Monday morning came around and Harry woke in his four poster. His body was sore and his head was splitting. He'd had another dream, this one identical to all the others. He was walking down the hallway approaching a mysterious door. All the while feeling nervous and feeling like his whole body was coiled up ready to strike anyone or anything that moved.
He swiveled out of bed and ambled into the bathroom where he turned on the hot water and sat under it for what felt like an hour. After ten minutes Dean walked in humming some theme song to an American TV show.
Harry grumbled to himself remembering that today was a school day. A school day that started with Umbridge. He'd spent last night talking with Draco while on his Prefects shift, it was still very odd that he and Draco were even talking without cursing each other.
Heading out of the shower and dressing quickly, Harry found himself lugging down the steps into the Common Room. Hermione and Ginny were both waiting for him as he came down the stairs. Harry had avoided all of his friends after he and Daphne's fight. So to say that he was excited to see his two Gryffindor friends staring at him with concerned faces was not welcome.
"Just where have you been?!" Accosted Hermione.
Harry glared at her with dark circles under his eyes, "Doing my Job." He didn't even stop he just walked past the two of them and out of the room.
Hermione was a bit shocked by his tone, never would she have thought he was mad, she figured that he was upset or scared but not angry.
Ginny and her shared a look that told them this ran much deeper than just a fight between Harry and Daphne. While they had all talked about stuff over their Girls Night and come to a decision regarding Harry, they hadn't been able to talk to Harry all weekend.
They tried to catch up to their friend but as he walked out of the portrait before them, when they walked into the hallway it was empty.
"Damit." Hermione said under her breath which prompted a smirk from Ginny. "Not a word." Hermione grumbled at her redheaded friend.
Harry meanwhile under his invisibility cloak walked the long way to the Great Hall. As he approached he removed his cloak and stuffed it in his shoulder bag. He'd taken to carrying it and the Marauders Map at all times, since he did not want to be caught out by Umbridge again.
He saw Tracy and Daphne standing the entrance talking absentmindedly while searching for someone, him. Harry sighed and figured that it was a good a time as any. He walked down the stairs and over to them.
As he came into view, Harry saw Daphne's eyes light up and he thought he could feel remorse emanating off of her. Harry walked over to her and without saying anything gave her a quick kiss on the lips and light and soft hug. He then walked silently to the Gryffindor table and took a seat somewhere in the middle.
Daphne stood in the entrance confused and unable to return a response. Her mouth unmoving and her brain screaming at her to talk to him and not let him leave. She just froze on the spot and all her preparations in the morning were lost.
Daphne and Tracy had been up for hours, Tracy was certain that Harry would try and see her after his Prefect Shift with Draco. Given how bad his weekend likely had gone, she reasoned that he'd want to see her and apologize.
When no such visit occurred they had talked and talked from four AM till six when they got up in the hopes to catch Harry before he went to breakfast.
Daphne had been so mad at him after his accusing tone at the end of their date. Also the fact that he avoided her all weekend had filled her with so much guilt, that when she saw him just now and could feel only the hint of emotion from him. She was shocked and terrified that he was reverting back to how he was at the start of the summer.
"Well that didn't go as planned…" Tracy said a bit too happily.
"Trace, don't start with me right now." Daphne was cold and harsh. She led the two of them over to the Slytherin table taking Harry's very obvious statement of, 'I still care about you but I need my space.'
Daphne ate quietly and nervously, and everyone around her noticed. Blaise of all people spoke up, "Greengrass what's up?" He never being one of pureblood antics always talked so casually.
"Zabini." Daphne glared but then softened, "Just a bad Monday is all." She glanced towards Umbridge at the staff table trying to feign her bad mood on the overly pink Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
Blaise laughed, "Yeah not the best way to start a week…"
"Think of the bright side." Tracy said as she finished eating a piece of toast. "After today we don't have DADA again till next week." She smiled brightly
"Unless you have to serve a Detention tonight…" Daphne reminded her best friend. "With Harry…" She slumped over her plate and felt terrible. She cared deeply for him and knew that she had hurt him. A top of that, the Detention was mostly her fault in the first place, had she not lost her temper in the Great Hall, they wouldn't have had to go to her office and then he wouldn't have had his magical meltdown. So all in all it was Daphne's fault.
"She gave you both detention?" Blaise asked while he showed a slight sign of shock. The woman was incompetant, but he definitely didn't think she was politically suicidal. The Greengrass's and the Potter's both hold seats on the Wizengamot, and even though Harry's not seventeen yet. He still wields a lot of political sway being the Boy-Who-Lived.
