When I enter the Hog's Head, I don't really know what to expect.

There certainly isn't a warm and welcoming vibe like at the Three Broomsticks. I glance around uneasily. There is a man at the bar whose whole head is wrapped in dirty grey bandages; two figures shrouded in hoods sit at a table in one of the dirty windows; and in a shadowy corner beside the fireplace sits a witch with a thick, black veil that falls to her toes

"Harri, over here!"

Relief floods me at the sound of Fred's warm voice. I turn towards it to see him sitting alone at a large table furthest from the bar. He waves me over, gesturing down to the two bottles of Butterbeer in front of him.

Smiling, I head straight towards him, grateful that he got here first.

"Why the hell are we meeting in here?" I grit as quietly as I can once I reach him.

He stands up to hug me, pressing his lips against my forehead as he does so. I close my eyes, the coolness of his lips feeling soothing against my scar's recent stinging.

"You'll see," he murmurs as we settle down onto the bench, draping his arm around my shoulders. "The others should be here in a minute."

"The others? Fred, what is this?"

"Now promise me you won't freak out."

"You saying that freaks me out."

"You're brilliant at defensive magic, right?" Fred says, "you saved my little sister in second year, you saved Sirius in third year, and then in your fourth year-"

"I didn't save Cedric."

A beat.

"You faced You-Know-Who and survived. Again." He lifts my hand and presses it ardently against his lips, kissing the words which Umbridge forced me to scar upon myself. "You are the strongest and bravest witch I know."

My heart flutters, and I can't help but smile at my beautiful Fred.

Just then the door opens and we look up. I frown in confusion as in troops first George, followed by Lee and then Ron and Hermione and Angelina, Alicia...

"You invited all the Gryffindors?" I say as they continue to come in one by one.

"And then some," Fred smirks as he nods towards the door and sure enough in comes Cho Chang, Luna Lovegood, Susan Bones, Hannah Abbot, one of the Patil twins. Romilda Vane even comes in, so I'm guessing poor Draco didn't get lucky today.

They keep on coming, slowly filling up the large table we are sat at, grabbing chairs to join us as near as possible once it is full up.

"That'll be sixty-four Butterbeers, please!" George calls across to the perplexed barman after a lengthy and chaotic headcount took place.

I look around at the crowd before me in awe.

"Fred," I whisper in his ear. "What are they all doing here?"

"They're here to listen to you. They all believe you when you say You-Know-Who is back."

I glance nervously at all the eager faces. I swallow, searching for just one other Slytherin. But there are none here.

Once everyone has got a Butterbeer, and it seems no one else is arriving, Fred stands up. Everyone goes quiet. My heart thuds anxiously in my chest, waiting to see what he will say.

"Thanks for coming everyone," he says, as though chairing a meeting, which I suppose it is.

Except everyone here is here of their own accord, and this was sprung on me. I don't want to be put on the spot like this.

"As you probably all know by now," Fred went on, "Umbridge has been campaigning against Harri, trying to shut her up from telling the truth. And we're here today to fight back. Personally, I quite fancied the idea of strangling her in her sleep, but apparently murdering your teacher is frowned upon in Hogwarts, so with the help of some friends - thank you, Hermione - we've decided to form a kind of retaliation."

I glance up at Hermione in surprise, her face goes bright red and she looks down at her fidgeting hands.

"And," Fred continues, placing a hand on my shoulder, "I am hoping that today you will listen to Harri's version of events of what happened that night - the truth."

"Fred, no!" I hiss, my heart thudding like crazy. What the fuck is he thinking?

"Please, Harri," Fred says, "you can do this, I know you can." He takes my hand. "I'm here by your side, Harri. You're not on your own."

Shakily, I get to my feet. Fred kisses my forehead before sitting back down. All eyes are on me, and I swallow.

"I'm not- I'm not going to share any gory details, if that's what you're hoping for." I stop, and take a deep shaky breath. "But I will say one thing. It's true, I saw Voldemort rise again with my own eyes. He is back, and unless we learn how to defend ourselves, we're all going to be screwed."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Seamus shouts out. "Umbridge is refusing to teach us anything!"

Fred stands up again. "I'm glad you asked that, my Irish friend," he grins, draping an arm around my shoulders. "Because we don't need Umbridge when we have the best right here."

Murmurs rise, and I look up at Fred in horror. "Me?!" I hiss in horror. "Look, I can't teach this lot jack shit. I had to copy Draco's homework earlier today!"

"I was thinking we could do it together, actually," Fred murmurs, his brown eyes twinkling warmly. "Remember before the third task, how we trained in the Room?"

Damn, he wanted to give up our sex room to teach these idiots a bunch of spells? Just use Expelliramus, it always seems to work for me.

But in the end I agree, because I'm starving and I want to go back for food and I do not fancy chancing the menu here.

Fred explains how Hermione has enchanted some coins and created a sign up sheet. My god she's such a teacher.

Afterwards, as we make our way back to the castle, I glower at Fred.

"You know, it's lucky that you're cute." I say, sticking my tongue out at him. "That was a real rotten thing to do to me!"

"If I'd told you my plan, you wouldn't have turned up." Fred shrugs. "And now is your chance to get your own back on Umbridge."

He has a point, I know. And I thank him for it by giving him a huge parting kiss in the middle of the Great Hall before making my way over to the Slytherin table.

"How was your date?" I ask Draco as I pile my plate high with roast potatoes.

"Crap," he mutters, sipping moodily at his soup, "Vane pissed off early to go meet someone else."

"Ah damn, you didn't get your end away then?" I smirk knowingly. "Shame, she must have had a better offer."

"Yeah, and when I find out who she ditched me for, I'm going to fucking kill them."

"Didn't you just ditch Fay for her?" I ask lightly. "And who says she ditched you? Maybe she was just meeting a friend?"

"Yeah I thought that, but she was really cagey about the whole thing when I offered to walk her there."

"Merlin Draco, get a grip, you're the one starting to sound like a needy pussy now."

Draco glares at me. "I'll remember you said that next time you ask to copy my homework."

"You offered!"

"Yeah, well I shan't bother in future." Draco sniffed moodily. "I don't see why you just don't get lover boy to do your homework."

"He was in Quidditch training. Apparently they need all the practice they can get since Ron's joined the team."

Draco's face immediately lights up. "They signed up Weasleby?! Good God Gryffindor must be desperate. That's every single Weasley on the team now. A real family affair."

"Apparently he's very good," I shrug, "just lacking in confidence, so go easy on him at your first match will you?"

"You know what," Draco smirks, his eyes glinting, "I might even write him a little song, give him a proper Quidditch welcome."

"Aw that's really sweet," Daphne gushes, smiling at Draco as though she really believes he's not a evil little prick.

"Don't you dare," I warn, narrowing my eyes at him, "honest to God, Fred and George will beat the crap out of you."

"Pfft," Draco smirks. "I'm not scared of them."

The following weekend, I just shook my head when Fred and George chased a terrified looking Draco up the pitch and proceeded to beat the crap out of him.

******