Disclaimer: I still own nothing.

Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long. I've been insanely inspired on basically every story but this one and Conversations with a Hat. But things are rolling again and I know where the next chapter is going. Some quick replies and then the chapter.

Aurawn, Smallfrie16, Justin-Bond, Jennyroseangel, idiot with reason, Stephanie, DarkLuna, Zesuit—Thanks so much everbybody!

FawkesFreak—Thanks. I went back and fixed it. I did start working on the next chapter of Fortress finally but it's been so long that I'm going to have to look at the story and see where it's going again.

Zephdae—Thanks. I'm trying to get Luna all settled again. How she came by her potions abilities, I don't know yet, but the Legilimency-Occlumency I've got a better grasp on. I think that the more unfocused she seems, the more focused she really is. It's a defense thing. That's part of it, I'm still working on the rest.

Anthony Hotchkiss—I didn't forget the liked each other. But Luna is…Luna. She doesn't have to be lovey-dovey to still be dating him and still care about him. She just has to exist with him as a calming, peaceful force.

Dnd4ever—That was an error. I think I corrected it.

Katie Lupin Black—Manhunt sounds awesome. I've never played it. I don't exactly know how my story is supposed to end. Typically, I never do. I just set my fingers to going and let the characters say what's next.

Chapter 72: Scheming

Harry woke up in the same crowded "dormitory" again. He'd hoped it would all be some horrible dream. But it wasn't. Ugh, what was that pounding noise?

"Sixth years get out now before I'm forced to come in there!" The pounding continued.

Harry groggily recognized the voice of his Defensense Against the Dark Arts teacher and looked over at the clock on the wall. 6:16. In the morning. What on earth was she doing there?

"You're all late for class!"

Harry sat up and was just about to rummage in his trunk for something to wear when the door was thrown open.

There stood Professor Delano. She did not look happy. Her frown could rival McGonagall's. She walked through the room, plucking the blankets off the sixth years and commanding, "Follow me!"

Harry and the other sixth year boys (all still in their pajamas), followed her out of the dormitory and into the classroom.

"Wait here, I'll be right back." She slammed the door behind her and went to go get the girls.

"Am I even in this class?" asked Malfoy, yawning.

"Who cares?" muttered the irate Hufflepuff.

The girls came into the room in a line similar to the boys; they also were still in their nightclothes.

"In the future you will all be on time to you lessons," Delano said sharply. "Sit."

"What about breakfast?" asked Ron.

"Lesson first. Then breakfast."

There was a general groan from the students.

"Today, we are going to be focusing on Freezing Spells and had to deflect them. Does anyone know the difference between a Stunning Curse, a Petrifying Jinx, and Freezing Hex? Anyone?" She proceeded with her explanations, throwing things at students who looked like they were falling asleep. She picked Malfoy up by his ear when she heard him snore.

Then she started demonstrating the Freezing Hex, using random students. After the demonstrations, she taught everyone how to deflect the spell before she started hexing them again.

All the students were in a foul mood by the time Delano left the classroom and breakfast, as well as the rest of the students, came in.

The next day, the Slytherins and the other three houses were still avoiding each other like the plague and Harry had only reached Neville on the mirror once. Neville had started to say that the tension was getting worse, though there'd been no more outright violence, and then he had to leave immediately. He had to reach him again. He had to convince Neville to get the students outside to start cooperating with the Slytherins. But now he had a plan.

It was seven thirty and dinner was over. The sixth years didn't have any more lessons left and after fifth years had had their transfiguration lesson, everyone would be done for the night.

Harry got together with Ron and Hermione. "I have a real plan this time."

Hermione looked at him, unimpressed. "Is this as good as your plan to show Dumbledore how well we can get along by playing a game than includes everybody except the Slytherins?" she asked dryly.

He waved her aside impatiently. "Of course it's better. I've been giving this a lot of thought. We don't have to actually get along with the Slytherins. We just have to make it look enough like we do so that Dumbledore will let us out of here."

