A FINAL CHANCE

By: Shadowedheart89

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, nor do I claim to.

Note: I just want to thank everyone who has been reading and reviewing. I completely suck at answering reviews but I do love them! Also for the record, Xavier Jamison is an original character. Sorry for any that might have confused. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 15: The D.A.

The next two weeks passed in a blur. It seemed like I did nothing but school work and study, punctuated with extra lessons, training, and very few stolen moments with Draco. My wish to be challenged was granted if not by difficult homework, then by the sheer volume of work I had been given. Time management was definitely not one of my strong points. The only thing that didn't seem to increase was the number of times I went to Uncle Albus's office. He seemed to know how much my workload was expanding and didn't call me in for any meetings.

After the whole incident with Severus, he seemed more reserved than normal. During the next class, he seemed almost content to pretend that I didn't exist. He didn't exchange insults with me, and when he once again told us to pair up and practice, he didn't even come to observe Draco and I. In our private meetings, he spoke as little as possible and would barely even look at me. Every attempt I made to talk to him was either waved away or completely ignored. I was a bit uncomfortable at first, but then I realized that he was just the same Severus I knew before and refused to back down. I vowed to make him fight with me again.

Potions seemed to take a turn for the better. The class was improving a lot since that first potion, and instead of having me participate in class, Xavier had me walking around, acting as his assistant. My lessons were taken in private and my assisting ensured that I was maintaining sufficient knowledge of the potions required for my year. By helping the class fix their mistakes, I was able to refresh my memory on these potions, since I had brewed them before. It turned out that most of the problems were from just basic mistakes. Many of them didn't understand out important it was to cut the ingredients at certain angles or how precise the measurements had to be. The class seemed to be reluctant to take my advice, and I didn't blame them since I was still just a student. After the first class or two, they seemed to start to take my advice in good faith, especially since Xavier was walking around giving the same advice.

Harry was making good progress in our lessons together. He managed to reach a meditative state on his own and I was working on getting him to construct barriers in his mind to prevent people from getting through. His main problem with the lessons was that he was impatient and expected to see immediate results. I made sure to note this so the in the future I make sure that I engrained some lessons that he would be able to pick up quickly with ones that took more time in order to help keep him focused and entertained.

Ron, Hermione, Harry, and I worked together on our homework most of the time. I seemed to be put in charge of helping them with the practical aspects of class. Even Hermione was allowing me to help her and give her pointers. She was already a quick study and managed to work the spells quickly, but I was able to give her little tidbits of advice that made her spells stronger. Nonverbal magic had become required for most of the other classes, and I took the same approach as I did with Draco to help them better grasp the technique. It worked so well that Harry was begging me to come to the first D.A. meeting.

Reluctantly one Friday found me being pulled through the corridors by Harry, leading me to the D.A. meeting. "Come on, it's not that bad. It's actually fun. It's not like class or detention," he told me and pulled me, maintaining a firm grasp of my arm.

"Yeah, but I don't do well around groups of people," I complained.

He rolled his eyes. "You do fine assistant Professor Jamison in Potions. Stop complaining and just do it. It's not even a real class."

I kept sulking until he led me to the room that Draco and I would sometimes escape to that looked just like our cabin. This time, however it was much different, taking the appearance of a comfortable room, but was fully equipped with items needed for training including an entire library on Defense, and cushions to fall on. I was surprised on the number of students that were there and the variety of houses. In the few weeks that I had been there, I saw that there wasn't much inter-house interaction. Slytherin especially stayed to themselves, and the others were cordial to each other, but it wasn't often to see groups from all three together. The only house not here was Slytherin, which wasn't a big surprise.

Harry started off the meeting by having us practice simpler spells like disarming and stunning. After a few minutes he stopped us to announce the lesson. I was surprised at how well he was able to get their attention and how organized everything was. In my experience, groups led by students alone led to disaster. Either no one got anything done, or arguments disrupted everywhere. Everyone stopped and seemed to listen and respect Harry as if he were one of their professors. I silently hoped they would listen to me without too much difficulty. "OK now that you are warmed up, we are going to have someone else head today's meeting." Murmurs erupted at once, confused. It seemed like Harry was the only one to ever lead the group. "Marlene?" he called to me. I sighed and stood up.

I felt myself blush as I saw everyone look at me expectantly and began to fidget. "Hi, I'm uh, Marlene. I haven't met a lot of you, because I'm new here." I paused, and saw that they were still looking at me expectantly, waiting for me to continue. I cleared my throat then pressed on. "So right, today I'm going to help you practice your nonverbal spells. I know most of us sixth years are learning how to do them, but a lot of you seem to be struggling with it. So we are going to start with something simple and use the same concept for more difficult spells." I stopped, looking around for moment wishing I had something simple that I could pass out for them to try levitating. Suddenly in the corner of the room a box of feathers appeared. I picked it up and faced the group again. "Ok, so each of you is going to get a feather and we will start."

