Note: Wow, thanks for all those reviews and comments, guys. I hope you like this chapter.

Chapter 5: Stress and Mistakes

"HE AGREED!" The voice of a certain Hermione Granger echoed in the half empty grounds of Hogwarts, scaring a couple of first years, nearby, out of their wits. Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting under a beach tree near the famous Hogwarts' lake.

"Yeah, he agreed, just like that," Harry said calmly with a blank expression, while Ron was frozen in shock with Hermione's sudden outburst.

"T-this couldn't be," Hermione said frantically. "Are you sure Dumbledore said yes? Did he understood what you said?" She still couldn't believe that Dumbledore agreed to the reformation of the DA. She was sure there was a reason behind it; she just had doubts on what they could be. Hermione took a deep breath. 'This is Professor Dumbledore who agreed with Harry, Hermione. I'm sure there's an explainable reason behind it. There's no need to freak,' Hermione thought to herself.

"I was surprised too, Hermione. I was expecting him to disagree, too," Harry said, truthfully.

Hermione remained silent.

"Come on, Hermione. Anyways, he said if we need assistance, Professor Tonks is there to help us."

This didn't help Hermione's mood at all. In fact, it made it a bit worse.

She turned to Ron. "Say something," she demanded.

"Say something what?" Ron asked stupidly.

"About this! Something sensible, something…something!" Hermione was lost for words.

"Well," Ron started. "I say, if Dumbledore said yes, there is a wise reason behind it. This is Albus Dumbledore we are talking about, Hermione. If he says yes, then it's settled. We start the DA again."

There was nothing to say about this. That was sensible and it was convincing.

"Are you going to talk about it? Or you still doubt Dumbledore?" Harry asked, testing Hermione.

"I'm not asking him anything. Also, I never doubt Professor Dumbledore." Though, she was unsure with her last sentence. Maybe there were times in which she didn't completely agree with Dumbledore. But she was certain there are some things only Dumbledore and Harry knew about. Some things Harry had never shared to Ron and her before. And, of course, she would never force him to reveal these, whether personal or not.

"Then it is settled," Harry said, cheerfully, clapping his hands together. "If you want both of you could come with me when we go to Dumbledore's to talk about how we start the DA and the reason of reforming it."

"You mean you haven't discussed those with him yet?"

"Nope, he barely had time to listen to me. I just asked him straight out, he paused, for5 minutes mind you,and then said yes."

That 'nope' eased Hermione's mind a lot that it showed on her face. This gave Ron the reason to tease her.

"It's just one mistake, Hermione."

"Shut up," she muttered. Sure, she now knew that Dumbledore agreed immediately because it was not discussed yet (and she made a mistake of thinking he agreed after hearing the reason).

"Next time, listen to everything Harry say first before reacting," Ron said, ignoring her command. "Maybe you should stop overworking yourself, so you could think more clearly," he added. She gave him a hard glare. Why is she like this, these days? She never usually reacted to things without thinking or taking in all the information first. Well, she never reacted immediately in class. But in matters outside school…she did.

But as mentioned, things were very different before than now. Harry is in a fragile state. Everyone is panicking, and everywhere you go (even in Hogwarts) you could feel the tension in the air. And something personal is bothering her (what could it be?). This was definitely the work of stress. Maybe Ron was right, she needed to relax; she needed to do some light reading. She needed a diary…

Hermione entered her empty dormitory. The usual mess of exploded trunks greeted her. She approached the only bed that is actually neat and pulled out a red book out of its usual hiding place. "Let's see how you could help me relax, Lily," she muttered. She brought the diary down to the common room, chose a snug and deserted space, and started reading.

December 1,

Dear Diary,

It's a beginning of a new month again and it's my favorite. I could almost feel the air of Christmas. Yet, I don't feel the least bit cheerful. You wouldn't too if you have to be with the most arrogant person in the world, most of the time. But at least I'll get some rest during the holidays. Every single minute we spend doing our project, is like an hour of torture. Not only is he annoying (talking all the time) his friends seemed to pop up in everywhere. If that wasn't bad, my NEWTs are coming up and our professors are overdoing it. This is completely stressful.

'Tell me about it.'

But despite of all the arrogance he had done, he seemed much better than I remembered him from last year. He seemed more…I don't know…what-do-you-call-it…mature. Yeah, as much as I don't want to admit it, he is. Well, at least a bit less stupid that last year.

Anyways, Sam and Will decided to do a little exploring of the castle today while we were at the Prefects meeting. They said, while they were finding Black, who apparently stole Violet's potions essay (she's exceptionally good at it). They stumbled upon a room full of orbs and weird maps. The orbs and maps showed exactly where Black was. After, they dealt with him (I was there too of course, I'm head girl), we decided to look for it. We never found it again. It was too bad. From what I heard, it probably was the Room of Requirement. I could have sworn to find it when I was if first year, but that time, it was full of cakes and delicious sweets. I was really hungry that time when I passed its corridor. Well, that's all for now. I'm completely anticipating the holidays.

-Lily

That was shorter than her last entries, but certainly interesting. The Room of Requirements. In any day now, it would be used again; this time it's not full of maps and sweets and spells would be flying anywhere. She flipped the next page and began reading again. She was so into the book, that she didn't notice 2 boys enter the common room.

"What are you reading, Hermione?"

Note: Hope you like it. I'll try to make the next few chapters a bit more interesting than this one. This chapter is a bit boring, I know, but I'll do better. I've just been very busy at school.