Head Above Water

Support

Blaise left shortly after that. Thoughts whirled through my head, wondering how I could possibly help anyone when I could barely help myself. I took out a fresh notebook, and started outlining my plans.

Support group

Location: Room of Requirement? Possibly, if not, library?

Schedule:  Check with leaders, but Friday afternoons, seem to be a common time off for most students.

Group Leaders: Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Draco... (possible?), should find someone in Hufflepuff for all the houses, ask Luna

Order of Events: Start with a general greeting of the group, why we're here, assure confidentiality, introductions, and split into smaller groups with individual leaders.

Note to self: Gather leaders and try to schedule after next Hogsmeade weekend? Or before... again consult with group leaders.

I laid out my plan on the first page of the notebook, and it looked good. Now to hope it actually goes how I plan. With plan laid out, I went to bed.

Draco's P.O.V.

I left Blaise's room the next morning, shaken by the nightmares that wouldn't stop coming. The bastard was dead, why couldn't I get him out of my head? The pain was enough to make me want to Obliviate myself, just to get rid of any feeling at all. I walked down to Advanced Potions, slightly late, knowing Granger would have to talk to me, especially because Blaise's plans somehow always seemed to go well for him. Annoyingly. I walked into the classroom, and saw Granger's mass of curls bent over the desk, scribbling away in some leather-bound book, with a very interesting device. I had seen her with them before, back at the lake, but never got the chance to ask. Curious, I bent over her and quickly snatched the thing away.

"What is this?"

It had a tip similar to a quill, but a button on the end that made a clicking sound when I pressed it. The tip disappeared, and I couldn't seem to figure out how it was writing.

"It's a pen, a Muggle device used for writing. The ink is inside, and the point goes back inside to keep it from drying out."

"Strange."

That small conversation seemed to be all I was getting out of her, so I left her be, and listened to Slughorn drone on about the midterm project, still three months away, about Felix Felices. I took some arbitrary notes, and found myself off in another place, wondering what was going on in Granger's head. She hadn't taken a single Potions related note the entire class period, and instead kept scratching away at that notebook. Finally, class was over, with a small demonstration on gathering and preparing ingredients for the midterm. 

"Draco, I need to speak with you."

"Yes?"

"You're friends with Blaise Zabini, right?"

"Yeah, we're mates. Why? Not shacking up with another Slytherin behind my back are you?"

Instantly, I regretted cracking a joke, as she rolled her eyes, but still couldn't contain her blush. Irresistible.

"Don't be a prick, I just needed to speak with him on Head business." 

"Of course, he has free period right now, and usually he goes to the library or the Quidditch pitch." 

I turned on my heel, hoping my stupid nervous joke hadn't ruined Blaise's plan.

"Draco, wait."

"Yes?"

"Walk with me? I need to speak with you as well."

Trying to keep calm, I slowly turned, and walked with her, for once not caring if anyone saw.

Hermione's P.O.V. 

The fear of asking faded, as I detailed my plan to Draco, and his questions all seemed to be more on the logistics side, rather than wondering why this should happen, or some other snobbish answer I had expected. He readily agreed to lead, and as I had already gotten yes from both Ginny and Luna, and Luna was asking around Hufflepuff house for appropriate people, everything seemed to be going well. As we walked to the library, after failing to spot Zabini at the pitch, out of the corner of my eye I spotted a tall, dark-haired girl in Slytherin robes glaring at me, and tried to brush it off. I spotted him in the corner of the library, and waved Draco off, walking towards the other Slytherin.

"Hey, I had a few things to go over with you by way of the support group, if you're not too busy."

"Of course, go ahead."

"Well, I was wondering if you knew whether the Room of Requirement was still available, or if it was completely destroyed. Also, I was thinking of using something along the lines of the Protean charm to identify members, and to set meeting times. I'm thinking of having Luna design some kind of charm that can be used to show this when the charm is applied, and we would like you to join a few meetings when you're not too busy with castle detail."

"Woah, you really do ramble sometimes. The Room of Requirement should be available, the charm sounds like a great idea just make sure Loony doesn't make it anything too fitting for her name, and I'd love to. Who are the other leaders, if you don't mind my asking?"

Instantly I wondered if it had been Draco who had mentioned my tendency to ramble to him, and almost as quickly stamped that thought down.

"I'm thinking Ginny Weasley, LuNA (being sure to emphasize her given name over the derogatory nickname), we're thinking Susan Bones from Hufflepuff, and Draco Malfoy."

He didn't seem at all surprised by Draco's name being given, and just slowly nodded.

"Perfect. All the houses represented, I'm sure the first years are more likely to want to speak with their seniors within their house so that was a good idea. Talk to everyone and spread the word, and Draco will let me know when the first meeting is, I'll be there."

"Perfect."

With that, I left the library, taking a detour to the owlery, and sent notices to my leaders, who had all by now agreed upon a time, that the meeting was going to happen in the Room of Requirement at 3pm Friday. I put a special note in Ginny and Luna's notices, asking them to come to my room that night with the newest password, Leona Majora. Also in the owlery, I conjured up flyers informing other students of the proceedings, and put them around the school. Hopefully, this would be the start of a good thing.

A/N: Hey! I know I said I'd write more due to quarantine, however, its taken quite a toll on my mental health. So I'll be going back to just writing when I can. Thanks for reading! Tay<3