34. The D.A.
Callie showed up late to Potions the following Monday. "Warbeck," Snape acknowledged coldly as she made her way to her seat. "How good of you to finally join us." Everybody was already brewing.
"I'm sorry, sir," she said, rummaging through her bag for her supplies. "Had an accident in Herbology and I had to go up to the hospital wing." She held up her hand, which was covered with a white bandage. "Chinese Chomping Cabbage," she explained.
Looking at her with a composed-but-seething-inside sort of expression, he asked, "Did it hurt?"
"Yes, sir," she replied almost cheerfully. She guessed he would be happy to know that.
"What a shame," he said sardonically. "But the next time you find yourself unable to make it to class on time, don't bother coming at all."
"Sir, it wasn't my fault, it was an a-" But when she looked up at him, she found that his eyes were directed towards the corner of the room. Following his gaze, she saw that Umbridge was sitting there with a clipboard in her lap, making notes as she surveyed the goings-on around her.
Turning back to Snape, she noted the warning look in his eyes and got the picture. The woman had been named the "Hogwarts High Inquisitor," a job which entailed observing the teachers and making sure they and their curriculums were up to the Ministry's standards. Today it was Snape's turn, apparently, and Callie barging in ten minutes late, for whatever reason, couldn't have looked good for him.
"Right, sir," she said. "I apologize."
She got to work on her Strengthening Solution, and a few minutes later, Pansy piped up behind her, "Oi, Warbeck - your boyfriend's a nutter."
"Fiancé, remember?" Callie replied. "But why do you say so?" Although she was unbothered by the girl's insult - Pansy these days was more tiring than anything else - she was mildly curious as to the meaning behind it.
"Went off on Draco like a madman in the corridor," Pansy replied. "Tried to have a go at him. Potter and Weasley had to hold him back."
Callie gave Pansy a disbelieving look. "What are you on about?" she asked. The idea of Neville as a "madman" trying to pick a fight with Malfoy was rather hard to swallow. Unless Malfoy had said something derogatory about her. After all, he had been ready to have a go with Seamus when the latter had called her a Death Eater.
But Pansy explained, "Draco and Potter were talking and all of a sudden Longbottom comes running at Draco like he wanted to hit him. As if he could've done any damage," she concluded mockingly.
Talking, eh? Or was your boyfriend just being a foul rat bastard, as usual?
"What were they talking about, Harry and Malfoy?" Callie asked.
Pansy shrugged. "Just that Potter's a lunatic and he's going to end up in St. Mungo's with all the other brain-addled defectives."
Callie froze. Oh, Christ, she thought. Brain-addled defectives. St. Mungo's. She shot a glance over at Neville, who was working quietly, but clearly fuming.
Did Malfoy know? Had his father told him what had happened to the Longbottoms? If Umbridge hadn't been present, Callie would've hexed the son of a bitch right there in class. Unfortunately, she didn't want to make any trouble for Snape.
When did I start giving a damn about him? she thought.
A while later, Umbridge stood up and approached the potions master. "Now," she said, clipboard and quill in hand, "how long have you been teaching at Hogwarts?"
"Fourteen years," he replied, in a tone that made Callie think he didn't care for the woman any more than anyone else did.
Umbridge went on. "You applied first for the Defense Against the Dark Arts post, I believe?"
"Yes."
"But you were unsuccessful?"
"Obviously."
Callie couldn't help but smirk at his response.
"And you have applied regularly," Umbridge continued, "for the Defense Against the Darks Arts post since you first joined the school, I believe?"
"Yes," Snape replied. He spoke very quietly, and Callie wondered if he was trying to keep everybody from hearing this.
"Do you have any idea why Dumbledore has consistently refused to appoint you?" Umbridge asked.
"I suggest you ask him," Snape replied. Then after a moment, "I suppose this is relevant?"
"Oh, yes," Umbridge said. "The Ministry wants a thorough understanding of teachers'... er... backgrounds."
Callie paused at that, her face falling. As she wondered how this wench could've known about Snape's past, it suddenly occurred to her that those in the Ministry probably knew themselves. She had always just assumed nobody knew, except for Dumbledore.
Turning away from Umbridge, he met Callie's eye and gave her another warning glance. She quickly dropped her gaze, not wanting him to pick up on the fact that Neville also knew.
Behind her, Umbridge questioned Pansy about Snape and his class. The girl was perfectly happy to rave about her head of house - who of course favored all Slytherin students above anyone else. As the woman went on around the room, surveying students about their Potions professor, Callie wonder what the Gryffindors must be telling her. Particularly Neville, who absolutely feared him, and Harry, who absolutely hated him.
