A/N ~ For those of you who don't know, I've changed my updating schedule to once a week- which means I'm updating a new chapter every Wednesday (or more) :)

TYSM for the supportive messages lately, enjoy the chapter<3

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The next morning, after their trip to Hogsmeade, the Quartet found that the Great Hall's entrance blocked by a number of students hovering by the giant notice board.

"Uh-oh, what now?" Ron groaned, as the four moved their way through the crowd.

"Colin, what's going on?" Y/N asked the little blonde Gryffindor, as his body was swept back by the older students.

"Professor Umbridge announced a new rule on the noticeboard," squeaked Collin, "she's banned all student organisations from Hogwarts!"

"That can't be..." Y/N heard Hermione whisper faintly.

The four swam through the crowd and finally to front of the noticeboard.

To Y/N's horror, Colin was right.

"How did she know!" Ron exclaimed, his mouth wide agape, staring at the poster.

"Someone probably snitched on us," Harry scowled.

"No, that's impossible," Hermione said firmly. Ron looked at her unbelievably.

"You're so naive! You think just because you're all honourable and trustworthy-"

"They can't have because I've jinxed the paper they all signed." said Hermione cooly. "If someone was to snitch, trust me, we'll know. We'll all know."

"You're scary sometimes," Y/N raised her eyebrows, impressed, as the four made their way into the Great Hall and to the Gryffindor table. "but I'm not complaining."

Harry was glaring directly at Umbridge, who was in a bright pink dress with a fuzzy pink cardigan slung over her shoulder.

Y/N sat down next to Harry and started on her breakfast, glancing at him uneasily.

"Oh no, Hannah and Ernie are coming this way," Hermione said in horror.

Y/N followed the girl's gaze and saw the two Hufflepuffs approaching them from the Hufflepuff table.

'Go back,' Hermione mouthed in panic, her eyes darting to Umbridge, who was smiling daringly into the crowd of students. 'we'll talk- later!'

Hannah and Ernie froze in their spots and spun around, heading back to their table.

"Harry! Ron!" came another panicked voice.

Angelina Johnson came trotting to the four, her eyes filled with terror.

"We know!" said Harry, "We'll talk about it later, with everyone-"

"You know this includes Quidditch teams, too, right?" Angelina said over him.

"What?" Harry and Ron bellowed, causing people around them to throw them glares.

"You've read the sign- it includes teams! Quidditch teams! Just please don't lose your temper with Umbridge again!"

"OK, OK," said Harry assuringly, for Angelina looked like she was about to breakdown into tears. "I'll behave myself..."

"Bet Umbridge'll be in History of Magic," Ron grunted, when Angelina walked back to her seat breathlessly. "she hasn't inspected Binns yet."

But he was wrong; the only teacher in History of Magic was no other than Professor Binns.

Y/N found it extremely difficult not to fall asleep during his classes.

She rested her chin on her hand and stared at the floor, her eyes loosing focus, as Harry doodled on his paper with one hand and rested his other hand on Y/N's leg, drumming his fingers on her skin dreamily.

Just as Y/N felt like she was drifting to sleep, her eyes fell on a beautiful snowy owl right outside the window, with a letter attached to its leg- Hedwig.

Her eyes darted open and she quickly looked at Harry in alarm. Harry raised his eyebrows innocently.

"Oh- er- should I stop?" He whispered hesitantly, pulling his hand from her knee.

"No... I meant- it's not that-" said Y/N, her face turning hot. "I don't mind that. It's just..."

She looked hesitantly at Professor Binns, then jerked her head towards the snowy owl outside the glass window.

Harry frowned, noticing his owl, too.

Hedwig hooted quietly, giving him a pleading look.

Harry waited for Professor Binns to turn away, before dashing for the window, wrenching it open and letting Hedwig hop onto his shoulder.

He rushed back to his seat and placed his owl on his lap to hide her from Professor Binns.

Y/N let out a quiet gasp.

"She's hurt," she whispered.

When Harry had a proper look at his owl, he noticed right away that her wing was bent really oddly and she was hooting quietly in pain.

"Oh, c'mere, give her to me," Y/N said quietly, not waiting for an answer and carefully placing Hedwig on her own lap.

She examined Hedwig's bent wing carefully, stroking the owl's head to calm her down.

"Her wing's broken," Y/N finally declared with her eyebrows knitted together. "I would've assumed she was attacked by a wolf or something, but-"

"Umbridge," Harry breathed out, his voice shaking from anger.

"Exactly," Y/N whispered, "but right now, you've got to take her to Professor Grubbly-Plank, she'll fix her up."

Harry nodded once and carefully took Hedwig under his robes.

"Professor Binns, I feel sick," he said loudly, standing up and gripping the front of his robes. "can I please go to the hospital wing?"

The ghost of Professor Binns looked at him in confusion for a few moments, as the class narrowed their eyes at Harry.

"Please? It's urgent," Harry said impatiently.

"Oh- um- yes, Perkins, you may go to the hospital wing," said Professor Binns, still looking at Harry in confusion.

Hermione and Ron looked back from their seats and threw Y/N a questioning look.

'later,' Y/N mouthed, as Professor Binns continued his long lasting speech.

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"Niff! Y/N! Hey, Y/N!"

Y/N, Ron and Hermione had to stop in the middle of the crowd of second year students, and turned their heads back to see Rolf trying to catch up with them.

"Hey, Rolf," Hermione beamed, as the tall Hufflepuff approached the three of them.

