Sitting alone in the empty Great Hall the following morning, Harry was drinking coffee like it was pumpkin juice. He had fallen asleep at half past three only to wake up two hours later with his scar and right hand throbbing in pain. With a groan of annoyance, Harry crawled out of bed and pushed away any strange feelings on impatience that were coursing through him. These strange feelings were really starting to be annoying and the constant pain was really making it difficult for Harry to think clearly.

“I never thought I’d say this but,” James said in a suffering tone, “go see Madam Pomfrey.”

Harry finished another cup of coffee and was finally starting to feel awake. Today was going to be another long day and with detention tonight it was going to be a late night too. Not feeling particularly social at the moment, Harry spent the remainder of the time before classes in the library then went about his routine of going from class to class, trying his hardest to pay attention to the material being covered.

Silencing Charms were practiced on bullfrogs, something that Harry had managed to accomplish within the first five minutes of practice but some others weren’t as fortunate. The entire class could hear Hermione scolding Ron for not doing the charm right even with the rain pouring against the windows. It didn’t help matters when Ron was given extra homework, having been one of the few who didn’t complete their tasks.

Once classes for the day were over, Harry repeated yesterday’s actions: grabbing a quick dinner before hurrying off to detention. Just like the night before, Harry was forced to write lines in his own blood that were engraved in the back of his hand which had stopped reverting back to normal, looking red and inflamed even after the words vanished. Harry knew it wouldn’t be long until the cuts on his hand were permanent. The thought of a constant reminder of this inhumane punishment made cringe. What had he ever done to deserve this?

“Nothing,” Lily huffed. “And you should tell someone. This is against the law, I’m sure.”

“Yes, it is,” Sirius nodded. “Blood quills have been classified as Dark Objects decades ago.”

“How do you know?” James asked.

“How do you think?” Sirius shrugged. “My father had an assortment of Blood Quills. We were all drilled in what objects people can know we have and what they can’t and Blood Quills are on the can’t list. But I bet he got rid of the can’t list as soon as I came to live with an Auror.”

Darkness had just fallen when all of a sudden pain seared from the scar on his forehead causing Harry to drop the quill and grab his head. The pain this morning was nothing compared to what he was feeling now. In fact, he hadn’t felt pain like this since Voldemort had awoken from his coma which couldn’t be good. He didn’t know how but Harry could tell that Voldemort was angry about something, really angry.

“Voldemort angry may be a good thing for us. At least we know he is not getting whatever he wants,” Lily said hopefully.

Shaking his head in hopes to push away any thoughts of Voldemort, Harry grabbed the quill again and continued writing. He didn’t want to know what Voldemort was feeling. He had enough on his mind without worrying about what some homicidal Dark Lord may be doing. The pain slowly dimmed to a minor ache like it usually was, leaving Harry with the biting pain from the back of his right hand but when compared to the headache he just had it wasn’t anything worth complaining about.

“Yes, it is,” Remus huffed.

As midnight arrived, Professor Umbridge once again checked Harry’s right hand and shook her head sadly before declaring that he would need to come back tomorrow night to ensure that the message had completely soaked in. This enraged Harry. What right did Professor Umbridge have to do this? Not even Professor Snape was this cruel.

“Because Snape may be one evil git but he is not stupid,” James scowled. “He would get sacked in a second if he was caught causing the students bodily harm. Unlike Umbridge he doesn’t have the Minister of Magic on his side.”

“Even with the Minister of Magic on her side,” Remus pointed out, “I don’t think Umbridge can get away with inflicting bodily harm to a student. Which means,” he inhaled deeply and then bellowed; “GO TELL SOMEONE HARRY!”

Remus sighed relieved and Sirius patted his shoulder, “Feeling better Moony?”

“Much.”

Leaving the office, Harry made a mental note to find out what exactly were the allowed punishments for detentions. He thought he could handle whatever Umbridge dished out but three detentions for something she had no proof of was ridiculous.

“Yes Harry, go look for those guides your father and Uncles have. I bet they are in the library,” Lily nodded.

