Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.

"That stupid old hag!"

Angelina Johnson was evidently very unhappy as Phoenix and George climbed through the portrait hole after an eventful Herbology lesson.

"Now Angelina," began Fred with a smirk, "that's no way to talk about Phoenix!"

"Shut up Fred!" retorted Angelina.

"I assume this is about Umbridge?" Phoenix inquired, setting her bag down on the floor before making herself comfortable in the seat beside the roaring fire.

"Yes!" Angelina exclaimed, slamming her fist down on the table so violently that her ink bottle spilled over Fred's transfiguration book. "Oh shit, sorry Fred!"

"No worries Ange," Fred said with a smile, "now I have an excuse not to do my homework."

"Back to Umbridge," said George, taking a seat beside Phoenix and slinging his arm around her with ease, but still causing Phoenix's hair to flush a pale pink.

"Oh yeah! It's bad news I'm afraid, she's not allowing us to reform the team!" Angelina scowled, hastily tapping Fred's ink covered book with her wand.

"She said she needed more time to consider it," Fred explained, watching in amusement as Angelina swore, unable to clean away the ink from the book.

"What?" gasped Phoenix, "But we heard Warrington bragging in Herbology that Umbridge gave them permission straight away!"

"Of course, she did," Angelina seethed, accidentally setting the transfiguration book on fire. "Merlin, what's wrong with me!"

With a lazy flick of his wand, Fred extinguished the flames instantly. He smirked at Angelina as he tapped the book once and the ink too disappeared.

"Show off," Angelina muttered, though her mouth was twitching in an effort not to smile. "I'm not sure what else I can do."

Phoenix thought for a moment, she wasn't quite sure what Angelina could do. Umbridge seemed to be on a sort of determined rampage to ruin life at Hogwarts. Not only had the Educational Decree been announced early that morning, but she had also put the first teacher on probation. Though Professor Trelawney may have not been Phoenix's favourite teacher (she had just scrapped an Acceptable in Divination OWL. Her poor reading of the Crystal Ball had made her give up all hope, and had instead explained the plot of Beauty and the Beast to her examiner) she still couldn't help but feel a little bit sorry for her.

"Have you tried going to McGonagall?" suggested Fred. "I'm not sure if she can do anything but I'm sure she'll stop at nothing until Gryffindor are back on the pitch."

"Don't be silly Fred–" began Angelina, but then she stopped herself, suddenly looking in awe of him. "You're a genius!"

That evening in the Gryffindor common room, Fred and George were putting on a rather interesting display of their Puking Pastilles. Phoenix, Alicia and Angelina watched, in disgust as Fred took a bite from the orange end of the sweet, then made a show of vomiting into a bucket. He would then force the purple end of the sweet into his mouth, at which the vomiting would cease immediately.

"I'm impressed by the magic," mused Alicia, as she watched as Lee, who once again, made the contents of the bucket vanish with a lazy flick of his wand. "But… I'm very disgusted at this demonstration."

"I'm starting to realise the genius behind these products," said Angelina, now completely distracted from her Ancient Runes essay. "How on earth do they do it?"

Phoenix shrugged, watching her boyfriend take orders from the eagerly watching crowd. He caught her eye and sent her a wink. She winked back at him, blushing as she did so.

"Have you and George done it yet?"

Phoenix spluttered at Angelina's question, both her face and her hair burning a bright pink, "Done what?" she knew it was a stupid question the moment it left her lips.

Alicia and Angelina looked at one another before giggling.

"You know…" began Alicia, setting aside her Astrology magazine and wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"Made love," winked Angelina.

Phoenix opened her mouth to respond but had discovered that she had lost use of her voice.

"I bet George is an animal," said Alicia, causing Angelina to laugh loudly and Phoenix to blush even deeper, her hair turning vermillion.

"I bet George is kind of guy who does not stop until you've finished," commented Angelina with a wry smile. The comment made both Phoenix and Alicia shriek with laughter.

