Ginny
October 21st 1996
"Hermione," Ginny whispered to her friend as she passed her at dinner table. "Meet us up on the seventh floor after dinner. I think I've found a room we can use."
Hermione grinned and then nodded solemnly back to Ginny.
Dobby had come through for them and had returned to Ginny yesterday. He had taken the first opportunity that he had to get Ginny on her own. That opportunity had, unfortunately, been while she was changing and Ginny's reaction to Dobby's sudden intrusion had scared Dobby so badly that it had taken her some time to actually coax the information out of him.
Once Ginny had finished her dinner, she dragged Adam up to seventh floor. After his last meeting with Dumbledore, Adam had begun to have second thoughts about teaching the new Defence class and Ginny knew he was feeling as if he had been pressured into it by the Headmaster. Ginny commiserated with him, but still encouraged him to continue. She knew Adam would be an amazing teacher and, secretly, she was thrilled that he was going to be teaching the class.
Once they reached the seventh floor, Ginny and Adam waited at the top of the staircase, checking the map to make sure they were safe. All the teachers, including Umbridge, were nowhere nearby and Filch was in his office.
Eventually Ron, Hermione and Neville climbed the stairs towards them and Adam hurriedly put the map away.
"Hi," Ginny said in a low voice. "This way."
Ginny led them down the corridor and, following the instructions that Dobby had given them, stopped opposite the tapestry of someone teaching trolls to dance.
We need a place to practice our Defence Against the Dark Arts. A place where they can't find us.
She chanted the thought over and over again in her mind as she paced back and forward three times in front of the tapestry.
"Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed suddenly.
Ginny looked and saw that a highly polished door had appeared. She moved forward, opened the door and stepped into the room on the other side.
Looking around, she saw that the walls were lined with wooden bookcases, and instead of chairs there were large silk cushions on the floor.
Finally, a set of shelves at the far end of the room carried a range of instruments.
"Apparently, this is called the Room of Requirement," Ginny added. "I don't think anyone in the castle knows about it, other than the house-elfs."
"This is perfect!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Brilliant!" Adam exclaimed, a wide smile on his face. "And it's secret!"
"I'll pass the message around," Hermione announced. "If I tell Professor Dumbledore that we'll meet here on Wednesday after dinner, he can make sure that Harry knows where and when. I can't believe this is actually going to happen!" Hermione finished excitedly, practically bouncing up and down.
As they left the room, Ginny saw Adam corner Hermione, presumably to explain why he wouldn't be at the meetings. Ginny waited patiently out in the corridor with Ron and Neville, she didn't want to intrude on this conversation.
Eventually Adam and Hermione emerged from the room and Ginny noticed that Adam looked rather flustered.
"How did it go?" Ginny asked, once Hermione had left with Neville and Ron.
"That was hard," Adam sighed. "I hate having to lie like this, but I think she believed me."
"What did you tell her?"
"I told her that because of the new educational directive and the fact I don't really have anywhere to go other than Hogwarts, I couldn't risk it and I'd just have to go without the extra help for my OWLs. She gave me a really funny look and then just stormed off."
"Adam," Ginny said softly. "You do know my parents wouldn't care if you were expelled."
Adam smiled at her. "I do," he said, and he grimaced. "But I had to give Hermione the impression that I was really scared they would send me back to a children's home," he paused. "Anyway, I think she believed me, but she didn't look happy."
Ginny leaned closer and whispered conspiratorially to him. "Little does she know you'll be teaching the class."
"Little does she know you contributed most of the first lesson..." he whispered back with a smile and then sighed. "I suppose this is really going to happen then..."
"Yes it is," Ginny added. "I can't wait."
"I.." Adam began, and Ginny could tell he was nervous.
"You'll be fine," Ginny reassured him. "No.. you'll be amazing!"
"It's not just that," Adam continued earnestly. "I'm scared people will find out."
Ginny sighed. "They shouldn't. The way I see it, everyone who knows that Adam ducked out the meetings won't be around to see that you'll disappear on the evenings of the meetings because they'll be in them!"
"What?" Adam questioned, trying to wrap his head around what Ginny had just said. "I think I get that."
"We just have to be careful," Ginny said. "We just can't let it seem like we know each other, I think that's the thing that could give it all away."
"Okay," Adam said, his expression hardening. "We can do this. Harry Potter does not know Ginny Weasley and he definitely is not her boyfriend."
"Right," Ginny said with a smile. "As long as we're careful, I think we'll be fine."
October 23rd 1996
Ginny waited anxiously for the first meeting of their secret club to start. She had left Adam in the common room. He would find somewhere private to alter his appearance and then go to the Room of Requirement under his Invisibility Cloak.
