Chapter 2: Recruiting
"We aren't doing enough!" Ginny said.
Neville and Luna turned around to look at Ginny questioningly. They where in the Room of Requirement preparing the next bout of graffiti they would apply to the walls of Hogwarts.
"What do you mean? You want to blow up the castle?" Neville asked incredulously.
"Strange, there aren't any wrackspurts around," Luna said, looking around wildly.
"No, I mean here we are, repainting the castle, while the Carrows are still teaching Dark Arts and that farce they call Muggle Studies," Ginny said hotly.
"You want to blow up the castle," Luna said as though that was obvious.
"While that would solve a couple of problems, that is not what I had in mind," Ginny said, shaking her head in exasperation.
"Then what?" Neville asked nonplussed.
"We will do what Harry did. We will teach it ourselves!" Ginny said, standing up and pacing around.
"You want us to teach the DA defence against the dark arts?" Neville asked.
"No, not the DA. The DA is too high profile these days," Ginny said shaking her head.
"A new club then?" Luna asked.
"Yes, a new club in Harry's name," Ginny said. In Lily's name, Ginny added to herself.
"Ginny, the last time we did something 'for Harry', or in his name we ended up in detention," Neville said seriously.
"Neville, don't you realise that our actions for the DA are also in Harry's name? We are doing it because Harry would have done the same!" Ginny nearly shouted. The fact that Neville and Luna where tortured for their escapade in Snape's office one week ago was still a sore subject with Ginny. The detention with Hagrid was 'fun' in comparison according to Neville.
"We could call it 'Harry's Army', though I don't think that Harry would like that name very much," Luna said interrupting the argument.
"I was thinking about 'The Emerald Army', TEA for short" Ginny said seriously, ignoring Neville's protests.
"After his eyes. Clever, and a lot easier to mix in everyday conversations then DA is," Luna said thoughtfully.
Not after his eyes, but Lily's, Ginny thought to herself. It was hard to remember that they were going to do this for Lily Potter, not Harry.
"So, that is the new name of the DA then?" Neville asked nonplussed.
"No, this club is not just for the DA, but a different crowd, anyone who is interested, and a lot more secret then the DA. But it is especially for the first years who are being brain-washed as we speak," Ginny said seriously.
"Why so much secrecy?" Neville asked.
"If this gets out we will be in a lot more trouble then just detention, and I mean that even with the Carrows," Ginny said seriously.
Neville nodded and said, "Sign me up."
"Thanks, Nev," Ginny said, grateful for having Neville as a friend.
"I'm in too," Luna said seriously, no trace of her dreaminess anywhere.
"What are we going to teach them?" Neville asked.
"About the same Harry taught the DA to any who aren't in the DA already, and some new stuff for old DA members," Ginny said.
"And what new stuff Ginny?" Luna asked.
"I've just got to retrieve a book," Ginny said, hoping that she didn't have to explain about the Half-blood Prince just yet.
"What book?" Neville asked curiously.
"Harry's old Potions book," Ginny said evasively.
"Strange place for spells," Luna remarked.
"Harry used it to prepare his lessons for the DA," Ginny lied smoothly. She felt bad about lying to Neville and Luna, but she wanted to protect Snape as much as possible.
"Where is the book now?" Neville asked.
"Hidden," was all Ginny said.
Neville nodded and asked no more.
"I want the two of you to start recruiting among your House, from there we will expand the group purely by mouth to mouth," Ginny said, starting to pace again.
"And what about you?" Neville asked.
"I will retrieve the book," Ginny said seriously.
Neville and Luna both nodded before they continued with preparing the graffiti they where going to use later.
~O~
It was the next day when Ginny had time to search for the Potions book. She stood up before anyone else in Gryffindor tower had even awoken. She sneaked out to the Room of Requirement and asked for the Room of Hidden Things, as Harry had called it. She had never been in there.
When the door appeared and she opened it she felt her mouth fall open. Before her lay a big maze of all kind of unused and thrown away items. Broomsticks, Fanged Frisbees, potion supplies, and other assorted items that for one reason or other where hidden here.
When she started looking around her heart fell when she realised the task before her. Somewhere in this maze the Potions book was hidden, but it would take weeks, if not months to search it all.
