Dedicated to beingellie for the second beautiful cover she made(she made the current cover&The Hermione's Twin one too)!

Song for this chapter: Tight Rope - Alex Clare

Ch. 8: Defense Association

"Come on," Hermione nervously clutched a parchment in her hands as we stalked through the snow covered streets of Hogsmeade. "I told everyone that the meeting would be at three-thirty."

"A meeting for what, exactly?" I rose a brow, while trying to keep up with her fast pace.

An old, rickety building came into view as Hermione drew everyone in closer, ushering us through the door and looking around to make sure no one was watching. She gave me a small look and closed the door tightly.

There was practically no one inside the grimy pub, just an older lady sitting in the far back, an older man behind the counter, and a billy goat who was roaming around the building as if nothing was out of the ordinary. "We need a teacher who will guide us on how to protect ourselves from the Death Eaters - and... and You-Know-Who." Hermione hissed out, ringing out her hands a little and casting a weary glance at Ron and Harry while Fred and George took the two chairs by the window.

Harry paced back and forth a little, running hands through his unorderly black hair. "This.. this is mad. Who would want to be taught by me anyhow? I'm a nutter remember?"

Chuckling, I shrugged and let out a low sigh. "Well, I guess it can't be all that bad, you know." I gave him a quick smile then sat down in a random chair in the middle of the room, not sure if any one else was really going to show up. Perhaps not.

"So, who is supposed to be meeting us then?" Harry darted his eyes onto Hermione, not feeling relaxed enough to sit down.

"Just a couple of people..." Hermione trailed off. "Not too many..."

Ron groaned a little and heaved himself into a chair, glaring at the shack we were in. "Terrific spot." He muttered while Hermione and I gave him a special glare. Ron's face paled a little as he shrunk back into his chair. "Please don't do that at the same time... It's just freaky."

"Thanks Ronald." Hermione and I said at the same time, making a smile spread wildly onto 'Mione and I's faces in sync, once again. "Awesome." I chuckled, making Hermione roll her eyes, but her smile was still stuck on her face.

Under his breath, I could have sworn I heard Ron mutter something, but I shrugged it off as there was a tinkling sound from the doorway. Slowly, and to my surprise, a large group of Hogwarts students filled in, all from different age groups as well.

Counting them up, I realized that twenty-two people were slowly filing their way into the pub, grabbing seats and pointing their attentions towards Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Almost all of them were sporting Gryffindor colours.

To my dismay, I watched as Angelina Johnson walked in, a big smile on her face, and sauntered right over to Fred and George, taking the vacant seat beside Fred with a happy grin. Looking down at my hands, the seats beside me were taken by Luna and Neville.

"Are you feeling quite alright, Elle?" Luna's dreamy voice called my attention, making me look up from my hands and up at her cloudy eyes. "You seem to be disgruntled."

Shaking my head, I gave her a grin with a small chuckle. "I'm fine, I'm just being stupid." I waved the feeling away, sparing a second glance in Fred and Angelina's direction. I inhaled sharply as I watched Fred intertwine his hand with hers and give her a soft smile.

Quickly, I averted my eyes and folded my hands together, glancing up at my twin instead of behind me. "Quite exciting, don't you think Neville?" Luna's dreamy voice floated up as she smiled across me to Neville who was shifting nervously around in his chair.

"Uh, y-yeah. Exciting." He stuttered a little, eyes darting from Luna's face to the ground as a small pink tint flooded his checks.

Ginny was the last to come into the pub, eyes skating around the room for an empty seat, before they landed on something behind me for a split second. Noticing a spot open in front of me, she took it and turned herself around to glare at the Twins. I didn't need to turn around to know what she was seeing.

There was a eery quiet that feel over the crowd, one that was so silent that you could hear your own heart beating in your chest.

Bravely, Hermione stood up and nervously fiddled with her hands. "Uh-m, well... Hi." She glanced around the room, gaining a supportive 'thumbs-up' from me, however; I couldn't seem to manage a smile at the current time. "So.. We all know why we are here. We need a teacher." She paused, a grimace plastered onto her face. "A proper teacher. One that's had real experience defending themselves against the Dark Arts."

"And...why?" A snotty Hufflepuff snorted, gaining a few nods, but mainly glares.

