Drawing Aggro

Hallowe'en rolled around, and Hermione seemed far more enthusiastic than she should've been.

"It's like we're deciding what happens," she said. "Holding the first meeting of the CI on Hallowe'en is perfect."

The meeting itself was supposed to be short, held in a classroom off the beaten path. According to Fred and George, few of the teachers went near that particular part of the castle. Harry studied their routes on the map for a week, and found he had to agree with them. With Tutela and Taltria patrolling the immediate area, and ready to alert Luna and Alavel of any potential threats, they felt they were ready.

Harry still wasn't sure about the name "Crimson Insurrection". Sure, it sounded good, but they weren't supposed to be starting a rebellion, just teaching students what they needed to know for the outside world. He knew Umbridge was full of it, but he couldn't help but feel that Hermione wasn't in it to help people.

Even as they introduced the club to the forty or so students gathered in the classroom, he worried. Harry explained what they'd be learning; Hermione explained why.

"You've got no idea what's out there."

"And you do?" one of the students asked.

"Who went to the World Cup last year?" Hermione asked.

Several hands went up.

"Who thinks it's just a rumor that Death Eaters attacked?"

A new set of hands went up.

"It's not a rumor, I tried to stop them. For all of Umbridge's boasting about how theory is all we need, I know from personal experience that it isn't. If theory had been all I'd needed then, I would've attended school last year with all of you. But it isn't all we need. With Voldemort back and the Ministry against us—"

Hermione rolled her eyes when people gasped at the name "Voldemort".

"Voldemort," Neville said, who'd taken a place at the front of the class with Hermione and Harry. "Voldemort, Voldemort, Voldemort. Names don't kill people; dragons kill people."

"What you all need to understand is that there are very real threats in the world," Alavel said. "It's simple self-defence. We don't expect you to know how to fight dark wizards; there are people specially trained for that, with years of experience that we can't hope to teach you here. What we can teach you is to apply what you've learned in a real-world scenario. You won't have time to think or look something up if attacked; you'll have seconds to think of what to do and act on it."

Harry smiled at him. They didn't have Sally-Anne's people skills with them, but Alavel was just as good. He turned back to the crowd to speak, but Hermione beat him to it.

"There's one thing you should know," she said. "Umbridge thinks Dumbledore's making a move against the Ministry. That's why she doesn't teach us anything useful. She and Fudge think Dumbledore's raising an army. Word of this club can't leave the people involved. If Umbridge finds out about it, she'll use it as proof that Dumbledore's doing exactly what she says he's been doing."

"You're not breaking the rules," Alavel added quickly. "No one here is doing anything wrong by any proper moral standards. We are all here to learn a useful skill. Anything learned here must only be used for self-defence. Nothing more. It won't do any good to harm each other."

Harry gave everyone a moment to take in Alavel's words, then got to his next question before Hermione could open her mouth.

"Any questions?"

Fred and George raised their hands.

"Fred?"

"Do we have to call you 'Lord Skyeyes', or is that just him?"

A few giggles went through the crowd.

"I wasn't going to make anyone, but Fred, George, now just you two have to."

Harry's smile broadened a little when he caught the faintest traces of a chuckle from Alavel. After that, Hermione had everyone sign a parchment with the title "Crimson Insurrection" at the top. Harry found it hard to smile knowing what the parchment did. As Hermione had explained it, it'd make it clear if anyone tried to "squeal on them".

As everyone left, Hermione handed each of them a fake galleon to tell them when the first meeting would be held.

"You'll see," she said when any of them asked how.

"This isn't going to come to life and breathe fire, is it?" Cedric asked when she handed him one.

"Wish I'd thought of that," Hermione said. "That would've been kethé, although sort of defeat the point of secrecy."

Harry watched on the map for any signs of trouble, adding to the guard of Tutela and Taltria. Luna, Neville, Ginny, and Hermione stayed with him until the last student left.

