Author's Notes: Hey all, just when you'd given up on me ever updating again…an update, huzzah! I'm done school so I actually have a little bit of free time between working, so hopefully you'll see a bunch of new chapters in the next few weeks. That's all I really have to say because it's 1 a.m. and I have to be up at 8 tomorrow morning.

Welcome to the FU SarcasmSage, and thanks for the poem! Also big FU welcome to gonzogirl, Leanah, and Len (P.S. I love your stories!).

By the way, just for all of you who may or may not be wondering…the FU is not like, some sort of real organization or anything. I don't send out a welcome package and a bumper sticker, although that would be super sweet. I didn't even make up the FU. I just randomly grant admittance to anyone who asks to be part of Fangirls/boys United. And I don't kick you out if you don't review every chapter or anything. It's just a state of being, huzzah!

FUcon 20??…happening someday in the very distant future.

Monday, 18 September

8:57 p.m.

It's been one of those dreadful days where it's poured rain outside all day, and of course we had to have double Care of Magical Creatures today so we all got soaking wet, and now Ron and Harry have Quidditch practice so they're probably getting soaked to the bone. I should have done the rain-repellant charm for them before they left. Anyways, the common room is rather crowded so I came up to bed early. The dorm was empty (Parvati and Lavender weren't in the common room either…I think they went off somewhere with Dean and Seamus, ugh…insert rolling of the eyes here) and it was still pouring rain outside, so I climbed into bed with the house-elf socks I was working on. Parvati and Lavender still aren't back and it's all warm and cozy and lovely with the sound of the rain outside hammering on the windows.

While I was knitting I realized that I haven't written in here for a whole week, so I went to find my journal. It was lying in a suspiciously different spot than the one I left it in. Note to self: tell off Parvati and/or Lavender.

Let's see, I last wrote in here…it must have been last Monday. I was still worried about the Defense Against the Dark Arts OWL the next day, but something even more important dawned on me while Ron and I were waiting in the common room for Harry to get back from detention on Tuesday. The Ministry thinks Dumbledore's building some sort of army…and while that isn't true, the fact that we aren't getting a proper defensive magical education leaves us almost completely helpless. I decided it was time we took things into our own hands. Voldemort has returned, and the Ministry in its idiocy is leaving us all completely and utterly defenseless. If Harry could be attacked by Dementors in the Muggle suburbs, then none of us are really safe. Had Harry not been able to produce a Patronus, he would have been…well…you know. I can't produce a Patronus…

And that's when it hit me…Harry!

"Harry!" I said out loud in a burst of inspiration, accidentally knocking Ron's ink well over with my elbow.

"Yes, Hermione, we are waiting for Harry," Ron said wryly, trying to mop up the mess with his Potions essay. He swore when he realized what he was doing.

"No, no," I said impatiently. "I mean, we need to do something about Umbridge - "

"Poison?" Ron suggested.

"Well yes, that would…I mean no," I said exasperatedly. "I mean we have to do something about our Defense Against the Dark Arts education, or lack thereof…"

Just then Harry came in, looking exhausted. His hand was bleeding profusely. I quickly gave him the bowl of Murtlap tentacles that I'd prepared for him and he gratefully stuck his hand into it. His hand was in the worst shape I've seen it yet. Ron anxiously suggested again that Harry complain, but predictably, Harry staunchly refused.

"She's an awful woman," I said quietly as I stared at the cut on Harry's hand. "You know, I was just saying to Ron when you came in…we've got to do something about her."

And so, I shared my newly-formed idea. Harry knows more about Defense Against the Dark Arts than all of us combined; he's fended off giant spiders, a Basilisk, and Dementors, managed to win a very highly advanced tournament for seventeen-year-olds and above when he was only fourteen, not to mention he's encountered Voldemort, in various incarnations, four times now and lived.

Ron and I listed most of these off…we didn't mean to patronize Harry or tease him or anything like that, we were just trying to show him all the amazing things he's accomplished…and, well, Harry sort of took it the wrong way.

"Don't sit there grinning like you know better than I do," Harry snapped. "I was there, wasn't I? I know what went on, all right? And I didn't get through any of that because I was brilliant at Defense Against the Dark Arts, I got through it all because help came at the right time or because I guessed right…but I just blundered through it all, I didn't have a clue what I was doing…STOP LAUGHING!"

And it all went downhill from there.

But…and I feel this is rather important…I said it. I finally said Voldemort's name. It was hard at first, because of all the things that have been implanted in my mind by the wizarding world over the years about using that name, but after I said it I felt so much better. It was like saying his name and getting it out there made him a person, not this vague, shadowy, omnipotent thing that can't be defeated. He's human…or at least was human, at some point…and therefore should have a name. None of this stupid You-Know-Who business any more. Getting rid of this ridiculous fear surrounding his name is the first step if we're going to defeat him.