James looked sheepish, “Well,” he said slowly “’A complete guide to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry’s rules’ is but the ‘The teacher’s guide for detention,’ we kind of borrowed from McGonagall’s office.”

“Does she know you borrowed it?” Lily asked with a raised eyebrow and James shook his head.

And do what about it? What could he do if he discovered that Professor Umbridge was in the wrong? He couldn’t tell anyone without causing problems between the Order and the Ministry, something that the Order really couldn’t afford at the present time. As much as he hated it Harry knew he would just have to deal with it for now. The Order was in this situation because of him. He wasn’t going to make it worse.

“James! Stop that!” Lily cried as she and Remus took the book that James had started banging against his forehead from his hands. Remus went back to the bed with the book and patted Sirius, who was lying down and grabbing his head with his hands and shaking it in denial. Remus started reading.

The following morning Harry found himself in the same situation as the previous morning except that his scar wasn’t throbbing as much as his right hand which made it difficult to finish his remaining homework during breakfast. The back of his right hand was still red and inflamed forcing Harry to pull up his sleeve over the area with his thumb sticking out of the opening below the cuff of the sleeve.

“My mother hates when I do that. She says I’ll ruin my clothes,” James told them. “I have a jumper that has a hole on the sleeve that is the perfect shape for my thumb to stick out and mom is always threatening to throw it away. I love that jumper.”

“Very enlightening James,” Sirius said straight faced. “I don’t know how we survived all this time without that crucial piece of information.”

James glared at him and threw a pillow at Sirius’ face.

The fabric of his shirt irritated his hand but the redness was too noticeable for it to be left alone.

Buried in his schoolwork, Harry didn’t even notice when his fellow Gryffindors started arriving and sitting down around him. It wasn’t until Fred Weasley pulled the quill out of Harry’s hand that he looked up to see his teammates looking at him with a concerned eye. Ron and Hermione weren’t sitting too far away either.

“So, where were you last night, Harry?” Fred asked curiously. “No one could find you.”

Harry grabbed his quill and returned to his schoolwork. “Detention with Umbridge again,” he said evenly without looking up. He really didn’t want to see the looks of sympathy everyone was probably giving him. He didn’t want to think about the last two nights and what tonight would bring. Forgetting was his only choice right now.

“Wait a minute,” George said in confusion. “You mean that you had detention for two nights because Umbridge thinks you’re lying about where you were Sunday night?” When Harry didn’t say anything George scowled and slammed his fist on the table. “That…that hag! I can’t believe this! I’m going to McGonagall!”

“YES!” the four cried.

“No!” Harry said quickly in a hushed voice,

“NO!” the four cried disbelieving.

causing the Weasley twins to look at him like he had gone mad.

“I have to agree with the twins,” Lily scowled.

“Involving any of the other teachers would only cause problems. I can handle this. I have enough to worry about without starting a war between Hogwarts and the Ministry because of a few unfair detentions. Umbridge may be wrong in her punishment but causing a scene would only make me look like a spoiled kid.”

“Not when she is breaking the rules and the law,” Remus said annoyed and scribbled something in his list mumbling; “talk to Harry about appropriate punishments.”

Fred and George didn’t look convinced but they nodded anyways. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see Ron and Hermione staring down at their plates with guilty looks on their faces. He didn’t know what happened last night but apparently he was missing something because no one seemed to make an effort to talk to Ron and Hermione, not even Ron’s siblings. That only happened when the twins were upset at Ron for doing something stupid.

The rest of the day passed similarly to the previous…slowly but not slow enough because before Harry knew it he was once again entering Professor Umbridge’s office for detention. The third night of torture was even worse than the previous two. The back of his right hand wasn’t healing anymore, allowing ‘I must not tell lies’ to remain etched into his flesh as blood dripped down his hand, staining the parchment.

For the third night in a row, Professor Umbridge forced him to write blood soaked lines until midnight before glancing at his hand. She smiled at Harry and released his hand gently. “There now, that out to serve as a reminder, don’t you think Mr. Potter?” Umbridge asked sweetly. “I think I’ll go easy on you since this is your first offense. It would be in your best interest to be truthful in the future. Lying only leads to trouble.” She moved back to her desk and sat down behind it. “Use your free time wisely, Mr. Potter.”

