CHAPTER NINE:
THE FIRST MEETING

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ESTELLE DAVIES DESCRIBED FALLING in love with Fraser McKinnon as drifting off to sleep and waking up from a good dream. For most of her life, she felt detached from reality. Like her head was in the clouds and her heart was on her sleeve. Her relationship with her parents and brother was strained. Her parents wanted her to get a job in the Ministry where her father worked in the Department of Law Enforcement. They wanted her to be just like her older brother, Chester. He was four years older and by the time she'd graduated Hogwarts, he had a stable job in the Improper Use of Magic Office and was engaged to a pureblood of high standing. Estelle felt lost, stuck between what she wanted and what people expected from her. But then Fraser came along, and suddenly everything made sense again.

He was two years her senior and the older brother of her friend, Marlene. The two knew of each other when they were in school but ran in completely different social circles, the older boy not even noticing his younger sister's quiet friend. It was only when she came by his house one day to spend time with Marlene that he made an effort to speak with her, and the fall was hard and fast. Fraser showed Estelle what it was like to live. They travelled the world together, just the two of them and the clothes on their backs. Estelle's parents despised him, but that only made her love him more. He encouraged her photography, cheered her on rather than controlling her. Fraser was her biggest supporter.

Even when she fell pregnant at the age of nineteen, he stayed. He was excited to be a dad, to start a family with the girl he loved so much. Fortunately, his parents were far more open-minded than hers, and they welcomed her with open arms where Mrs and Mrs Davies expressed their disappointment. For a moment in time, Estelle had hoped they'd be happy, proud of her. She'd seen their excitement when Chester announced his pregnancy with his wife. They were expecting a little boy, Roger, and Mr and Mrs Davies couldn't be more overjoyed to meet their grandson. However, when Estelle informed them of Freya, they turned their noses up and left her to fend for herself. She would've been entirely alone had it not been for Fraser and the spot he had offered her in his own life.

Falling for Fraser McKinnon was one of the best dreams Estelle Davies had ever had. She created a name for herself, gave birth to a daughter whom she adored just as much as her boyfriend. If Freya and Fraser were the earth spinning on its axis, Estelle was the sun, the warmth and the light.

And when Estelle died, Freya's light went out. Over time, she created her own light again, but never did it shine as bright as Estelle Davies. No matter how much she wished it would.

In the days after her confrontation with Umbridge, Freya's light was an inconsistent flicker, a singular flame threatening to burn out. She dreamed of her mother's face staring down at her in her baby crib, the ghost of a loving touch along her cheek. She dreamed of Marlene lifting her up in her arms that night before the Death Eaters came. What would've been had life not been so crushing.

George noticed it too. Freya really wasn't sure how. Maybe it was their friendship as toddlers, or maybe it was Freya being an open book that George was the only one looking close enough to read. Even Solana had seemingly forgotten about Umbridge, going back to how things were before. But Freya couldn't go back. This wasn't something she could ever completely move on from, it was more than just a tyrannical teacher, but what Umbridge had reminded her of.

George understood. Freya didn't know if she was grateful or put off by that. Nevertheless, she didn't complain as he followed her around like a lost puppy, cracking jokes and pulling pranks on unsuspecting Slytherins in the hopes it would put a smile on her face, even for a second. It was nice to have someone there to fill the silence, to keep her grounded in the present. It was George who dragged her along to the first meeting of Harry's little resistance group. Freya had totally forgotten about it until he showed up in the library with Fred, Solana and Lee waiting outside to drag her along.

In the days since the Hogsmeade trip, Harry had managed to find the perfect place for them to practice; a hidden room called the Room of Requirement. It was completely invisible upon first glance, only revealing itself on the seventh floor to those who desperately needed it. Freya would've completely missed it had it not been for a few of the fifth years already opening the bronze set of doors that morphed out of nowhere through the bricks. She spied Solana's brother, Dean, in the group and absentmindedly followed.

"Whoa," he gasped as the room revealed itself. "What is this place?"