Ginny watched as the students trooped into the room in groups of two and three. To her delight, it seemed that everyone who had signed the parchment in the Hog's Head had come, except for Adam, but he was going to be here soon, sort-of.
"Hello, everyone," Hermione raised her voice over the chatter. "Welcome. This is the erm, place, we have found for our lessons. It's well hidden and I think you'll agree it's pretty amazing!"
The room was filled with appreciative murmurs.
"Harry is coming tonight, although I'm not sure exactly when he'll get here. But first I had an idea, I erm, think we should have a name," Hermione continued.
"Can we be the Anti-Umbridge League?" said Katie hopefully.
"Err, I was thinking," Hermione replied, "more of a name that didn't tell everyone what we were up to, so we can refer to it safely outside meetings."
"The Defence Association?" said Cho. "DA for short!"
Ginny suddenly had a better idea. "How about DA for Dumbledore's Army," she announced. After all, Dumbledore had basically forced Adam to do it. Not that she didn't agree with the professor, but Ginny knew if it wasn't for Dumbledore, Adam wouldn't have done it.
"Err, all right," Hermione said. "Let's vote! Hand's up for Defence Association."
Ginny looked around and scowled as she noticed a handful of hands go up.
"And for Dumbledore's Army?"
To Ginny's delight a far larger number of hands went up.
"Dumbledore's Army it is, then," Hermione announced.
"I like it!" A voice called loudly from the back of the room.
The entire room, including Ginny, spun around. Ginny gasped slightly. If she hadn't known Harry was Adam, she wouldn't have recognised him. With his black hair, green eyes, different glasses, a different sounding voice and, if she wasn't mistaken, a slightly different skin tone, it was almost as if he was a completely different person.
"Oh! Hi!" Hermione gushed suddenly. "Welcome!"
Adam walked to the front of the class and stood in front of them. Ginny could tell from the way he was standing that he was nervous. She hoped nobody else could spot it.
"So, everyone, this is Harry Potter. He's going to be teaching us. So I'll turn things over to you, Harry," Hermione said.
"Hi, everyone," he said.
Suddenly the room was filled by whisperings. Eventually, Dean Thomas put his hand up.
"Go on," Adam replied with a tried expression.
"Where have you been all these years?"
"Professor Dumbledore has been hiding me, he feared You-Know-Who's followers would try to kill me."
"Why didn't you come to Hogwarts?" Someone else asked.
"Professor Dumbledore thought it would be too dangerous."
"How did you survive when everyone thought you were dead?" Ron asked.
"No one knows," Adam replied. "I was too young to remember anything from that night."
A few other students shouted out a few questions, and Adam seemed to be getting more and more flustered.
"When can we start the lesson?" Ginny asked loudly.
Ginny watched as Adam's face brightened at this.
"Yes!" he exclaimed. "Let's start the lesson! QUIET!"
Almost as one, everyone in the room stopped talking.
"Okay, erm. First thing I'd like to cover is the Shield Charm."
"Wait, Harry," Hermione exclaimed suddenly.
"What?" Adam asked, turning to face her with an exasperated look on his face.
"We need to set the time of our future meetings, so you know when to come," Hermione said and she walked across to a bag she had placed at the front of the room.
Ginny watched as she opened the bag and pulled out a handful of what looked like Galleons. Adam was looking at them quizzically. Ginny flinched slightly, as that facial expression suddenly seemed to make the similarities between Adam and Harry painfully obvious. Hoping that no one else had noticed, Ginny quickly looked around the room and heaved a sigh of relief. No one seemed to have noticed. Hermione was looking excitedly at Adam but she seemed caught up in explaining what she had in the bag.
"What are those?" Adam asked.
"These are enchanted Galleons. We will all have one. We can set the digits on the side to show when the next meeting will be."
"Brilliant!" Adam exclaimed.
"So Harry can schedule a meeting if he wants to and we can let Harry know when we schedule one."
"That sounds like a great idea, but listen..." Adam began, "you shouldn't not have a meeting just because I'm not here. I can teach you new things, but it's just as important that you practice what you've learnt."
Ginny nodded along with the rest of the group, who listened keenly to what he had to say.
"Alright then, we're going to start with the basics." Adam now announced. "The incantation for the Shield Charm is Protego. I'm now going to demonstrate the wand movement, and then you can all practice."
Ginny turned to Colin Creevey who was standing near her. She would pair up with him to practice. Hopefully, she might be able to give him some extra help and make Adam's time a little bit easier.