"Brilliant! You think it'll work?" asked Ron.

"It has to. If we can get the Slytherins to agree to it."

"They'll agree; they don't want to be here anymore than we do after all."

"That's right. They don't."

Hermione interrupted, "That won't be enough."

"What do you mean it won't be enough?" asked Harry, looking at Hermione with startled eyes and sitting back down on the chair.

"I mean we aren't the only ones affected by this. There's the rest of the student body as well. They have to stop fighting as well. I talked to Dobby at lunch. Things are still tense out there."

"That's what Neville said too. I only got to talk to him for a few seconds. I only managed to contact him once and he hasn't answered since. Maybe the mirror was confiscated," Harry told them grimly. "But if we can calm things down in here, and figure out a way to convince them to calm things out there, then we can get out of this mess!"

"I think you've got it now. But what are your plans for getting the Slytherins to cooperate?" she asked.

"Tie them down and explain rationally why they have to do what we say, or else," Ron said.

"Ron, I don't think we can do that," Harry said regretfully.

Hermione was grinning. "I think that's an excellent idea. Harry, get the Ravenclaws; Ron, get the Hufflepuffs. I'll get the rest of the Gryffindors years."

"What about the Slytherins?"

"We'll deal with them later," she said confidently.

"What about the fifth years?"

"Judging by my watch, they'll be out any moment. Go, on!"

Harry went and got Terry and Padma away from their Chess game. "Hey, we've got a plan to get out here soon."

"Really?" Padma asked, excitedly, dropping a Chess piece. "I want fresh air again. I want to see the sunshine." She made a careless move on the board with the piece she'd dropped.

"Quit being so melodramatic," Terry said, looking at her. He made his next move on the Chessboard and took one of her pieces. It was only the second piece he'd managed to take (she had 6 of his), but at least it was a bishop.

"It's not melodramatic that I want to see my sister again, Terry," she retorted. She looked at the board, seeing that he got her bishop and made a careful move.

"I thought you said she's annoying," Terry said quizzically.

"She is. But she's my sister and I love her."

"Are you two coming?" Harry asked.

"We'll be over in a minute," Terry promised.

"Alright. I've got to talk to a few more people." He looked around and saw Cho flirting with the male seventh year Ravenclaw Prefect, Brett. He went over to them cautiously.

"What do you want?" Cho asked. "Can't you see we're in the middle of something here?" She was sitting with the Brett's arm around her waist.

Brett didn't look too happy about the interruption either.

"We've got a plan that'll get everybody out of here."

"Who's we, Gryffindor?" asked Brett. "The 'dream team'? It's your fault we're in this mess. If you three hadn't sparked trouble with the Slytherins, we wouldn't be stuck in here in the first place. The teachers are treating us like juvenile delinquents in a detention center."

Harry glared at him. This idiot was accusing him and his friends of being the sole source of their problems. "Us? It was everybody; so don't blame just the three of us. I've seen just as many Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs start fights and cause trouble with Slytherins as I have Gryffindors, so don't give me that. Just get over there so we can have this meeting. I don't want to be here, you don't want to be here; no one wants to be here."

There was a brief staring contest between Harry and Brett. Unfortunately for Brett, Harry had spent much of his time this week glaring at the ceiling when they mirror wasn't helping. His double-barrel green stare was certainly nothing to scoff at. With a sigh of disgust, Brett got up and headed to the sofa and chairs Harry was pointing at. Cho didn't move.

"Am I going to have to argue with you too?" he asked, trying to restrain his anger.

"You're right."

"I—What?"

"Potter, I may not like you but I'm smart enough to know when I'm hearing the truth. If we want to get out of this prison it's going to take everybody. I just hope your plan is as good as you say it is."

Harry thanked whatever powers ran the universe that he wasn't going to have to argue with her. Four down, three to go, he thought to himself. Well, Luna obviously wouldn't be hard to convince.

