Harry couldn't resist sharing the note with Hermione, who immediately rolled her eyes.

"Jumping to conclusions much, Padfoot?" she quipped. Harry had already grabbed a quill from his bag and was scribbling a response:

I have no idea what you're talking about.

Sirius wrote back almost immediately:

Nice try, but Dung told us it was you.

Harry and Hermione stared at the parchment, both very confused.

Dung? Harry wrote, wondering what on earth that had to do with anything.

Mundungus Fletcher - 'Mundungus' is a bit of a mouthful, isn't it? Anyway, he saw you and Maya sitting with a bunch of people outside the Hog's Head on Saturday. It was such a strange group of people that he mentioned it when he dropped by HQ last night - honestly, when have you ever mentioned Ravenclaws before?

"Cheeky bugger," Harry muttered. "Too damn clever for his own good." He chuckled though, appreciating the humor in his godfather's message.

"Do you think we should tell him the truth?" Hermione asked, sounding doubtful.

"Maya, it's Padfoot - I think he'd appreciate how Marauder-like the whole thing is," Harry replied. "And besides, I don't think he'd object to what we're doing - he is in the Order, after all." He picked up the quill again:

I dunno how much you know about our new DADA teacher?

You mean the fact that she's Fudge's lapdog, or that she's a horrible person? Sirius joked.

Both, I guess - she really is about as nice as your mum. The Ministry's latest approach to DADA is completely theoretical - all we do is read. No casting spells and nothing about actually defending ourselves - they seem to think we don't need it.

Of course - Fudge would rather eat his own hat than admit anything's wrong.

That wouldn't exactly be a loss, Harry pointed out, recalling the ugly green bowler hat the Minister favored.

True, but that's beside the point. Would it be far-fetched to say that your meeting was an attempt to do something about this DADA situation?

Considering that's exactly what it was...no.

Oh, you truly are a Marauder, Harry James Potter - Prongs would be so proud.

"I can see the mock crying all the way from here," Harry said, and the two friends burst into laughter as they imagined Sirius exaggeratedly wiping away nonexistent tears.

What's so funny? This latest message came from Draco - when Harry looked up, he saw his brother staring at him from the Slytherin table, a questioning expression on his face.

Padfoot figured out what we're doing re: DADA and was just being...

Padfoot? Draco suggested, smirking at the Gryffindors from across the hall. He's not mad, is he?

Nah - he thinks it's a good idea. At least, he said we were 'true Marauders' for doing it, anyway.

Which basically means he's given us the all-clear. Not that we needed it in the first place, of course.

Of course. Better go, it's almost time for Binns.

Ugh - at least we've got Charms. Later.

Harry shook his head, still chuckling to himself as he put his parchment away. Hermione was once more frowning at the paper.

"Harry...do you remember where Percy was working last year?"

"The Ministry - why?"

"No, no - which department?"

"Oh...er, International Magical Cooperation, right? Under Crouch?" In response, Hermione slid the paper over again and pointed to the article, which featured more quotes from the Weasley in question.

"I don't know why I didn't notice it before - probably because we were too shocked by the whole High Inquisitor thing - but Percy's now the Junior Assistant to the Minister."

"Bit young, don't you think?" said Ginny, who had arrived just in time to catch Hermione's statement. "Yeah, that went over really well." She wasted no time in preparing a bowl of porridge and scooped a large spoonful into her mouth.

"Mmm...that hits the spot," she said once she'd swallowed. "Anyway, his promotion caused a huge row at our house, not too long before we all went to Grimmauld for the summer. Dad reckons Fudge promoted Percy as a way to keep an eye on us Weasleys - Dad's not exactly in a prominent position, but Fudge knows he's loyal to the Order. Percy was furious, called Dad all sorts of horrible things before saying that anyone who didn't support the Ministry was a traitor and that sticking with the Order would eventually be our downfall. He packed his bags and left that night, and we haven't seen him since."

"Whoa," Harry muttered, struggling to take it all in. Sure, Percy had always been a bit on the ambitious side, and he was far too self-centered for his own good, but he wasn't that bad overall...his desertion of his extremely tight-knit family was definitely a low blow.

"Don't worry about it," Ginny said dismissively as she swallowed another mouthful of her breakfast. "If Percy wants to be a tunnel-visioned arse, there's not much we can do about it."

