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For the next month or so, Harry managed to not get himself any more detentions, so Marilyn found other ways to occupy her nights. She was greatly looking forward to the first Hogsmeade weekend, so she could see Aberforth again, even if some of the time would be spent at the meeting she, Hermione, and Ron had managed to convince some people to come to.

When the first Saturday in October finally did roll around, Marilyn met her twin in the Entrance Hall so they could go together. 

"Do you think this will end up going well?" Marvolo asked in concern as they walked.

Marilyn paused in thought for a moment before nodding. "Yes, I do. Even if a lot of people think Harry's mad, a fair few at least will listen." She said.

Marvolo nodded and they walked in silence for a few more minutes until a smirk spread on his face.

"Soo, Mary, you've been talking to people other than me this year." He grinned and nudged her with his shoulder.

Marilyn rolled her eyes as her face returned to its normal blankness. 

"Yes, some." She agreed briskly.

"And how does it feel to socialize for once in your life?" He asked teasingly.

Marilyn gasped in mock-offence. "I'll have you know, I am very social when I want to be." She huffed, stomping ahead of him.

Marvolo easily caught up with her and threw an arm around her shoulders. "Right. With who? Before this year, you only talked when you were spoken to unless it was to dead people, Aberforth, me, or Turner." He declared. "So, tell me Mary, who was it you were socializing with?"

Marilyn's face went expressionless again and she childishly decided not to answer. She ignored every attempt he made to get her to talk to him for several minutes until she realized she had forgotten to ask Hermione where they were meeting.

"Do you remember where we're meeting?" She asked her brother reluctantly.

Marvolo smirked, "I do, in fact." He said smugly.

Marilyn huffed, "Where?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," he taunted. 

Marilyn didn't reply, instead concentrating. 

Legilimens, she thought.

She searched his mind for a moment before drawing back out with a smirk.

"Well, why didn't you just say so? Hurry up, I want to see Aberforth." She said and dragged him along faster.

Marvolo huffed and pouted. "Using Legillimancy is cheating." He complained.

"Not really. Why weren't you keeping your shields up, anyway?" She asked as they walked in the direction of the Hog's Head.

"I forgot," he grumbled, "Not everyone is amazing at everything they do." 

He gave her a pointed look at that, but she brushed it off, saying, "Well, of course not. But, you are amazing at most things. That includes Occlumency and Legillimancy, so you were obviously focusing very hard on something else." 

Marvolo turned red and began stuttering.

"Oh!" She realized, turning to her brother in surprise, "You have a crush. Who is it?" 

Marvolo turned, if possible, even redder, but muttered, "Katie."

"Katie Bell?" Marilyn inquired and he nodded mutely.

"She's a very nice girl." She said, nodding approvingly, "You two would look very cute together."

Marvolo smiled slightly, but it dropped quickly. "But, what if Voldemort targets her because of me?" He asked anxiously.

Marilyn looked at him from the corner of her eye. He looked very concerned at the thought. 

"You can protect her, Marvol. You don't deserve unhappiness just because we're related to that monster." She said, stormy blue-grey eyes darkening.

Marvolo's lips turned up slightly and he nudged her with his shoulder. "Well, neither do you." He said.

Marilyn offered him a small smile that quickly disappeared as they entered the Hog's Head, which was more full that Marilyn had seen it in years.

Marilyn grimaced at the look on Aberforth's face and quickly moved behind the counter with him while the others sat down.

"Hi," Fred had just said to Aberforth, "Could we have . . . twenty-five butterbeers, please?"

He looked at Marilyn in surprise, but she didn't acknowledge the confusion in his eyes as she began helping Aberforth pass up bottles of butterbeer. 

Fred and George passed them out before collecting the necessary money and handing it to Aberforth, who handed it to Marilyn, who put it in the old wooden till whose drawer slid open automatically to receive it.

Then, she turned expectantly to Aberforth, who immediately pulled her into a hug. She grinned and hugged him back, earning some surprised and confused looks from the students inside who had never seen her smile, let alone hug someone other than her brother. 

"How's business?" She asked, pulling away.

Aberforth glanced around the pub with veiled amusement in his eyes, "I'd say it's pretty good, considering all these people are here. Is this that DADA thing you mentioned in your letter?" He asked gruffly.

Marilyn nodded, "Yeah, sorry I didn't warn you. I forgot it was going to be here. Hermione could use some help on the discretion of the whole thing. It would be a lot less suspicious is they went to the Three Broomsticks, but I'm not complaining. More customers." She informed him and he nodded before ushering her over to where the rest of the group sat around Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Every eye was on Harry, but they quickly switched to Hermione when she began talking.

