News of Harry's revolt in Defence Against the Dark Arts spread like wildfire through the school, and for the first week of term, it was all people could talk about. Students debated in the corridor's whether Harry might be telling the truth, or whether he was as insane as the papers were saying. It was quite frustrating being a Weasley, for a few days. There were those in her year who seemed to think she might have some inside detail, given that her brother was his best friend and, sometimes, he came to stay at their house. She hadn't realised that the latter had been such common knowledge, and for a while she found it unnerving people knew so much about his life but, after a Hufflepuff second year asked her outside the great hall if it was true Harry had attacked most of her family in his sleep, she figured most of it was probably ridiculous rumour and guess work and she started to get annoyed, threatening those who accosted her with a lovely Bat Bogey Hex. One person who hadn't mentioned Harry, however, had been Michael and that had been a great relief.

Things died down after the weekend, and everyone had started discussing quidditch trials. Ginny floated around the common room notice board, reading and re-reading the try-out notice. The date and time were now burnt into her retina's, but she remained indecisive. Fred and George were on the team already, and she had heard them taking the mickey out of Ron who had only asked which positions were open, one evening by the fire. They didn't even know she could fly a broomstick, let alone play the game. The morning of trials came around and she made it all the way to the oak front doors, furiously arguing with herself, before turning sharply on her heel and hurrying back up to the common room. What was she thinking? She didn't even have her own broom. She watched miserably as the opportunity of a lifetime passed her by, all because she didn't believe her brothers would think she was good enough and she began to kick herself.

It was, however, a pleasant shock to see Ron welcomed onto the team; Fred and George were positively astounded. It was much easier to be pleased for him, she decided, than it was to be disappointed that she bottled it at the last minute. She tried to push it out of her mind as she allowed him to give her a play by play of the entire trial while he awaited Harry's return from yet another detention. Seeing her brother suddenly more confident in himself was worth it, she decided, he definitely needed this boost.

The quidditch buzz died down a few days later and everyone went back to complaining about Umbridge's new regime. Ginny was heading back to the common room after a particularly difficult day of classes when a yell made her almost drop her school bag all over the corridor in front of the Fat Lady.

"Ginny!" the voice called behind her as the portrait hole swung open. She turned and saw Hermione breathlessly running to catch up with her. Ginny held the portrait open as Hermione clambered in rather clumsily, dropping a few sheets of revision notes from her arms.

"Hey Hermione!" she greeted her friend warmly, "Good week?"

"You have no idea!" Hermione said "OWL year really is as bad as they say!"

"Huh, Ron seems really relaxed?"

"Well he would, wouldn't he? I can't understand why those two are so laid back about work!" she sounded exasperated. Ginny looked at her closely, Hermione's eyes were bloodshot and the skin under her eyes was a deep purple. Knowing her friend's quite meticulous work schedule's she liked to set herself, she voiced her concern.

"Hermione, you are sleeping at night, aren't you?" she asked, as they headed for the girl's staircase.

"Of course," Hermione said, "maybe not as much as I would like but this studying won't do itself!"

"You'll make yourself ill doing that!" Ginny scalded.

"I'll be fine," Hermione waved her concern away making Ginny frown, "I need to talk to you something anyway."

"Oh?"

"How are your lessons with Umbridge?"

"Completely uninspiring and full of ministry drivel, why?"

"Have you picked up a wand in class?"

"Nope, to be honest if she wasn't such a psycho, I'd have half a mind not to attend the class at all. I could learn more from a book in the library, that's if you haven't checked them all out already"

Ginny nodded at Hermione's school bag which appeared to be at bursting point.

They had passed the door to Ginny's dormitory but she continued up the stairs with Hermione, curious as to where she was going with this. The fifth-year girl's dormitory was deserted, Parvati and Lavender were probably still at dinner. Hermione put her bag down at the foot of her bed and sat down, indicating for Ginny to join her. She sat, leaning against the foot board of the four-poster bed, waiting in anticipation for Hermione to continue.

"I've been thinking, that maybe we should start up a club, sort of like the duelling club Lockhart taught, but we only invite trustworthy students, those who believe You-Know-Who is really back, and want to learn proper defence," Hermione told her.

"That's an interesting idea," Ginny considered, "But who would teach it? Are you smuggling Lupin in, in a trunk?" she grinned.

"No," Hermione laughed, "Harry will do it."