He saw the other seventh year Ravenclaw Prefect with the group of Hufflepuffs Ron was talking to and let him deal with her. The only ones left were the fifth years. He spotted Luna and the others coming out of the classroom.

"Luna, would you and er…" What was the name of that fifth year Prefect again?

"John," the boy supplied helpfully.

"Would you two come over here?" They followed him over to where they could talk. "We've got a plan to get out of here, but we need everyone working together. We're having a meeting."

"How is a meeting going to help?"

"You'll see. Are you two in?"

"Nothing better to do," reasoned John.

They followed him to the group that was forming around Ron and Hermione. Harry saw that the other Ravenclaws were already waiting.

Everyone from the three houses was there and waiting.

Harry whispered to Ron and Hermione, "Which one of you wants to talk?"

"You do it, Harry. Your idea," whispered Ron.

"Will one of you just start?" Hermione muttered. "Nobody wants to hear from the know-it-all."

Harry took a deep breath and sat on one of the chairs, the crowd seated or standing around him. "Some of you aren't going to like this, but it's better than spending the rest of term trapped in here with those Slytherins. Dumbledore said he wouldn't let us out of here until we learned to cooperate with the Slytherins; until we learned to have inter-house unity."

"I'm not getting all chummy with the Slytherins," one of the boys said, flat out.

"You don't have to. All we have to do is pretend to get along with them enough to convince Dumbledore that things are better."

"They'd never go for that," pointed out Terry.

"I'm just asking if all of you would agree to this. Unless someone else has a better idea that they haven't bothered to share yet, it seems like our best way out."

Nobody had another idea.

"Good. Then, does everybody agree to this?"

There was a general murmur of consent, but with some hesitation.

"Alright then. Everybody's in. Now the next thing we have to do is get the Slytherins involved." He saw a fifth year making a face at him. "Look, if we don't get them involved, then we aren't doing what Dumbledore wants and we aren't getting out of here."

"The Slytherins would never agree to this."

"That's why we have to convince them." Harry grinned to himself. "At lights out, by whatever means necessary, we've got to convince the Slytherins that it's the only way to get us out of here."

"And after that?" asked Ernie.

"Once they've realized that they don't have a choice in the matter, we've got to find out who's going to be the most levelheaded on their side and who'll get support for the Slytherins outside this hall to start cooperating with the other three houses."

"And how are you going to do that?" Dylan asked skeptically.

"I found a way to communicate with somebody outside the room."

"What? Are the teachers giving you special treatment? Or is the house-elf playing favorites?" asked Ernie.

"Neither. I have a way of getting a message out. That's all that matters," Harry told him curtly.

"Maybe it's the painting," he suggested, mockingly. "The crazy knight and crazy Potter."

Harry threatened, "Ernie, I'm warning you. If you don't want a black-eye, knock it off."

"Yeah, you're really going to hit me?"

"As a matter of fact, I will, so shut it." He stood up and pulled his arm back. He was about to hit Ernie when Terry and Ron latched onto his elbow.

"Don't do it," Ron cautioned.

"Inter-house unity and all," said Terry.

"You're not worth it, Macmillan," Harry muttered. "Everybody understand what's going to happen?"

"How come you get to decide what's going to happen?" asked Dylan.

"I asked if anybody else had any ideas. Nobody else did. Do you have one?"

"Not yet."

"Then if my idea fails, let's see if you can come up with one," Harry said. "When lights out comes, we go to our dorms and grab the Slytherins and make them listen. Understand?"

Everyone nodded and the group dispersed. Only Luna stayed with Harry.

"I'm not doing this."

"What are you talking about? Don't you want to get out of here?"

"Pretending to get along would be a lie. I won't pretend. I won't be part of the lie," Luna said. "Lies hurt the world."

"Please, Luna. By working together to pretend to get along, that's still working together and getting the inter-house unity Dumbledore wants."

She just stared at him and sighed. "I don't approve."

"But will you help anyway?"

Luna didn't answer. She kissed him on the cheek and just walked away, asking someone if anyone wanted to help her put on a show with sock puppets.