The four of them, Amisty, Harry, Hermione, and Ron, were sitting in the library one evening when Hermione finally mentioned Harry teaching them again.

"I was wondering whether you'd thought any more about Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry," Hermione piped up quietly as they sifted through potion book after potion book.

Harry scowled, "'Course I have. Can't forget it, can we, with that hag teaching us -- "

"I mean the idea the three of us had -- " She broke off as Ron gave a less than pleased look and rolled her eyes. " -- oh, alright, the idea Amisty and I had, then -- about you teaching us."

Harry went quiet, studying the book in his hands too intently to be realistic knowing his attention span.

"Well," He replied softly, setting the book down almost grudgingly, "yeah, I -- I've thought about it a bit."

"And?" Hermione asked brightly.

"I dunno," Harry mumbled, glancing over at Ron.

"I thought it was a good idea from the start!" Ron was now beaming, the absolute liar.

"You did listen to what I said about a load of it being luck, didn't you?" He added.

"Yes, Harry, but all the same, there's no point pretending that you're not good at Defense Against the Dark Arts, because you are," Hermione replied. "You were the only person last year who could throw off the Imperius Curse completely, you can produce a Patronus, you can do all sorts of stuff that full-grown wizards can't, Viktor always said -- "

Ron's head swung around to face her so quickly Amisty was surprised it didn't snap, "Yeah? What did Vicky say?"

Hermione didn't look pleased, "Ho, ho. He said Harry knew how to do stuff even he didn't, and he was in the final year at Durmstrang."

"You're not still in contact with him, are you?" Ron demanded, blue eyes narrowed as he regarded her.

Amisty resisted the urge to snort.

"So what if I am? I can have a pen pal if I -- " Hermione began, her cheeks dusted with pink.

"He doesn't only want to be your pen pal," Ron cut her off sharply.

Hermione rolled her eyes, turning back to Harry and shaking her head, "Well, what do you think? Will you teach us?"

"Just you three, yeah?" Harry asked.

"Well," Hermione bit her lip. "Well... now, don't fly off the handle again, Harry, please... But I really think you ought to teach anyone who wants to learn. I mean, we're talking about defending ourselves against V-Voldemort -- oh, don't be pathetic, Ron -- it doesn't seem fair if we don't offer the chance to other people."

Harry paused, "Yeah, but I doubt anyone except you three would want to be taught by me. I'm a nutter, remember?"

"Well, I think you might be surprised how many people would be interested in what you've got to say," Hermione replied seriously. "Look, you know the first weekend in October's a Hogsmeade weekend? How would it be if we tell anyone who's interested to meet us in the village and we can talk it over."

"Why do we have to do it outside school?" Ron asked.

"Because I don't think Umbridge would be very happy if she found out what we were up to."

-=+=-

"Eli!" Amisty raced down the hallway, almost bowling over Terry Boot in the process -- "Sorry, Terry!" -- before she managed to catch up to him. "I've got news for you!"

"News that involved knocking everyone out of the way?" Eli teased, shouldering her as they walked down the hallway, now side by side.

"Hey!" She protested, though she was grinning. "I did say sorry."

"Because that's a worthy apology for almost giving them a concussion," He replied.

"Shut up," She elbowed him. "Anyway, to the actually important part of this conversation."

"I'd think other people's health would be pretty important to you, Miss I-Spend-My-Afternoons-In-The-Hospital-Wing."

"Shut up, Eli!"

"Teasing, teasing."

"We're having a meeting during the first Hogsmeade weekend. A sort of club meeting, I guess. For real Defense Against the Dark Arts," She beamed. "You interested at all?"

"Interested in actually getting the education I signed up for?" He tapped his chin, eyes sparkling as his dimple made it's patented appearance. "Of course!"

"Thank you!" Amisty grinned.

He gave her a fond smile, "Like I'd ever say no."

"Amisty!" Hazel came barrelling out of nowhere, her blonde hair flying out behind her. "Hi!"

"Hi, Hazel," Amisty fought down a laugh. "Eli, this is Hazel Lamark. Hazel, this is Eli Minton, he's in Hufflepuff."

"Hello, nice to meet you!" Hazel held out a hand, her brown eyes alight with interest.

"Nice to meet you, too, Hazel," Eli grinned, shaking her hand. "Amisty was just telling me about a little meeting in Hogsmeade."

Hazel's smile faded a bit, "First years aren't allowed to go to Hogsmeade..."

"Tell you what," Amisty lowered her voice. "If you can find a way to sneak out, I won't tell anyone. You know who the Creevey brothers are, right? Ask them if you can tag along."

"With a scheme like that it's a shock you're not in Slytherin," Eli nudged her.

"Shush, Eli."

Hazel's eyes were wide, "But that's breaking the rules."

"Sometimes..." Amisty lowered her voice even further, "breaking the rules is the only way to get anything done."

-=+=-

"Er -- why was Filch sniffing you?" Ron asked as the three of them headed down to the village.

I suppose he was checking for the smell of Dungbombs," Harry laughed. "I forgot to tell you... I was sending a letter to Sirius and Filch just came bursting in, demanding to see the letter."

"He said he was tipped off you were ordering Dungbombs? But who had tipped him off?" Hermione asked.

"I dunno. Maybe Malfoy, he'd think it was a laugh," Harry offered, shrugging nonchalantly. Amisty stiffened.

