Chapter 2

"Watch where you're going." Draco spat as he bumped into Harry. Harry turned around and glared at him. Hermione places a hand on her friends arm.

"Don't Harry." She warned.

"What an ass." Said Harry. He turned back around and continued walking, although it was clear that he was quite agitated.

"Yeah." Hermione said half-heartedly. She didn't really know what to think about Draco Malfoy. He still seemed such an ass, but he had been so nice to her last night. He didn't say one mean thing. He picked up on everything that none of her friends did, even Harry. And he helped to take her mind off of whatever it was that she had witnessed in the common room that night. Honestly she wasn't even sure that it could be called a kiss. If anything it was more like… a vacuum cleaner trying to suck some ones face off- to put it into muggle terms. Truly and honestly disgusting.

"Honestly I don't know what his problem is. I don't think I've met anyone so vile in my life." Harry went on. Hermione couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of that statement.

"Harry, you've met Voldemort." She reminded him.

"Yeah, I suppose. But next to him…"

"And Peter Pettigrew?"

"Yeah him too… but still."

"And what about his father for that matter?"

"Yeah he's pretty bad too. I definitely see where he gets it." Harry agreed. Hermione smirked a little bit, but immediately stopped. Smirking was such a Malfoy thing to do. As nice as he was, she still in no way wanted to be associated with him, let alone be anything like him.

"I'm sure there's plenty worse people out there than Malfoy." Hermione told Harry. Since last night, she had been wondering if maybe Malfoy was only such a terrible person on the outside. It appeared as though he was actually quite nice sometimes. But then again, this was only one occasion. Compared to the countless times he had been awful to her, it was nothing really. Maybe he just had a sudden rare burst of compassion, or maybe he had been drugged. All she knew, was that one night of him being nice wasn't going to change much.

"Yeah I suppose…" Harry agreed, giving Hermione a weird look.

"Let's just go to class. Ignore him." Hermione prompted.

"Wait, Hermione. I wanted to talk to you." Said Harry as he grabbed her arm to hold her back.

"No I really don't want to be late." She pleaded. Hermione knew what this was going to be about, and she really didn't want to talk about it.

"Hermione there's fifteen minutes until class, we have plenty of time. Sit down. We need to talk about this." He didn't really give her much of a choice, as he shoved her down on the ground.

"So, what was last night all about?" He asked. Hermione just shrugged.

"It was nothing really. I guess I was just stressed about everything going on."

"Oh really? So it had nothing to do with Ron kissing Lavender?" Harry said in a disbelieving tone. Hermione hesitated and then quickly shook her head.

"I'm not daft Hermione. You can tell me what's bothering you. You know I won't tell Ron. Or anyone for that matter."

"Harry I don't- I don't even know why I was so upset. It's just, seeing them kissing like that, it just set me off. I have no idea what came over me. Stupid really." Harry gathered Hermione into a hug.

"It's not stupid 'Mione. We have no control over our feelings. I mean, look at me. I'm in love with Ron's sister for Merlins sake." Hermione let out a little laugh.

"Ron still doesn't know about that?" Hermione asked.

"Wait, you know?"

"Harry you aren't exactly subtle about it. I'm your best friend, of course I noticed. I just figured you'd talk about it when you were ready. You've been so stressed lately I just, I didn't want to pester you."

"You could never be a pest to me. But if you want I can tell Ron to lay off on Lavender. He doesn't have to know why."

"No it's fine, really." Hermione said forcing a smile. "Don't do that. He deserves to have some happiness in these times."

"So do you though." Harry said, looking at her seriously.

"I'll be fine. Really Harry, don't worry about it. If you want me to put in a word with Ginny though…"

"No! You can't. I can't be with her. She's Ron's SISTER. It's just, I can't do that. Not right now at least."

"Whatever you say Harry. But can we please get to class now?"

"Sure. And thanks. You're really the best."

"You too Harry." Hermione said with a grin as she linked her arm through her best friends.

.

"Hermione! Harry!" called Ron running down the hall to catch up to them after last class. "Did you guys see the newest decree?"