"Besides prove that he's wrong, of course," Harry pointed out. Ginny nodded.

"True. We're still on for Wednesday?"

"Mhmm. We weren't supposed to have Quidditch practice anyway, and now we definitely won't – I wouldn't be surprised if Umbridge decides to hold out on giving Angelina permission to reform the team just to make us all sweat." Harry rolled his eyes as he stood from the bench and swung his schoolbag over his shoulder. Hermione was already waiting, the rolled-up Prophet tucked under her arm.

"History of Magic…fun. Later, Gin." Ginny raised a hand in farewell, and the two fifth-years set off to begin another deadly dull Monday.

Despite the tension that had been mounting ever since the start of term, Hermione was in good spirits when she left the library on Wednesday evening after dinner, bound for the seventh floor. The first official meeting of their little Defense group was due to start at seven o'clock – Harry had asked her if she and Draco might do a little demonstration to kick things off, and she'd immediately agreed, more than ready to put her spell arsenal to good use. She was deep in thought, curious about how many people they could expect and eager to get some good dueling in, and as such she ran right into someone when she made to take a shortcut concealed behind a tapestry on the fifth floor.

"Ouch!"

"Oh goodness, I'm sorry!" Hermione cried, immediately trying to disentangle herself from whoever she'd just knocked over. She blushed upon realizing that she'd actually toppled two people, not just one, and her blush turned to a gasp of shock when she recognized them.

"Oh…hey, Herms," Ginny said sheepishly, her face as red as her hair. Dean Thomas was sprawled beside her, and the tall boy immediately scrambled to his feet when he saw Hermione.

"Something you want to tell me, Gin?" Hermione asked amusedly, popping her hip to one side as she crossed her arms over her chest. Upon closer inspection, Ginny's hair was a tangled mess, her lips were swollen, and her jumper was crooked. Dean's uniform shirt was wrinkled, far more so than what could just be passed off as teenage laziness, and his tie hung loosely around his neck. Both looked extremely embarrassed.

"Dean's my boyfriend," Ginny mumbled, flushing even redder upon her admission. "Has been since the start of term."

"And you jumped on me less than a week after the Yule ball for not telling you about Draco and I," Hermione snickered. "Ginny, Ginny, Ginny…" She shook her head slowly, doing her best to fight the urge to laugh.

"Ok, so I fail in the friendship department," Ginny muttered, still looking decidedly flustered. "Won't happen again."

"It's fine," Hermione assured her. "But I expect details." Dean blanched and coughed violently.

"Something wrong?" Hermione asked him, still smiling. He shook his head.

"Er…no," he said. "To be honest, I was half expecting to be blasted to smithereens…" Hermione laughed heartily.

"Dean, it's alright," she said. "I think it's sweet." And she really did – Dean wasn't necessarily her type, but he was handsome in his own right, as well as kind, thoughtful, and a fabulous artist. Definitely a good choice.

"Meeting's starting soon, you know," Hermione continued, careful to keep her voice low. Everyone knew that anything at Hogwarts could – and would – listen in on conversations, and this was definitely not something they wanted overheard.

"Yeah – we'll be there," Ginny promised.

"I'll leave you two to it, then," Hermione said, smirking a little as she started to climb the stairs. She had a feeling that neither of her companions wanted to leave what they'd started unfinished and meant to give them a few minutes to do so – as she herself was with someone from a different house, Hermione could appreciate how difficult it could be to get in some uninterrupted alone time. Halfway up the stairs, she paused and turned again, stifling a laugh when she saw that the other two were already reaching for each other.

"Dean?" The boy in question jumped away from Ginny like he'd been burned and looked up.

"Yeah?"

"Like I said before, I think it's sweet – but do anything to hurt her…"

"…and I'll have you to answer to," Dean finished with a slight grin. Hermione winked.

"Exactly. See you in a bit." She turned and trotted up the remaining stairs, and the rest of her journey to the seventh floor passed without interruption. When she reached the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, she paced three times, concentrating hard, and the hidden door appeared. Without further ado, Hermione grabbed the handle and found herself in a slightly different version of their training room.

"Thought I might keep the original training room just for us," said Harry, who was perched atop a stack of cushions in the corner of the room. Draco was sprawled out on the floor, his discarded robes and tie serving as a makeshift pillow as he stared up at the ceiling. He grinned when he caught sight of his girlfriend and sat up to pull her down for a quick kiss.

