Harry awoke much earlier than he normally did with a smile on his face. Things were going far better than he could have hoped or planned. He had been the last one left in the common room, well past midnight, when he fell asleep writing letters to a myriad of people. He had been awakened by Dobby the house-elf, who had volunteered to return Hedwig to him after Professor Grubbly-Plank had restored her wing. Dobby had then revealed to him the location of a place called the Room of Requirement, and it sounded like exactly what he needed to make the Defense group work. He was planning to have a look at it later in the afternoon; as it was a Friday, he was free to do whatever he wanted from lunch time onwards.

He got out of bed, making sure not to rouse his dorm-mates or Hedwig, who had flat out refused to go to the Owlery and was snoozing on his nightstand, and went to the bathroom to take a shower. With that done he put on his uniform, threw his robes over it and double-checked that he had everything he needed for the day in his backpack. Satisfied, he left the fifth year Gryffindor boys' dormitory and hastily made his way to the Owlery.

He was early enough that more than a few of the owls were just returning from a night of hunting; some were already asleep, while others were doing their best to stay awake, no doubt putting of their rest to deliver the morning post. It was this last group that he needed, and so he tied a letter each to a handful of school owls. He issued them his instructions and they hooted their understanding. One of them, an excitable brown owl, took off through the window at once, bearing Harry's message to Sirius and Remus. He watched it go until it was a speck in the horizon, hoping that the two Marauders were doing well. He watched as the sun made its appearance and began to rise in the sky, thinking about all that he wanted to do today and hoping that it would all go well. Deciding to get an early breakfast, Harry left the Owlery and went down to the Great Hall.

There were only about two dozen students already there, mostly seventh years and Ravenclaws, who had a reputation for rising early to get a chance at going to the library before lessons began. Only four other Gryffindors were present, as well as five Hufflepuffs and four Slytherins. He was unfamiliar with his many of his senior housemates and so took his usual seat away from them. He fixed himself a plate of eggs, bacon and pancakes to go down with a glass of pumpkin juice. He once again thought about his plans for the Defense group - plans that he hadn't yet discussed with anyone but intended to tonight, at their first meeting. He knew that many of the people who had already expressed interest in the group thought of it as nothing more than a means to pass their OWLs and NEWTs. He, however, knew what it truly meant, and he was going to make sure that it served its purpose as best as it could. He wondered how Ron and Hermione would react to his changing the dynamics of the group when they had immediately warmed up to the idea while he had been hesitant. Hermione would be surprised no doubt, but he felt sure that she would approve, seeing as how she had basically forced him to take the lead. As for Ron…well, first he needed to talk to him about Daphne, Astoria, Thea and Tracey joining the group; he didn't want Ron to miss out on something so important out of stubbornness.

He had never had any interaction with many of the people that he had sent his missives to. Harry knew that they would hold varying opinions of him, and so he hoped that they would meet with him out of sheer curiosity if nothing else. The more members they had in the Defense group, the greater the chance that his plans would succeed. He was also aware, though, that he might very well lose members as soon as he revealed his intentions to the group. It would set him back, no doubt, but he didn't think that trying to hide what he really wanted to do was going to work out well for anyone. He had to be honest. If there were those who couldn't work with his ideas, then they needed to go.

'Harry?' Harry looked around to see Hermione taking a seat beside him, her face crossed between extreme surprise and worry. 'I never would have imagined you being down here so early if it wasn't for the fact that I can actually see you. You went to bed even later than me last night; are you okay? You didn't have nightmares again, did you? Are you tired?'

Harry smiled at the bushy-haired girl's concern for him. 'I'm okay, Hermione. I just had a few letters I wanted to send off, that's all.'

'But why so early?'

'A lot of them are going to be delivered with the morning post,' explained Harry.

Hermione raised an inquisitive eyebrow. 'What are you up to, Harry?'

'You'll find out - at the first Defense meeting today.' He smiled again when Hermione instantly donned a look of excitement.

'Oh! Harry, that's wonderful! And it's a Friday, so we could have all afternoon if we wanted -'

'No, no, we're going to be meeting at six,' Harry corrected, laughing when Hermione pouted. 'I have a few things to take care of before the meeting actually starts, and I'll want you there for one of them.'

