Give Us Peace

When your eyes look at mine

I quail and quiver under

The power emanating from their depths

Where I most desire to look

~*~

At breakfast the next morning, when McGonagall came by to hand out the schedules, she stopped where Harry and Ron were sitting. "Please both of you stop by my office as soon as you are finished eating," she said. Seeing the panicked look on Ron's face she added, "You are not in trouble, I just need to discuss something with you." With that, she swept off out of the Great Hall.

"Do you have any idea why she'd want to see us?" Ron asked.

"Maybe something about Quidditch?" Harry offered.

Ron looked at his schedule and said, "We have Defense first, with that new lady. I hope we don't miss the beginning of class. She doesn't look like the type you'd want to cross."

After breakfast, Harry and Ron made their way to McGonagall's office. Ron knocked on the door, and McGonagall opened it. "Have a seat," she said, gesturing to two leather armchairs in front of her desk. Harry and Ron went into the room and she closed the door behind them. She sat down in the chair at her desk and said, "I have made the decision that this year the Gryffindor Quidditch team will have a captain and a second, who will help the captain out, and, should the captain be injured, would take his place."

"So," Ron said, "Who's the captain? Harry or me?"

"That is one of the reasons that I have called you both in here," she responded. "I had reached the decision that you two would be the captain and second, but I had not decided who would be which. If you two wish to discuss it for a few minutes I can put a silencing ward around you."

Harry looked at Ron, who nodded and said, "I think we'll do that."

McGonagall cast the charm, and Harry said, "Ron, you take it, you know more about Quidditch than I do."

"No, you deserve it," Ron insisted. "I'll be the second, so I can help you with whatever you don't know."

Harry sat there for a moment and thought, "You know, he's right. I do deserve it." Then he said out loud, "Okay, I'll take it, but only if you help me with the strategy."

Ron reached out, shook Harry's hand and said, "It's a deal." He grinned, relieving the room of its somewhat serious atmosphere.

McGonagall took out her wand, muttered something, and asked, "So who will it be?"

"Me," Harry said, stepping towards her desk.

"Then you will need this," she said handing a badge to Harry. "That's the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain's badge. Tryouts for the team will be on Saturday, at one o'clock. You will find the equipment you need in the office next to the locker room, which will be charmed to open only to you and Mr. Weasley." She paused to scribble a note on a piece of paper, which she handed to Ron. "Please hand this to Professor Leon, and apologize for being late."

Harry and Ron walked out of the room towards their class. Ron said cheerfully, "Well, I guess that answers our question about who's Quidditch captain."

They walked into the room to find Professor Leon talking to the class about what they were going to cover that year. She looked down at a sheet and said, "I see that you have covered some dark creatures with Professor Lupin. We will cover some more dangerous dark creatures, as-" she looked up and saw Ron and Harry.

Ron walked over and gave her the note. She read it, and said, "I see." She looked up at Ron and Harry, and said, "Please sit down."

Ron sat down next to Neville, purposely ignoring the empty seat next to Hermione. Harry sat down next to Dean, who whispered, "Where were you?"

"In McGonagall's office, talking about Quidditch. I'm the new captain."

"Congratulations," Seamus, who was sitting on the other side of Dean, said. "I'm thinking about being the commentator now that Lee Jordan's left."

"We will also be covering jinxes and such," Professor Leon continued. "Lessons about the dark creatures will be scattered throughout the year, as it is important for you to be able to defend yourself, and lessons in doing so should not be put off until the last moment. For next class, I would like you to put together a list of all the jinxes, curses, and other defensive spells you can think of, without consulting books or each other. I will hold you on your honor on that one. You may go."

"I think I will continue the DA," Harry said aloud to no one in particular as he walked down the corridor.

"Good for you," a voice said.

Harry turned around, and saw a painting of a young knight. He looked closer at the frame, and saw the name: Niall O'Reilly, son-in-law of Godric Gryffindor. Harry smiled, and walked up to his dormitory.

********

"Ugh, I can't believe it's only been a week," Ron said. "It feels like it's been a month with all this homework we've been getting."

"You should have expected it," Hermione said icily. "We have NEWTS next year."

Tensions between Ron and Hermione had grown since the feast, and Harry had been forced to sit quietly by, but enough was enough. He ripped a bit of parchment off of a roll, scribbled something down on it, and handed it to Hermione. She opened it up and it read:

Hermione,

I have an idea about the DA. Come meet me in the Room of Requirement this evening at 8 o clock and we can try it out. Bring Ron if you want.

-Harry

"That's odd," Hermione thought. "Why did he leave it up to me to bring Ron? I most certainly will not. Hmm, I wonder what his idea is."

Harry scribbled a similar note to Ron, except that this one mentioned talking about Quidditch strategy.