I instructed them as I had done my trio of friends, and Draco before that. Many of them seemed to grasp the concept well, and became very excited, floating their feathers around the room as a few others struggled. For most of the others, the only problem was a case of the nerves. One especially, Neville, seemed to get more nervous and frustrated with every failed attempt. I talked to him a few minutes and put a calming hand on his shoulder, telling him to take a deep breath. He was successful on his second attempt after that, and appeared to gain confidence. After awhile I had everyone pair up and start trying out casting spells on each other like the disarming and stunners.

It started to get late, so I stopped the lesson. "I know it may seem like a lot now, but as you practice, the spells will come a lot easier and you won't have to go through the whole visualization process. Just keep practicing and remember to not let you let your mistakes and failures get to you. Stay positive and calm. The key to most magic is concentrating. When you get frustrated and nervous, you are less likely to be able to perform the spell correctly. Just take a moment and take a few calming breaths before trying again."

"Will you back for the next meeting?" someone asked.

I was caught off guard. I looked at Harry, who just grinned. He kept telling me that they would like me and would want me to stay, but I didn't believe him.. "I'm not sure," I told them honestly. "This is fun, but I can't make any promises. I might not be here for every meeting but I'm sure Harry with make sure I come back for some of them at least." There were some soft chuckles around the room before Harry stood up.

"That was a good meeting. We will let you know when the next one will be. We'll try to have them happen more often than last year, now this isn't against the rules and we aren't risking expulsion. If you know anyone who might want to join, point them to Hermione and me. I guess this is it, so I'll see you all around."

A lot of the group left in clusters of friends, while others milled around chatting a bit. "You did a great job," Harry told me as we milled around, straightening up the room. I didn't think that we really need to clean up. I mean if the room could create all this on its own, then I was fairly certain it could clean up on its own. But I guess it was common courtesy to clean up after ourselves, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione all seemed to find it second nature, so I took it that they did it after every meeting.

I shrugged, "I guess it went pretty well."

He grinned, "You enjoyed it, didn't you?"

I sighed, "It wasn't so bad. I'd definitely be willing to come back and help out. I've never seen such a well organized student group."

He shrugged, "I guess it's out of a sense of necessity. The war is a big reality for most of us here. We are either involved or members of our family are. It works as a great incentive to work hard. Plus it has helped a lot with their school work and gain confidence. Neville used to be horrible with spell work, but now he's a pretty decent wizard. Luna was always an outcast, but this gave her a place of belonging and some friends. One thing you can say about the D.A. is that they stick together."

"Well you are a natural leader. And they really listen to you. I guess you being you doesn't really hurt either."

He laughed. "Some of them are just waiting for me to start telling them more stories about facing Voldemort. They are really a sick bunch of folks. They seem to get their kicks from it."

"You can't really blame them for being interested in how one of their own peers managed to escape him when so many adults have fallen before them. I'm sure it's not that they just want to hear about your misery."

Before he could reply, Ron and Hermione joined us. "That was brilliant," Ron told me.

"Thanks," I told him feeling myself blush.

"We should head back to the common room. It's almost curfew," Hermione told us.

The four of us headed back to the tower, laughing and joking the whole way. Harry seemed to be really excited and started coming up with plans for future D.A. meetings. He wasn't kidding about making them more often. At the rate he was planning, he would have on a week. Unfortunately though, a lot of his plans seemed to involve me helping out. He wanted to have one lesson dedicated to meditation and some of the defense spells I started teaching him. Over the last couple of weeks, Hermione seemed to start to warm up to me again, but she still didn't seem too keen on having me around too much, so the lessons seemed to bother her too.

It was late by the time I made it up to bed. I had a restless sleep and woke up in the middle of the night in Draco's been for the first time in about a week. He barely even stirred at my presence. I cast a few charms around his bed so that no one would be able to find us. Then I just curled up against him and drifted off again.

I woke up a few hours later to fingers cascading through my hair. I opened my eyes and peering blearily at Draco who had a soft smile playing on his lips. "Good-morning," he told me softly.

"Good morning," I told him stretching. "How as your night?"

He shrugged. "It was quiet. I didn't do much. Yours?"

"It was good. There was a D.A. meeting and Harry had me teach it. It was fun. You should join."

He started laughing, "Yeah, me join a group called Dumbledore's Army. I'll learn how to fight the Dark Lord and run around saving the world."

I rolled my eyes. "Now come on Draco, no one would really expect you to save the world. You are the epitome of evil."

"Don't forget who my father was. You can't honestly believe that he hasn't taught me some things. I could probably take you on."

It was my turn to laugh. He really had no idea what I could be capable of. "You keep thinking that," I told him.

"I'm pretty sure of it," he told me with a smirk.

I sat up, grinning, raising to the challenge, "Maybe we should see about that."