"I just ran into Ginny – she's on her way up," Hermione said as she pulled away and leaned back against the cushions. She decided to leave out the details of that particular encounter for now – the boys would spend the whole meeting teasing Ginny otherwise. "Any idea how many others are coming?"

"Not sure," Harry replied, launching himself off the cushions to land on all fours at her feet. "I think we might have a few more than were with us in Hogsmeade, though."

"Obviously," Draco drawled, once more leaning back on his crumpled robes. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"And obviously nobody else counts, is that right?" Harry joked, stretching out and lightly kicking his brother's legs. Draco nodded sharply in response.

"Oh, grow up, you two," Hermione said, shaking her head fondly. Both boys stuck their tongues out at her, making her laugh, and she turned to the cushions.

"Can't hurt to set up," she said. With a wave of her wand, the cushions arranged themselves in a large circle on the floor. Just as the last cushion fell into place, there was a knock at the door, and a moment later, it opened to reveal Ginny, Dean, Parvati, Neville, and Susan.

"Wow," said Dean as he glanced around the room approvingly. "You weren't kidding when you said you had a good space…" Harry, Draco, and Hermione laughed, knowing it was far from the last they'd hear about their special room tonight.

The door opened several more times over the next ten minutes or so, and soon, every cushion was occupied. In addition to everyone who'd come to the Hogsmeade meeting, a number of others had come, including Angelina, Alicia, and Katie, Blaise and Tracey, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Wayne Hopkins, and another Hufflepuff boy they didn't recognize. The last to arrive was Cho Chang, Ravenclaw's Seeker, who slipped in with a curly-haired girl wearing an apprehensive expression. Harry was shocked at the final headcount.

"Er…hi, everyone," he said, once again not quite sure how to start. "For those of you who met us in Hogsmeade, welcome back, and for those of you joining us for the first time, thanks for coming. We've decided to start this little group to remedy the fact that we're getting absolutely nothing out of Defense lessons this year."

"Hear, hear!" said one of the Weasley twins, and Harry felt his courage lift at the emphatic declaration. He cleared his throat loudly and nodded.

"Umbridge has made it quite clear that we won't be doing anything more than reading in her presence this year, and what with everything that's happened recently-"

"So you're still of the opinion that You-Know-Who is back?" the unknown Hufflepuff boy interrupted. He had pointy features and wore a disdainful expression.

"Opinion?" Harry repeated, narrowing his eyes at the boy. "Is it your 'opinion' that accidental deaths involve threatening notes?" When most of the room's occupants gave him questioning looks, he added, "I'm assuming that quite a few of you are here because you're curious about how Cedric Diggory died. Sorry to disappoint you, but I can't tell you exactly – I wasn't there when it happened, only when he came back."

"Came back?" Padma Patil questioned, sounding almost nervous.

"Yes. The Triwizard Cup had been turned into a Portkey – as soon as Cedric touched it, he was gone. A few minutes later, both he and the Cup reappeared. Cedric was dead, and there was a piece of parchment attached to his robes." Hermione and Draco gasped when Harry pulled that exact parchment from his pocket – they had no idea he'd even taken it, never mind kept it.

"See for yourself," Harry said, and he passed the note around the circle. Many sharp intakes of breath and short sobs were heard as everyone read the message: I have no use for spares. Instead of a signature, the image of the Dark Mark shone beneath the blood-red words.

"What does the message mean?" Susan asked quietly once Harry had gotten it back.

"It was a set-up," he replied dully, "a trap – intended for me. I was supposed to get to the Portkey first, I was supposed to disappear…but the plan failed. I got hurt in the maze, and Cedric got to the Cup first. He really was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"The point," said Luna, sensing that Harry wasn't sure how to continue after such a heavy tale, "is that the threat is real no matter whose version of things you believe, and not learning anything for an entire year could turn out to be a life-and-death matter. We might not be able to teach ourselves much, but whatever we do will be better than nothing." Harry stared at Luna in grateful disbelief – it was the most sensible thing he'd ever heard the younger Ravenclaw say, and her timing couldn't have been more perfect. In spite of her odd demeanor, Harry had to admit right then that there was much more to Luna than he'd originally thought.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Lee Jordan said. "I say we get started right away."