November 2nd 1996
Ginny ducked out of the way of a passing Bludger as she charged towards the Slytherin goalposts with the Quaffle tucked safely under her arm. In front of her she saw two of the Slytherin Chasers rapidly closing in on her. Knowing that it would be difficult for her to keep the Quaffle with the two Slytherins chasing her, Ginny tossed the Quaffle downwards. They had practiced this maneuver in training and Demelza should be waiting to receive it.
Ginny decelerated rapidly, watching as Demelza grabbed the Quaffle and accelerated forwards, with Katie close behind her. Ginny followed them at a distance, waiting to see where she could be most useful.
Eventually, Demelza tossed the Quaffle to Katie and she split off from Demelza. Ginny instantly saw what they were planning; with one on either side of the pitch they had a good chance of dividing the Slytherin Chasers.
Ginny accelerated towards the Slytherin goals. With two Slytherins on Katie and the third currently moving to block any passes from Katie to Demelza, Ginny suddenly found herself in space. Katie threw the Quaffle and it arced into the sky. As it soared upwards, Ginny accelerated forward towards it. She closed the distance between herself and the ball, keeping her eyes on it at all times. Ginny knew that if she was able to time her run correctly, the Quaffle should fall past her on its way back down.
She surged forward and plucked the Quaffle out of the sky. Once she had the ball in her arm, she accelerated further, jerking her broom downwards to prevent it being clipped by a Bludger that had been sent her way.
Now there was only the Slytherin Keeper between her and the goals. He hovered near the centre post, so Ginny flew towards the left hand post, but at the same time eying the right hand post eagerly. Watching the Keeper's position carefully, Ginny waited. Once she was less than ten metres away, she threw the Quaffle and at the last moment, the Keeper dived across to the right hand post.
Ginny grinned. He would have probably caught the Quaffle if she had actually aimed it at the right hand post. With a triumphant smirk, she raised her hand in triumph as the Quaffle sailed through the centre post.
The crowd in the Gryffindor stands went wild and Ginny quickly flew back to the centre of the pitch, getting ready to defend against the Slytherin attack that would inevitably be coming. The score was now 40-20 to Slytherin. Too close to call. The winner would depend on who caught the Snitch.
Ginny glanced around the stadium trying to find Adam. He was hovering just above the Gryffindor goalposts, but she couldn't see what he was doing. All she could see from this distance was a red dot.
She turned her attention back to the match. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something streaking rapidly towards her. She dragged her broom towards the ground, narrowly avoiding the Bludger. Her momentary distraction let a green blur fly past her at considerable speed and Ginny swore, a Slytherin Chaser had soared past her.
Ginny yanked on her broom handle and shot after the Slytherin, gaining on him over the course of several seconds. She saw his arm begin to move, he was going to pass! Ginny put on a surge of speed and was just able to get her fingertips on the Quaffle. She wasn't able to catch it, but she did disrupt the pass and the Quaffle tumbled towards the ground.
Ginny and the Slytherin Chaser both dove towards the ball, but another green-clad Chaser beat her to it. He shot towards her goal, with no one in pursuit. Where were Katie and Demelza? Ginny thought desperately but she couldn't even spare a second to look for them as she began to pull ahead of the pursuing Slytherin Chaser. The lead Chaser now only had Ron between him and the goal.
Ginny watched helplessly as the Chaser shot. She saw Ron dive towards the shot. His fingers clutched at the Quaffle, but it wasn't enough. It hit the frame of the goal and bounced inside and the Gryffindors cheered.
The Gryffindors cheered? Ginny looked around in confusion trying to work out what had happened. Then she saw it. She saw a fist-sized red dot closing in on something... a tiny gold speck! Adam nearly had the Snitch! Even better, there was no sign of the Draco Malfoy!
Ginny soon spotted Malfoy. He was a long way behind Adam, and unless the Snitch managed to avoid her boyfriend there was no way he would catch it. Time seemed to slow down as she watched Adam get closer and closer to the tiny gold speck.
He caught it! The crowd erupted in cheers and Ginny whooped for joy. She flew a single triumphant pass over the Gryffindor stands before bringing her broom down to the ground.
Once the team were all back on the ground, Ginny ran straight up to Adam and wrapped him in a hug. They were soon joined by the rest of the team.
"Amazing performance!" Katie shouted. "One hundred-seventy to fifty!"
The celebrations on the pitch lasted for many minutes, but eventually Ginny and the rest of the team began making their way back towards the changing rooms.
Ginny changed and showered. As she was dressing she noticed that the fake galleon, which she always kept in her pocket, was slightly warm. She looked at it. The date for the next meeting was set for tomorrow.