Harry held back the urge to roll his eyes in annoyance and bid goodnight. The moment he left the office, Harry hurried to the nearest bathroom to tend to his still bleeding hand. Thankfully the bathroom was empty so Harry could quickly clean the wound before bandaging it up with some bandages he conjured. He could only hope that it would be healed within a few days so no one would ever know what really happened in detention. From the way the Weasley twins acted this morning Harry figured they would be outraged to see the scarred flesh on his hand, just like Remus and Sirius would be.

“Yes they would and we would to,” Sirius grunted. “And what does he think? That we won’t notice the scars?”

“Maybe he is hoping that by the time the holidays come the scars will have disappeared,” Lily said.

“It’s a blood quill Lily,” Sirius said annoyed. “They are designed to leave a scar, even if you use it only once. It’s supposed to leave a reminder. It heals quickly because of the magic, so you won’t go dripping blood around but it always leaves a mark. Father was quite clear on that. He even showed me the scar he has from using one to sign his nuptial contract in blood.”

“In blood?” Lily asked horrified.

“That’s the Black family for you,” Sirius shrugged.

Sometimes Harry had to wonder what he had ever done to deserve the lengths so many people were willing to go to for him. All of his life he had wanted to be treated as everyone else was but he seriously doubted that everyone else had an entire secret organization protecting their secrets. That was probably what bothered Harry the most, the fact that Professor Dumbledore, Sirius and Remus were willing to risk so many lives to ensure his outbursts remained a secret. Was one life really worth all the trouble?

“Okay,” Remus sighed tiredly. “You are not looking at this objectively. Padfoot and I are willing to do anything for you because that’s our job. Dumbledore and the Order are willing to do anything for you because, even if I don’t know why the bloody hell a grown and supposedly darkest and most fearsome wizard of our time is so obsessed with you, the fact is: he is. Therefore you must have something he wants and the Order will do anything to keep Voldemort away from what he wants. AND YOU’RE NOT HELPING IF YOU LET SOMEONE HURT YOU AND DON’T TELL US!”

“I think we better get Moony a Calming Draught,” Sirius whispered. “He cursed and yelled again. That’s very unlike him.”

“I can hear you Sirius!” Remus said annoyed.

---

The remainder of the week passed without incident and rather quickly now that Harry didn’t have to worry about any more evenings in Professor Umbridge’s office. Thankfully no one noticed the way Harry had his right shirt sleeve pulled over his hand to hide his bandages. It had taken until Saturday morning before Harry’s hand had healed over although the words ‘I must not tell lies’ could still be seen if you looked hard enough for it, not that anyone did. Why would they? No one had even asked what detention with Umbridge had entailed.

For the past few days Ron and Hermione had tried to approach Harry but seemed to be unable to think of anything to say and ended up walking away in frustration. Harry figured it was a combination of the confrontation in the Room of Requirement and the detentions he received because of it. Truthfully Harry didn’t blame Ron and Hermione for the detentions. It was all Professor Umbridge’s doing and somehow Harry had a feeling that this was just the beginning. He would have to be extremely careful from now on. He couldn’t give Umbridge another opportunity to assign another detention.

Working on homework in the library late Saturday afternoon, Harry wasn’t surprised when Ron tentatively sat down across from him and waited for Harry to acknowledge his best friend’s presence. Three factors entered Harry’s head as he slowly looked up. One, Ron was alone. Two, they were in the library meaning there could be no yelling back and forth. And three, everyone around them was watching.

Ron seemed to notice the last factor too as he nervously cleared his throat. “Look, I know I have no right to ask you for anything but we’re going to have another meeting tonight,” he said softly. “If you don’t want to come, Hermione and I understand. The thing is, everyone knows something’s not right with us and they’ve been asking about you. They want to learn from you, not Hermione. They only want to be involved in this if you’re involved.”