"What do you want?" Y/N demanded impatiently. "Look, Harry's owl got hurt and I want to know if she's alright-"

"We're allowed to visit dad." Rolf cut her, panting slightly.

There was a pause of intense silence.

Y/N felt her heart, stomach and jaw drop.

Rolf's words processed through her head slowly and she realized how long it had been since she last saw her dad.

"Tonks just owled me," Rolf explained, as Hermione and Ron gave Y/N a hopeful look.

"Is he... is he-" Y/N's lips trembled.

"He's awake," Rolf said with a smile, causing Y/N's heart to inflate with hope. "but he's not- not in the state to... talk... or think... normally."

And her hope was gone.

Ron pulled her in for a side hug, squeezing her shoulder comfortingly, and Hermione gave her a sympathetic look.

"We can visit him next Sunday," Rolf continued, keeping his small smile. "do you... y'know- want to come visit him with me?"

"I don't know..." Y/N shrugged, her stomach clenching and her mind going blank. "I'll think about it, but- there's really no use..."

"He's our dad, Y/N," Rolf said calmly, "and he's alive. We should value that."

"I said I'll think about it," Y/N replied quickly, looking around the entrance of the Great Hall dreamily. "what's the use of it, really-?"

"Wait, what's that on the back of your hand?" Rolf demanded, narrowing his eyes at Y/N's right hand... the wound from her detentions with Umbridge.

She'd hid it moderately with a disguising charm every day, but the magic usually slowly fades away throughout the day.

"It's a homework reminder," Y/N lied casually, putting her hands into the pockets of her school robes. "you know I like writing notes on my hand,"

"Yeah, but-"

"Oh look, there's Luna." said Y/N loudly, pointing towards the Ravenclaws that had just arrived, from their last class.

Rolf's eyes lit up and his head shot up. His eyes fell on Luna's long blonde hair and he smiled to himself.

"Got to go," he said to the three Gryffindors, giving them a quick nod and practically skipped to his Ravenclaw friend. "Good day, Loons?" Rolf ask the girl, flipping his hair awkwardly.

She rolled her eyes and Ron sniggered.

"I- don't want to get into your business," Hermione started,

"You are my business, Hermy," Y/N said, shining a wide grin at Hermione playfully.

"Alright, then." Hermione sighed sharply, as they entered the Great Hall for dinner. "I really think you should visit your father. You know, muggle psychology says-"

"Yes, I know it's the right thing to go visit him." Y/N said quickly. Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"So you've changed your mind-?"

"No. Not at all." said Y/N. "I'm not visiting him. Not soon, anyway... it'll be hard to accept that he's- gone."

Ron looked down at the floor sadly and Hermione took a deep breath, "But he's not gone, Y/N-"

"He is. I'm tired of false hope." said Y/N firmly. "Don't look at me like that, Hermy- I've made up my mind- for now,"

Y/N paused and scanned the Gryffindor table with her eyes for signs of Harry.

And there he was, sitting at the end of the table with his plate of mashed potatoes, laughing... and laughing with Pansy Parkinson.

Before Y/N could say or do anything, Hermione and Ron were already storming to the two of them, both red in the face.

"You can leave now, Parkinson," Hermione snarled, hovering over the giggling Pansy dangerously.

"Or what, Mudblood?" Pansy challenged, in a voice similar to Umbridge's.

"Look, it's not gonna work," Hermione gave the Slytherin a sarcastic smile. "if you haven't noticed the obvious, Harry has zero interest in you-"

But Hermione's words were drowned by Pansy's loud shriek.

The golden goblet of water in front of her had burst into tiny grains of gold, and the water had splashed all over the front of her face.

It was challenging for Y/N and Hermione to hold in their laughter, but Ron and Harry were already set off, bursting into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

Pansy gaped, breathing heavily, as she stared at the table in confusion and horror.

"What is going on, here?" came Professor McGonagall's booming voice, as the professor appeared behind them.

"The g-goblet just e-exploded, Professor!" Pansy wailed, "I bet she did it! Scamander! You and your freaky powers-!"

"That'll be enough!" Professor McGonagall snapped. She waved her wand swiftly, and Pansy was dried. "Now, please return to your table, Miss Parkinson."

Pansy's face scrunched up and she stood up, glaring at the Quartet, before storming back to the Slytherin table with her nose in the air.

"That's enough, Potter- Weasley-" said Professor McGonagall, making Ron and Harry fall silent, still with mischievous grins on their faces.

Y/N knew that Professor McGonagall was one of the people that knew about her exitiumagus powers.

"Professor, I-"

"Miss Scamander," Professor McGonagall said, in a more quiet yet loud voice. "I am sure your godfather has told you not to use your powers against anyone?"

"Yes, Professor," said Y/N guiltily, "can you please not tell him about this?"

"I won't," said Professor McGonagall, pursing her lips. "I've seen what Miss Parkinson was trying to do," the professor gave Harry a look. "even so, I expect you to control yourself, next time. Understood?"

"Yes, Professor... thank you," Y/N gave the her Head of House a grateful grin, and could swear that she got one in return.

When Professor McGonagall went back to the staff table, Y/N's face tensed up.

"Hello, Harry." she said cooly, taking a seat next to Hermione, across from Harry and Ron.

"Why're you sitting there?" Harry asked with a frown.

"Hermione's my friend," Y/N replied bluntly.

"I'm your boyfriend," said Harry with a grin, making Ron roll his eyes dramatically.