Ginny paused, thinking for a moment. She and Adam hadn't prepared anything yet. The first two meetings they had spent on the Shield Charm and they had also started on the Disarming Spell. They would probably need something new for the next one.
Ginny sighed. It looked like she and Adam had work to do before tomorrow.
November 13th 1996
Ginny stood in the Room of Requirement nervously awaiting the next meeting of Dumbledore's Army. They'd had three meetings so far and Ginny was shocked at how poor some of her classmates were at Defence. So far, Adam had only just finished covering shields and how to disarm your opponent. This was stuff Ginny had been able to do since her second year! The people in the years above her were faring slightly better, but even some of them were struggling with what Adam was teaching.
Did they not realise how important it is to be able to defend yourself?
"Attention, everyone!" Adam announced from the front of the room. "Let's get down to it," Adam then paused, while he waited for the room to quieten. "We've covered Expelliarmus and Protego. Today we are going to move onto the Stunning Spell."
At this announcement, much to Ginny's annoyance, several people in the room groaned.
"When are we going to get to the cool stuff?" someone shouted.
"You all need to know this stuff," Adam answered. "Sure we will do cool stuff, but we need to know the basics first."
"But when?" Once of the Ravenclaws whined.
"Look," Adam said, and Ginny could tell he was getting exasperated. "I can teach you cool things, but I won't do it until you all master the basics. What good will more advanced spells be if you can't even shield yourself!"
"What about the Patronus spell?" Someone else asked. "Or will you teach us how to blow stuff up?"
"I will not teach you to blow things up!" Adam replied harshly, then apparently seeing the disappointed look on the Ravenclaws face, he continued. "But I will teach you the Patronus Charm. Once you've mastered the basics," he promised.
Adam's promise seemed to quieten the doubters, but Ginny was silently fuming. They had asked him to come here and teach, only to complain about it!
"Harry," Hermione chirped up. "Maybe you could just show us your Patronus?"
Oh no! Ginny thought. She knew that Ron, Hermione and Neville knew that Adam's Patronus was a Stag. Hopefully Adam would remember this!
Adam seemed to hesitate, and for a second he made eye contact with Ginny.
He's remembered! Ginny thought with relief, but he doesn't know what to do!
"I'll show you!" Ginny exclaimed. "Professor Lupin taught me how to do it. So I can show you all."
Instantly the attention of the class was on her, and Ginny suddenly felt strangely nervous. She hadn't done the Patronus Charm for over a year.
"Go on, Ginny," Adam said from the front of the room.
Steeling herself and taking out her wand, Ginny cried. "Expecto Patronum!"
The room gave a collective gasp and Ginny felt herself flush with pride as her shining white mare appeared in the centre of the room. It remained there proudly for several seconds before fading away.
"Thank you, Ginny," Adam said, then he continued. "Can we carry on now?"
"Can you show us your Patronus?" Hermione asked.
Damn you, Hermione! Ginny thought. Trust her to ask an awkward question!
"Er," Adam began, then his expression suddenly hardened. "I'm not here to demonstrate things for you! You're here to learn!"
Despite all the complaining, the lesson soon continued and Adam spent considerable time demonstrating and then allowing the class to practice the Stunning Spell. As the class began to practice, Ginny glanced over at Hermione and was surprised to find her starting at Harry with an intense expression on her face.
What was going on with her?
Even though Ginny considered herself competent at the Stunning spell, she still joined in with the practice and was able to help several other DA members. Much to her surprise, the time flew by and, before she knew it, it was time for the meeting to end.
"Time to go, everyone," Adam spoke up once everyone had finished practicing. "That was really good, so," he hesitated looking towards Hermione. "I'll see you next week?"
"Yes, everyone," Hermione spoke up. "We'll meet same time next week, unless you get a message on your Galleon saying otherwise." With that, the DA members broke up into smaller groups, mostly by house, and began leaving the room.
"Harry!" Ginny heard Hermione yell over the noise. "Can I have a word?"
Adam nudged his way through the other members, over to where Hermione and Ginny were now standing.
"Yes, Hermione?" Adam asked.
"Can I get your help with a spell please?"
"Err... sure," Adam responded, looking slightly confused.
"I was just wondering if you could help me with the wand movement for Diffindo? I know we've not covered it yet, but I was doing some private study."
Ginny stared at Hermione in surprise. She'd learnt that spell last year, so surely Hermione was more than capable at it?
"Sure," Adam replied, seeming eager to help.
Deciding to leave Adam and Hermione to it, and not wanting to be spotted hanging around with Harry too much lest she arouse suspicion, Ginny wandered across the room, planning on having a quick chat with Ron and Neville.