“Of course they do,” James shook his head. “That was obvious from the start.”

“Then you probably shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep,” Harry said evenly as he returned to his schoolwork. “I told both of you that I would help out, not lead the entire thing. Hermione played both sides of the chess board to get the results she wanted. She’s the one who needs to apologize to me and to everyone else. Sirius and Remus trained me in secret to give me an advantage because I need it. That advantage is gone if one person decides to talk about what they saw me doing. I don’t think you realize that for me, this is a matter of life and death. This isn’t for some trivial exam or to impress anyone. I have learned this in order to stay alive.”

“Deep down they do,” Lily sighed. “But Sirius is right. They are not hardened war veterans. They are kids.”

Ron fidgeted nervously as he bowed his head in shame. “Hermione realizes that she messed up, Harry,” he said. “Both of us know it’s going to take a lot to get things back to where they were but we want to try. Hermione was planning on apologizing to everyone tonight and reiterate that you are just helping us, not leading…if you still want to, of course.” Ron let out a sigh then slowly looked up at Harry, hoping for some indication of what Harry was thinking. “Harry, this past week has been horrible without you. Hermione’s been in tears every night because she thinks she’s lost one of her best friends.”

“He is being a tad harsh,” James nodded. “Hermione screwed up yes. But she did apologize and I’m sure she understood.”

“So she sends you to talk to me on her behalf?” Harry countered in a hushed voice as he met Ron’s pleading gaze. If Hermione was so sorry for what she had done then why hadn’t she just told him?

“Maybe she’s scared of Harry’s reaction,” Sirius nodded. “If how he reacted was anything to go by I’d be afraid to get near him again if I were her.”

“I’m not going to sympathize and tell you I understand how hard this past week has been for you two because I don’t. My best friends used me in order to convince others that their point of view was the right one. I don’t just get over it because someone’s crying about their mistakes. Both of you have to realize that this isn’t a game. Voldemort is back and I’m at the top of his ‘want to kill’ list.”

“What do you want me to say?” Ron asked helplessly. “We messed up. We didn’t think. I promise that it will never happen again. Believe me, Fred, George and Ginny would never let it happen again. They have made it their mission to point out our faults for the last week.”

“Exactly,” Remus said. “They messed up, they already know they did and they won’t do it again. Keeping on punishing them now is just cruel. They already learned their lesson.”

Harry shrugged his shoulders as he started putting his schoolwork away. “I can’t guarantee I’ll come tonight,” he said softly. “I should really wash my hands of the entire thing but unlike Hermione I keep my promises.” Ron winced at the comment. “Hermione has her work cut out for her. My trust isn’t given freely. When she gathers the courage to apologize herself, you both know where to find me.”

Wanting to end the conversation, Harry left the library before Ron could say anything else. He really didn’t know what to do anymore. His mind kept wandering back to the train ride to Hogwarts. That day he had fought for his life alone. The problem was he wasn’t always going to be the only target. The students at Hogwarts needed to learn how to protect themselves…maybe not at the extent that Harry had but they needed to learn the basics. Yes, the basics were boring to learn but necessary in order to even attempt learning something more difficult. This was why the school needed an actual Defense teacher, not a fraud like Umbridge.

The problem was the Ministry just couldn’t accept the truth.

That evening, Harry watched his classmates leave the Gryffindor Tower for the meeting in the Room of Requirement from the far corner of the room. Tonight was going to be interesting. If Ron had been telling the truth then Harry knew that several people would be angry with Hermione. He also knew he could prevent it from happening but Harry had a feeling deep down that this needed to happen. Hermione needed to learn how to deal with people. She needed to accept the consequences of her actions.

After an hour, Harry finally gave into his frustration and left for the Room of Requirement. Upon entering, Harry saw that the walls were lined with wooden bookcases. Silk cushions covered the floor instead of chairs. There was a set of shelves on the far end of the room that contained a variety of magical spying equipment. In the center of the room was the group of students that had met here a week ago. They were talking amongst themselves, paying no attention to the person who had just entered. Harry took that as a sign and sat down on one of the cushions, watching his classmates in silence. Announcing his presence would only distract everyone.

