"Hem, hem," Ginny clears her throat, interrupting Hermione and Luna's argument in such a good imitation of Umbridge that nearly everyone in the room jumps in surprise, looking around in alarm. Ginny laughs quietly at look on everyone's faces. "Weren't we trying to decide how often we're going to meet and get Defense lessons?"
"Yes," Hermione says at once, her face flushing as she awkwardly continues. "yes, we were, you're right..."
We all eventually come to the decision that we should meet weekly, and the topic of discussion shifts to where the meetings will take place.
"Library?" Katie Bell suggests.
"I can't see Madam Pince being too chuffed with us doing jinxes in the library," Harry replies quickly.
"Maybe an unused classroom?" Dean asks with a shrug.
"I doubt we would have the space, or privacy we'd need in a classroom. Anyone could walk right in and see what we're doing." Lani says, thinking out loud.
"Right, well, we'll try to find somewhere. We'll send a message round to everyone when we've got a time and a place for the first meeting." Hermione says, rummaging in her bag until she retrieves parchment and a quill.
"I-I think everybody should write their name down, just so we know who was here." Hermione continues, taking a deep breath. "But I also think that we all ought to agree not to shout about what we're doing. So if you sign, you're agreeing not to tell Umbridge -- or anybody else -- what we're doing."
Fred reaches out to take the parchment and quill from her immediately, cheerfully putting his signature down and passing it to me. I sign the paper without hesitation and pass it to McKenna who signs it and passes it to George, who signs it and repeatedly tries to pass it to Zacharias, who refuses to take it.
"Well, er, I'm sure Ernie will tell me when the meeting is." Smith stutters.
Immediately Zacharias, Ernie, Hermione, Ron, and Harry begin to fight about whether or not it's worth putting their name of the sheet of parchment because all but Harry are prefects.
"Stop it." Lani says, getting to her feet and glaring directly at Zacharias and Ernie before snatching the parchment and quill from George and signing her name. "You lot may be prefects, but I'm the Head Girl and I've signed because I trust Harry and Hermione and you should too. Do you think the parchment will be left around for just anyone to stumble upon? Honestly!"
Lani forces Smith the take the signed parchment and quill and he grumpily signs it. No one else complains. When the last person signs the paper, Hermione takes it back and slips it carefully back into her bag.
"Well, time's ticking on." Fred says briskly, getting to his feet and pulling me with him. "George, Vanessa, McKenna, and I have got items of a sensitive nature to purchase. We'll be seeing you all later."
And with that, Fred leads the way out of the dank bar. Lani, Sylvia, and Edward follow after us until we start veering back towards Zonko's and Lani wishes us luck before returning to the castle.
*
Fred's POV:
The sun is just barely starting to set as we leave Hogsmeade, and we decide to wander around the grounds until curfew. As we come up on the black lake, I turn to look at George and wink. He returns it.
I fall a few steps behind Vanessa, then run up behind her and scoop her into my arms.
"Oi! What do you think you're doing?" She yells, though she's laughing.
Her laughter dies as I hold her out over the water, and then it's my turn to laugh.
"No, Fred! Please don't. I don't want to get all wet and the giant squid is-" She doesn't get to finish, because I drop her in the murky water.
Vanessa's POV:
I swim back up to the surface of the water and choke, spitting out water that flooded my mouth as I went to take a breath right as I was dropped into the water. Fred is laughing his arse off, doubled over with his hands on his knees. George has McKenna in his arms over the water and she's fighting it, clinging to George's torso.
Right as George goes to drop her, she flips herself out of his grasp and pushes him into the water instead.
"Good for you, Kenna." I call, struggling to pull myself out of the water.
"Hey!" George yells as he resurfaces.
"You deserved it." McKenna shrugs, giggling.
Fred moves to help George out of the water and I pull on his leg. He tumbles into the water as well. Now that I can laugh at.
"Well that backfired." George mutters.
"Oi! You'll pay for that!" Fred yells when he resurfaces, splashing me in the face.
I splash him back and soon we're in a full blown splashing fight that even George gets in on.
"Watch yourselves!" Sylvia yells, pushing Edward into the water as well before she and McKenn jump in of their own accord. "We're joining in." She laughs at our faces as they all rejoin us above the water.
