Adaptations

ADAPTATIONS PART 15

If any of the sixth-years thought that their workload would decrease now that their O.W.L.s were over, they were rather rudely surprised. The Professors began assigning piles of homework from the very first day of class, telling their students that all the hard work would pay off when they took their N.E.W.T.s. Hermione was truly in her element; however, by Wednesday's classes Harry was already woefully behind in his assignments, and that was without his taking any Defense classes.

At breakfast Thursday morning nearly everyone at the Gryffindor table had their noses pressed into textbooks as they spooned porridge into their mouths. Hermione had two books propped against milk jugs and a third in her hand, Ron was reviewing an old Quidditch playbook that Oliver Wood had given to Angelina, who had in turn passed it down to Ron, and Harry was deep into his Potions text; their first class with Snape was immediately after breakfast and he wanted to be as prepared as possible. His concentration was broken, however, when a paper bird flapped down and landed on his spoon just as it was paused at his lips. Curious glances followed him as he took the bird and lowered his spoon back to his bowl.

"Wha's that?" Ron asked.

"It flew over like one of those parchment aeroplanes Dad uses at the Ministry," Ginny quipped, "but it's a bird."

"It's origami, the Japanese art of paper folding," Hermione informed them all. "That is a crane, a symbol of good luck and one of the basic forms."

In the meantime, Harry had begun to unfold the parchment to see if it contained a message. He blushed when he saw it. Ginny stood and looked over the table to see. She sat down with a grimace when she saw a large red kiss, obviously formed with lipstick. Harry looked over at the Ravenclaw table and saw Cho waving at him jauntily. He smiled back and put the paper into his pocket.

"We have Charms after lunch today, don't we?" he asked. Hermione nodded in response and Harry said, "I need to speak with Professor Flitwick after class." Ginny looked to be about to say something when the hall was filled with the fluttering of a hundred owls.

"Ah, mail's here," Ron said.

Harry looked up and smiled to himself as a brace of four owls, a long thin package slung between them, swooped down from one of the high windows towards the Gryffindor table. Watching them approach he was able to duck as they came in for an indecorous landing in the middle of the table. Ginny was wiping cold porridge from her face as the owls struggled to get to her.

"Shear off, you blasted pigeons!" she scolded as the birds knocked over her pumpkin juice. She reached out and began to untie the package from their legs as the rest of the Gryffindors began to gather around her.

"That looks like a... broomstick," Ron gasped as Ginny fed the owls strips of bacon. "G'wan Ginny, open it up and let's see."

The delivery owls taken care of, Ginny unwrapped the parcel spilling a shining new Nimbus Storm onto the table in front of them. Ginny looked at it for a few seconds and then raised her head to look at the people gathered around her. She locked eyes with Harry who returned her gaze wide-eyed and unblinking, thinking that what was good for the goose was good for the gander.

"Nice broom," he mouthed to her silently. She blushed and made to reply when Ron interrupted her.

"Who could have sent it to you?" he asked. "Reckon it was the twins?"

"I dunno," Ginny answered. "Why would they send me a broom?"

"Isn't it plain?" Ron asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "They want us to win the Cup again!"

"Maybe..." Ginny began only to be interrupted by a stern voice from behind them.

"Indeed, it is a promising-looking broom, Miss Weasley," Professor McGonagall said. She had come up without anyone noticing to them to see what all the commotion was about. "With that, your performance as Seeker should be something to see indeed."

"But Harry's flying Seeker," Ron blurted out.

"Yeah," added Ginny, "I was thinking of trying out for Chaser." She looked over her shoulder at her Head of House. "Oh no, you don't mean..." Ginny's eyes grew wide with shock. "Harry's still banned?"

McGonagall's lips practically disappeared as she glared at the table collectively. "Mister Potter's punishment was handed down through established procedures and there is no reason at present to alter it."

"But that's totally unfair!" Ron practically screamed. "That ban was completely out of line and everyone knows it!"

"Irrespective of what you or anyone else may know, Mister Weasley, the punishment was handed down in accordance with the by-laws of this school and the staff has no reason to question it."

"You mean Harry will never be able to play again?" Ron said, stunned.

With this Professor McGonagall shifted her gaze to Harry, who had sat stonily silent throughout the discussion. "The only person with any say in the matter is Mister Potter. If he feels the punishment was unjust than he can appeal it. Until and unless he decides to do so, my hands are tied in this matter."

Every pair of eyes at the table turned to look at Harry. He glared back at them all and then turned his face back towards the Professor. He didn't say a word as he threw his books into his bag and stood from the table. Tossing the bag over his shoulder, he stalked from the room leaving all the Gryffindors staring after him.

Harry was the first student to arrive at the Potions classroom. He took a seat at a table not quite in the back of the room and far enough to one side that he should have an easy time of avoiding Snape's line-of-sight. After a few minutes other students began to trickle in.

Ron took the seat next to him and whispered urgently, "What was that all about, Harry?"

"Just leave it alone, Ron," was Harry's curt reply.

"But McGonagall said that if you want to play Quidditch then you're going to have to appeal your ban," Ron responded. "So, when are you gonna do it?"

"I'm not."

"WHAT?"

"You heard me; I'm not going to appeal it, so just drop it, OK?"

While Ron sat there sputtering, Hermione joined them and sat directly in front of the pair. Padma Patil came in and sat beside her; the NEWT level classes would obviously have a different mix of houses in them than in their previous years. When she looked back at the two of them Ron shot her an exasperated look. Padma turned back with a sniff.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked them. Harry noticed that the Ravenclaw was leaning slightly back in her seat but nonchalantly looking at the front of the class. She was obviously trying to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Can you believe it?" Ron snorted. "Harry says he's not going to appeal the ban. He's giving up on Quidditch!"

Hermione seemed shocked and turned in her seat to face Harry.

"It's none of your business, Hermione, so just leave off, all right?" Harry whispered fiercely as the door to Snape's office swung open. Hermione didn't notice and continued to stare at Harry as the Potions Master bore down on them.

"Not paying attention already, Miss Granger? It's only your first class, or do you think you already know everything there is to know?" Hermione snapped around at Snape's words, her cheeks hot with embarrassment. "That will be five points from Gryffindor. Now shall we get started?" He turned away and, with a wave of his wand, a list of ingredients along with a complex set of directions appeared on the blackboard at the front of the room.

