Overthinking seemed to become a habit for Rosie, one that she had a hard time breaking as the Scotland air started to get more cold and bitter. She wondered if that was some sort of omen after eavesdropping on Harry's conversation with Ron, Hermone, and Sirius Black just a couple of weeks ago. If so, then it meant something bad was to come, something that would involve You-Know-Who, which no one was prepared for.

A part of Rosie wanted to confront Harry about what she heard, though she knew that this would expose her for spying on him, even though she didn't mean to. Still, she was curious as to what exactly they had in mind in terms of finding ways to defend themselves if Umbrige wouldn't teach them anything. Whatever they were up to, it was all Rosie had on her mind, and she was having a hard time keeping it to herself, knowing that she couldn't talk to her friends about it.

But one afternoon, after classes were over for the day, she decided to talk to Harry. She had to say something or else she'd regret not doing so later on.

Rosie was able to find Harry in the library, sitting in between Ron and Hermione at a table in the back. While she hated to interrupt whatever conversation they were having, she couldn't put this off. Taking a deep breath, she headed towards their table, trying to keep her head up high in order to hide how nervous she was. She stood in front of the trio, clearing her throat, which caused them to look up at her.

"Can we help you?" Harry spoke up, his tone almost coming across as annoyed.

"We need to talk," she replied, her voice somewhat shaky. "It's, uh, kind of important."

Harry looked at the other two with some confusion, then he focused his attention on Rosie again and reluctantly nodded his head. "Okay. What is it?"

She took a moment to gather her thoughts, hoping the words she was about to say were the right ones. "I...I may have overheard you three talking to Sirius Black the other night in the common room."

"You what?" Ron furrowed his eyebrows, leaning against the table.

"Ron," Hermione protested, shooting a warning look his way.

"What exactly did you hear?" Harry questioned, sounding more curious than angry at the moment.

Rosie quickly sat down across from them, getting more nervous as she adjusted in her seat. "I heard you guys..." She paused and turned to make sure no one was listening in on the conversation before continuing. "I heard you guys talking about...well, about You-Know-Who's return." She paused again, taking a deep breath. "I also overheard you guys talking about finding someone who'll be able to teach us how to defend ourselves."

"And why should we tell you anything?" Ron snapped. "After all, your friends are nothing but no-good Slytherins just waiting for their Death Eater initiation."

"Ron!" Hermione repeated in a more aggressive manner this time around, her eyes wide.

"What? I'm sure she's already told them what she's heard, having her be their little spy..."

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop," Rosie blurted out. "I was having a hard time sleeping, so I was heading down to the common room when I heard you guys." She glanced down at the table with her fidgeting hands in front of her. "I haven't told them, or anyone for that matter, about this." Sighing, her face fell as she stopped talking for a moment. "Listen, I believe you about You-Know-Who being back, and if you guys have ideas on what we can do about defending ourselves, then I want to be a part of it." Another pause, the anxious feeling slowly becoming desperation. "I want to help. I want to do my part in doing some good with everything that's going on. I want to make a difference."

Harry's expression remained unchanged as a moment of silence fell over the four. It only confused Rosie as to whether or not he and the other two were convinced by her words. Of course, she meant what she said, but her actions would have to speak louder, and she was ready to prove herself and to her fellow Gryffindors just that.

Finally, with all eyes on Harry, he let out a sigh. "Look, Rosie, it's great that you want to help, but..." He looked at his friends, then back at her. "It doesn't change the fact that your closest friends are in Slytherin House."

Rosie's heart just about sank, though she shouldn't have been surprised to hear him say it. Still, she was a bit disappointed, but nodded her head in understanding, anyway. "Right," she muttered. "But if you change your mind--"

"We'll think about it," Hermione quickly cut her off. "And please don't mention this to anyone else."

"I won't," Rosie quickly assured them. "I'll, uh, see you guys later." With that, she awkwardly stood up, giving the trio one last weak smile before turning on her heel and scurrying off, hoping they would give her a chance at helping out, especially if it meant going behind Umbridge's back to do it.