"Umbridge made ANOTHER rule?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"I thought you liked rules Hermione." Harry teased.

"Oh bugger off. I believe that they have their place, but this is just getting ridiculous. What does this one say Ron?"

"We can't have any out of class activities unless it's approved by her. And we can't even ask about Quidditch because it's not happening." Ron told them. Hermione's jaw dropped. She must have heard about the meeting at the Hog's Head about the DA.

"No quidditch?" Harry practically yelled.

"We've just been denied our ability to help defend students and you're worried about quidditch? What is wrong with you?" Hermione scolded.

"Hermione we can easily meet in secret, but how in Merlin's name do you expect us to play quidditch secretly?" Ron chimed in.

"No Ron she's right. Making sure students can defend themselves is much more important. I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking Hermione." Ron rolled his eyes at Harry's comment while Hermione smiled at her best friend. She was reminded of what Draco said the night before, about how he didn't know why she was in love with Ron. Moments like these made Hermione wonder the same thing.

"Well we need to make a plan. Not here though. I'll come up to your dorm after dinner and we can plan some way to make sure that the DA survives. I will not let Umbridge take this away. Not with You-Know-Who returning." Hermione said firmly. She turned and strode off to the library to do her homework before dinner. Even in times of crisis and turmoil, at least her grades could remain a constant.

.

"Is this seat taken?" She heard a voice ask. Hermione looked up from her scroll to find none other than Draco Malfoy standing in front of her.

"Yes." She said immediately, and looked down to go back to work. He might have been nice last night, but he was still Draco Malfoy. Plus, this was a public place. He wouldn't sit with her unless he was up to something.

"No it's not Granger."

"Then why'd you ask?"

"To be polite I guess…"

"Right. You, polite. Whatever you say. If you sit here I'll have to move though. There's no way we can both fit with your huge ego." She shot at him. Draco smirked at her little dig, one that he knew had some truth behind it, and just sat down and opened his book. He wasn't going to antagonize her today.

"Seriously, go find somewhere else to study Malfoy, I'm doing work. I don't have the time or patience to put up with your nonsense right now."

"Look Granger, I just want a quiet place to read my book. All of the other tables are full of gossiping airheads or just plain full and my common room is loud."

"You'd fit right in with the airheads."

"I'll have you know that I am second in our class, only to you. And not at all by much. I won't talk to you if you don't talk to me. Let's just leave it at that." He said exasperatedly. As much as he didn't want to make her angry, he had to keep his honour and pride intact. It pained him enough that he was second to some one of her lineage, but he couldn't handle anyone questioning his intelligence aside from that. He tried to go back to his book, but Hermione just would not stop trying to talk to him.

"Aren't you afraid that people will see you sitting with me though? I mean this is a public place." Hermione asked partially out of curiosity, partially as a dig about how big of a twat he is. Draco sighed and set his book face down on the table. He looked around the room more for dramatic effect than anything.

"Granger, do you see any Slytherins in the library? No. Do you think that any Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw would dare say anything? No. Actually do you think they even care? Because they don't. And there are no relevant Gryffindors in here anyways. And do I look like I care what people think? No."

"Actually you care a lot about what people think." She pointed out. Draco rolled his eyes and opened his book. He was not going to argue with her today. Why does everything she say have to be true? Why did she always have to be right, whether it be in school or in life. Hermione shot him one last glare and tried to focus on her school work.

They worked in silence for a while, and Hermione had to admit that she was surprised. He hadn't insulted her once this entire time, and he was being perfectly quiet. In actuality, she had been the one insulting him. He hadn't even made a bookworm comment, or a mudblood comment, he had hardly even retaliated. She really didn't understand. Malfoy was always off with his friends terrorizing the hallways, or doing unspeakable things with promiscuous Slytherins, so why was he sitting in the library reading for leisure? With her of all people. And why is Merlins name was he being nice to her. It was as if this wasn't Draco Malfoy at all. She glanced up, as if looking at him briefly would make everything suddenly become clear to her. It was then that she noticed what book he was reading.

