A/N: Life kinda got in the way of an update again so I have made up for it with a long chapter. In my notebook it took 21 pages but that of coarse is hand written. I had to make a few changes about the Halloween Ball to further the plot instead of keeping it as a costume ball; I made it into just a formal occasion with a little added twist from Dumbledore (to be reveled in the story).

That being said, here is the new chapter.

Brothers

Chapter 37: Preparations

The day of the ball was fast approaching and Draco was beginning to worry about who his date was going to be. Harry had assured him that it was all arranged and Draco was to meet her half an hour before the ball. Harry refused to give even a hint of who Draco's date would be, instead choosing to worry about his own plans.

It became a common sight in the boys' dormitory to see Draco begging his brother for even the knowledge of the house of his date. Harry would just smile and shake his head.

At one point, Draco didn't even bother to wait until they were in the dorm. Instead he asked Harry in the common room hoping to catch the young man off guard. This plan only resulted in Ginny forcing Draco to tell her about the bet.

She was not a happy Weasley when she found out that Draco had practically forced his brother into asking her out. She vowed to get revenge on the new young Gryffindor.

Draco skidded into the boys dormitory searching frantically for a place to hide.

Harry, who was gathering his potions books to do his work in the common room, looked up at the entrance.

"What's wrong, brother of mine?" Harry said bringing Dean's attention to the out of breath Draco.

"Hide…me,…please." He gasped out. "She's…going to…kill me!"

"Who is she and why is this person trying to kill you?" Harry attempted to get a reason out of his brother.

"Hermione! Ginny found out about our bet and told Hermione that I set her and Ron up so they would admit they liked each other. She happened to forget that she played a large role in that. Apparently women don't like being manipulated." Draco had caught his breath and explained quickly.

"Draco you're an idiot sometimes. And just so you know, Hermione has been in here before." Harry replied calmly.

A panicked look came over Draco's face as the doorknob began to turn. Draco dived under the nearest bed (Harry's) and maneuvered himself where he couldn't be seen.

The other boys' laughter and a "What's going on?" from Neville brought Draco out. Draco groaned knowing as the boys began to explain to Neville (the room's new occupant) what had happened, he would never live this down.

That Halloween was a day to go down in Hogwarts History. The press had been invited by Dumbledore to witness the ball that was now being held in honor of the Defense Association, Aurors, and Order members who had fought to save the train. Classes that weren't cancelled were filled with laughter and joy. Everyone was excited about the upcoming ball and best of all, the DA was having a meeting rather than a class.

Harry called everyone's attention away from the dueling so he could tell them about the ball.

"Ok everyone, calm down. I know a lot of you are nervous about the press tonight but I just need you to listen for a little bit. Those who fought at the station or on the train will be noted today. When I give the speech I am forced to do," Harry shuddered involuntarily at the thought, "I will call each of you up front. I want you to tell me now if you want to back out from the front lines. You can still be a part of the DA but I will need to make sure you remain anonymous tonight."

Harry let the member (old and new) absorb this information.

Hermione took this time to make her announcement. "Tonight, we will also be putting forth our plans for the organization of the DA. This will be our last practice in the room, next meeting we will meet here and take you to the new practice area. This is for security reasons as well as convince. Only Harry, Draco, Professor Tonks, and Professor Dumbledore have access to this place so you best not be late to a meeting or you won't get in. As for the plans for the DA, it will make it easier to help each person make the most of the DA and we will be needing volunteers for the new arrangement. We expect you all to be well behaved tonight as any misbehavior will result in the banning, again, of the DA."

Hermione concluded her part of the announcements and Harry finished up. He explained where they were to meet before the ball and that they could all go. "Have fun tonight, it is to honor your hard work and we hope you enjoy."

With that everyone broke off into their social groups to discuss the on coming ball. Harry thought back to when Dumbledore had told him about his plans to honor the DA.

Flashback

Harry, Draco, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny entered the Headmaster's office unsure of why they were there.

The elderly wizard gestured for them to sit and waved up some tea for them. After a moment, McGonagall entered the office scowling. "Albus, you really must tell Sybil to leave the death predictions alone. I just had another hysterical Gryffindor in my office –" she stopped when she noticed the Gryffindor five.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled merrily. "Calm down Minerva, I was just going to tell some of your students about the ball."

McGonagall turned to the five Gryffindors. "Oh, well this should be interesting." She commented quietly.

"Now, down to business. I was thinking the other day about how low many of the students sprits are. I decided that a ball would lift many spirits but then I really got to thinking. I really never got a chance to thank you for helping on the train. With your de-aging, the chaos of classes, order business, and everything else, I hadn't had a chance to publicly thank you. So I have decided to have the ball in honor of those who fought at the station." Dumbledore smiled at the thought. Harry groaned.