"Harry, why were you laughing with Pansy?" Y/N asked him weakly. "I don't want to be the- the jealous type, but I'm going to be honest, I don't feel very comfortable-"

"Laughing with her?" Harry said unbelievably. "Niff, I was laughing at her,"

"You were- you were?" Y/N gaped at him. "But why?"

Harry laughed hollowly, "She asked if I wanted to play Quidditch with her- said she wanted me to teach her."

"She'd be better off on Malfoy's broom," Ron snorted, taking a sip from his goblet, making Hermione throw him a disgusted glare. Y/N couldn't help but crack a small smile.

"That's funny, because that's what I said," said Harry, with a triumphant grin on his face.

Ron choked on his water and Y/N snorted into her Yorkshire pudding.

"You what?" Hermione exclaimed. "Oh Merlin, please remove me from this friend group."

"My scar was hurting, so I kind of snapped at her." Harry explained, as Ron and Y/N wheezed, "Anyway, you lot came in right when I was laughing at her-"

"So she wanted to piss Y/N off," Hermione nodded slowly.

"Right. So she laughed at herself to make it look like she was laughing with me," said Harry grimly.

"You sure?" Y/N asked quietly, not meeting his gaze.

"Y/N, I've made up my mind since third year."Said Harry firmly. "Not Pansy, not anyone will change it."

"Screw that, how's Hedwig?" Y/N asked in concern.

Her three friends blinked at her for a few seconds, confused of her sudden change of topic. Ron was the one to start laughing again.

"You're truly your grandfather's granddaughter, you know-"

"Ron, shush," hushed Hermione, but she, too, was grinning,

"She's with the Grubbly-Plank woman," Harry replied to Y/N, "she'll be alright. Listen, it was Snuffles who sent the letter that came with Hedwig."

"What?" Hermione's eyes widened. "But- but you weren't allowed to send him letters-"

"You did, didn't you?" Y/N sighed and gave Harry a stern look.

"Yes, but it was coded," Harry defended.

He looked around, lowered his voice, and told them all about how he's been sending Sirius letters with coded words- or as he explained were 'bunched up inside jokes'.

"-and the letter I just got from Hedwig said to meet him at the fireplace, today, at midnight..."

"There's a catch, isn't there?" Ron said hesitantly.

"I'm afraid it wasn't too... well coded, this time..." Harry said quietly, as he watched looks of horror enter his friends' faces.

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"Sirius... Sirius, are you there?" Y/N whispered, as the clock struck midnight in the Gryffindor common room.

Hermione had finally successfully persuaded Ginny to go to bed, and the room was finally empty.

Harry was too anxious to even bother finishing his Potions homework, and was now kneeling in front of the fireplace with Ron, Y/N and Hermione by his side.

With a tiny 'pop', Sirius's untidy dark head appeared in the middle of the fire.

"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed, feeling a stupid urge to hug the fire in front of him.

"Hi," Sirius said, grinning up at the four. "well, you four look delightful," he said sarcastically, for the four Gryffindors were looking down at him worriedly.

"Are you safe, Sirius?" Y/N asked, even though she knew her question sounded childish and vague.

"I'm still at this Black rat hole, if that's what you're asking," Sirius chuckled, but the four were still looking at him in concern. "Yes, yes, I'm safe, Y/N. Don't worry. How're things?"

"Not good," Harry replied bitterly, blowing a piece of his raven hair away from his face. "Umbridge is High Inquisitor, and she's already banned all clubs, student organizations and Quidditch teams-"

"And secret Defence Against the Dark Arts groups?" Sirius smirked.

There was a short moment of silence.

"How'd you know?" Y/N asked breathlessly, feeling suddenly anxious.

"Mundungus was there, of course," Sirius grinned cheekily, as the Quartet's faces relaxed.

"I'm still being followed?" Harry asked bitterly.

"Yes, you are." Sirius replied, his dark eyes meeting Harry's green ones. "It's for your own safety, Harry-"

"I know," said Harry swiftly.

"But why didn't Dung say hi?" Ron asked curiously, his face gleaming brightly in front of the fire. "We would've wanted to see him,"

"He was banned from that bar twenty years ago," Sirius explained, "and the barman's got a long memory. Dung was dressed up as a witch."

"Never mind that, does my mum know about the meeting?" Ron whimpered, his face turning pale.

"As a matter of fact, yes, she does," said Sirius. "and she wanted me to pass on a message- that you, Ron, are absolutely prohibited from joining any illegal Defence group."

"Wonderful." Ron groaned, rolling his eyes.

"And she would also like to advise Harry, Y/N and Hermione to stay out of all this, too." Sirius continued, his tone low and calm.

"What about Remus?" Y/N asked quickly, her heart beating loud in her chest.

"Remus had no intake in this," Sirius chuckled, "I reckon he secretly thinks it's a good idea, though."

Harry swapped uneasy looks with Y/N and looked back at his godfather.

"So you want me to say I'm not taking part in the Defence group?" he asked Sirius weakly.

"Me? Of course not!" said Sirius. "I think it's a brilliant idea!"

"You do?" Hermione's face lit up brightly.

"Yeah- I mean, as a Marauder, I know perfectly well my friends and I would never take orders from an old hag like Umbridge."

Y/N could tell Harry's mood has gotten a lot better, as Sirius looked at his godson proudly. Ron and Hermione also shared looks of enthusiasm.

"Hey... is that bracelet glowing?" Sirius suddenly asked, his eyes falling on Y/N's bracelet that had a tiny yellow light flickering from it.

