𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬 | l. lovegood

xiii

"𝐀𝐋𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓, 𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐒," Harry said as he, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, and Dorothea stood in the Room of Requirement, a room that only revealed itself to a seeker who needed something. Dorothea had been inside it a few times when she needed to hide from the Slytherins. "I want to see where you're at and where you need to improve, so just—"

"Expelliarmus!" Dorothea waved her wand, and Harry's wand was expelled from his hand. He looked at her, caught by surprise.

"Uh...yeah. Like that." Harry picked his wand up off the floor. "Um, well, there's the stunning spell—"

Without hesitating, she flicked her wand again at Harry. "Stupefy!"

He went flying backwards, and Hermione summoned some cushions underneath him to soften the blow.

"Bloody hell." Ron grinned. "Maybe she should be teaching you, mate."

"How are you so good at these spells?" Hermione asked, staring at Dorothea in shock.

"My older sister is an Auror," Dorothea replied simply, and Luna smiled at her.

Dorothea had read all of Tonks's textbooks and notes from her Auror training. Before this year, she'd spend her free time at Hogwarts practicing spells in empty classrooms and reading every book in the library to expand her knowledge in magic.

"No offense, but if you already know how to do this stuff, then why did you join?" Hermione asked, her tone slightly demanding with a hint of jealousy.

Dorothea stared at her. She could tell that the older girl didn't like that there was something she was better than her at.

"The same reason why everyone else did," she said after a moment. She didn't want to have to explain herself, but when the Golden Trio stared at her, she sighed. "For practice. To be prepared to face what's out there."

"Then let's practice," Harry said. "Dorothea, partner up with Luna. Ron, you're with Hermione, and Neville, you're with me."

Dorothea and Luna went over to the far side of the room. Both girls were hesitant to use the stunning spell on each other, so they practiced disarming instead. When the hour was up, they left the Room of Requirement, and Dorothea returned to the Hufflepuff common room for the night.

She continued to meet Harry and the others in the Room of Requirement for the first couple D.A. meetings. Little by little, Harry invited more people to the extra meetings so that Dorothea could adjust without getting overwhelmed.

At the end of Dorothea's first meeting with the whole D.A., Hermione called for everyone's attention. She held up a Galleon and told them that she'd found a way for them to communicate when the next meeting would be without having to cross the Great Hall to ask.

"You see the numerals around the edge of the coins?" Hermione asked, running her finger across the edge. "On real Galleons, that's just a serial number referring to the goblin who cast the coin. On these fake coins though, the numbers will change to reflect the time and date of the next meeting. The coins will grow hot when the date changes, so if you're carrying them in a pocket, you'll be able to feel them. We take one each, and when Harry sets the date of the next meeting, he'll change the numbers on his coin, and because I've put a Protean Charm on them, they'll change to mimic his."

There was a silence following Hermione's words. She seemed to be disappointed at the lack of enthusiasm.

"Well...I thought it was a good idea," she said with uncertainty. "I mean, even if Umbridge asked us to turn out our pockets, there's nothing fishy about carrying a Galleon, is there? But...well, if you don't want them..."

"You can do a Protean Charm?" Terry Boot asked.

"Yes." Hermione nodded.

"But that's...N.E.W.T. standard, that is," Terry said, amazed.

"Oh. Oh, well...yes, I suppose it is..."

"How come you're not in Ravenclaw?" he asked, staring at Hermione in wonder. "With brains like yours?"

"Well, the Sorting Hat seriously did consider putting me in Ravenclaw during my Sorting," Hermione said brightly, pride in her voice. "But it decided on Gryffindor in the end. So, does that mean we're using the Galleons?"

There were agreeing murmurs, and everyone stepped forward to collect a coin from the basket. Dorothea was the last to take one. She didn't want to get squashed in between the crowd of students. As she was leaving the Room of Requirement, Hermione called out to her.

"Dorothea, can you hang back for a moment?"

"Uh...sure." Dorothea glanced at Luna, who gave her a small smile that calmed her nerves just a bit. When the room was empty, the two stared at each other for a moment before the younger looked away, pretending to be interested in the friendship bracelet on her wrist.

Hermione cleared her throat. "So, how did today go?" she asked. "You know, being with the whole D.A.?"

"Oh, um...i-it was okay." Dorothea rubbed her thumb into the palm of her hand, slowly breathing in and out through her nose.

Lying was useless. Hermione saw right through her.

The older girl approached her and took something out of her pocket. She placed it in Dorothea's hand. It was a smooth gemstone stone that had a small dip in it.

"What is...?"

"That's called a worry stone," Hermione told her. "You rub it. They help with anxiety."

Dorothea rubbed her thumb across the stone's smooth surface. It was cool to the touch and the colour of tiger's eye. "Thank you," she whispered.

"You don't have to thank me, Dorothea." Hermione gave her a kind smile when she looked up to meet her gaze. "I want you to be comfortable in these meetings. If there's anything that Harry, Ron, or I can do, just let us know, okay?"

"Okay." Dorothea nodded. "You can call me Thea," she added quietly before leaving the room. She tucked the stone away safely in her pocket and headed down to the Great Hall for dinner.