That Saturday saw all seven members of the Defender's Alliance gathered in the Den. They were currently discussing possible recruits, having subtly questioned them since school began. Heather was glad to see her brother's complexion much improved, though he still looked a mite knackered.
"Lee and the Gryffindor Quidditch team are definitely in," George confirmed, as Hermione jotted the names down.
Fred looked at Heather. "Don't worry, Angelina and the other girls won't be giving you any trouble."
Her mouth twitched as she was reminded of her little altercation with the Gryffindor chasers before the Yule Ball last year. The three girls had eventually apologised, albeit sullenly. Honestly, she had already put it out of her mind.
"Luna and Neville will agree," Ginny stated confidently. "Some of the Gryffindor girls in my year are likely to as well."
"Dean too. Seamus," Ron grimaced, "not so sure. He's kinda pissed at Hadrian for stirring up the thing with You-Know-Who. His mum almost withdrew him from school."
Next was her turn, but she had a question. "What, exactly, is the minimum age for the DA?" She knew many students from the younger years, courtesy of her unofficial study group.
They all automatically turned to Hadrian, deferring to him as the leader. "Well," he said, tapping his chin thoughtfully, "there shouldn't be one? Of course, the things we teach them will be scaled down if they're younger. They need to learn how to defend themselves too, since Umbridge," he sneered the name with disgust, "won't be teaching them. Obviously, we won't be sending first years out to battle or anything."
Heather hid her surprise at the utter loathing in Hadrian's tone when he mentioned that woman. It was justified, but she rarely saw him so hateful towards someone. Vernon Dursley was one. Voldemort was another. "Well, in that case, All the Slytherin first and second years will probably be receptive. A handful of third years too. Even some from the older years."
Ron made a face. "Malfoy and his goons? No way!"
Hermione scoffed. "They're not the only Slytherins in our year, you know."
"No, not Malfoy. While I might have considered him," she pointedly ignored the incredulous looks she got, "he idolises his father too much to try to break free of his influence. I was thinking more of Daphne Greengrass, Blaise Zabini and Tracey Davis."
"Are you sure so many Slytherins would be willing to join?" Ginny asked tentatively.
Heather nodded. "Positive. Not all of them support Voldemort. They just can't appear otherwise, or they'd be eaten alive by the ones who do. While not all of them are muggle sympathisers, they're also not anti-muggle fanatics."
"Well, if Heather says so, then we can trust her," Fred said, and that was that.
"How's the secrecy binding coming along?" Hermione asked, quill poised over her journal.
Heather brightened, pulling her knapsack over her lap to take something out. "I've got a contract finished. We can do it now. I created it so that the seven of us need to initiate it, then any following people just need to sign their full names on it." Looking at the book their secretary was writing in, she remembered something. "By the way, Hermione, have you secured those notes? I can teach you how to bind it to you so that only you can read it."
"Sure. After we do that contract then?"
"Right, so this contract will ensure that no one can divulge any information about the DA to anyone not already in it. The first warning is pretty benign. Just that your mind blanks out if you try to say or write down the information. If you try again, you will experience sharp pain of increasing severity in addition to the blanking out. This can escalate until the pain causes you to pass out. If anyone gets to that stage, we will be notified by the name on the contract glowing bright red."
"Wow, sounds pretty thorough," Hadrian said, amazed.
"But what happens after that? If we have a turncoat?" Fred asked astutely.
George frowned worriedly. "Is the pain life-threatening?"
"No, if it progresses to the stage that the person passes out, all memories of the DA will be wiped from their minds upon waking."
Everyone turned silent as they stared at her. Heather firmed her lips, waiting for their reactions.
"A little harsh, isn't it?" Hadrian eventually said, putting himself out there.
"This isn't a game, Rian. Voldemort wants to wage a war. This might just be a little group formed by teenagers, but, like it or not, you are more than that to the deranged wizard. You're the Boy-Who-Lived. You need all the advantage you can get, with Voldemort gunning after you. If any of our proficiency with magic gets leaked, it would beat the element of surprise." By the end of her impassioned speech, she found herself on her feet, panting slightly.