McGonagall spoke, "Now, Mr. Potter, you will of coarse be starting the dance with your friends from the Department of Mysteries."

Ron groaned, Draco continued smiling at his brother. He had escaped the spotlight for now.

"Mr. Potter you will join your brother as one of the main protectors of the train. You will also start the ball."

Draco joined his brother in sulking.

"I would also like to inform you that the press will be here, interviewing the Defense Association members."

Harry looked horrified at the thought. Voldemort could attend and he would have been less horrified.

Hermione looked agitated. Ron didn't dare try and make a remark about it. He still liked his skin intact.

"You will also be expected to make a speech explaining the Defense Association to the press."

Harry hit his head with his hand.

Draco and Ginny on the other hand, were more confused than anything.

"Sir why would you want to advertise to Voldemort and his followers that we are training to beat him?" Draco asked, confusion at the Headmaster's choice obvious in his voice.

"A very good question my dear boy! It is in fact part of the plan. You see you five are going to be receiving some special one on one training. This press issue is to push Voldemort out into the open and force him to speed his plans up. If he is forced to move his plans up, they will not be as fully prepared where as we will be." Dumbledore explained to the group.

"So basically you want to use it like a tactical advantage. What happens if he attacks Halloween?" Ginny asked. "After all, that would make it exactly 15 years after he first tried to kill Harry."

"We will be ready. We have an advantage, the secret apartment slows time. In two days, we can do a lot of training there." McGonagall answered with a smile.

Hermione thought for a moment. "What exactly will you be teaching us?"

End Flashback

Harry was startled out of his memory by Ginny. She whispered that they should get going for their last few hours of training before the ball.

They left the Room of Requirement by way of the door to the secret apartment. Draco, Ron, and Hermione were already warming up with simple spells and smiled at the two. They had been learning wandless magic, transfiguration in battle, strategy, complex spells, and defensive shields.

Each subject was taught by a different teacher. They took turns going to each teacher so they received individual help with each topic.

At the moment, Draco was practicing battle Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. It was one of his better skills and he was quickly progressing.

"Ok, now turn that desk into something to stop a charging enemy." McGonagall stated as she began to approach. Immediately, Draco had turned the desk into a wall of fire that completely blocked McGonagall's view of him.

McGonagall cast a spell to change the fire back but found it only grew. "Turn it back now Draco." She said simply and watched as it became a desk once more.

"How was that ma'am?" he asked.

"Good, but predictable for you. Try something else."

Draco concentrated and turned it into a metal magic proof cage that enveloped her.

McGonagall raised an eyebrow at the new form. "Very good. This is very complex magic Draco. Where or rather when did you learn such a thing."

"Living with Lucius did have some advantages. You learned how to defend yourself early on. This was a trick I learned to protect myself from Crabbe and Goyle." Draco replied, removing the cage.

"Your skill in Transfiguration is something you got from James. You should try becoming an animagi."

Draco said nothing. 'So I take after my father.' He thought before turning back to his lesson.

"Harry, concentrate on what you want the spell to do." Dumbledore instructed the young man.

Harry focused on the books that he wanted to float back to their shelves. It took a second but the books obeyed.

"Good. You need to practice at all times you can spare. For you, this is one of the most important things. Your wand doesn't work well against Voldemort and you need to be at your best." The white haired wizard sated simply.

"Yes, sir." Harry acknowledged and returned to his practice.

"Check."

Remus looked at the chessboard for a moment before mg a move.

"Checkmate." He said simply.

Ron searched the board frantically for a way it wasn't true.

"You need to learn your opponent quickly Ronald, then plan your strategy accordingly."

Ron looked at Remus then at the board again.

"Guess I need to practice more."

"Take it slow, Ms. Granger. We will work on speed after you get it down. Now let's try it again except slower." Flitwick's kind voice instructed the now irritated witch.

Hermione took a deep breath and tried the spell again. As she completed the spell she watched as a red flash came out of her wand and hit the practice dummy (A dummy that can move and talk). The dummy's legs locked as ropes wound around them before the upper portion of the dummy received numerous slashes as well as a stunning curse. The spell was designed to immobilize, temporarily wound, and stun the opponent.

Flitwick clapped and told her to do it again after he repaired the dummy.

Tonks shot a rather powerful curse at Ginny and watched as it was reflected off Ginny's shield back at her. Tonks put up a shield that would absorb the curse before she told Ginny to try a new shield.

"This one, if it is mustered, can protect up to three people from the Craticus curse. Problem with it is, while its up you can't attack from behind it. Works well for protecting innocents though."

Ginny listened as Tonks explained how to produce the desired result. Ginny nodded that she understood and waited for Tonks first attack. The curse came flying at her, a simple stunning spell, but went straight trough the shield.

Tonks sighed. This always took a while to learn. "Enerviate." She said waving her wand over Ginny.