"Shakespeare. You, of all people, are reading Shakespeare?" Hermione asked incredulously. Draco Malfoy hated anything to do with muggles. He would avoid them at all costs, and looked down upon like they were dirt. So why was he reading a muggle book? This boy just gets more and more confusing…

"What, he's a good writer surprisingly. I actually enjoy reading his work." Draco said nonchalantly.

"Even most muggles don't read his work for leisure. And here you are, one of the most close-minded people I know, reading muggle literature, and Shakespeare for that matter. It doesn't make sense to me. I would expect you to steer clear of anything muggle."

"I just picked it up one day by accident and started reading it. I didn't even realize that it was muggle until part way through. He's actually a surprisingly good writer. Seems like a smart bloke. His prose are impeccable and he actually seems to know what he's talking about." Hermione shook her head in disbelief.

"You're praising a muggle now? You're just full of surprises aren't you? I really don't understand you. First you're nice to me- a muggle born and Harry Potter's best friend, and now you're reading muggle literature. I just don't get you."

"No one does. I suppose that that's another reason I sat with you. I knew you couldn't judge me for it, seeing as you have muggle parents and all." He said kind of sheepishly. Hermione was yet again stunned. He hadn't even called her a mudblood when talking about her lineage. He said it with a hint of humility. This was like a completely different person. But she wouldn't let her guard down. No. Hermione Granger was not going to fall for this ploy of his.

"Coming from the boy who doesn't care what people think right?" Hermione smirked.

"Oh sod off Granger and just let me read in peace and quiet."

"Well let me know what you think of it at the end! I'm interested to hear a wizards ideas on it." She said. She couldn't believe her own ears when she said that. Was she actually inviting Draco Malfoy to speak to her again? Usually she would be against any interaction with him whatsoever. And had she not just vowed to keep her guard up? Draco gave her a weird look and just nodded, quickly immersing himself in Romeo and Juliet again. Hermione shook her head again, stunned at the absurdity of the situation. Draco Malfoy was sitting with her reading a muggle love story for fun.

.

"Come in!" Harry called when Hermione knocked on the door to their dorm room. She gingerly pushed open the door to make sure that none of their roommates were indecent, but Harry and Ron were completely alone.

"Hey! Come sit." Ron called, motioning to the spot directly next to him. Hermione pretended not to see and instead sat on Harry's bed. She didn't mind being around him, but being that close to him right now… well she needed to be able to think straight and not be blinded with disgust at what he had most likely just done with Lavender. Ron gave her a weird look, but quickly shook it off.

"Okay, so I was thinking that instead of using a classroom, we find a more private area- some place that they would never think to look for us. That way we can keep weekly times and keep everything regular. This means that there will be less communication in public about this." Hermione said to start off.

"What about the divination classroom? She hates Trelawney so she's never go up there." Ron suggested.

"Unless she was going up to check up on Trelawney or get her in trouble. We can't use classrooms. It's too easy to get caught." Hermione dismissed the idea without another thought.

"The Forbidden Forrest? No one ever goes in there except for Hagrid and he wouldn't care."

"Ronald there are so many things wrong with that idea. For one, it would just be something else to get in trouble for if we do get caught. Second of all, we could- oh I don't know- potentially die. No one will come if it's in there from fear alone. We'd have to sneak across grounds to get there, grounds which are wide open. Plus there are way too many distractions there."

"Well maybe the Chamber of Secrets?" He suggested again. Hermione couldn't believe the things coming out of this boys mouth.

"Great idea, a place just crawling with Dark Magic. God knows what else is down. there. Any girl could walk into that bathroom and notice that there's a sink missing. And again, people would be bloody terrified." Sometimes she wondered about Ron's thought process. Or if there even was one. Sure he was smart enough… but he was just so illogical sometimes.

"What about the Room of Requirement?" Harry suggested. He had remained silent through Ron's onslaught of awful ideas, obviously actually thinking his ideas through.

"That could work actually. We could ask it to not let anyone else in. It could provide us with so many tools as well. I doubt that she even knows that it exists. Harry that's perfect!" Hermione exclaimed. She noticed Ron grumbling a little bit at her immediate acceptance of Harry's idea, but she couldn't help that his ideas were absolute bollocks.

