Y/N POV:

"Lav, y'know I'd love to stay and chat, but I can't. I have practice, and now that I'm captain, it's kind of important that I be there. Especially since it's against Gryffindor." I glance at her. "No offence."

"Oh, it's alright," Lavender blushes as we head into the cold air. "I was going to sit in the stands and watch."

I look at her in confusion. "Why? You've never sat out there before."

"Oh, uh..." Lav blushes again and pushes her scarf against her face.

"Just tell me." I nudge her with my side as we near the changing rooms.

"I want to see Ron. Y'know, Harry's friend." She admits, her face practically on fire.

"Well, you have fun." I smirk and shove her towards the stands as I enter the changing rooms. Fortunately, most of my team is here.

Unfortunately, most of the Gryffindor team is as well. I hear Crabbe and Goyle making rude remarks about the Gryffindors as I change behind a curtain. Once finished changing, I swap my wand for my broom.

Using my broom handle, I whack them both on the back of the heads. "Knock it off, you two, or you'll be taking laps without your broom."

They actually shut up, and I take satisfaction as they shiver slightly. We rarely have to do actual fitness on the ground, so I'd be shaking too. I see Harry watching me from the corner of his eye and resist the urge to make a remark at his expense.

I lead my team onto the field, where a few students are scattered in the stands. Angelina, the Gryffindor captain, leads her team out as well.

I'll never admit it, but I'm a tad frightened of Angelina, but it's mostly respect. I want to be a powerful captain like she is. She begins to lead her chasers in warm-ups, and unfortunately that gives Crabbe and Goyle all the time they need to start insulting the rest of the team.

Harry ignores them, but one of the girls is beginning to look uncomfortable.

"Didn't I tell you two to shut it?" I snap. Remind me why I let them on the team? "We need to practise."

Unfortunately, (wow today is just an unfortunate day) Malfoy decides to prance onto the field and fuel his little minions. I stand there irritated for a moment, while the rest of my team glances at me, probably a bit frightened.

I march up to the blond twat. "Shut the hell up Malfoy, this is exactly why I didn't let you on my team. And if you continue to be a disturbance to my team, I'll have to report you to our head of house. Or maybe the High Inquisitor."

He must know he pissed me off if I threatened to sic Umbridge on him.

"Whatever, L/N." He walks away pitfully, his minions staring at him in confusion. Aw, they don't know what to do without him.

How sad.

Practice goes alright, I admit everyone didn't seem in quite the right headspace, but as I remind my team, it's only practice.

Harry came up to me after practice and thanked me for sending Malfoy away.

"Potter, it was genuinely my pleasure."

~~~~

I'm in Professor McGonagall's class, struggling to wipe a frown off my face.

The toad, Umbitch, is standing inside the door like she has any right to be here.

In fact, I'm not the only one who's unhappy. Quite a few of my classmates, including Daphne, who's at my side, are squirming anxiously.

On top of all that, dear Professor McGonagall looks outright uncomfortable herself, desperate to focus on the subject matter.

I raise my hand.

"Y/N, what are you doing?" Daphne hisses, her eyes darting frantically between Umbridge and I.

I don't reply, and wait for McGonagall to call on me. A few students turn to stare, which is less than ideal, but oh well.

"Miss L/N?" McGonagall asks cautiously.

"I was going to address Professor Umbridge." I request, and a few kids look at me strangely.

"Yes, Miss L/N?" Umbridge asks in a sweet way that makes me want to transfigure my head into a goblet.

"Excuse me, professor, but your presence is distracting me from the lesson." I deadpan. I'm not lying. She's distracting me and everyone else, including the teacher.

Umbridge's disgusting smile just widens. "Detention, Miss L/N."

And then the queen steps up to her throne. "Excuse me, Professor Umbridge, but I'm afraid you don't have the authority to give a student in my class detention." McGonagall declares.

I nearly applaud, and I'm sure other students want to as well.

"Actually, I do." Umbridge tosses out her weak argument, nearly making me feel bad for her.

But I don't.

"No, not in my classroom, professor. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave." McGonagall crosses the room and opens the door for her.

Umbridge glares as she leaves, but knows she lost.

I clap before the doors even shut behind her, and the whole classroom joins me in the applause.

McGonagall blushes, but holds up a hand to stop us, concealing her pride. "Silence. We must continue the lesson now, students."

At the end of class, I take an abnormally long time getting my supplies together, and tell Daphne to go ahead and see if she can get some time to flirt— I mean talk with Terry.

Once the classroom is empty, I approach McGonagall's desk.

"Thank you, professor."

McGonagall raises her head slowly, giving me plenty of time to sweat. "No problem, Miss L/N." She smiles discreetly, and I turn to leave, but she speaks once more. "I know I'm not your head of house, but for your diligence, ten points to Slytherin."

I smile in thanks and leave the classroom happily.