But for now, all she could do was wait for an answer, no matter how long that would take.

*******

The next few weeks were difficult, as Rosie had never been so impatient in her entire life.

Every day, she would wait for Harry to approach her with news about what he was planning in terms of everyone learning to defend themselves, along with whether or not he and his friends were willing to trust her with such a secret. Really, she would've been okay with any news, just as long as she was told something so that she could stop worrying about it. She wondered if her three Slytherin friends had started to notice anything unusual about her, despite trying to act like everything was completely normal.

But Merlin's beard, everything was far from normal.

Rosie was just about to give up on waiting for an answer when she found a note stuck between the pages of one of her textbooks while studying in the library one evening. She only got up for a moment to grab a book from a nearby shelf, not even looking back at her table when she left. Glancing around, there were hardly any students in the library, which made her even more suspicious and confused as to who did this. When Rosie sat back down, she took the note and opened it, reading the words scribbled on the parchment.

Meeting tomorrow. Hog's Head at one o'clock. Don't make us regret trusting you.

Harry

The girl couldn't help but smile a little at his words knowing that Harry was actually giving her a chance. While Rosie was excited and relieved at this, she understood that now she needed to prove herself by being loyal and trustworthy to him, wanting to show that she was serious about joining his cause. At least this was a cause that she could get behind.

After having a little snack in the Great Hall the next day, Rosie was about to leave for Hogsmeade for the meeting when she was stopped by Gavin.

"Rosie!" he called out. "You heading out to go to Hogsmeade?"

"Yeah," she replied, nodding. "Where's Adam and Greer?"

"They're about to leave," he answered. "We're gonna meet up at the Three Broomsticks later. Wanna join us?"

"Oh." A guilty expression came over her face. "I've got other plans, actually." It wasn't exactly a lie, but she still felt somewhat bad for saying it, especially to Gavin, of all people.

Gavin nodded his head, not looking like he caught on with the fib. "Okay, well, see you later, then."

"Yeah, see you later." Rosie gave him a weak smile and wave, to which he returned the favor, before turning around and heading for the carriages, hurrying to catch the next one about to leave for Hogsmeade.

During the ride to Hogsmeade, Rosie tried to remain calm, bouncing her leg until the carriage came to a complete stop at the entrance of the village. Stepping out, she buttoned up her coat and adjusted her hat as she made her way towards the Hog's Head. She looked to see if any other students were heading that way as well, only to be nervous that they were all strolling in the opposite direction where the other shops were located. Of course, the Hog's Head wasn't exactly a popular hangout spot, but it made sense for Harry to pick it as a safe place to have this meeting. But she did wonder who was going to show up, along with how many people did Harry decide to tell about whatever idea he had in mind.

Rosie could hear the clock strike one when she reached the Hog's Head. When she opened the door and entered inside, she was met with other students, some she recognized from Gryffindor House, already sitting around as their eyes went to her, looking as if they were surprised to see her walk in. She felt a bit embarrassed, her face getting hot as she went to find a seat by the wall on the other side of the pub. By the time she got settled into her chair, no one was staring at her, but at Harry, Ron, and Hermione sitting in front of everyone instead. Finally, after a moment of silence to make sure everyone was accounted for, Hermione looked at the boys, then back at the others as she slowly stood up from her chair, taking a deep breath before speaking.

"Um...hi." There was an awkward pause as she glanced around the room. "So, you all know why we're here. We need a teacher." Hermione almost rolled her eyes when she stopped talking. "A proper teacher. One who's had real experience defending themselves against the Dark Arts."

"Why?" a Gryffindor up front spoke up bitterly.

"'Why?'" Ron repeated in an annoying tone. "Because You-Know-Who's back, you tosspot."

"So he says," the boy responded, motioning his head towards Harry.

"So Dumbledore says," Hermione retorted.

"So Dumbledore says because he says," a Hufflepuff boy chimed in. "The point is, where's the proof?"

Rosie could see the anger building up in Harry's face, looking as if he was tired of biting his tongue, which she couldn't blame him if he did lash out at everyone whenever he would reach his breaking point.