Harry? But he was a student too, Ginny thought, although he did seem to know more defensive spells than anyone else that she knew. Hadn't he been in trouble for a Patronus just this summer? That was pretty advanced stuff. He did save her from certain death too aged twelve, she shivered, pushing the memories of the Chamber from her mind. Then there was his first year, Ron had told her all about it when he came home that summer, and he had made it all the way through the Triwizard tournament the year before. Really, he could be the perfect one for the job. There was just one problem Ginny envisioned.

"Erm, have you actually asked him to stand in front of a room of people and tell them what to do?"

Hermione smiled.

"He says he's thinking about it, but he's going to say yes, if its to help people defend themselves and others from You-Know-Who"

Ginny knew she was right.

"So, what's the plan?" she asked.

"We're meeting in the Hog's Head, first Hogsmeade weekend. It'll be sort of a registration meeting and organising things. Ginny, I don't really know many people in your year besides you and Colin, do you think you could put the word out to people who would be interested, and won't tell Umbridge about us?"

"That I can do, I'll ask Colin for sure and Luna too. I don't think Demelza will, her mum works under Umbridge at the ministry and I think her mum warned her not to cross her. Colin will definitely ask Dennis too. There's a couple of Hufflepuff students who are all right, but I don't know them well enough just yet, perhaps if I talk to them a little more in Magical Creatures, then maybe."

"Ginny?"

"Yeah?"

"Aren't you forgetting someone?"

"Am I?"

"Michael?"

"Oh!" Ginny glowed scarlet, in all the excitement of fighting back, she had forgotten her own boyfriend. It was odd, she had never really considered Michael and Harry in the same small room together, let alone speaking. It was two sides of her brain that stayed far apart. But he was trustworthy enough right? She could ask him, "Yeah, I'll ask him, maybe he will know some Ravenclaw's?"

Next day, Ginny traipsed to the library in search of Michael. She had gotten Colin that morning at breakfast and he had enthusiastically agreed and hurried over to Dennis, just as Ginny had predicted. The library was quiet, and she found Michael with ease, tucked in a corner with a stack of books. She slid on to the bench beside him.

"Hi," he greeted, looking up for a moment, before turning back to scribble on his parchment.

"What are you working on?" She asked.

"Potions essay," he told her.

"Oh, how fun," she commented sarcastically, "Listen, I need to talk to you about something."

He put the quill down and turned to look at her.

"What is it?"

Ginny glanced around, they seemed to be alone. It was relatively safe to talk. Still, she lowered her voice.

"Hermione Granger took me to one side yesterday. They're starting a defence group, to learn defensive spells and how to protect ourselves from, you know, him. The thing is, Umbridge can't find out, it's a total secret, would you be interested in coming with me?"

"If it's a secret, Weasley, you shouldn't mutter so loud in a library," a voice said behind her, making her jump out of her chair. Laughing, Terry Boot slid into the bench opposite her, followed by Anthony Goldstein. "But this sounds like something I'd be interested in, tell me more."

Learning forward, Ginny lowered her voice even further.

"We're meeting at the Hogs Head in Hogsmeade, first weekend. I think Hermione wants to explain things herself, and get Harry warmed up to it a bit."

"Harry?" Michael spoke for the first time, "What's Potter got to do with it?"

"Well, he's going to teach it," she explained.

"Why?" His eyebrows furrowed and he looked rather annoyed.

"He knows the most about this stuff, don't you think?" Ginny felt a surprising anger washing over her. Her cheeks burned, and she hung her head slightly, so her hair fell into her face to hide it.

"Well I will definitely be there," Terry said, oblivious to the tension, "Ant?"

"You can count on it!" Anthony smiled at her as she looked up. She returned it, calming slightly before looking expectantly at Michael. He seemed to be thinking about it, a slight grimace on his face.

"I suppose, if everyone else is," he sighed.

Ginny frowned, he seemed reluctant. She thought he would jump at an opportunity to learn something new, at least, he did seem to spend most of his time in the library after all.

"Maybe Potter will give us some details," she heard Terry mutter to Anthony, and she rose from the table.

"I have some homework to do, but I left it in the common room, I'll catch up with you later."

She gave Michael a tight smile before turning on her heel and hurrying out the door.

Why didn't Michael seem to want to go to the defence meeting with her? Surely, he couldn't be that opposed to rule breaking? Come to think of it, she wasn't sure she had seen him ever break a rule, except for eating a pastry he saved from breakfast while reading in the library. Maybe asking him had been a mistake, she considered, though he didn't seem the type to go running to Umbridge, especially if his friends were so up for it. She hoped that was the case, at least.