Hello everyone!

Surprise update! I know I just put out a new chapter yesterday, but I'm going on a 10-day vacation starting today and I wanted to make sure you lovely readers didn't think I forgot about you! Now…don't hate me, because this one does kind of end in a cliff hanger, BUT I needed to cut it off somewhere or else it would have continued for 10,000 words.

As always, you are amazing. Read, review, and enjoy!

"So I've been thinking," Neville muttered as Seamus and Lavender made their way to Charms a few weeks into the term, "that maybe it's time to get the DA back together again."

Seamus whooped in agreement, allowing sparks to fly out of the end of his wand. He tossed an arm over Lavender's shoulder, in an effort to slap Neville on the back. "I've been hoping for WEEKS now that you would say that," he replied, a heart-stopping grin settling onto his lips. Usually it was the kind of grin that sent Lavender's heart fluttering, but this time it only made her heart drop into the pit of her stomach.

"Isn't it quite dangerous now?" she inquired, wringing her hands in front of her, "Dumbledore isn't here anymore to protect us from Umbridge, like when the DA was first founded." She paused as Flitwick opened up the classroom door, allowing the NEWT seventh year students to stream to their seats. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "This is completely different. Just a few days ago there was a rumor going around that a fourth year Hufflepuff was tortured using the cruciatus curse in detention with the Carrows."

"That's exactly why we need to do it," Neville whispered back, setting his book bag on the floor next to his seat. He slammed his wand onto the desk, ignoring the warning spark it gave, "The younger students need to know there are people here still willing to look out for them." He dug into his pocket, pulling out the fake galleon Hermione had bewitched in their fifth year. "We should send out a signal, see who else is willing to participate."

Seamus clapped Neville on the back once again, leaning over his seat to do so. "You can count me in, mate. Someone needs to show the Carrows who's boss."

Lavender sent the two a tight smile just as Flitwick climbed onto his desk to begin class. She missed the opening of the lecture, her thoughts flittering elsewhere in her mind as she stared out of the window. The leaves were in the midst of changing, sending the grounds into a flurry of color. Fall used to be one of her favorite times of the year at the castle, the scenery from the towers were breathtaking to behold. Now, it merely reminded her that she was still in the beginning stages of her seventh year, the nightmare of her seventh year, and there was quite a long way to go.

Charms seemed to end quickly once Lavender got her mind into the lesson, a refresher on atmospheric charms, and the end of the class merely signaled for Seamus and Neville to discuss their recent revelation to start up Dumbledore's Army once again.

"Listen boys," she interrupted them, as they were both in the midst of planning the first meeting, "I'm going to head to the library. See you in Dark Arts later?" Seamus squeezed her hand and sent her a wink before peeling off with Neville, who was so focused on his thoughts that Lavender was quite sure he didn't hear a word she said.

She shook her head as she snaked her way through the empty tables, heading toward the back of the library where she knew no one would bother her. Checking the time and realizing she had quite the break before Dark Arts started, she decided to begin the Transfiguration essay on conjuration that McGonagall had due for the end of the week following.

Dropping her bag onto the table, she snaked back through the rows of tables until she reached the section of library books specifically clumped together for Transfiguration. She swiped her index finger along the spines of the books as she slowly walked down the aisle, waiting for a book on conjuration to catch her eye. She placed a hand on the top of the first one she came across, sliding it off of the shelf and into her hand.

In the quick process, she almost missed the sound of parchment hitting the floor between her feet. She glanced down, surprised to see an old, folded up newspaper clipping had fluttered down to the flagstone floor. Tucking the book underneath her arm, she bent down to grasp the paper, turning it over in her hand to get a better look at it.

Sirius Black Dead at the Ministry
Written by Rita Skeeter
Daily Prophet Correspondent

In a twist of events, Sirius Black, formerly known as the murderer of Peter Pettigrew and twelve muggles in the days following the deaths of James and Lily Potter, has been killed in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic over the weekend.

While sources are refusing to confirm what events conspired that led to Sirius Black being in that specific department at the time of his death, it has at least been confirmed that he was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange, a cousin to Black and a known supporter of You-Know-Who.

Following his death, Minister Cornelius Fudge has pardoned the record of Black saying his arrest was "a mere misunderstanding" and it was "unfortunate that Sirius spent much of his life locked in a high-security tower."

Sirius Black was preceded in death by his mother, Walburga, his father, Orion, and his brother, Regulus. He was also preceded in death by his fiancée, Haley Brams. Brams was killed by death eaters in the days following Black's arrest. Her murderer remains in high-security lockdown. Please see earlier reports, written by yours truly, for specific events.

Lavender furrowed her brow, turning over the parchment once more. She had known that Sirius Black was pardoned for his crimes. She hadn't known that Sirius Black was once engaged. In all of the hub-bub surrounding his escape and his death, she guessed it hadn't registered with her. Interesting.

She tucked the news article into the pocket of her sweater just as the bell tolled, signaling for the next string of classes to begin. Sighing, she summoned her bag from the table and tucked the book into it, before hitching the bag over her shoulder and headed toward Dark Arts.