And she found herself thinking, Please be nice, please be nice, please be nice.
It was completely mad of her to worry that Snape's position in the school might be in jeopardy. However, Neville had suggested that the man might be safer here than on the run from You Know Who, what with Dumbledore around. Karkaroff, too, had suggested that Snape might be "protected" at Hogwarts.
He's a prick, but he's not evil, she had said to Neville. Despite all the crap that Snape had put her through in the past, she certainly didn't want to see him dead.
A small voice in the back of her head said, Even if his life wasn't in danger, you still wouldn't want to see him sacked.
Umbridge made her way around the room, and finally came to Callie. "Miss Warbeck," she greeted with a nod and that ever-present phony smile. "I've been particularly interested in your opinions of Professor Snape."
"Why, ma'am?" Callie asked. Glancing over at the man, she noted how stiff he looked, and she could tell that he was listening intently, afraid of what she might say to the High Inquisitor.
"Based on what I've gathered from your housemates," Umbridge said, "it seems you've had a rather... contentious relationship with your head of house over the years?"
Callie supposed that Pansy or Malfoy or whoever had taken that afternoon tea with the woman, probably trying to vilify Callie and make Snape look like an angel. But clearly, Umbridge had a negative opinion of him no matter what his students had said, and Callie guessed that she had come to her expecting to hear something she could use against him.
"Well, ma'am," Callie replied after a moment, "I suppose I have, in the past." When Umbridge gave her a quizzical look, she explained, "You see, I haven't always been quite so well-behaved or respectful towards Professor Snape." She paused. "For example, I was unhappy to find out that one of my favorite teachers, Remus Lupin, had lost his position at Hogwarts, and I cursed at Professor Snape when I found out he'd had a hand in that."
She shot him another glance, and could see that he was gripping his wrist behind his back, as if he had to physically restrain himself from whipping out his wand and hexing her.
"However," Callie went on, "I was later informed that Remus Lupin had been keeping a rather disturbing secret from my classmates and I. He was a werewolf, ma'am, and I realized that Professor Snape was only trying to have him removed to protect us students."
It was a nice touch, she thought. Hermione had mentioned that the woman was anti-werewolf.
After a moment, Callie continued, "In addition, ma'am, he's always remained quite dogged in his attempts to correct some of my more... unsavory behaviors. I do believe that in previous years, I'd been rather rebellious, but he's helped me to become a more well-mannered student."
The grip that he had on his wrist loosened a bit, and his posture seemed to relax.
"He was also quite good to me when my father passed away last year," she concluded, not taking her eyes off him.
Umbridge gaped at her, the corner of her mouth twitching as though she had to struggle to maintain the phony smile. "Well!" she said in a falsely cheerful tone. "I suppose that's... all I need to know. Thank you, dear."
She walked away, stowing her clipboard in her bag. As she made her way out of the room, she paused to inform Snape that he'd be receiving the results of her inspection within ten days, and bid him goodbye.
Callie went back to her Strengthening Solution. A few moments later, Snape swept past her. "Laid it on a bit thick, wouldn't you say?" he murmured.
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That Wednesday at about seven thirty, Callie and Neville made their way from the Great Hall to their first defense club meeting, trailing a ways behind Ginny, Lavender, Parvati, and Dean.
"I really don't think he knows," Callie said in a low voice. They had been talking about Malfoy's comment to Harry regarding St. Mungo's. "They think you're a maniac for going at Malfoy, but they haven't said anything about your mum and dad. And trust me, if they had anything to say, they would say it to me."
"Really think that was a coincidence?" Neville asked, disbelieving. "Malfoy's dad was a Death Eater. Maybe he knew the Lestranges."
Callie bit her lip, considering that. "Maybe," she replied. "But that doesn't mean he told Draco."
"Maybe Snape told Draco," Neville suggested.
"I'm not even sure Malfoy knows about Snape."
"How could he not? They're like this." Neville crossed his fingers.
Callie thought about it, and said, "Why would he go advertising that, though? He was a criminal. You don't go blathering to people about... whatever it is he did."
Their conversation came to a halt when the group came to a spot on the seventh floor where a tapestry depicting Barnabas the Barmy was hung.
"Right here," Ginny said, pointing to the wall opposite the tapestry.
"How do we get in?" Callie asked.
The redhead replied, "We need to walk past it three times and think about what we need in there. Check and make sure no one's looking."