"It is quite a mystery how some of you, who shall remain nameless," Snape continued as he shot an unsubtle glance at Harry and Ron, "managed to get into this class but be that as it may, I will not be easing back on the material. This course will be sink or swim and anyone I feel isn't making the grade will be removed." Harry heard a snigger from the other side of the room and turned to see Malfoy sitting next to Blaise Zabini and not bothering to hide the smirk on his face. "Now I suggest that you get started on this rather simple revealing potion if you wish to get it finished before the end of class. When finished it should be crystal clear."

With this Snape sat behind his desk and proceeded to bury his nose in a stack of parchment for the rest of the class. Harry read over the instructions for the potion they were to make. If this was Snape's idea of simple then Harry was in for a very long year. 'Stir three times in a decreasing anti-clockwise spiral?' he thought to himself. 'This was definitely going to be a long class.'

Three hours and 40 points from Gryffindor later, Harry took a sample from his cauldron for grading. It was indeed crystal clear just as Snape had said it should be. Malfoy had placed his sample on the front table just as Harry walked up with his. Harry deliberately waited until the Slytherin had left before placing his vial down as well. He turned back towards his seat and had taken two steps when he heard the sharp sound of breaking glass. Spinning back he saw Snape sitting there, still holding his stack of parchment while the remains of Harry's sample sat glittering on the floor. The professor sneered at Potter as if accusing him of causing such a mess in his classroom. Harry turned back to retrieve another sample and saw Hermione clearly standing away from his work area. She wasn't going to repeat her mistake from last term. Draco, however, had other plans. As he strolled past Harry's table he swung his satchel over his shoulder, taking it through a wide arc that just happened to catch the rim of Harry's cauldron and knocked it to the floor, splattering Harry's potion all over Hermione causing her robes to turn semi-transparent revealing her grey tweed uniform skirt underneath. Draco continued out of the room as if nothing at all had happened.

As if he had been waiting for just this moment, Professor Snape's cold drawl came from behind Harry. "I don't like messes in my class, Potter. You will clean up both of yours before you leave. And since you have no sample for grading you will receive no mark for today's work."

Hermione gave him a sympathetic smile as she lifted his cauldron back onto the table. Harry answered with a shrug and shooed his hands at her telling her to just leave and he would take care of the mess himself. By the time he had finished cleaning and packing away his things there were no other students left in the class. Harry turned to leave when Snape called out and stopped him.

"Potter, it seems that you forgot something," he drawled. Harry looked around not seeing anything left that was his. Snape shook his head as if Harry was a particularly slimy slug crawling across the floor. "Last night? We had an appointment? To be more precise, you had a detention and you failed to show up for it. Did you forget?"

"No, Professor," Harry answered calmly.

Snape's mouth hung open for a moment before he regained his usual sneer. "Do you mean to say that you deliberately failed to come to your detention?"

Harry looked back. Without saying a word, he picked up his bag and walked out.

He had managed to school his face into a calm mask, but beneath it Harry was seething as he approached the Great Hall with its raucous sounds of students eating lunch. He didn't want to face his friends because he knew that the subject would quickly turn to Quidditch and his ban, and that was one subject he definitely wanted to avoid. He had made up his mind to skip lunch and take a walk outside when movement from a corridor to his right drew his attention. In spite of his mood, Harry smiled as Cho walked towards him. She opened her arms to give him a hug when Harry raised his own to ward her off.

"Potions," was all he said as he wrinkled his nose is disgust at the smell the class had left behind.

Cho lowered her arms and smiled in sympathy. "How bad was he?" she asked.

"About normal," Harry responded. "Forty points from Gryffindor and no mark at all today for me." Cho seemed a bit shocked until Harry explained and then she looked angry.

"There ought to be a way..." she began.

"Don't worry about it. The grades don't matter anyways. I just need to get through the classes so that I can sit for the N.E.W.T. test. That's what counts."

Cho looked at him silently for a moment then said, "Are you particularly hungry, or would you rather go for a short walk?"

Harry stared at her and thought. He was a bit hungry, but the thought of facing all the Gryffindors and their questions was still more than he wanted to deal with. "Let's go," he said with a forced casualness and led her out onto the grounds.

The air was pleasantly warm and high clouds danced across the sky. Instead of heading down to the lake as several other people were doing, they turned and headed towards the greenhouses and Hagrid's hut beyond. They strolled easily together and neither spoke for several minutes.

Finally, Cho broke the silence by broaching the topic that Harry had been trying to avoid. "So, I heard that your ban is still in effect?"

Harry bristled for a moment, thinking that Padma hadn't wasted any time in reporting her gossip to the rest of Ravenclaw. "Oh," he said trying to sound nonchalant, "where did you hear that?"

"Please don't be angry with me, Harry. I couldn't help but hear some of what happened this morning at breakfast. I'll wager everyone in the hall heard Ron Weasley shouting when McGonagall came to your table, and I sort of asked Padma if you had continued to discuss it in class. She was only doing me a favor."

Harry looked down into Cho's dark brown eyes; he just couldn't stay angry with her when she looked back at him so openly. It was as she was inviting him to see all that she was, holding nothing back.

"All right, I reckon there was no harm done. We would have talked all about it anyway."

"I think I understand how you feel," she continued so quietly that Harry had to focus to hear her. "It must be awful to feel like you are under someone's thumb. That you need to ask permission for anything you want. It must be like living in a cage."

Harry looked off at the forest, the trees blending together into a single mass until it became hard to distinguish one from the other. "The worst part is that sometimes you get so used to it that it becomes second nature and you almost forget what it's like to be able to make your own decisions."

Cho wrapped her arm around Harry's and gave it a squeeze. Harry looked back at her and felt reassurance flowing into his chest, loosening some of the tightness there. He nodded slowly.

"And I understand," Cho continued, "if you decide not submit to them. I don't know if I would do it if I were in your place but I'm not you and you have to decide for yourself." They took a turn around Greenhouse three, where Professor Sprout still kept a small crop of Mandrakes just in case, then headed back towards the doors to the castle. "I was rather looking forward to beating you though," she added with a grin.

"Beating me?" Harry asked, wide-eyed. "Miss Chang, I didn't know you were that sort!"

Cho blushed then grinned back. "I was talking about Quidditch, you prat!"

"Oh?" Harry responded. "I'd have thought that you would have a better chance of beating me the other way." Cho slapped his shoulder as they made their way into the Great Hall. "Do you think we have time for a quick bite before our next class?"

They headed over towards the Gryffindor table. Harry could see Ron, Hermione, and Ginny sitting together talking and he could easily see what they were discussing from Ron's wild hand movements. Only talk of Quidditch could get him that excited. Harry and Cho moved between the long tables towards them as Harry braced for the barrage of questions he felt sure he was going to be receiving.