~~~~

"Sorry for crashing, but I wasn't about to stay at Hogwarts like a loser." I apologise to Anthony and Michael. We're sitting in the Three Broomsticks.

"We don't mind." Anthony smiles. "Besides, your friend stole ours, so we might as well band together." He laughs, referencing Daphne and Terry on their date right now.

We talk about the couple for a minute before Michael begins smiling like an idiot.

"What're you thinking about over there?" Anthony pokes his friend.

"Y'know Weasley..." He begins, and I snort.

"Which one? There's like seven."

"Hey Michael." Ginny Weasley, a really pretty fourth year student, approaches the table. "Ready?"

"Absolutely." Michael practically scrambles over the table to take the ginger's arm.

I glance at Anthony once they're gone, and we both burst into laughter.

"Then it's just us, I guess." Anthony sighs.

"So who do you have your eye on?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Well...." Anthony blushes. "There's this Hufflepuff..."

"Ooooo, tell me the name, Anthony." I provoke.

"No, because you might know her." Anthony argues.

"Oh c'mon, I know only like five Hufflepuffs. Although, that makes it easier for me to figure it out." I take a sip of my butterbeer and smirk at him.

"And what about you, Y/N? Who are you secretly eyeing?"

I drop my gaze inside my butterbeer mug. "It's embarrassing..."

"Oh c'mon, I'm like one of your best friends. You have to tell me." He urges. "Just tell me their house."

"That's embarrassing too..." I mutter.

"Oh my Rowena, you fancy a Gryffindor!!" Anthony says way too loud.

"Shut the bloody hell up!" I hiss, resisting the urge to splash my butterbeer on him.

"Hey, hey, calm down. What year are they?"

"Our year." I admit. "But it's not the house that's embarrassing. It's uh... he's just way out of my league."

"Ohh... he.... Well this narrows it down." Anthony smirks and finishes his butterbeer.

"It's not like I fancy him, I just think he's cute." I add, finishing my own drink.

"So, have you ever talked to this mystery hottie, or is this a stalking-in-the-hallways thing?" Anthony questions.

I glare. "No, in fact, we're friends."

"Oh!" Anthony raises his eyebrows in surprise. "Y/N is friends with a hot Gryffindor boy. Weird." He teases.

"Shut up." I roll my eyes, bringing my glass to my lips to conceal my smile. I suddenly notice a lot of people have been leaving the Three Broomsticks, and I watch Michael and Ginny leave hand in hand.

"Hey, where's everyone going?" I ask Anthony.

"I dunno," He shrugs. "There's this thing happening in the Hog's Head, maybe they're all going there."

"In the Hog's Head?" I ask sceptically. "For what?"

"I think it's for anyone interested in a real Defence Against the Dark Arts class." Anthony recalls.

"Why didn't I hear about it?" I furrow my brow. If it's for anyone, and so many kids are leaving, how did the word not get to me?

"I dunno," Anthony repeats. "Wanna go?" He stands up and shrugs into his big coat.

I shrug. "Why not?"

We exit and join the crowd shuffling its way to the deserted side of Hogsmeade. Anthony and I stay side by side as we enter, and I notice Harry standing at the front of the room with his friend Hermione.

Harry catches my eye and looks surprised before quickly looking away.

The fuck?

"Y/N!"

I spin around to see Daphne sitting with Terry, their mittened hands clasped together.

I smile at the familiar faces, and Anthony and I move to sit with them. "How'd you know about this?" I ask her.

"I didn't. Terry asked if I wanted to come. At first I didn't really want to because," she lowers her voice and leans closer to me so neither her date nor my friend can hear. "It's a date and all, but when he mentioned we could actually learn Defence Against the Dark Arts and underhandedly get back at Umbridge? I was all in." Daphne smiles.

"I love you." I kiss her cheek.

Daphne smiles, self satisfied.

"Are you going to steal her from me?" Terry asks, a joking smile on his face.

"Maybe." Daphne and I reply at the same time.

"Quiet please." Harry calls out, yet no one really listens. He stands there helplessly, and I kind of feel bad.

I straighten my posture. "SHUT IT!"

Everyone turns to look at the shouter, and I glare at them, nodding to make them look back towards Harry. I get plenty of strange looks, though I'm not sure why. Harry nods at me in thanks, but quickly averts his gaze. Daphne and I share a look, and glare back at anyone who turns around and gives us funny looks.