"Not her best move so early in the year." Tracy concurred with the boys thinking.
"She's got support from the Wizengamot." Came a very unlikely voice of Draco Malfoy. "I hear she and the Minister are working directly with them to sack Dumbledore." He grinned and laughed. "Like the minister would need Umbitch!" He laughed as he scowled up towards the staff table where he caught an interesting stare from the Headmaster. He raised his glass as if to signal he was baiting the young Malfoy.
"What are you going on about Malfoy?!" Tracy spat before his laughing was finished.
Daphne on the other hand had noticed the very subtle snipe at the new Defense Teacher. It was very unlike Draco to do anything helpful or revealing especially when it involved she or Harry. Draco stopped laughing and when he did he stared at Daphne.
His eyes were a deep yellow and his pupils narrowed just slightly and for the first time in almost ten years that she'd known Draco she saw a light from behind his eyes. A light that was never there till just now. It was similar to the fire that she often saw behind Harry's eyes except this wasn't as strong, not yet. Daphne resolved that something had changed in the young Malfoy, she knew it in her heart.
The sounds of scraping of chairs and movement brought Daphne back from her musing just in time to catch the most subtle nod from Draco and in a flash it was gone that light was pushed away and the noble and dickish facade that Draco usually wore appeared.
"What up Daph?" Tracy asked as she had already stood to head to DADA and was in the walkway holding hers and Daphne's bags.
"Uuuhhh… Nothing I'll tell you later." She took one last bite of pineapple and stood to walk to class.
Tracy remained standing there glaring at her as Daphne lightly jogged to catch up to her friend and leave with the rest of the students. "What?" Daphne asked again.
"Your acting weird." Tracy said in a less than teasing way.
"I'll be fine. Just let me get through today and I'll tell you everything tonight?" She pleaded with her best friend.
Tracy considered the words and reluctantly decided that there wasn't much she could do. "Fine! But I swear if you don't. Daph tickling jinx's be damned."
Daphne giggled slightly which helped reassure Tracy's fears and the two of them walked into the DADA classroom a few minutes later. Harry was sitting by himself in the middle of the room just behind Hermione and Neville. Daphne took this as a good sign and quickly went and sat next to him.
Harry didn't seem to mind when she sat down and after Daphne pulled out her textbook, parchment, and quill, Harry leaned over. "I am sorry." He whispered.
Daphne smiled slightly and whispered back, "Thanks, talk later?"
"If we get a chance…"
"Mr. Potter, Ms. Greengrass, minus 5 points each for talking in class." Umbridge walked in just as they were talking.
Harry smirked at Daphne, "Professor Umbridge?" Harry raised his hand.
"Yes Mr. Potter?" Dolores asked with a bright smile.
"How can you take points away before class has begun? Section 4.1 Article B states that students are only subject to classroom violations during class sessions." Harry stated smugly as he sat up straight. Some of the other students in the room began to chuckle slightly.
Dolores Umbridge's day had been going so well till now, "Mr. Potter, as an instructor I do not have to explain myself to you or any other student."
"I see, then you wouldn't mind if I brought this up at the next Board of Governors meeting on Thursday." Harry returned cooly.
Daphne could never had expected this, here was her boyfriend tearing this poor excuse for a teacher a new one and was well within his rights to do so.
"Mr. Potter are you threatening me?" Umbridge escalated quickly and her arm began to shake slightly.
"Of course not Professor, merely acting as someone of my stature should. The rules were made for a reason and they protect me just as much as they protect you. As you know since you've read all five-hundred and fifty-four rules and by-laws surrounding the education at Hogwarts."
By now the entire class was laughing or surprised at Harry's attack. "SILENCE! Mr. Potter Detention!"
Harry looked towards Daphne and smirked, "Yes Professor, I am quite aware of our Detention later, as you gave it to me right before my Magical Core was cracked. You don't happen to know anything about that would you."
There it was. That was what he was going at, Daphne was all in favor of brutally eviscerating this lame excuse of a teacher, but Harry was not known for being this aggressive.
The Defense Teacher turned a ghostly white and glared opened mouth at him for several minutes while the entire class was sickenly quiet.
When she didn't respond Harry stood up, "Dolores Umbridge, I have been thinking about it for the past week and couldn't quite figure out what happened, but as Defense Against the Dark Arts is your given speciality, maybe you could enlighten me. How is using Legitimacy against students is allowed?"