"Please stop!" Phoenix said through fits of giggles. "We haven't done anything!"

"I bet you want to though," said Alicia, fixing Phoenix with a knowing look.

"I mean…" began Phoenix, but before she could say anymore on the matter, Ginny Weasley approached the three girls.

"Are all boys stupid?" Ginny asked, sitting beside Angelina and crossing her arms over her chest.

Phoenix shook her head, but then the sound of vomit hitting the bottom of a bucket stopped her, "I mean, they are, yeah."

"What's Michael done?" asked Alicia.

"He's really… sulky…"

"Sulky?" Phoenix questioned.

"Yeah, after he found out about the stupid Decree this morning, he just couldn't stop moaning about his Potions club," Ginny explained, "even though they were given permission by lunchtime, he was still sulking!"

"Boys aye," sighed Phoenix, looking back again to her boyfriend, who had just vomited into the bucket. "Utter idiots."

Once again, Phoenix's dreams were filled with screams of torture, the cackling laughter of Bellatrix Lestrange and flashes of green light. It was beginning to make Phoenix fearful of falling asleep.

When she awoke on Tuesday morning, Phoenix felt as though she had barely slept.

She could almost feel the bags under her eyes as she got dressed for the day. She felt so tired that she stumbled around when attempting to tie her shoelaces.

"Are you alright Nix?" Angelina asked, looking a little concerned, at the same time noticing Phoenix's hair, which had turned white blonde.

"Didn't sleep well last night," Phoenix admitted, shaking her head, and changing her hair to a pastel mint green. "Might have a nap during a free period."

"Did you have a sexy dream about George?" Alicia inquired, winking at Phoenix as they made their way down to the common room.

Phoenix laughed, "Definitely was not a sexy dream…"

"Sexy dreams aside," said Angelina, "I need to talk to McGonagall after breakfast. See if there's anything she can do to help us re-form the team!"

After breakfast, Phoenix had a free period. Though she was tempted to have a nap before Potions, George persuaded her to assist him with Herbology homework.

They were sat on his bed, Phoenix sitting cross-legged with her copy of Advanced Herbology: Edition Nine on her lap while George was sat opposite her, leaning against his pillows, and occasionally making notes in his book.

"You look really pretty today, Pixy," said George loftily

Phoenix blushed, her hair turning pink, "was I not pretty yesterday then?" She looked at George and saw a twinkle in his eye.

"You're pretty every day," he countered, putting his book aside and moving closer to Phoenix.

She smiled as his lips met hers. Merlin, she thought as George kissed her, she was sure she would never get used to George's kisses or the feeling of his hands as they grasped her face gently.

Though it was a simple, innocent kiss, Phoenix's mind was beginning to race with the conversations she had had with Angelina and Alicia about her and George's intimacy. She ought to be nervous at the thought of becoming intimate with George, but as he kissed her with such delicacy and tender passion, she could not think of anyone she would rather be intimate with.

She felt her stomach coil as the tip of George's tongue tasted her lower lip.

"Is this what you call doing Herbology homework?"

Phoenix shrieked at the sound of Lee's voice.

She jumped apart from George, their books flying to the floor.

Lee was stood at the dormitory door with a smirk on his face, "Looks more like you're doing each other."

Phoenix blushed pink. She was embarrassed that they had been caught kissing. But she was mortified to be caught by Lee Jordan of all people.

"I was coming to tell you the good news," said Lee, "Angelina got permission to reform the team. You've got a practise session tonight at seven."

"How on earth did you do it?" Alicia asked Angelina as the Gryffindor Quidditch team crossed the grounds towards the Gryffindor changing rooms.

It was raining, hard. The downpour was so great that Phoenix was finding it difficult to not slide in the muddy grass.

"I went to McGonagall," Angelina explained, "I think she may have appealed to Dumbledore."

"We can always count on McGonagall," said Fred with a smile.

Phoenix was glad to get into the changing rooms. Her school robes were soaked already, and she was shivering slightly from the cold.