"Hey guys," he said, trying to sound cheerful. "How's lunch?"

Hermione looked up at him with sympathy and just shrugged, Ginny smiled, and Ron dropped the roll he was gesturing with when he saw it was Harry standing there.

"Well?" he asked.

"Well what, Ron?" Harry answered.

"When are you going to appeal your ban, of course!"

Harry shook his head and said, "I already told you, Ron, I'm not going to."

"But WHY!"

Harry thought for a moment of how to answer that question. He had been wrestling with it, in one form or another, ever since the first time Uncle Vernon told him to take out the trash. "Because, Ron," he began, "I shouldn't have to ask."

"But McGonagall said that the only way for the ban to be lifted is if you appeal it," Ron practically pleaded.

"Oh come off it, Ron," Harry snapped. "You can't really believe that load of rubbish."

"What do you mean?" Ron asked, confused. "That's the rule."

Harry looked his friend straight in the eye. "And when have the rules ever stopped Dumbledore from doing anything?" he asked. "He's hiding behind that rule, and the only reason he's doing that is because he wants me to come to him. He wants me to ask to be able to play again. He wants me to beg."

"But that would mean..." Ron began.

"That Dumbledore is using Harry?" Hermione added. "That he is trying to manipulate him? Trying to force Harry to do just what he wants him to?"

Now Cho spoke for the first time, "Or simply trying to prove that he is the one with the power and that Harry has to submit to his will."

"Tha's daft," was all Ron could say.

"It all comes down to a lose-lose decision for Harry," Cho continued. "Either he refuses to submit to Dumbledore and stays banned from Quidditch, or he asks the Headmaster's permission to play when there is no good reason why he shouldn't. Either way he gives up a piece of himself."

Ginny snorted loudly and everyone turned to face her.

"So," Cho asked with a chill in her voice, "you think differently."

Ginny returned Cho's stare evenly and replied, "I just think there's more than one way to skin a Kneazle."

"What do you mean, Ginny?" Hermione asked. "What other choice does he have?"

Ginny snorted. "He can do what he's always done: change the rules."

Harry looked at her curiously, with his head tilted slightly to one side. Ginny looked back and spoke directly to him.

"This isn't like a game of Wizard's Chess, Harry," she said quietly. "The rules aren't set in stone. If you just play the game the way someone else wants you to then yes, it is a losing proposition every time. But when have you ever done that? Find a way to change the rules. Make it so that Dumbledore is in a position where he has to do what you want him to do, instead of the other way around."

Harry slowly lowered himself into a seat, a shocked look on his face. Everyone else was silent. Ron looked bewildered, Hermione thoughtful. Ginny began to gather her books and pack them up. Cho remained standing and reached across Harry to grab a couple of rolls and then began to fill them with slices of meat.

After a minute, Harry shook his head and turned towards Ginny. "Thanks," he said.

"Don't mention it," Ginny answered casually as she rose and walked away.

Harry stood and mindlessly began to walk away from the group. Cho followed closely behind him. As they reached the doors, she gave him a nudge with her shoulder.

"Huh?" Harry said, startled out of his reverie.

Cho handed him one of the sandwiches she had made. "I thought you might want this," she said. "We never got around to eating in there."

"Thanks," Harry said absently as he bit into his food.

They walked silently together for awhile. Finally, they reached a junction where Cho had to turn to get to Transfiguration and Harry to head upstairs to get to Charms. Harry shook off his thoughts long enough to give Cho a brief kiss on the cheek before they separated for the rest of the day.

The next morning at breakfast, Harry got down early and had already eaten a rather substantial meal when Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and several others joined him at the table.

"Morning, Harry," Ron said warily. "Have you thought any more about what we talked about yesterday?"

Harry looked at his mate and said, "No, but I have been thinking about what Ginny said."

Ginny grinned at him and said, "And have you reached any conclusions?"

Harry didn't answer. Instead he looked up at the staff table where nearly all of the teachers were currently gathered to dine. Dumbledore sat at the center of the table in a large throne-like chair. Professor McGonagall sat on his right and several spots to the left, between Professor Vector and Snape sat Dolores Umbridge with her vile velvet bow perched on top of her head.

With a positively feral grin, Harry stood and strode up the Headmaster. He cleared his throat and spoke in a loud and clear voice that carried plainly throughout the hall, "Excuse me, Headmaster?"

"Yes, Harry," Dumbledore answered with a twinkle in his eye.

"I was wondering, sir, if you could tell me what the customary punishment is for two students fighting."

Dumbledore frowned as he appeared to be deep in thought. "Fighting amongst the students is a serious violation of school rules, Mister Potter. Do you mean a fight using magic, an unauthorized duel?"

"No sir, a brief, spur-of-the-moment, physical altercation."

"Well then, the usual punishment for a simple brawl is detention for all students involved and a docking of house points if the fight crosses house lines. Isn't that right, Minerva?"

Professor McGonagall harrumphed and said, "Yes, Headmaster, that is the customary punishment."

"There you have it, Mister Potter, or was there something else?"

"Yes, sir, there was. Last year I was involved in such an incident and as a result I was banned from playing Quidditch for the rest of my time here at Hogwarts. Now I fully acknowledge that it was a violation of the rules to engage in that fight, but, as you have explained it, the punishment far exceeded what was customary."

At this point, Umbridge, who had been clearing her throat almost constantly since Harry began speaking, interrupted. "Professor Dumbledore, that fight was hardly an isolated incident! It served as an indication that Mister Potter here is seriously unbalanced and is a threat to all of the students here as well as the faculty."

"I must agree, Headmaster," added Snape with a typically cold sneer at Harry. "As the said fight was with one of the students of my own house, I must recommend that the punishment remain in place."

"No one has yet spoken about changing any punishments, Professor Snape," Dumbledore said calmly. "Now Harry, why did this fight begin?"

Snape began to rise as he spoke, "Headmaster..."

"I am speaking with Mister Potter at this time, Severus," Dumbledore said calmly, causing Snape to reluctantly sink back into his chair. "Go on, Harry."

"It occurred directly after a Quidditch match, Professor. In spite of several blatant fouls, I was able to catch the Snitch and Gryffindor won the match. As the teams were landing their brooms, the opposing team's seeker made several insulting comments and I'm afraid I allowed my temper to get the best of me."

"Ah," said Dumbledore calmly, "under these circumstances emotions do tend to run high and these things, unfortunately, do sometimes happen."

Now it was Umbridge who was on her feet. "Professor Dumbledore, this was hardly an isolated incident. Those two boys have been fighting for as long as they both have been at school!"

