To everyone asking why Cedric doesn't just leave: Who knows? Makes the plot better. ;)
I'm kidding, I explain exactly why he can't leave during the Christmas chapter.
Space Address: Union/Covenant
Word Count: 2750
Cedric spent the entire next day in the hospital wing. Fred and George carried him there after he fainted and fetched Professor Sprout when Madam Pomfrey determined that he had suffered serious blood loss and would need potions and rest. According to the rumor mill, Professor Sprout was livid and had gone off on Umbridge at breakfast in front of everyone. If it weren't for Professor Flitwick, she would have fired off several curses, but instead, it was contained to colorful curse-words that put her on probation for the next month.
Thankfully, her job was not lost and it was determined that Cedric would spend any detentions with her until further notice. Which probably meant until Umbridge made a new rule.
Hogsmeade morning, Cedric rode in a carriage with Fred, George, Lee, and Red. He asked Red if he wanted to join a club and Red said 'okay' even though he wasn't sure what it was about. An early snow had fallen, making the Halloween decorations around the hamlet look out of place. Cedric kept his hood up, feeling a little like a Jedi. That brought a small smile to his lips, so he removed his IMN and wrote the sentiment to Hermione.
Fred, George, and Lee stopped inside Zonko's joke shop so Red and Cedric went straight to the Hog's Head where the meeting was being held. It was off the main road of Hogsmeade on the shadier side of the village. It was the kind of place where people did dealings.
Where Hagrid got Fluffy and Norbert(a).
The Hog's Head wasn't even decorated and looked absolutely dismal. There were a few people and a random goat inside. The outside could hardly be seen through the grimy windows. The entire place was… grey. Grey bar, grey walls, grey floors, grey furniture. Even the color of the stained glass above the bar was muted from a layer of dirt. Each table had a dead candle jammed right into the center with nothing to catch dripping wax. Somehow, the white light of the snowy exterior lit the pub up just enough. In the corner, a goat grazed on a pile of hay.
All of the patrons had their heads down to their glasses, which made Cedric suspicious. He glanced at Harry and Ron already there and were discussing what they were going to say.
"Morning," said Cedric. "You sure we should be meeting here? The Three Broomsticks might be… safer."
"It's too noisy," Harry reasoned.
Cedric looked around and faked a loud and convincing sneeze. Everyone looked up at him and he scanned their eyes.
"Bless you," said Harry.
Cedric waved him forward and whispered in his ear, "Mundungus Fletcher is here and so is a spy of the Ministry."
"What do we do?" Harry whispered in alarm.
"Leave it to me." Cedric went to the counter and sat down next to a veiled "woman" drinking a smoking beverage.
As he did, he drew his wand and sent the sleep spell over to the heavily cloaked Ministry Spy, who promptly passed out and toppled out of his chair onto the floor. He sent another one, a memory charm, so that he would report that no Hogwarts students were in the Hog's Head that day.
"Clean up on Aisle Two, eh, Dung?" he said cheerfully.
Mundungus jumped and choked on his drink. He coughed hard and pounded on his chest before ripping off his veil and looking at Cedric.
"How did you know it was me?"
"I know everything," he said darkly. "I know that if you leave Harry unfollowed again Sirius will have your hide. You don't breathe a word of this to anyone other than Sirius you got that? Not even if they offer you money or rare materials."
"Or what?" Mundungus rasped.
"I'll tell Sirius you've been stealing his shit and selling it to the first bidder."
"You wouldn't!"
"Try me."
Mundungus took one look at his face and shook his head.
"Didn't think so…" Cedric paused and said loud enough for Aberforth the Barkeep to hear. "And don't go running off before you pay your bill, either. Everyone knows the loo routine."
Aberforth slowed his grimy glass cleaning and glared at Mundungus who wanted to disappear.
"Remember," said Cedric, knocking on the counter to emphasize his point. "Not. A. Word."
He went back to the table and sat down.
"Think I might be able to get firewhiskey here?" Ron asked. "Always wanted to try it."
"He won't," said Cedric. "Our friend over there is above selling alcohol to minors. Most we get are bottles of butterbeer. And trust me, you'll want the bottles." He looked at Harry. "Why didn't you plan a speech?"
"Honestly, I wasn't even sure if people would show up," he admitted. "Besides, people probably won't show up except to look at the Boy-Who-Went-Crazy."
"I believe you," said Red earnestly.
"Who're you?" Ron asked.
"Ron, Harry, this is my friend Red Ellis," said Cedric. "He wants to join the club."
"Why do they call you Red?" Harry asked, noting that Red did not have red hair.
"Probably because I'm Irish."
Cedric snickered. "Anyway, he's cool. He won't tell anyone. Besides, I've got a gift for you from Hermione. She says she's not going to send you study guides, but she will help you with this."