Of all people, it was Ron Weasley who broke the silence eventually. "She's right." He sighed at his still-stunned friends and siblings. "It's like a Quidditch game, innit? All about strategy. Say Snakeface thinks Hadrian's just a little pest that needs to be crushed. He uses a fly swatter. Hadrian destroys the fly swatter, totally obliterates it. Snakey is so stunned Hadrian can get the drop over him. If You-Know-Who knew Hadrian wasn't just a fly, but a dragon with a fleet of other dragons..."
"Then he'd use all his effort to attack Hadrian," Ginny finished.
"Is that why you don't tell anyone about your wandless magic, Hadrian?" Hermione asked.
Her brother shrugged. "Actually, it's more of a habit now because of how secretive Heather is." Frowning, he looked at her. "Come to think of it, why was that? Besides the Dursleys, I mean. We didn't know Voldemort was still alive until the end of your third year."
"You'd already had so much attention on you, you didn't need more. Besides, there is never any harm in having a secret ace up your sleeve," Heather said simply.
"Slytherin," all the Gryffindors in the room muttered.
"And where would you be without me to temper your recklessness?" she asked smartly.
"By George, she's right," George exclaimed.
"Indeed she is, Fred," Fred replied.
She chuckled at their familiar antics. "Right, anyway, don't worry about Veritaserum and Legilimency either. At least, where the DA is concerned. Any other deep, dark secrets, you're on your own."
"Vera-wha and Legi-huh?" Ron mumbled.
"Truth serum and mind reading," Heather explained, cringing at the overly-simplistic descriptors. Professor Snape would likely tear into her for saying Legilimency was mere mind reading and not the intricate mental magic it was.
Nevertheless, she laughed at the scared look on Ron's face, wondering what he had to hide. On second thought, knowing what she did about puberty and adolescent boys, she was better off ignorant.
"Come on, everyone stand in a circle and repeat after me." They all shuffled into position, the parchment with the contract lying on the table in the centre. "By the way," she said perkily, "get ready to shed some blood."
The pale faces she was greeted with had her smothering cackles.
~~~
After some discussion, they had decided that each DA member would take turns to hold onto the contract and secretly get the new members to sign it. It was subtler than organising a meeting of all potential candidates, which had been their original plan.
Right now, it was Hadrian's turn with it. There was really only one person he had in mind, since his friends had handled everyone else already.
Seeing the person he was waiting for walk into the room, he smiled widely. "Cedric, you made it!"
"Of course. We haven't been able to meet up for ages." The boy - well, man now - grinned, came over after making sure the door was locked.
"You know, suddenly this whole thing feels pretty illicit," Hadrian teased. "The gullible student being preyed upon by his Professor. You even did that 'look left, look right' thing before coming in."
"Assistant Professor. Get your facts right, Mr Potter," Cedric intoned sternly. He held that serious expression for a moment before cracking up. "Alright, sinful tryst aside, was there a reason you wanted to meet here and not in Hogsmeade? You know we don't really have anything to hide, right? I told Professor McGonagall about us before she took me on."
"What, I can't want to spend some time with my boyfriend in private?" Hadrian had gotten more comfortable around the older wizard, less prone to blush at every word and gesture. That, and he realised how fun it was to tease his boyfriend until he blushed. Like right now.
"O-of course you can! I love spending time with you. I just thought you'd want to get out of school, since it's the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year and all..."
"I get it, Cedric! You're rambling," he got out, giggling. "Actually, there was something I wanted to ask. Without anyone overhearing." His boyfriend gestured for him to go ahead, so he explained everything about the DA to him and showed him the contract. He could only talk about it to him because he was holding onto the scroll. It was the sole provision Heather had put into the secrecy spell for them to recruit more people.
"Wow." Cedric was reading the contract carefully. "And your sister made this? That's amazing." He looked up. "You're all amazing. I can't believe you guys are forming your own group to fight You-Know-Who!"
Hadrian bit his lip nervously. "So, what do you think?"
"Of course I'll help! I can ask around among the Puffs too! I want to do my part. You're in danger, aren't you? You're the Boy-Who-Lived!" The Hufflepuff gathered Hadrian's hands in his and looked into his eyes. "I can't let anything happen to you."
He could feel a strong blush coming on (okay, so he hadn't totally grown out of it), even as his heart warmed at the words. "I'm not the only one in danger, and I can take care of myself," he mumbled, "but that means a lot to me. I'd be crushed if anything happened to you too."
