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Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, obviously.........

Special thanks to my betas, Dreamermarie and icycoolhermione! And more special thanks to Gina Bina, bookster623, White-witch91, sentinel-witch, petee-poo, and Serb4c. Thanks for taking the time to review, it is much appreciated!

Chapter Eight: Common Rooms

Harry woke up early for the second morning in a row. He grumbled as he got out of bed. i 'I don't see Ron or Hermione getting up this early!' /i he thought to himself. i 'If it's for the DA, why don't they come along too?' /i

Harry got ready as quickly as possible and slipped out the portrait hole before most of the Gryffindors were even awake. He hurried down the corridors, not even thinking of where he was going until he reached a picture with a bowl of fruit. He tickled the pear and waited for the handle to appear before he opened the door and walked into the kitchens. He had never been to the kitchens while the house elves were actually preparing a meal. There were platters of food on almost every available table or counter just waiting to be sent to the Great Hall. Looking at the food made Harry very hungry.

"Harry Potter! Is you coming to visit me already?" Dobby seemed to have come from nowhere. He had a silly grin on his face.

"Good morning, Dobby."

"Is you hungry, Harry Potter?"

"Um, no- not now. Listen, Dobby, I have a favour to ask of you."

"Harry Potter would- would come to i Dobby /i for help?" Dobby stared at him wide-eyed. "Please, please sit down Harry Potter!" He pulled Harry towards a comfortable looking chair near a fireplace. Over in the corner a blanket seemed to be half covering another house elf that lay apparently unconscious on the floor. A puddle of butterbeer escaped from underneath the cloth.

"Dobby is that-"

"Yes, Winky is still not adjustings, sir. Dobby is not understanding whys. But, what does the great Harry Potter need me to do?" Dobby asked excitedly, trying to get Harry's focus away from Winky.

"Er- well. Hermione had this idea and well, we were wondering if there was ever any other rooms in Hogwart's that were once used for common rooms."

"Of course! Most is used for house elf rooms-"

"Dobby, are any empty?"

"Of course they are! Many large, large rooms with nothing in them. I's never seen anything likes it. And we cleans them every day we do!"

"Dobby could we i use /i one of these rooms?" Harry asked.

"Of course! Dobby will set one up just for you, Harry Potter, because you is a great friend of Dobby's. Is there anything you be needing in this room?"

"Er- just a table or two and some large pillows? Oh- and a fireplace! Is that ok?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Harry Potter."

"Thanks, Dobby. You helped me so much! I have to get to breakfast now," Harry said, eyeing the empty tables and counters that had just been covered with platters of breakfast foods. "But I'll be back today after lunch. Can you show me where the room is then?"

"You is too kind you is, Harry Potter. Thinking to even thank me! It will be done by lunch! Good-bye, Harry Potter. Thanks you for visiting Dobby!"

Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. Hermione looked at him.

"He'll show me after lunch," Harry said, smiling.

"Owl post!" Ginny called from down the table. Sure enough, hundreds of owls began flying into the Great Hall. Hermione's newspaper came. Harry was surprised when Hedwig sat on his shoulder, holding a letter in her beak.

"Thanks, Hedwig!" He said to her. She hooted in return and Harry gave her a piece of bacon. Harry carefully unfolded the letter.

i 'Harry, Meet me in the Defense Against the Dark Arts room next Tuesday at eight o'clock! Owl me back to let me know that you will be there. Professor Skont.' /i

Harry quickly scribbled a reply on the other side of the paper and gave it back to Hedwig. She hooted at him before flying away.

"Well, what'd it say?" Ron asked.

"Oh, meeting with Professor Skont next Tuesday at eight is all. Alright, time to get ready for Charms."

"Think Professor Flitwick will go easy on us? I still haven't finished that Potions essay that's due tomorrow. Two parchments on our first day back- is he mad?"

"You know Ron, if you had started it yesterday like I did- you wouldn't have much left to do," Hermione said. "And Professor Flitwick i should /i give us more work, it i is /i a N.E.W.T. class you know." Ron looked at her like she had three heads. Harry tried to hide the smile that was on his face. It melted instantly when he saw Malfoy talking to Fiona. Ron and Hermione saw them at the exact same time.

"Malfoy, what do you think you are doing?" Harry asked him.

"Shut it, Potter. I'm allowed to talk to my Potions partner, aren't I?"