"Before we do," said Hermione, "I think we should all sign something, a…contract, of sorts, to say that we won't reveal what we're doing. This is really important, but if Umbridge hears about it, I have no doubt she'd expel us all in a heartbeat." She pulled out a quill and signed her name to the parchment. "I understand some of you might not be comfortable with this level of commitment, but there's really no other way around it. If you really can't handle the idea, you're free to go, but we're putting our trust in you that you don't rat us out – there's nothing to gain if you do." She passed the quill and parchment to Draco, who signed without hesitation. Not everyone signed so quickly, however – the parchment made several long stops at various points around the circle. Eventually, however, everyone had signed, and Susan passed the parchment to Harry, who added his name to finish off the list.

"There," said Hermione, tapping her wand to the parchment. It glowed faintly and she nodded, apparently satisfied. "Now I think we need a name – something we can use outside of this room without creating suspicion." A quick discussion began, and eventually, Ginny suggested the winning name – Dumbledore's Army, or the DA for short.

"The group was formed in response to the Ministry's ineptitude," she said. "Who's the Ministry most afraid of? Dumbledore." The name passed by an overwhelming majority, and Hermione scribbled the group's new name atop their contract before storing it safely in her bag.

"Now that we've got all the boring admin stuff out of the way, it's time to have some fun," Harry said. "Maya? Drake?" Hermione and Draco eagerly stood and moved away from the circle, Hermione discarding her robes and tightening her ponytail while Draco busied himself with asking the room for a spell-proof partition between them and the rest of the group.

"Who wants to see a duel?" Harry asked, and several people's eyes widened as Hermione and Draco faced off and bowed.

"And…GO!" Harry shouted. Hermione and Draco immediately began throwing hexes, multicolored lights flying in all directions as they ducked, dodged, and parried. Hermione's powerful shield charm sent Draco's leg-locker curse rebounding upon its caster, and Draco rolled to the side to avoid being hit. He fired off a jelly-legs jinx in retaliation, and Hermione almost fell over as she yelped and jumped out of the way. The duel continued in this manner for several minutes, neither party able to gain the upper hand. The magical partition kept their spells away from everyone else, but it didn't block out sound, and shrieks and gasps rang throughout the room as the duel continued. Deciding that they might as well fight the same way they had all summer, Draco unsheathed his dagger, flipping the blade in his palm three or four times before flinging it straight at Hermione and causing several of the onlookers to scream. Normally, Hermione would merely sidestep the knife and carry on, leaving Draco free to Summon it back if he got a good enough chance, but instead, she threw him for a loop by Transfiguring the deadly weapon into a flock of canaries, which immediately changed direction and charged. A well-placed Reductor curse caused the birds to vanish in an explosion of yellow feathers, but the split-second distraction was all Hermione needed. In an instant, Draco was Disarmed, Stunned, and flat on his back, Hermione straddling his hips as she pressed a dagger to his throat and her wand to his temple.

"I win," she said quietly. She slowly crawled off his lap and released the Stunner, and Draco couldn't help but chuckle at her audacity when he realized it was his dagger in her hand, her own still resting in its place at her hip. Something in her spell must've caused it to return to her when the birds exploded. Clever, clever girl.

"Damn," Fred said once the partition was gone. He let out a low whistle as the two duelists rejoined the group. "That was…"

"Incredible?" George suggested.

"Almost uncomfortable," Fred added. "Like I was-"

"-watching something I shouldn't-"

"-almost intimate, in a way-"

"Ok, that's enough." This last comment came from Ron, who wasn't looking pleased.

"Something wrong, Ron?" Hermione asked, wiping sweat from her brow as if she'd done nothing more than go for a run.

"Yeah, something's wrong!" Ron retorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "He threw a bloody knife at you! Am I the only one who has a problem with that?"

"Ron, nothing happened," Hermione scolded. "I have one too, you know-"

"That's not the point," Ron interrupted.

"Then what is the point?" Draco demanded, narrowing his eyes at the redhead.

"The point is that this is all wrong!" Ron said vehemently. Hermione's eyes darkened considerably.

"What exactly is wrong about it?" she snapped. Ron swallowed hard at her expression.

"Ok, I get that you're friends with him, fine," he said, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "But everything else…that just isn't right!" He gestured wildly between Hermione and Draco, and Hermione's expression went from mildly annoyed to furious within seconds.