Cedric just smiled squeezing his hands. A silent moment passed between them before he picked up a quill. "So where do I sign?"
Hadrian pointed out a space, below where Dean Thomas had signed. Once that was done, he rolled up the parchment and tucked it safely in his bag.
"So," he said leadingly, "we have the rest of the afternoon left. Is it okay if we stay in here and...do stuff? Just the two of us."
For some reason, the made the older wizard sputter in shock. "A-are you sure? I mean, well-"
Furrowing his brows, Hadrian pouted. "You don't want to sit here and cuddle a bit? Who knows when we'll have time like this again."
"C-cuddle," the man said faintly. "Right. We should cuddle. Definitely. Cuddling is great."
Hadrian looked at his boyfriend. He was being kind of weird. Oh well, he put those thoughts out of his head as strong arms pulled him closer on the loveseat.
~~~
Heather stretched her senses out, feeling for any other magical presences around the corner. Once she got the all-clear, she walked forward, squeezing the small hand grasped in her own, a signal to follow. She looked back to make sure that each third year and below was huddled around an older student.
She felt a light tug on her robes and found it was one of the second years, a wizard named Garrett Foster. "Heather," he whispered, "Professor Umbridge said that student clubs are banned. Will we get in trouble for doing this?"
She swept her eyes across the group of Slytherins, seeing the question in their gazes. She caught one of her fellow seventh years' eyes and smirked widely, winking. "We're Slytherins, aren't we? We don't get caught."
"But there will be Gryffindors there," another second year, Alice Montgomery, said, wrinkling her little nose.
"Well, who do you think made that secrecy contract?" she said, continuing forwards. George and Fred had mentioned it was somewhere here...
A chorus of breathy giggles trailed after her before they were shushed gently. Even though she had made sure to cast a disillusionment around them, it never hurt to be too careful. Turning another corner, she spied the tapestry in question. Ahah! The dancing trolls were unmistakeable. She asked them to wait nearby while she paced in front of it three times, thinking of the DA meeting room. Sure enough, as the twins had explained, a door appeared behind the drapery. Quickly ushering the children in, she closed the door behind her after making sure no one was in the vicinity.
Immediately, she heard the kids gasp in awe at the huge room that they were in. Heather gave it an appreciative look over herself. Forge and Gred had really outdone themselves this time. Well, it was actually Mipsy that had led them here, but they were the ones who had thought to ask a house elf.
"Heather's here!"
She saw that she was the last to arrive. Probably because hers was the largest group. And the one with the youngest students.
Hadrian clapped his hands to gather everyone's attention then performed a Sonorus. "Now that everyone's here, let's do a round of introductions first, okay?"
It was a pretty decent-sized group, for a first meeting. There were a handful of Puffs (courtesy of Cedric's help), only one Claw (Ginny's friend, Luna), a bunch of Gryffs and then Slyths took up about half the numbers. She expected there would be more people next time when the current members sounded out their other friends.
Among the Slytherins were two seventh years (the Prefects, Melinda Davies and Adrian Pucey), three fifth years (Daphne, Tracey and Blaise) and all the first, second and third years.
Heather could see the other students eying her house in distrust, so she stepped forward to shield some of the younger ones from view. She lifted a hand, causing her brother to pause in his instructions. When he nodded, she took a breath.
"I know what you are all thinking about us," she spread her hands to indicate her housemates, "but there will be no house rivalries in the DA. We expect everyone to cooperate, no matter what house you're from. There will be no bigotry. We are all here for a common purpose, and that is to learn how to defend ourselves and our loved ones in preparation for an enemy attack, be it Voldemort," a wave of flinches across the room, "or some other psychopath."
One of the Hufflepuffs snorted in disbelief, sneering. She recognised him. "You," she pointed at the boy, "Finch-Fletchley. Anything to add?"
"Yeah," the boy drawled contemptuously, "sure you baby Deatheaters aren't just here to spy on us for your snake-faced master?"
The temperature dropped as everyone who knew Heather well enough groaned internally. The boy had just gone and done it.
"Justin Finch-Fletchley," Heather hissed quietly. The sound somehow travelled across the large hall. "I remember when you were just tiny little second year. Shivering and afraid as an enormous python slithered towards you. When you accused my brother of attacking you." She tilted her head, smirking. "What a good friend you were, turning your back on him at the first sign of trouble. Who was it, then, who killed the basilisk roaming the school? Hadrian, a parselmouth. Who was it, who brewed the potion that saved your life when you were petrified? Slytherins, one of whom was me."