"Oh- yeah, it's- magical." Y/N blurted, looking down at her wrist in embarrassment, just to realize it was glowing yellow, not pink. No shit, Y/N, she mentally facepalmed.

"Anyway, do you have suggestions on where we can practice Defence Against the Dark Arts?" she quickly asked.

"Ah... let's see..." Sirius started thoughtfully. "The Shrieking Shack?"

"Not a bad idea, actually," Ron said excitedly.

"We're talking over thirty people, here," Y/N acknowledged, making Ron's face drop. "and it has to be somewhere... secretive."

"Well, I'm sure you'll find a place," Sirius said seriously. "for now, I just want you all to-"

But he had stopped talking and looked around, his eyes filled with panic.

Suddenly, there was a tiny 'pop' and Sirius's head was gone from the fire.

The Quartet looked at each other in alarm.

"Why'd he-?"

But there was another loud 'pop', and after that, a short stubby arm and hand with ugly old-fashion rings appeared from the flames, reaching out and desperately trying to catch hold of something.

Hermione let out a faint shriek and Ron jumped away from the fireplace abruptly.

The four of them ran for it.

At the branch between the girls and boys dormitory, Y/N looked back to see the hand still groping the flames of the fireplace.

It was no question that the hand belonged to Umbridge.

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"He's the only boy you'll ever drool over," Hermione chuckled.

Y/N broke her gaze from Harry on his Firebolt and gave Hermione a scowl.

"I'm just glad they've got their team back, alright?" she muttered grimly. "Especially after Umbitch found out about Snuffles."

"If you say so," Hermione shrugged, still grinning at Y/N knowingly.

Y/N looked back at the seven Gryffindor Quidditch team members.

They were playing a warm-up game, passing the Quaffle around, with Fred and George aiming practice Bludgers at them.

Angelina threw the Quaffle a good twenty feet across to where Katie was, missing Fred's Bludger by only a few inches.

"Close one there, Ange!" Fred said, grinning at her cheekily.

"Not close enough!" Angelina yelled back impatiently, as Katie received the Quaffle. "Don't go easy on me, Weasley! This is a serious practice!"

Harry chuckled and whipped his head around. Y/N caught his eye and gave him two thumbs-ups.

That was enough to make him want to jump off his broomstick that was fifty feet in the air and crush her with a tight hug and pull her in for a longing kiss.

He stared at her dreamily, as Y/N laughed at his blank and awed expression.

"POTTER, LOOK OUT-"

"Harry, behind you-!"

With his fast reflexes, Harry immediately ducked down his head.

Luckily, George's Bludger zoomed right above his head, touching only the tips of his puffy hair.

"WHAT WERE YOU-? YOU'RE LUCKY PRACTICE BLUDGERS ARE SOFT, POTTER!" Angelina bellowed heatedly, looking at Harry as if he'd hit her with a Beater's bat. "Y/N'll have to go, if you don't pay full attention-!"

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry!" Harry said in frustration, flashing Y/N another quick grin and soaring higher into the air to catch up with the others. Ron gave him a teasing smirk.

"You see what I mean?" Hermione nudged Y/N's arm, bringing her mind back to the stands.

"Knit your hats, Hermy," Y/N mumbled through gritted teeth.

Hermione shrugged and went back to her knitting. It was her second knitted hat of the day.

"You know, the elves are taking them," said the bushy-haired girl, her voice echoing with hope. "I've been putting them by the fireplace, and all of them are gone!"

"As long as they're happy with them," Y/N said weakly. She had given up trying to talk Hermione out of SPEW.

"You know, you can come back and sleep in the girls' dormitory," said Hermione dreamily, as she continued to knit a round orange hat. "it gets lonely sometimes, without you."

"Oh, I thought Ginny moved into your dorm," Y/N frowned.

They had agreed for Ginny to move into the fifth year girls' dormitory, since they only had two roommates apart from themselves, and Ginny simply wanted to.

"Yeah, but the more the merrier, yeah?" said Hermione hopefully.

"Alright, I'll ask Harry," Y/N grinned, for Hermione had pouted her mouth pleadingly. "I'm just worried he'll have another one of those dreams..."

"No," Harry said quickly, when he and Y/N had arrived back at the common room together. "I meant- no? Please?"

"Harold, Hermione needs some company-"

"Y/N, my scar was hurting- just now," Harry said in a low whisper, as the Gryffindor team looked at the two curiously from across the room, "Just now, in the broom shed. He's... angry. I just know I'll have another dream if I go to sleep without you... please? I mean, I totally understand-"

"It's alright, I'm sure Hermione'll understand." said Y/N, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer to plant a comforting kiss on his cheek.

That evening, when everyone went to sleep, Y/N felt slightly guilty that she was happy with her decision of staying with Harry.

She laid in his bed with her eyes closed and half her body sprawled on top of him, as Harry hummed random tunes under his breath, his chest falling up and down slowly.

Harry grinned to himself, with his arms wrapped around her body and his hand gliding across her back.

"Niff..." he started, looking down at Y/N's peaceful face.

"I'm asleep, Harry Potter..." Y/N grunted quietly, not opening her eyes.

"You're asleep?"

"No kidding..."

"Good..." Harry grinned, burying his face in her tangled hair. Y/N tried her best not to suppress a smile of her own. "I love you, Y/N Scamander... Everything you do reminds me of how lucky I am,"

Well- Y/N thought... I wouldn't call your life lucky, but thanks, Harold-

"I mean, why the bloody hell did I get butterflies when you dropped that block of butter onto my head this morning?" Harry laughed hollowly. "I don't need anything from you, Y/N- I have everything when I'm with you..."

