The silver trio

The First Meeting

People begin to crowd into the room of requirement one by one. There appears to be more than before, but maybe my minds just playing tricks on me. I spot Luna and wave. She's standing next to Blaise across the room. I recognize a few people, Fred, George, Ginny, Ron of course and some other classmates. Draco is standing next to me, fidgeting with his rings nervously. I squeeze his hand tightly.
"You've got nothing to be afraid of", I say with more confidence than I feel.
He smiles back but before he can respond Harry coughs loudly, trying to gain everyone's attention.
He's standing at the top of the room, his shirt untucked and his tie loose as usual. His wand is clutched firmly in his hand. He waits for the chatter to stop before he speaks.
"Right, well. Welcome to Dumbledores Army. I assume you all know why we're here", He begins awkwardly.
"As you know, i'll be your teacher during these meetings and here you'll learn how to defend yourself when necessary".
He starts to gain confidence when he realizes how intently everyone is listening.
"I reckon we should start with one of the most simple yet effective spells. Expelliarmus. The disarming spell. A lot of you might already know this but I think we could all do with the extra practice", He looks around the room and catches my eye. I smile encouragingly.
"This spell is an important one. If you disarm your opponent, the fight is basically over. A lot of people brush over it because of how mundane it seems but trust me, if you can master how to use this spell with stealth and silence, you're already more prepared than most great witches and wizards.".
Once he's finished explaining, he demonstrates the spell a few times and the training starts.
Training dummies have been set up in preparation and everyone starts taking turns firing in various groups.
Harry walks around the room checking in on everyone and giving them tips. It's not long before the whole room of requirement feels like a normal classroom, if not better since everyone seems to actually be enjoying themselves and having fun.
Draco and I are practicing together with Blaise and Luna.
"This is too easy. I'm getting bored", Draco yawns.
"Don't get too cocky", I say and without warning I disarm him silently. His wand flys smoothly into my hand.
Harry starts clapping from across the room. Everyone stops what they're doing to look.
"Amazing (Y/N)! You just did a nonverbal spell! That takes a lot of strength!".
I laugh, "What can I say? He was getting on my nerves".
"I swear to merlin you're so dead", Draco says playfully.
"Please do not try that on me Luna", Blaise warns.
"No promises", She responds.
Harry chuckles and returns to the top of the room.
"So, I was thinking to wrap up this lesson we should have a duel. Any volunteers?", He asks.
Fred and George push Ron to the front, giggling amongst each other.
"For fucks sake. Fine. I'll do it", He sighs.
"Great. Who else?".
Hermione's hand shoots up. "I will", she grins.
Fred and George start laughing and immediately making bets on who will win.
"She's going to murder him", I whisper to Blaise.
"Nah, my moneys on Ron", He whispers back.
They both stand at either end of the room.
"When I count to three you will both fire. Understood?", Harry instructs.
"1....".
"2...".
"3...".
"EXPELLIARMUS!", They both shout and with one flick of Hermiones wand, Ron flys at an insane speed to the end of the room and hits the wall with a ferocious bang. Hermione stands, untouched, holding his wand proudly.
Laughter booms throughout the room and Draco looks like he's about to explode from laughing too much. Fred glares at George and places some galleons into his hand begrudgingly. Even Harry can't keep a straight face.
Ron gets up hastily, trying not to wince from pain and walks over to Fred and George.
"I let her win", He says causally, shrugging.
"Sure you did mate", Blaise giggles and Ron rolls his eyes.

At the end of the lesson, Harry addresses the room once again.
"You've all done brilliantly in this lesson. I can tell you're all working really hard. Keep practicing and we'll meet back here same time next week", He beams.
People start to file out of the room.
"I'm gonna hang back and talk to Harry for a minute, i'll catch up with you", I say to Draco, standing up on my tiptoes to kiss him quickly.
"Oh, okay. Be careful though. Make sure Umbridge doesn't see you on the way back.", He says.
"You too".
I walk over to Harry just as the last person leaves the room.
"That was really fun", I say.
"I hate to admit it, but i enjoyed it too", he grins.
"I knew you would".
"Was I alright?", He asks.
"You we're truly amazing. I think we all learned a lot. You're a great teacher Harry.", I smile widely.
"That means a lot (Y/N). I think I learned quite a bit too. You disarming Draco had to be the highlight though", He chuckles.
"I learned from the best".
"Don't flatter me too much, i'll turn into Lockhart".
"Merlin's beard. That unlocked a memory".
"He was one weird guy. Funny though", He smiles at the thought.
"Those days seem so long ago now", I say, a hint of sadness in my voice.
"They do...", He says in almost a whisper.
"They were good times though. Terrifying and traumatic, but good nevertheless".
"Wow, terrifying, traumatic and yet somehow good. My favorite combo", I joke.
"You know what I mean. I don't think we were ever closer", His smile fades.
"I thought we were still close", I say, confused.
"Oh, we are. I guess things were just different back then. Less complicated. We were younger...you know?".
I think for a moment, remembering the days when friendship was all we had. To be honest, I think it still is all we have. It's just more difficult now, with feelings in the mix and even more dark wizards trying to ruin our lives. That evil was always there and maybe the complexity was too. We just didn't realize it then because we were so young and innocent.
"Things have always been complicated for us, even then. However I do wish l could go back to when I was so naive about it".
"Me too, (Y/N)", He sighs deeply.
"Don't think about that now. We've got to keep going forward. If you think about the past too much you begin to hate the present", I say, thinking of my Mother and Father and the amount of nights i've spent wishing I could go back to when I knew nothing of who they really were so that I could live happily in that lie with them. It was so good back then that it makes me unable to enjoy the present fully.
"Yeah, you're right. I guess I should start living in the moment by walking you to your common room?", He grins.
"Perfect".
He smiles widely and we walk out together.