"Are you really going to be that juvenile, Ron?" she hissed. "Is that why you've made all those comments this year? Are you really that stuck in your ideas of house prejudice that you can't stand the thought of a Gryffindor dating a Slytherin? What, exactly, am I supposed to be doing?" Ron's eyes widened.

"I…er…"

"Oh, but it's obvious, isn't it?" Hermione continued. "If I were following the rules, I would be dating a Gryffindor, because Merlin forbid anyone date outside their house! Who did you have in mind, Ron – yourself?" She snorted. "There are plenty of mixed-house couples at Hogwarts."

"But he's a Slytherin!" Ron protested.

"And that matters because…?" Instead of waiting for an answer, Hermione turned to address the rest of the group.

"Alright, time for a little reality check," she said sharply. "I want all of you to think back for a minute to your first year, your first time on the Hogwarts Express – who was the first person in your year that you talked to? If they're here, go stand with them, and if not, stay where you are." There was a moment of silence while everyone processed Hermione's request, and then they began moving, little partnerships forming throughout the room. When they'd finished, Hermione surveyed the room thoughtfully.

"Alright…raise your hand if you're standing next to someone from a different house," she requested. A surprising number of people raised their hands, including a disgruntled-looking Ron, who was standing next to Terry Boot.

"And the few of you who aren't with anyone – mind sharing who your partner would be?"

"Megan Jones – she's a Hufflepuff," Lisa Turpin volunteered.

"Kenneth Towler," said Lee Jordan.

"Pansy Parkinson."

"What?" Everyone turned to stare at Hannah Abbott, who had gone bright pink.

"Sorry Hannah – did you say Pansy Parkinson?" Draco asked.

"I did," she said with a nod. "Pansy and I knew each other for a long time before Hogwarts." Someone let out a disbelieving snort, and Hannah snapped, "Oh, grow up! My family's part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, of course I knew Pansy before Hogwarts! I also knew Millicent Bulstrode, and Daphne and Astoria Greengrass – our parents threw us all together in hopes that we'd make 'proper' friends before school. Of course, Pansy abandoned me the instant I was Sorted into Hufflepuff, but that doesn't change the fact that we'd been friends for several years before that."

"Wow…I never knew," Harry said quietly. "Er…forgive me for saying so, but why? I mean, their ideals don't exactly seem to…mesh with yours."

"None of those families had any Death Eaters in them – they were all more the type to trade large sums of gold in exchange for the right to remain neutral. It's why I knew those girls but not, say, Theodore Nott," Hannah said.

"Because his father is a known Death Eater," Harry replied.

"Exactly. My parents didn't agree with their neutrality, but it was easier to accept the dinner invites than to make a whole bunch of potentially dangerous enemies." Hannah shrugged. "Pansy was pushy and rude, but we both liked a lot of the same things – I learned pretty quickly that I probably wasn't going to get my way when she came over, but it was far from horrible."

"I think Hannah's story just proves your point, Hermione," Mandy Brocklehurst said. "The only reason we can identify each other by house right now is because most of us are still wearing our uniforms. We form all these prejudices based on house, and where does that leave us?"

"Fighting over stupid things instead of focusing on the bigger picture," Lisa concluded. She looked over at Draco and Hermione then. "Are you two actually together, then?"

"Yes," Hermione said firmly, the defiant look in her eyes daring anyone to object. "Since last Christmas."

"But they've known each other since they were seven," Harry added quickly. "Draco's my adopted brother, and the three of us are next-door neighbors."

"But…" Ernie didn't seem like he knew how to finish his question.

"Can't believe that the last of the Malfoys lives in a Muggle neighborhood, with a Muggle-born mum, a Muggle-born girlfriend, and an adopted brother who bested Voldemort?" Draco said with a smirk, ignoring the yelps that sounded when he said Voldemort's name. "You don't need to know the details, but I can assure you that it's all true."

"Wow…turns things on their head a bit, doesn't it?"

"Now that we've established that Draco's singlehandedly thrown everything off track," Harry joked, causing several people to laugh. "We've still got twenty minutes or so before we need to break for the night, so let's get to work. I thought we'd start with a Disarming spell…"

A/N: Went to town with this one, didn't I? That was fun. In other news, it's SNOWING here (first real snow of the season, which is really odd for us).

Thanks for reading, as well as for the follows/faves/reviews! Love hearing what you all think.

JKR owns all things Potter, I just play. Please R&R, & enjoy! :)