'One of them?'

'I'll tell you everything later, I promise.'

Hermione stared at him for a long time before shaking her head and saying, 'You're being very cryptic, Harry, but I suppose I can wait for a few hours.' She suddenly frowned. 'Wait, where are we going to meet? We haven't found a place yet.'

'I think I have,' said Harry. When Hermione looked expectant, he continued, 'Dobby told me about it last night; apparently it's a room that only the house-elves regularly use. He said that a lot of students and staff have found it, but they never can again because they don't actually know that it's always there or how to get in.'

'What is this room?' Hermione asked, highly intrigued.

'It's called the Room of Requirement. It can equip itself for whatever the user needs.'

Hermione looked very impressed and excited, no doubt itching to go see the Room for herself. They ate together while chatting about inconsequential things, ignoring Umbridge as best as they could as she persisted in watching them closely. The Great Hall filled with students not long after, and just as it hit eight o'clock, the morning post arrived.

Harry watched as five of the school owls he had selected fluttered down onto the Gryffindor table. There were mixed reactions to his letters: Fred and George Weasley grinned and sent him identical nods; Fay Dunbar and Sally-Anne Perks looked down the table at him incredulously; Seamus Finnegan ripped his letter apart and sent him a cold sneer. He had expected a few negative responses, but it still made him sigh sadly.

'Harry, why are so many people staring at you?' Hermione asked slowly.

'Because I sent them letters,' answered Harry, looking around to see occupants of the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables - all in his year - also giving him highly surprised looks.

'What about?'

'I want them to join the Defense group.' Hermione again looked highly interested, and Harry thought that he should explain himself a little if he didn't wish for her to kill him out of wanting to know what was going on. 'I sent letters to the fifth years who didn't come at the Hog's Head that day to meet with me after lunch. I want to convince them to join.'

'Why?' Hermione asked.

'Because I don't think it would be fair to leave them out of it, not when they have OWLs to worry about just like us; I've also asked them to get the seventh years to come as well if they're willing.'

Hermione was very pleased with him if the smile on her face was any indication. 'We might end up with a lot more members. Are you sure it'll be all right?'

'To be honest, I want as many members as possible.'

Hermione looked surprised. 'You only wanted me and Ron at first, and even when you agreed to others you seemed to think that the ones we already had were too many. Why the change of heart? Or do I have to wait for that explanation as well?'

Harry smiled. 'You'll have to wait, I'm afraid; some of the things I have to say will apply to everyone in the group, so I think it'd be best if they all, including you, heard it at the same time.'

Hermione nodded and said, 'That's fine - but I expect many many details, Harry.'

'Of course. I'll even get you enough flowers to cover your entire dormitory; I know the suspense is killing you, and I do owe you flowers.'

Hermione laughed, shook her head and said, 'Harry, you don't need to do things like that to let me know you care about me - I know that very well. But I suppose hearing it more often wouldn't hurt.'

'Of course. But what if I want to get you more flowers than you could possibly know what to do with?'

'Then I won't stop you,' answered Hermione cheekily.

A few seconds later, the two friends thought, Wait, were we just flirting with each other? They fell silent, Harry suddenly very keen on rummaging through his backpack and Hermione on reading the Daily Prophet.

They had hugged, they had held hands - though that was often in the face of imminent pain and death - and Hermione had even kissed him at the end of last year, though it had only been on the cheek. Now they had, for the first time, engaged in some light flirting - at least he thought he was flirting; he didn't really have enough experience with the opposite sex to consider himself an expert - or even proficient. He was quite clueless when it came to girls, he knew, but he felt sure that Hermione had been flirting with him, brief though it had been - and he didn't mind it at all. He sneaked a look at his friend, who had her head bent down more than necessary to read the paper. The Yule Ball had really opened his eyes to the fact that Hermione was very beautiful and attractive; his eyes had been clouded over by the bookish image he was so used to that he hadn't noticed it at all in their four years of knowing each other. He really did need to appreciate her more.

'Good morning, Harry!'

