What Difference a Handshake Can Make

Hermione's Idea

Nice

3rd Person

Since the beginning of the year, Dolores Umbridge had changed a lot of things at Hogwarts. Every week, plenty of new rules had been put in place. No sitting to close to the opposite gender, no walking around with your shirt untucked and countless other pointless notices. The DADA lessons were the same, no practical aspects to it. Anyone would think she was headmistress.

The nine of them sat in the Gryffindor common room. The original six were now accompanied by Luna, Neville and Ginny most of the time. Seamus and Dean may have joined them, if Seamus hadn't decided he too didn't believe Harry. Dean often gave him a guilty smile from across the Great Hall, but aside from that, they hardly conversed.

Everyone was in a constant state of annoyance, courtesy of Umbridge. Even Hermione'd had enough copying out of textbooks. It was even more of a surprise when she suggested starting some sort of secret club.

"Harry. Please. You would be a perfect teacher. You know all about this stuff. You've defeated You-Know-Who three times at Hogwarts already. Just think about it?" Hermione pleaded with him.
"Even if I agreed, where would we meet?" He queried. He wasn't keen on the idea, being honest.
"We'll think of something. We always do! Look, everyone else think it's a great idea. Us, I mean. We know he's back, Harry. And if no one else is going to do anything about it, why can't we?"
"Look, I'm already on Umbridge's bad side. She'll find a way to stop us. Besides, what if no one joins?" He was grasping at straws, really not wanting to agree.

"Well that's just silly. It isn't just us who believe you. Even if it seems that way sometimes. He just wants you to feel alone," Luna piped in. Harry had become quite close to Luna, and found he liked her company. She spoke rather dreamily, and about things he didn't quite understand, but he liked her. Draco was always literal, so it was a different friendship for sure.

All throughout the next week, Hermione spent her time finding people who would join in an attempt to convince Harry. She thought he was being quite stubborn, but she didn't really get that Harry didn't want to put himself in any kind of spotlight. But that Sunday, he had just wanted to shut her up, so he agreed.

They just needed a place to hold these meetings now. Every suggestion was too small, too noticeable, too something. Harry decided to take it into his own hands and ask Dobby if he knew where they could practice. "Dobby is honoured to help Harry Potter, sir. We house elves have heard tales of a come and go room, it would be perfect. We believe you wizards call it the Room of Requirement, sir. Yes, it would be marvellous."
"Do you know how to find it? I've read about it with Hermione before but it seems pretty impossible."
"Well, you can't really just go out and find it, Harry Potter sir. You have to stumble across it. Dobby wishes he could help more."
"Don't worry about it, thanks Dobby. You've been a great help. Anyway, I told you to stop calling me sir. We're friends, yeah?"
"Friends. Dobby is over the moon to be called Harry Potter's friend."

Coincidentally, the Room of Requirement was found that day. Neville stumbled upon it while thinking about where they could possibly hold these meetings. He had been pacing back and forth, wracking his brain for any idea. That's when the room revealed itself to him. The rest of them thought it was bloody brilliant.

Now they just had to talk to the people who wanted to join. And Hermione wanted to figure out a way to call meetings non verbally, so to not raise any suspicions. "There must be a way. I mean, with magic, anything us apparently possible," she assured a skeptical Ron.

She first gathered everyone in the spare room of the Three Broomsticks that weekend, dragging Harry along to talk. Draco, Blaise and Pansy stayed behind, their parents encouraging them to stay on Umbridge's good side.

"Okay. Well, thank you for coming. I'm sure you all know by now that.. Voldemort," she paused. "Is back."

Harry's PoV

The room shuddered at his name being said.
As she spoke, I felt eyes on me. I refused to meet any of them, instead focusing on Hermione's speech. At some point in the middle of it, she turned to me and signalled that it was my turn to speak. I hadn't put much thought into it yet. "Is it true you can perform a Patronus charm, Harry," Luna said from the other end of the room. I flashed a grateful smile her way before nodding.
"He's bloody brilliant at it, too," Ron said behind me.
"And he's gone up against Voldemort multiple times by himself," Hermione continued. Then everyone chimed in, bringing up past events I haven't thought about much. I should really say something.
"Look, guys. It all sounds brilliant when you say it like that. And I'm not trying to be modest, but I've had a lot of help." I was met with a few nods and murmurs. Zacharias Smith shouted something to which Ron replied, telling him to shut up.
"Anyway. So, Harry will teach us?" Hermione asked the room. The majority of the room nodded enthusiastically, excluding Smith.

After considering when to hold the meetings so that they wouldn't clash with Quidditch and whatever else everyone had going on, Hermione brought out a piece of parchment along with a quill. "Write your names on here." She looked rather triumphant at this point. A few people were hesitant, Smith being one of them, not surprisingly.

"That went well," Hermione said as we left back to Hogwarts.
"I dunno. Smith is a bit of an arse," Ron replied in a mocking tone. I snorted, to his amusement. Luna, Ginny and Neville walked a little behind us, talking in hushed voices. Hermione and Luna have never seen eye to eye, though it's more Hermione's fault than Luna's. Not that I'll ever tell her that. She just hates the idea of Luna believing in things that aren't in books. I suppose that's why they always disagree, like that had in Hog's Head.

When I entered the common room, I saw Pansy and Draco talking with a silencing charm around them. They've been secretive lately, and always jumping when they see me. Well, mainly Draco, but still. They didn't so much as glance at me so I walked up behind Draco and pounced on him. "BLOODY FUCK WHAT- Oh hi, Harry." Pansy cracked up, followed by Draco. I contained my laughter as much as possible before falling to the ground.

We all walked down to dinner, laughing with each other. Our laughter dissipated when we heard the sound of Filch dragging that ladder to the wall of notices. He hammered the new rule onto the wall before walking away. All student organisations, societies, teams, groups and clubs are henceforth disbanded.