She put a hand on her hip. "You jumped to conclusions then, feeding off your own biases like those Pureblood anti-muggle fanatics you profess to oppose. I would thank you not to make baseless judgements like your second-year-self again."
"I am a Slytherin," she announced proudly, straightening her posture, "because of my cunning. I am a half-blood and my best friends are muggle sympathisers. I am not a Slytherin because I am evil or nasty or a supporter of Voldemort. There have been Deatheaters from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw and, yes, Gryffindor. Think Reginald Warren, Bartemius Crouch Jr, Peter Pettigrew."
She was alerted to the presence of someone coming up beside her by a hand on her arm. "I am Daphne Greengrass. I am a Slytherin because I am ambitious. I think You-Know-Who is a mad man who will bring ruin to everything magical Britain prides itself in, but only if we let him."
Someone else stepped forward. "I am Adrian Pucey. I am a Slytherin because I am devious enough not to get caught," here he winked at Heather. "I want You-Know-Who gone to create a safer world for my younger brother to grow up in." He clutched little Anthony's hand tightly.
One by one, her housemates each introduced themselves in that manner, relishing in the cowed expressions of those who had glared at them when they entered.
In the resulting hush, one Luna Lovegood began to clap, smiling dreamily. "That was delightful. The wrackspurts are gone now!"
Snickering, Ginny followed her friend's example and soon, everyone was giving the Slytherins applause. Heather noticed her littlest ducklings' awed looks and nudged them forward. Now, that was a sight to see - Slytherins mingling happily among the other houses.
Someone coughed loudly to gain her attention. She looked around to find a red-faced Justin Finch-Fletchley, wringing his hands nervously.
"I apologise for my words. I shouldn't have accused you all of being Deatheaters. I hope we will be able put this behind us and work together."
Heather looked at him critically before turning to some of the Slytherins in the boy's year. Daphne stepped forward sighing.
"I suppose we can't blame you. I mean, I know how Blaise looks to everyone. All that dark and doom!"
Said boy grunted in affront, scowling.
"See what I mean! You really should lighten up, darling. And use your words!"
"Whatever, Greengrass," Blaise muttered. The girl simply tutted at him.
Finch-Fletchley watched the byplay, utterly confounded. Daphne took pity on the poor boy and smiled at him. "That means it's all fine." She leaned in further, lowering her voice. "Us snakes may forgive this time, but we never forget." A toothy grin. "Don't talk to Heather that way again or you'll find out how our house earned our reputation. We take care of our own. Understood?"
"Y-yes," the boy stuttered.
"Wonderful!" Beaming and flipping her hair, Daphne said, "Let's have a great time working together!"
Oblivious to the conversation, Heather watched as Finch-Fletchley shook Daphne's hand, then Tracey's and Blaise's. An arm was slung over her shoulder while another behind her waist.
"You did great back there," Fred said.
George faked a sniffle. "I practically shed tears."
"Who knew you had such a flair for public speaking?"
"Heather Potter, next Minister of Magic?"
She scrunched her face up. "Ugh, I can't stand politics. Just leave me to my potions." Seeing that Hadrian was rounding them up, she elbowed them both lightly. "Come on, it's starting."
They divided the group further into strata based on their skill levels. Many of her ducklings ended up in Beginner, though some ostensibly more trained ones went into Intermediate. The few others were termed Skilled and Hadrian disappointedly shelved his lessons for the Master group for until they improved to that level.
As Hadrian eyed his eager students, he proclaimed, "First things first. If, by some act of Merlin, Umbridge has managed to teach you something, forget it all now. Just forget it entirely."
~~~
Heather sighed as she looked at the boys standing petulantly in front of her. Not even a simple Quidditch match could go by peacefully in this school, especially not when it was Gryffindors versus Slytherins.
"This is why I say you need to think before you leap," Heather berated, shaking her finger at the three sullen boys. "Violence is never the solution!"
Hadrian scowled. "But Malfoy-"
"I don't care what Malfoy may or may not have said! You fell for the bait, hook, line and sinker! I thought you were all a little smarter than that! Can't you tell he just wanted to rile you up?"