Harry and Ron heaved a sigh of relief and took the papers Hermione put together for them.
"Everyone else should be here about now," said Harry, looking at his watch.
On cue, the door opened, stirring up the dusty floor, and people filed in bringing more business than this bar had seen in years. Cedric knew all of them.
The first who entered were Fred, George, and Lee all carrying big bags of Zonko's merchandise, followed by Ginny and Michael Corner, their relationship still going well after their meeting last Yule Ball, plus two other Ravenclaws: Anthony Goldstein and Terry Boot. To Cedric's surprise, Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe entered. He didn't think she ever wanted to see Harry again. There were lingering feelings there, he guessed. Behind them were Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas, and Seamus Finnegan, along with Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, and Padma Patil; Luna entered by herself humming cheerfully and looking around the pub with interest; then Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, and Angelina Johnson came in; Colin and Dennis Creevey showed up as excited as ever; then there was Ernie MacMillan, Justin Finch-Fletchly, Hannah Abbott, and Lisha Lloyd from Hufflepuff; Zacharias Smith followed up from behind. Coming in the rear were Daphne and Astoria Greengrass and Tabatha St. Vincent, paired with the most surprising of all: Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy.
Ron made each of them sign the sign-in sheet. Even if they used a false name, the contract would bind them to silence.
"What are you doing here?" Zacharias demanded of the Slytherins.
"Believe it or not," said Blaise haughtily, "we aren't exactly thrilled with the state of our education either."
"Just because we're Slytherin doesn't mean we're siding with the Toad Lady," Daphne added.
"Besides," said Tabatha, sitting next to Cedric and putting an arm around him. "Having Head Girl and Head Boy here means we can manipulate prefect rounds. This is my last year at Hogwarts and I'm not going to spend it killing brain cells. If I have to read that book one more time I'm going to puke."
Draco just nodded. Poor bloke was dealing with anxiety and depression and was now grappling with the fact that he had to think for himself and come up with his own opinions of people. Split between his respect for his mother and fear of his father, he wasn't going to tell anyone anything.
"Everyone deserves a chance," said Harry, looking quite unhappy despite his words. "Has everyone signed in?"
Cedric checked over the sheet and nodded.
"Okay, excellent," said Harry. "What if someone finds it?"
"They won't. Observe." Cedric placed the sheet between the pages of his IMN and closed it. When he opened the book, it was gone. "Ta-da."
A few people snickered.
"Right, of course Hermione would set something like that up," said Harry.
"Thirty butterbeers please," said Fred to the stunned barkeep. "Oi, cough up everyone, I haven't got enough gold for all of these."
Aberforth stared at all of them in shock before grunting and throwing down his dirty rag to get them their beers as everyone patted their robes for spare coins. Once they all had their drinks and settled down in chairs, Harry stood up.
He looked out at everyone's expectant faces. He wasn't expecting anything to come of this and didn't know where to start now that he had an audience.
"So… we're not learning how to defend ourselves," he said, almost uncertainly.
"From You-Know-Who," said Zacharias Smith unbelievingly. "What makes you say he's back?"
"What makes me say…" Harry stammered a moment and glared, his temper rising. "I saw him. Cedric saw him. Dumbledore told all of you what happened to us. I'll do you one better, why are you so determined not to believe he has returned?"
"No proof…" said Zacharias with uncertainty.
"Faith in someone is not based on proof," said Ginny. "Harry just wants to protect us."
"And not just from Voldemort." Harry rolled his eyes at the screams. "There are other things out there. There will be other dark wizards like Voldemort and Grindelwald."
"Death Eaters," muttered Draco Malfoy, rubbing his hands against his knees. "Never know when one might take the lead."
"You'd know all about that wouldn't you?" Seamus hissed.
Draco stood up, Daphne and Blaise grabbed his arms to stop him.
"Don't fight or I'll take House points," Cedric warned. "We are all here because of a common enemy: Umbridge, and a common goal: self-defense."
"Well said!" barked Ernie MacMillan, unable to keep his mouth shut any longer. "Personally, I think this is really important, possibly more important than anything else we'll do this year even with our O.W.L.s coming up!" When nobody interrupted, he swelled importantly and went on, "I, personally, am at a loss to see why the Ministry has foisted such a useless teacher upon us at this critical period. Obviously they are in denial about You-Know-Who, but to give us a teacher who is trying to actively prevent us from using defensive spells—"
"The reason why we aren't is because Fudge and Umbridge have got it in their heads that Dumbledore is grooming us to be his personal army to take over the Ministry," said Cedric. "Fudge is delusional and he's an elected official, he can't make decisions by himself."
Looks of disbelief were passed around.
"Is it true Harry can cast the Patronus Charm?" Luna asked, steering the conversation in the right direction for once.
"Yes, I can," said Harry.
"He fought off an entire swarm of dementors," said Ron. "Hundreds of them."