The were a few hushed murmurs and people began talking quietly between their partners. Dolores Umbridge was dumbfounded, how could a boy of his age been able to feel her probes. She knew that he had no formal training and had only been with the Greengrass's a few months.
"You see Professor, I can see that your thinking about how I would have known that a skilled Legilimens like yourself was looking into my mind. Well you obviously know nothing about me, because I've been dealing with Voldemort since I was a baby." He now glared hard at the teacher as he walked up to stand opposite of her in class. "You do know that Voldemort IS" he emphasized the word. "One of the strongest natural Legitimens to have ever lived."
Harry began to channel quite a bit of magic into a field around him, Parvati and Lavender were sitting right next to him and they could feel a wave of cold pulse making their arm hairs stand up.
"If I ever find out that you've been using your, ILLEGAL!" He spat the word. "And Highly Dangerous skills on students, I can assure you that the Board of Governors and the Minister will not save you from me." And with that Harry pushed his built up magic out and a freezing wind overtook the room.
Harry turned and winked at Daphne and then walked purposefully out of the Defense Room leaving a gobsmacked and scared shitless Dolores Umbridge.
Seamus and Dean both started clapping and a few others joined including Blaise and Tracy. While Ron smirked from the back of the room. While he didn't fully understand this new Harry Potter, he did like him.
"Quiet." Dolores said much softer than she had intended and expected everyone to listen to her. "QUIET!" Everyone in the room turned back towards the pinkly dressed toadlike women.
"Professor is it true that He-who-must-not-be-named is back?" Pansy Parkinson asked hesitantly.
Umbridge's eyes shifted venomously towards the young brunette. "Oh sweetheart, No. The return of a certain Dark Wizard is nothing more than a child's overactive imagination."
This had Daphne incensed and she was about to say something when she caught a look from Hermione and she shook her head ever so slightly. Daphne held her tongue but she wouldn't for very long.
"Let me make this perfectly clear. These rumors were started because of certain individuals."
"Harry Potter." Said Blaise.
"Dumbledore." Said Daphne.
Dolores gave threatening glares towards the two Slytherins, "These rumors have no proof and are completely fabricated in order to create discourse inside the Ministry. You are perfectly safe and protected by the Ministry. Now please open your page to book thirty-one."
Several of the class giggled at the word mixup but the rest of the three hour class passed in utter silence. Dolores Umbridge had been dealt a severe blow. She would have to try and make amends with the young Potter Heir seeing as he's not as powerless as she expected.
The rest of the day was rather quiet for everyone as Daphne and Tracy both had free periods in the afternoon. Daphne did get a message from Harry in the form a Stag Patronus that met her just after lunch.
"Meet after dinner, You know where. Harry." His voice was much more relaxed and he seemed to be in better spirits.
Harry was again conspicuously missing from Dinner and Daphne had a hunch as to why. She'd been thinking about it all day and was putting things together piece by piece. She bid Tracy a hasty farewell at the bottom of the Astronomy tower not wanting to drag her up the two hundred steps. Daphne was rewarded and a bit winded, when she reached the top of the tower. Harry was standing looking out over the grounds.
"How many nights have you spent in your room?" Daphne asked which made him jump slightly.
"Not as many as I'd like." His smile when he turned around gave her goosebumps. "I've been a downright Prat these past few days." Harry gently took both of her wrists and held them in front of him. "I am sorry for not believing that you can take care of yourself."
Daphne as about to respond when an unlikely voice cut in, "Oh come off it Potter." Draco sneered as he walked out from behind one of the columns.
"What are you doing here Malfoy!" Daphne spat back.
Harry however remained calm, "I asked him to come meet with us." Harry said, trying to ease his girlfriends quickly rising temper.
"YOU WHAT?!" She shouted as she spun back around looking at him. She tore her hands out of his and glared violently at him.
Harry quickly put his hands up in surrender, "Look, I can explain."
"Ahh the famous Greengrass temper, don't you just love it Potter?" Draco said much too happy for his own good.
"Draco…." Harry said with a hint of ire in his voice.
"Sorry sorry, you said I could have one... Sorry Greengrass." Draco bowed slightly.
"One of you better start talking or I'll hex both of you!" Daphne walked away from Harry and stood so she could see both boys.
"Draco and I have come to an arrangement…" Harry said as he looked questionatively towards Draco.
"Potter and I have recently found out that we have several common enemies…" Draco eased. "Enemies that I can't do anything about until after the Holidays."
"And enemies that have secrets that they don't want certain people to know…" Harry picked up and heavily implied himself as the person to know.