Dumbledore turned to Umbridge now. "You mean to say, Dolores, that there have been numerous such altercations between the boys?"

"Yes, several! They have been fighting for years!"

"And so this was just one incident among many?"

"Absolutely!"

"And so, as fitting such a situation, I assume both boys were punished equally?" He looked over at his Potions Master. "Severus, under these circumstances, I would assume that you would be hoping to have your player reinstated as well?"

"Sir," Harry said solicitously, "the other student wasn't banned."

"He wasn't?" Dumbledore said with a shocked expression. "What punishment did he receive then?"

"None, sir."

"Headmaster Dumbledore," Umbridge shouted, "I saw no need to punish Mister Malfoy as it was Potter who struck the blow." Snape remained seated, scowling as if he could already see how this discussion was going to end.

"Only after being provoked, Dolores, and, as you have said yourself, this was just one incident in a long running series. Surely, blame can not be placed solely on a single individual in such a case. Unless, of course, it is shown that Mister Malfoy was goaded into provoking Mister Potter. If it could be shown that a third party had instigated the entire incident then obviously the vast majority of the blame would be placed there."

Umbridge suddenly began to turn purple, as if she had swallowed her own tongue to silence it. Dumbledore turned back to Harry.

"So, Harry, as a consequence of this fight, you were banned from playing Quidditch entirely?" Harry nodded. "And the other student wasn't punished at all?"

Harry nodded again and said, "That is correct, sir."

"Well that certainly doesn't seem fair, now does it?"

Umbridge suddenly regained her voice. "Professor Dumbledore, in my opinion..."

Dumbledore cut her off with a searing look. "The value of your opinion, Dolores, has already been adequately demonstrated." He paused for a moment. "Now it seems that we have two possible courses of action. One, in the interest of justice, we can give equal punishments to both students involved in the brawl. That would mean that Mister Malfoy would also be banned from playing Quidditch for his house team. What do you think about that, Professor Snape?" Dumbledore looked down the table to where Snape appeared to be about to explode and shook his head with a slight grin. "I take that to mean you don't agree. Well then, obviously if both boys can not share the same punishment then they should share the same lack of punishment. Mister Potter, your ban from playing is hereby rescinded forthwith."

Cheers went up from the Gryffindor table as Harry gave the Headmaster a short nod and returned to his seat.

Harry saw that Ginny Weasley was grinning madly as he took a sticky bun from the plate in front of him.

"Talk about snatching victory from the jaws of defeat," she crowed. "That was a true win-win situation!"

"Yeah!" Ron said from around a mouthful sausage.

Not wanting to see any more of Ron's breakfast, Hermione finished for him. "Harry's back on the team and that cow Umbridge gets publicly humiliated."

Ron swallowed and returned, "Not to mention the look on Snape's puss! It doesn't get much better than this!"

Then Dumbledore was standing again and addressing the whole school. "One final notice before you all begin leaving for your morning's classes. The Detention Area has been completed on the second floor and all students who have decided not to attend Miss Umbridge's classes will report there beginning at 7 o'clock this evening and every Thursday evening until further notice to serve their assigned detentions. Mister Potter, if you would accompany me after your have finished your breakfast, I will show the facilities to you personally."

Harry hurriedly swallowed the last of his bun and gulped down half a glass of pumpkin juice before rising and heading over to the main doors. On the way he noticed Cho smiling broadly at him and giving him a thumbs-up. Harry smiled brightly in return.

* * * * *

Harry sat on the edge of the large teacher's desk at the front of the mostly empty classroom and looked up at the clock above the door - the single hand pointed to 'Still a bit early'. The room itself was larger than any of the classrooms Harry had yet used in the castle, about a third the size of the Great Hall itself, where the entire school could easily fit. Most of it was open space and free of any furniture or rugs. It would be perfect for spreading everyone out and having them practice their spellwork. At the end opposite the door, where Harry now sat, in addition to his desk, there was also a large library table with four chairs and some bookshelves that were currently empty. Aside from a blackboard hanging on the wall there were no other furnishings. Harry scanned the room for the umpteenth time and was still stunned that Dumbledore actually expected him to teach here, or teach at all for that matter. That old man was absolutely insane Harry reckoned, regardless of whether or not he was right.

A few moments later Harry watched as the door was pushed open and his first Detention Assignees entered. Of course, it was Ron and Hermione with Neville, Ginny and Luna coming in two steps later. Harry thought for a moment that it was these five people - no, he corrected himself - it was these five friends who had gone with him to the Ministry last year. They had stood by him when he needed it. They had fought beside him and in a way it was right that they should be the first members of this new DA. Harry hopped off his desk and went to greet them.

"Nice digs you got here, Harry," was Ron's first comment.

Ginny looked around at all of the space and whistled. "Dumbledore must really be expecting a large turnout if he arranged a room this size."

Hermione also seemed surprised at the size of the room. "Well, there was almost nobody in our Defense class yesterday, only a couple of Slytherins and I wouldn't expect any of them to show up here."

"Not with Harry teaching they wouldn't," Ron answered. "Hey, wait a minute! How would you know who was or wasn't in our class? You didn't... You wouldn't! Would you?"

Ginny tut-ed at her brother and said, "Of course she didn't! Hermione would never stab Harry in the back like that. Did you?"

"Of course not!" Hermione squeaked as her cheeks flushed. "But I did peek into the room on my way up to the library and the only people in it were Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, and Gregory Goyle. They were just sitting there twiddling their thumbs while Umbridge sat behind her desk and fumed."

"It was the same with my fifth year class with the Hufflepuffs, not a single student was there." Luna said dreamily to the blank stone wall she was gazing at.

Ron slapped Harry on the back and said, "Looks like you should be expecting a big turnout." Harry wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

At this point the door opened again and another group of students came in. Harry noticed that they were mostly Ravenclaws and Michael Corner was among them. Harry scanned the group closely, looking for two faces in particular but neither was there. Harry went to say 'hullo' to the newcomers and was pleasantly surprised when Michael made a point of coming to shake his hand in greeting. His face still looked tense but he forced a smile and Harry took this as a good sign.

Over the next few minutes several more groups of students came in and Harry tried to greet them all. Each time the door opened he would scan the group and had to work to keep disappointment from his face when he didn't see who he was looking for. Hermione nudged him and gave him a look that said that he ought to get started, but Harry still held back.

He was talking Quidditch with Ron when the door opened a last time. Harry smiled in relief as Cho walked in the room with someone else following close behind. It looked as if this second person was trying to hide in her friend's shadow when Cho suddenly stepped aside and revealed Marietta Edgecombe. Harry noticed that there were still a large number of spots on her face before she lowered her eyes to the floor, but they no longer spelled out 'sneak'. Cho turned to her friend and, with a gentle nudge, pushed her forward.