The team changed into their Quidditch robes, talking excitedly about the upcoming match against Slytherin. Phoenix noticed however, how Ron's smile faltered at the mention of the game.

"All right, everyone, listen up," Angelina addressed her team, "I know it's not ideal weather, but there's a chance we'll be playing Slytherin in conditions like this so it's a good idea to work out how we're going to cope with them."

Phoenix seriously hoped that they did not have to play against Slytherin in such a storm. Or at least, if they did, the Slytherin players at least had a small chance of being struck by lightning.

A clap of thunder was heard overhead as Angelina continued. "Harry, didn't you do something to your glasses to stop the rain fogging them up when we played Hufflepuff in that storm?"

"Hermione did it," Harry said, pulling out his wand. He tapped his glasses and muttered, "Impervius"

"I think we all ought to try that. If we could just keep the rain off our faces it would really help visibility," said Angelina in an authoritative tone, pulling out her own wand and the rest of the Gryffindor team following suit. "All together, come on! Impervius! OK. Let's go."

They left the changing rooms, brooms on their shoulders and their boots sinking slightly into the wet mud. The Impervius Charm did not completely help with visibility, though the rain seemed not to cling to her face.

On Angelina's instruction, the team kicked off from the muddy ground and soared into the air.

Only a few minutes into practise, Phoenix was finding it impossible to tell her team mates apart. In fact, she could barely make out the goal posts from the heavy downpour. On multiple occasions, she had thrown the Quaffle towards Fred or George by accident but thankfully Angelina appeared to not have noticed her doing this.

Not only were Phoenix's Quidditch robes and body soaked, but she was now also shaking from the cold. This meant that passing the leather covered Quaffle was even more difficult. The Quaffle was smacking against her cold, wet skin when she caught it and she found herself hissing in pain whenever this happened.

"Ange, I can't see where you are! I can only see Ron!" Alicia had shouted after an almost an hour into practise.

Phoenix let out a shout of frustration as she had to swerve dangerously out of the way of a Bulger, but her shout was not heard over the swishing of the wind and the rain that pounded against the surface of the Black Lake.

Just as Phoenix was about to lose all hope that she would ever see the Quaffle or her teammates again, Angelina sounded her whistle.

"Well, that practise wasn't a complete waste of time," said Angelina, who was using her wand to dry her Quidditch robes.

Phoenix and Alicia shared a glance before hastily agreeing with Angelina, though they were not at all convinced.

"Quidditch aside," said Alicia, her green eyes glinting mischievously as she looked at Phoenix, "Lee told me something interesting he witnessed."

Phoenix felt herself getting suddenly very hot, which she considered a miracle as a mere five minutes she had almost been frozen to her broomstick. "What did he tell you?" Though she was sure she already knew what Lee had told Alicia.

"Lee caught Phoenix and George snogging in his dormitory," giggled Alicia.

Angelina let out a shriek of laughter. Alicia shushed her, though her attempts were rather futile as she was also giggling. Phoenix smiled apologetically at the rest of her teammates, who were looking curiously at the three chasers.

"Just girl stuff," Phoenix explained, feeling herself grow hotter and hotter as Alicia and Angelina only laughed more loudly.

Harry and Ron shrugged and continued their conversation in the corner of the changing room. Fred and George however were looking at each other, as if silently communicating.

Phoenix caught George's eye and he winked at her. She felt her stomach do a back flip before she returned to towel drying her hair.

"I hope it's not pissing it down again," muttered Fred, who was sat in front of the fire in the common room in an attempt to dry his robes. Angelina had just announced that another Quidditch practise had been scheduled for the following evening and her team were not very thrilled about the news, the Wizarding Wireless had announced that the storm was likely to last for a few more days. "I may have to resort to drastic measures to get out of it."

"Don't let Angelina hear you say that," said Alicia, though Phoenix highly doubted that Angelina could hear Fred's threat from the showers in the girl's dormitory.