Harry begins to discuss how he plans on forming a sort of club. He plans on teaching us how to use defensive magic since Umbitch doesn't teach us shit. He may have used slightly different words, but whatever. He also tells anyone who's here just to hear about Cedric can leave. I glance around the room at the mention of the passed student, wondering if anyone is really sick enough to just come to hear about his death.

No one moves.

"Now it's just a matter of where, and when." Hermione assures Harry, a hand on his shoulder. Harry looks tense, like he wants this all to be over. How does he plan on leading a secret society if this rattles him?

"What about the room of requirement?" Neville offers. I don't really know the kid, but he always struck me as a shy one. I smile at the fact he spoke up.

"Brillant." Harry nods.

"I have a galleon for each of you. The date and time of each scheduled meeting will appear on the edge. I will give it to you when you sign this form, saying you are officially part of the club." Hermione announces, holding up a piece of parchment. Everyone nods in agreement.

"Brillant, um, now come sign the form." Harry smiles awkwardly, holding up a quill.

Daphne and I get into the queue behind a cluster of Hufflepuffs. We get more strange looks, and I'm starting to realise why.

We're the only Slytherins here. If I had to guess, the reason I didn't hear about this meeting when clearly everyone else did is there were strong attempts to keep my house out of the loop. I understand why with the intentions of some of my house members.

As well as the fact that, while there's few, there are some snitches.

The queue inches forward, and I take the quill from the person in front of me.

Y/N L/N I write on the line. I smile. We're finally getting somewhere.

"Remember, this is a secret organisation. Even if you think you're alone, don't speak about it outside of meetings." Harry reminds everyone as I pass the quill to Daphne.

I give him a strange look as I step to the side to wait for my friends.

~~~~

"Were you talking to him?" Daphne asks as I return to the common room. It's a few minutes before curfew, and Daphne's lounging on a plush chair, her quill dangled between her fingers.

"Maybe." I resist the urge to smile as I sit next to her. Harry and I talked after dinner since practically no one else was in the Great Hall. We ended up wandering the castle and just talking about whatever.

Daphne looks indecisive. "You two don't talk much though, do you?"

"No..." I admit. "He really only talks to me when we're alone."

Daphne raises a suspicious eyebrow. "That's a red flag, babe."

"I know." I sigh and lay my head on her lap. "I'm not sure what's happening."

Daphne lowers her voice and smiles down at me. "You're starting to fancy the Boy Who Lived, that's what."

"Don't remind me." I grumble.

~~~~

My heart is overwhelmed with pride. Daphne and I had a suspicion that Umbridge might have an inkling of the group Harry formed, and she banned all organisations, including quidditch. I flew to her office as soon as I heard and argued until I got permission for my team to be reformed.

Now I'm thirsty and tired, but I still feel proud of myself. I say the password to the wall and enter the common room, where a few of my friends stand and begin to applaud.

"Thank you." I smile. I'm not too fond of the attention, but it still feels really good to reclaim the team so quickly. I hope at least one other team captain reforms their team so we have someone to play against.

My fellow team members rush to me to give their thanks. I brush them off and tell Daphne and Theo I'll be heading upstairs to sleep. Daphne follows me halfway up the stairs before pulling me to the side. "Y/N, you can't sleep yet."

"Why not?"

She lowers her voice. "Didn't you check your galleon? Tonight is the first meeting."

"Oh shit." I curse. "I guess we gotta go." We go back down the stairs, and Astoria calls out to us.

"Where are you two going?"

I roll my eyes. "Out." I answer.

"You can't leave," Montague insists. "You basically started a celebration."

"We're going to the kitchens to get some snacks." Daphne offers.

"Don't take too long then." Montague agrees.

"We won't." I lie, grabbing Daphne's hand and leaving the common room. We have quite a hike from the dungeons up to the seventh floor.

"I'm going to learn the ascension charm so I don't have to use all those stairs." I pant once we reach the seventh floor corridor.

"I'll join you." Daphne agrees. We see a group of Hufflepuffs pacing in front of the wall, and once a door appears we follow them in with the hope they're going to the meeting and not some Hufflepuff convention.

We enter right as Hermione is suggesting we decide on a name. That Ravenclaw seeker, Chang, offers the name D.A.

"It could stand for Defense Association." She adds.

"It could also stand for Dumbledore's Army." Ginny proposes.

"That's clever." I tell Daphne, who nods in agreement. Hermione writes "Dumbledore's Army" on the piece of parchment that has everyone's name on it and pins it to the wall.

"Brilliant, uhm," Harry looks around awkwardly. "Who knows how to stun someone?"

A few older student's hands go up. Mine doesn't. I'm sure if I had a reasonable education this year I would have raised my hand.

"Oh, well... who knows how to disarm someone?" Harry tries again.