They did so as Ginny walked back and forth. Suddenly, a door appeared in the wall and she knocked before opening it. The Room of Requirement, as Ginny had called it, was quite spacious, its walls lined with bookcases filled with volumes on defense against the Dark Arts. At the back of the room was a display of odd sorts of instruments that Callie didn't recognize. There was nowhere to sit, but there were several large cushions laid out on the floor.
When everyone had shown up, Hermione said, "I think we ought to elect a leader." Of course, everyone agreed that it would be their new teacher himself, Harry. "I also think we ought to have a name," Hermione went on. "It would promote a feeling of team spirit and unity, don't you think?" Though she surveyed the whole room, Callie thought the girl's eyes had settled on her for just a second longer than anyone else.
"Can we be the Anti-Umbridge League?" Angelina Johnson suggested.
"Or the Ministry of Magic Are Morons Group?" Fred offered.
"I was thinking," Hermione said, "more of a name that didn't tell everyone what we were up to, so we can refer to it safely outside meetings."
A Ravenclaw girl named Cho Chang suggested, "The Defense Association? The D.A. for short, so nobody knows what we're talking about?"
"Yeah," Ginny agreed, "the D.A.'s good. Only let's make it stand for Dumbledore's Army, because that's the Ministry's worst fear, isn't it?"
There were murmurs of assent and a bit of laughter all around. Once it died down, Hermione said, "All in favor of the D.A.?" Most people, including Callie, raised their hands. "That's a majority," Hermione said. "Motion passed!"
"There it is then," Callie whispered, leaning over to Neville. "We've just enlisted."
He held out his hand for her to shake. "Comrade?" he said.
"Comrade," she agreed.
Once the election of a leader and a group name was settled, Harry set them all to practicing the Disarming Charm, Expelliarmus. Callie and Neville paired up, and she joked, "This isn't so bad, disarming. One day I might have to really hurt you."
For just a second, he got a very slightly anxious look on his face - Do you really think I'd actually do it? she wondered - but then he grinned and said, "Threaten me and I'll sic a Venomous Tentacula on you."
"Oh, no," Callie replied sarcastically. Then she flipped her wand in the air, caught it, and before he could ever see it coming, she aimed and yelled, "Expelliarmus!"
His own wand flew out of his hand, and he gaped at her. She gave him a smirk and winked.
"Nice one," Harry said from a few feet away.
"Thanks."
"Could've given me some warning," Neville said, retrieving his wand. "I wasn't ready."
"There's not going to be any warning in a real duel," Callie replied. Then, imitating Mad-Eye Moody slash Barty Crouch, "Constant vigilance!"
Neville chuckled.
"Now you do it to me," Callie said, holding her wand out in a loose grip.
He prepped himself as though it was a particularly difficult spell, and shouted, "Expelliarmus!" Callie was disarmed. "I did it!" Neville shrieked excitedly. "I've never done it before. I did it!"
Retrieving her wand, Callie reminded, "I let you."
His face fell sheepishly, and he said, "Yeah, well..." he shrugged "...still never done it before."
Grinning, Callie replied, "I'm only messing with you. I wanted you to do it once and see what it felt like. Once you know, it's easier to do for real."
"Ah," he said in acknowledgement.
"But I'm not going to go easy on you all the time," she went on. "Otherwise, you're not going to be prepared for the real thing. And you? Don't go easy on me either. Pretend this is an actual duel."
They got to work, and Callie kept to herself that she was still giving him a little bit of an advantage. But she did want him to get the hang of it, so she gradually increased her grip on her wand, and by the end of the lesson, he had actually managed to disarm her, twice, without her letting him do it.
"Don't do that anymore," he said as they walked out of the Room. "You're right, I'm not going to be prepared if you keep letting me win."
"I didn't let you those last couple times," she replied. "That was all you."
He looked a little bit proud, but also skeptical, as he said, "Really?"
"Yes," she said, looking him straight in the eye. "I started off doing that because I wanted to ease you into it. But I'm not going to leave you defenseless if we ever have to fight."
He bowed his head as they made their way down to the dungeons. Despite the fact that it was late, and Gryffindor Tower was on the same floor as the Room of Requirement, Neville had insisted on walking her down to her own common room. "You must think I'm really weak," he said quietly after a moment.
"No," Callie replied honestly. "Most of the others couldn't do it either, the first few times. Or they aimed wrong." She paused. "It wasn't just you, Neville, and you got it eventually."
He sighed. "Yeah, but... you're just as good as Harry. Where'd you learn how to do that?"