There was a collective intake breath as the group all recognized the person who had betrayed them to Umbridge last year. Harry saw Hermione's eyes grow hard and Ron's ears begin to go red. Harry schooled his own face into a neutral mask as he crossed the room towards the two girls. He saw a look of fear cross Marietta's face as he approached and Harry allowed a gentle smile to come to his lips. He held his hands out to her and clasped both of hers in greeting.

"Marietta," he said quietly, "I'm so glad that you decided to come back." Then a bit more loudly he added, "Well, now that we're all here, I suppose we can get started."

Harry turned back to the group and noticed cold fury on Ron's face. As he approached, his friend hissed, "Harry! How can you let that sneak back in? I say chuck her out on her arse!"

Harry looked back with such a stony glare that Ron instinctively backed up a step to try and escape it. "She stays," he said in a voice to match his glare.

"But she's the one who ratted us out," Ron hissed back.

"So what?" Harry returned. "She made a mistake. I give her a lot of credit; it took nerve to come back here. She knows she made a mistake and I say we get over it."

"But look at all the trouble she caused. She almost got you expelled!"

"So what?" Harry repeated. "Yeah, her mistake caused a bit of trouble but we all make mistakes. I made some mistakes last year too, remember? One of my mistakes almost got you killed, but you forgave me."

Ron flushed at the reminder of the events of last year. "But that's different," he argued. "You were tricked, that could happen to anyone."

"Yeah, it could," Harry said calmly. "It happened to me and it happened to her as well. She was tricked. She was used just like I was, and if you can forgive me for almost getting you killed then you ought to be able to forgive her for causing us some trouble."

Ron looked at his feet and Hermione reached out and put a hand on his arm. After a moment, Ron nodded. Harry smiled and turned back to the group.

"If we're all ready to begin?" he said to get the crowd's attention. When they had all settled down he continued, "As we all know, we're here to practice some magic, not read theory, so I think we ought to get started by doing just that. Why don't we all spread out in a circle, everyone facing out?"

Harry walked around as the group rearranged themselves with each student facing the blank wall. He smiled to himself as the pleasure of running the DA came back to him. He truly enjoyed this and, to be honest with himself, he was glad that Dumbledore had forced him to take it up again. He kept this feeling to himself and addressed the group with authority.

"The first thing we're going to do is something fun," he told them. "I'm going to show you a new jinx. This isn't a Dueling Club and I'm certainly not going to pretend to be qualified to teach you how to duel. That being said, there are going to be times when we are going to be throwing jinxes at each other in order to test shield charms and the like. And so the first thing we're going to learn is an attack. When we do face off against each other, this is the attack I want you to use." He let his voice grow hard for a moment. "Let me repeat that, I don't want to see any of us using any other spells against each other, no stunners, no disarming charms, no leg-lockers, just this spell."

At this point Harry turned and pointed his wand towards the wall. He muttered an incantation and a bright yellow spark flew out of the end of his wand and splashed against the wall with a snap.

"This is a quick spell and so it will be a real test of getting your shields up in time. It also stings a bit so that you'll know if you failed, but it doesn't have any lasting effect and no counter-jinx is needed. The incantation is Apis"

The group quickly learned this new spell and yellow flashes were soon dancing all over the walls of the classroom. Harry was walking around the inside of the circle, making sure that everyone had the spell down, when he jerked as the bee sting jinx struck him smartly in the back of the leg. He spun around and saw Cho looking at him with mirth in her eyes.

"Oops," she said quietly and quickly turned back to Marietta with a giggle.

Harry shook his head, considering the change in the girl from the whimpering hosepipe he had known last year. Was this the real Cho Chang, he wondered, or just a temporary phase she was passing through? He carefully pointed his wand at her rump and whispered, "Vespa."

He quickly turned away as he heard her yelp. As he continued his circuit of the group he grinned at the mental image of Cho rubbing her backside and scowling at him.

"All right now," Harry said loudly. "We all seem to have gotten the hang of that one, so let's review our shield charm next."

Harry took the group through a quick review and saw that most of them had little trouble remembering the spell. When everyone seemed ready he had them pair up for practice. One person would cast the bee sting and the other would try to block it. He noticed quite a few people wincing as they failed to get their shields up in time. Marietta was having a particularly difficult time, Harry saw, and Cho was frequently apologizing for scoring hits. Harry walked up and watched for a few exchanges. Cho's shield was up quickly and held firm but Marietta's, even though it was up in time, couldn't seem to hold off the jinx. Harry stepped up close beside her and held out his own wand so she could see it.

"I think the problem you're having is with the wand movement," he said calmly.

"But I'm making the same motions as Cho," Marietta whinged, "the shield just won't hold."

Harry continued patiently, "I don't think the problem is with your pattern, but with how you do it. A shield has to be strong and so your movement has to show that. You're being a bit timid with your wand. Show confidence with it. Put more force into your wand motion and more force will go into the shield."

He motioned Cho to attack and Harry moved to block. He deliberately held his wand loosely and Cho's jinx flew right through his shield and struck him in the stomach. He winced slightly but smiled when Cho's eyes grew wide with concern. He motioned her to attack again and this time he moved his wand with crisp certainty. His shield glowed brightly as Cho's jinx splattered against it.

"See?" Harry said to Marietta. "Don't be afraid of your shield, be forceful and strong and your shield will be the same."

He stepped back and had them try it again. This time Marietta's shield held and she turned to Harry with a bright smile. He nodded back and told them both to keep working.

He mixed up the pairing a few times so that each student got to work with several others to vary their experience. Finally, they all seem to have gotten back up to speed and Harry called a halt to the practice. He motioned the group to sit down as he moved back towards his desk.

Harry sat on the edge of the desk and looked out at the group of students in front of him. There were substantially more of them now then when the DA was a secret and forbidden group. He thought he could see all of the students from his own year, except for the Slytherins, and he would bet that most of the seventh and fifth years were there as well. He took a deep breath and addressed them.

"The purpose of this group..." Harry was somehow reluctant to call them the DA. "...is for us to all learn how to protect ourselves. When the Headmaster and I were working out what we wanted the group to learn this year, we agreed on one thing right from the start. The greatest threat you are likely to face is not Voldemort." The group gave a collective shudder at the name and Harry and Hermione both grimaced at their reactions. "And it is not his Death Eaters. The greatest threat you have to worry about, the most important thing you need to learn, is how to protect yourselves from Dementors." Harry got up from the desk and began to pace slowly in front of the group. "We all heard at the end of last term that the Dementors had abandoned Azkaban and had joined forces with Voldemort." Again the group shuddered. "All of us also remember what it is like to face one of them, since we were all on the train three years ago when they stopped and searched it. Well, that was only one Dementor, and I can attest that when they come in groups, their effects are much worse.