"I wish Alavel wouldn't baby them like that," Hermione said. "He makes it seem like nothing's going on."

"Nothing's going on that we need to worry about," Harry snapped. "He's right; there are Aurors out there to deal with everything else. We just need to worry about what's going on here, and help people learn practical skills. That's it."

Hermione glared at him for a moment, then muttered "Fine", and stormed off.

"It's almost dinner," Ginny said. "I told Dean I'd sit with him today, and he gets annoyed if he thinks I forgot, so I'll see you all later."

Harry watched her walk off, then turned his attention to Luna.

"How's your hand?"

Luna tilted her head, allowing her long hair to fall to the side.

"I saw the marks the day after you had detention with Umbridge," Harry said. "So don't bother trying to deny it."

He glanced at Neville, who kept his focus on Luna. Harry spotted a look he was sure was kindness in Neville's eyes.

"I'm alright," Luna said, holding up her hand. "It's not so bad anymore. It hurt a lot at first, but it's almost all gone."

Harry nodded, and turned his attention towards Neville.

"What about you?"

"I haven't had detention with her, and even if I had, I went through way worse last year."

Neville gave a half smile, which Harry returned.

"I always felt bad for being happy it wasn't me picked," Harry said. "I'm sorry."

Neville shrugged. "I'm glad I was picked. Who knows who I'd be now if I hadn't?"

Harry smiled, then excused himself to find Alavel. He found the task to be easy, as Alavel had been waiting for him not far from their meeting place.

"Mr. Potter, I was just looking for you. Care to walk with me to dinner?"

Alavel motioned for Harry to walk with him. The pair began a slow stroll through the corridors.

"I wanted to talk to you about Hermione," Harry said. "I would've talked to Sally-Anne, but I realized that if I tried, it might trigger the curse Hermione put on that parchment we all signed."

"Yes, there's nothing students enjoy more than feeling trusted," he said dryly.

Harry found himself thankful that no one knew the parchment had been cursed. He could only imagine his own reaction to finding out about it, were he one of the students.

"That's just it. Well, not just that, but… I'm starting to worry about Hermione. The way she acted was like she thought we were training soldiers, not teaching kids."

"Have you spoken to her about it?"

"I tried, but she just brushed it off like it was nothing. I don't think she realizes how she's acting, and I'm afraid if I bring it up too much, she'll work herself up and make it worse."

"It seems to me that you've got two options in front of you. The first is to confront Ms. Granger about it, voice your concerns, and risk setting her off again. The second is to ignore the problem until it gets out of hand, which will almost certainly set her off."

Harry nodded. With a Quidditch match coming up in a few days, he didn't think he'd have time to talk to her about it before then, but he resolved to talk to her about it after.

At dinner, Sally-Anne noticed that a lot of people in her house were talking amongst themselves about something they didn't care to share with her.

"Do you know what they're discussing?" Sally-Anne asked Ron.

"Huh?" he asked with a mouth half full of food.

"Manners, Ronald."

He swallowed, then dabbed his face with his napkin.

"So sorry," he said in a faked upper class voice. "I don't know whatever came over me."

Sally-Anne gave a small giggle at his antics.

"Really, Ron, do you know?"

"I… erm…"

"Didn't realize they were talking about something?"

Ron turned defensive for a moment, but the fight quickly left him.

"I mean I… I could've… no, I didn't."

"It's fine," Sally-Anne said, giving him a slight smile. "It's probably nothing to do with us."

Sally-Anne looked at Ron and saw that something else had his attention. Following his gaze, she saw his was fixated on Hermione, who seemed to be at the heart of the conversation, along with Harry.

"Ron," Sally-Anne whispered, "you're staring at Hermione again."

"Am not!" he snapped, turning his attention back to her.

"It's fine. I know what you're going through, and if you ever want to talk—"

"I'm fine," Ron said, although with less hostility. "I just need to focus on the Quidditch match on Saturday."

Sally-Anne smiled and hoped that Quidditch would help take Ron's mind off Hermione.

