The Sunrise of My Heart

The next day, I found Hermione sitting in the library, staring blankly at a book. She appeared to be reading the same passage over and over again, but did not appear to be taking anything in, and she had a troubled expression on her face.

"Hey, Hermione," I said, sitting down next to her.

She jumped, surprised by my 'sudden' appearance. "Hi, Riley. How long have you been there?"

"Well, I've been watching you read the same paragraph for about five minutes now."

"Oh, right," she said, shutting her book.

"Diets and Habitats of Scottish Unicorns?" I asked, reading the book title. "You planning on moving to Scotland and adopting one?"

"Do you think we're making a mistake?" she asked suddenly.

"Oh, am I moving with you to Scotland? Well, I don't know. A unicorn is a big responsibility. Maybe we should start with something smaller, like, a baby."

"What? What are you-- Oh!" She finally looked at her book and realized what I'd said. "No, I mean, do you think we're making a mistake in..." She lowered her voice so I had to lean in to hear her. "In the Defense Against the Dark arts group. What if this is a bad idea?"

"But Hermione, it was your idea!"

"I know. I just..." She paused, giving me wary look before continuing. "You know how Snuffles thought it was a great idea?" I nodded, so she continued. "Well, that made me wonder if it is such a great idea. I mean, he can be very reckless, especially ever since he's moved into his house. And I was just wondering if maybe this is too risky and dangerous, because that would certainly be the sort of thing he would enjoy."

"So basically, you think he's trying to live vicariously through us by encouraging us to do something crazy and reckless?"

"Well... Yes."

"Did you tell this thought to Harry?" Judging by her expression, I could tell that she had. "Man, I bet he loved that. Hermione, look, I know that Snuffles can be reckless, and I know that he'd be itching for any kind of entertainment now that he's cooped up in that dreadful house of his, but just because he agrees with this idea doesn't make it a bad one. Yes, this idea has potential consequences, and yes, we could get into heaps of trouble for it. And yeah, Snuffles sees that, and that's part of its appeal to him. But he also sees that it will help us, that it will prepare us and protect us for when things get bad. And that also appeals very much to him. Trust me. This is so much more important than expulsion or school. This is good versus evil, this is life or death."

"I suppose you're right," she said, looking more sure of the idea, although not entirely convinced.

The next day, I had a sudden realization. The Room of Requirements was the perfect place to hold meetings. I had been waiting all day to catch Harry and tell him, when he came up to me. I was, thankfully, alone, so there was no risk of Draco and Harry getting into a fight.

"Harry!" I said excitedly. "I figured it out! I can't believe I never thought of it before! I use it all the time, I just never thought of it for some reason!"

"What are you talking about?" he asked, trying and failing to keep up with my random outburst.

"I know where we can have the meetings!" I exclaimed, smiling brightly.

"Oh. Well, er, thanks, but I've already found somewhere."

"Not somewhere as good as my somewhere. Trust me. This place is really awesome, and no one will ever find us. But fine, tell me where your meeting place is."

"The Room of Requirements."

"No way! That's what I was gonna suggest! How'd you find out about it?"

"Dobby told me. And Dumbledore mentioned it in passing last year. How'd you find out about it?"

"I'm a sleep walker and a part-time insomniac. Show me part of this castle that I don't know, and I might just die of shock."

"Good point."

"So is that why you're here? Are we having our first meeting?" I asked eagerly.

"Yep. Tonight, at eight. You obviously know where it is."

"Eee!! This is so exciting!! Okay, I'll see you at 8:00!"

And so, at 8:00, I told Draco that Ginny, Hermione, and I were having an hour of 'girl stuff', as in, we were eating junk food, talking about boys, and giggling a lot while trying to do homework. I also mentioned that we'd try to do these about once a week because we didn't get a chance to hang out as girls what with all of the work we had to do. He fell for it, so I now had an excuse to go to the meetings every single time.

"Hey, guys," I said to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, walking up to them. They nodded at me, and then began pacing in front of the wall, three times, each probably thinking something along the lines of We need a place to train, somewhere safe and well equipped, somewhere where we won't be caught. Right on cue, the door appeared out of nowhere, and we entered together.

"Lady, gentlemen," I said," Welcome to the Room of Requirements."

"Yeah, Harry said you knew about this," Ron said, gaping around the room. "What have you used it for?"