"If you're just talking, then why is she pushed back against the wall?"

"You better watch what you are insinuating, Potter. I'm still Prefect and I can still take points."

"So can we, Malfoy. Come on, Fiona, let's go," Hermione said, pulling Fiona away from Draco.

"Not so fast, I wasn't finished yet!"

"Is there a problem here, Draco?" Professor Snape asked him.

"Potter and his new friend were just starting trouble, as usual Professor, and I was trying to stop him but that horrible Hermione Granger tried to threaten me-"

"Enough, Draco. I will take care of this. Go sit down and finish your breakfast," Snape said. Draco smiled smugly at Harry before going to sit in his seat. The whole Slytherin table was watching them.

"Potter, you would think by now you would have learned to stay away from Draco. And you, Miss Clarec, should i especially /i stay away from him. Five points will be taken from each of you for your foolishness." Then he walked away. The four Gryffindors walked through the Great Hall doors.

"Now really, how is Fiona supposed to stay away from Malfoy when he makes Malfoy her partner? That's not fair! Five points from i all /i of us?" Hermione said exasperatedly. "No offense, Harry but you i did /i confront him and Fiona, why were you even talking to him in the first place?"

" i I /i wasn't talking to i him /i , i he /i was talking to i me /i ! A bit rudely, too might I add."

"Ok, ok," Ron, said. "Hermione, it wasn't anyone's fault- Malfoy's just a huge git, now let's get to class before Gryffindor has negative points. Oh, I can't wait to catch Crabbe or Goyle alone."

"Ron!" Hermione yelled at him.

"What?" he answered as innocently as possible.

The first week went by quickly and Harry spent a lot of his time adjusting to the new schedule. He hadn't thought it possible, but now that the first week was over, it seemed as if the teachers were giving even more homework. Snape seemed almost incapable of going one class without giving at least two rolls of parchment for homework. Hermione was constantly on their case to get more work done.

"Harry," Hermione said, from atop her Potions book. Harry looked at her warily. "Didn't you have a meeting to go to tonight? It's almost eight and I thought-"

"I gotta go!" Harry said, slamming his books shut and running out of the common room. "See you later."

"I don't understand the point of this Divinations," Ginny said. "Anytime I look into a crystal ball all I see is one ugly witch- and I'm not talking about myself, either. And these cards- they make no sense." Ron laughed, Professor Trelawney was a bit odd looking. "Oops, I think I predicted that I was going to almost drown more than once this week. Maybe I'll make myself horribly burned instead."

"Sorry- sorry I'm late," Harry said, bursting into the room.

"It's ok, I just got here myself. Oops, now who puts a plant there?" Professor Skont asked as she knocked a potted plant over. She was smaller than Harry and probably in her mid-thirties. She had short blonde hair and was wearing plain black robes. She flicked her wrist and it set itself sort of upright again. Harry stifled a laugh.

"Well, I'm Professor Amy Skont. You can call me Amy in here but in front of anyone else, Professor Skont will have to do. I must say, it was pretty witty of you to come up with the idea for Dumbledore's Army. How did you come by it?"

"You see, er- Amy. Last year our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was a bit- um-"

"Unfit to teach?"

"Well- she refused to let us to practice any of the spells we were learning in class, so my friend Hermione Granger came up with the idea for the DA and asked me to be the teacher. That's how it started, but Umbridge found out about it and-"

"Yes, she is a detestable woman, isn't she? Never liked her myself." Harry couldn't help but smile. Amy looked at him. "Did you think just because she was a teacher that I would agree with her? That's ridiculous! But that is not important right now. Why don't you begin by telling me the things that the DA has already learned."

"Er- well, simple curses really. Jelly legs, simple Stunning, a shielding charm, and we started Patronuses-"

"Patronuses! Really, and how is everyone doing?" Amy suddenly seemed really interested.

"Well, it's mixed really. I can do one, of course, and Hermione Granger can. A couple others can, too and everyone else is real close if they haven't gotten it already," Harry answered her.