“Listen,” Hermione said over the chatter, “I know you all wanted to learn from Harry but please understand from his point of view. He was given three days of detention from Umbridge already because he was protecting what we’re trying to do.”

“Actually I was given detention because it was the first opportunity for Umbridge to do so,” Harry corrected her causing everyone to jump in surprise. “The reason she had was inconsequential. Her main motive was to have me admit that I’m lying about Voldemort’s return.”

Several people flinched at the mention of the Dark Lord’s name causing Harry to roll his eyes in annoyance. These people wanted to learn how to fight against Voldemort and his followers yet they couldn’t even hear a simple name? That certainly did nothing for his confidence in everyone. All their opponent had to do was mention Voldemort’s name before striking them down.

“Little harsh there,” James shook his head. “That may be a foolish fear but it’s ingrained in them and in the middle of a battle I’m quite sure no one will be knocked down by a name. When you are worrying about hexes being hurled everywhere flinching will be the last of their concerns.”

“Besides, no Death Eater would mention Voldemort’s name. They are even more scared than other people of doing so since they actually are around Voldemort,” Remus said.

“B—but that’s not fair!” Cho protested.

“Welcome to the world of Professor Umbridge,” Ron said sarcastically then turned to Harry, a nervous look appearing on his face. “Glad you could come, mate. We decided on a name: The Defense Association or the D.A. for short. We were currently discussing who should be the leader since—er—well—since you don’t want to do it.”

“You’re right, I don’t,” Harry said evenly. “I don’t think anyone should.” Several people stared at Harry in confusion at the comment. Harry looked directly at Hermione. “May I?” he asked and Hermione quickly nodded. “Everyone, please separate into groups of your own house.” He stood up and waited as everyone did so. “Now, as a group, select either one or two people who will be a part of a committee. This committee will be in charge of arranging the meetings. This will take off the strain from one person running the entire thing. Those of you who are a Prefect or a member of your house Quidditch team or maybe even both and feel you won’t be able to handle another responsibility, make your feelings known to your group.”

“That’s smart,” Remus nodded approvingly. “This way all the Houses are represented and they can make sure everyone gets to be listened.”

Quite conversations broke out amongst the three groups. Harry watched the Gryffindor group and noticed that Ron, Fred, George, Angelina, Alicia and Katie quickly declared themselves out of consideration. He also noticed that Hermione was being unusually quiet. That was odd. He had expected Hermione to jump at the chance to be a representative. The Hufflepuff group was the first to quiet down followed by two students approaching Harry: Justin Finch-Fletchley and Hannah Abbot. That wasn’t much of a surprise. The next group to quiet down was the Gryffindor group. Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom approached Harry from that group. That was a surprise. Finally, the Ravenclaw group silenced with Cho Chang and Ginny’s blond haired friend approaching. It seemed that the committee had been formed.

“Congratulations,” Harry said to the six members. “I suggest you start with something easy today. Perhaps the Disarming Charm.”

“One thing, Harry,” Ginny said with a smile and a glance at Neville before returning her gaze to Harry. “We accept being members of this committee but I think all of us will agree that we also need leadership. I think you should be our supervisor. None of us can deny your knowledge in this area. It would be a shame not to use it, don’t you think?”

“Have to agree with her,” Sirius said. “He may not want to be the leader but since he is the more knowledgeable he can help them more.”

The other five members nodded in agreement leaving Harry trapped. At least he wasn’t teaching. “Fine,” he said softly. “Once the meeting is over we’ll talk about when and where to meet. I suppose you all want me to take over today’s lesson?”

Ginny smile brightened. “Just to start off, I think,” she said happily. “Once we get the hang of it we can help you out, right everyone?”

Everyone nodded in agreement. “Just give it a chance, Harry,” Cho added. “Most of us learned this charm years ago so it shouldn’t be too difficult. I think everyone just needs to practice it until they get it down.”

