Author's Note: I still only own Alex and anything else you don't recognize!

Chapter 14 Let the Rebelling Begin

That evening, Alex, Hermione, Ron, and Harry stayed in the common room. The girls helped the boys plow through all the homework they had put off to the last minute. It was getting later and later, and the boys were growing weary, which showed in their work.

"Ron," said Hermione with a kind smile, "Your introduction for Professor Sprout's essay is good and you have some really nice facts in here. I just added a few more details as well as some better way of wording. But your conclusion is…weak. Copy the one I wrote for you and you'll be fine."

"Hermione, you're a lifesaver," said Ron tiredly, but happily, "I owe you so much. Next time I'm ever mean to you, or whatever-"

"I'll know you finally got enough sleep to be thinking straight," said Hermione, who turned slightly pink.

"And Harry," said Alex as she tickled the end of her nose with her feather quill, "I think you meant to say, "The properties of copperhead venom are good for the potion" instead of "The properties of copperhead venom are good for you". You never use first or second person in essays, it's not as professional. Plus, copperhead venom is highly poisonous."

"I remember when Harry's mother used to help me with my Potion's homework," a voice from the fire said causing everyone to jump, "But I see the roles are reversed in this generation."

"Sirius!" said Harry, looking relieved, "How are you?"

"I think the real question is how are you four doing?" Sirius asked.

"I guess you heard about the new decree?" Alex asked, "Now she won't give the Gryffindor Quidditch team permission to reform!"

"As well as permission to form secret defensive magic groups?" said Sirius, his face blank.

There was a pause as Ron and Hermione turned to Alex and Harry, who were looking at one another.

"I didn't tell," said Harry, "So how did you know about it?"

"Well, I hope it wasn't Alex who chose the meeting place, otherwise I'd be ashamed," said Sirius with a small smile, "The Hog's Head for Merlin's sake!"

"But if we went to the Three Broomsticks," said Hermione defensively, "Someone would have definitely overheard us!"

"Not with the crowd of people I remember," said Sirius with a laugh, "It's so loud, you can't even hear yourself think. No one goes in the Hog's Head so it's easier for people to hear you."

"Who heard us?" Ron asked.

"Mundungus Fletcher," said Sirius with a grin, "He was the veiled woman. He got banned from their years ago and the barman has an amazingly long memory."

Alex had expected her father to be worried or angry with her and that was partially why she hadn't written about it, as well as the fact her owl could've been intercepted. However, he was looking at them all with pride and joy.

"Oh, almost forgot, Ron," said Sirius suddenly, "Your mum told me to tell you that she wants you to have no part in this illegal defense club. She says it'll ruin your future if you're caught and she wishes me to say the same for the other three. She knows, however, that she has no power over you and knows you'll do whatever you please but to remember that she wants to live to see you all married and parents, so don't put her into an early grave by worrying her to death. She'd have told you this in person, but she's busy with important business. So I've been sent to relay the message and make sure you tell her I did because I don't think she believes I will."

"So you're saying you don't want me to learn how to defend myself?" asked Ron angrily.

"Me? Of course not!" said Sirius with a bark of laughter, "I think the idea is great! I'd have done the same thing if I was in your situation."

"You mean you don't mind Harry and me leading it?" Alex asked with a grin.

"I think your mum would be so proud, Alex," said Sirius with pride, "As would your father and mother, Harry, although your mum would be worried sick about you."

"But last year," said Harry, "You kept telling us to keep our heads down!"

"That was because we thought there was someone in Hogwarts trying to kill you and Alex," said Sirius, "But now we know for a fact there's a man outside Hogwarts who wants to kill almost the entire Wizarding population! It's better to know how to fight when the times comes than be unprepared, even if it means bending a few rules."

Alex smiled at her father. She was glad he wasn't upset with her anymore; she didn't want to disappoint him.

"So, any idea where you'll be meeting?" Sirius asked curiously.

