Sorry for the super long wait and the short chapter. I had to really think of where this story was going but now that I have some ideas I am ready to continue. It's kind of a filler chapter but much needed to move things along.
"Oh so there are conditions for me to join," he said skeptically. "If I very well recall, Weasley, you're trying to get me to agree, not to convince me otherwise. And right now, you are not really convincing me."
"Look, if it were up to me you'd be in, no questions asked. But there are other members of the DA that will not take it kindly if you are rude to them," she said and he scoffed. "You have to be willing to cooperate with us so that we can help you."
"Fine, fine, I agree to your conditions," he said. When's the first meeting?
"Well, I'm still working on that. I still have to put word out that we're reforming, find a place, set up meeting times…" Ginny drifted off. She still had lots to plan and Draco noticed her lack of preparedness.
"You mean to say you haven't done that yet?" he asked a little too enthusiastically that it hurt his injured ribs.
"Well, no," she said as she helped him lay back down. "My first priority was for you to agree and to get Luna and Neville on board."
"So Lovegood and Longbottom are going to help you lead this thing?" he asked quietly, mostly just thinking out loud.
"Yeah," she said defensively. "Will that be a problem?"
"No, I guess not. This is your little group after all."
"Then I will get back to you when I have the final details. When do you get out of here?"
"Madam Pomfrey says I can leave in the morning. Though, I might still be hurting for another few days."
"We're going to have to work out a way of communicating without arousing suspicion from the Slytherins. They may not take well if they see us talking or if you somehow have the same means of communication as the rest of the DA."
Draco thought about it and immediately knew how he could communicate with the redhead. "Meet me tomorrow in the owlry during lunch. I have something that might work."
After her visit to Malfoy, Ginny headed back to the library. She had lots to plan and knew she would find Luna and Neville there. They were sitting at a table in the back working on homework but as soon as she approached they stopped what they were doing.
"How'd it go with Malfoy, Gin?" Neville asked.
"He's in," Luna smiled and Neville groaned, but Ginny continued, "And he's agreed to play nice."
"Good to hear, but let's see if he actually can," Neville said crossing his arms.
Ginny ignored her friend's sour mood. "So I was thinking we get to planning. We need to think of a place…"
"I thought we were going to keep meeting in the Room of Requirement?" Luna asked dreamily while she played with her radish earrings.
"Don't you think that will be a little too obvious? People already know that's where we used to meet. What if we get caught again?"
"That's exactly why it's the perfect location," Neville supplied. "Nobody would think that we'd be stupid enough to use the same place. Besides, there are not a lot of places where we could fit that many people. If in fact we do have the same turnout as last time." He said this last part hopefully. The DA was very important to him because not only had he improved a lot in his spellwork, he had also proved those who doubted him wrong and made new friends.
"Fine, let's plan to meet there. What should we do to advertise?"
"I think it's going to have to be word of mouth. Pass on the rumor in between classes and away from the ears of the Carrows and the Slytherins. We need to let them know we're restarting the DA and to check their coins if they still have them," Luna said.
"We're going to have to learn the spell Hermione used to switch the dates and how to make more if we need them."
"I can do some research if you would like Ginny. Hermione must have learned how to do that using a book. The Protean Charm, wasn't it?" Luna said excitedly. Ginny was glad that Luna would help her with the research because together, they would be able to figure it out.
"Yeah, that's what she used."
"Now that we have where and how, we need to decide when," Neville said to the girls. "How much time do we need to prepare and have the first meeting?"
"I say one week. Maybe we can meet every Wednesday night."
"Sure let's try for that," they all agreed.
The next day Draco left the hospital wing after Madam Pomfrey gave him one last check up and gave him some more pain potion for later. Breakfast was ending soon but he managed to make it in time to grab a muffin before heading to class. He made sure to sit in the back of the Charms classroom so no one would notice he was there.
After class he made a quick trip to his dormitory to retrieve his special parchment. The day before when Weasley mentioned the need to communicate secretly he knew this parchment would come in handy. He bought it long ago somewhere in Knockturn alley but had not had the chance to use it. The parchment comes in two pieces and when you write a message on one, it transfers to the other piece. This is what he planned to give Weasley so they can communicate.
During lunch he made his way up to the owlry to wait for Weasley. He pretended to be sending a letter so the few students that were there without any business in the owlry would leave. Once he was alone he sat and waited. It wasn't long before Ginny arrived.
"So, what do you have that will help us communicate?" she asked as soon as she arrived.
"Weasley, as always right to the point," he said taking out the parchment. "These two pieces of parchment are linked and whatever message I want to send you, I just have but to write it down on mine and it will appear on yours."
Ginny took the parchment hesitantly, "I don't know how I feel about this parchment."
"Why so hesitant? It's the best way I can think of. Do you have any other suggestions?" he said exasperated with her attitude.
Ginny's past experience with Riddle's diary made her weary of the parchment. It reminded her too much of the diary. Malfoy was right though, this was the best way to communicate discretely. She would just have to be very careful with what she wrote in it.
"Are you the only one who can read this?"
"Yes, it has a charm that allows only the person in possession of it to read it," he assured her.
"Fine," she said as she put the parchment in her bag. "We're planning to meet in a week, I'll send you the rest of the details through the parchment," and with that said she left.
Draco sighed and waited a while before leaving too.