Edward splutters and splashes Sylvia, pushing his wet mop of hair out of his face. She just shrugs, then uses both arms and sends a wave of water splashing over me.
"Hey," I yell as McKenna all but tackles George from behind and pushes him under the water. "You'll pay for that, missy!"
Sylvia just giggles and soon enough we're all splashing each other, and the chaos breaks out again. Sylvia gets on McKenna's shoulders and George gets on Edwards and they try to push each other backwards into the water. Sylvia wins, though I think George lets her.
Fred catches my hands as I try to splash him, and pulls me to him, planting a kiss soundly on my lips, only to suddenly take my shoulders and push me under the surface of the water. Fine, if that's how he wants to play it. I push bubbles out of my mouth and hold myself under the water for a few seconds, then go limp and let myself float back up to the surface, face down and trying not to giggle as I hear Fred and McKenna yelling my name. Fred flips me over in the water and shakes me.
"Come on, Nessa!" He yells, checking my wrists for a pulse.
I choose this moment to spit water in his face and move from my position.
"Ew!" He yells, wiping his face, though he's laughing with relief.
"That's what you get for playing dirty." I laugh. He doesn't reply, but simply pulls me into a hug.
"That's enough for today, I reckon." Fred says as he pulls away. He manages to pull himself onto the muddy bank, then helps me up, and I help Silv and so on.
Once we're all out of the lake and dry from a warming charm we make our way back into the castle just as it barely starts to get dark. Edward wanders off with the twins and McKenna and I take Sylvia back to the Hufflepuff common room.
"What are we doing at the kitchens?" McKenna asks confusedly as Sylvia tickles the pear in a giant painting of fruit.
"That's how you get the the common room." Sylvia replies with a shrug, turning the green door knob that was once the pear and entering the kitchens that's filled with house elves bustling around.
"May we gets you anything Miss'?" An elf asks upon approaching us.
"A plate of cookies and two goblets milk." McKenna says quickly as Sylvia walks over to the other side of the kitchens to tap out a tune on the wooden barrel, which rolls aside of its own accord revealing a hole in the wall that I know leads to the Hufflepuff common room.
I roll my eyes at my friend and say a quick goodbye to Sylvia who slips into the common room.
"I'd like to be Hufflepuff simply because it's so close to the kitchens." McKenna says conversationally as the elves hand her the cookies and milk.
"You do know that dinner is in an hour, don't you?" I ask incredulously as she hands me a goblet of milk and sits down at one of the house table replicas.
"How could I forget?" McKenna laughs. She pushes the plate of cookies towards me a bit and I shrug, picking up a cookie and dipping it in the milk. "There you go."
*
"Nessa!" I wake to someone yelling above me. "Nessa!"
"What?" I ask groggily, swatting Lani's hands as she tries to shake my shoulders.
"There's something you need to see downstairs." Lani says urgently, taking my arm and dragging me out of the dorm still in our pajamas.
Suddenly, halfway to the common room the stairs turn into a slide without any warning and we slide into the full, rowdy common room.
"Who did that?" I ask as I get to my feet.
"I did." Ron says awkwardly, stepping foreword. "I was trying to get to Hermione."
"Boys can't get to our dorms." Lani says.
"Yeah, I figured that out, oddly enough." Ron mutters. Harry waves oddly at us just as Hermione comes sliding into the common room.
Lani takes my arm again and pulls me over to the Gryffindor notice board where a large framed notice has been added.
"Read it." Lani instructs.
"All right, I was planning on it." I roll my eyes and turn my attention to the framed notice that reads;
———– By Order of ————
The High Inquisitor of Hogwarts
All student organizations, societies, teams, groups, and clubs are henceforth banned.
An organization, society, team, group, or club is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students.
Permission to re-form may be sought from the High Inquisitor (Professor Umbridge).
No student organization, society, team, group, or club may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor.
Any student found to have formed or to belong to an organization, society, team, group, or club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor shall be expelled.
The above is in accordance with Educational Decree number twenty-four.
Signed:
Delores Jane Umbridge
High Inquisitor
"She knows." I mutter, eyes wide with shock. "How can she know?"
"I don't know for sure, but I reckon she had people spying for her in Hogsmeade." Lani replies quietly. We both exchange a look.
"What now?" I ask.
"Well, Harry, Ron and Hermione just went to breakfast, let's ask them." Lani suggests.