"It's true, I saw it," said Cedric.
"He also fought You-Know-Who our first year," said Ron. "And a swarm of sp-spiders our second year."
"He can beat just about anyone in a duel," Cedric added. "And he faced a lot of stuff in the maze, too which I'm sure you all saw until the crystals went out. Look, whether or not you believe our good friend Morty is back, and whether or not you believe Harry faced him in the cemetery, Harry did all these things."
"He also got the Philosophy Stone," said Neville.
"Philosopher's Stone," Ron corrected. "Harry knew what to do when there was Devil's Snare, caught a flying key, and he got past the obstacle set up by Professor Vector. And then Quirrell couldn't touch him!"
"You all make it sound brilliant and amazing," said Harry. "But it really isn't, it was all luck and I had a lot of help with it. I'm not trying to sound modest…"
"The Orphan Who Kept Getting Extremely Lucky and Escaped Death by Automatically Burning Magic Hitler, is a bit long for a book title," said Cedric drily before Zacharias could start something.
"You did a lot of stuff, too, Cedric," said Cho earnestly. He raised an eyebrow. She had residual feelings for … him? That was awkward. "You faced a Basilisk and you were in the Tournament, too. We all saw you. I'm sure you could have a lot to teach us."
"I killed the damn Basilisk, maybe I should teach the class," said Ginny sarcastically.
"Harry needs to be our teacher," said Cedric. "I believe in him and I'll follow him."
"Thanks, Ced," said Harry gratefully. "Okay, not all of you are obligated to join, but you know what this is all about. I have a sheet here. Once you sign it, you're in. We'll figure out a place to train and forms of communication next week."
"This can't overlap with Quidditch," said Angelina. "I won't allow it."
Cedric and Cho nodded in agreement.
"It'd be suspicious," Draco added.
"Cedric and I will manipulate prefect rounds," said Tabatha.
"So, what do we still have to go on our prefect rounds?" Ernie asked. "Then we'll miss the training!"
"Not necessarily," said Cedric. "We all keep our walkie-talkies on us. Someone asks where one of us is, we can run down to where we are supposed to be patrolling."
"We can also make fake conversations," said Tabatha. She mimed clicking the side of a walkie-talkie. "This is Head Girl to Head Boy, what is the status of the ground floor? Over."
Cedric mimed holding a walkie-talkie to his mouth. "Chk! This is Head Boy, ground floor is secure, no suspicious activity here. Over and out." He paused and looked at the prefects. "Don't pull that when you're actually supposed to be patrolling. I'll know."
"Great," said Harry. "That's settled. So… I suppose we'll meet once a week."
"Sounds good," said Lee Jordan.
"I'll find a way for us to spread the word around when a meeting has been set up," Harry continued. "And when we figure out a place to meet."
He set the contract down and a pen, then stepped back. He was half expecting everyone to just leave.
Cedric and Tabatha stood up and signed their names below his and Ron's. The others followed, not a single person leaving. Draco looked Harry in the eye and signed his name in clear print. The last person to sign was Zacharias Smith, who was just determined to learn defense and be smug about it.
Cedric was already brainstorming communication ideas. Hermione's notebooks were too complex, walkie-talkies were too noticeable… a protean charm might work.
They left in small groups and went about their Hogsmeade business.
"Where should we hold meetings at?" Harry asked.
Cedric looked around the quiet area.
"Don't decide that here," he said. "We need to go someplace noisy. Like the Three Broomsticks."
The rest of them left and gathered around a table at the inn. Cedric, Harry, Ron, Fred, George, Lee, Ginny, Luna, and Neville. A barmaid got their drink and food orders and left them to it.
"Is that your jukebox, Cedric?" Luna asked. "It's terribly clever."
"Thanks," he said. "It seems to be pretty popular. I added your favorite song."
Luna grinned, ran over to the jukebox, inserted the proper currency and selected the song "Purple People Eater". She danced in front of it, not caring who saw, though to her glee a couple people joined in. Cedric smiled and realized he could feel love. Who was it? He looked around the table and zeroed in on Ginny.
Her chin rested in her hands and she looked on at Luna with a dreamy smile on her face. Ooh, she had it bad.
When Luna finally returned to her seat, their drinks arrived and they could talk freely.
"So, where should we hold meetings?" Harry asked.
"The Shrieking Shack?" Ginny suggested.
"No, too small."
"I kinda tore it up last moon anyway," said Cedric awkwardly.
"There's a dueling classroom," said Fred. "We can set up posts."
"Too risky."
"I know where we can hold it," said Cedric. "It's a room I've been keeping secret for four years. Guess I couldn't hide it forever."
"Where is it?"
Cedric smiled and took a long sip of his drink for a dramatic pause.
"Did you know that Hogwarts has a Lost and Found?"