"I can't wait," she said.

After that, Sally-Anne excused herself from the table and started off towards Gryffindor Tower. On her way, she heard someone call her.

"Luna," she said as the Ravenclaw rushed to catch up with her. "How've you been?"

"Alright, I think," she replied. "I had a question for you."

"I'll do whatever I can to help."

"I was walking the corridors at night, and came across Butterhead and his queen."

Sally-Anne wasn't sure which part of that sentence bothered her more: Luna being outside at night, her referring to Malfoy as "Butterhead", or referring to Parkinson (probably) as "his queen".

"You mean Malfoy and Parkinson?"

"I think so. They were arguing about something and mentioned you, so I was wondering if you knew."

Sally-Anne's first instinct was to ask what it was. She'd settled in happily to the role of knowing everyone else's business, although most information she received was freely offered. They were happy to talk to her, and she was happy to listen, although she got the occasional rumor from Lavender.

"It's none of our business," Sally-Anne said. "While Malfoy and Parkinson shouldn't be dealing with personal business during their rounds, it's still not for us to get involved."

Luna smiled at her. "Okay."

Sally-Anne smiled back at her.

I can't tell if she's lying, and that worries me.

Sally-Anne parted ways with Luna, hoping that the girl wouldn't start causing trouble. Not two minutes later, she ran into an excited Lavender.

That can only mean she's got something for me.

"I just heard the best rumor!" Lavender squealed, as she always did when opening her conversations with Sally-Anne.

"Well then, stopping wasting time and tell me!" Sally-Anne said with practiced enthusiasm. She knew exactly which muscles to tense, exactly where to look, and exactly how much to smile to get Lavender to keep talking.

"I heard that Draco Malfoy is cheating on Pansy Parkinson," Lavender said with more than her usual enthusiasm. She paused for a moment, but kept that glee in her eyes that told Sally-Anne she wasn't finished. "…with a Muggle-born!"

That can't possibly be good.

Sally-Anne reflexively ran through her list of Malfoy's known associates. Apart from herself (and that was stretching the definition of the word "associate"), he didn't so much as talk to anyone even half-blooded.

"Did they say with whom?" Sally-Anne said, a little more seriously than she'd intended. Fortunately, she was talking with Lavender, not Harry or Viktor, which gave her some room for mistakes.

"Who cares?" Lavender squealed, wearing one of the biggest grins Sally-Anne had seen on her. "Draco Malfoy with a Muggle-born! Cheating on Parkinson!"

Sally-Anne saw two options: either pat Lavender on the head and tell her "good work", as she usually did, or push back on her.

"I think someone's having you on," Sally-Anne said, giving a more sympathetic smile. "You should check your source."

"No way! He's just got to be good at hiding it!"

"If he's so good at hiding it, how'd people find out?"

On her mother's insistence, Sally-Anne had been working on developing was her ability to think critically, a skill sorely lacking in the Wizarding World. According to her mum, it'd help her sift through the bad information to find the truth.

I swear you're a journalist or something, Mum.

Turning her attention back to Lavender, Sally-Anne found the girl turning pink. With a cry of exasperation, Lavender stormed off to find her source and tell them off.

"At least now I've got something to talk to Malfoy about tonight," Sally-Anne muttered to herself as she continued her journey towards Gryffindor Tower.

Ron gripped his broom hard enough to make his hand sore. He stared at the sunlight pouring in through the doorway, accompanied by the overpowering sound of the roaring crowd.

"Ready, Weasley?" Angelina asked.

"Always," Fred and George said.

Angelina rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the door.

Following her lead, they entered the pitch, one by one. Ron looked out at the crowd, and spotted his friends. Sally-Anne cheered and smiled, although her enthusiasm was nothing compared to Ginny's. Even then, Sally-Anne was wild compared to Hermione, who had already buried her nose in a book.

