PROCLAMATION
EDUCATIONAL DECREE NO. 82
All students will submit to questioning about suspected illicit activities.

Despite Umbridge's latest decree, Dumbledore's Army did not stop their training sessions. In fact, they were starting to add more of them into their week because everyone was eager to learn something new every time they met up. It was tricky, though — Mr. Filch had begun following and watching them, but they fortunately had never been caught because the Room of Requirement always gave them another exit to pass, one where Filch wouldn't see them.

By the time December rolled around, the D.A. had found themselves more than familiar with loads of defensive spells — so much that Harry didn't need to teach them as a whole group anymore. He started allowing them to break out into pairs or groups to practice on their own, and he would go around the room correcting or giving them tips if it was needed.

"Very good," he told Hermione as he passed by her. "Keep your concentration."

And then, he crossed the room to where Cho Chang was standing. She was levitating Nigel up in the air while a few other D.A. members watched.

"Great," Harry commented, approaching the Ravenclaw. He gently held her hand — which was grasping her wand — and lifted it up slightly. "A little higher."

Analeigh and Ron shared knowing looks from next to them, trying their best not to make fun of their friend right then and there. Just as Harry let go of Cho, she turned to face him with a smile. However, this caused her to lose focus, and she ended up releasing Nigel.

"Whoa!" the boy cried, landing on the floor with a loud thump. Analeigh winced, knowing that was probably going to bruise him somewhere, but at the same time, she also found it very entertaining. Meanwhile, Harry and Cho were still practically sending heart eyes at one another.

"You alright there, Nigel?" Analeigh called out, stifling a laugh.

"I'm okay," he said quickly, standing up and dusting himself off as if nothing happened. "I'm okay."

Just when Analeigh thought things couldn't get any worse, it was only a few days later when the Inquisitorial Squad came into the picture. They were a group of students selected by Umbridge herself to ensure order within the castle. It was ridiculous, really — there were already prefects and the Head Boy and Girl, for Merlin's sake. But it shouldn't have been that surprising; Umbridge would do anything to make Hogwarts even more miserable than it already was since the day she entered the school.

"I can't believe the Inquisitorial Squad's a thing at all," Hermione ranted as she, Analeigh, and Ron practiced together.

"Yeah, I nearly got caught on the way here by Malfoy," Analeigh said in irritation. "That little prick."

"Be nice, Leigh. Isn't he your family?" Ron joked.

"Expulso!" Analeigh yelled at the spare box of wooden crates right next to Ron. He jumped to the side in shock as the crates exploded into pieces of debris, some of them even lit on fire.

"Leigh! You nearly killed me!" he accused.

"Maybe you shouldn't have insisted that she's related to Malfoy, Ronald," Hermione mused before cleaning up the mess they made. "Aguamenti. Scourgify."

"I'm telling mum not to give you two sweaters this Christmas," Ron grumbled. Analeigh and Hermione merely giggled at his attitude before Harry raised his voice to call everyone's attention.

"Alright, I think we can end here," he said. "Good job today, everyone. We'll meet up again this Friday."

A chorus of goodbyes and see you later's rang throughout the room. Those who started leaving thankfully cleaned up on their way out, banishing the various objects used for target practice. Meanwhile, Cho made sure to tap Harry and thank him for such a good lesson. Her hand lingered on his arm for a few seconds as the two of them exchanged a few more words. Then, she smiled shyly at him before heading to the exit.

As Harry made his way to his friends, they couldn't control their teasing smiles.

"Was that flirting I just saw?" Analeigh said.

"She just thanked me for today, that's all," Harry brushed her off, but his heart was still racing from that interaction with Cho.

"Oh, please, she couldn't stop staring at you!" Hermione said.

"Yeah, mate, go make a move already!" Ron nudged him. The four of them then left the Room of Requirement through the back exit where Filch wasn't waiting for them. They continued to encourage (or rather, tease) Harry about Cho, albeit in hushed tones now in case someone caught them in the halls when it was nearly curfew. When they turned a corner, a pair of arms suddenly wrapped themselves around Analeigh, pulling her towards the culprit.

"Hey — oh, Cedric?"

"Hello, there," he grinned down at her. Still hugging her from behind, he faced Harry, Hermione, and Ron while saying, "You don't mind if I borrow her for a moment, do you? I'll walk her back to the common room."

"We don't mind at all," said Hermione, fighting a knowing smile. "Come on, boys."

"Don't do anything you'll regret in the morning, Leigh," Ron called out, earning an elbow to the ribs from Hermione. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Don't be rude. And it's not like they can do anything — it's almost curfew."

Harry laughed quietly as Ron and Hermione bickered on their way down the corridor.

"They'd be surprised what we can do in five minutes," Cedric said once they were out of earshot. Analeigh felt her face grow warm as she scrambled out of Cedric's arms. "Hey, hey, I was kidding!"

"You better be. I'll make sure you can't play Quidditch anymore if you try anything funny," she warned. "Anyway, what are you still doing here? Don't you have rounds?"

"I was waiting for you," he replied simply, holding her hand as they began walking. "And yes, I do, but not for another fifteen minutes. I need to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Where will you be spending the holidays this year?"

"Probably at Gri — er, where we spent the summer," Analeigh corrected herself to be safe. One could never know if someone was listening in on them. "With everything going on, I doubt mum and dad would think it's safe to go back home already."