Adam's cry of pain stopped her in her tracks before she was half way across the room. She spun around on the spot and dashed back across to Adam. What on earth had happened?
"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" Hermione was exclaiming frantically by the time Ginny reached her.
"What happened?" Ginny demanded.
"I cut Harry!" Hermione exclaimed again.
"It's alright, Hermione!" Adam said, holding his hand. "It's only a small cut!"
"Let me clean it up for you!" Hermione blurted suddenly and grabbed Adam's hand, she moved her wand over the cut and, as Ginny watched, the blood on his skin seemed to vanish leaving only a small cut in the skin.
"Thanks," Adam remarked. "It was nothing. Accidents happen!"
"I am so sorry!" Hermione repeated yet again.
"It's fine!" Adam replied, sounding a little exasperated now. "Anyway, I need to be off."
"Okay, see you soon," Hermione said, with a smile on her face. She looked strangely excited.
What was up with her?
"Ginny?" Hermione said. "Want to walk back to the common room with me?"
"Sure," Ginny replied with a shrug.
"So, Ginny," Hermione asked as they left the Room of Requirement and started making their way back to Gryffindor Tower. "How are things? How are you and Adam getting on? Are things are good between the two of you?"
Ginny couldn't help but smile at this. "Yes, we're good."
Hermione beamed in response. "Great! How long have you been together now?"
Ginny giggled slightly at this. "Just under two years."
"Oh, wow," Hermione replied. "It doesn't seem that long."
"No," Ginny replied. "It was our one year anniversary in January."
They walked in silence for a few minutes.
"Does Adam miss coming to the DA meetings?" Hermione asked. "It's unusual for him not to be involved in stuff."
"Nah," Ginny said. "He's fine with it. He's pretty good at Defence anyway."
"I can imagine," Hermione said with a strange expression on her face. "The both of you just seem to be naturally gifted at it. Can Adam do the Patronus Charm, too?"
"He can," Ginny responded happily. "Adam's is a Stag. It's beautiful."
Hermione smiled back at her. "Do you think Harry will really have time to teach it to us this year?"
"Oh yes," Ginny replied with a grin. "I'm sure he will."
They paused at the portrait of the Fat Lady and Ginny gave the password. As they entered the common room they saw Adam sitting in a corner reading a book.
"Thanks, Hermione," Ginny said smiling. Sometimes it was nice to talk to another girl, even if Hermione was a bit nosey sometimes. "I'll see you later."
"Oh," Hermione said, looking slightly hesitant. "Do you mind if I join you?"
Ginny shrugged. "Sure."
Ginny walked over, sat down next to Adam and gave him a kiss.
"Hey," he said brightly, then looking up and seeing Hermione he said. "Hi, Hermione. How's it going?"
"Fine," she said, sitting down on Adam's other side. "How are you?"
"Oh, fine." Adam said casually.
Ginny saw him glance over at her as if to say. Why is Hermione sitting with us and not Ron and Neville?
Suddenly, Hermione's hand shot out and grabbed Adam's hand and turned it over.
"Your hand!" The exclaimed suddenly, gasping. "Y-Y-Your...Your!"
Adam reacted first. He quickly placed his hand over Hermione's mouth, pushing her back in her seat and silencing her.
"Don't say it!" Adam whispered harshly to Hermione. "Don't you dare say anything!"
Adam released Hermione and leapt to his feet, pacing for a few seconds before rounding on a slightly scared looking Hermione.
"Let's go upstairs, my room!" he whispered harshly.
Hermione climbed shakily to her feet and Adam and Ginny escorted her upstairs to the fifth year boys' dormitory. Luckily, none of Adam's roommates where in when they arrived.
"So..." Adam said in a low voice as soon as the door had closed. Ginny couldn't decide if he was angry or not.
"You're Harry Potter!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Yeah," Adam replied, deflating slightly, and looking more awkward now than angry.
"You can't tell anyone, Hermione," Ginny said sternly.
Hermione sat down on one of the beds and just stared at Adam.
"I suspected something was up, but I never..." she said faintly. She seemed almost lost for words. "I never though I'd be right... I thought there'd be a more logical explanation."
Much to Ginny's surprise Adam suddenly laughed.
"Well, you've found just about the biggest secret there is," he said. "As Ginny said, you can't tell anyone. Not even Ron or Neville."
"I-I-I... I won't," Hermione said softly.
"How did you figure it out?" Ginny asked. "We've been so careful."
"I suspected something was off when Adam didn't join the DA, then you told me Adam was a year older which made him the same age as Harry," she rambled, "and then when I was asking Ron about what happened during the summer it seemed odd that you came back from your trip the day after Harry was released from the hospital..." She trailed off weakly. "Oh! You were kidnapped... oh, Adam!"