Ginny tried hard to remember the directions Harry had given her. She had not really paid attention to them since she had thought that it would be easy to find, and at that moment she was more focused on what Harry's hands where doing with her hair.
'... look for a chipped bust of an ugly warlock, he has a dusty tiara as a crown. It is in the cupboard it is standing on,' was the tail end of Harry's explanation she had caught. The rest of his directions she could not remember, though there was a broken vanishing cabinet in there somewhere. Ginny supposed that was as good a starting point as any, it certainly would be bigger then some bust.
It did not take long for Ginny to find the vanishing cabinet. She looked around and saw the bust Harry had mentioned at the end of an alleyway. She looked at the bust and looked at the tiara. It pulsed with a kind of power that Ginny had felt before, like it was familiar to her, but at the same time it repulsed her. Could this be one of those Horcruxes she had overheard Harry, Ron and Hermione talking about?
Ginny chided herself for even thinking that. There was no way that she, little Ginny Weasley, would find one of the missing Horcruxes. And besides, even if it was one, she had no way of destroying it. Ignoring the tiara she opened the cupboard Harry had mentioned and found a cage with the bones of a five legged creature. Behind the cage was the Potions book she needed. Quickly she grabbed it and closed the cupboard. Just as she put the book in her bag a voice sounded behind her.
"Hello, Weasley!" Ginny turned around and came face to face with Pansy Parkinson, who was standing near the vanishing cabinet, looking menacingly at her.
"Parkinson!" Ginny acknowledged, grabbing her wand and pointing it at Parkinson.
"I wouldn't use that wand, or I would have to report you to the Carrows," Parkinson sneered at Ginny.
"Do your worst!" Ginny growled. Just as she was to curse Parkinson, two other people appeared beside her. Ginny recognized Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott, both had their wands out and pointing at Ginny.
"I wouldn't do that if I where you," Zabini sneered at Ginny.
"All I wanted was a civilized conversation," Parkinson said haughtily.
"You have to choose your sides carefully," Nott added.
"You do know that when Harry defeats You-Know-Who that you guys will lose, right?" Ginny asked raising an eyebrow.
"Hah! You think that your coward of a boyfriend is out there fighting? If you ask me, he has left the country," Parkinson said.
"He is! He will win in the end!" Ginny said defiantly, but inside she was wondering if Parkinson's words where not true.
"You don't know that Weasley. For all you know, he doesn't care anymore," Parkinson sneered.
Ginny just glared at Parkinson, not showing that her words were getting to her.
"We just wanted to warn you, that if you will tell lies to the students, we will be forced to report you to the Headmaster," Zabini said in a threatening tone.
"Just think of our warning when you walk back to your Common Room," Nott said while motioning for the other two to follow him out.
To Ginny's astonishment Zabini and Parkinson followed Nott out of the room. For a moment, Ginny considered hexing them anyway, but thought better of it.
It was a couple of minutes later that Ginny made her way out of the Room of Hidden Things and back to the Common Room. All the while she was thinking over the words of Parkinson. What if Harry had left? What if he didn't care any more? The answer came quick and immediate. It doesn't matter. Ginny considered this, and saw that it was the truth. It didn't matter if Harry was out there fighting or not, she Ginny would fight till her dying breath if she had to. Harry had nothing to do with that.
The words of Zabini caused some greater concern, did they know about TEA before it even started?
"Are you going to enter or are you just going to stand there?" the voice of the Fat Lady brought Ginny back to reality. Quickly she gave the Fat Lady the password and entered the common room, which was slowly filling with early risers. Ginny located Neville and nodded that she was successful. Neville nodded back and raised an eyebrow, indicating that he wanted to talk to her, so Ginny made her way over to him.
"I have some success recruiting, most of the DA members are in, except those who don't want to fight like Smith," Neville said in a whisper to Ginny.
"Good, I've got the book I was talking about, have you asked the DA to spread the word?" Ginny asked also in a whisper.
"Yes, some would talk to some first years, I wanted to start doing that today,"
"Good, I'm going to put away the book, then let's go to breakfast,"
And with that Ginny went up to her dormitory to drop of the potions book, and went with Neville down to breakfast.