"We don't know," said Ron, "We thought it should be somewhere where everyone can get to during the school week so our meetings won't be restricted by Hogsmede weekends."

"What about the Shrieking Shack?" Sirius suggested.

"Well," said Hermione with a frown, "That was great for you when you were in school, but three of you could turn into animals and had a way to become invisible. Plus, there were only four of you. There are a lot more of us who can't become invisible or animals at will."

"There used to be a large, old passageway on the fourth floor behind a mirror-"

"I thought I heard Fred and George say it was blocked," said Ron sadly.

"Hmm," said Sirius in thought, "Well, I'll think about it and I'll…"

He stopped talking and went tense. Slowly, he raised his head to look up the chimney. His face was full of alarm now.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked but there was a small pop and he vanished. They stared at the fire and Alex said, "Why did he go?"

Suddenly, she let out a shout of horror as a hand appeared in the fireplace. It was short and stubby with rings. It was the hand of Umbridge. Both boys and girls bolted out away from the fire and up to the dormitory. Before Alex went up the stairs, she turned back and saw the hand grabbing at the air where her father's head had been moments before. She turned back and ran up the stairs, stopping to catch their breath before entering the dormitory.

"That was too close for comfort," said Hermione, gasping for air.

"Tell me about it," said Alex, who was shaking all over, "Can you imagine if she grabbed him?"

"He'd be back in Azkaban within the hour." Hermione watched as Alex sat on her own bed and ran her fingers through her long black hair.

"How could she know he was there?" she asked.

"She must be controlling the Floo Network here," Hermione answered gravely, "She must check to make sure we aren't telling our parents things that we know will get intercepted in letters."

"How could Dumbledore let this happen?" Alex asked, angrily, "That woman is taking over the school and he's not doing anything!"

"He can't without breaking those stupid decrees," said Hermione, "And anyway, we're going to fighting back in our own way."

"Yeah, once we find a place to practice."

...

It turned out that finding a place to practice wasn't as hard as they first thought it was going to be. One morning after Harry had come back from yet another detention late, he had a large smile on his face.

"Guess who I met last night?" he asked.

"Cho," suggested Alex with a mischievous smile, "Since she's the only thing I know that makes you smile that much."

"No," said Harry, blushing a brilliant shade of red, "Dobby, the house elf from before. He says he knows a place where we can go."

"I dunno, Harry," said Ron nervously, "Wasn't this the same elf who was trying to save you, but could've killed you."

"He can be a little overenthusiastic, I'll admit," said Harry, "But I checked the place out last night and its perfect! He called it the Come-and-Go Room. It's a room that will turn into anything you want it to be. It's like Hogwarts wants us to fight back!"

After their lessons, Harry showed the others where the room was. Alex was surprised to find it was in the same corridor as the room she had fled to last year when she needed to be alone. As Harry paced back and forth, realization dawned on her.

"I think," she said as a door magically appeared and they entered, "I've been here before."

"When?" Ron asked curiously as he looked around in awe. The room was fairly large with a mirror running along the opposite wall, pillows stacked in corners, and little dummies of men dressed in dark robes and masks.

"After you insulted me," said Alex coolly and Ron looked down in embarrassment. "Only when I came, it had a piano and some cushiony chairs. But Harry, this is amazing!"

"Now we just have to arrange the meetings," said Hermione thoughtfully.

"But how will we let them know when they are?" Harry asked, "We can't be seen meeting each other in hallways, it'll look suspicious."

"Leave that to us," said Hermione, looking at Alex with interest, "I've got an idea."

"Oh no," said Alex, putting her hands up and backing away, "I know that look! That's the look that Fred and George have right before they pull something sneaky. What have you got up your sleeve, Hermione?"

"Something that you're going to love, now come on!" cried Hermione as she grabbed her best friend's arm and dragged her out of the room, the boys watching them go with confusion and slight amusement.

"You know," said Ron lightly, "Hermione's not so bad when she loosens up a bit."