Whoa, indeed. The walls were lined with ancient wooden bookcases of all shapes and sizes, the shelves practically overflowing with leather-bound books that Hermione was taking great pleasure in viewing. Instead of chairs, the centre of the room was full of large cushions made of crimson silk that Dean's friends had already moved to sit on, oohing and aahing as they admired the range of instruments like sneakoscopes and secret sensors stacked up in one forgotten nook of a bookcase.

"Come on," Solana said eagerly as she grabbed Fred's hand to drag him after her. "We should sit down before everyone else gets here and steals all the good spots."

Freya followed silently after them, nestled between George and Lee as they waited for the remaining students to arrive. It didn't take long before they did, filing into the room one after the other and sharing the same looks of surprise every time. Even Zacharias Smith seemed impressed, though he refused to admit that as he took one of the last spaces at the back and the doors faded back into brick. Silence ensued. Although he tried not to show it, Harry was nervous, unsure where to begin.

"Well," he stammered as he took his spot in the middle of the group. "This is the place we've found for practices, and you've, er, obviously found it okay..."

"It's fantastic," Cho exclaimed, prompting several others to murmur in agreement.

"It's bizarre," added Fred as he nudged George's arm. "We once hid from Filch in here. Remember, George? But it was just a broom cupboard then..."

"Well--"

"Hey, Harry," Dean piped up from the opposite end of the room, unintentionally interrupting him. "What's this stuff?" he asked as he pointed towards the sneakoscopes and secret sensors. Again, people muttered in curious agreement.

"Dark detectors," he said as he stepped between the cushions to head over to them. "Basically, they show when dark wizards or enemies are around. But you don't want to rely on them too much, they can be fooled..."

"Ominous," Solana muttered, giggling to herself as Fred sighed and shook his head at her.

Harry cleared his throat before joining them again. "Anyways, I've been thinking about the sort of stuff we ought to do first and... er.... what, Hermione?"

"I think we ought to elect a leader," she said when he finally noticed her raised hand.

"Harry's leader," Cho scoffed like it was obvious.

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

Everyone promptly put up their hands, even Zacharias, though he didn't seem too enthusiastic.

"Er, right, thanks," Harry mumbled with a red face. Freya smirked at him, snickering harder when Solana caught his gaze and sent him a thumbs up that did nothing to reassure him. "And--Hermione?"

"I also think we ought to have a name," she announced with her hand raised again. "It would promote a feeling of team spirit and unity, don't you think?"

"That girl's going to be Minister one day, I'm telling you," Solana muttered as Harry visibly contemplated Hermione's suggestion.

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

"I like that one." Freya nodded in agreement with George, "It's definitely straight to the point."

"Or the Ministry of Magic are Morons Group," Fred suggested, earning a glare from Hermione while everyone else laughed.

"I was thinking," she said pointedly. "More of a name that didn't tell everyone what we were up to, so we can refer to it safely outside meetings."

"The Defence Association? The D.A for short so nobody knows what we're talking about?"

"The D.A's good," Ginny agreed with Cho. "Only let's make it stand for Dumbledore's Army because that's the Ministry's worst fear, isn't it?"

Solana cheered appreciatively. "Ginny, you genius." The younger girl smiled bashfully.

"All in favour of the D.A?" Hermione trilled, kneeling to count the number of hands raised. "That's a majority--motion passed!"

"Jesus, I feel like I'm in a courtroom," Freya muttered as the bushy-haired girl summoned the piece of parchment with their names signed on it and a quill. She crossed the room to pin it to the wall with Dumbledore's Army imprinted across the top as Solana nodded along with her, "It's kind of fitting, though, considering we're criminals."

Fred snickered at them. "Oh, yeah. You're a really bad girl, babe."

"Merlin, do you two ever stop?" George groaned as Solana winked at his brother. "I think I'm going to be sick."

