! chapter eight !
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THE FIRST DAY OF training wasn't very productive, and Haven was convinced that half of the Order was going to quit on them. However, that's not what happened. She was even surprised to see Draco come back for their next meeting. He was the one person she was expecting to up and leave—but he didn't. She was shocked, to say the least.
Trying to keep the Order a secret was one thing, but hiding it from Umbridge who had snake eyes everywhere was even more difficult. It didn't seem like she had caught on yet, and Haven was hoping she never would. Although her bitcheness made it hard for Haven to pay attention in class when all she could think about was flinging a hard covered book at the professor's head.
"Stunning is one of the most useful spells in your arsenal," Harry explained on the ninth day of training. After the first couple of days, the productiveness of the Order had gone up after he'd taught them the correct way to wave their wands. It was especially useful to Neville, who would accidentally make something in his pockets fly out and hit someone every time he tried casting a spell.
"It's like a wizard's bread and butter, really," he went on. Harry turned to face them. "Come on Nigel. Give it your best shot."
The smaller boy made his way to stand on the mat, and everyone separated into two groups off to the side, giving him room. Nigel nervously lifted his wand up, pointing it at Harry, who was on the opposite end.
"Stupefy!" He yelled with the wave of his wand, and Harry went flying back. There was light snickering coming from behind Haven, and she turned to see Draco wearing a smug grin. He instantly squashed it once he caught her looking, and she rolled her eyes. At least he hadn't been making snarky comments about her brother to her face anymore, so that was a plus. He still pissed Haven off, that much would never change, but it was progress.
"Good!" Harry grunted, pushing himself up. "Not bad at all. Well done."
It had been the third week of training when Umbridge began to set up Filch outside the entrance of the Room of Requirement. Luckily, there was another way out of the room. Although she could tell the woman was far from done on keeping a close eye on them. But they weren't going to give up yet. They needed to learn how to defend themselves, and the stupid Ministry wouldn't stop them from doing so.
"I'll go easy on you," Ron told Hermione on one night of training.
"Thanks Ronald," she replied, glancing back to Haven who gave her an a knowing look. Hermione was no doubt one of the smartest people at Hogwarts. Haven was positive she had it in the bag.
"Come on, Ron!" The boys cheered from their side. "Come on!"
Ron went to lift his wand, but before his mouth even opened Hermione had already said the word: "Stupefy," and he'd gone flying back. Haven laughed loudly as all the girls began to crowd around the brunette, gossiping about how stupid boys were. She caught Draco's eye from across the room. He'd been talking to one of the younger students. She felt her heart speed up in her chest when he offered her a small smile. Haven was surprised when she felt herself return it.
The next day, there had been a new rule posted. And that rule was that all students were allowed to be questioned about activities that had been banned. Truly, Umbridge was doing everything in her power to not only drain the fun from Hogwarts, but to make sure they were defenseless as well. Maybe the Ministry was working for Voldemort.
Haven nearly snorted at the thought, and she carefully glanced around a corner, before she made her way back to her dormitory to get some rest. After being forced to wait in line all day, she was exhausted. And not only that, but Umbridge's questioning felt like a one-hundred paged test. It was mental, it really was.
The following day, Haven stood back inside of the Room of Requirement. Their lesson that day was another spell. She glanced over to see Draco standing almost completely across the room, alone. It seemed that he was struggling with the spell as he waved his wand, producing nothing. With a grin that she forced herself to hide, Haven made her way over to him.
"Need some help?"
"Not from you," he said sharply, not even glancing up to look at her. "You know, I think this entire thing is a waste."
"Then why are you still here?" She questioned, and his jaw snapped shut. He didn't answer, which made Haven raise her brows in suspicion. "Well," she sighed, beginning to turn on her heel to leave. "If you don't need any help..."
She got about three feet away before Draco called after her.
"Actually," he started, suddenly looking a bit flustered. "It's just...you're supposed to think of happy memories, correct?"
Haven nodded, taking a step closer to him once more. "Yeah."