Daphne processed the next few minutes as Draco and Harry proceeded to tell Daphne about their first night on duty and how Lucius Malfoy was not liked or even tolerated by his only son.
"So let me get this straight." Daphne started pacing slightly. "You and Malfoy found out that you can both help each other by ridding the world of Lucius Malfoy, when the time comes." Daphne added in a lighter tone. "In exchange for, Malfoy will pass knowledge about known Death Eater movements and stuff that he hears from his network in Slytherin House."
Harry chimed in, "He and I are also aiming to take down Umbridge and by proxy the Minister of Magic."
"That one might take a few more years." Draco added much more casually than before.
"Harry can I have a word?" Daphne asked while giving him a glare.
"Only if you can say in front of Draco." Harry challenged, he was still trying to get Daphne and Draco to trust each other.
Daphne grumbled, "Fine, but i'm not sorry if I hurt anyone's feelings." Daphne turned around. "What's to stop Draco-" Harry was a bit shocked at the lack of his surname. "From telling his father anything and everything or selling us out to Voldemort."
Harry unravelled his sleeve to reveal a thin blue ring around his upper forearm, Draco did the same. Daphne stared for a moment before she realized what she was looking at.
"You both took Wizard's Oaths?!" Daphne voice broke slightly. It was such a Harry-like thing to do that she had overlooked the possibility entirely.
Harry nodded, "Yeah, that first night on duty."
"Pott-Harry and I had a long chat and we realized that while we hate each other." Both Harry and Draco made fake smiles towards each other. "We don't want to see the other dead, and as long as my father is alive and has control over me. I'll end up just like him and will find myself at wand point with someone that I can't beat." He gestured towards Harry.
"And seeing how many times Lucius has tried to have me killed in the past five years, I think it's time we finally start taking the fight to them. I am sick and tired of being powerless." Harry's voice was powerful and commanding. It was beginning to make Daphne a bit weak in the knees, she loved it when he talked like a leader. A leader that she wanted him to be, that the wizarding world needed him to be.
"Ok, So let me get this clear." Daphne said now a bit more relaxed. "You and Harry made a deal to help each other to off your father." Gesturing towards Draco, to which both parties nodded. "In exchange with Draco will use his contacts to pass Voldemort's dealings on to you." Gesturing towards her boyfriend.
"To you." Harry corrected with a smile.
"To me." Daphne corrected smoothly. "And just what makes you think I'd be ok with this?" She said slightly annoyed while turning to face Harry.
"Told you she wouldn't go for it." Draco said happily.
"Shut it. Daph look, I took a big chance even bringing you into this meeting. We had talked about it just being me and Draco but because of RECENT events." His voice rose slightly and Daphne shuttered.
'Shit! He found out. Of course he found out. He's had Draco feeding him information the past week.` Daphne's brain spun quicker and quicker trying to find a way to make amends.
"I believe that it is much more believable and will draw less suspicion if Draco is caught talking to you versus talking to me." Harry said hoping his girlfriend would understand.
Draco leaned against the wall as the breeze picked up slightly. He was quite impressed with Harry, he did show many of the tell-tale Slytherin qualities. He just hoped that Daphne was as understanding as Harry made her out to be.
Daphne stood quiet for a few seconds and stared hard at Harry. She had already made up her mind to help them but she wanted to impress her point that she was not happy about it. "I'll do it. Not like you gave me much choice." She said more annoyed than anything.
Harry relaxed and walked over and hugged his girlfriend for the first time since this morning. "Thank you." he whispered into her ear.
She wrapped an arm around his back and pulled her head to sit right next to his. "Next time just tell me." She said it as nicely as she could.
Harry pushed away and a slightly serious face, "We have to go to Detention."
Daphne shrunk and groaned, "Shit."
Draco laughed as he pushed off the wall, "You two have fun with that. Smell ya later Potter." Draco said with a backwards wave and he walked down the two hundred stairs.
Daphne made a move to follow but Harry pulled her aside. "Daph, I know I upset you the other day and I am sorry. I care a lot about you and you didn't sign up for this. I appeared at your house at the beginning of the summer and now your front and center in the war against Voldemort."
"I am right where I want to be Harry." Daphne's voice was loving and concerned. "Do I wish things weren't the way they are, no. I made a choice, and that choice is you. In two months you've shown me things that I was either too ignorant to recognise or too oblivious to notice. Things that are wrong with our world, a world that I am forced to grow up in. We-" She emphasized, "-are going to figure out how to survive this war and then WE are going to change the world and if that takes a hundred years so be it. Harry James Potter you are the best thing that's happened in my life since I met Tracy."