He looked up to see Astoria Greengrass beaming at him; she was already attracting curious glances as she easily sat down next to him.

'Morning, Astoria,' Harry replied. 'It's good that you're here, actually; I need your help.'

'Oh? What a coincidence; I need your help as well.' She smiled. 'What can I do for you?'

Harry looked back at Hermione and said hesitantly, 'Er, say, Hermione, could you give me that list of members everyone signed at the Hog's Head?' She delved into her book bag and came up with the list, which she handed to him. He then handed it to Astoria. 'I need you, Daphne, Tracey and Thea to sign this if you don't mind.'

'That's fine, but why would you want to keep a list of members? It would be an incriminating piece of evidence if someone like Umbridge found it, don't you think?' Astoria looked at the two Gryffindors and saw that Hermione had a light blush on her cheeks. She puzzled over this for a moment before a suspicion began to take shape in her mind. She smirked. 'My my, Granger, what have you done to this list?'

'I'm protecting us,' Hermione retorted at once.

Harry frowned for a moment before he remembered something. 'That's right, you said something about getting acne if someone ratted us out.'

'Acne?' Astoria frowned. 'Why not jinx the list to put anyone who tries to discuss the group with anyone who isn't part of it under the Tongue-Tying Curse?'

'That was my first thought, but I haven't been able to find the correct runes for it,' Hermione said sadly. She looked positively crushed about having failed to do what she had wanted.

'Maybe you should talk to my sister; she loves runes, she can't shut up about them - it's bloody annoying if you ask me. Our mother's sort of a linguist, and she taught Daphne a lot. She'd be able to help you, I think.'

Hermione nodded thoughtfully. 'That explains a lot: she always beats me in Ancient Runes.'

Harry was shocked. 'She does?'

Hermione smiled. 'I'm not omniscient you know, Harry.'

Harry was shocked. 'You're not?'

Hermione laughed and swatted his arm playfully, shaking her head at his antics. Astoria watched them with an eyebrow quirked in interest.

'Well, I would talk to Daphne, but…' Hermione trailed off.

Astoria smiled knowingly. 'But you're afraid that she'll bite your head off if you even try, am I right?' When Hermione nodded, she laughed. 'Believe me, I understand. I can talk to her about it if you like; I'll be taking the list to her anyway, and I'm sure that she'd want to be part of making any arrangements to minimize the risk of our getting caught.'

Harry turned to Hermione, who looked mightily concerned. He looked back at the young Slytherin and asked, 'Astoria, do I have your word that anything Daphne will do will be in our best interests?'

For an answer, Astoria took a quill out of her pocket and wrote her name at the bottom of the list. This seemed to satisfy Hermione, as she nodded.

'Okay, now that I've helped you,' Astoria said brightly, 'it's time you helped me.' She told Harry what she and the others had decided on as a story for why Harry was suddenly spending time with Slytherins - and what she had said to Malfoy last night.

Harry stared.

And stared.

And stared some more.

'Harry, this is the part where you say something,' Astoria supplied, grinning broadly.

Harry cleared his throat. 'Er, why did you do that?'

Astoria put on a look of outrage and said hotly, 'What, you don't think that I'm good enough to have a date with you?'

'Wha -? No, I er - I just meant…I -' Harry's attempts to backpedal died in his throat as the Slytherin erupted in a fit of giggles.

'Wow, you are so easy, Harry,' she said, shaking her head. She noticed that Hermione Granger was also smiling; she rolled her eyes knowingly at her, and the older girl mirrored the gesture.

'Don't do that,' Harry said weakly.

'I'll try,' Astoria said innocently. 'So what do you say, Harry? Would you be willing to take an impressionable young maiden - me, in case that wasn't clear - out on a few dates to make Malfoy think he's got one over on you then kick him in his arse later?'

Harry smiled. 'Yeah, I think I can get behind that.'

'Excellent!' Astoria caused the Great Hall to get overrun with even more whispers as she put her arms around him in a hug and kissed his cheek. 'And I'll have you know that this will have to be an honest effort, Harry; you aren't allowed to skip out on any date etiquette just because this is an arrangement, alright?' She smiled when Harry nodded, seemingly too surprised by what she had done to speak. 'Good. I promise I'll do my best as well. I'll see you both later.' She got to her feet and went back to the Slytherin table.