Harry only smiled and shook his head, only imagining what Hermione had in mind that she needed Alex's help.

...

"So remind me how this works again?" Alex asked as she cast the spell on another Galleon she had just finished making and painting gold.

"Every member will have one of these Galleons," said Hermione as she started painting the last one in the pile, "But when Harry touches his and says the date, everyone else's Galleon will grow warm and the date will change. They can keep them in their pockets with their other money and it's going to be lighter than a normal Galleon so they'll know not to spend it by the weight."

"You're brilliant, Hermione!" said Alex as she cast the final spell, "You know, this is kind of like the Death Eater's tattoos."

"That's where I got the idea from," said Hermione sheepishly, "But I thought it best not to have all of us go out and get tattoos of Harry's head or something."

"Good thinking. That would be hard for me to explain to Uncle Monty when I went home," said Alex with a smirk, "Is that all of them then?"

"Yes, there're twenty-nine of us," said Hermione proudly.

"Thirty actually," said Alex, "Dean Thomas came up to me when I was in the library the other day and asked to join. I believe his signature is on there."

"Oh yeah, right here below Zacharias Smith," said Hermione with a frown, "He's a moron. I just hope that he takes this seriously."

Alex shook her head and someone tapped her shoulder. She turned to find a little first year boy looking shyly at her.

"Hello," said Alex kindly, "What's up?"

"There's someone waiting outside for you," the boy said quietly, "They told me to tell you that they wish to talk to you whenever you're ready. They're down the corridor, make a left, and they're in the first classroom on the right."

"Thanks buddy," said Alex, stretching as she stood up, "Can you tell me who it is or is it a mystery?"

"I'm not supposed to say," the boy said, "They gave me a whole Galleon to make sure I didn't give you anymore information than what I just told you."

"All right then, run along now and put that Galleon in a safe place," Alex chuckled and the boy smiled, dashing up the boys' staircase. "I'll be back Hermione."

"Who is it though?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"Dunno," said Alex with a shrug. She had a vague idea but it was better to play dumb.

Alex left through the portrait hole and went down the corridor, made a left, and opened the first door on the right. There was no one in there so she walked in.

"Hello?" she called out, "A little boy said you gave him a Galleon to tell me you wanted to see me."

Suddenly, strong arms grabbed her around her waist and spun her around. Alex let out a cry of shock and the arms let her go. She spun around to find a smiling Draco Malfoy. She let out a happy sigh and rolled her eyes.

"You're so immature!" she said with a laugh, punching him lightly in the arm, "What was that all about anyway? Why can't you just greet someone normally like every other guy does?"

"Because then I'd be normal and you wouldn't like that," he said with a wink, "And anyway, you know you like a guy who's a little immature. We're a lot more fun than those serious guys."

"Oh ha, ha," said Alex sarcastically but she laughed all the same, "Now what's up anyway?"

"So I talked to Umbridge-"

"You poor soul!"

"-and she agreed to give us permission to work on potions," finished Draco.

"What's the catch?" Alex asked suspiciously. She didn't trust that woman at all.

"No catch," said Draco, still smiling, "She said as long as the potions were legal, she has no problem with us working together. She trusts me because she thinks I'm like my father."

"Well, I guess your dad did come in handy after all," said Alex with a smile.

"Yeah, but she wasn't going to let me work with you though," Draco said, still grinning, "She was going on about thinking you were in some secret organization that was teaching others defensive magic. Then she started ranting about Sirius Black being in your Gryffindor fireplace! Merlin, she's really gone off her rocker, huh?"

"Yeah…completely whacked-up," said Alex, but her insides had turned to ice. How was she getting her information? Did she know anything about her and Sirius being related? No, she couldn't. Only Order members and Wormtail knew and they wouldn't, or couldn't, tell.

"You okay there, Alex?" Draco asked, his head cocked to one side.

"I'm fine," said Alex with a smile, "Thanks Draco. So I'll see you later then?"