"You bet we will," he told me before sitting up and capturing my lips in a kiss. I got so wrapped up in him that before I knew it I was laying down again with him on top of me effectively pinning me to the bed. Suddenly he pulled away with a huge smirk. "I told you I could take you on. It's all about knowing your opponents weaknesses."

I glared at him and was about to open my mouth to retort, but he cut me off by kissing me once again. I guess he was right, and he certainly did know my weakness. We carried on like that for a while both of us knowing that it was Saturday and neither of us had any place of importance to get to any time soon. I did have a lesson with Xavier, but that wasn't until mid afternoon. We would probably spend the day with our respective groups catching up on homework.

Finally I pulled away. "I really should get going."

He groaned. "Why? We are having so much fun," he complained kissing me again.

"I know, but if I don't leave soon, I'll be here all day."

He grinned. "I like the sound of that," he told me, moving to my neck, concentrating on a sensitive area that often made me lose all thought process.

His diversion tactics worked for a short while, until I could hear his roommates blundering around the room. I wasn't worried that they would find me, because the charms were still in place, allowing us to hear what was going on outside of them, but preventing anyone outside from hearing what was going on inside. I did realize though that I should be heading back. I was making progress in getting Hermione to accept me, and Ron seemed to like me pretty well, and I didn't want to ruin that by disappearing and not being able to provide sufficient excuse to explain my absences. "Draco, sweetie, I really must get going."

He sighed and started pouting. "Fine, run off to your friends."

I rolled my eyes. "Is it alright if I come back tonight?"

He pretended to contemplate it for a few seconds. "I suppose, if you must," he told me in a resigned tone, before smirking.

I have him one last quick kiss. "I'll see you later," I told him before teleporting back to my bed. As soon as I felt the comfort of my own bedding I heard a gasp. I looked over to see Hermione staring straight at me. There could be no mistaken, she just saw me teleport in a castle where it should be completely impossible. "Hermione, listen to me," I told her moving towards her and trying to convey calm.

"You just…but it's impossible. What are you?" she stammered, backing away towards the door.

"Hermione, stop. You have to listen to me. I'll explain, but you can't tell anyone." She wasn't listening to me, and made to run for it. I did the only thing I could think of. I grabbed her and teleported to Uncle Albus's office.

We landed unceremoniously, falling across his floor. I sprang up to my feet immediately, just seconds before she did. She drew her wand, and I couldn't help but chuckle at how long it took her to do so. She would never have lasted in a battle if I meant to do her harm. She opened her mouth to cast a spell at me, but before the words could leave her mouth, her wand shot out of her hand and Uncle Albus caught it easily.

"Now what do we have here?" he asked with a sparkle in his eye, but I could sense his concern.

"She…she apparated…in the dorm room!" Hermione stuttered, almost hyperventilating.

Uncle Albus turned his wizened gaze to me. "Is this true, Ms. Wizidore?"

I winced at the use of my last name. Whenever he used it, it meant that I was in serious trouble. "Well technically, it wasn't apparition it was teleportation. You of course know of the subtle differences. But I guess that doesn't really change the situation does it?"

He looked at me intently over steepled fingers. What happened? he sent.

I sighed. I don't know. I went to Draco in my sleep again, and when I came back to my room this morning she saw me appear. I don't know what happened. I always close the curtains of my bed, and charm them so no one can get through. Maybe she took the charms down. She went completely mental, and wouldn't listen to me, so I brought her here before she could run off and tell the whole tower.

He nodded thoughtfully. "Ms, Granger, please have a seat." She did so timidly, casting anxious glances at me as if she thought I might attack right there. Uncle Albus must have been thinking the same thing. "I assure you, Ms. Wizidore means you no harm." He turned his glance to me once again. "I think it's about time we shared your story."

I gaped at him. "Are you sure? I'm not supposed to tell anyone."

He nodded. "There are exceptions to every rule, as you should very well know."

I chuckled and shook my head. Mom is going to curse you into oblivion.

There was a twinkle of amusement in his eye. I do not doubt that. "If you would please fetch Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley? I think it would be best to share this with all three at one time." I nodded headed towards the door, but he stopped me. "You may take the faster way, just use discretion. I believe your room should be empty now. And please, don't scare the boys too much."

I nodded and teleported back to my room. I took a moment to relax a bit. It was going to be difficult to explain my story, and I wasn't looking forward to it. I was just glad that Uncle Albus would be by my side through it. I headed over to the boys tower and knocked on the door. Ron opened it looking surprised, since I never ventured to their side. I was relieved to find that only he and Harry were still in the room, and quickly explained that we needed to go to the headmaster's office.

They started to head for the steps but before they did I stopped them. "Want to see something really cool first?" They both shrugged and nodded. I grabbed their shoulders and teleported us back to Uncle Albus's office.

They looked around confused before their eyes fell on Dumbledore. "Good morning boys. Today, Marlene here is going to tell you a story."