"I don't..." Draco paused, swallowing, as if he was trying to figure out if he wanted to say whatever he was planning on saying. "I don't have a lot of those."
Surprised at his sudden show of emotions, Haven gently grabbed his hand that held his wand, and aimed it at the wall. "For happy memories, just think of all your time spent with me," Haven advised sarcastically, and Draco scoffed.
"Very funny."
"Okay," she huffed, still not dropping his arm. "They don't technically have to be memories. It can be anything that makes you happy. Think of something you like."
"I like bullying your brother."
Haven let out a snort, rolling her eyes. "You know, I let it slide this time because I know tormenting him has to be your daily source of serotonin. Right, okay, so think of that. And then wave your wand like this..." She instructed, moving his hand the way Harry had taught her to. "And say the words."
Draco froze for a second, before he shook away his thoughts, and did as she said. "Expeto Patronum!"
Grinning, she nudged his shoulder once a small bird began to fly around the room. "You did it."
"All thanks to...myself."
Scoffing, she began to make her way back over to Harry after waving Draco off. Haven ran into Hermione along the way, the brunette having a smirk painted on her face.
"What?"
"I saw that."
"Saw me tutor one of our classmates?" Haven questioned. "Because that's all that was happening."
"Uh-huh," Hermione replied, sounding completely unconvinced. "And I'm sure the blush on your cheeks was just because it's so hot in here."
"It is hot in here!" Haven defended, but the other girl walked away, shaking her head in amusement.
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"Crabb and Goyle have been on my ass about joining Umbridge and her cult," Draco explained to her as the two of them walked to the Room of Requirement. They were both extra precautious, not wanting anyone to see them. Especially since the Woman in Pink had been cracking down so hard on everything that it was basically impossible to breathe.
"Do they suspect anything?"
"Not sure," he said with a shrug. "They're pretty stupid, so we should be fine. It's Blaise I'm worried about. He's my roommate, I'm sure he's noticed that my 'classes' have been running longer than usual."
"Well, for our sake, I hope everything goes to plan."
She was surprised when she heard a quiet, "me too."
They hurriedly made their way into the room, both splitting off as they usually did. Haven didn't want anyone to think there was anything going on between the two of them—because there wasn't. No matter how much Hermione teased, she knew the truth for herself. Although, she wasn't going to lie. Black was definitely Draco's color.
"Think about it this way," Harry said, walking around the room, adjusting people's wands. "Every great wizard has started out as a student. Just like us."
"Words of wisdom!" Haven called to her brother with a smirk. "I'm so proud of you."
"Well, I'm not of you."
"What?"
"You're holding your wand backwards."
With wide eyes, Haven quickly flipped it around with a quiet laugh. "Yeah. I knew that."
"Sure you did." After a few more hours of practicing, Harry made the group gather around. Haven stood in the middle of Neville and Luna, fumbling nervously with the sleeves of her shirt. "Now, that concludes this lesson. We won't be meeting again until after the holidays." A chorus of disappointed groans went throughout the room, but Harry just grinned at them. "So just keep practicing on your own as best as you can. And well done, everyone. Brilliant. Great, great job."
As the clapping began to settle down, everyone slowly drizzled out of the room. Haven watched with amused eyes as Cho stood at the mirror, Harry staring at her. Hermione seemed to notice it too, because she gently grabbed her arm, and began to lead them out of the room.
"See you back at the common room, Harry," she called, but the brunette only nodded in response. Haven let out a snicker as they entered the hallway. "How romantic!" She gushed.
"There's nothing romantic about the Room of Requirement," Ron told them dryly.
"Oh, hush up, will you?" Haven demanded. "You're a mood ruiner, you know that?"
"Face the facts," Ron replied with a grin.
"I'm not facing facts. I'm gonna face the food instead because I'm bloody hungry."
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— AUTHORS NOTE
rip the gif quality oops
did i just proofread this chapter instead of going to my zoom class? that's a secret i'll never tell. xoxo, dumb bitch.