"Puking Pastilles?" suggested Lee.

"Nah," replied George, "she'd know straight away."

Phoenix was not really listening to the conversation her friends were having. She was too engrossed in her book – How To Remember: Memory Charms and how you can fight them – though none of her friends had appeared to notice that her eyes were unmoving. She was simply staring at the pages of the book, thinking, but not about memory charms.

Worry had seemed to have taken a liking to her and Phoenix wasn't trying to push that feeling away. The first few weeks of term had been filled with anxiety. Anxiety about Angelina, about Fred, about Defence Against the Dark Arts, about Sirius and, when she was alone, she thought back to the nightmare she had had all those months ago. She knew she shouldn't, but it had felt so real that it was hard not to dwell on what it had felt like to be tortured by an Unforgiveable curse, not to remember how her mother had been killed before her and see Bellatrix's eyes fill with glee at the sound of Phoenix's cries.

She knew she was dwelling in dangerous territory, thinking about her mother's death but she did not know how to fight it. Phoenix knew, deep down, that sitting in her dark thoughts was not going to make her feel any better. She knew that if she indulged any deeper, she would risk another sleepless night.

So, Phoenix looked up from her book that she had not been reading and looked around at her friends; Alicia was laughing as Lee talked about his latest escapade of romance (a sixth year Ravenclaw by the name of Ciara Spicer); Fred and George were animatedly discussing their latest business venture, which was, by the sounds of it, required some complicated magic.

"What do you reckon, George?" Fred asked.

"It's ambitious," replied George, who had a look of deep concentration on his face that made Phoenix feel a little lightheaded, "but I'm sure we can manage it."

"What are you two planning?" Phoenix asked, setting her book aside.

"Portal Swamps!" Fred announced, smiling widely and beckoning Phoenix over. She obliged and saw they were pouring over a large piece of parchment that was covered by an image of a great green swamp. Aside from the yellowish green colour of the swamp's water, it was rather pretty. There were great big lily pads and water lilies spattering the surface of the water. The banks around the water were mossy and the mud looked wet and slippery. Phoenix had to agree with George, it looked extremely ambitious.

"Can I make a suggestion?" Phoenix asked.

"Of course," replied Fred.

"Thought of adding an alligator?"

Fred blinked for a moment and then said, "You know that's a brilliant idea."

George shook his head, "Unless we want to charge one hundred galleons for a portal swamp, I think it would be best to stir away from alligators."

"Perhaps a limited-edition piece then?" Phoenix suggested, wiggling her eyebrows at George. "Or a one of a kind collectors' piece?"

"You know George," said Fred, looking at his twin with a grin. "You're a terrible influence on your girlfriend. Once upon a time, Miss Lancaster would have discouraged us from such a product but now, here she is, telling us to include a dangerous animal in our swamp!"

"Excuse me? Mr Weasley?"

A nervous looking second year had approached them.

"We prefer 'Sir'," Fred replied with a grin.

"Ignore him," Phoenix told the boy, glaring at Fred whose grin only grew in mischief.

The boy looked a little confused for a moment and then said, "Me and my friends want to buy some of those Puking Pastilles, can we do that?"

George looked around the common room for a moment, and Phoenix knew that he was looking for Hermione. "Of course!" He said, getting up from his seat and following the second year to a table where his friends were sat.

Phoenix rolled her eyes, though she wasn't entirely thrilled with her boyfriend assisting second years with skiving their lessons. She couldn't deny she was immensely proud that Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was already very popular amongst students.

She turned to Fred, "How are you?" Phoenix asked, eyeing him as he added a few notes around the image of the portal swamp.

"I'm fine," Fred replied, "keeping busy."

"Homework?"

Fred laughed, "'Course not, joke shop stuff. Got a lot of testing to do!"

Phoenix did not really want to imagine just what testing that Fred and George were up to – just in case they roped her into the testing.

"How are you after the breakup?"