Harry nodded as he rubbed his eyes underneath his glasses. So much for not getting involved. “Everyone please break off into pairs,” Harry announced as straightened his glasses stepped around the committee and faced the remaining students. “We will be reviewing the Disarming Charm tonight and before you complain, remember: there is no point in learning the more advanced charms, spells and hexes if you don’t have the basics down first.”

For the next three-quarters of an hour everyone practiced the disarming charm on each other while Harry and Cho observed, the rest of the committee claiming that they needed the practice. Neville was partnered with one of Cho’s friends and after a few reassuring words from Harry had no problem in disarming her. The entire committee watched, even if it was out of the corner of their eyes, as Harry strolled among the groups, offering his input if it was needed and congratulating others then they were successful. To Harry he was simply doing as Sirius and Remus had done when they taught him so he didn’t think anything of it.

When Harry finally called a cease fire, the majority of the group was happy with their accomplishments. “All right, feel free to practice throughout the week, but not in public,” he said casually. “If any one has any questions talk to any of the committee members. They will be teaching you next week. Everyone but the committee is free to go. If the time changes, you will be notified.”

The six students quickly approached Harry, eagerly waiting to schedule their meeting. “That was really good, Harry,” Neville said instantly. “You’re a natural teacher. Once you told me how to focus it was easy. No one’s ever explained it out to me before.”

“I have to admit that Longbottom’s got a point,” said Justin with a shrug. “I think Professor Lupin was the only one to really explain things out. We should probably take that direction in the future. It would certainly help everyone when we reach more difficult material.”

Sirius hugged Remus, “Ah, Professor Moony. Best teacher ever.”

Remus blushed and patted Sirius’ arm, “Okay Paddy. You may return to your seat.”

“It does,” Harry said more to himself than to the group but everyone heard him anyways. The comment only reinforced what Harry already believed. Remus was an excellent teacher but because he was a werewolf the Ministry wouldn’t let him teach again. “Does anyone have any objections to meeting in the library tomorrow morning at nine?”

Sirius raised his hand. Lily rolled her eyes, “Yes?”

“Nine is too early,” he whined. “I don’t wanna get up early.”

Everyone shook their head and promised to be there before leaving the Room of Requirement for their respective Towers. It was close to curfew and the last thing anyone needed was to get into trouble by Flitch, Professor Umbridge or Professor Snape. Ready to follow, Harry cast one more look around the room and saw that he wasn’t alone. Hermione was sitting in the corner, crying softly. He couldn’t help but let out a frustrated sigh. He really wasn’t ready for a confrontation with her tonight.

Hermione seemed notice that she and Harry were alone, stood up and rushed over to him, throwing her arms around him. “Oh Harry, I’m so sorry!” she cried. “I never meant to hurt you or put you in danger. I was surprised to see what you were doing and thought…I don’t know what I was thinking. Please, please forgive me! I promise that I’ll never try to do anything that will put you in danger again!”

“See? What did I say? She didn’t know what she was doing was so bad and now she does and won’t do it again,” Sirius said raising his arms and letting them fall again.

Harry awkwardly patted Hermione on the back, not sure of what else to do. Yes, he was upset with her but he knew she would think twice before even trying to do something like it again. Chances were Hermione was too excited about the group to think about the consequences. How could he blame her for that? “I forgive you, Hermione,” Harry said sincerely, “but I can’t forget it. It’s going to take time for me to trust you again but I’m willing to make the effort.”

“Good,” Lily nodded approvingly.

Hermione pulled away and smiled at Harry as she brushed away her tears. “Thank you, Harry,” she said gratefully. “I’m glad you came tonight and I like your idea of representatives from each house to share the load.”

Harry shrugged at the comment as he walked towards the door with Hermione. “I figured it was best since there may be a time when I won’t be here—”

“—w—what?” Hermione asked in shock. “What do you mean ‘won’t be here’? Why wouldn’t you be here? Did something happen?”