"Hmm..."

"G'night, Niff." Harry whispered.

With that, he kissed her gently on the head and closed his eyes, hugging her to himself, immediately realizing how exhausted he was from the Quidditch practice.

Y/N chuckled quietly and peeked her eyes open. She looked up at his spectacle-less face and kissed him right above his jaw.

"Love you too, Harry. G'night."

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Harry was walking once more along a windowless corridor, his footsteps echoing in the silence.

As the door at the end of the passage loomed larger his heart beat fast with excitement... If he could only open it... enter beyond...

He stretched out his hand... His fingertips were inches from it...

"Harry Potter, sir!"

"Harry! Harry, wake up!"

Harry awoke with a start, feeling two hands rapidly tapping his shoulder.

"Whozair?" said Harry, shooting upright on his bed. He rubbed his eyes and reached out for his glasses, but Y/N had already shoved them onto his face. "Ouch!"

"Missus, is Harry Potter alright?" Dobby asked Y/N worriedly.

"Let's ask him, shall we?" said Y/N weakly.

"What's- what's happening?" Harry asked in confusion.

He got a good look at his girlfriend, still in her bedclothes and untidy hair, and Dobby the house-elf, with his floppy ears and a stack of Hermione's knitted hats on his head.

"Dobby? What are you doing here?" Harry exclaimed, looking taken back, but delighted.

"Dobby has your owl, sir!" said Dobby excitedly, pointing at Harry's snowy owl who was safe in Y/N's arms.

"Thanks, Dobby!" said Harry, taking Hedwig from Y/N, to examine the owl's wing.

"Dobby was going to wake Harry Potter up, but Miss Girfen says Harry Potter is having a bad dream, sir!"

"Miss- what?" Harry laughed, meeting Y/N's eye. "Oh, right. Dobby, this is Y/N Scamander. Y/N, this is-"

"Ah, it's Harry Potter's Scamander!" Dobby exclaimed in delight, taking Y/N's hand and shaking it enthusiastically. "Harry Potter had told Dobby about Miss! But why Miss says to Dobby she is Harry Potter's Girfen?"

Harry looked at Y/N and smirked. Y/N rolled her eyes, knowing she would be made fun of later on.

"Y/N's my girlfriend, Dobby," Harry explained, but when Dobby continued to raise his ear in confusion, he continued, "we're, er- together. We..."

Dobby looked at Harry and Y/N for a moment, and then he gasped, his eyes widened excitedly.

"Harry Potter is loves Miss Scamander!" the house-elf exclaimed.

"Well-"

"That's right." Harry said with a barely noticeable smirk.

"Dobby likes Miss, too!" said Dobby, nodding his head breathlessly. "Friends and Girfens of Harry Potter is respected by Dobby!"

"I've heard lots about you, Dobby, we'll be good friends," said Y/N, giving the elf a warm smile. The elf gave a gasp of joy and his eyes brimmed with tears.

"Dobby is delighted, Miss, thank you!" the elf exclaimed. "But Dobby must know why Harry Potter was grunting in his sleep, sir!"

"He's having- bad dreams... again," said Y/N, glancing at Harry knowingly. "my presence isn't helping anymore, isn't it-"

"No, trust me, it is." Harry grunted, rubbing his scar irritatedly. "The nights without you were a lot worse."

"Dobby wishes he could help Harry Potter!" the elf surveyed Harry with his orb-like eyes with care. "For Harry Potter has freed Dobby and Dobby is now happy!"

"You can't help me, Dobby," said Harry, stroking Hedwig's feathers dreamily. The elf's ears drooped down sadly.

"Wait... wait, Harry, I think he can!" Y/N implored. Dobby's eyes lit up once again.

"Ask away, Miss, ask away!" the elf urged.

"Dobby, we need to find a place where thirty people can practice Defence Against the Dark Arts without being discovered by any of the teachers-"

"Especially Professor Umbridge." Harry clenched his hand on the book, so that the scars shone pearly white.

To Y/N's surprise, Dobby gave a little skip, his ears waggling happily, and clapped his hands together.

"Dobby knows the perfect place, Miss!" he said happily. "'Tis the Room of Requirement!"

"Why's it called that?" Harry asked curiously.

"Because it is a room that a person can only enter," said Dobby seriously, "when they have real need of it. Sometimes it is there, and sometimes it is not, but when it appears, it is always equipped for the seeker's needs!"

"How many people know of it?" Y/N asked, her bracelet flickering yellow in excitement.

"Very few, Miss!" Dobby nodded eagerly. "Professor Dumbledore and Miss McGonagall knows, but Dobby thinks that is it!"

"This is perfect," said Harry reluctantly. "thank you so much, Dobby. Listen... can you tell us where exactly the Room of Requirement is and how to get in?"

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We need somewhere to learn to fight. . . . Harry thought. Just give us a place to practice . . . somewhere they can't find us . . .

"Harry," said Hermione sharply, as they wheeled around after their third walk past the wall opposite from the painting of Barnamas the Barmy.

A highly polished door had appeared in the wall.

Ron and Y/N staring at it, looking slightly wary.

Harry reached out, seized the brass handle, pulled open the door, and led the way into a spacious room lit with flickering torches like those that illuminated the dungeons eight floors below.

The walls were lined with wooden bookcases, and instead of chairs there were large silk cushions on the floor.