Fred shrugged, his eyes moving uncomfortably away from Phoenix and instead focusing on the roaring fire. "A bit disappointed that it didn't work out, but it's for the best. I just want to see her happy."

Phoenix couldn't help but let out an audible aw, making Fred roll his eyes at her.

"I'm sorry, it's just really sweet," she said, reaching across the table and taking Fred's hand. "I'm always here for you Fred, you know that?"

Fred smiled, "I know Nix. Best to let go of my hand though, I'm pretty irresistible."

The following day, the storm did not let up. The rain lashed down and the wind shook the windows of the Transfiguration classroom. The Black Lake looked at risk of overflowing and the Whomping Willow was thrashing around violently against the gale.

Just when Phoenix was seriously considering George's offer of a Puking Pastille to avoid Quidditch practise that evening, Angelina informed them that practise was cancelled.

"Thank Merlin!" exclaimed George, earning a stern glare from Angelina. "Don't look at me like that, it's pissing it down, Ange!"

"Anyway," continued Angelina, still glaring, "Harry told me they've found somewhere for our first Defence meeting. It's tonight at eight o'clock."

"Excellent!" grinned Fred.

Though the prospect of breaking an educational decree and risking expulsion was slightly daunting to Phoenix, she was very excited for their first practical Defence lesson of the school year. Considering that their Defence the Dark Arts lessons with Umbridge were now so dull that Phoenix was at risk of dozing off at times, she could not wait to practise her Defence spells.

At five to eight that evening, the seventh years made their way to the seventh-floor corridor where the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy hung, displaying his rather reckless attempt to train trolls to do ballet.

"There's nothing here," Fred frowned, looking along the corridor. "You sure it was this corridor?"

"Yes," replied Angelina, she was staring determinedly at the blank stretch of wall opposite the tapestry.

"Why are you staring at the wall?" Phoenix asked as she too looked at the wall. There was nothing very remarkable about it.

"Harry said we needed to think about what we need and walk past the wall three times," Angelina explained, who was now pacing up and down in front of the wall.

"I think Harry's off his rocker," muttered Lee, but the seventh years followed Angelina's instructions.

Phoenix paced, thinking hard.

We need to go to our first Defence meeting… I need to pass my NEWTs… We need a place to learn to fight…

"It's worked!" Alicia exclaimed, pointing at the wall with an awed expression on her face.

The blank wall that they had been pacing in front of, was no longer blank. A dark polished door with a brass handle had materialised in front of them, waiting to be opened.

Phoenix had heard of the Room of Requirement, or rather better known as the Come and Go Room, from William (who had hidden some Fanged Frisbees in the room once). But Phoenix herself had never discovered it, but then again, she had never needed to hide banned objects.

She felt George's finger gently run across her waist, "I think this was the broom cupboard we hid from Filch in." He murmured to her, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Now that makes sense," said Phoenix with a smile, remembering them tumbling out of the cupboard and almost immediately running into a cackling Peeves.

"Oi, lovebirds!"

They turned to see Angelina holding the door open for them with a suggestive smile on her face, "I can always leave you both to it," she said. "You can go back to George's dormitory and–"

"We're coming!" replied Phoenix, grabbing George's hand and entering the Room of Requirement.

"Blimey," breathed George.

The door had opened into a very spacious room. It was much larger than the average classroom at Hogwarts. There were no windows, instead the room was illuminated by flickering torches. The walls were lined with wooden bookcases which were groaning under the weight of hundreds of heavy books, which appeared to all be books on Defensive Magic. Phoenix already knew that she would likely be borrowing a few of these books over the next coming months.

There were various dark detectors set on shelves at the very far end of the room; there was an array of Sneakoscopes and Secrecy Sensors, there was also a large Foe-Glass, which was cracked through the middle.

In the very middle of the room were at least half of the members of the Defence group, who were sat on silk cushions on the floor.

"I never knew this room was here, did you?" Ginny asked Phoenix as she took a seat in the cushion beside her.