Ron did his best to focus on Sally-Anne's enthusiasm, rather than Hermione's lack of enthusiasm. Daydreams of Hermione cheering him on during a Quidditch match he'd had the last year drifted into his mind and stung him.

"Tune them out," Harry whispered. "Trust me, it helps."

Ron nodded and turned his attention back to the pitch. He stayed back towards the goals while his team marched forward to take their positions on the ground. Madame Hooch held the Quaffle in one hand, and gave them a typical "clean game" speech that he'd heard Fred and George imitate dozens of times.

"Kick off!"

They all rose into the air with the Quaffle, and Angelina shot forward to take it. Ron hovered near the goals, keeping a close eye on the Quaffle. He'd watched the chasers run drills in practice, but watching them weave around Slytherin was something else.

Crabbe and Goyle floated near him, and he spotted Malfoy high above, keeping a close watch on the pitch.

"Ten points for Gryffindor!"

The moment the Quaffle flew through the goal, Slytherin took possession of it and started the race towards his side of the pitch. One chaser held the Quaffle, going straight for him. The moment he arrived, he hurled it in, but Ron was already on it. He grabbed the Quaffle and dropped it to a waiting Katie, who darted down the field. The Slytherin chaser took a moment to hiss at Ron before giving chase.

Have they always done that? Ron wondered. Hissing was a strange thing to do, even for Slytherin. Must be some sort of mind game they're playing.

The game went forward much the same way. Gryffindor scored, Slytherin took the Quaffle, Ron stopped them, they hissed at him. Over and over again, with little interference. He could see the frustration growing on the other player's faces.

Must've thought I'd be a pushover.

Slytherin made another run for the goal, but once again, Ron stood ready for them. He drifted around, faking them out, then started in for the Quaffle.

"It's a shame Granger doesn't care, Weasley!" one of the chasers shouted.

Pain filled his stomach, and Ron stole a glance at Hermione. She still sat in the stands, likely only there because Sally-Anne had dragged her. Even Luna and Neville were enjoying themselves more than Hermione.

Then Ron realized he'd been in the middle of blocking a shot. He'd lost a second to his feelings, and that was all it'd taken. His fingertips brushed the side of the Quaffle as it flew passed and into the goal.

Ron's face burned, made worse by the crowd.

Don't worry about them, he heard Sally-Anne's voice say, just worry about you. You can do this.

Gryffindor took possession of the Quaffle and moved it down the field. Ron kept his focus on the Quaffle, deflecting the next shot towards him. He tuned out everything else. Words and sound were only helpful if they helped him work out the next move.

I really can't talk right now.

Slytherin jeered and hissed when Ron missed another goal. Their laughter rang in his ears, no matter how hard he tried tuning it out. He spotted the Quaffle moving again, this time in his team's possession.

"What's the matter, Weasley?" one of the chasers said. "Can't keep up?"

"It's no wonder that mudblood dumped you," another replied.

He gripped his broom and tried not to punch them, as impossible as it'd have been in the air.

The chasers laughed, then one of them hissed again. Ron glanced at them as they started hissing again, louder than before. He ignored them, keeping his attention on the Quaffle. Gryffindor scored again, then the Slytherin team took possession. They never made it to him.

Malfoy dove out of the sky, racing towards a spot on the ground not far from Ron. For a moment, Ron worried that Malfoy would catch it. Only a moment. That's how long it took Harry to fly past Malfoy and catch it first.

In the stands, Ginny whooped and cheered, nearly jumping up and down in her seat.

"That was amazing!" she exclaimed. "Harry spun around and went straight for it! He must've been listening for Malfoy, heard him a mile off!"

Sally-Anne smiled at Ginny's excitement. It was nice to see that one of them was happy about it, considering she had mixed feelings. She was happy for Harry and Ron, but disappointed that all of Malfoy's hard work had been for nothing.

Draco, if you put your mind to work figuring out ways to win, none of you would need to practice.