"That's highly likely. Dad just sent me a letter this morning saying that we'll be staying there during the break, too," Cedric sighed.

"It's a gloomy place, but I suppose it won't be so bad if we'll all be there," Analeigh tried. On the bright side, they already finished cleaning the entire house before the term even started, so at least this time around, they wouldn't be scrubbing molds off of tables and chairs during their free time.

"Of course it won't be bad with me around," Cedric said smugly, making Analeigh scoff. "Come on, I made Christmas last year quite memorable, didn't I?"

The memory of Analeigh's first kiss with Cedric, as well as all the fun activities they did that day, flashed in her mind. Suppressing a smile, she nodded as if it was no big deal.

"I suppose it was."

"You suppose? Bloody hell, aren't you hard to please," Cedric pouted. With a roll of her eyes, Analeigh tugged Cedric's hand to pull him down. Now that he was roughly at her height, she placed a kiss on his cheek, which made his pout quickly vanish. He now wore a warm smile on his face as the two of them made their way to the Gryffindor Tower.

★ ★ ★

Before anyone could even comprehend how much time had passed, the Christmas break was already going to be in just a few days. On the evening of the D.A.'s last session of the term, they all wanted to make the most of it.

"Working hard is important, but there's something that matters even more: believing in yourself," Harry said as he went around the room helping his classmates. "Think of it this way: every great wizard in history has started out as nothing more than what we are now — students. If they can do it, why not us?"

This session in particular showed just how much everyone had improved. Zacharias Smith, who had been one of the most reluctant ones to join in the first place, was practicing nonstop with a lot of determination. Ginny had even managed to burst a target into ashes using the Reductor Curse. And then there was Neville, who had been struggling for the past few weeks on the Disarming Charm. But on that very evening, he finally managed to do it right.

"Expelliarmus!" he said. Parvati Patil's wand flew out of her hand instantly. The sound caused everyone else in the room to glance at the scene. When they realized Neville had been the one to perform the spell correctly, they all rushed to his side to congratulate him.

"Fantastic, Neville!" Harry said proudly as he clapped Neville's shoulder. "Well done, man."

Neville was soon surrounded by his friends who all gushed over his feat. As exciting as that was, it also marked the end of their meeting for the day.

"So, that's it for this lesson," said Harry, facing everyone else. "Now, we're not gonna be meeting again until after the holidays, so just keep practicing on your own as best as you can and — and well done, everyone. Great, great work."

The D.A. erupted into applause. Analeigh clapped as loud as she could, finding it both endearing and amusing that Harry sounded so much like a teacher already.

"Well done, mate," said Ron.

"Thanks," Harry beamed. And then, his eyes fell onto Cho as they had found themselves doing a lot recently. Aside from the fact that he clearly liked her, he was also worried. He overheard that Umbridge gave her a hard time during her mandatory questioning — the wretched woman was still trying to weed out the students she believed were involved in "illicit activities."

Analeigh, Ron, and Hermione noticed Harry's change in demeanor instantly. They exchanged knowing glances before slowly backing away.

"See you in the Common Room, Harry," Hermione said. He barely looked in their direction as he weaved his way through the crowd of students to get to Cho.

Analeigh waited in the common room with her friends, chatting about what they might do over the holidays. Eventually, they also started speculating what Harry and Cho might be up to at that moment. Ron claimed that Harry was bound to make a move since he was alone with her, while Hermione said that perhaps they just confessed their feelings with words. It was about half an hour later when the exact person they were talking about entered through the portrait hole.

"So?" Hermione prodded as Harry walked towards them.

"What happened?" said Analeigh.

"We, uh," Harry started, plopping down on the armchair across his friends. "Er, we kissed."

"Really?"

"No way!"

"Well, how was it?" Ron urged.

"Wet," Harry answered.

"Wet?" Analeigh recoiled. "Already? What did you two do?"

"Leigh!" Hermione hit her arm.

"I mean, she was sort of crying," Harry clarified awkwardly.

"Oh."

"That bad at it, are you?" Ron teased.

"I'm sure Harry's kissing was more than satisfactory," Hermione defended. All Harry did was nod, making both Ron and Analeigh laugh under their breaths. "Actually, Cho's been having a hard time these days."

"Why?" asked Ron.

"Well, I heard that Cho joined the D.A. against her parents' wishes," Analeigh said. "Her mother works at the Ministry, so she wants her to be on Umbridge's good side, you see."

"So, you'd think a bit of snogging would cheer her up?" Ron chuckled.

"Don't you understand how she must be feeling?" said Hermione. When she was met with silence, she went on. "First of all, we obviously know that she liked Cedric before — but Leigh's dating him, and now Cho genuinely likes Harry who happens to be close to Leigh, so all these connections might be weird for her. Not to mention that she must be conflicted because Umbridge is threatening to sack her mum from her job at the Ministry. Oh, and frightened of failing her classes because she's so busy worrying about everything else!"

Analeigh, Harry, and Ron tried to absorb everything Hermione had just blurted out.

"One person couldn't feel all that," Ron said. "They'd explode."

"Just because you've got the emotional range of a teaspoon," Hermione retorted. There was a pause. Slowly, and then all at once, the four of them cracked up. It felt as if they had no worries in the world as they laughed heartily by the roaring fire in the Gryffindor common room, neither of which was stopping anytime soon.

A/N: Online classes are gonna be the end of me AHHH. Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter! Don't be shy to tell me what y'all think :>