Fortunately, Harry addressed them before Solana could reply to Fred. "Right then, shall we get practicing? I was thinking, the first thing we should do is expelliarmus, you know, the disarming charm? I know it's pretty basic but I've found it really useful--"

"Oh, please," Zacharias scoffed, unable to resist a smart remark at Harry's suggestion. Freya had to admit, it was a bit basic, but it was definitely more on her level of skill so she had no reason to complain. She also knew Harry would have a good reason, some moral explanation behind every spell he decided to teach them. Zacharias, on the other hand, had not caught the hint. "I don't think expelliarmus is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?"

"I've used it against him," Harry mumbled as everyone else fell silent. "But if you think it's beneath you, you can leave."

Zacharias didn't move, his face pale as the twins leaned around to glare at him. Nobody else moved either, seemingly stuck to their cushions.

"Okay then," Harry nodded. "I reckon we should divide into pairs and practice now."

His eyes flashed with surprise as people actually listened to him. Freya chuckled, passing her cushion to George for him to put aside as she idled up to the younger boy with a small smile.

"Relax, will you?" she muttered only just loud enough for him to hear. "You're doing great."

Before he could respond, George was calling out for Freya and she was bidding Harry goodbye, making her way over to where George was waiting beside Fred and Solana.

"Where's Lee?" she asked as she looked around for the boy.

George shrugged. "I think he's trying to convince Angelina to go on a date with him."

She scoffed, not at all surprised. "Well, then. I guess you're stuck with me, Weasley," she said as Fred and Solana split off into their own duo.

"Such a shame," he sighed. "You ready to get your ass kicked, McKinnon?"

"Yes," she deadpanned much to his surprise.

"...Should I be concerned? You can't be that bad."

She rolled her eyes at him. "I think you're underestimating me, George."

And she was right. George soon came to find that Freya had a knack for messing up spells, even the simple ones. She managed to disarm him once or twice before faltering, too caught up in her own doubt to follow through with confidence. After her fourth failed attempt in which George just disarmed her instead, routinely gathering her wand and crossing the room to return it to her, she let out a sigh and dropped to the floor with a pout worthy of Solana.

"See? I told you," she muttered as George kneeled in front of her.

"Hey, come on, get back up," he said, reaching for her hands and trying to drag her up but she refused to budge. "You've got this, Frey, I believe in you."

"You're wasting your time, but okay."

She managed to disarm him once more before they both lost interest and watched everybody else duelling in their duos. Solana, while decent compared to Freya, was losing miserably to Fred which only fuelled his ego and served as a way to frustrate her. Lee wasn't even trying as Angelina consistently succeeded in disarming him. And much to their surprise, Zacharias was doing pretty good against Anthony Goldstein.

"Oh, we can't have that," George tutted, winking at Freya before raising his own wand in the boy's direction. "Watch this."

The next time Zacharias opened his mouth to disarm Anthony, his wand flew right out of his hand despite Anthony not even attempting to defend himself. George cackled as Zacharias frowned and picked up his wand, trying again but failing as George hexed him again. Now, that definitely brightened Freya's mood.

"Do it again," she snickered before bursting into full-blown laughter when George sent an outraged Zacharias' wand flying across the room. "Oh, that's gold."

"Really?" a voice sighed from behind them, prompting George to drop his wand and Freya to stifle her laughter.

"Sorry, Harry," George said hastily as the boy shook his head. Freya knew he wouldn't admit it, but he looked amused. "Couldn't resist."

"You've gotta admit, the git deserves it," she added.

"...I can neither agree nor disagree with you on that one."

"So is that your way of giving us permission to keep going?"

Harry shot her a deadpan stare. "You're pushing it, McKinnon."

"Noted."

Not long after, he decided to stop the group, calling for their attention a few times before finding a muggle whistle on a nearby shelf and blowing it. The room went silent as everyone lowered their wands curiously.

"That wasn't bad," he said, now at the front of the room again. "But there's definite room for improvement."

Freya sighed. "Can't argue with you there."

"Let's try again."

That time around, Freya did a lot better than she expected. Out of the eight times she attempted to disarm George, she succeeded four times. Fifty percent. That was a pass in her eyes. George's too, for he clapped for her happily and pulled her into a side-hug, smushing his cheek against her head despite her weak protests.

"I knew you had it in you."

"Well, that's not patronising at all."