The Girl who lived

chapter 11

"Hi," Hermione starts. Different people from different houses are standing or sitting in Brews & Stews, invited by the Gryffindor trio in front of us. "So, you all know why we're here. We need a teacher. A proper teacher. One who's had experience defending themselves against the dark arts." She goes on. There are Gryffindores, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws from year 5 and older. "Why?" Someone in the front row asks. Why do you think, you idiot? "Why?" Ron repeats. "Because you know who is back, you tosspot." He states casually. "So he says." The same guy argues. "So Dumbledore says." I spit back, getting annoyed from where I'm standing next to George, who is keeping a close eye on me. "So Dumbledore says because he says." He shot back before turning back to my brother. "The point is, where's the proof? If Potter could tell us more about how Diggory got killed..." My blood was boiling, but before I could defend him, my brother spoke for the first time. "I'm not gonna talk about Cedric, so if that's why you're here, clear out." He says and turns to Hermione. "Come on, Hermione. They're here because they think I'm some sort of freak." Harry starts to walk away as Hermione tries to stop him. "Is it true you can produce a Patronus charm?" Luna Lovegood asks, making Harry stop in his tracks. "Yes." Hermione answers in his place. "I've seen it." She states proudly. "Blimey, Harry. I didn't know you could do that." Dean Thomas says shocked. "And he killed a basilisk with the sword in Dumbledore's office," Neville says. "It's true," I say proudly. "Third year, he fought off about a hundred dementors at once," I say with pride. 

"And last year, he really did fight off you-know-who in the flash." Hermione finishes. "Wait," Harry speaks up. "Look, it all sounds great when you say it like that... but the truth is, most of that was luck. I didn't know what I was doing half the time. I nearly always had help." He states. "He's just being modest-" Hermione tells the group before she was shut down by my twin. "No, Hermione. I'm not." Harry faces Hermione and turns back to the others. "Facing this stuff in real life is not like in school. In school, if you make a mistake, you can just try again tomorrow. But out there-" He points a finger at the door, saying that he means outside. "When you are a second away from being murdered... or watching a friend die right before your eyes-" He trails off, finding his shoes a lot more interesting at the moment. "You don't know what that's like." He says silently, his eyes still on the ground as I make my way over to him. "You're right, Harry." I start as I try to comfort him. "That's why we need your help. Because if we're going to have any chance at beating... Voldemort..." I say his name, my voice much stronger than I feel. It's only a name. What can possibly happen by saying it? "He's really back." A boy, I think his name was Colin, states. Although, it sounded more like a question. It was silent for a moment before Hermione started to speak. "So... What do you guys think? Are we just going to sit back and do nothing? Or are we going to learn how to defend ourselves?" And with that, they've convinced every single person in the room to start a secret army. An army against Umbridge and her stupid rules. An army with the boy who lived as their leader. An army to fight against Voldemort. And from that very moment, Dumbledore's Army was born.

I'm sitting in my bedroom, working on my potions essay. Not because it had to be done (I still had an entire week to work on it), but because I could use the distraction. It has been three days since Fred said how he felt about the kiss we shared five days ago. Three days since I cried at the astronomy tower into the shoulder of my best friend. I haven't spoken to Fred since that day, gosh, I haven't even looked at him. I'll talk to him eventually, I just need some time. Time to think. Time for myself. That's all I need right now, time. I was just enjoying the silence when It got interrupted by someone storming into the room. I look up from my potions book to be met with Hermione Granger. Her face is red as fire, and she storms over to her bed. I know better than talking when Hermione was angry about something. It's something that my brother had warned me about years ago. So I just stayed silent and got back to my potions essay. After a few minutes of silence between the two of us, Hermione finally calmed down. "What are you working on?" She asks friendly, probably to distract herself from whatever it is that made her that angry. "Just working on the potion essay," I answer, not bothering to look away from my papers. "I wish Harry would start as early as you. He's horrible at planning, most of the time he just ends up doing it the day before." She chuckles. "Yeah, he loves to postpone it." The first real conversation I ever had with one of my roommates and of course, it has to lead to my brother. "So... How are you?" She asks all of a sudden. "I'm fine, you?" I'm a little in shock by the sudden interest in how I feel, but if she's finally going to be nice to me, I'm not going to push that away. And it's a good distraction, better than silently doing my homework. "I'm alright now. Are you sure you are? I saw you were a little... distracted at the meeting." She says with a hint of concern. Is it really that obvious? "Yeah, just a little too much on my mind I guess." She sighs as she makes her way over to me, sitting on the edge of my bed.

 "Listen, I know that we aren't that close to each other, and that is completely my fault--I mean it's not that I didn't like you or anything. I just never really tried to get to know you, and got a little carried away with what other people said about you. Not that I believed it, of course, they were really convincing, but I never believed it, I mean Harry talks enough about you to know that what they are saying isn't true-" she rattles off until I interrupt her speech with my giggles. "It's okay, Hermione. Do you have a point?" I ask her kindly. I know Hermione isn't a bad person, she's just a little influenced by the stories. "Yeah, sorry. The point is, even though we never really talked, know that if you need someone to talk to, I'm here." She says with a sad but sympathetic smile. Although I am a little taken aback by her words, I return a kind smile. "Thanks, Hermione. That goes for you too, you know. I mean, I always see you around Ron and Harry, and there's nothing wrong with them, but I imagine that you can use some girl talk now and then." I say friendly, earning a chuckle from the bushy-haired girl in front of me. It's true, though. I know that, when you're surrounded by only boys, you sometimes just want a little girl talk. Although George tries the best he can to understand my little girl's problems, it's not the same as talking to someone who completely understands you. "It's like you can read my mind, I mean the boys are amazing, but they don't completely understand my problems," Hermione states my point out loud. Although I'm thankful for this new friendship, I'm not quite sure if I'm confident enough to tell her about my problems, just yet. 

"So, how long have you been fancying him?" Hermione asks out of nowhere. "What?" I ask her, a bit surprised and amused at her question. "Oh, come on. It's quite obvious that you like someone. You don't have to tell me who, though I do have an idea of who it might be." she states casually. Was it really that obvious? Does everyone know? Does she really know that it's Fred? Or is she thinking about someone else? Do I have to answer her question? Well, so far for not thinking about him. "third year, I guess." I answer so quietly that I'm not sure if she heard me. She did. "Do you think he likes you back?" She asks, definitely not knowing that this is the last thing I want to talk about right now. "No" I spat out. Maybe I was a little too rude, but before I could apologize, she started talking again. "Don't." She shakes her head before looking at the bed and back at me. "I know you think you should apologize, but I'm the one who should. I shouldn't have asked, I'm sorry-" but before she could apologize further I stopped her. "No, no, no. You- you didn't know. I shouldn't have snapped. It's just... I don't feel like talking about that right now if that's okay?" I say, quickly Hermione nods and with that, we drop the subject. We talked for a couple of hours about everything and nothing. Before we went to the great hall together to enjoy our dinner. It was the first time in my five years at Hogwarts that I spent dinner with a girl, well without being insulted by her, and it was nice. From that moment I knew that I had a new friend, a girlfriend, that I could count on. From that moment on, I finally had a girl on my side.