The Speaker and His Wraiths

I Volunteer

Together

"Okay, so no cloaks." Draco sighed, shifting in his library seat uncomfortably. "I just thought they'd look cool!"

"They would." Harry agreed. "If people couldn't grab onto them while we're running away or during a battle." Draco scowled.

"So you keep saying." He pouted. Laura Madley, second year Hufflepuff, spoke up then.

"I like the idea of everyone being identical. However, shouldn't Potter stand out a little? We're all in one color and he's in another?" Harry tapped his chin in thought.

"It's a nice idea but wouldn't I be a target immediately? Obviously a leader of sorts?" Hermione huffed. She was a little annoyed at the moment, Ron being at Keeper practice.

"Well you are. You're the Speaker. None of us will be allowed to talk except for you, and what if you get mixed up with us and Voldemort ends up facing some random person who remains silent?" She pointed out.

"Okay, fine. How about my mask being slightly different? That way I'm distinguishable but not from long distances and not in a heavy battle." The six people around him nodded in agreement.

"So we all agreed on either white or black?" Megan Jones was in Harry's year, he remembered. A half-blood Puff. "Personally I think white would stand out too much."

"But black is what the Death Eaters wear." Draco grimaced. Harry made a face.

"And dementors." Draco wiggled his eyebrows at Harry, who shoved lightly him with a grin. Corner, seemingly not noticing, nodded thoughtfully.

"Why not wear something dark gray with a black outer layer? We wouldn't be all black, with the gray being slightly visible." The Ravenclaw, Michael Corner, suggested. Ginny grinned and leaned forward.

"That sounds amazing, actually." She said. Ginny started sketching (Harry put her in charge of the design aspect. She was good at clothing especially) in Muggle pencil, which she found to be much easier than ink and quill. "What if we wear black pants, form fitting but not too tight for easy movement, and then the gray top. Like this?"

Harry leaned over to see a pretty sketched shirt, the sleeve ending with one loop around the middle finger. He tilted his head for clarification, and she flushed.

"I thought it'd be easier to have the sleeves attached to us. If we paired it with black gloves, nobody would see any skin and the sleeves couldn't ride up. Skin color and obvious ethnicity would be hidden."

"That's brilliant Weasley!" Corner beamed. "So black pants, gray shirt, black gloves, and the black overlay?"

"It'd be best if we could attach the overlay to the shirt, but..." Suddenly Ginny's face lit and she started furiously scribbling and leaning over her work with her tongue between her teeth. Harry resisted laughing at the scene. "Done!"

Everyone leaned in to see she'd drawn a pattern of dark shading over the outfit, meant to be the outer layer, and it seemed to flow around the person. It looked really cool, tight at the collar with a large hood and shorter sleeves that ended at the elbow. The rest of it looked like a sort of a robe, stopping at thigh height instead of going all the way down past the ankle. It was open in the front with buttons near the collar, the rest revealing the deep gray underneath.

"This way we can have a cloak that would stay on and wouldn't be a catching hazard! Not to mention some robes can be a tripping hazard as well. It would sway as we walked and only intensify the look we're going for as Corner suggested. Plus, identity covering hoods." She leaned back, grinning with pride.

"It's perfect. Even if it's a Weasley idea." Draco announced. Ginny's grin slid to a smirk and Draco scowled playfully at her.

"You're just saying that because you're stuck on the capes." Harry grinned.