Chapter 15 – The Return of Dumbledore's Army
It was evening now and Hermione sat comfortably in the Gryffindor Common Room with Ron, Harry, Ginny, Dean, Neville, Seamus, and Parvati. Hermione felt a little better now, thanks to Ron, and for the first time in weeks, she had eaten to a full stomach.
They were all talking about their Christmas vacations while eating delicious treacle tarts. Hermione was the only one who didn't join in, because spending the Christmas alone and depressed wouldn't exactly be the highlight of their conversations.
A little while later, Ron changed the conversation and suggested the starting up of the DA again. Most of them agreed to the idea and Hermione promised she would tell them about the first meeting.
Time went on until only Harry, Ron, and Hermione were left in the common room. Harry lay on the couch and read a book for school, while Hermione played chess with Ron. As usual, she lost horribly.
"You know, even if you played this game for a hundred years, you wouldn't get any better." joked Ron after the game was finished.
"HEY!"
She suddenly remembered something from Christmas morning that would torture him for weeks to come, "Ron."
"Hmm?" he said as he cleared up the chess board from the table.
"I command you to do my Head duties tomorrow."
Ron looked up, and snorted mirthlessly.
"So I take it you liked my little card?" said Ron, still laughing.
"I loved it. You'll do my duties tomorrow night, right?"
"Yes, my princess." said Ron, bowing sarcastically.
"Would you two cut it out!" screeched Harry and put his book down for a moment, "I'm trying to read here!"
"Your temper needs a major cool down, Harry." Hermione pointed out, back to her serious state.
"And Ginny was right; you two seriously need some air." Harry retorted.
Hermione had to admit that she was a bit intimidated of Harry at the time. After all, he had attempted to hurt her with the worst curse ever known to man. She was half expecting him to jump at her viciously any second. That reminded her of something.
"Harry, do you remember the day out at the porch at Grimmauld Place?"
Harry looked at her sharply and sat straight up while Ron conjured up a tense expression.
"What about it?" said Harry.
"I forgot to mention it there because there was no time…but when you went-um-ballistic, you…thought I was a man or something-"
"What do you mean?" said Harry angrily.
"Well-you called me a bastard and then you said…" Hermione spoke, trying to recall Harry's exact words, "something about me betraying you."
There was as distinguishing silence in the room. Finally, Ron spoke, "That's crazy."
"I don't remember any of it? Why? Was I possessed?" said Harry.
"I don't think so," said Hermione surely, "Voldemort would have to be in close contact with you in order to do that and there weren't any diaries around either…I think his anger took you over for a matter of seconds and I guess his words did too…it's really scary when you think about it…and there's another thing…"
"Oh lord, what now?" said Harry, looking dazed.
Hermione told them about that evil feeling she'd gotten when she had touched his hands.
"This is getting way too weird." Ron finalized after she finished her story.
"It's getting weird?" said Harry with sarcasm, "Where have you been for the past seven years?"
…
In Transfiguration class the next morning, Hermione had asked Professor McGonagall for the password to Dumbledore's office and to her astonishment, Professor McGonagall had given it to her. So now they were marching up to Dumbledore's office. They stopped in front of the stone gargoyle, empowered with bulging eyes and flexible wings.
"Caramel Toffee." said Ron. Instantly, the gargoyle maneuvered to the left and in front of them was a marble pole with a griffin pasted on it, surrounded by a spiral staircase moving continuously upwards.
They stepped on the staircase and it kept on spiraling up.
The staircase finally stopped moving and Harry pushed open the next door. Hermione had been in Dumbledore's office only once before, and that had been last year. It was a vast circular room with different portraits on the wall, who were staring at them right now as they came in, and some of them went into the other portraits and whispered into their ears, especially giving Harry looks. On her right, Hermione saw a beautiful bird with flame colored feathers bowing down and recognized it as Fawkes the phoenix. Next to Fawkes was a high oak desk with three legs, and on it was a long gleaming sword that reflected light to the ceiling. Hermione didn't know why, but this sword attracted her attention and she had a sudden yearning to go over there and hold it in her hands, but then Dumbledore's voice distracted her.
"What a pleasant surprise."
At the messy desk sat Dumbledore; he had a quill in his hand and appeared to have been writing something on a piece of parchment. He looked at them, his blue eyes twinkling behind those half-moon spectacles, and smiled.
To Hermione, Dumbledore looked five hundred years old. His crooked nose seemed more crooked to her, and new wrinkles had formed on his already wrinkled face. He wore a violent purple cloak with decorative patters around the borders that gave him a surprising cheerful look.
"Well, what can I do for you three?" said Dumbledore and put his quill down.
"We…erm…wanted to-well, we wondered if we could start a Defense Club."
Dumbledore bore his eyes into Hermione's, and then said, "Ah, I see. You want to prepare Harry for battle."
Sometimes she hated it when people could read minds.