"Practiced at home a lot," she replied. "Snape showed us that charm in second year, remember? The Dueling Club? Thought I should take whatever I could get from that - considering I might have to use it on Pansy one day."
He smirked.
The came to the Slytherin Dungeon, and Callie leaned against the wall. "What do you think?" she asked. "Ready to go AWOL yet?"
He smiled slightly, but still looked rather downcast. "What you said about... having to duel each other, not just disarm? I don't know if I could do that."
"Stop," Callie cut in. "Don't do that, don't tell yourself you can't do something. Confidence is key to performing a spell."
But Neville replied, "That's not what I mean. I just don't know if I can... ya know... hurt you." He looked down at the ground bashfully.
Callie smiled up at him. "Well," she said, "next time I'll bring Malfoy. He'll take care of that part."
Neville smirked, but then his face took on a troubled expression. "You going to be all right in there?" he asked, nodding towards the common room.
"Yeah," Callie replied. "Trust me, they're not going to try anything."
He still looked worried, but kept quiet. And then he did something he never had before - he leaned in and kissed her cheek. Callie was a bit stunned, slightly smiling to herself.
"Good night, Cal," he said, and then wandered off back down the corridor.
Callie watched him go until she heard footsteps coming up behind her. Astoria. Coming to stand beside Callie and resting her arm on her shoulder, the girl said, "Ya know, he's not so bad. Kind of cute in a... mousy sort of way."
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The D.A. had met once a week for the next two weeks. After the Disarming Charm, Harry had had them practice the Impediment Jinx and the Reductor Curse. Callie stood in awe as Parvati reduced a whole table to nothing but dust.
"What would happen if you did that to a person?" Callie wondered aloud. Then, cocking a brow at Neville, "Care to find out?"
"NO!" Hermione shouted before he could answer.
"Oh, I wasn't really going to do it!" Callie replied.
George Weasley remarked, "Never know with you, ya mad lass," and high-fived her.
To Neville, Callie said, "Try it. Not on me-" she added quickly, grabbing a copy of The Dark Arts Outsmarted and tossing it to the floor. Nodding to the book, she said, "Try that."
"No!" Hermione shrieked once more. Grabbing up the book, she said, "At least duplicate it first. Geminio!" A replica of the book appeared and she handed it to Callie. "There."
"Thank you, Miss Granger," Callie teased. She bent down to place the book on the floor, and when she straightened up, that's when it happened.
Thirty people cramped in a confined space shooting spells all around wasn't quite such a good idea, in retrospect, because somebody's Reductor Curse had bounced off a wall and hit Callie almost directly in the chest. Suddenly she was thrown back ten feet into another wall, where she slid down to the ground wincing in pain.
"Oh, my God!" Hermione screamed, at the same time Neville shouted, "CAL!"
Harry and Dean were at her side before anyone else, being the closest to where she had fallen. They knelt down before her, but Neville practically knocked them on their arses as he slid in front of her.
"I'm all right," she said before he could even ask.
"No, you're not, you're..." But before he could finish his thought, he stood up and whipped around. "Who's was that?" he demanded, looking as though he were ready to beat the hell out of whoever had cast the spell that had hurt her.
"They were all flying everywhere," Red explained. "Ten or fifteen all at once, it could've been anyone's."
Turning back to Callie, Neville asked, "Are you all right?"
"Yes," she said, and tried to stand up. She didn't get very far before she fell back to the floor, Harry and Dean grabbing either of her arms. "No!" she said, wincing and grabbing her chest. "Something's broken."
"Oh, no," Hermione breathed, cupping her hands over her mouth.
Neville kneeled before her again, and the Weasley twins also came to her side. "Guess that's what happens, then," George said. "When a human gets hit."
Callie eyed him and said, "I shouldn't have said anything. I jinxed it."
"Well," Fred replied, "now we know, at least."
"We've got to get her to the hospital wing!" Hermione said. The girl looked on the verge of tears.
"Can you stand?" Neville asked.
Scrunching her face up in pain, Callie said, "I don't think so."
"We'll carry you," Fred said. "Come on, gents, the Levitation Charm."
"Harry, you stay," Callie said. "You're the leader, after all."
Hesitantly - and looking a little bit guilty - he said, "Right. Fred, George, Neville, Dean - go on then."
"Lay her down," Fred instructed the boys.
As they did so, Neville leaned close to her ear and whispered, "I'm afraid I'll drop you."
Even with the pain, she couldn't help but smile at him. "You won't," she said. "Confidence, God damn it."