She'd seen it, although she was looking for it. Thanks to a particularly boastful Slytherin, she'd known about their plan to alert Malfoy to the snitch, giving him seven separate sets of eyes scouring the field, rather than just his. Even though they weren't really friends, she still felt proud of him for finally putting in the effort.

She turned her attention back to the field and saw Ron and some of the Slytherins talking. Rather, she saw them shouting at one another.

That can't be good.

She got up and started down towards the field. With everyone else doing the same, she realized she'd never reach them in time to stop a fight, so she changed tactics. She found a gap in the stands, pushed her way through to it, and jumped off. A quick bubble from the Shield Rune, and she was ahead of the crowd. She took a quick look at the people on the field. Their captain, Cassius Warrington, was at the front of the pack. Crabbe and Goyle weren't far behind him, and Malfoy was just landing.

Cassius is heading it. Good.

"I knew we should've done the song," Cassius was saying when Sally-Anne reached them. "See, it goes something like this."

He took a deep breath, but before he could antagonize Ron any further, Sally-Anne arrived and shoved a piece of parchment in his hands. Cassius looked at the parchment, then at Sally-Anne. His face went pale as he read it.

"One note, and that goes public," she said.

Fred, George, and Harry joined them, although they appeared just as confused as Ron.

"You're… you're bluffing!" Cassius exclaimed, crumpling the parchment before anyone else could see the contents.

"Try me," Sally-Anne replied.

Cassius glared at her, but she already saw the weakness in him. Using her gifts from Rose to their fullest, Sally-Anne stared him down, daring him to antagonize them any further.

After a tense few seconds, Cassius turned back to his team. "Alright, he's had enough. Locker rooms, now!"

The assembled members of the Gryffindor team, stared at Sally-Anne as the Slytherin team left the pitch.

"What was on that?" Fred asked.

"If I told you, I'd be breaking my word," Sally-Anne replied. She turned her attention back to her friends and smiled. "Congratulations on the win! Ron, Harry, you were both amazing!"

Harry grinned, but Ron didn't say much. In a moment, Angelina rounded them up and everyone else left. Sally-Anne decided she'd talk to Ron about it later. After all, he was her friend, and she was determined to make sure he was alright.

As always, Gryffindor's victory celebration lasted into the night. Sally-Anne kept an eye on her friends, but otherwise, she took the time to mingle amongst her classmates.

Hermione chose to do the opposite, and pulled Harry aside.

"I've been thinking about what else we could teach in the defence sessions," she said. "I got–"

"Do you have to tell me now?" Harry asked.

Hermione glanced back at the bulk of the students.

"I suppose not," she said. "I couldn't help but notice you weren't watching Malfoy, but you knew when he found the Snitch." She nodded at his bracelet. "Some might call that cheating."

"You're not one to talk about morality," Harry shot back.

"What's that supposed mean?"

Harry paused for a moment, then said, "nothing."

"Anyway, it's just as magic as your gloves or glasses. No reason you can't use them."

Hermione didn't spare Harry's words another thought. As he returned to the party, she returned to thinking about their new class. They had so much to teach, she could hardly figure out a lesson plan. Stunners and the Patronus Charm needed to be a part of it. What else? What else could they use against Umbridge?

"Rose hated parties too," Neville said, coming up beside her.

Hermione's heartbeat increased for a moment, but another one and she'd calmed down.

"She went to a party in Thars, and dragons burned it to the ground," she explained. "She's hated them ever since. She felt like it would happen again."

Thoughts of Thars brought back the World Cup. Hermione closed her eyes, trying to banish the memory back to her subconscious where it belonged. She could see the fires blazing, hear the screams of people, see the army of Death Eaters marching through—

"Hermione."

Hermione's eyes snapped open, and she returned to the present. She was still in the common room, still in Hogwarts. Still safe.

"You alright?" Neville asked.

"Fine." She rubbed her eyes as the screams and lights faded away. "Just… it's nothing."

Neville's eyes darted towards the party, then back to her.