After they had all had their sessions for the day. The five Gryffindors decided that lunch and a nap would be a good idea before facing the press.

Soon after they all woke and returned to regular time, the girls headed for the dormitories as the guys wandered about the school.

Since they had begun their lessons, the group had steadily gained power. They often had to try and restrain the power they were gaining while in class or just relaxing.

The three boys noted when they picked up a trail. Or rater, Draco noticed. It was the Slytherins that had de-aged the twins. Draco let a sad but satisfied smile cross his face as he turned and stunned them without thought.

They headed back to the tower to get ready (Draco had gone back to pleading) for the ball.

Draco raced past the other boys as he noticed the time. He hurried to take a quick shower and attempted to comb his hair (it acted like Harry's quite often) before pulling on his dress robes. He had bought new ones (he had hated the old ones) that were black satin with silver and ice blue dragons on the back of his right shoulder, the bottom left on the front of his robe, and one on the front of his robe just above his heart.

He tucked his necklace into his shirt and pulled his shoes on.

Harry came out of the bathroom just as Draco was about to leave. Draco had to admit, his brother looked the part of a hero, of coarse, he wouldn't be caught telling Harry that.

Harry's hair had lengthened a bit but only enough to calm it a little. It was still messy but to as if he had just gotten out of bed. The new roves he wore were deep red edged in god. His red necklace swung just high enough to be seen above the robe and Draco noted that it seemed to radiate in Harry's new power.

"Want me to come with you to meet her?" Harry offered.

"No, I can manage. You might want to gather the DA though." Draco said before leaving towards the Transfiguration classroom.

Many people smiled as they saw Harry in the common room. He seemed as confident as eve.

Harry sat on one of the chairs awaiting Ginny. Ron joined him wearing the dark blue dress robes Fred and George had given him.

They didn't have to wait long as Hermione descended the narrow staircase. She looked stunning in pale lavender dress robes and her hair done nicely into an elegant style.

Ron smiled and took her hand. "You look beautiful." He whispered.

Harry glanced back up the staircase when he heard a gasp.

Ginny was making her way down the stairs. She was wearing brilliantly white dress robes that seemed to shine with every step in the torchlight, the robes seemed made just for her and complemented her upswept red hair perfectly. Her face was framed by wisps of flaming red hair. She smiled at Harry as she tucked her arm in his and whispered that the robes were a gift from Fred and George.

Harry led the way out of the common room, the rest of the Gryffindor DA members following close behind.

Draco waited nervously before the Transfiguration classroom. 'Maybe Harry's pulling my leg. Maybe he never got me a date.' Just as he was thinking of leaving he heard footsteps approaching from behind him.

He turned slowly and was shocked at what he saw.

She had reddish black hair that was pulled back from her face but left to flow to her shoulders. She had eyes of the most unique color. They were a deep purple, so deep they were almost black and would have been if not for the flashes of color reflected by the torchlight. She wore robes of royal purple and stood about two inches shorter than him. She was pale, remarkably so, much like he used to be.

"Draco, right?" she asked quietly. "I'm Rachel."

He nodded and smiled before taking her arm and leading her back towards where the DA would meet.

"So what house are you? My brother refused to tell me a single thing about you."

"Ravenclaw. You've probably never seen me because I am only a fifth year. When your brother asked me to be your date, I was thrilled. Since I saw you on the train, I was intrigued by you. You had just met many of these people and yet you were risking your life for them."

I had met the people before. Only the first years were unknown to me." Draco corrected.

"I'm sorry I did not make my idea clear. I meant as a Potter, you had not met them before. You did not know the people for who they were. Thus, you had just met."

Draco thought for a moment about her reasoning. It was true of coarse, he had barely met many of them as Draco Potter.

They arrived at the meeting place, a smaller unused classroom down the corridor from the Great Hall. McGonagall would retrieve them when the time for their entrance came.

Draco looked concerned as his brother winced in obvious pain. Harry caught Draco's eye and motioned to a corner.

"If you'll excuse me for a moment, my brother would like a word with me." Draco told his date.

He headed to meet Harry in the corner.

Harry whispered to his brother. "Be on guard, I feel Voldemort but I can't sense his thoughts. It worries me. It might not be anything but I don't wish to take chances." Harry warned his brother.

Draco nodded.

"So how do you like your date?" Harry asked, effectively changing he subject.

"I must admit, she wasn't what I expected from you. I figured you would stick me with Emily or her sister." Draco shuddered at the thought. "I was shocked you wouldn't be evil to me."

"Not this time. Maybe another time. I have to sit with you and your date all through dinner so I want to be able to stand her." Harry smiled and headed back to Ginny.

Just as Draco rejoined Rachel, Professor McGonagall entered.

"Time for your grand entrance." She stated as she looked at the group.

A/N: This is probably the last update for about a week. I have to do a research paper so I'm a bit slow on the story. Have fun though.