Ron glared at him, leaning forward in his seat. "Why? Because You-Know-Who's back, you toss-pot."

The boy glared back at Ron. "So he says." He nodded towards Harry with a scowl.

"So Dumbledore says." Hermione quipped back.

"So Dumbledore says," The boy rolled his eyes. "Because he says. The point is - where's the proof?" The boy obtained an interested glint in his eyes, making me slightly angry. "Maybe if Potter could tell us more about Cedric's death..."

Irritated, I snapped my head towards the Hufflepuff and squinted at him. "Why are you even here then if you don't believe Harry or Dumbledore?"

The boy puffed out his chest with pride. "Well, I am a Hufflepuff."

My eyelid twitched a little and a gave him a pointed look. "What the fuck is a Hufflepuff?" The boy jumped out of his seat, as if to get in my face, when Harry stood up in front of everyone, face as cold as stone.

"I am not going to talk about Cedric's death, so if that's why you all are here, you should just leave now." He sighed. Averting my eyes from his face, I saw Cho in the corner of the room, flinching at the mention of Cedric. Turning on his heel, he muttered something to my sister and made a motion for the door.

Next to me, Luna sat up straighter and spread an aloof grin onto her face. "Is it true you can produce the Patronus charm?" Everyone looked at Luna for a couple of moments, unsure about what to say. Harry frowned a little, possibly confused.

"Y-yes, he can. I've seen it." Hermione nodded, sparing Harry an encouraging nod. Dean rose a brow in surprise, while Neville shifted uncomfortably in the seat beside me.

"A-and he killed the Basilisk, in second year.. W-ith the sword in Dumbledore's office." Neville muttered while everyone gave him looks of disbelief. Ginny nodded, sparing him a grin. "It's true."

Ron nodded, patting Harry on the back. "Yeah, and he fought about a hundred Dementors at once."

Smiling, I leant forward and rose a brow. "Really? You never told me this..." I had no idea all last year that Harry had done so many things for the school. It was sort of hard to believe, yet I did.

Harry sighed and shook his head, wanting to get a point across. "Look, you have to understand - nearly every time I had help. It all sounds... great when you say it like that... but the truth is - most of that was just luck and I didn't know what I was doing half the time."

"He's just being modest." Hermione frowned, giving him a confused glance.

Harry shook his head once more, turning his eyes onto all of us with earnest honesty. "No, I'm not." There was a moments pause as a serious air of danger lowered over the room. "Facing this stuff in real life, it's not like school. In school if you make a mistake, you can just try again tomorrow, but out there.. when you're a second away, from being murdered or watching a friend die right before your eyes, you don't know what that's like."

I cringed a little, remembering Lana as she was hit by the curse, as she was knocked against the stone wall, and I averted my eyes - feeling tears well up behind my closed eyelids. There was another awkward moment of silence, and, when I opened my eyes, I saw that everyone was looking at me.

"Sorry, Elle... I forgot." Harry muttered to me with a small frown, sitting down in his chair once more.

Hermione spared me a concerned look, but turned back to Harry. "You're right, Harry. Most of us don't know that feeling. That's why we need your help, because if we are going to have any chance of defeating..." She paused, chewing on her lip nervously before spitting out the word. "Voldemort."

My heart jumped a little at her words, surprised that she would say the name.

"He's really back, isn't he?" A young Gryffindor asked, eyes widening a little as Harry nodded solemnly.

Clearing my throat, I sat up straighter and gave Hermione and Harry a nervous smile. "Okay, where do we sign?"

"Here." Hermione grinned at me, happy that I got the ball rolling. She unrolled her parchment and set a quill and ink down beside it. "I have already signed, so have Harry and Ron." She paused, looking around at the crowd of nervous students. "So... whenever you are ready, you may sign up."

I stood up along with Neville, Luna, Fred, Angelina, and George. We all filed over to the wooden table and waited in a single file line to sign our names. As the minutes ticked by, more and more people joined the line to sign.

Nervously fidgeting the quill in my hand, I leant over the parchment with a smirk, reading all the names curiously. This is a stretch for me, I was already doing something illegal by having the Time-Turner, but now, now I was going behind the Ministry's back to create this organization.

"So," Cho spoke up after signing her name. "What will we be called?"