"I've been in here before," said Phoenix, a smile tugging at her lips at the memory of her and George hiding in the 'broom cupboard' those many months ago.

They did not need to wait very long before the remaining members found the room.

At last, when all the cushions were occupied and the door had been locked, Harry addressed the group at large.

"Well, this is the place we've found for practice sessions, and you've – er – obviously found it OK."

"It's fantastic!" said Cho Chang.

"It's bizarre," stated Fred. "We once hid from Filch in here, remember, George? But it was just a broom cupboard then."

"Hey Phoenix, I think this is the broom cupboard you and George snogged in," Lee muttered, as Dean Thomas raised a question regarding the Dark detectors.

Phoenix blushed, "We didn't snog!"

"Well, I've been thinking about the sort of stuff we ought to do first and – er – What Hermione?"

Hermione had her hand raised which humoured Phoenix, though she had never been in a class with Hermione Granger, Phoenix could imagine that her hand was raised often in her lessons.

"I think we ought to elect a leader," Hermione said.

"Harry's leader!" interjected Cho.

"Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly," Hermione explained. "It makes it formal and it gives him authority. So – everyone who thinks Harry ought to be our leader?"

Phoenix raised her hand, as did everyone else in the group.

"Er – right," Harry said, a blush creeping up his face, "thanks, and – what, Hermione?"

Once again, Hermione Granger's hand was raised, and Phoenix had to grin at her enthusiasm.

"I also think we ought to have a name!" Hermione declared, reminding Phoenix fondly of Hermione's elf rights organisation, Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, otherwise known as SPEW. "It would promote a feeling of team spirit and unity, don't you think?"

"Can we be the Anti-Umbridge League?" suggested Angelina with a smile.

"Or the Ministry of Magic are Morons Group?" said Fred, making Phoenix and Alicia laugh.

"I was thinking, more of a name that didn't tell everyone what we were up to," said Hermione, "so we can refer to it safety outside meetings."

"The Defence Association?" suggested Cho. "The DA for short, so nobody knows what we're talking about?"

"Yeah, the DA's good," agreed Ginny. "Only let's making it stand for Dumbledore's Army, because that's the Ministry's worst fear, isn't it?"

There was a smattering of agreement and appreciative laughter at this suggestion. Phoenix snorted with laughter as Ginny smirked at her.

"All in favour of the DA?" asked Hermione imperiously, counting the hands that had shot into the air. "That's a majority – motion passed!"

The piece of parchment that they all had signed in the Hogs Head had now been pinned to the wall, the words 'DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY' written across the very top of the page in large letters.

"Right," began Harry. "shall we get practising then?"

Harry had instructed them all to divide into pairs and practise Expelliarmus, the Disarming Charm. Phoenix had paired herself with Lee, who had looked at George with an apologetic smirk before saying 'sorry mate'.

"You wish Jordan," Phoenix said, shaking her head.

"If only you knew Phoenix," said Lee with a dramatic sigh. "If only you knew that you are my one and only wish, Lancaster."

Phoenix couldn't help but laugh, after all, it was Lee Jordan.

"Right – on the count of three, then – one, two, three–"

"Expelliarmus!"

Lee's wand gave a feeble attempt of a jump out of his hand and then it cluttered pathetically to the floor.

Lee snorted, "How did you get an Outstanding in Defence Against the Dark Arts?"

Phoenix glared at him, "shut up Lee," she said, picking up his wand for him. "Let's see if you can do any better."

It turned out, he could.

Though her wand didn't fly into the air, it did manage to whack Phoenix harshly in the face.

"Did you do that on purpose?" Phoenix shrieked at Lee, who was crying with mirth. "Idiot," she muttered, shaking her head and glancing around the room at the other members.

It came as no surprise to Phoenix that Ginny Weasley was performing a perfect Disarming Charm against her boyfriend, Michael Corner, who appeared to be rather taken aback by this as his charm barely made her wand twitch.