…..

"I saw Michael Corner and Terry Boot in the hallway," Neville said as he stuck the end of a sugar quill into his mouth, sucking on it thoughtfully, "they were completely ready to begin the DA again. In fact, they were asking why we hadn't thought of it sooner."

The conversation, very clearly, hadn't ended when classes were over. Neville and Seamus were in planning mode from the moment the DA was brought up earlier that morning. Lavender, who was trying to stay as far out of it as she could, merely rolled her eyes and silently continued working on the essay in her corner of the room.

"I'm more than certain Ernie MacMillian would join up again," Ginny replied, doodling on the piece of parchment that was nearest her. "His best friend is Justin Finch-Fletchy…poor dear had to flee from You-Know-Who as well."

"Luna? Padma? The Creevey brothers?" Neville shot back fiercely, a glint of rebellion resting in his eyes.

Parvati popped her head up at the sound of her twin sister's name. "I know that Padma would absolutely come back! She thought it was so fun last time."

Lavender peered up from her essay, glaring at her best friend. "Don't encourage them," she hissed, "you know how dangerous this is going to be. We can't afford to-"

"Sometimes," Seamus interrupted, placing a hand on Lavender's head and ruffling her hair lightly, "doing the thing you know is right means putting yourself in danger for the good of the people."

Lavender slapped his hand away, quickly trying to tame her blonde curls. "You sound just like Dumbledore," she said with a laugh, turning her wand on Seamus and lazily tossing a multicoloris spell toward him. His hair turned green instantly, which he fixed with another lazy flick of his wand.

"Considering I fully supported Dumbledore, I will also fully support SOUNDING like Dumbledore. Those damn Carrows have already forced us to practice the cruciatus curse on the school ravens. Who knows what will be next?"

She grimaced at the truthfulness of the statement, leaning back in her seat as she set her quill down next to the parchment in front of her. Something stuck her in the side and she jumped forward once again in surprise, catching Seamus and Parvati off guard. Furrowing her brow, she reached into her pocket, her fingers closing around the news article she had tucked away earlier.

"Everything okay?" Parvati asked, as Seamus had now become engaged once again with Neville, plotting the next steps to reforming the DA.

Lavender pulled out the news article, gently dropping it on the desk. "Did you know that Sirius Black was engaged at one point or another?"

Ginny, who had been engrossed in Quidditch Through the Ages, peered over the top of her book. Lavender ignored her, turning back toward Parvati, who was in the process of shrugging.

"Why would I know that Sirius Black was engaged at some point?" She grinned mischievously, stealing the news article from the desk as she glanced over the picture of a young Sirius. "It's a shame what happened to him though. He was a good looking fellow back in his day."

Lavender scrunched her nose, leaning forward to rip the news article from her hands. "Ew, Parvati, he was old enough to be our father."

Parvati shrugged again, rolling her eyes. "Just barely. Look at him! You can't pretend that he isn't a good looking lad."

She sighed, turning back to look at the picture. There was something familiar about his face…something that she couldn't quite put a finger on. "I have to run," she said, slamming her Transfiguration book shut and screwing the lid onto her ink bottle.

"Where are you-?" Parvati had tried to say, but Lavender had already flown out of the portrait hole, headed toward the library. Something about the picture…about the article…about learning Sirius Black was engaged…it was all bothering her. She didn't know why; she couldn't have even begun to understand. There was just a knot in the pit of her stomach that was telling her she needed to find out more.

The library was still open for a little while, so Lavender quickly started to do math in her head as she made her way through the aisles for the second time that day.

Harry defeated You-Know-Who the first time when we were 1 year old. That would have been…October of 1981. The article said that Sirius Black's fiancée died a few days later…November 1981, November 1981, November 1981…

She repeated it in her head as she thumbed over old albums filled with newspaper clippings, each labeled for the month and year the articles that were contained in them were written.

November 1981.

She grabbed the album and pulled it off the shelf, taking a brisk walk toward the table nearest to her. Wrenching the book open, she scanned the pages, watching for any signs of Sirius Black or Haley…Brams? She had to double check the original article she found to make certain of the name.

Haley Brams Found Dead in Her Home
Written by Rita Skeeter
Daily Prophet Correspondent

Haley Brams, fiancée of convicted murderer Sirius Black, was found dead in her home of an apparent attack from supporters of You-Know-Who. The killing curse was expected to have been the culprit and the murderer has been caught.

There wasn't a picture the accompanied the article. It was almost laughable to call it an article, as it was so miniscule that Lavender almost skimmed right over it.

"What are you doing with that?"

Lavender jumped, her heart catching in her throat, as she spun around, surprised to see Ginny standing behind her with her arms folded over her chest. "Wh-what are you doing here? Did you FOLLOW me?"

Ginny didn't deny it nor did she appear abashed by the accusation. "I asked what are you doing with that?" She took a few steps forward, peering over Lavender's shoulders before flicking her eyes up to meet Lavender's. "And how do you know about Haley Brams?"