"Well... Many things. Do you remember third year how Snape thought Moony was sneaking Padfoot into the castle? Yeah, that was me. I used this room. It gave him access to food, safe passage out of the castle and around the Dementors, a warm bed, all kinds of stuff. The first time I used it was first year. I needed a place to be alone so I could cr--" I trailed, clearing my throat softly, leaving the air feeling awkward. "Anyways. This room has come in really handy."

Thankfully, people started coming in then, so Harry and Ron could stop staring at me. Hermione, I was grateful to see, had deliberately chosen not to look up from her book and watch me when I'd said that, although I imagine she'd wanted to.

"What is this place?" Dean asked.

"It's brilliant," Cho said.

Everyone began murmuring about how curious and cool it was, talking at once, creating a soft hum in the air.

"What are those?" one boy asked, pointing at some objects in the back of the room, including a cracked Foe-Glass and some Sneakoscopes.

"Dark Detectors," Harry answered. "Basically they show when Dark wizards or enemies are around, but you don't want to rely on them too much, they can be fooled...." After that, we established that Harry was our leader -duh- and then moved on to deciding a name.

"Dumbledore's Army," Ginny said. "Because that's the Ministry's worst fear, isn't it? And it could be D.A. for short." Everyone agreed, so we then got down to business.

"Now," Harry began, "I was thinking the first thing we should learn is Expelliarmus, you know, the Disarming Charm. I know it's pretty basic but I've found it really useful--"

"Oh, please," said Zacharius Smith, rolling his eyes and folding his arms. "I don't think Expelliarmus is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?"

"Flipendo!" I snapped, flicking my wand at him. He flipped backwards, looking alarmed. "See? Maybe if you actually knew how to use Expelliarmus, you'd have been able to stop me. Now shut up or next time it'll be Stupefy."

Harry fought back a smile before speaking, staring Zacahrius Smith dead in the face. "I've used Expelliarmus against him. It saved my life last June. Still think it's beneath you?" Zacharius was silent. "Okay," Harry continued," I reckon we should all divide into pairs and practice."

As the grouping went, people seemed hesitant to pair with Neville because he was so bad, and hesitant to pair with me because I was scary. So I paired with him.

"Alright, Neville, since I already know what I'm doing, why don't you try practicing first, without me trying to deflect?"

Neville nodded. "Expelliarmus!" My wand twitched in my hand, then lay still.

"Try again! Practice makes perfect," I encouraged.

"Expelliarmus!" My wand slid a little.

"See? Already improving. Give it more effort, more heart. Really flick your wand at me, but don't drop it."

"Expelliarmus!" he repeated, waving his wand at me. I stumbled back a few steps and my wand clattered to the floor and slid away. "I did it!" he said excitedly. "I really did it!"

"Good, Neville! That was wonderful!" Even if a real duel wouldn't involve his opponent standing still and letting him hit them with a spell, I was still proud. I went to retrieve my wand and could see Zacahrius Smith eyeing me "surreptitiously," probably hoping to get me back for earlier.

"Expelli--" he began.

"Expelliarmus," I yelled, standing up straight and swiftly aiming my wand at him. He shot backwards, his wand flying out of his hand and across the room. Most people stopped to stare at me in awe and slight fear. "Don't mess with a pro, Smith," I said with a smirk before walking back over to Neville.
The minutes ticked by, everyone practicing the spell over and over again, some of them getting it, others still struggling. Finally, Hermione reminded Harry to check the time and Harry realized it was 9:10.

"Well that was pretty good, but we've overrun, we'd better leave it here. Same time, same place next week?"

"Sooner," Dean Thomas disagreed, and many people nodded their consent.

"The Quidditch season's starting, and we need team practices too!"

"Let's say next Wednesday night, then," said Harry, "and we can decide on additional meetings then... Come on, we'd better get going."

Everyone left in groups of threes and fours, and I could see Harry watching them get to their Common Rooms safely from the Marauder's Map. Finally, it was just me, Harry, Ron, and Hermione left.

"Great lesson today, Harry," I said cheerfully. "I was hoping I'd get the chance to hit Zacharius Smith with a spell one day. And now I got my wish. Twice!"

"How are you so good at things?" Ron asked me.

"I'm a natural," I said with a flounce. "Anyways, good night, you three. Get back safely without running into trouble."

"You too," Harry said. He checked the map briefly, then looked back at me. "It's safe for you to make your way back to the Slytherin common room right now."

"It doesn't matter, if I get caught, I'll blame it on sleep walking, since the teachers know I really do sleep walk. See you all in the morning!"