Phoenix was just preparing to cast Expelliarmus once again when a loud whistle sounded.

For a moment, Phoenix wondered where Harry had produced a whistle from, but then remembered that they were in the Room of Requirement.

"That wasn't bad," commented Harry, "but there's definite room for improvement. Let's try again."

Phoenix's next attempt at Expelliarmus was better than the first. Lee's wand had jumped a few feet into the air, Lee made a desperate attempt to grab the wand but ended up looking as though he was trying to climb an invisible ladder.

They continued to practise the spell back and forth, occasionally having to duck as another members wand flew over their heads.

On Phoenix's fourth try at the spell, Harry approached them.

"No need for improvement here Harry," said Lee, lazily waving his hand and causing Phoenix's wand to fly into the air and narrowly missing Parvati Patil.

Harry laughed, "Pretty good Lee!"

"I hear that a lot," Lee said, winking at Phoenix who made a gagging noise behind Lee's back, making Ginny and Luna giggle.

"Let's see yours then, Phoenix!"

Phoenix obliged. She waved her wand, directed it at Lee and cast Expelliarmus. At once, Lee's wand gave a twitch before it half-heartedly leapt out of his hand. Lee gave a snort of laughter at Phoenix's poor attempt at a Disarming Charm and she gave him her middle finger.

"Your wand movements are off," Harry said at once, getting out his own wand and indicating the correct movement. "I think you're using the wand movement for Protego."

"Amateur," Lee whispered audibly to a confused looking Hannah Abbot as he retrieved his wand.

"Try again," Harry suggested brightly, taking a few steps back.

Scrunching up her face in concentration, she once again pointed her wand at Lee and mimicked Harry's wand movements, thinking 'Expelliarmus!'. At once, Lee's wand vaulted out his hand and whizzed past to the other side of the room, rocketing off the cracked Foe-Glass and clattering to the floor.

"Who's the amateur now?" Phoenix smirked at Lee.

After a while more of practising Expelliarmus, the general performance around the room was vastly improving. Everyone was now having to duck or jump out of the way at regular intervals as wands flew past them in all directions.

Finally, at ten past nine, the first meeting of Dumbledore's Army came to an end.

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

"Sooner!" Dean Thomas hollered and many members, Phoenix included, nodded in agreement.

Angelina however, looked quite alarmed by this suggestion, "The Quidditch season's about to start, we need team practises too!"

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

Everyone returned to their respective house common rooms, aside from Fred and George Weasley of course, who had decided to take a trip to the Hogwarts kitchens for a late-night treat.

"If they get caught," Angelina muttered angrily as they took their seats by the fire in the Gryffindor common room. "I'm going push them off the Astronomy Tower."

"I'm sure they won't get caught," reassured Alicia, though she looked unconvinced.

"Anyway," yawned Lee. "That lesson was sick!"

"I know!" Phoenix agreed, her now violet eyes ablaze with excitement. "Do you think Harry will be teaching us Patronuses?"

"Merlin, I hope so!" replied Alicia, absently twirling her hair with her wand. "I'm quite sure that they come up in the practical exam."

Angelina groaned, covering her face in her hands. "I don't think I'm emotionally or mentally prepared for exams."

"The exams are in June, it's October," said Lee, "you've got plenty of time before you need to stress."

Angelina's dark eyes glowered at Lee, "You should really consider a professional career in giving out advice Lee."

The twins did not return from their venture to the Hogwarts kitchens before Phoenix went to bed. Angelina was not at all impressed with this information and changed into her pyjamas, muttering angrily about them.

"Pair of idiots," she seethed, throwing her socks as far as they would go. "Umbridge is going to ban them from Quidditch if she catches them out of bed!"

"They'll be fine!" Alicia said reassuringly to Angelina. Though she shared a look with Phoenix before disappearing under the covers of her four-poster bed.