"No, it's not."

"Really, I'm fine."

"Not if Ron's look is anything to go by."

Hermione glanced at Ron, who's attention had turned to Lavender and Parvati. She watched him for a nearly minute, but his gaze never turned to her.

"Wanna talk about it?"

Hermione glanced at Ron. He cared about her, and she'd hurt him, despite her best efforts.

Best efforts? she heard Sally-Anne's voice say. Really? You'd call that—

Shut up, Princess!

"Not really," she said. "What about you? How've you been holding up?"

Neville shrugged. "Alright. I'm more worried about Luna."

Hermione glared and growled under her breath.

"I'm gonna make Umbridge regret the day she crossed Rose's sister."

Thoughts of hunting down Umbridge danced in her head. Hundreds of questions about ethics followed it, but she had an answer to every one of them.

"Rose told me dying for something was easy, because you don't have to live with the results," Neville said, snapping her out of her murderous fantasies. "When you kill someone, you've got to live with that."

"Sounds like something her uncle told her."

"Yup. According to Alavel, to help her with what happened to her brother."

Hermione ran through everything Neville had said about Rose. It was Rose, who hated talking about the year during which her brother had self-destructed. Hermione could hardly imagine watching that happen to someone she cared about. Seeing Rose or Professor Vector like that would've torn her apart.

"She must've really trusted you. It took her being backed into a corner to tell me about that."

Neville smiled, but even Hermione could tell it was fake. She didn't need to ask why; she knew.

"I know you liked her. I'm so sorry, Neville."

Neville shrugged. "It's what keeps me fighting. Rose, my parents, Luna. It all reminds me what's at stake."

"I've got people like that too."

"Rose said it was different killing for them."

"So?"

"Just something to keep in mind."

As much as she wasn't in the mood for getting advice, she accepted it all the same. It was easier coming from Neville, who didn't feel condescending like Sally-Anne, or nagging like Harry. What was everyone's problem?

Across the room, Sally-Anne herself was increasing her pool of information. She smiled and talked to people, trying to shove down what she'd already heard.

Some might call that cheating.

Harry wasn't a cheater. He was honest and kind. Although, when she thought about it, the enchantment on his glasses might not have been legal.

Sally-Anne pushed the thought out of her mind and chose to focus on Ron instead. He needed her support more than Harry did.

"Good job today, Ron," Sally-Anne told him as the party cleared up. "I'm proud of you."

"Thanks," Ron said halfheartedly.

Sally-Anne thought about what else she could do to cheer him up. Halfway to the first-year's room, a thought struck her.

"How'd everyone enjoy their first school Quidditch match?" she asked them.

"That was amazing!"

"Harry Potter's so cool!"

"Not as cool as Angelina Johnson!"

"What were you doing out there?" Loretta asked.

"Stopping a fight before it happened," Sally-Anne replied. "The teams can be a little competitive."

"How?"

"Sometimes, words are more powerful than magic."

She stood up and pressed her shirt.

"As always, I'll be up after my rounds to make sure everyone's sleeping well."

"Do you have rounds every night?" one girl asked, a faint trace of horror on her face.

"Only because I asked for it. I don't need as much sleep as everyone else, so I figured I'd do more rounds. That way, other people won't have to."

After wishing them all good night, Sally-Anne returned to the common room. Sure enough, Ron, Harry, Neville, and Ginny were all there, and Hermione was conveniently absent from Ron's presence.

"We don't have rounds tonight, do we?" Ron asked.

"I do, but you don't," Sally-Anne said, trying to not laugh at Ron's horror or relief. "Why don't we work on Transfiguration when I get back?"

If there was one thing Ron was good at, apart from chess, it was classwork. He was clever enough to keep up with it, and his bracelet made it easy to memorize entire textbooks. Sally-Anne hoped it'd help him get his mind off Quidditch, or at least boost his confidence enough to see it in a new light. He'd done a good job, even if he was focusing on the goals he'd missed.