"We all know that they abandoned Azkaban, but why? They had a steady diet of captured Death Eaters coming in there, so why give that up?" Harry looked around the room but no one seemed to want to answer; even Hermione was reluctant to raise her hand. Well, Harry thought, they could afford to step back but he couldn't. He answered his own question. "The reason they joined forces with Tom is that he promised them more. More souls to consume. More misery to spread. More pain. More anguish." He paused for a moment then shouted, "I have no intention of letting them get any one of you! So, Dumbledore agreed that the most important thing any of you can learn this year is the Patronus Charm."

Harry stepped back and raised his wand. Gathering up his memory of Cho and how she had come into his arms that evening at the Sorting Feast, how, in front of the whole school, she had chosen him, Harry shouted, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

The bright silver stag erupted from his wand and began to prance a circuit around the students. Seeing no Dementors to drive off, it returned to Harry and stood before him with bowed head. Harry reached out to stroke the image but as his hand almost came in contact with the great beast it dissipated into nothing. Harry struggled to keep the disappointment from his face as he faced his class.

"The Patronus is the magical embodiment of happiness, of joy. It is the complete opposite of a Dementor and that is why it drives them away."

Harry saw a hand raised towards the rear of the group and nodded for the person to speak. It was Zacharias Smith of Hufflepuff; he noticed and tried to stop his annoyance from showing. Smith had a habit last year of asking questions that seemed aimed at embarrassing him.

"But don't the Dementors feed off of happiness?" he asked. "If a Patronus is made of the very emotions that the Dementors feed on then why is it that they don't just consume the Patronus itself?"

Harry nodded, as if considering the question; he had asked Dumbledore almost the exact same thing when they were discussing teaching the charm to the DA. "No one can really answer that question with certainty, since no one really knows much about how or even why a Dementor exists. We haven't even found a way to destroy them, only drive them off. But the most reasonable guess is that the Dementor doesn't really feed off of the emotions, it feeds off of people. It is the life-force of the human being, which is especially strong when positive emotions are being felt, that feeds the Dementor. As a Dementor feeds, it leaves behind it the hopelessness and negative feelings that are its own environment. A Patronus is a magical embodiment of our happiness. It is not truly alive and so it had no life force for the Dementor to consume. Instead, it surrounds the Dementor with the antithesis of its desired environs and so drives it away." Harry spoke with calm authority and the class had grown quiet as if receiving a lecture from Dumbledore himself. Harry smiled and continued more lightly, "At least that is what some people think. All I know for certain is that it works."

"It didn't work so well for you on the train," Zack said snidely.

Harry nodded his agreement. "No, it didn't, did it? Nor did it work during the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff that year." Harry saw Cho's face fall a bit at the memory of Cedric and he hurried on. "But that was before I learned to conjure a Patronus, and it has worked for me a couple of times since then." Harry noticed shocked looks on many of the faces before him and was a bit confused. His close friends, of course knew about his driving off the group of Dementors at the end of his third year but the incident with the pair of Dementors coming for him and Dudley two summers ago was in the paper, they all should have heard of that.

"Do you mean you really have faced Dementors again?" came a tremulous question from a Ravenclaw girl he had never met.

Harry began to blush in discomfort. "Yeah, I've encountered them twice since I learned the Patronus Charm. The last time was the summer before this when I was charged with underage sorcery. You all should have read about that in the Prophet."

"You mean that really happened?" the Ravenclaw continued. "I mean, I thought that..."

"You thought that I just made it all up to try to get out of trouble?" Harry finished for her. Harry was mildly amused at the identical looks of outrage on the faces of Cho and Ginny. Those two having something in common, he mused. Who would have thought?

It was Zach Smith who came to the girl's rescue. "But if the Dementors were still under the Ministry's control then - they didn't defect to You-Know-Who until almost a year later - how did they come after you?" His tone held the same condescension that it had last year. "Are you implying that You-Know-Who has been in control of Azkaban all along?"

Harry looked at him calmly and replied, "Who?"

"What who?" Zach answered confused.

"Who were you talking about?"

"When?" Zach was looking around as if someone would explain things to him.

"A moment ago, you said that I would know who but I don't so I'm asking: who?" Harry was thoroughly enjoying Smith's bewilderment, and so were many others around the room.

"Oh!" Zach said finally. "You-Know-Who."

"No, I'm afraid I don't, so please tell me, who are you referring to?"

"You-Know-Who."

"No, I don't," Harry persisted. "Who?"

Zach was now a bright red as giggles began to spread across the room. He swallowed and half whispered, "He who must not be named."

"Oh!" Harry said with dawning understanding. "You mean Voldemort."

Zach hissed as Harry spoke the name. "Don't say that!"

"Why not?" Harry asked calmly.

"You're not supposed to, that's why."

"Why ever not?" Harry countered. "That's his name isn't it? Mister 'I wanna be a Lord' Voldemort?" Harry was pleased that many of the students were too busy smiling to shudder. That was a good sign at least. "But that's not his real name." Everyone grew quiet now. "His real name is Tom Riddle, or Tom Marvolo Riddle to be complete."

Zach opened his mouth to speak again but someone else cut him off. "Is that why you called him Tom before?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I found that out a few years ago, during all that 'Heir of Slytherin' nonsense." Harry deliberately avoided mentioning the Chamber and any of Ginny's involvement it the incident. "Tom Riddle was a student here at Hogwarts about fifty years ago, Head Boy in fact. You'll see his name on a plaque down in the trophy room. As he began to turn Dark, he decided he wanted a new name so that he wouldn't have to be reminded of his father." Harry glanced around and saw that they were all still confused, so he continued with the story. "Tom was born in a town called Little Hangleton, his mother was a witch by the name of Marvolo, the last descendant of Salazar Slytherin, and his dad was a Muggle named Tom Riddle. His full name is: Tom Marvolo Riddle." Harry turned to the blackboard that hung behind his desk. With a wave of his wand a piece of chalk rose and spelled out the name. "Riddle the elder didn't know that his wife was a witch though; she hid it from him. She did finally tell him when she became pregnant and he abandoned her. I suppose she still cared for him, or at least held out some hope that he would acknowledge his own child, but he didn't. She died shortly after giving birth and naming the baby after his father. Tom grew up in a Muggle orphanage. He hated his father and decided to abandon his name." Harry again waved his wand at the blackboard and the 'T' written there blinked for a second before a second one appeared at the end of the line below. Then the 'o' blinked and a copy appeared near the center of the board, then, one by one, all the other letters of the name copied themselves and formed the sentence 'I am Lord Voldemort'. "And that is how Lord Voldemort got his name. And that's why I called him 'Tom'; it's his name. He really hates it when you do that, by the way. I heard Dumbledore call him that during their duel in the Ministry and he went absolutely spare. It's really quite funny to watch."