Harry had tears building in the corners of his eyes as Daphne professed her dreams to him. His entire life all he wanted was a family and after he found out about magic he just wanted to be normal. Well as normal as one being magical can get. Since meeting the Greengrass's his life took the biggest and most meaningful jump in the right direction since meeting Hermione.
"Really?" Harry said weakly.
Daphne reached up on her toes and pressed her mouth right next to his ear. "Really." The soft brush of air that she pushed out onto his ear sent shivers down his spine. Shivers that were all to noticeable to Daphne who smiled as she pulled away.
"You love doing that, don't you?" Harry said as he had to shake himself out still in her arms.
"Oh yeah." Daphne said in a sultry voice. "Come on lets go before Umbridge gives us another Detention."
"Don't remind me, I have Detention all week because of earlier." The two of them walked out of the Astronomy Tower, heading towards Umbridge's Office.
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, "Oh I almost forgot." Harry started and he sounded very excited. "You remember what Flitwick was talking about all week? The one that he couldn't talk about?"
"Yeah, I figured it was just some way to keep people interested."
"Well, that's because he was getting approval to restart the Dueling Club. He was able to get approval AND" Harry stopped in the hallway. "And he was able to get Alastor Moody to help run it. Imagine Mad-Eye and Flitwick running the Dueling Club. Think of all the cool spells we'll learn."
Daphne would by lying if she wasn't thrilled by this. The idea of being able to practice fighting in a safe setting was perfect. The girls had all talked about how they wanted Harry to teach them how to defend themselves and this club would prove the perfect place to test what they had learned not to mention let off some stress. "When do we start?" Daphne voice betrayed her calm Ice Queen image.
"Friday before the Prefects Meeting." Harry was almost jumping with excitement. He picked her up off the ground and gave her a very tight hug.
Daphne relished the contact, she'd been deprived all weekend after their fight. 'When did I start needing physical contact.' She thought to herself but shrugged it off because she was happy. Happy to be in Harry's arms and smell the earthy tone that she loved so much.
After a few moments Harry put her down and she had a wicked smile on her face which made Harry very happy. After brushing off some dust they walked the rest of the way to Umbridge's office talking about how excited they were for the dueling club and how they would be asking people to come participate.
Daphne knocked on the door to the office and it swung open on its own accord. "Come come." Came the high pitched voice of their DADA teacher.
Harry and Daphne both walked in and cringed slightly at the disgusting amount of pink in the room.
"You both are going to serve Detention with me tonight. Ms. Greengrass you are going to be cleaning out Dungeon 2B as I understand it, the second years made a bit of mess with their potions." She handed her an apron, bucket and towel.
"Yes Professor." Daphne said glumly. However it wouldn't be that bad, she knew a fair number of spells that would be useful in cleaning up spilt potions.
"Oh and Ms. Greengrass. I must inform you that they were making Valicitis Potions so please take care when using magic." She said as Daphne was about to walk out of the room.
"Thank you Professor." Daphne flashed a fake smile, while thinking 'Damit, this is going to take a while.' Valicitis Potion was like making a mirror in liquid form. It was used to focus magic into specific areas because it reflects any spell cast around it.
As she left, Dolores turned towards Harry. "Mr. Potter it seems we have gotten off on the wrong foot."
Harry turned back around after watching Daphne leave. "It seems we have Professor. I wish to apologize for by behavior. I am very protective of my friends and family and do not wish to cause further disruptions for you or any of the staff." Harry's answer was very diplomatic and almost staged. Dolores wondered who might have been coaching him or if he was just this smart already.
"Very well than, I am glad that you are beginning to see the error of your ways." She was bubbly as she spoke, which caused Harry to almost vomit. "Tonight you are going to writing lines for me."
'Phew and here I thought it would be something like Daph's.' Harry thought inwardly. "Ok, but Professor I didn't bring a quill or parchment."
Umbridge smiled sinsterly, "Don't you worry about that. I have a very special Quill you are going to be using." She reached onto her deck and opened the suspiciously placed black box. She pulled out a red quill with black feathers and walked it over to Harry who sat down at the small desk.
Harry eyed the quill carefully not quite sure what it was, just that it wasn't your normal quill. For one there was no ink and two it was very warm in his hand, like something that was charged with magic would be. "What am I writing Professor?"
"I mustn't tell Lies. Let's say five hundred times ought to do the trick or until the message sinks in." She narrowed her eyes at him and watched eagerly for his face to shudder or show any sign of weakness.