It took a while for Phoenix to fall asleep. She had a knot of excitement in her stomach as she imagined their next meeting of Dumbledore's Army. She imagined herself perfecting the Expelliarmus Charm that had been so powerful, Lee would jump a few steps back as his wand leapt forcefully out of his hand.

"Excellent!" Harry would say, grinning at Phoenix as Lee scrambled to retrieve his wand, "You'll be practising with Professor Dumbledore next."

It was then Phoenix realised that she was dreaming.

And suddenly, the Room of Requirement was disappearing around her. The walls were crumbling. Shouts could be heard around her. Panicked voices. People shouting spells or frantically calling their loved one's names. Flames were engulfing the hundreds of Defence books that lined the walls. The Sneakoscopes were whirring madly on the shelves, a few of them falling off and into the fire. The Foe-Glass was crowded of dark shadows and Phoenix felt as though she was being watched. Goosebumps erupted up her arms and she pulled out her wand from her pocket.

She needed to run, but she could not. Her legs were made of lead. The heat of the fire licked at her face and arms.

Phoenix could feel her heart pounding as adrenaline rushed through her whole body. Her arms and legs trembled as she looked about her frantically.

What was happening?

Phoenix tried to focus on the wand that she held in her hand. Her one and only weapon that she possessed.

She could hear screaming close by. She turned instinctively and wished that she hadn't.

Angelina Johnson lay very still. Her eyes and mouth were wide open. Dark crimson blood poured from an open wound above her collarbone. Evidently, dead.

Phoenix felt cold wash over her. As though she had stepped into a bath of ice.

Her mouth opened to let out a scream of terror. But quite suddenly she felt herself jump and Phoenix woke up, sweating in her four-poster bed.

She was being shaken awake by tiny hands. Still shaking from terror and panic, Phoenix's eyes darted around the dormitory to Angelina's bed, where the Quidditch Captain was fast asleep.

Relief spread through her. Though this did nothing to stop the shaking. Nor did it slow down her heart rate. Only when she heard whimpering from the side of her bed, did she look at who had woken her.

"Rosey?"

The anxious House Elf looked up at her. It was Rosey. Whose hazel eyes seemed to be glistening with tears.

The relief of being woken by a House Elf and not one of the girls who shared her dormitory almost instantly calmed Phoenix, though she was now aware that she had been crying in her sleep.

"You was muttering in your sleep Miss!" Rosey squeaked.

"Was I?" Phoenix asked breathlessly,.

"Is you alright Miss?" Rosey asked, her voice laced with concern as Phoenix wiped around her wet eyes. "Do you want Rosey to go and get Professors McGonagall or Dumbled–"

"No!" Phoenix replied at once, looking alarmed. "No – thank you Rosey, I'm alright!"

"But Miss!" Rosey exclaimed, her tennis ball sized eyes widening. "You has been rolling around and muttering in your sleep almost every night this week! I has been noticing while I is cleaning your dormitory!"

Fuck, Phoenix thought.

The idea of running in the middle of the night to tell Professor McGonagall or Professor Dumbledore that her nightmares had returned, was not one that Phoenix welcomed. She didn't want another meeting with Healer Loyalar and Healer Chorster again. Or her family. She didn't want sympathy from Madam Pomfrey. She didn't want her friends to cast her concerned looks whenever the Unforgivable Curses were mentioned during lesson.

"Please Rosey!" Phoenix implored, taking hold of the elf's tiny hand.

"But Miss, you is not well!" said Rosey, who was attempting to pull her hand away and avoiding direct eye contact with Phoenix. "You is not well Miss!"

"Just…" Phoenix began, looking about the dormitory to make sure that the girls in her dormitory were still fast asleep. "Give me more time Rosey, please?"

Rosey looked up slowly at Phoenix, her lips trembling as she struggled with words.

"I will give you time Miss," Rosey said finally, "But Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore must know! They is good people Miss!"

Phoenix opened her mouth to reply but was stopped at the sound of a great snore from Alicia.

A loud crack, and Rosey was gone.

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