"Well . . . erm . . . well, you know why you're here. Erm . . . well, Harry here had the idea — I mean" — Harry had thrown her a sharp look — "Marilyn and I had the idea — that it might be good if people who wanted to study Defense Against the Dark Arts — and I mean, really study it, you know, not the rubbish that Umbridge is doing with us" — (Hermione's voice became suddenly much stronger and more confident) — "because nobody could call that Defense Against theDark Arts" — "Hear, hear," said Anthony Goldstein, and Hermione looked heartened — "well, I thought it would be good if we, well, took matters into our own hands." 

She paused, looked sideways at Harry, and went on, "And by that Imean learning how to defend ourselves properly, not just theory but the real spells —"  

"You want to pass your Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. too though, I bet?" said Michael Corner. 

"Of course I do," said Hermione at once. "But I want more than that, I want to be properly trained in Defense because . . . because . . ." She took a great breath and finished, "Because Lord Voldemort'sback."

Just then, the door to the Hog's Head swung open.

"WHO SUMMONED ME?" Came a loud voice.

Several people screamed and everyone jumped, looking pale, but Marilyn only sighed as she recognized Turner's voice. He walked inside a few moments later grinning, and everyone relaxed but looked at him in confusion.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist." He apologized, walking over to Marilyn, who was scowling at him.

She jumped to her feet at once and hit him hard over the head with a book.

"Turner!" She exclaimed angrily, "That was not funny!"

"Yes, it was!" James guffawed.

Marilyn shot him a venomous glare, but he didn't stop laughing.

"OW, Mary!" Turner complained, rubbing his head. "What was that for?"

Marilyn glared at him. "That was for making a bunch of kids think Voldemort had come to murder them!"

People jumped again when Marilyn said the name, but she ignored them and the confused and questioning look she was getting from everyone. None of them really ever saw her with an expression that wasn't blank when she wasn't around Marvolo and none of them recognized the man who had burst into the pub moments before. Certainly, none of them had expected Marilyn to hit him with the book. Well, other than Marvolo, he had been waiting for her to do it to him as payback, but he supposed her doing it to Turner was better.

"It's not my fault they're gullible," he defended.

"It's your fault for taking advantage of that gullibility." She said, scowling.

Turner squinted at her and then he reached out and used his fingers to try and turn Marilyn's lips up into a smile. She only glared at him and batted his hands away.

"Stop it." She complained, but her glare had lessened and her lips twitched.

"You know you love me," he grinned.

Marilyn huffed and dropped back into her chair, looking at Hermione.

"Continue," she grumbled.

Hermione nodded, shooting a last confused glance at Turner before continuing.

Turner, meanwhile, pulled up a chair next to Marilyn and leaned over to whisper in her ear, "What is it you all are doing anyway?"

Marilyn rolled her eyes, but leaned toward him anyway, "Harry's going to end up teaching us Defense Against the Dark Arts." She replied quietly.

Turner's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at her in confusion, "But you know more about Defense Against the Dark Arts than like anyone." He said, equally quiet. "Why do you need a teacher?"

Marilyn rolled her eyes, "Well, I don't, but everyone else does. I'm just here for moral support. I mean, no one other than the Gryffindors I started interacting with this year really knows me at all, and they all think I'm terrifying, so if they see I think this is a good idea, there's a better chance they'll actually listen." She muttered to him.

Turner looked at her proudly, "Have you finally realized that there's more to life than brooding and breaking the law?" He asked excitedly.

Marilyn glared at him and her cheeks turned slightly pink. "I do not break the law!" She hissed quietly.

Turner raised an eyebrow and began ticking off the illegal things she had done on his fingers.

"You don't have the trace, you're an illegal animagus, you do magic outside of school, you can illegally apparate, even the ministry doesn't know your last name, dementors don't affect you...I could go on and on." He said smugly.

Marilyn scowled at him. He was right, she had done a lot of illegal things, though she didn't see how not being effected by dementors was illegal. All the other ones were accurate though. 

She decidedly turned back around so she was looking at Harry, Ron, and Hermione as they continued talking and she ignored Turner's attempts at getting her to talk to him.

"Is it true," Asked Susan Bones, looking at Harry, "that you can produce a Patronus?" 

There was a murmur of interest around the group at this. 

"Yeah," said Harry slightly defensively. 

"A corporeal Patronus?"

"Er — you don't know Madam Bones, do you?" he asked. The girl smiled. 

"She's my auntie," she said. "I'm Susan Bones. She told me about your hearing. So — is it really true? You make a stag Patronus?"

"Yes," said Harry. 

"Your dragon is better," Turner muttered to Marilyn and her lips twitched. 

"Blimey, Harry!" said Lee, looking deeply impressed. "I never knew that!" 

"Mum told Ron not to spread it around," said Fred, grinning atHarry. "She said you got enough attention as it was." 

"She's not wrong," mumbled Harry and a couple of people laughed. The veiled witch sitting alone shifted very slightly in her seat. 