He smirked, and the Gryffindor boys stood up and aimed their wands on her.
"Ready, lads?" George said. "One, two, three-"
"Wingardium Leviosa!" they all incanted simultaneously.
"This is bloody weird," Callie said as she floated in midair on her back. Neville, Dean, and the twins surrounded her, carefully aiming their wands and moving slowly down the seven floors to the hospital wing.
"Almost there," Fred said. "Carefully now."
"Where are we?" Callie asked.
"First floor," Neville said. "Not much longer."
"What are we supposed to say happened?" Dean asked. "Can't let anybody know the truth."
"I'll figure it out," Callie said. "I'm a good liar."
"Cunning Slytherin," Neville remarked. And Callie was well enough to look over and see his smirk.
"By the way," she asked him, "how are things with Ginny?"
"What about Ginny?" George asked.
"Nothing," she replied. "Private joke." She and Neville exchanged a grin.
"Coming up on the entrance hall," Fred said.
"Oh, thank God," Dean replied. "My arm is killing me."
"Your arm?" Callie said, cocking a brow. She was pretty positive that several of her ribs were fractured.
Fred began, "Only a little more-"
But a shrill voice made them all pause. "What's going on here?" Umbridge said.
Neville, Dean, and the twins turned to look at her. In doing so, they dropped Callie to the ground.
"Oh, bloody hell!" Fred exclaimed.
Neville was kneeling at her side. "I'm sorry!" he shrieked. "Are you okay?"
"Yes and it wasn't your fault," she replied. Turning her face to Umbridge, she greeted cheerfully, "Hello, Professor!"
"What is the meaning of this?" the woman asked. "Surely Miss Warbeck is capable of making her way through the corridors on her own two feet."
"No, ma'am," Callie replied. "I'm sort of incapacitated at the moment."
"What?" Umbridge said, glancing at the boys. "What happened?"
They didn't know what to say, but Callie replied, "Spell backfire, ma'am. I was trying to transfigure a book into a bunny rabbit. Guess I got a little overzealous."
Whether she bought that or not, Callie didn't know, but the High Inquisitor said, "Well! Perhaps Professor McGonagall ought to be a bit more clear in her instruction."
Don't you dare go after McGonagall, Callie thought. "This wasn't a spell that she'd taught us, ma'am. I'd come upon something a little more advanced, and I thought I could manage it."
"Really?" the woman said, approaching the group. "In that case, I suppose it might be wise for you, dear, to remain within your league." She glanced around at the Gryffindor boys before adding, "Where you belong."
Amongst my own kind, you mean? Our own kind? The two Slytherin lasses eyed each other.
"What's all this?"
Oh, bloody hell.
Umbridge turned to face the potions master, while the Gryffindors' eyes widened in fear.
"Why are you all hovering over my student as though she were a sacrificial lamb?" Snape asked.
"They were taking me to the hospital wing, sir," Callie explained. "Spell backfire. My mistake."
"Really," he said, clearly in disbelief. He surveyed the boys and Umbridge before approaching Callie - the boys all cleared out of his way like the parting of the Red Sea - and crouching down beside her.
"I think my ribs are broken," she informed him.
He felt around the spot, and Callie could see that Neville wasn't all too thrilled about the man touching her. But he stayed quiet.
After a moment, Snape pulled back and said, "They're not broken. They're shattered."
Sighing, Callie said, "Brilliant."
"Obviously not, Warbeck," he replied. "Spell backfire?"
As he looked into her eyes, it occurred to her that he was, quite literally, searching for the truth. She almost snapped her neck whipping her face away from him.
"Sir," Dean piped up nervously, "I think we ought to get her to the hospital wing now?"
"Never you mind, Mr. Thomas," Snape replied.
"But sir-"
"Hem hem," Umbridge chirped. "I do believe the girl requires immediate medical attention, Severus."
"Right," he agreed. "Not to worry, Dolores. I'm the girl's head of house, I'll take care of it." And then he slid his arms underneath Callie's legs and back and swept her up. Everybody was caught off guard - including Callie. Not least of all because he wasn't exactly the brawniest of men.
"Gee, Professor," she sassed, "I'm surprised you could lift me."
Ignoring her remark, he started off, heading in the direction of the dungeons rather than the hospital wing.
"Where are you taking her?" Umbridge asked. "I said she needs medical attention."
"Yes, I heard you," Snape replied without interest. "By the way, five points to Gryffindor."
"To Gryffindor, sir?" one of the twins asked.
"For dropping Warbeck."