The next day passed in a flurry of excitement and discoveries. Of all the people to solve our room problem, I never expected it to be Dobby. We spent the entire day telling everyone who was in our secret society about where to meet and before I knew it, it was seven and Ron, Harry and I were sneaking off to the seventh floor to start the first meeting. I was sitting on one of the cushions on the floor, between Ron and George. Most everyone was looking around excitedly as they took their seats, pointing at objects and talking in excited whispers.
It's fantastic!" said Cho, and several people murmured their agreement. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her as she batted her eyes at Harry. I liked her alright, but she just didn't seem right for Harry, especially not with the whole Cedric thing… I don't think Harry needed yet another reminder of that night and Cho was not going to let it go.
"It's bizarre," said Fred, frowning around at the room. I turned my head to listen to him and noticed that George was also looking at the room like it was strange. "We once hid from Filch in here, remember George? But it was just a broom cupboard then. . . ."
"Now why doesn't that surprise me?" I said softly, smiling at the two of them to let them know I wasn't mad but was just teasing. They smiled and George bumped my shoulder with his arm. It sent goosebumps down my arms but I passed it off as my just being cold. It wasn't like I kept replaying the almost kiss from last night over and over again in my mind. No, I was perfectly calm and collected.
"Hey, Harry, what's this stuff?" asked Dean from the rear of the room. I looked over and noticed he was pointing to the Sneakoscopes and the Foe-Glass. Harry glanced behind himself to see what Dean was pointing at before returning his gaze to the crowd.
"Dark Detectors. Basically they all show when Dark Wizards or enemies are around, but you don't want to rely on them too much; they can be fooled. . . ."
He shuffled his feet nervously, glancing around the crowd. I knew he really didn't have any idea what to do but didn't want to admit it. I could hear the uncertainty in his voice when he began to speak. "Well, I've been thinking about the sort of stuff we ought to do first and – er -" I shot my hand in the air; I knew exactly what we needed to do first. "What, Hermione?"
"I think we ought to elect a leader," I said with a calming smile.
"Harry's leader," said Cho at once, looking me as though I were mad. What, did she think I didn't want my best friend to be leader? Honestly, I was the one who suggested Harry teach us to begin with!
"Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly," I said, sounding unperturbed despite my annoyance. "It makes it formal and it gives him authority. So – everyone who thinks Harry ought to be our leader?"
Everybody in the room raised their hands, even the complete prat Zacharias Smith, though he did it very halfheartedly.
"Er – right, thanks," said Harry, whose face was burning a very bright red now. His eyes had grown wide when all the hands went up and he'd promptly lowered his eyes back down to his feet. "And – what Hermione?"
I smiled happily and continued, lowering my hand as I spoke. I could feel George shaking with silent laughter at my side but I ignored him and spoke as brightly as I could. "I also think we ought to have a name, It would promote a feeling of team spirit and unity, don't you think?" He smiled at me softly and nodded his head. I really wanted to name the group because I was getting tired of not knowing what to call it. Plus, it would help us plan meetings easier as well as spread messages.
"Can we be the Anti-Umbridge League?" said Angelina hopefully. I snorted at that and shook my head.
"Or the Ministry of Magic are Morons Group," Fred said with a grin. I smiled begrudgingly at that, but quickly replaced it with a disapproving frown. It wouldn't do to be caught joking on something so serious.
"I was thinking," I said, "more of a name that didn't tell everyone what we were up to, so we can refer to it safely outside meetings." Fred nodded his head in agreement at that and I noticed George giving me an impressed smile out of the corner of my eye. It made me feel warm for some reason, so I quickly turned my head away. I noticed Ron giving me an odd look out of the corner or my eye so I just stared straight ahead, determinedly avoiding both boys at my side.
"The Defense Association?" said Cho, "The D.A. for short, so nobody knows what we're talking about?"
"Yeah, the D.A.'s good," said Ginny before anyone could give their opinion. "Only let's make it stand for Dumbledore's Army because that's the Ministry's worst fear isn't it?"
Ooh! I loved that, it was perfect! "All in favor of the D.A.?" I asked, kneeling up on my cushion to count the hands in the air. Almost every hand was raised. "That's a majority – motion passed!" I stood up quickly and grabbed the paper we had all signed out of my bag, grabbing a inked quill also. I walked up to the front of the wall and taped it onto the mirror, writing the words 'Dumbledore's Army' in large, bold letters across the top.
"Right," said Harry, when I sat down again, "shall we get practicing then? I was thinking, the first thing we should do is Expelliarmus, you know the Disarming Charm. I know it's pretty basic but I've found it really useful -"
"Oh please," said Zacharias Smith, rolling his eyes and folding his arms. "I don't think Expelliarmus is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?"
A flare of anger welled up in me and I gave him my best prefect glare. How dare he talk to Harry like that! Didn't the git know that Harry had used that against Voldmort?