Marilyn's eyes narrowed suspiciously and she slipped out of her chair, making her way over to the 'witch'. She wasn't stupid, she knew when someone was suspicious, plus a quick brush with Legillimancy was enough for her to know exactly who it was beneath the veil. She didn't draw attention as she walked over to him though, seeing as she knew Mundungus had been banned for life from the pub. She couldn't blame Aberforth for banning him, but she also knew the information he overheard would go to the Order and them knowing about this was a good thing.

She slid into the seat across from him and looked at him pointedly, making him sigh.

"O' course, ya would know." He grumbled from beneath the veil. "Ya goin' to kick me out?"

"No," she said calmly, "Just be sure to tell Dumbledore everything you hear. And don't come back after this. There's a reason you were banned."

Mundungus nodded gratefully so Marilyn swiftly returned to her chair.

"And did you kill a basilisk with that sword in Dumbledore's office?" demanded Terry Boot. "That's what one of the portraits on the wall told me when I was in there last year..."

"Er — yeah, I did, yeah," said Harry. 

Justin Finch-Fletchley whistled, the Creevey brothers exchanged awestruck looks, and Lavender Brown said "wow" softly.

"And in our first year," said Neville to the group at large, "he saved that Sorcerous Stone —"

"Sorcerer's," hissed Hermione. 

"Yes, that, from You-Know-Who," finished Neville. Hannah Abbott's eyes were as round as Galleons. 

"And that's not to mention," said Cho, "all the tasks he had to get through in the Triwizard Tournament last year — getting past dragons and merpeople and acromantulas and things..."

"Did Harry get past you?" Turner snickered in Marilyn's ear.

She scowled. She wasn't actually a dragon.

"No!" She hissed. "He got past a Hungarian Horntail."

He only shrugged, grinning. Marilyn turned back to the front and continued listening to the arguments that took place.

Eventually, everyone agreed that they would take lessons from Harry and Hermione quickly rummaged in her bag, taking out a piece of parchment and a quill.

"I-I think everybody should write their name down, just so we know who was here. But I also think," she took a deep breath, "that we all ought to agree not to shout about what we're doing. So if you sign, you're agreeing not to tell Umbridge — or anybody else — what we're up to." 

Fred reached out for the parchment and cheerfully put down his signature, but Marilyn noticed at once that several people looked less than happy at the prospect of putting their names on the list.

"Er..." said Zacharias Smith slowly, not taking the parchment that George was trying to pass him. "Well...I'm sure Ernie will tell me when the meeting is." 

But Ernie was looking rather hesitant about signing too. Hermione raised her eyebrows at him. 

"I — well, we are prefects," Ernie burst out. "And if this list was found . . . well, I mean to say . . . you said yourself, if Umbridge finds out..." 

Marilyn rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "I'm a prefect too. Signing the list isn't about to ruin your life." She said.

Of course, she knew from performing a tiny bit of Legillimancy on Hermione that the parchment was jinxed so there was a chance signing the paper would ruin someone's life. Only if they told someone about the group though.

"And, you just said this group was the most important thing you'd do this year," Harry reminded him.

"I — yes," said Ernie, "yes, I do believe that, it's just . . ." 

"Ernie, do you really think I'd leave that list lying around?" said Hermione testily. 

"No. No, of course not," said Ernie, looking slightly less anxious. "I — yes, of course, I'll sign." 

Marilyn scrawled her name at the bottom of the list before stepping back with Turner.

"Do I have to sign her jinxed list?" He whispered in Marilyn's ear, eyeing Hermione warily.

"Probably not, I'll just tell them you're in the Order." She whispered back and he nodded.

Marvolo hugged Marilyn and fist-bumped Turner before leaving the pub with Fred, George, and Lee. Slowly, people filed out until it was just Harry, Ron, and Hermione and Marilyn and Turner.

"Sorry," Hermione said, turning to Turner, "I don't think we've met..."

"I'm Sebastion Turner." He introduced, grinning at them, "I'm in the Order."

Hermione's eyes widened and she nodded. "Nice to meet you." She said, smiling at him.

He grinned and turned to Marilyn.

"You're coming with me around the village, by the way, Mary. I haven't seen you since school started. I'll wait outside." He said.

Marilyn nodded and waved slightly as he left before turning to the three younger students.

"Are you and Turner dating?" Hermione blurted out.

Marilyn's eyes widened and her cheeks turned a pale shade of pink as she shook her head. "Um-no." She said.

Hermione raised an eyebrow and hummed, sounding disbelieving before she changed the subject. "Hmm, and why are you and Marvol so familiar with this place?"

Marilyn raised an eyebrow, "We live here." 

The eyes of all three fifth years widened in shock and they glanced around the pub. 

"Really?" Hermione asked in surprise, "I didn't know that."

Marilyn shrugged. No one really knew that besides the customers.

"You three did brilliantly, but I have to go. Bye," she waved at them and beamed at Aberforth before hurrying out of the pub to where Turner was waiting for her. 

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