"But if his father was a Muggle then that would mean..." said the girl.

"That Voldemort is a half-blood - if that sort of thing matters to you." Harry was pleased to see that almost everyone was so occupied thinking about the ramifications of this that they forgot to wince at his use of the name. 'It's a start,' he thought to himself.

"But then..." Smith said.

Harry spoke again, taking control of the discussion to make sure that the points he wanted them to understand were made completely clear. "Exactly, the whole Pure-blood movement is being led by someone the Death Eaters would never even choose to associate with if they had the choice. Ironic, isn't it?"

"But then why would they follow him?"

"Because they don't know or they don't care. As long as they get to kill people and feel superior while doing it, they'll follow anybody. They're too wrapped up in their own hatred to see that they are being used by a lunatic who is too wrapped up in his own hatred of his father to care who he uses or hurts to get his revenge."

Harry looked at the thoughtful faces of the gathered students and supposed that he had given them enough to think for one night. "But we've gotten off the beam a bit here. Let's get back to the Patronus Charm. I know there are a couple of others here who can cast a corporeal Patronus. Would any of you like to show us?"

Hermione immediately hopped to her feet and with a shout her silver otter was cavorting around her, rolling up and down like a carousel horse. Cho got up next and cast her own swan Patronus. Ginny also tried and a broad cloud of silver mist appeared before her with no real shape. She looked crestfallen and Harry immediately drew everyone's attention away from her.

"Excellent! Really, very well done, all of you. That will be five points for Ravenclaw and ten to Gryffindor." He motioned everyone to stand up. "As you can see, the form a Patronus takes is unique to the individual but is always some sort of animal, one that embodies your own feelings of safety and protection. But even the unformed mist produced can be enough to push the Dementor away. Why don't we all practice the incantation, shall we? It's Expecto Patronum!"

Harry walked around the room until he was confident that all of the students knew the correct pronunciation before speaking again. "Ok, people. I think we all have the incantation down, but that isn't all there is to casting the charm. The real trick to producing a Patronus lies in selecting a memory, a happy memory. The memory you choose should make you feel happy, the happier the better. For homework..." There was a collective groan from everyone there, especially Ron. "Now don't worry, any written homework I give out would mean I would have to correct it and I'm not about to do any of that, I've got my own assignments to do, remember? For homework I want you all to think of a memory, the happiest memory you have, and next time we will try to actually cast the charm. You're all dismissed from your detention."

Everyone seemed pleased with the class as the happily chatting groups began to filter out of the classroom. Harry turned towards the desk to gather his own things when someone called out to him. He turned back to see Marietta and Cho standing near the door. He took a couple of steps towards them and saw Hermione herding Ron and Ginny out of the room. He was about to say something when Marietta walked up to him with her head bowed.

Harry looked at her for a moment then at Cho who nodded at him as if to prod him on. "Erm, you needed something, Marietta?" he asked finally.

Marietta shook her head. "I just wanted to say... I mean I wanted..." Suddenly she threw her arms around Harry awkwardly, pinning his own to his side. "Thank you," she whispered into his chest. Harry tried to pat her back but couldn't move his arms enough. Suddenly, as if she realized that Cho was watching her, Marietta released him with a vivid blush. Harry placed his hands on her arms.

"It's perfectly all right," he said. "I'm just glad that you decided to come back. That took a lot of courage." He smiled at her and said cheekily, "Perhaps you should have been a Gryffindor instead of a Ravenclaw."

Marietta giggled at this. "Oh, I don't think so," she said quietly. Then she threw her arms around him again and, to Harry's shock, kissed him on the cheek. "Cho's right about you. You are wonderful." Before Harry could react, she released him and fled the room. Cho beamed at him and, with a wave goodnight, followed her friend.

* * * * *

When Harry got back to the common room Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were there waiting for him. He explained about Marietta thanking him and he, in turn, thanked them for not causing her any more trouble.

Ron seemed about to make a comment when Hermione stopped him with a glare and said simply, "When?"

Harry looked at her for a moment before he understood that she was asking when he had changed his mind about Marietta. "Cho wrote me a letter the day after we got off the train last summer. She said she thought we needed to talk." Ginny was scowling at this but Harry didn't notice. "When we met, she apologized for what Marietta had done and explained that she thought that she was doing the right thing. It made me realize that that is all any of us can do: what we think is the right thing."

"But it wasn't the right thing, was it?" Ginny said acidly.

"No, it wasn't," Harry replied calmly, as if he hadn't heard the tone in her voice. "But given what she knew and what she thought at the time it was a reasonable guess." Harry looked them all straight in the eye. "Like I said before, she was tricked, just like I was, and how can I expect you guys, or Sirius, or anyone to forgive me my mistakes if I'm unwilling to forgive other people theirs?"

The four teens shifted uncomfortably in their seats for a moment until Harry changed the subject. "So, how do you guys think my teaching the Patronus Charm came off?"

"Shouldn't we have spent more time on duelling?" Ginny asked. Harry looked at her expression and he suddenly knew how much not being able to cast a full Patronus had embarrassed her. "After all, when we were at the Ministry last year that's what we did."

Ron began to nod his head but before he could say anything Harry cut him off. "Yeah, we did do a bit of fighting there, but that's a special case."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked him.

"How many of the rest of the students are likely to run off like that?" He looked down at the table in front of them, not wanting to meet any of their eyes. "You guys shouldn't even have been there."

"Stuff that!" Ginny snapped. "We went there to help you and we'd do it again, wouldn't we?" Ron nodded his agreement right away and a moment later Hermione did too.

"But that was because of me," Harry answered. "You guys are special. How many of the rest of the people here would have ridden Thestrals they couldn't even see all the way to London just to get into a battle with Death Eaters all on my mistaken ideas?"

"Neville and Luna did," Ginny said flatly.

Harry nodded his head slowly. "Yes, they did, didn't they? And I really appreciate it. You all don't know how much that meant to me, especially after it was all over. I never would have gotten out of there alive if you guys hadn't have been there with me."

