In the space between Occlumency and DA Harry had managed to continue avoiding Malfoy. He had almost convinced himself one or two times that Draco no longer looked angry but he wouldn’t risk allowing him close enough to test the theory. Through a complicated early warning system of Hermione and Ron he had contrived to leave an area before Malfoy could get near enough to send him snide remarks. Now he had a few hours doing something he knew that he was good at himself. But for some reason, there was an unpleasant undercurrent in the DA today that had nothing to do with Harry’s teaching style.

‘What’s wrong?’ Harry asked. He was surrounded by the small group Snape had christened his lieutenants. They rest of the room were supposed to be practicing counter curses for the common jinxes. Instead, they were throwing the occasional jinx for show, but mostly discussing something in low voices.

‘Something happened today,’ Ginny replied.

‘I can see that! Sorry. What happened?’

‘It’s the Slytherins. Something’s going on in there. And some of them, fourth years I think, attacked a group of muggle-born Hufflepuffs.’

‘Why?’

‘Because they were muggle-born Hufflepuffs,’ she answered patronisingly.

‘That was it?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Why didn’t I hear about it ‘til now?’

‘You were a little preoccupied, Harry,’ Hermione replied cautiously.

‘Okay,’ he sighed. ‘So why is this disrupting my meeting? It has happened before.’

‘Not like this. The witch-hunters have just been given a reason.’ Luna’s answer wasn’t comprehensible to Harry in this state of mind.

Hermione interpreted, nodding at Luna. ‘People have been saying all year that the Slytherins are evil; they’re all Death Eaters; that they’d attack any of us if they had the chance. We have been working all year to reverse that perception.’

‘And...’

‘Some of them are wondering why,’ Ron answered bluntly.

‘I thought we all agreed that the house-fighting had to stop.’ Harry said, disbelievingly.

‘We did,’ Neville assured him. ‘And we,’ he gestured around them, ‘still do. But some of the others were never that... and they’re up against the rest of their house.’

‘If it came down to it, right now I think we have half.’ Ron said. ‘The others are here because they’re not quite sure if they’re as anti-Slytherin as the rest of their house, or because of you.’

‘We have half?’

‘Probably,’ Hermione answered. ‘Half that we can guarantee are definitely behind us.’

Harry got up. ‘Everybody practice for a while. I need to walk round and take a look anyway.’

As Harry approached, each pair became more productive. Some, the ones Harry assumed were still with him, smiled as he went past. He nodded at Dean and Seamus, Ernie and Hannah, Terry and Anthony. But there were a number who barely met his eyes, especially the younger ones. He could hear them restarting their conversations once he passed them.

‘I’m just saying, you can’t trust them.’

‘You can’t ignore the fact that all the dark wizards came from Slytherin.’

‘I know they’ve been quiet for most of the year. But everyone knows that’s just because of Dumbledore.’

‘I mean the sorting hat puts them all together for a reason. Ambitious? Blood-thirsty more like.

‘Did Harry not use to get into fights with one of them all the time? That blond one. Malfoy.’

Harry stopped at the front of the room and got out his whistle. The piercing sound brought everyone to a stop. Almost unconsciously, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Neville, came closer to him. The others faced him, waiting for whatever he was going to say.

‘Well, we’re doing well today.’ Harry smiled and only the more perceptive spotted the danger in it. ‘If spreading malicious gossip was the way to beat Voldemort we would be well on our way there.’ He ignored the winces and shrieks at the name. ‘Unfortunately, I think actually learning counter-curses would be a more effective line of defence. But since some of you would rather have this conversation, let’s have it. Who feels that we shouldn’t have tried to help Slytherin house at the beginning of the year?’

There was a long silence. Eventually a Hufflepuff fourth year spoke up. ‘It’s not... we don’t think we shouldn’t have helped them then. But... they’ve made it pretty clear what they think of us now. They don’t want help.’

He turned away from the fourth year to look at the whole room. The girl was a friend of the one still in the hospital wing and she probably didn’t deserve his ire. As for the rest, however.... ‘So you’re upset that they weren’t grateful? That they didn’t say thank you for stopping our houses from attacking their first years? We’re lucky that this was the first person of ours hurt. You can’t expect anyone to be put in a house that is reviled by the other three as evil and imagine they won’t pick up some of its prejudices. We don’t help someone to be thanked; we help because the other person needs it. Regardless of what they did to us or what we did to them, even regardless of the right thing to do, this is our only option. If we don’t come together as a school Voldemort will destroy it. The DA was formed because we couldn’t practice Defence in class and we knew we needed it for outside. This year what we needed was to stop the house-fighting and we haven’t done it yet. But we will keep trying because it needs to be done.’

‘We need one of them, then,’ Neville inserted into this breath.

Harry smiled, properly this time. ‘Just ahead of me. Next year the DA will be taking in members from Slytherin house. I’m not sure how to do this yet but if it takes being hexed by every one of them then that’s what I’ll do. This is what we need. Anyone who can’t cope with that shouldn’t bother turning up next week.’

‘Bloody amazing,’ was Ron’s summation of events.

‘You’re getting very good at that,’ Hermione agreed. ‘Speeches I mean. I expect a few won’t be back but I think you won most of them over.’

They sat in the common room, Harry quiet again. He jumped up suddenly, muttered that he’d be back in a minute, and ran upstairs.

When he returned, Hermione was watching him compassionately. ‘It would have been nice if Malfoy had heard what you said.’

‘I think he has other problems,’ Harry replied. He handed Ron a piece of paper. ‘It was sitting on my bed. Must have been an owl. Ron opened the paper. There were just two words on it.

It’s tonight

Underneath was a hurried pencil-sketch instead of a signature. It showed a stickman guarded by a salamander.