an impressed Neville asked

'You're not the only one who's been practicing' he said with a touch of pride

'Well this is good practice, my aim is definitely improving' Luna added.

'Then let's keep going' he said as he retrieved his wand and pointed it at them. Neville seemed filled with confidence now and resumed his attack.

They spent the next hour shooting spells at Harry, who dodged and blocked until finally, out of breath and exhausted he called it to a halt. Neville's aim was still lousy by any standard, but his confidence seemed to be improving as he had managed to hit Harry a few times. Luna

'Same time next week?' he asked them.

'You bet' Neville said happily.

'See you then' Luna replied.

He collapsed into a deep sleep that night, tired from the long lesson and the excitement.

'Have you made the arrangements Bella?' the cold voice said

'Yes Master, everything is in place.'

'I hope so for your sake, I will not suffer another disappointment.'

'Yes Master, forgive me master –'she sobbed

'Leave me. And send in Wormtail, I wish to discuss the plan with him.'

But Harry never found out what the plan was; at that moment he woke up with his scar prickling painfully and his mind racing. Voldemort was planning something, he had to warn Dumbledore! He threw on his robes and ran to the Headmaster's office as fast as he could.

'Harry! What's wrong?'

'I had a dream sir, you know, like the one I had –'

'I understand, please continue.'

He told Dumbledore everything he remembered, down to the last detail, and when he had finished Dumbledore remained silent.

'Do you know what he's planning sir?'

'I can take an educated guess, but I do not wish you to concern yourself with this Harry. Please try and get some rest, I will inform the ministry of your dream right away.'

'Right. Goodnight sir.'

'Goodnight.'

He walked back wondering what the dream was about. What could Voldemort be planning? Perhaps trying to free his deatheaters? But that would take an army; they were being guarded by aurors now that the dementors had joined the dark side.

Feeling puzzled he said the password and the fat lady let him back into the Gryffindor tower. He had thought everyone would be in bed by now, but he was startled to find Ron and Hermione sitting by the fire.

'So, care to explain yourself?' Hermione said with her eyebrows raised

'Explain what?' he was irritated enough, he didn't feel like being interrogated by his friends now.

'Explain where you've been going for the past six months, you're gone several nights a week these days.'

'I don't see how it's any of your business' he snapped.

'Oh yeah, I forgot.' Ron said in a sarcastic tone, 'it's not like we're your best friends or anything.'

'We're just worried about you Harry, and we feel left out.'

He calmed himself down and sat down across from them.

'I've been doing several things ok. I can't tell you about the first, I promised not to.'

Ron seemed offended by this, but Hermione elbowed him and he didn't say anything.

'But I've also been thinking about starting up the DA again. I met Luna and Neville tonight and we had a practice dueling session.'

'Without us?' Ron blurted out

'Well look, it was more of a spur of the moment thing.'

He felt guilty now about not inviting them, and was staring at his feet as he spoke to them.

'Well I think it's a brilliant idea to start up the DA again, and I can understand that you don't want to invite everyone from last year, but honestly – we're your friends!' Hermione said with indignation.

'Look I'm sorry, of course you guys are invited. We're having another meeting next week, same place at seven pm.'

'Now you're talking' Ron grinned.

'Should I invite anyone else?' Hermione asked him.

'Well I'd like to keep it smaller this time, but of course Ginny, Dean, and Seamus are welcome. And I'll invite Cho, but I think that's enough people. I don't really feel like teaching, I want to learn new stuff myself, not spend all my time helping others.'

'We understand Harry' Hermione said considerately, 'and we'll try to keep it a secret from the others.'

'Smashing, I can't wait.' Ron grinned.

He sat and talked to them by the fire for a while and enjoyed their company. Spending time with Cho was different from spending time with them, and he realized he had missed their company.

'Harry!'

He had just walked out of his DADA class when Cho's voice called to him from down the corridor.

'Hey, everything ok?' he asked as she kissed him

'Oh yes, but I wanted to remind you that's this Saturday is Valentine's Day, and there's a Hogsmeade trip.'

'Oh, right, do you have the time to spare?'

'Don't be silly, of course I do! I know I've been neglecting you a bit – 'she said with an expression of guilt on her face, '- but we have to spend Valentine's Day together! I'll make sure I have the whole day free.'

She leaned in closer and whispered in his ear.

'I really am sorry for being so busy, I promise I'll make it up to you this weekend with a surprise.'

And then she kissed his cheek and with a smile ran to her next class.

She certainly knows how to occupy my mind he thought to himself, and went to the library wondering about the surprise.