Hermione's eyebrows were raised as far as they could go without becoming a part of her bushy hair. 'That was unexpected.'

'You're telling me,' Harry replied weakly. He shook his head of his confusion and then asked, 'Hey, where's Ron? I wanted to talk to him.'

As though in response to his query, he spotted the boy himself making a hasty retreat out of the Great Hall. Hermione had also seen him and was frowning deeply.

'You don't think he's upset about Astoria, do you?'

'Honestly? I do,' Hermione answered, shaking her head. She suddenly fixed Harry with a "do-what-I-tell-you sort" of look. 'I expect you to treat her as best as you can when you spend time together, Harry, tricking Malfoy or not. She really is pretty, and she could be good for you; I know you've only agreed to a few dates, but you never know.'

Deciding to test the waters of his new perceived boldness and resolve to appreciate his friend more, Harry said, 'You're really pretty too, Hermione.' A soft, pink blush came over her, and she looked very pleased; it seemed that he had once again struck gold. 'Come on,' he said with a smile, fighting not to turn red himself, 'let's catch up to Ron; I think I really need to talk to him.'

Hermione nodded and followed suit as Harry stood up and dashed out of the Great Hall. They hadn't gotten far before they spotted Ron heading for Charms, their first class for the day.

'Ron, wait a moment, will you?' Harry said when they had caught up to the red-headed boy. He turned around, hands stuffing his hands into his pockets. 'What?'

Harry was taken aback by his tone of voice - not to mention the expression on his face. He ignored both as best as he could, however, and said, 'Mate, we need to talk about this Slytherin thing -'

Talk about it?' Ron replied, looking as though he couldn't believe his ears. 'We don't need to "talk about it" - you've already decided everything yourself; I saw you with Greengrass, everyone did.'

'Ron, Astoria's a good person -'

'You only started talking to her yesterday!' Ron exclaimed. 'She's a Slytherin, Harry. She'll sell you out, you know that.'

'No, I don't know that,' said Harry firmly. 'I may have talked to her starting just yesterday, but I call tell that she's all right - all of those girls are. They haven't done anything to make me suspect or hate them.'

Ron shook his head and said derisively, 'I never thought I'd see you lose your head over a bunch of girls.'

'If I remember correctly, both you and Hermione wanted me to lead this Defense group, and that's exactly what I'm doing,' Harry said stiffly, starting to get angry.

'I'm not working with Slytherins, Harry; I don't like knives in my back. Either they go or I do.'

Harry would never have believed that Ron would give him an ultimatum - yet he had. 'Ron, you can't pass something like this up just because a couple of Slytherins have been included.'

'The only thing I'm passing up is their company. I can study Defense myself.'

'Goodness, Ronald, stop being so stubborn,' Hermione said hotly. 'Besides, you can't just teach yourself Defense; even Harry needed our help when he was preparing for the Tournament, remember?'

Ron got a very ugly look on his face. 'So, what, just because Harry can't do something it means that I can't do it too?'

Harry felt like another blow had just been rammed into his chest. Unbidden, memories of last year surfaced in his mind, memories of Ron abandoning him to the wrath of the rest of the school. Ron's jealousy. His incessant need to always compare himself to Harry and hungrily seek the fame and attention that he wanted for himself. He looked at Hermione, and he saw that she had closed her eyes; when she opened them again, Harry could swear that they were frozen solid. He had never seen Hermione look that way, and it scared him a little.

'You know, I honestly don't understand why I even bother with you - oh, that's right, I do: because - unfortunately for me - you're Harry's friend, and he's my friend too.'

It seemed that fate or some other cosmic force had decided that today was the day that Harry Potter would be continually surprised by his friends; he would never have imagined Hermione saying such a thing, and yet he did not doubt that she was telling the truth.

Ron seemed outraged. 'He was my friend first! He's my best friend!'