Adam nodded numbly.
Ginny felt herself breathe a sigh of relief. They hadn't let anything slip. It was just that Hermione was clever.
"Do you think anyone else suspects?" Adam asked also looking concerned.
"I don't think so, as I said I didn't really believe it could be true. I thought it was just a coincidence... I was only actually confident enough to do anything when you refused to show us your Patronus and then when I actually looked at Harry's face. I mean looked closely at you and saw your jaw is the same shape and you have the same nose..." She trailed off.
Ginny walked over, stood next to Adam and clasped his hand as Hermione attempted to digest her discovery.
"So..." Hermione continued, her voice now becoming accusing. "How? Have you been lying to us ever since you started here? How long have you known, Ginny?"
"Hermione," Ginny warned her, feeling a little angry at Hermione's accusing tone. "Adam was taken from his house after his mum and dad were killed as a baby and disguised by Peter Pettigrew. He didn't know who he was until the end of our third year."
"Oh," Hermione murmured softly.
Adam interjected, "Professor Dumbledore found out a lot earlier, but decided not tell me 'for my own good'. So all the crap about him hiding me is all a lie to cover up the fact that, well, Adam and Harry are one and the same."
"Who knows?" Hermione asked.
"Dumbledore, Ginny, of course, Remus and Tonks," Adam answered. "We're pretty sure Voldemort knows, too."
Hermione seemed completely overwhelmed so Ginny went and sat down next to her.
"Can you keep the secret?" Ginny asked her. "If it gets out, Professor Dumbledore might not allow Adam to come to Hogwarts anymore. Plus, he'd never get any peace. Can you imagine what it would be like?"
"Y-Yeah," Hermione stammered. "Of course... I won't tell anyone."
"Thanks, Hermione," Adam replied, giving her a small smile.
"You know," Hermione said carefully. "If you guys need anything... now that I know..."
"Thanks," Adam said, his voice sounding brighter now. "I... we just need to make sure no one else in the DA figures it out. Can you help with that?"
Hermione nodded jerkily. "I..." she stammered. "Yes, of course."
"We better get back to the common room before people wonder what we're up to," Ginny added. "We did just storm up here, so Ron or Neville might come looking."
Hermione nodded again and made her way out of the room.
"Maybe it won't be so bad," Ginny mused to Adam once Hermione had left. "At least she won't tell anyone."
"She may be able to help us out, too," Adam said, sounding hopeful.
Ginny grinned in response and turned to follow Hermione down the stairs. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad that Hermione found out. At least they knew Hermione was trustworthy.
November 23rd 1996
After only a few days, Ginny had come to the conclusion that it was a good thing that Hermione knew the secret. It was actually nice to have someone else that she could bounce ideas off about the DA, plus it took a bit of the weight off her and Adam's shoulders.
She watched as Adam walked back into the common room after a meeting with Dumbledore and she felt a surge of sympathy for him; he looked absolutely exhausted.
She knew how he felt. In the recent weeks they had both been incredibly busy. They had school work, essays, lesson preparation for the DA, the meetings themselves, and Quidditch. On top of all this, Adam had lessons with Dumbledore.
Ginny waved Adam over to her. He sat down next to her and she cuddled up to him. It seemed these days they hardly ever had anytime just to be with each other, they were always doing one thing or another.
"You, okay?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah, just tired."
"How was it?" she asked.
"Dumbledore's going away," Adam said gravely. "He thinks," Adam lowered his voice, "Voldemort is going to make his first move soon."
"Oh," Ginny said. She didn't like it when Dumbledore was away because he was the only one who seemed to be able to control Umbridge. The horrible woman even disobeyed Professor McGonagall.
"He showed me more memories tonight," Adam said. "He says this is the last of them."
"So you haven't any more meetings?" Ginny asked.
"He wants to see me in the new year," Adam replied. "When he's back."
"Oh," Ginny replied. She couldn't quite understand what Dumbledore was up to. Surely he was supposed to be teaching Adam spells to help him, but he had made no effort to so far, even though he had promised Adam as much when persuading him to teach the DA.
"He showed me one of when Voldemort killed his father and then framed his uncle for it," Adam said in a numb voice.
Ginny shuddered, thinking back to the Diary. "He was evil even then."
"Yeah," Adam said softly and stroked her hair.
Ginny murmured appreciatively and nuzzled into Adam's shoulder.
"He showed me one more," Adam continued. "This one was a fake, though. It was from a guy called Slughorn. He used to be a Professor here. He told Voldemort something, something important. And Dumbledore wants to know what he told him."