Harry merely returned her gaze and without moving his eyes wrote. "I mustn't tell Lies." What surprised him the most of what followed was the sickenly dark purple color his blood came out of the quill. He was prepared for the pain, prepared for the message to appear in his hand. He had written in Tom Riddle's Journal for a few weeks so he understood how magical quills worked. He just didn't expect his blood to be purple. A fact that Dolores noticed as well but made no comment on it.
And so Harry sat for six hours writing and cutting his hand open each and every time. All the while Dolores Umbridge sat at her desk and grading papers in front of him. Every once and while she would look up at him and they would share a nod and then they both would go back to their work. By the time Harry was released he had written over 800 lines and his hand was scared a lighter purple than his blood.
Daphne had come and gone hours before Harry was done and she was released back to her dorm where she met with Tracy and they talked briefly about Dueling club and how she and Harry made up. She did however go out of her way not to mention the meeting with Draco or dealing with Nott and Flint. She would in time bring Tracy into everything but tonight certainly wasn't that night.
Harry meanwhile dredged back to the Gryffindor Tower after midnight and as the portrait opened he was hit by an inviting smell of roast beef and corn bread. His mouth began to water slightly and he walked into the Common room to find Ginny sitting at a table with a tray of food in front of her reading her Charms book.
As he approached the table, "Just where do you think you've been?" Came Hermione voice who was sitting across the room from Ginny also reading a book, although by the looks of it this one was for pleasure and not any class.
"Detention." Harry said lamely
"We knew that, I meant this whole weekend! We saw you for one meal." Hermione was trying to keep her voice down because it was after hours and while fourth years and up didn't have bedtimes there was an unspoken rule about being loud in the Common Room.
"I was dealing with some stuff." Harry tried to brush her off.
"Harry." Came Ginny's voice which forced him to turn around. "We aren't your enemies, we want to help. If something is wrong you can tell us." She was very sincere and worried.
"Gin, I know, it's just this one is personal." Harry slumped down he hated keeping things from his friends. He knew that both Ginny and Hermione would do anything for him. He just didn't want to drag them into his mess with Umbridge.
"It's about Umbridge isn't it?" Hermione asked as she walked up and gently put a hand on his shoulder. The blanket she had been wearing falling to the floor revealing a pair of really short grey shorts.
"Mione its not that simple." Harry said shaking his hand which was his first mistake.
Ginny quickly grabbed his right hand, "What happen!? Did she do this?!" She was appalled by the scarring on his hand.
Harry quickly pulled his hand out of her and covered with his other arm. "No she didn't. It was her stupid Quill."
Hermione rushed over and grabbed his hand, "Harry you have to tell someone. This is cruel and it is likely illegal."
"It's not that simple Hermione." Harry said exasperated.
"And just why not!?" Hermione glared at him. "She's hurting you and for all we know this could lead to permanent damage. Does Daphne know?"
Harry sought out the nearest chair and sat down. "Yes Daphne knows a little, no I don't intend to hide it from her. Just there are things going on that are bigger than just a squabble between me and Umbridge."
Hermione moved to the couch across from him, "Things like what? Like Voldemort?" Ginny quickly sat down next to her.
"I can't tell you yet, but I'll tell you when I can, just know that I have it under control for now." Harry tried to reassure them. He was going to tell all of them eventually, Daphne, Tracy, Ginny, Hermione and even Cedric. He just needed to have a bit more information first and that he'd need more time.
"Harry, I don't like it." Hemione said in a worried voice as she sat back on the couch.
"We don't have much choice, Hermione." Ginny answered. "I trust Harry and I know you do too."
Harry felt a warmth in his heart at hearing Ginny's words. "I know I know. I just want to be able to help instead of sitting here on the sidelines."
"You are helping Hermione. Your the most studious person that I know and if there's a piece of information in our Library that is helpful to us, you'll find it. In the meantime I want to tell you about Friday…"
And so Harry told them about the Dueling club and how it would be open to all students. Ginny was super excited and couldn't wait to start spreading the word around. Hermione however was a bit nervous, the thought of dueling other students could pose major risks to the health of the student body. Something that she'd have to be reassured about once the club actually started. However she was excited about the prospect of being able to try new spells out in real combat like situations especially once Harry started teaching them.
Ginny and Hermione sat with Harry while he ate his dinner which Ginny had procured from the Kitchens a few hours ago, the plate keeping everything the correct temperature courtesy of one overly excitable house elf.