~O~
Later that day Ginny, Neville and Luna met up in the Room of Requirements to compare notes.
"And? How did the recruiting go?" Ginny asked the moment that Luna had closed the door.
"Most first years are interested, but some are too afraid of the Carrows to do anything," Neville said, shaking his head sadly.
"Most Ravenclaws want to do something, but they are divided," Luna said dreamily.
"Divided how Luna?" Ginny asked.
"Many Ravenclaws don't think that it will work," Luna said shaking her head.
"Well, tell them that it doesn't stop us Griffyndors from trying!" Ginny said hotly.
"And that is the difference between a Griffyndor and a Ravenclaw," Luna said smiling slightly.
"What about you, Ginny?" Neville asked.
"I talked to the Hufflepuffs, and they will help. I even talked to some Slytherins, and they where interested too," Ginny said, proud of her work.
"Slytherins?" Neville asked incredulously.
"Not all of them are evil," Luna said seriously.
"True... True..." Neville said thoughtfully.
"You got the book?" Luna asked. Ginny had not been able to inform Luna yet.
"Yes, got it right here," Ginny said while getting the Potions book from her bag.
"Hey, that is the Potions book Harry used last year!" Neville said, looking at the book darkly.
"There are useful spells in there, you know," Ginny argued back.
"It's better to know what the enemy knows," Luna said dreamily.
Ginny looked at Luna incredulously, did she know the book was Snape's?
"The enemy?" Neville asked nonplussed.
Ginny sighed, and decided that a part of the truth would be better.
"This book used to belong to Snape," Ginny said, bracing herself for the outburst.
"What?" Neville nearly shouted.
"It is like Luna said, it is better to know what the enemy knows," Ginny said, inwardly wincing at calling Snape 'the enemy'. Though she did not fully trust Snape yet, she knew that if he loved Lily as much as he showed her, then he was a good man, somewhere.
"Okay, so when is the first TEA meeting?" Neville asked.
"The first meeting will be this Saturday at seven PM," Ginny said, putting the Potions book back in her bag.
"We better get back to the common room," Luna said, looking at the clock.
"You two go ahead. I have to do something first," Ginny said.
"Ginny, you have to stop walking around the castle on your own, it is dangerous!" Neville said.
"I'll be fine, Nev."
"I'll wait outside with Luna," Neville said in a tone that brooked no argument.
"Fine," Ginny said huffing. She had thought she wouldn't have to deal with overprotective prats this year.
And with that Neville and Luna left Ginny alone in the Room of Requirement. Now Ginny only needed a way to contact Snape without anyone knowing. Her first thought was to use Kreacher. He would enjoy such a thing, Ginny thought.
"Kreacher!" Ginny called out, but nothing happened. This did not surprise her since Kreacher was not her house elf after all. Then a second thought came to her, a house elf that might answer to her as well as to Harry.
"Dobby!" she called out this time. And with a loud crack Dobby the House Elf appeared, dressed in a magenta sweater and an orange hat.
"Miss Wheezy called Dobby?" Dobby asked while excitedly bobbing up and down.
"Yes, can you give a message to the Headmaster?" Ginny asked.
Dobby's demeanour changed instantly. Instead of excited, he looked sombre.
"Headmaster is very... Bad Dobby, Bad Dobby!" and Dobby proceeded to pound himself up the head with his fists, until Ginny grabbed his hands to stop him.
"Dobby, stop! The Headmaster is not what he seems! I just need to get a message to him when he is alone, can you do that?" Ginny said softly, holding Dobby's hands gently, but firmly.
"Yes, Dobby can do that," Dobby said, nodding his head enthusiastically.
"Good, can you tell him that there is TEA on Saturday at seven PM by the dancing trolls?" Ginny asked carefully, hoping that Snape would get it all. If Dobby thought the message was strange he did not show it.
"Yes, Dobby can," Dobby said.
"Good, remember to tell him this if he is alone," Ginny reminded the elf. Dobby simply nodded and then with a snap of his fingers was gone.
Ginny sighed and left the Room of Requirement. Just as Neville had promised, he was waiting for her.