Hermione scoffed. 'Oh, yes, what a wonderful friend you are, Ronald. It isn't like you're constantly jealous of Harry; it isn't like you want everything he has, not even caring to think about what Harry wants; it isn't like you abandoned him last year when he really needed you; it isn't like you always second-guess whatever decision he makes that you don't like, instead of supporting him. Yes, you're a wonderful best friend, Ronald!'

Harry stared. He knew, in the back of his mind, that Hermione was going to say something that would completely wreck the friendship they had all shared since they had felled that mountain troll in their first year - but then again, according to Hermione, she had never really felt that she and Ron were friends at all. Harry supposed that he should have known; they were constantly fighting, much as they had been when they were totally hostile towards each other in first year. Hermione seemed to have been holding all of this in for a long time, and she was finally letting it out. Harry found that he didn't dare try to stop her; honestly, he was afraid of what she might do to him.

And somewhere, deep in his heart, he was agreeing with her words.

'Let's not forget about what a friend you've been to me, either,' Hermione screamed, attracting the attention of other students heading towards class. 'Always insulting me; you've never said an honest nice word to me - ever; always treating me terribly whenever I don't agree with you; always belittling me when I actually do the work I want to do, just because you can't be troubled to push yourself; always being a prat, always an arse, that's what you are to me, Ronald Weasley!'

Hermione took a deep breath and Harry thought that she might have finished her tirade, but he was mistaken; the floodgates had evidently been opened.

'And what was that last year? If you had a problem with someone else dating me, why did you never make an effort with me? Oh, no, you just thought that a "Hermione, you're a girl" thrown in when you were positively desperate for a date to the Ball would get me to throw myself all over you, is that it, Ron? And you even had the gall to think that there was no one on this earth who would want to go to the Ball with me, and yet Harry's the one who had to get a date for you! Oh, if only you understood what irony meant, Ronald - but I don't think your puny brain would be capable of it.'

'Hermione…' Harry whispered, keenly aware of the crowd that had now surrounded them. Ron was getting redder and redder in the face as Hermione screamed and raged at him. Hermione, for her part, ignored Harry - or she might not have even been aware of the existence of anything else apart from the object of her wrath.

'You treated Padma so terribly and you didn't even apologize to her!' Harry coughed at this and looked down at his shoes; he was guilty of the same sin - well, treating Parvati badly, at least - and still felt bad about it. 'And then you went on to put Viktor down every opportunity you got when he had never done anything to you. Is that what you need to do to feel relevant, Ron - to make people small in your eyes so that you can be a little bigger, to prop yourself up?'

Ron, it seemed, had had enough. His hand made a motion towards his pocket, but Hermione was much faster; her wand was pointed at Ron's face and he froze, eying her hatefully. Harry looked around, fearful that a teacher might come.

'Give me a reason, Ron.'

It was barely a whisper, but everyone present heard Hermione clearly - and they shivered at her voice.

Hermione was looking at Ron as though she indeed would like nothing more than to curse him. 'I am done taking your nonsense, Ronald, I promise you that; say another bad word to me and I will make you regret it.' She took a deep breath. 'I'm going to leave you with a few wise words, Ron: you will never have me, and you will never hold a candle to Harry, so stop trying.' Everyone gasped at these words, Harry included. 'Even if he wasn't already a better wizard than you, he will always be a better man, and that's what makes the two of you incomparable.'

Ron looked very stricken, and Harry could literally see their friendship crumbling to ashes before him. He brought his hands up to his face and let out a long breath that he hadn't been aware he had been holding. Everyone was silent, staring at the three friends that many had believed to be inseparable. The bell rang - no one cared…

'What's going on here? Shouldn't you be in class already?'

The crowd scattered instantly at Professor McGonagall's voice; Hermione gave Ron one last angry glare and quickly stalked off. Harry looked at who he was sure was now his former best friend.

'The Slytherins stay; whether or not you go is up to you.'

With that Harry hurried after Hermione. He was very shaken by her words, words that he knew she would never have spoken if she weren't in the most towering of tempers, but she was the one who was looking out for him, as she always did - and so with her he went.

Harry also knew that nothing she had said could ever be taken back.