A set of shelves at the far end of the room carried a range of dark magic detectors such as Sneakoscopes, Secrecy Sensors, and a large, cracked Foe-Glass that Harry was sure had hung, the previous year, in the fake Moody's office.

"These will be good when we're practicing Stunning," said Ron enthusiastically, prodding one of the cushions with his foot.

"I love that elf," Y/N chuckled, spinning around, scanning the place in awe.

Suddenly, there was a gentle knock on the door. Harry looked around.

Ginny, Neville, Lavender, Parvati, Padma and Dean had arrived.

They all had the same look on their faces, their eyes filled with amazement.

"Woah, what is this place?" Dean gaped around.

Ginny cured her nagging urge and kicked one of the cushions in satisfactory.

"Brilliant! So we can practice for Umbridge!" she said jokingly.

People from different houses started to flood in, each gasping and oohing as they entered the room.

Cho waved at Y/N and Harry and went to sit down on one of the cushions with her scowling friend, Marietta.

By the time eight o'clock arrived, every cushion was occupied.

The Quartet stood in front, as Hermione did the attendance with the sheet of everyone's signatures in her hand.

Everyone settled down and fell completely silent.

Rolf and Luna were chatting excitedly about whether or not the room could turn into a magizoo.

Hermione cleared her throat loudly, making the two fall silent and face the front.

"Um- welcome, everyone," Hermione said loudly. "to our first DA meeting. Thanks being here on time. So, let's skip all the talk and get spell-casting, shall we? Harry?"

"Right," said Harry, when Hermione stepped back for him to take over. "shall we get practicing then? I was thinking, the first thing we should do is Expelliarmus, you know, the Disarming Charm-"

"Oh please, " said Zacharias Smith, rolling his eyes and folding his arms. "I don't think Expelliarmus is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?"

"Yeah, that's second year level," Anthony Goldstein chimed in.

Dennis Creevey threw a hurt look at him.

"Well, the spell saved Harry's life, back in June," said Y/N loudly, as every pair of eyes fell on her. "and from what I've witnessed, second year level magic is barely suitable for you, cousin."

Anthony and Zacharias glared at her intensely.

"OK," said Harry, shining Y/N a thanking grin, "I reckon we should all divide into pairs and practice."

It felt very odd for Harry to be issuing instructions, but not nearly as odd as seeing them followed.

Everybody got to their feet at once and divided up. To Harry's surprise, Y/N was left partener-less.

"You can practice with me," Harry told her quickly, seeing her expression drop as she realized she was the only one without a partner. "Right- on the count of three, then- one, two, three-"

The room was suddenly full of shouts of 'Expelliarmus!': Wands flew in all directions, missed spells hit books on shelves and sent them flying into the air.

"Ready, Y/N?" Harry asked, turning back to Y/N with a grin.

"Oh, save that smile, Harry Potter," Y/N sneered, pulling out her wand. "you'll need it to cheer yourself up after-"

"Expelliarmus-"

"Protego!" Y/N bellowed.

Harry, who was confident he had disarmed her successfully, was rebounded by Y/N's protection charm, staggering back as the spell hit him.

He straightened himself and gaped at her.

"Where'd you learn that from?" he demanded.

"Two words- Remus Lupin." Y/N grinned proudly, raising her wand again. "He also taught me another thing,"

"Which is?" Harry snarled, cocking an eyebrow.

"Expelliarmus!"

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but his wand had already flown out of his hand.

"To attack your rival when they're being unnecessarily cocky," said Y/N sarcastically, picking up Harry's wand and throwing it back to him.

"You're unbelievable," Harry huffed. By his tone, Y/N couldn't tell if he was impressed or frustrated.

But when he put an arm around her and ruffled her hair, Y/N knew that he was nothing but proud.

As the practice went on, chaos started to form around the room....

Cho had set part of Marietta Edgecomb's hair on fire.

Fred and George were now whispering counter curses at Zacharias, who looked at his wand in confusion, trying to disarm Anthony.

Luna was telling Rolf about her father's theory on the Ministry, repeatedly disarming him between her words, as the Hufflepuff fetched his wand up from the floor for the sixth time.

Same goes for Ginny and Michael Corner; she was doing very well, whereas Michael was either very bad or unwilling to jinx her.

The Creevey brothers were enthusiastic, but mainly responsible for all the books leaping off the shelves around them.

One of the books hit Neville on the head, giving Justin Finch-Fletchley the chance to disarm him successfully.

"Hey, Harry," Hermione called from the other end of the room, "have you checked the time?"

Harry looked down at his watch and received a shock- it was already ten past nine.

"Okay, stop!" Harry shouted. "Stop! STOP!"

I need a whistle, he thought, and immediately spotted one lying on top of the nearest row of books.

He caught it up and blew hard. Everyone lowered their wands.

"Well, that was pretty good," said Harry, earning delighted smiles from everyone. "but we've overrun, we'd better leave it here. Same time, same place next week?"

"Sooner!" said Dean Thomas eagerly and many people nodded in agreement.

Angelina, however, said quickly, "The Quidditch season's about to start, we need team practices too."

"Let's say next Wednesday night, then," said Harry quickly, "and we can decide on additional meetings then... Come on, we'd better get going."

After that, Harry pulled out the Marauder's Map and helped everyone out in groups of threes and fours.

He waited for everyone to arrive safely at their dormitories, before finally leaving the room with Y/N, Hermione and Ron.