"Malfoy?" Hermione didn't seem convinced. "Well... yes... maybe..."

"Where are we going anyway?" Harry asked just before Hermione slipped off into the dangerous realm of overthinking. "The Three Broomsticks?"

"Oh -- no, no, it's always packed and really noisy," Hermione shook her head, losing the faded look in her eyes. "I've told the others to meet us in the Hog's Head, that other pub, you know the one, it's not on the main road. I think it's a bit... you know... dodgy... but students don't normally go in there, so I don't think we'll be overheard."

Hermione wasn't wrong. The Hog's Head was definitely shady. It didn't help that the sign featured a bleeding boar's head and it's hinges creaked constantly in the wind. The interior was tiny and smelly and dirty, with windows so covered in grime barely any light could pierce through. Amisty rubbed at the floor with her boot, unsurprised to find that it happened to be stone covered in a very thick layer of dirt.

There were only four inhabitants and all of them happened to be wearing something that covered their faces. The first, a man sitting at the bar, had his head wrapped up in faded, dirty grey bandages, surrounded by empty glasses. One glass, filled with a fiery orange liquid, sloshed a bit over the sides and dribbled down his fingers as he swung it down. Two others were together, covered in dark hoods that hid their faces. They spoke with a very strong accents, bent almost nose to nose in what appeared to be a very intense conversation. The last was a woman sitting in the corner, her veil dark and pooling at her toes in a silky puddle that resembled oil.

The hairs on the back of Amisty's neck rose. She tightened her cloak around her neck.

"I don't know about this, Hermione," Harry whispered, the first to voice their concerns verbally. "Has it occurred to you Umbridge might be under that?"

"Umbridge is shorter than that woman," Hermione cast his worry aside. "And anyway, even if Umbridge does come in here there's nothing she can do to stop us, Harry, because I've double- and triple-checked the school rules. We're not out-of-bounds; I specifically asked Professor Flitwick whether students were allowed to come in the Hog's Head, and he said yes, but he advised me strongly to bring our own glasses. And I've looked up everything I can think of about study groups and homework groups and they're definitely allowed. I just don't think it's a good idea if we parade what we're doing."

"No, especially as it's not exactly a homework group you're planning, is it?" Harry remarked.

The barkeep appeared from the backroom, eyeing them with a faintly annoyed expression.

"What?" He asked harshly.

"Three butterbeers, please," Hermione replied politely.

He slammed three dusty bottles on the counter, scowl still firmly in place on his bearded face.

"Six Sickles."

"I'll get them," Harry offered before they could open their mouths, placing the money on the counter. The barkeep took it, throwing it almost carelessly into the wooden till.

The four of them hurried off to a secluded corner of the pub. Amisty's fingers twitched anxiously.

"You know what? We could order anything we liked in here, I bet that bloke could sell us anything, he wouldn't care," Ron took a longer look at the bar. "I've always wanted to try firewhiskey -- "

Hermione looked livid, "You -- are -- a -- prefect."

"Oh," Ron's smile slipped off his face. "Yeah..."

"So who did you say is supposed to be meeting us?" Harry asked, working off the top of the butterbeer and taking a swig.

"Just a couple of people. I told them to be here about now and I'm sure they all know where it is -- " The door suddenly swung open, " -- oh look, this might be them now -- "

It was. Neville, Dean, and Lavender all walked in together, followed by the Patil twins and Cho with another Ravenclaw. Then, Luna, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, and Angelina Johnson. The Creevey brothers with Hazel bouncing nervously on the balls of her feet behind them, with Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Hannah Abbott, Eli, and another Hufflepuff Amisty had yet to meet. Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner, and Terry Boot -- all Ravenclaws -- followed, then Ginny, then a boy Amisty had never spoken to but had a very strong sense of recognition at the sight of his upturned nose. Fred and George were last, Lee joining them, and all three heavily laden with Zonko's bags.

"A couple of people?" Harry demanded, his voice strained. "A couple of people?"

"Yes, well, the idea seemed quite popular," Hermione smiled, completely oblivious to Harry's panicked expression. "Ron, do you want to pull up some more chairs?"

Amisty got up to help, giving a little wave to Hazel and grinning at Eli as she passed.

The barkeep seemed to be in shock at the sudden arrival of students in his pub.

"Hi," Fred grinned, turning around to count everyone. "Could we have... twenty-five butterbeers, please?"

He scowled, throwing down the rag, and started pulling out the twenty-five butterbeers from under the counter.

"Cheers. Cough up, everyone, I haven't got enough fold for all of these..." Fred passed the bottles out as everyone else dug in their pockets for money.

"What have you been telling people? What are they expecting?" Harry asked quietly, clearly losing his nerve.

"I've told you, they just want to hear what you've got to say. You don't have to do anything yet, I'll speak to them first," Hermione reassured. Harry didn't look reassured.

Slowly, all of the visitors gathered around the table. Eli took a seat next to Amisty, and Hazel decided for some unknown reason to sit on the floor at Amisty's feet. Then, all eyes turned to Harry and Hermione.

I'm SO HORRIBLE with this schedule right now I can't even get it down for more than two days... oh, I'm so sorry I promise I'm trying but it's been difficult with all this end of the year projects and everything. Thanks for reading, I'm going to crash and actually try to get some sleep for once!