"Outstanding! Now, for the first several meetings you will simply go over these old spells- especially i Expecto Patronum /i - and I will teach you another shielding charm which is a bit more powerful. Also, what you will want to do is practice agility. No, not wand agility," Amy said to him, noticing Harry's perplexed look. "Physical agility; it will help you dodge curses and hexes. What you need to do is put everyone in groups of two or three. Have the other one or two people shoot simple curses at one member of the group so that they can dodge the curse. You'll need to start off slowly at first and then eventually you can get faster and faster. Each person should do this for at least ten minutes a meeting. It's very important. Now about that shielding charm-"

"So I have to stand there while you all throw hexes at me? This is practice? Has Dumbledore gone nutters?" Ron asked, the next morning at breakfast.

"Calm down, Ron, it's actually makes sense if you think about it. Being able to dodge curses will help a lot. Look what happened last year," Hermione said, remembering her experience with getting cursed.

"Sounds a little like Auror training to me," Ron thought aloud.

"Hermione, did you start making the coins yet? We're supposed to meet at least once a week," Harry said.

"Oh, no I didn't. Sorry, Harry. I'll start them tonight, I promise."

"Don't worry about it. Hey, what's wrong with Ginny- she just left," Harry said, looking at Ginny's empty spot down the table. Dean Thomas was sitting all the way at the end of the table, alone.

"Who knows, probably a fight with her i boyfriend /i ," Ron said, disgustedly. Hermione rolled her eyes before getting up and following Ginny.

"Hungry for lunch?" Hermione snickered at Ron as they all sat at the Gryffindor table for lunch.

"No, not really. I think I'm just going to go back to the common room, actually. See you in Potions," Ron said as he gathered his things and left.

"Ron was late to Creatures class today," Harry said to Fiona. "Because he got sick after breakfast and had to go to the Infirmary."

"Fiona," Professor McGonagall said, walking towards the table. "I must take you to Professor Dumbledore's office immediately."

"Yes, Professor," Fiona said, picking up her things and leaving behind Professor McGonagall.

"Wonder what Dumbledore wants with her," Hermione said.

"I wouldn't know," Harry answered testily as he watched Fiona leave. i 'Dumbledore hasn't even asked to see me yet!' /i

"How was your meeting with Dumbledore?" Hermione asked Fiona that night. Hermione was watching Ron and Lavender play chess out of the corner of her eye. She couldn't help but notice how often they were together.

"Oh- it was ok," Fiona answered absentmindedly as she finished her translation for Ancient Runes. "I missed Potions, though. Snape is making me do the lesson during lunch tomorrow." She scowled.

"We made a potion today to heal magical injuries or something," Harry said over a stack of books. Both Harry and Ron were already putting off their homework and Harry glared menacingly at the large stack of books in front of him.

"As long as Draco isn't there, I don't care what I'm making," Fiona sighed as she closed her Runes book. "I'm tired. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Wait, I'll come with you," Hermione said. "Night Harry."

"Night Hermione, night Fiona," Harry said. "Maybe I'll go to bed too."

"Harry, you still have to finish the Potions assignment that's due tomorrow and don't forget about Transfigurations. Professor McGonagall said we're starting something entirely new and extremely hard soon." Harry frowned at Hermione. She was right, of course.

The next day, Hermione walked Fiona to the dungeons and then headed off to the common room to find Ginny, who was refusing to eat any of her meals in the Great Hall.

Fiona walked unsteadily into the classroom. Draco was sitting in his seat. She sighed. What was he doing there?

"Instructions are on the board, Clarec, so get started." Fiona ignored him. "Where are you going? That's not your seat." Fiona grumbled but picked up her bag anyway and sat down in her usual seat. She copied down the instructions Snape had left on the board and pulled out the ingredients she would need. She glanced over at Draco. He was haphazardly cutting stalks of one of the magical plants they would need for the potion.

"You're doing that all wrong, you know."

"Turning into your mudblood friend, are you? Think you know everything, eh?" Draco taunted her. Fiona looked at him. She knew that if Draco's potion came out much worse than hers Snape would somehow make it her fault, so she reached across Draco and picked up his stalks. He grabbed her wrist.

"I'm the favourite in here, you'd best remember that." He dropped her wrist on the table. She winced, but took the stalks and began to cut them anyway. Draco's fingers left red marks on her arm that appeared to be bruising.

"Here," she said, shoving the neatly cut stalks in his face. Draco and Fiona worked separately in silence for the rest of the period. Their potions were gently simmering in the cauldrons when Draco turned to her.