"Yes, but I thought that everyone could benefit from it, and you could appoint a proper teacher for it."
Dumbledore observed the three of them and then nodded in agreement, "Alright then, Hermione. I will conduct the first meeting on Wednesday and notices will be put up in all of the Houses stating the time and location of the meeting. And as for the teacher heading it, I will have to ask the teachers who are free for it."
"Thank you." said Hermione courteously.
"While you three are here, I must ask you something. Is there anything bothering you?"
The three looked at each other. Hermione did have something bothering her, but as the others shook their heads, she followed.
Dumbledore nodded curtly, "Well then, I must get back to my work, forgive me."
As they walked out of Dumbledore's office, Hermione spoke first, "We should have told him about the Crystal and the dreams."
"He already knows. The Order will have told him." said Harry indifferently.
"Maybe he could have told us something new about it-"
"Believe me, he's told me all I need to know."
…
"Hermione." said Draco, who had been scrubbing a pot, as Hermione entered the greenhouse, "I thought it was Weasley again."
"No, it's me." She said, closing in on where Draco was standing and grabbing one of the pots as well.
"Where have you been? Why has Weasley been doing all of your duties?"
Hermione chuckled. For the past three days, Ron had been doing her duties and Hermione had been sitting pleasantly in the common room reading more books. She knew it was unfair of her to make Ron do her duties, but she wanted to make this present worthwhile, and it wasn't like Ron could protest. But tonight, he had Quidditch practice so she had to go.
Draco looked incredulously at her when she told him about Ron's gift, "I know he's poor, but he didn't even have enough money to buy you a real present?"
Hermione scowled at him, "It was the best present ever, and money isn't everything."
"In our family it is." said Draco, setting an odd purple colored plant to one side, "You can't blame me for saying that. I was brought up that way."
That is true, she thought. Speaking of his family…she had a desperate urge to ask him something. She wanted to know if he was already a Death Eater. It was definitely possible, since Voldemort could have been in his house during one time or another, and he could've made Draco join the Death Eaters…
"What happened to you? What's wrong with your face?"
"Why, what's wrong with it?"
"You look so thin," he said as he stared at her, "but your hair looks nice."
"Thanks," said Hermione, "Family problems, that's all."
"Oh, I see."
"Yeah…" she said, and decided to change the subject, "So are you coming to the DA meeting tomorrow?"
He laughed, "Yeah right, like I need to go to that rubbish. You do remember that I cast the Morbida Curse on you once, right?"
"Like I could ever forget." said Hermione, shooting him a dirty look, "But seriously, you should come. It's open to all houses; it's not like last time."
"I'll think about it."
…
"Why couldn't we have this meeting in the Requirement room like before? It would have been much better." said Ron as they went up to the third floor. Hermione thought it was more exhausting than going to Trelawney's classroom because of the location of the unused classroom, which was at the corner of the third floor, a place she'd never set foot in despite all the various places she had to go because of her Head Girl duties.
"Probably, but they wouldn't want more students to find out about that place. It was supposed to be a secret." said Harry.
They strolled down the unlit corridor until they reached the designated classroom. The dusty door was closed and on it read a small sign "DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS" with curvy gold letters.
Hermione pushed open the door and came face to face with someone so unexpected that she gasped in surprise, Ron gave a vile glare, and Harry, on the other hand, exclaimed, "YOU!"
Snape's nostrils flared and he narrowed his deep dark eyes into an icy stare.
"Ten points from Gryffindor," he spat, stepping aside, "now get inside before you earn yourself a detention."
Harry opened his mouth in retaliation but Hermione stomped on his foot. Snape smiled malevolently.
She walked into the room and looked around. It was immediately clear to her why this room had been chosen. The immense-sized room was brightly lit with pearl white torches surrounding the room, and on the walls were flat parchments filled with basic spell information, tips, and techniques. To her the room was a notice board with papers everywhere. It was practically empty, because there were no bookcases like the Room of Requirement or cushions for when they practiced stunning, but as Hermione put her foot forward, it swelled downwards into the ground. She retrieved it in astonishment and examined the ground with her hand. There were several spots where if you put force there, they would lump down, and she guessed it was for protection from when someone fell hard on the ground.
It was only half past six so nobody else was there yet, and they had come early because they had expected Tonks to be the teacher. After all, she was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Who knew they were going to get stuck with Snape? Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all, she thought, if Snape was in charge of it.
Once again, Harry spoke, "Where is Ton-Professor Tonks?"
"Luckily not present at the current location. I am in charge of this little dueling club, and the next time you don't address me in respect, it will be twenty points off."
Harry's mouth opened wide but Hermione pinched him in the back. He jumped in shock, causing Snape to sneer.
"Come no, let's look at that." Hermione mumbled, and they moved to the other side of the classroom. She wanted to keep Harry from getting in trouble as much as she could, because that would easily be another change to make his violent temper unleash. As she was examining all of the diverse incantations on the glued-on parchment, she perceived Harry staring at her angrily.