"Oh," Ginny said. "How does he plan to do that? "
"No idea," Adam shrugged. "Slughorn won't tell him."
"Adam," Ginny questioned. "Why is he telling you all this?"
"I don't know," Adam replied. "I've been thinking about it myself. The only thing I can think of is maybe Voldemort has a weakness or something and because of the Prophecy it has to be me..."
Ginny could only nod in agreement, what Adam was saying did make sense.
"I think... I just have to trust Dumbledore," Adam said with a sigh. "If Voldemort's after me and I eventually..." She felt Adam swallow. "If I have to be the one who, you know, then I'll need him... I can't do it on my own."
"Well," Ginny said, not quite knowing what to say in response to that. "At least you get a break from the meetings for a bit."
Adam grinned tiredly. "Yeah. More time for us now."
Ginny grinned happily in response.
Adam
December 2nd 1996
Adam jerked awake, groaning painfully. He felt very strange; he felt a strange detached feeling of happiness bubbling inside him, and his scar was prickling painfully.
With a moan Adam pulled himself out of bed. He glanced at his clock, noticing it was half past seven. He'd slept much later then usual. Adam grabbed his things and dashed to the shower to get ready.
He reached the common room, twenty minutes later than usual, with his scar still prickling. Ginny was waiting for him, rubbing her hands together.
"Slept late?" she asked brightly, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.
"Yeah," Adam replied, hugging her.
They walked down to breakfast together and Adam eagerly tucked into his eggs and bacon.
"Wonder what joys Umbridge will have for us today?" Adam asked sarcastically. The prickling from his scar was making him feel rather miserable, despite the strange euphoria that seemed to still be bubbling within him.
"Dunno," Ginny shrugged, idly scratching her hand with the base of her knife. "Maybe it won't be as bad as usual," she finished hopefully, obviously trying to put a brighter spin on things.
They were about halfway through their breakfasts when Adam felt a tap on shoulder. He turned around and saw Ron standing there.
"You need to see this," Ron said, brandishing a copy of the daily prophet.
As Ron wafted the paper in front of him, Adam caught a glimpse of Sirius on the front page. He grabbed the paper off Ron and read it.
MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN.
MINISTRY FEARS BLACK IS "RALLYING POINT" FOR OLD DEATH EATERS.
The Ministry of Magic announced late last night that there has been a mass breakout from Azkaban. Speaking to reporters in his private office, Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, confirmed that ten high-security prisoners escaped in the early hours of yesterday evening, and that he has already informed the Muggle Prime Minister of the dangerous nature of these individuals.
Cornelius Fudge gave the following statement to this paper last night.
"We find ourselves, most unfortunately, in the same position we were two years ago when the murderer Sirius Black escaped. Nor do we think the two breakouts are unrelated. An escape of this magnitude suggests outside help, and we must remember that Black, as the first person ever to break out of Azkaban, would be ideally placed to help others follow in his footsteps. We think it likely that these individuals, who include Black's cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange, have rallied around Black as their leader. We are, however, doing all we can to round up the criminals and beg the magical community to remain alert and cautious. On no account should any of these individuals be approached."
Adam looked at the other photographs on the front page. They were all listed as followers of Voldemort. Each photograph had a name beneath it:
Antonin Dolohov, read the legend beneath a wizard with a long, pale, twisted face who was sneering up at Adam, convicted of the brutal murders of Gideon and Fabian Prewett.
Augustus Rookwood, said the caption beneath a pockmarked man with greasy hair who was leaning against the edge of his picture, looking bored, convicted of leaking Ministry of Magic Secrets to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
Bellatrix Lestrange, convicted of the torture and permanent incapacitation of Frank and Alice Longbottom.
Ginny gasped when she read the final name. "Neville's parents," she whispered. "That's why you saw him at St Mungo's."
Adam nodded gravely.
"Dumbledore was right, he's making his move." Adam whispered back to her.
Ginny nodded back at him and Adam looked up to see Hermione and Ron, who must have sat down opposite him while he was reading the article.
"What were you two whispering about?" Hermione asked, giving him a funny look.
"Just about how we know it can't be Sirius," Ginny interrupted.
"Well, the Ministry must want someone to blame it on," Hermione began, eying Adam as she spoke. "And they don't know Sirius is dead, do they?"
Ginny hesitated but Adam shrugged. "Dunno," he replied nonchalantly.
They finished their breakfast in silence.
"Well," Hermione said. "We'll leave you two to it. We must get to Potions."
"Enjoy!" Ginny replied brightly.
Adam snorted as Hermione pulled a face.
"We better get to Defence, then," Adam said tiredly.
