JADE FELT increasingly awkward as time started to go on. She was scared Luna was still upset with her, though she had no reason to feel that way.

Clearly, Luna still wasn't upset if they were walking down the hallway with all of their friends. Clearly, Luna wasn't mad at her if they were holding hands, and Jade was maybe grabbing her petite hand just a little too hard.

The smell from the Great Hall was almost overwhelming. There were hints of pumpkin, cinnamon, and basil wafting through the halls. In front of them, Terry patted his stomach again, groaning dramatically.

"The smells are too strong, I'm going to start eating my limbs if we don't get there soon."

Luna laughed, hiding her smile behind her free hand. Jade watched Mandy reach over and punch Terry on his right arm, scowling.

"You're lucky you're even going to dinner, Boot. Once I find out who hurt that squid, you're all done."

Michael shook his head, his shaggy black hair flying around. Terry leaned his head behind Mandy's back, staring directly at Anthony. He stuck out a long, pale finger, raising his eyebrows high on his head.

Red slowly crept up the back of Anthony's neck and on to his cheeks, but Mandy hadn't noticed yet.

The group rounded the corner, the light of the Great Hall illuminating their faces. The smells were getting even stronger, and the loud clanging of silverware and chatter among their peers grew louder.

"If none of you confess before the next DA meeting, I'm going to Stupefy all of you." Mandy mumbled as they stepped into the hall.

None of the boys seemed to hear, but the girls did. Jade clapped her hand on to Mandy's shoulder, grinning at her.

"There's the fiery Mandy Brocklehurst I know and love."

~~

At the beginning of the next DA meeting, Harry called for someone to demonstrate some of the spells they had learned over the last few weeks.

Sure enough, Mandy had volunteered herself and Anthony, since she had found out he was the main culprit behind the sickness of the Giant Squid. And sure enough, Mandy had stunned Anthony multiple times, to the point that Harry had to request her to use a different spell.

There were multiple other developments over the last week. Luna's father's interview of Harry had been extremely successful, and Jade was getting stopped every so often in the hallways, with first and second years asking her about Luna and the Quibbler. The older students would usually talk to Luna and Harry directly, and they had become skilled in hiding their copies of the Quibbler when Professor Umbridge banned it.

Jade liked the fame the Quibbler was getting. She knew Luna liked it too, as her father had already run multiple re-prints of the issue. Finally, her father, and her magazine, were no longer being seen as hosts for crackpot theories. Things were finally being taken seriously.

"All right, everyone. We're going to be practicing Patronuses again today. Remember, we are in different circumstances right now. You will not be in a brightly lit room with no threat if you ever have to cast this spell, you will be elsewhere, with a Dementor near you."

As Luna and Jade moved to stand across from each other, she heard Cho say something about how Harry was such a killjoy.

The room was suddenly full of wisps of bright white light. Some wands had animals leaping and bounding around immediately, while others were struggling to produce more than a white mist.

"Have you practiced at all?" Jade asked Luna, who was waving her wand around in different motions.

"I have, just a bit." She turned and smiled, then called out "Expecto Patronum!"

A hare burst from the end of her wand, bouncing around her legs, then hopping towards Harry, who clapped his hands together.

"Good one, Luna!"

Jade's eyes widened, watching the hare run around the room at lightning speed. As it reached Luna again, it slowed down, then faded away, the bright light going back up to her wand.

"I want to see yours, Jade." Luna walked over to her, placing a hand on her arm gently.

Jade moved her arm a few times, trying to copy the motion she had seen Luna do. She had struggled the last few times they had practiced, only able to produce an incorporeal Patronus.

This time, though, she had faith she could do it.

Good memories raced through her mind, flashes of the times she hung out at Mandy's house, her first kiss with Luna, the time she spent messing around with the girls in her dorm in Ravenclaw Tower.

"Expecto Patronum!"

As a tiger grew from her wand, the door to the Room of Requirement flew open.

A house-elf scurried by, fear in his eyes. He had eight hats stacked on top of his head, each one a different shape, size, and color. A small cloth hat with blue and red stripes nearly toppled off, but another student pushed it back on.

The next few minutes were a blur, with the house-elf trying to bash his head into the wall, and Harry's legs, and his wailing about someone following him. Slowly, every student turned to look at each other, or at the house-elf. He was pummeling Harry's leg with his tiny hands, still mumbling about a woman trying to follow him.

"Umbridge." Mandy muttered, her hands balling into fists.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? RUN!" Harry bellowed, and the chaos ensued.

Jade grabbed Luna's hand, then the small bag on the floor. She shoved both of their wands into it, tossed it over her shoulder, and ran.

They were two of the first people out, sprinting down the hallway as fast as they could. There were rapid footsteps behind them, and Luna turned to look, but she didn't appear scared, so they kept going.

They rounded a corner, slowing down as the footsteps behind them turned the other way. Jade steadied her breath, holding her hand over her chest and sighing.

"Do you think we got away?" Luna whispered as they slowly walked down the corridor.

"I hope so." Jade muttered, turning her head slightly.

No one was behind them, and no one was in front of them. They were in the clear.