"Maybe Potter can tell us more about how Diggory got killed."

And there it was.

When Rosie looked to see at everyone's reactions at the mention of Cedric Diggory, her heart sank when she saw Cho Chang, a sixth year Ravenclaw, give Harry a sad look. Rosie, along with everyone at Hogwarts, knew how much Cedric and Cho cared for one another, and she was heartbroken when she saw his lifeless body return from the third task of the Triwizard Tournament.

Finally, Harry stood up to intervene. "I'm not gonna talk about Cedric, so if that's why you're here, then you might as well clear out now." He then turned towards Hermione. "Come on, Hermione. Let's go. They're just here because they think I'm some sort of freak."

"Harry, wait!"

"Is it true you can produce a Patronus Charm?" Luna Lovegood, a fourth year Ravenclaw, asked in her dreamy voice, causing everyone to glance at her for a moment before all eyes went on Harry once again.

"Yes," Hermione answered when he didn't say anything. "I've seen it."

Dean Thomas sitting up front gave him a surprised expression. "Blimey, Harry! I didn't know you could do that!"

"And he killed a Basilisk," Neville added nervously. "With a sword in Dumbledore's office."

"It's true," Ginny backed him up.

"Third year, he fought off about a hundred Dementors at once," Ron exclaimed.

"And last year he really did fight off You-Know-Who in the flesh," Hermione stated.

"Wait," Harry intervened, his face falling. "Look, it all sounds great when you say it like that. But the truth is, most of that was just luck. I didn't know what I was doing half the time, and I nearly always had help."

"He's just being modest."

"No, Hermione, I'm not." He shot her a serious look before turning back to face the others. "Facing this stuff in real life is not like school. In school, if you make a mistake, you can just try again tomorrow. But...out there...when you're a second away from being murdered or watching a friend die right before your eyes..." Trailing off for a moment, Harry's expression went sad. "You don't know what that's like." Once he was done speaking, he sat back down, his head facing towards the cold floor.

"You're right, Harry, we don't," Hermione said, sitting back down next to him. "That's why we need your help. Because if we're going to have any chance at beating--" She stopped, as if she was struggling a bit to get the next word out. "If we're going to have any chance at beating Voldemort, then we need to learn how to defend ourselves by someone who knows what we're up against."

A few students gasped at the sound of his name, but Rosie remained quiet in her seat. She stared at Harry, her heart sinking after hearing his speech. While she also obviously knew him being The-Boy-Who-Lived, she realized that despite his achievements, he was simply human just like everyone else. She hated how much weight was on his shoulders, but she had to agree that with all that was going on with You-Know-Who, Harry was the right fit to teach others how to fight against the Dark Arts since Professor Umbridge and the Ministry didn't think it was necessary.

"Is he really back?" a small boy sitting in front of Neville asked quietly.

Harry looked up for a moment, nodding his head in response.

Ron grabbed a small table from behind, placing it in front of Harry with a small piece of paper and pencil on top. It was silent around the pub as no one said a word or stood up to go sign their name. For a moment, Rosie wasn't sure if anyone was going to stand up, wondering if they were questioning the idea of going against Umbridge and the Ministry, worried about getting caught and the consequences to follow. Rosie even thought about those things herself, along with what would happen if her friends found out about what she was involved in. But still, she already decided that this was a risk willing to take.

She told Harry how determined she was to join the cause. Now, she had to show him.

Taking a deep breath, Rosie slowly got up from her chair, holding her head up high as she made her way towards the table. She glanced down at the piece of paper, scanning over the words Dumbledore's Army scribbled at the top, along with the Harry, Ron, and Hermione's names written below it. Picking up the pencil, Rosie wrote her name down, hearing the chairs behind her scuffle along the floor. As she stared at her name, there was a feeling of hope inside of her, wanting all of this to work out in the end. When Rosie looked up at Harry, a small grateful smile came over her face, to which he nodded in response.

Merlin, please don't let me mess this up.

~~~~~~~

A/N: OOP, long time, no update.

Comment, vote, more to come soon!

-A