"That was really, really good, Harry!" said Hermione, when the Quartet arrived back at the moderately busy Gryffindor common room.

The four sat down on their usual seats by the fireplace and relaxed.

"Yeah, it was!" said Ron enthusiastically. "Did you two see me disarm Hermione?"

"Only once," Hermione huffed, crossing her arms.

"Nuh-uh, I got you at least three times-"

"Well, if you're counting the one where you tripped over your own feet and knocked the wand out of my hand," Hermione snarled. The two exchanged stubborn looks.

"I also disarmed Harry twice," Y/N declared triumphantly. Harry scoffed loudly.

"Yeah, because I was distracted-"

"Still counted." Y/N gave him a wide grin. Harry couldn't help but grin back at her unintentionally.

He knew he was better at Defence than her- or anyone else, fro what he'd seen, but she was better with strategy and using psychological techniques.

Of course- she was Remus Lupin's goddaughter, after all.

∞ ϟ 9¾ ♔ ⚯͛ △r⃒⃘ ➵ ♆

The Quartet felt as if they were carrying some kind of talisman inside their chests over the following two weeks.

It was barely possible for Harry and Ron to smile blandly as they looked into Umbridge's horrible bulging eyes in their Defence Against the Dark Arts classes.

The DA members were resisting her under her very nose, doing the very thing that she and the Ministry most fear.

They had time to meet up for three DA meetings in the past two weeks.

Neville had successfully disarmed Hermione, Colin Creevey had mastered the Impediment Jinx after three meetings' hard effort.

Everyone had a hard time producing the Reductor Curse, but Y/N had reduced the table carrying all the Sneakoscopes to dust on her very first try.

With the help of her exitiumagus abilities, of course...

Everyone gaped at the pile of silver dust on the floor and applauded for her- people that knew about her powers cheered for her, anyway.

At the end of their fourth meeting, Hermione pulled out a basket full of gold Galleon coins.

Ron was ecstatic at first, convinced she was giving out money.

"You see the numerals around the edge of the coins?" Hermione said, holding one up for examination, as everyone looked at her, intrigued.

"Yes," everyone mumbled,

"On these- fake coins, Ron,- the numbers will change to reflect the time and date of the next meeting." Hermione continued, "The coins will grow hot when the date changes, Harry'll be controlling the numerals from his coin."

A blank silence greeted Hermione's words. She looked around at all the faces upturned to her, rather disconcerted.

"You can do a Protean Charm?" said Terry Boot, suddenly.

"Yes," said Hermione.

"But that's that's N.E.W.T. standard, that is," Terry said weakly.

"Oh," said Hermione, trying to look modest. "Oh... well... yes, I suppose it is..."

"How come you're not in Ravenclaw?" Cho asked, staring at Hermione with something close to wonder. "With brains like yours?"

"Well, the Sorting Hat did seriously consider putting me in Ravenclaw during my Sorting," said Hermione brightly, "but it decided on Gryffindor in the end. So does that mean we're using the Galleons?"

There was a murmur of agreement and everybody moved forward to collect one coin from the basket.

After everyone got their coins, they slowly said their good byes and headed back to their common rooms.

"Good night, Y/N, Harry," Luna Lovegood waved at the two, before following Cho and Marietta back to the Ravenclaw tower.

"Night, Niff," Rolf walked up from behind Y/N and ruffled her hair. "and... Dad's doing well. Physically. Come visit him with me soon, will you?"

"I will when I'm ready," Y/N muttered, feeling Harry's fingers link with hers comfortingly. "good night, Rolf."

"Harry, make sure you're in bed by ten," Angelina patted him roughly on the shoulder and left with Alicia, Lee and the twins.

The Quartet finally left the room, after the last of the Ravenclaws returned to their common room safely.

"I forgot about the Quidditch match tomorrow," Y/N looked up into Harry's green eyes, as the wooden door of the Room of Requirement melted into the walls. "Hope it goes well."

"Oh, it won't," said Ron sickly, before Harry could open his mouth. "and it'll be my fault."

∞ ϟ 9¾ ♔ ⚯͛ △r⃒⃘ ➵ ♆

"Up! Up! UP!" came Angelina's booming voice, along with a set of her own sharp claps.

"BAH!" Y/N jumped up from Harry's bed violently, ending up in a pile on the floor. The next moment, she was lying on the floor facing the ceiling, feeling t a throbbing pain on the back of her head.

Harry and Ron shot up abruptly (but didn't fall off their beds) and rubbed their eyes.

Angelina was standing by the door of their dormitory, her brows knitted in frustration.

"Everybody's already up! Even your other roommates!" She bellowed, pointing at Seamus, Dean and Neville's empty beds.

"Angelina, I think you should really apologise,"  Fred sniggered from behind her, eying Y/N humorously, as she rubbed the back of her head, hissing in pain.

"Sorry, Y/N, that your boyfriend is a lazy arse," Angelina said impatiently.

"Ange, that's not nice-"

"You should already be in the Great Hall eating breakfast, Fred!"

"Going right now," Fred didn't hesitate to sprint down the stairs.

When the two seventh years left the room, Harry helped Y/N up by the arm and the the both of them and Ron quickly got dressed.

Y/N noticed just how sick and yellow Ron looked, especially with his red hair and Quidditch robes contrasting with his pale face.

They received a rousing welcome at the Gryffindor table, where everyone was wearing red and gold.

Ron, however, showed no sign of cracking a smile.

"I must've been mental to do this," he said in a croaky whisper. "Mental."

