The Enemy of my Enemy

The Room of Requirements

"Teddie, check out these books!" Mason gushed. He was standing on a wooden chair, running his index finger down the spines of leather-bound books on the bookcase. "A Compendium of Common Curses and their Counter-Actions... The Dark Arts Outsmarted... Self-Defensive Spell work..."

Astoria rolled her eyes and shook her head as she turned to Teddie. "How are we going to persuade him to leave here at the end of the night?" she asked.

"Maybe we could take out of the books with us?" Teddie suggested, wrapping an arm around the younger girl. "Don't worry, we'll get him out. I'll carry him if I have, too."

Astoria giggled at the mental image and Teddie smiled at the sound.

Looking around the room, Teddie took in the high walls lined with wooden bookcases and silk cushions on the floor. A set of shelves at the far end of the room carried a range of instruments such as Sneakoscopes, Secrecy Sensors, and a large, cracked Foe Glass.

"What are you doing in here?"

Teddie looked around as the door opened and Harry, Ron, and Hermione stepped inside, slipping off the Invisibility cloak as they did. Hermione's eyes widened as she took in the room and, just like Mason, made a beeline for the bookcases.

Ron stared at Teddie, waiting for an answer.

"What?" Teddie asked. "We got the message to be here at 7:30," she shrugged. "We just got here a little earlier."

"How did you get in?" Ron asked, suspiciously.

"You're not the only one with friends that know secret places, Weasley," said Teddie. "I got a note back from Marcus at Dinner." She handed Harry a scrap of parchment from her pocket.

All it said was 'Seventh floor. Tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy'.

"I just asked the room for a place to fight," said Teddie. "Or, at least, a place where we could learn to fight. I mean, that is what this group is about, right?"

Harry nodded and handed the note back. "Sorry, we were just nervous that Umbridge had learned about this place," he said. "We can't be too sure, you know?"

"I swear, Harry, if Umbridge does find out about this place, she won't know about it from me or the Slytherins," said Teddie.

"I know," Harry muttered.

Teddie nodded once and looked around. She checked her watch and saw that they still had twenty minutes before anyone else was due to turn up.

"Do we have a name for this group?" Astoria asked. "Or are we just calling it the Defense Group?"

Teddie cocked an eye at Harry. "She's got a point," she agreed. "We need something to identify what we are."

Harry shrugged and looked to Hermione. This had been her idea, after all.

"Oh, well, I thought maybe we'd wait until everyone gets here and decide as a group, you know?" Hermione said.

"Sounds fair," said Daphne. "I mean, if we're all going to be risking our necks for this group then we should at least have a say in what goes on."

"Do you think we would need a leader?" Hermione asked.

"I thought that role belonged to Potter," said Blaise.

Harry opened and closed his mouth several times. When he couldn't think of a suitable argument, he closed it and remained silent.

Teddie bit back a smile. "Don't worry, Harry, you won't have to take full responsibility for all this," she said, reassuringly. "Like Daphne said, we're all risking the same to be here, and will all take responsibility for it."