"I've used it against him," said Harry quietly. "It saved my life last June."
Smith opened and closed his mouth stupidly. No one else spoke. A swell of satisfaction filled me at the sight of his obvious discomfort and I felt like giving Harry a high five.
"But if you think it's beneath you, you can leave," Harry said, his voice still quiet.
Smith did not move. Nor did anybody else. I felt a swell of pride for my best friend and tried my best to communicate that with my eyes. He smiled softly at me, letting me know he'd gotten the message.
"Okay," he continued. "I reckon we should all divide into pairs and practice." Everyone stood up immediately and began claiming pairs. Fred went with Angelina, which really surprised me. George turned towards me quickly, a disarming smile on his handsome face.
"What do you say Hermione, want to give it a go?" I could sense Ron standing behind me and that fact made me pause momentarily. I normally would have gone with Ron on this; after all, he was my second best friend. I'd always secretly hoped it could be something more than friendship but I was getting tired of waiting. George was very interesting to me, and he was flirting with me-but then again, he flirted with all the girls. To tell the truth though, I really wanted to get to know him better. He was intriguing and I found his quick wit refreshing. Besides, Ron could practice with Neville.
"Yes," I answered, having taken only a few seconds to decide. Harry counted us off and the room was full of shouts and wands flying. George hadn't said a thing but had managed to disarm me. I was too impressed with his use of nonverbal magic to be embarrassed.
"How did you learn to do that?" I asked as he handed me back my wand. He grinned and shrugged.
"Fred and I got really bored with charms during fifth year. We'd already learned how to do a lot of the spells and we wanted a challenge." He spoke as we resumed our fighting stance. "So we decided to start learning nonverbal magic." He let me disarm him this time, probably so I could get some practice. I caught his wand and handed it back.
"Could you teach me how?" I asked as he grabbed his wand. He looked at me thoughtfully for a moment before glancing around the room.
"Yeah, I think I could." He got a wicked grin on his face and pointed his wand at something. My curiosity got the better of me and I turned around to see what he was doing.
Something very odd was happening to Zacharias Smith. Every time he opened his mouth to disarm Anthony Goldstein, his own wand would fly out of his hand, yet Anthony did not seem to be making a sound. A grin lifted my lips and I turned back to George, not even thinking of berating him. I lifted my hand to my lips to stifle a giggle which didn't go unnoticed by George. He grinned even wider until Harry walked up to us. I was actually a little annoyed to see him.
"Sorry, Harry," George said hastily, "couldn't resist." Harry gave him a disapproving look before turning towards me with an equally disapproving look although it was slightly surprised. I smiled innocently back at him, flicking my wand with a whisper and causing Smith's wand to go flying. George let out a snort of laughter at that and Harry turned around quickly to see Smith picking up his wand with a red face. Harry turned back towards me with a shocked expression before he turned around and walked away, leaving me and George alone. I burst out laughing, but I did so quietly while George led us to a more secluded corner. He smiled down at me as I glanced nervously up at him.
"Okay, so nonverbal magic is a lot easier than most people think," he explained quietly I nodded my head and listened eagerly as he explained how to do it. He let me try it out on him several times, so that by the end of the meeting I had actually managed to make his wand jump in his hand without ever saying a word.
As we were exiting the room I hung back from Harry and Ron and walked out with George, pride making my cheeks glow. I had actually used non verbal magic! I may not have actually disarmed George, but I had come close! What's more, I had actually challenged myself; I hadn't gotten it right the first time. I couldn't recall the last time I had done something that was truly challenging. That was probably the reason I had gotten so into Harry's task the year before. It had given me a challenge, something to really think about.
I found myself chatting away happily with him and Fred, not even thinking about the fact that I, the prefect, was talking to the two biggest pranksters in Hogwarts. We were joking and I was having a grand time with it, so much so that I was actually a little sad to reach the common room.
The next days passed quickly, in a blur of meetings. The meetings were never at the same time as there were so many activities to fit them around, but that was just as well. No one could track us that way.
I practiced nonverbal spells at every turn. I was getting good at it but hadn't mastered them yet. Umbridge's classes were no longer so terrible when I thought about how we were resisting her with each and every DA meeting. George had become my permanent partner, and I was really enjoying our practices, not that I would ever admit it. He had a quick wit and always matched me in our verbal disputes. Not many people could, or would even try. I actually found myself having fun at Hogwarts again. I'd begun to fear that wasn't possible anymore. I was laughing again, something I hadn't done on a regular basis since before Hogwarts.
A/N: Once again, let me know if you see anything that doesn't jibe with the books time line. If I continue this fic to DH you can be darn sure Fred did not die. I will never right a Fred is dead fic. In my book he is alive and happy, pranking Percy night and day. Don't forget to review, I love hearing your thoughts, ideas, suggestions, and comments.
Until the next chapter!
Ps. Thanks to Ninja Goldfish for taking the time to beta read this chapter.