"Don't be thick," said Harry firmly, passing him a choice of cereals. "You're going to be fine. It's normal to be nervous."

"I'm rubbish," croaked Ron. "I'm lousy. I can't play to save my life. What was I thinking?"

"Get a grip," said Y/N sternly, pouring him some orange juice. "I saw that save you made with your foot the other day, even Fred and George said it was brilliant."

Ron turned a tortured face to her.

"That was an accident," he whispered miserably.

Y/n didn't know what to say after that.

The Slytherins in the Great Hall most certainly also had their prides on- with their green and silver flags and magicked moving signs that read... 'Weasley is our king'?

They were all wearing badges... that also read 'Weasley is our king'.

Y/N caught Malfoy's eye. He smirked at her mischievously, and Pansy threw a glare at her, sticking her tongue out childishly.

Y/N desperately looked at Ron, hoping with all her might that he wouldn't see the signs and badges.

Hermione and Ginny sat down opposite them wearing red-and-gold scarves, gloves, and rosettes.

"How're you feeling?" Ginny asked Ron, who simply stared at his bowl of cereal in silence.

"He's a little nervous..." said Y/N weakly, patting Ron on the arm.

"Morning, guys!" said an enthusiastic voice from behind them.

"Hello," said another vague and dreamy voice.

Y/N looked up- Luna Lovegood had drifted over from the Ravenclaw table, with Rolf by her side.

Many people were staring at the two of them and a few openly laughing and pointing.

They had managed to each procure a hat shaped like a life-size lion's head, which was perched precariously on their heads.

"We're supporting Gryffindor," said Luna, pointing unnecessarily at her hat. "Look what it does..."

The two reached up and tapped their hats with their wands.

The lions opened their mouths wide and gave an extremely realistic roar that made everyone in the vicinity jump.

"Luna designed them- I did the magic," said Rolf proudly. "Anyway, we're just here to say good luck. You'll do great, Ron, don't worry. I've seen you practice and you're quite a natural!"

"Thank you, thank you, Rolfie," Fred and George bowed dramatically, peeking their heads into the conversation. Y/N rolled her eyes. "Thank you for your kind words, Mr Scamander-"

"He wasn't talking to you I think," said Luna seriously.

Y/N and Rolf snorted, knowing perfectly from Luna's tone and expression that her intentions weren't to be rude.

Fred and George fell silent and simply blinked at the girl blankly.

"Anyway... good luck, Ronald," Luna smiled, giving Ron a pat on the back.

She and Rolf gave them all a wave and drifted away.

The Quartet had not quite recovered from the shock of Rolf and Luna's hats as Angelina came hurrying toward them, accompanied by Katie and Alicia.

"When you're ready," the team captain said, Y/N had the impression that her friends had helped calm her down. "we're going to go straight down to the pitch."

"We'll be there in a bit," Harry assured her. "Ron's just got to have some breakfast."

It became clear after ten minutes, however, that Ron was not capable of eating anything more and Harry thought it best to get him down to the changing rooms.

As the Quartet rose from the table, Y/N got up and took Harry's arm, drawing him close to her.

"Don't let Ron see what's on those Slytherins' badges," she whispered urgently into his ear.

Harry looked questioningly at her, but she shook her head warningly.

Ron had just ambled over to them, looking lost and desperate, followed by Hermione, who looked rather enthusiastic.

"Good luck, Ron," said Hermione, standing on tiptoe and kissing him on the cheek. "And you, Harry,"

She gave the both of them a smile and caught up with Ginny in the middle of the flowing crowd.

Ron seemed to come to himself slightly as they walked back across the Great Hall. He touched the spot on his face where Hermione had kissed him.

"I think you're in love, Ron." Y/N sang, but when Ron continued to look sick and speechless, she sighed and patted him on the back again. "You'll do just fine."

Suddenly, Y/N felt a strong hand grab onto her wrist like a crab. She looked down at Harry's hand and gave him a questioning look.

"Good luck hug, please," he muttered quietly.

"What's that? Could you be a little louder?" Y/N leered at him teasingly. Harry stared at her face blankly.

"So are you going to give me the hug, or not?" he asked stubbornly, with no tone of joke in his voice.

"No, I don't think so." said Y/N seriously.

Harry felt his heart shrink slightly, recognising Y/N's serious voice.

However, instead of walking away, Y/N studied his face for a moment pulled him in by the collar of his robes sharply, crashing her lips onto his.

Harry couldn't think straight, but he kissed her back lovingly. The crowd of students moved passed them as if in slow motion- as if time had stopped doing whatever it was supposed to do.

"Fine, I'm alright now... happy?" said Ron heatedly. Y/N and Harry broke apart, just remembering that Ron was with them.

"At least we got him sane again," Y/N smirked, as Ron rolled his eyes bitterly.

Harry's face was still burning red and his mind was still spinning. At that moment, he wouldn't have minded if the match was cancelled- if it meant he could spend more quality time with her.

He stared at her smile and her shining eyes- then, his mind flashed to Malfoy, with his bleach blonde hair and that nasty smirk he always had...

It was enough to make Harry determined to win the match.

∞ ϟ 9¾ ♔ ⚯͛ △r⃒⃘ ➵ ♆

A/N ~ Update, I'm avoiding posting on TikTok rn because ppl from my area are seeing my videos on their fyp and it's freaking me tf out- I still will be active on there, though.

My book people will know what happens after the match in the next chapter ;) Ah, I've got SO many good ideas in mind akjdksks

-ScribblingQuills