"How are we going to let the members know?" Ron asked. It was probably the first relevant thing that he had said all night. Hermione thought for a moment, flipping through charms and books through her mind like it were a book itself.

"Why don't we just tell them straight up? Like discreetly of course. But that way it can't be intercepted or anything you know." Harry offered.

"Yeah we can tell a few people and then tell them to tell their friends- the trustworthy ones of course- and then meet them there. I'm thinking Wednesdays at around six. That way it's after supper and before we have to be in dorms, so no one would notice that we're missing."

"What about a back up plan? You know, incase we get caught. What's our story?" Ron asked. When he was asking and not answering the questions, he was actually somewhat useful!

"We can say that we're… just hanging out? I don't know what else we could use as an excuse since all the clubs are banned."

"The decree said groups bigger than 5 would be considered a club."

"And you didn't think it relevant to tell us this earlier?" Hermione exploded. "I'm sorry Ron. I didn't mean it to sound like that. I guess I'm just a little stressed." She immediately apologized. She saw Harry trying to cover a little laugh and caught a weird look from Ron.

"I forgot about it until now… I'm sorry…"

"No it's fine. I guess we just hope that we don't get caught. I don't know what else we could do. If we get caught we're caught. We could try to con our way out of it… but I don't see a way around that. I guess we'll just have to never get caught."

"Bit dangerous 'Mione." Harry said.

"Well what are we supposed to do? I don't know how we could disguise a group of twenty or more students all gathering secretly. We can just exercise as many security precautions as possible and hope the best."

"I suppose so…" Harry said nervously. "It's just that people are finally starting to believe me. I don't want to get anyone into trouble."

"Exactly Harry. They believe you now, so use it. If you don't want them in serious trouble, they need to be trained on how to defend themselves. Otherwise their trouble could be death."

"I'm not even qualified to do this! I wing it every time I battle him." Harry pleaded.

"Yeah but Harry mate, you've also won every time." Ron chimed in.

"You casted a patronus your third year. You're obviously powerful. If you can teach them even that it'll be worth it. Some of them have never even been taught how to stun. Harry, these are the basics that they need. If you can teach them that, it will all be worth it. Please Harry. Please do this." Hermione pleaded. Harry let out a heavy breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. It was obvious he was battling with his logic and the logic that Hermione had just presented to him.

"Fine. Whatever. But I'm not teaching this on my own. I need the two of you to help me as well." Ron's face immediately brightened at the idea of him being needed. Hermione couldn't help but smile at his obvious joy. She often felt bad for Ron, as Harry got all the glory, and she had all the brains. They couldn't do any of it without Ron, but he didn't get any credit for his work.

"So, we can tell all the Gryffindors from fourth year up and-"

"Fourth year and up?" Ron cut in.

"Yeah. We can't be teaching this stuff to first years. It's way too dangerous and you know that." Hermione told him.

"I suppose so… but shouldn't everyone be educated?"

"Not many third years could do much of this stuff Ron. They'd just get frustrated. Plus, children get excited causing them to accidently let things slip. It's really for the best. Anyways, we can tell the Gryffindors, and then maybe one person from each house except for Slytherin obviously. They can tell the existing members and anyone else that they think is trustworthy enough. Does this sound okay?" Hermione asked. She sometimes felt bad for always making all the plans, but she was the most logical one. The boys would wing everything if they had it their way. Things as big as this need to be planned out so that nothing goes wrong.

"No one from Slytherin. I don't trust any of them, and they all worship Malfoy. He could get it out of any of them. We all know that he'd turn us in the first chance he got, so next to Umbridge he's our biggest worry. And his family is close to Voldemort, so it's doubly important." Harry clarified. Hermione pursed her lips a little bit. She couldn't help but wonder if maybe Malfoy would keep their secret safe. Maybe he didn't want to follow in his fathers footsteps. Then the logical side of her brain kicked in and she realized that this was Malfoy they were talking about. Even if he didn't want to hinder their operation, he probably didn't have much of a choice but to follow in his fathers' path.

A/N: hey guys! please let me know what you think of this? I'd appreciate any suggestions or comments. Thanks! 3