I raise my hand, and more students than before do as well, but still not as many as you'd expect.

"Brilliant, we'll start with that. Pair up, and we'll... test everyone's skills." Harry orders, and Daphne and I head off to a corner of the room, since no one else seems to care we're here. I don't mind as long as I'm allowed to learn.

We practise Expelliarmus until I can make Daphne's wand fly across the room and she can do the same to me. Harry congratulates everyone and we file out of the room. I catch his eye, and he smiles shyly. I find myself smiling in return, and Daphne smirks at me as we leave.

~~~~

HARRY POV:

I always thought Theodore Nott was one of the lesser evils of the Slytherins. But maybe he's just an idiot like the rest of them.

I turn the corner towards the Great Hall to go eat dinner when I see Y/N and him walking together. She's laughing at something he said, and I feel my jaw clench. I don't know why.

Nott looks behind himself briefly and sees me, but quickly turns away. I roll my eyes.

Then he puts his hands on Y/N's arm and shoves her to the floor, her wand clattering out of her hand and rolling down the hall.

"What the fuck, Nott?" She swears, glaring at him as she starts to pick herself up and he walks away.

I pick up her wand and approach her without thinking. "You alright?"

For whatever reason, she immediately becomes so flustered it takes her two tries to stand up. "Yeah."

"What was that all about?" I ask, nodding my head in the direction Nott disappeared and handing her her wand.

"Oh." A look of complete understanding flashes over her face when she glances at me, but she shakes her head. "Just him being an arse is all."

"Then why do you hang out with him?" I ask.

"He's a good friend, even though, like everyone else, he has his own issues." She replies, smiling to herself about something.

"Oh." I pause, fishing for a reply. "Meeting tonight, by the way."

"Oh. Thanks. I always forget to check, my friend Daphne usually tells me when we have one." She explains.

"Brilliant." I pause, and she nods her head in the direction Nott went.

"I gotta go, but I'll see you tonight." She smiles and walks away, leaving me standing there like a dimwit.

"Yeah." I reply once she's gone, and head into the Great Hall.

After dinner, Ron, Hermione, and I climb the stairs to the room of requirement.

"Ready mate?" Ron asks me as the door materialises.

"I sure hope so." I swallow and Hermione pushes the door open. No one is there yet, and we plan our lessons for tonight.

"I think they're ready to learn how to use the stunning charm." Hermione offers.

"Yeah! I like that idea." Ron adds, and Hermione smiles proudly.

Students begin arriving, and for a moment I worry when I don't see any green uniforms. Right before Hermione tells me to start teaching, Y/N and her friend Daphne enter. I begin teaching the incantation and such for the stunning spell.

"C'mon Nigel, show us what you got." I encourage a young Gryffindor, sure he won't be able to cause too much damage.

"Alright, Harry!" He replies eagerly, taking his position and readying his wand. "Stupefy!" He shouts.

The force of the spell is much more than I expected, and I'm thrown onto my back. I hear laughing, and someone comes up to help me.

"Since you helped me before." Y/N extends her hand, which I sheepishly accept. Nigel looks up at her with shining eyes.

"What's your name?" He asks her, a dopey smile on his face.

"Y/N." She replies, smiling back at him.

For the rest of class, anytime Nigel completed a spell, he would run to Y/N and show her. She never once seemed annoyed, but smiled and congratulated him.

"Looks like you got some competition." Hermione startles me.

"What are you talking about?" I glance at her in suspicion and walk away towards the other students practising various defensive spells.

"Y/N. You've been stealing glances at her and can't stop smiling." Hermione persists.

"Yeah, well, I just think it's nice she gets along with a younger Gryffindor." I defend. What is she on about?

"If that's what you want to believe, Harry." She smirks and heads back over to Ron. I run my hand through my hair in frustration. A group of Ravenclaws look like they're struggling with Stupefy, so I walk over there.

I feel like one of them, Cho Chang, who was a seeker for the quidditch team, keeps looking at me. She's really pretty, and I think I kind of glanced back.

She understands the spell pretty quickly, so I walk around the room helping others. Everyone is doing so well, and I feel sort of proud that I made all of this so we'll actually learn. "Working hard is important," I remind them, helping Luna. "But there's something that's even more important,"

I see Y/N trying to stun her friend Daphne, but she keeps aiming too low on her torso. I walk behind her and move her hand up. "Believing in yourself." I complete, my eyes meeting hers. I quickly yank away and return to Ron and Hermione. 

~~~~

A/N: 

Sorry ive been so bad at posting i promise im working on the next chapterrrr i still have some plot to work on, and the plot for the fred x slytherin reader ill hopefully eventually post has been boiling in my head as well

thanks for reading, it means a lot<3

- wheezely