"He made insinuations about our parents, your parents, even you!" George said angrily.
"What did you expect us to do, just ignore him?" Fred added.
She threw her hands up. "Yes! Our parents wouldn't care and I certainly don't need you guys to defend me, especially from the likes of Draco Malfoy!"
"We couldn't just let the little ferret get away with it!" Their clearly-unrepentant expressions made Heather even more exasperated.
Time to bring out the big spells. "Was it worth your Quidditch ban then?" They shouldn't have acted out, especially now with Umbridge in the school. The woman was just looking for an excuse to punish them.
Hadrian wavered for a split second before nodding firmly. His sentiments were echoed by the twins. "Definitely!"
"Ugh," she groaned. "I give up!" Narrowing her eyes, she said, "At least you'll have more time for the DA. We have a lot of work to do."
Her three boys pouted like the children they were as she left to go back to her dorm room. Now that she had handled the Lion side of things, it was time for the Snakes to feel her wrath.
She stormed her way through the castle, unknowingly causing other students to scramble out of the way. Most of them cringed, finding it in themselves to feel a little bit of sympathy for Malfoy. If there was someone everyone knew not to cross in the school, it was Heather Potter.
"Widdershins," Heather hissed, practically Parseltongue, if she possessed the skill. The dungeon wall swung outwards, admitting her into her common room. Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at the Fury-incarnate step in.
Her eyes swept across the room, finding a smug-faced Malfoy in the midst of regaling his cronies with the tale of his earlier doings.
"Draco Malfoy." The room immediately quietened. The Pureblood Heir straightened his spine, turning to face her. To his credit, he showed little reaction to her fury.
"I would like to speak with you regarding what happened earlier." She tilted her head mockingly, enjoying the trepidation that was creeping into Malfoy's eyes. "Really, the things I heard..."
It wasn't like she'd scolded her boys because she okay with what Malfoy said. The opposite, in fact, she was livid. The insults to her and Hadrian weren't so bad, but she wouldn't stand for the words against her parents or Mr and Mrs Weasley. It seemed like the snakes had forgotten what had happened the last time someone insulted her mother.
Let it not be said that Heather had no mercy, though. Malfoy was still a child, and she would never threaten someone younger than her. She was no brute.
Malfoy nodded carefully and stepped forward. In a casual show of dismissal, she turned her back to him and led the way out of the common room. The whispers started even before the door swung shut.
There were many unused rooms in the dungeons and she simply picked the closest. She raised a few privacy barriers to keep nosy students away and then turned to face the boy.
"Was there anything you would like to apologise for, Malfoy?" She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow in expectation.
The boy simply pasted on a condescending look, one he obviously tried to copy off his father. It didn't have quite the same effect.
"Nothing at all, hmm?" She waved her wand idly, conjuring two armchairs for them both. Malfoy visibly twitched at the casual display of nonverbal magic. "Please, sit. I think we have much to talk about."
There was a brief moment where she thought Malfoy would storm out, but that quickly passed and he sat with as much dignity as he could muster.
"So, Malfoy. Care to repeat your earlier words? Something about my parents and the Weasleys?"
The boy couldn't help but sneer at the mention of the latter.
Heather nodded, as if she'd had her point proven. "Yes, you had rather unkind words for them, as I recall. Whatever did they ever do to you? My brother and I haven't said a single word against your family, so why would you not return the courtesy?"
He was clearly offended at the very suggestion. "My family has done nothing but uphold the traditions and practices of our proud wizarding ancestry. There's nothing to be said against us!"
"Voldemort," she stated, watching him flinch at the word, "is a monster, barely half a man at this point. And your father is his grovelling servant. Proud isn't the word I would use."
"He was Imperioused," Malfoy said unconvincingly.
"So your father is weak, then," she concluded, "My brother could resist Imperio in his fourth year."
Outrage crossed his expression. "So this is what this is? I insult the weasels and you insult my family?"
"Of course not" she said flippantly, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. And it wasn't only the Weasleys you insulted, if you recall." Malfoy made a valiant attempt to school his expression. To be quite honest, he was being much more cooperative than she had expected. Perhaps it was because she was a housemate, or maybe because she was a girl.
"Tell me, Malfoy. Have you ever heard of what happened to Rhianna Rowle?"