Hermione reached out and patted his arm. "And none of us would have survived if it hadn't been for you."

"You wouldn't have been there at all if it hadn't been for me," Harry said morosely.

"Now don't you go starting that again, Harry Potter," Ginny scolded. "We've been over that territory quite enough as it is."

Harry gave her a weak grin and said, "You're right... again. But the point is that not too many of the other students are likely to get into those sorts of situations. No, Dumbledore and I agreed that Voldemort is much more likely to use the Dementors than his Death Eaters. He'll set them loose at random to try to terrorize people and keep them too afraid to take a stand against him."

"But the Patronus Charm is very advanced, Harry," Hermione said. "I'm not certain that many of us will be able to do it." Harry glanced over at Ginny and saw her pulling back, as if trying to hide.

"I disagree," he said sharply. "I learned to do it three years ago and if a thirteen-year old kid can do it than everyone ought to be able to."

"But it took you months of in-depth tuition before you could get it to work, Harry."

"Yeah, but it only took you and Cho a couple of weeks, working in secret, to get it right. And there were a lot of others who were really close to it. Look at Ginny! She's right there. A little more practice and she'll be able to cast a corporeal Patronus too!"

Ginny leaned forward again at this. "You really think that?" she asked.

Harry looked at her and smiled. "Of course. You're closer than anyone else in the class. It'll just take a bit more work and you'll have it down." Ginny seemed to swell at this, her gloom and embarrassment forgotten. "The problem is doing it in front of a real Dementor. When you're freezing cold and it's sapping every happy thought out of you. That's when it gets tough, but that's when you need to be able to do it. That's when it really counts."

Hermione frowned in thought. "But how will we be able to practice that in the DA? We can't just let a Dementor come strolling into class now can we?"

Harry was frowning in concentration. "No, definitely not that. But I was thinking that we could maybe get some sort of a cage, or something to contain it. That way it couldn't attack or escape but everyone could still feel the effects."

"What about using a Boggart?" Hermione suggested suddenly. "They turn into Dementors for you, don't they, Harry?"

"The last time I saw one they did," Harry answered. "But that was a couple of years ago. Things might have changed since then."

"But still it's a possibility."

"Yeah, it is. And I certainly felt the effects of a Dementor when the Boggart came close. Did any of you feel it?"

Hermione shook her head. "You took those lessons with Professor Lupin secretly, Harry. None of us even knew what you were learning."

Harry frowned and looked at the floor in defeat, until Ginny piped up and he snapped back up. "But Professor Lupin WAS there. He might have felt the effects, and if he did than everyone in the DA would as well. It wouldn't be nearly as dangerous as bringing in a real Dementor. It would only be a Boggart."

Harry was about to agree that it might work when Dean Thomas came over and leaned across the back of the couch they were sitting on to tap Ginny on the shoulder.

"Hey, Ginny," he said. "Wanna study or somethin'?"

Ginny didn't even turn around as she brushed his hand away. "Maybe later, we shouldn't be too much longer here."

Dean looked hurt as he replied, "Ok, I just thought that since you were busy all day that you might want to spend some time together. You know... to study."

"Like I said, maybe later. This is important."

Dean drew back his hand and whispered harshly, "Yeah, that's important. I'm just your boyfriend, I'm not important at all."

Ginny turned on him and snapped, "And just what is THAT supposed to mean?" Harry sensed that this was not going to be pleasant and began to look for a polite way to leave the two alone. Ron, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying the prospect of the upcoming row immensely.

Dean glared back at her, "Just that if the DA is so bloody important to you, why don't you start dating it!"

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"I'm your boyfriend, aren't I?" Dean continued. "Or at least I'm supposed to be. I'm supposed to be important to you, and yet you spend all your time going on about the DA!"

"So that's what this is all about, is it? You're jealous!"

"No, I'm not," Dean answered defiantly. "I just don't think that you think that I'm important."

"I don't think that you're important? That's rich!" Ginny snarled. "After the way that you treat me!" This got Ron's attention, and not in a good way.

"The way I treat you???" Dean asked, completely flummoxed.

"Yeah, the way you treat me! What did you ask me just a minute ago, huh?"

"I asked if you wanted to go and study," Dean replied petulantly.

"STUDY!!" Ginny fairly screamed. "Like I was some sort of book-nosed swot! Do you just go out with me to improve your grades?"

"No, I didn't mean to go study, I just..."

"Just what?"

"Well, you brother's there and all..." Dean said, motioning vaguely towards Ron and looking like he wanted to crawl under one of the couches and hide. Ron, on the other hand, was grinning broadly.

"So what?! Who cares if my brother's here?"

"Well, you know how he is..."

Ginny looked at Dean with a mixture of disgust and pity that Harry had never seen on her before. "So that's really it, isn't it? You're more afraid of my brother than you are attracted to me?" Ron looked at Dean from behind Ginny's back and nodded slowly. Dean seemed to shrink even further.

"No, I'm not," he said softly.

"Then PROVE IT!" Ginny shouted.

"How?"

"You tapped me on the shoulder, remember? What did you really want if not to study, hmm?" Ginny snarled.

"I wanted to... you know."

"You want to go someplace and snog, is that it?"

Dean shrugged his shoulders and hung his head.

"Well?" Ginny followed. "Let's do it!" She walked around the couch and stood directly in front of Dean.

"Wha? You mean right now?"

Ginny stood straight and threw her arms out wide to her sides. "Yeah! Right here and right now!"

"In front of... everybody?"

"What? Are you ashamed to be seen with me?"

"No, Ginny, it's not that. It's just... you know."

"Yes, I do know," she said sadly. "You're afraid that Ron is going to beat you up if he sees us snogging. You are more afraid of him than you're attracted to me."

Dean's mouth started moving as he fought to explain, but no sounds came out. Ginny slowly lowered her hands and shook her head. "Some Gryffindor you are."

This comment brought Dean around. "Hey," he said loudly, "that's not fair."

This caused Ginny's anger to flare up again. "Not fair! NOT FAIR!! I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S NOT FAIR! What's not fair is having a boyfriend who doesn't have the guts to stand up for himself, or for you! So I'll tell you what, Mr. Thomas, until you have enough backbone to prove to me, and to everyone else, that I'm important to you, YOU CAN JUST SOD OFF!!"

Ginny turned on Ron and continued. "And as for you, my dear brother, don't be so cocky as to think that you accomplished anything. The next bloke I pick won't give a tinker's dam what you or anyone else thinks!" With this, she stormed out of the portrait hole and away from Gryffindor Tower.