“I meant that Professor Umbridge may try to give me another detention in the future,” Harry clarified quietly as he walked out of the room wither Hermione close behind him. “Right now she sees me as a threat since so many people want to follow in my footsteps and I clearly don’t agree with the Ministry’s views at the moment. I’m being attacked from both sides: the Ministry and Voldemort. That’s why I need to stay out of the spotlight.”

Hermione let out a sigh as the reached the staircases. “I’m really, really sorry, Harry,” she said softly as they stepped onto the moving staircase. “You just seem to take on everything so calmly that we forget we you must be going through. Even when you were mad at me you didn’t really raise your voice. We’ve been through a lot but this past week, I think I’ve realized something. You really don’t get angry anymore. I don’t know when it started but I know it’s been this way for a while. I realize I have no right to say anything but I—I’m concerned, Harry. It isn’t right to keep everything inside.”

“I’m not,” Harry said as the reached the Fat Lady portrait. “I just don’t feel that it’s necessary to rant to people who can do nothing about what’s on my mind. If I have a problem with my homework or something else concerning life here at Hogwarts then you’ll hear about it.” He told the Fat Lady the password and entered, leaving a startled Hermione behind. He knew it was going to take time to trust Hermione again but at least they were talking. The emotions problem was going to be slightly more difficult. Telling his friends that he couldn’t get angry wasn’t an option. He just hoped that he could think of something believable if the matter ever came up again.

“The problem is that Hermione is right,” James sighed. “Maybe if Harry wasn’t bottling everything up he wouldn’t have reacted the way he did. Yes Hermione made a mistake but Harry was kind of out of line with the punishment. Maybe if he had ranted about the injustice of things and gotten angry at stuff he wouldn’t have taken it so badly. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Yes,” Remus said. “He was frustrated with a bunch of things but couldn’t get them out. Then something else happened that wasn’t necessarily the end of the world but he treated as it because he was pouring all his frustrations about everything else in it. It’s not healthy but Harry has to realize it himself.”

---

The following morning Harry was in the library an hour before he was supposed to meet with the committee trying to finish his essay for Potions. He had once again had dreamed about the windowless corridor that was starting to drive him mad. He hated the dream but he just couldn’t seem to get it out of his head. Why? What was so important about some empty corridor? He had never even seen such a place before, at least not that he could recall.

Cho and the blond haired Ravenclaw, who introduced herself as Luna Lovegood, were the first to arrive nearly twenty minutes before nine. Luna instantly stuck her wand behind her ear before pulling out an issue of a magazine called ‘The Quibbler’, turning it upside down to read it. Harry glanced at Cho with a raised eyebrow but only received a shrug as an answer.

The four exchanged glances and all tried to muffle their laughter as if Luna could see them.

Harry had heard about ‘The Quibbler’ from Sirius and Remus. Apparently it was similar to the tabloids, printing mostly fiction and rarely fact. He didn’t know much more than that since Sirius and Remus had such resentment against reporters, especially Rita Skeeter who had been surprisingly quiet as of late. You can only ridicule Dumbledore and the Ministry for so long.

Ginny and Neville were the next to arrive. Neville sat down next to Harry while Ginny sat down next to Luna. Justin and Hannah arrived a short time later and after casting a few silencing charms, they were ready to begin. After introductions, Cho, Justin and Hannah immediately jumped in on material that should be covered at the next meeting. Simple spells, charms and curses were agreed upon along with who would cover what. Saturday night was decided to be the next meeting time leaving the representatives would have plenty of time to prepare.

Harry quickly discovered that Luna Lovegood was a rather strange person. She had a tendency to offer comments that made very little logical sense and didn’t seem to mind the odd looks she was getting from everyone else. Harry made a mental note to ask Ginny about Luna later. He didn’t know if Luna was just trying to be funny or if she just wasn’t entirely there.

“At least she is clearly happy with herself if she doesn’t care what others think,” Lily said. “Wish I could be like that.”

With everything decided, the meeting ended leaving Harry alone once again to tackle his Potions homework. At least some things never changed. No matter what was going on, there was always Potions homework.

“Yes, we can always trust Snivellus to be a constant pain in our lives,” Sirius said in a suffering tone.