Hermione looked towards Harry. "Well, we hadn't really thought of that. I guess it could be a group decision."

Cho grinned and placed her hands together happily. "How about 'Defense Association' - call it DA for short?" She looked around for approval, watching Harry with curiosity.

Ginny shook her head, and I couldn't help but notice the irritation she was expressing towards Cho Chang in that moment. "No. How about we stick with 'DA', but make it stand for 'Dumbledore's Army'. That's what the ministry is most afraid of, right?"

I grinned at this, high-fiving her. "I like it."

Harry nodded with approval, giving Ginny a small smile. "Yeah, that's good. Dumbledore's Army it is." And, with that, Hermione scrawled the name in the top margin with big, bold letters.

Once everyone was finished signing, I gathered up my satchel and slung it over my shoulder. Sparing a look over to Fred and Angelina, I saw that they were still clasping hands. And, though I knew it was childish, I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

Swallowing a lump in my throat, I got out of my chair and stalked out of the building, Hermione and Ron following behind me while Harry caught up with Ginny.

"Elle?" Ginny called, jogging up the snow path to walk in step with me. "Hey, wait up."

Slowing my pace a little, I gave Ginny a polite smile. "What's up, Gin?" My voice was tight and I didn't stop walking, nor did I look over at her. I kept my stoney gaze on the road in front of me.

Ginny sighed, muttering curses under her breath. "Look, I don't know what's going on, but you need to know that he really likes you, I swear. He may be an idiot when it comes to showing it, but it's there."

Rubbing under my tired eyes, I cast her a smart frown. "You could be right. In fact, you probably are right." Ginny smiled a little, but I kept talking. "But, I'm tired of this. I don't want a repeat of last year. And, yes, I do feel like a jealous girlfriend - but how else am I supposed to feel when he does stupid shit like that all the time?"

Ginny lowered her gaze from me, turning to take a small glimpse behind us towards Harry and Cho who were talking awkwardly as they walked up to the rest of the group. "I get how you feel, I guess."

I sighed a little, running a hand through my long hair with a shake of my head. "Aren't you tired? I'm tired. I just woke up from a freaking coma. I don't need this much stress in my life, especially from a guy who won't even be in my life after next year."

Ginny rose a brow. "Well, there are holidays."

"Yeah, I know - but... I just want to savor the time we have left, but it's like... we both aren't on the same level." My eyes flickered over to Fred and George as they talked animatedly with Angelina Johnson, and I couldn't help but notice the way she repetitively brushed against Fred as they walked. "God, I'm going crazy." I muttered to myself, earning a half-smirk from Ginny.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron caught up to us as Cho dispersed to go find her friends. Fred, George, and Angelina were not long behind. "First, we need to find a place to practice where Umbridge can't find out about." Harry started as we walked back to Hogwarts.

"The Shrieking Shack?" Ginny pipped up.

Harry considered it for a moment, but shook his head. "It's too small."

"The Forbidden Forest?" I asked, earning an agreeing nod from Hermione.

Ron's face paled and he quickly objected. "No bloody way. You insane?"

Ginny stopped a little, cocking her head to the side. "Harry," She inquired, "What happens if Umbridge does fond out about the DA?"

"Who cares?" Hermione quirked back, receiving a devilish grin of delight from me and a shocked look from both Ron and Harry. "What?" She asked, not liking the sudden change in emotions. "I mean," She back-tracked. "It's sort of exciting. Isn't it? Disobeying the rules."

"Who are you, and what have you done with Hermione Granger?" Ron rose a brow, slow smile spreading onto his face as Hermione blushed and looked down at her feet with pride.

"Anyway," Hermione changed the subject. "At least we know one positive thing from today."

"Oh, and what would that be?" Harry sighed, still obviously not fond of the idea of being a teacher.

Hermione giggled a little, sparing Harry and sigh glance. "Cho couldn't take her eyes off of you, couldn't she?"

There was a small, inaudible, sound of a sharp intake of breath, and I looked behind me to give Ginny a reassuring smile while George gave Fred a look of knowing. Neither Harry, nor Hermione noticed the sound, but I did.

Hope this isn't too dissapointing ;) Setting up for some stuff, yeah? What do you think is going on with Fred & Angelina? Is it what Elle thinks? Is she over reacting?

What do you think?