Adam and Ginny quickly finished their breakfast and walked to Umbridge's classroom.
"How can the Ministry try and pin it on Sirius?" Ginny asked as they walked.
"They need someone to pin it on," Adam said grumpily. "At least we know why they didn't put it in the paper that he's ..." Adam coughed. "...That he's dead." He was silent for a moment. "I can't believe they still don't believe that Voldemort's back!"
"Adam!" Ginny exclaimed. "Not so loud! You were practically shouting."
"Sometimes I wish I could shout about this!" Adam shot back. "People need to know that he's back!"
Ginny clasped his hand, and simply said, "I know."
They continued walking towards Umbridge's classroom. When they arrived, they entered the room and sat down at a desk together near the back.
"Welcome, class," Umbridge said in her usual prim voice, as she started the lesson. "Firstly, I wanted to draw your attention to the Ministry sponsored article in today's Daily Prophet," she held up a copy of the paper. "All of these criminals are highly dangerous, so I am going to cover material to enable to you to respond appropriately if you should encounter any of them during the Christmas Holidays."
Adam stared in shock, had he heard correctly? Was Umbridge actually going to teach them something useful.
"If you encounter any of these individuals you should do the following..." Umbridge began, as if reading from a script. She waved her wand and writing suddenly appeared on the blackboard, which she began to read through.
Adam tuned out her voice and read the information on the blackboard.
1) Do not approach these individuals.
2) If you have a suspected sighting of these individuals, avoid them and report it to an official Ministry representative at your earliest convenience.
3) If you have a confirmed sighting of these individuals, immediately contact the Department for Magical Law Enforcement, either by Owl Post or by utilising the nearest Floo Connection.
4) If any of these individuals act in an aggressive way towards you, immediately seek out the nearest Ministry Official. They will not dare attack a representative of the Ministry of Magic.
Adam snorted when he read these.
"These aren't any use to anyone!" he exclaimed. From the nodding around him, he guessed he had voiced the opinion of the rest of the class.
"Quiet, Mr. Winters," Umbridge replied. "Ten points from Gryffindor for criticising official policy of the Ministry of Magic."
Adam slammed his fist down the desk.
Ginny leapt to her feet. "That's not fair, he's right! These are dangerous people. If they attack us we won't have time to Owl or get to a Floo!" Ginny said derisively.
"Ten points as well, Miss Weasley." Umbridge pointed around the class. "Any further outbursts will be met with detention.
"Now," Umbridge continued, as if she was unfazed by their interruptions. "The Ministry has significant evidence that links the long-time escaped convict and mass murderer, Sirius Black with this escape. It is believed that he is the mastermind behind this entire plot," Umbridge coughed making a disgustingly sweet noise. "Sirius Black is extremely dangerous man. As well as being behind this escape, and the murder of twelve Muggles, he was also behind, and this is not widely known, the Murder of Peter Pettigrew and James and Lily Potter."
Adam felt a rage building inside him as Umbridge completely slated his godfather. She was telling everyone that he killed his parents. It was all lies; every word of it was lies. Through the haze of anger, Adam vaguely felt Ginny touch his leg; she was obviously trying to calm him down.
"Even though he did not kill the Potters himself, he was certainly there and provided You-Know-Who with the information so he could carry out these deeds," Umbridge continued. "Sirius Black is a traitor and a murderer, which is why the Ministry of Magic has named him their currently most wanted criminal."
Finally unable to take it anyone Adam shot to his feet.
"Where's the evidence!" Ginny roared suddenly, beating him to it.
"Miss Weasley!" Umbridge exclaimed.
"Where's the evidence for this! This sounds like it has all been made up!" Ginny continued.
"Right! That's it Miss Weasley! Detention! Tomorrow night, for two nights! One for criticising the Ministry of Magic's policies and one for criticising our justice system!"
Adam suddenly felt himself deflate as he looked over at Ginny, who was smirking slightly. Ginny had gotten detention because of him. She had taken the punishment that would have been coming this way if he had spoken. Why would she do that?
Adam flopped back down on his seat. What good would it do to shout at Umbridge anyway? It would make him feel better, and then he could be in detention with Ginny.
"Don't even think about it!" Ginny whispered to him harshly. "I didn't save your butt and stop you giving yourself away only for you to end up in detention, too."
"Why, Ginny?" he whispered. "Why did you?"
"Because I care about you, you big dolt!" Ginny said, her expression breaking into a smile.
Adam couldn't help but feel slightly better at this comment. So he took out his textbook and tried to tune out Umbridge's annoying voice for the rest of the lesson. He just hoped Umbridge wouldn't be too harsh on Ginny.