"You know, for a mud-blood lover you're not so bad and you did help me with my potion; I'll repay you the favour. Since you weren't here last year, I'll help you get acquainted. i IMPERIO! /i " Fiona was caught off guard. Draco smirked at her, relishing in the new power that he possessed. At first, Draco watched as he made Fiona finish his potion and bottle it for him. She effortlessly cleaned his cauldron and put away his supplies, as he had commanded her to. Then, he thought of something else to make her try and a wicked smile came across his face. Fiona crossed the classroom and walked right up to Draco and suddenly, she was kissing him.

Luckily, Draco still wasn't very skilled with Unforgivable Curses and he couldn't feel Fiona begin to fight the curse.

" i NO! /i " she screamed, after she finally succeeded in pushing him away. "If you are going to be using Unforgivable curses, Malfoy, you should practice because yours are rather weak!"

"It's just practice, don't think you're anything special, really. And I'd watch myself if I were you." Fiona was about to tell him she never really thought otherwise, but didn't get the chance because just then, Malfoy walked over to her cauldron and tipped it over.

As the potion spilt across the floor, Fiona let out a quick gasp. What was she going to do? She looked over and saw that all of Draco's things were neatly put away and he was waiting up by Snape's desk to hand in his potion. Of course, Snape chose that moment to come into the room.

"Stupid girl. How careless of you," he snarled at her. "You're lucky that was a healing potion- think of the damage you could have done! Twenty points will be taken from Gryffindor and you will have a detention with me next Thursday. Be here at eight o'clock, now clean up this mess!" He turned to Draco. "Well done, Draco. Twenty points for Slytherin. You are dismissed." Then he turned and walked out the door.

Fiona didn't feel like going to her next class, she just walked back to the Gryffindor common room and went directly to her dormitory. She didn't even bother getting changed; she simply lay on her bed and drew the curtains closed around her before falling asleep. Her amulet glowed gold as she slept so that it looked like a tiny light was beneath her robes.

"What happened to Fiona?" Ron asked that night as he stared at the stack of books before him. Quidditch season hadn't even started yet and already he was behind on homework. Harry, after getting some of his done the night before, had a somewhat smaller pile in front of him. Hermione had spread all of her books out before her, as usual.

"I walked her to the dungeons before lunch," Hermione said.

"Yes, but no one's seen her since then," Harry said. "Did you check your dorm? She might be sleeping or something."

"Look, there she is," Ron said, pointing to the stairs that led to the dormitory. "Hey, Fiona! Over here!" He waved in her direction. She walked over and sat next to Harry at the table.

"Where have you been?" Harry asked.

"I was really tired," Fiona said.

"Did something happen to you?" Hermione asked. They all looked at her, waiting for an answer.

"Fiona, you have to learn to trust us," Harry said, looking at her.

"We're your friends," Hermione added.

"Oh, all right- but you can't laugh," Fiona said as she started her story. Fiona knew they wouldn't like what she told them but she was unsure how they would react. Their eyes seemed to pop out of their heads.

"He i what /i ?" Ron shouted.

"For how long?" Harry asked.

"You have to tell Dumbledore- that's an unforgivable curse!" Hermione chimed in.

"It wasn't very strong and I was able to break free really soon."

"Being able to i do /i an unforgivable curse is enough- you have to be really filled with hatred and evil," Harry said, remembering when he tried one of the curses on Bellatrix Lestrange.

"You have to tell Dumbledore immediately," Hermione said again.

"No!" Fiona said, looking distraught.

"I agree with Fiona, we can't tell him- not yet," Harry said. "It's too risky, if Malfoy found out he'd just hassle her even more. I think we should wait for a little. Fiona, you can't go anywhere alone anymore. Good thing we have a DA meeting coming up, you really need to learn to protect yourself."

"Meeting? When?" Ron asked.

"Tomorrow at seven-thirty," Harry said. "Dobby set up the room for us and it looks really good, I think he stole some stuff from the Room of Requirement. Everyone should be coming, too. Fred and George might even show up." Hermione looked at Fiona to see her reaction. Sure enough, Fiona suddenly became very excited.

"Really?" she asked. Ron scowled at her. He really hated it when girls got all weird like that.

Well, another chapter is posted!  I hope you liked it and please take the two seconds to review. You can't possibly understand how much you will change my day and who knows...if you have a story, I just might stop by to say hello....