It ended with Harry calming down slightly and agreeing to at least think about it. I haven't broached the subject since, but I think he's slowly starting to entertain the idea. I'll just give him his space for a little while, maybe talk to a few people to see if they'd be interested in learning from him…I'm sure if Harry knew people are really willing to listen to and learn from him, he'll seriously consider it.

I sent a letter to Viktor about it right after the incident and he responded more quickly than usual. First of all, it seems that the Quidditch tournament (or exhibition, or whatever it was called) that Viktor's team was supposed to play here in England was cancelled due to "bad international relations" with England. Viktor said it was because the Bulgarian Minister is angry with Fudge! Apparently he doesn't agree with the way the Ministry of Magic is currently being run here in England. Viktor mentioned that the Bulgarian Minister is an old friend of Dumbledore's. I didn't even think of the possibility of other countries helping us in the fight against Voldemort…it's good to know that there are whole governments backing up Dumbledore. On the negative side, Viktor no longer gets to come to England, and I won't be able to see him. Well, I suppose it's a good thing I never mentioned it to Ron…

As for Harry teaching us Defense Against the Dark Arts, Viktor thought it was a great idea. He's always said that Harry knew loads of stuff last year that Viktor hadn't even learned in seventh year at Durmstrang…oh, I think Lavender and Parvati are coming back, I'd better put this away…

11:24 p.m.

Well. I wasn't expecting that. I think Lavender and Parvati are asleep now, so it's safe to write in here again.

I heard the two of them approaching so I shoved my journal under my blankets and took out my elf socks, putting on an irritated look. I expected them to come in giggling about Dean and/or Seamus and/or that sixth-year Hufflepuff whom they seem to think is some sort of god, and I was planning to give them a good telling off for going through my things. But when they walked in they were both talking quietly and Lavender was very pale. I cleared my throat and they both jumped.

"Hermione!" Lavender exclaimed, and her voice sounded sort of shaky.

"Hello," I said coolly. Lavender and I have not exactly been on friendly terms since her comments on the first day of school.

Then something very odd happened. Lavender burst into tears.

"Oh, Lav," Parvarti said soothingly, putting an arm around her friend.

"What's wrong, Lavender?" I said uncertainly, sliding out of bed and walking over to them. Lavender hiccupped loudly.

"I – I saw!" she cried.

"Saw what?" I asked apprehensively.

"Harry," Parvati said heavily, as if that explained everything.

"Oh. Well," said I, thinking that even if Harry had been soaking wet after his Quidditch practice and looked like a drowned rat, that still wasn't any reason for Lavender to cry.

"His – his hand," Lavender explained, sniffling. "We got back into the common room just now, and then him and Ron came in from Quidditch and I noticed…I noticed Harry's hand…oh, is she doing that to him every night?"

Something icy had settled in the pit of my stomach, but I also couldn't help but feel an odd sense of satisfaction. I nodded.

Parvati shuddered. "It looked awful," she said in a hushed voice.


"You-Know-Who really is back, isn't he Hermione?" Lavender whispered. "Harry wouldn't say those things in her class…and have to go through that as punishment…if they weren't true, if he just wanted attention…" She looked at me with wide eyes, all red-rimmed from crying. "So it's true, then? Cedric Diggory really did…I mean…You-Know-Who…" she trailed off. I nodded numbly again.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione," Lavender said sincerely. "I'm sorry that I didn't believe you and Harry and for everything I said at the beginning of the year."


This took me off guard. First I get an apology from Ron earlier this year, then Lavender? Has the world gone mad? But of course I didn't say that out loud.

"It's okay," I said. I'm not really a hug person, especially with Parvati and Lavender, but I gave Lavender a hug anyways. Lavender thanked me and then the two of them decided to go to bed.

"Wait…" I said slowly. "You two wouldn't be interested in…well, hearing what Harry has to say, would you?"

I do hope Harry reconsiders and agrees to this.

Weekly Goals

1. Talk to Harry about teaching us Defense again. Try not to have this encounter end in shouting and/or tears.

2. Ask around, get a feel of who would possibly be interested in taking lessons from Harry…I'm sure most of the Gryffindors, save Seamus, would…Ginny, and maybe she could convince Michael and his Ravenclaw friends…maybe Cho Chang, what with what happened to Cedric, and she seems rather fond of Harry…there's a few Hufflepuffs who I could talk to…

3. Continue liberating house elves through hats, socks, and accessories.

4. Write back to Viktor.

5. Work on Arithmancy independent study assignment.