"What?" said Hermione, lifting her finger off the parchment.
"This is your fault," Harry barked, and then imitated her voice horribly, "'let's start the DA. It'll be really beneficial for Harry.' And now because of you, I have to put up with him in Potions, Occlumency, and in here."
She stood there speechless; words hurt way more than curses. Thankfully, Ron came to her defense, "It's not her fault. She didn't know Snape would be in charge."
"Of course you're siding with her."
Hermione turned her almost-tearful face back to the wall. She was not to blame; how could she have known that Snape was going to be leading the club? She wasn't a seer.
She pretended not to hear them as she turned her attention back to the spell she had been looking at, but she heard Ron mumble something like, "…her parents…leave her alone, I don't want her to start crying again…"
When seven o'clock came along, the room was occupied by almost all of the old DA members except for the sixth and seventh years that had already graduated, some Ravenclaw girls that she didn't know the names of, two young Hufflepuff boys she had seen in detention by the names of Martin Brody and Eddie Fisher, and a few Gryffindors she didn't recognize. Hermione noticed that no one from Slytherin had come until one more person made entry into the classroom. Draco Malfoy walked in with a haughty expression but Hermione caught some intimidation in his cold gray eyes as well.
"What are you doing here?" Ron spat out as Draco came in. Several other people looked in his direction and produced angry looks as well.
"Shut up Weasley," said Draco coldly, "I have as much right to be here as you."
Ron looked around at the others' fierceful faces, "Not according to them you don't."
"Leave him alone, Ron. This club is open to everyone." said Hermione in defense.
Ron spun around to glare at her, and before he could open his mouth again, Snape said, "Settle down. Now, first, I am going to divide you into three groups according to your magical capabilities. First to third years over there, fourth and fifth years here, and sixth and seventh years to the far end. Move. Now."
The crowd dispersed into three different sections and Ron automatically moved towards Hermione. Expectedly, Draco was left partnerless. She hesitated.
"Ron, can you partner up with Harry?" said Hermione timidly.
Ron looked stunned, "Excuse me?" Harry turned at the mention of his name.
"Can you work with Harry? I'm going to partner up with Draco since he doesn't have anyone to work with."
Ron stood there bewildered as Hermione turned to Draco, who apparently had been listening.
"Uh…okay, thanks." said Draco uncertainly, and stared past her, "You should see the look on your boyfriend's face right now."
Hermione turned. "You mean you'd rather work with him?" Ron spat out.
"It's only for today, Ron."
"That's so-"
"Oh grow up, Ron." Hermione said without realizing it, and a second later, she deeply regretted it. Snape's voice trailed in the classroom, "…choose one of the appropriate spells on the wall and I will come around to confirm them…"
She new that this would be Ron's reaction, but she couldn't just ignore Draco. After all, she was the one who had invited him to this meeting. It wasn't such a big deal; she was only partnering up with him for dueling, not running off with him
Hermione lead Draco to the far left of the room because she had seen something interesting when she'd entered the class. And there it was on top of the wall; a person hurled and twirled into the air continuously and then fell down with a distinct thump. It was called the Hurling Hex, and they decided to perform this spell.
Finally, Hermione could get back at Draco for all those times he'd tried or had cursed her. There was no way he was going to master this spell faster than her.
"I am going to pound you." said Hermione.
"Don't be so arrogant." Draco smirked. Everyone else was choosing spells and the level of loudness had increased incredibly. With a sideways look, Hermione could see that Ron was still staring at her. Oh god, I try to do one decent thing and it's the end of the world.
Suddenly, Viktor came to mind and remembered how jealous Ron had been when he'd seen her with Viktor at the Yule Ball. But it wasn't like she was going out with Draco. I'll talk to him later, she thought.
"You should have chosen your spell by now." said Snape, standing in front of the class, "Start on my count."
Hermione pointed her wand at Draco as Snape said, "Three…two…one…GO!"
She roared just like the others in the room. Wands flew in all directions, people slammed and crashed into the walls, and screams rang in the air like disfigured choruses.
Hermione's wand produced a white solid strand of light that stuck Draco's identical light. The two strands forged together solidly to make an unusual black one. They held their wands for a few seconds in astonishment and the moment Hermione lowered her wand, the black light broke off in a zip and blasted her off her feet. She flew backwards and crashed into Neville.
"Sorry, sorry." she mumbled as she made an attempt to get back on her feet. She rubbed her sore arms and stretched out her almost broken legs. Hermione saw Draco staggering as well.
"Owww…" Draco groaned, rubbing his forehead, "well, you definitely pounded me…"
Hermione laughed, and so did he. Despite all off the people and the commotion in the room, there was only one thing Ron had his eyes fixed upon. He was giving Hermione the glare of death.