"No problem," he said and strode over to her, holding her close. He whispered, "Be careful, Alex. Umbridge obviously doesn't like you so don't give her a reason to expel you. If you were to get expelled…I'd probably drop out."

"Don't be so dramatic, Draco!" Alex exclaimed, blushing brilliantly, "I'm not going to be expelled and even if I did, it's not worth you dropping out over."

"But it's true," Draco continued in a soft voice, "Hogwarts without you has no life, no meaning, no purpose. You make this place shine."

Alex smiled at this but was shocked by this show of emotion. It seemed to come from somewhere deep inside of him and it made her happy to know that was how he felt.

"Well...thank you, Draco," she said after a moment and smiled softly, "You're a good friend, you know that?"

"I try, Alex. I really do. You know that I'm always on your side," he replied, patting her on the shoulder and added with the infamous Malfoy smirk, "Even against crazy High Inquisitors."

Alex let out a bark of laughter and bumped his arm with her shoulder lightly. Draco slipped an arm around her shoulders and they sat there, just the two of them, chatting about lighter topics such as the upcoming Quidditch games and the amount of homework that they had. And for that moment, Alex forgot about the darkening world around her and just enjoyed acting like a normal teenager. It was one of those rare moments that didn't happen often enough for her.

...

That Saturday, the four Gryffindors were waiting in the Room of Requirement, as Hermione had said it was called when she looked it up in Hogwarts: A History. Soon, everyone was gathered and waiting for either Harry or Alex to speak.

"Well," said Alex, clapping her hands together, "I see you all figured out how your Galleons work. Please don't spend them because Hermione and I worked hours on making them and putting the spells on. If you do spend them, I'll have to take you out. Any questions?" Alex looked around and no one raised their hands. They all either looked taken aback by her frankness or, in the case of the Gryffindors that knew her well, were too busy holding back their laughter. "No? Good, now I think we should think of a name for this group. Any ideas?"

"What about the Fighting Umbridge club?" suggested Fred.

"Otherwise known as the F.U. club!" said George.

"Tempting," said Hermione without any trace of humor in her voice, "But can we keep the name clean, if you don't mind?"

"The Defense Association," said Cho, "But we can call it the D.A for short. That way, no one will know what it is."

"I like the D.A," said Ginny, "But why don't we call it Dumbledore's Army instead? After all, isn't that what Fudge is the most afraid of? That Dumbledore's building up an army to take down the Ministry?"

"I like it," said Stevie suddenly and everyone turned in shock. Stevie hardly ever spoke and never with the look of eager fire in her eyes, "If Fudge wants an army, let's give him one!"

"All in favor of the name Dumbledore's Army," said Hermione happily, "Raise your hands!"

Every hand but Cho's friend and Zacharias' hand went into the air. They watched as Hermione went to a bulletin board and tacked the list on it. She wrote in capital letters, 'DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY'.

"Then let us be the first to welcome you-" said Alex.

"-to the first of many meetings-" said Hermione.

"-until Umbridge learns or we reveal ourselves-" said Ron.

"-of Dumbledore's Army!" finished Harry.

The entire room cheered loudly, Fred and George leading them in whistles and shouts of approval.

"So…shall we start with disarming spells then?" Harry asked a little nervously and was received with enthusiasm.

Author's Note: Who here enjoyed this chapter? If you squealed, "MEEEEE!" like a little school girl, tell me why. Was it because there was some Sirius in this chapter? Or did you enjoy Alex and Hermione's bantering? Perhaps you liked seeing a different side of Draco Malfoy?

Whatever the case may be, put it in a review so I know what you want to see more of! Even though the story is already written, I can still add scenes to make the chapters longer. And we all know that longer chapters make for happy readers! So if you want to be happy, help me out here!

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, added me to their favorites, and/or put me on alert. It's great to know that I have such loyal fans who continue to support me! I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Kwanzaa, depending on what you celebrate! Enjoy the holidays and I will see you all before the new year! :D