That night, Harry took his invisibility cloak, and made his way to the Room of Requirement. He took out the Marauder's Map, and first checked to make sure the coast was clear. After determining that no one would interrupt him, he walked past the blank stretch of wall three times, thinking, "I need a place where I can be invisible while Ron and Hermione talk, and where they cannot get out until they fix their relationship. I also need there to be something in the room, either in the air or in a drink that will make them want to talk about what's going on between them." A door appeared in the wall, and he walked through. When he got into the room, he saw that there were three comfortable armchairs, a roaring fire, and six glasses of Butterbeer sitting on a small, rectangular mahogany table. "I wonder why there are three chairs and six bottles of Butterbeer," Harry thought. As soon as he said that, he understood. "I see," he thought, "It knew I didn't want Ron and Hermione to be too suspicious of my absence. This room is more perceptive than I give it credit for." He mentally snorted and thought, "Rooms being perceptive, that's something I would never have thought of if I hadn't come to Hogwarts." In the corner there was a cedar cabinet. When he opened it up, he saw that there was a perfect amount of room to sit in there comfortably unnoticed. "I'd better cast a silencing charm on it just incase," he thought. He looked at his watch, that Hermione had given him for his birthday, which told him it was nearly time. He opened the cabinet, got in, shut it, cast a silencing charm, and waited.

Hermione was the first person to arrive; she arrived right on time. She looked around the room, and said, "Hmm, I wonder where Harry is." She sat down in an armchair to wait for Ron and, as far as she knew, Harry.

Several minutes later, Ron walked into the room. The first thing he said when he saw Hermione was, "What are you doing here?"

"I might ask you the same question," Hermione replied coldly.

"Harry told me to meet him here to talk about Quidditch," Ron said.

"He told me to meet him here to talk about an idea he had for the DA," Hermione said puzzled.

"Look, Butterbeer!" Ron said excitedly, picking up a Butterbeer and opening it.

He took a swig as Hermione said, "I can't believe you're so self-centered. All you care about is eating and seeing that you are satisfied. What about others?"

She reached for a Butterbeer, and Ron said, "See, you're a hypocrite."

"No," Hermione said sharply, "I'm thirsty." Hermione sat there and drank for a while, then asked, "What when wrong Ron? I just can't figure it out. It was going well, but then it just fell apart. I hate it, because we are first and foremost friends, and it seems like I can't really talk to you anymore as a friend."

"Is that all you want to be?" Ron asked, "Do you want us to only be friends, for the rest of our lives?" He paused for a moment, and then continued angrily, "IF THAT'S ALL YOU WANT TO BE, THEN FINE, I'M LEAVING!" He went over to the door, and tried to open it. "It's locked," Ron said quietly, still looking at the door. He slowly turned around and looked at Hermione.

She whispered, "No," barely loud enough for Ron to hear.

"What?" Ron asked.

"No Ron," Hermione said louder, "That's not all I want us to be."

"What?" Ron asked quietly, surprised and amazed.

Hermione walked over to him and leaned in to kiss him. After two minutes, they broke off the kiss, and Ron stepped back.

Hermione looked at him worriedly and asked, "What did I do?"

Ron didn't answer, but instead leaned forward until their lips met. When the kiss broke off, Ron said breathlessly, "Wow!"

"I wonder where Harry is," Hermione said. "I wonder if he did not come on purpose. I wouldn't be surprised if he orchestrated this whole thing."

All this time while they were kissing, Harry had kept his eyes shut, letting his friends share their private moment alone. However, as soon as Hermione said this, he stepped out of the cabinet, with his invisibility cloak in his hands, and said with a grin, "Right again Hermione." He walked over to the door and said, "I'll leave you two to each other now," turned the handle, and opened the door.

"Hey," Ron said, "How come you can open it? It was locked before."

"I told the room to not let you out before you made up," Harry said before disappearing out the door.

When he got back to Gryffindor Tower, he saw Ginny sitting on a loveseat in front of the fire. "Hey," he said lovingly, sitting down next to her.

"Where were you?" Ginny asked.

"I sent Ron and Hermione different notes to meet me in the Room of Requirement. I hid in there in my invisibility cloak, to make sure everything went smoothly. They've made up now."

Hermione and Ron came through the portrait hole a half an hour later. Ginny looked at Hermione whose hair was slightly mussed up, and at Ron, whose shirt was somewhat wrinkled. "Looks like they enjoyed themselves," Ginny whispered to Harry, who laughed.

"What?" asked Hermione accusatorily.

"Oh nothing," Ginny said airily.

"I'd better get started on my Defense homework," Harry said with a sigh, pulling away from Ginny and getting some parchment from his bag. "Can I borrow some ink?" he asked Ginny. "I can't find mine."

Ginny reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle of ink. "Here you go," she said, handing the ink to Harry.

"Thanks," Harry said, dipping a quill in the ink and starting to write.

"What's your homework?" Ginny asked, looking over at the parchment Harry was writing on.

"I've got to write down all the jinxes, curses, and defensive spells I can think of," Harry said.

"Do you need help?" Ginny asked.

"We're not supposed to ask anyone for help or look in books," Harry said, "But thank you for the offer."

An hour later, Harry was still working on the list. Ginny had since left, going up to bed. When he was finished, he looked at the list, and was surprised. He knew that he had learned a lot of spells, even with sub-par professors, but the amount of spells he remembered was staggering. He yawned, put his homework away in his bag, and headed up to bed.