TRAINING WHEELS

THE THREE BROOMSTICKS

049

The Three Broomsticks was far warmer than the Hog's Head and a lot cleaner too. Amora plucked her gloves off of her hands as she stood in the doorway, scanning the cosy pub for the friends that she was obligated to meet and rubbing her numb hands together to gain some warmth or feeling.

Draco's platinum locks stuck out like a snowy dove trooping with crows from where he sat in a booth towards the back of the room. He was smiling faintly at something that Theo was saying, his hands resting around his Butterbeer, but, as if he felt her eyes on him, Draco lifted his head, silver eyes twinkling at the sight of her standing there.

Biting down on her bottom lip to prevent a grin taking over her face, Amora's heart fluttered when all of the Slytherins turned to look at her now, waving her over. When she was with them she forgot all about Leon and Kathy and the rest of her housemates who were defending their new Quidditch captain. Occasionally, Amora felt herself wishing she had been put in Slytherin just so she could see them more often.

"There she is," Blaise greeted, standing up so she could slide into the booth next to Pansy, opposite Draco.

She would have loved to sit next to him, but the pub was crawling with Hogwarts students-- even if they were sitting in one of the darkest corners. At least when she sat next to Pansy she could come up with some sort of excuse for being within a three foot radius of Draco Malfoy. One that didn't include being his girlfriend.

Pansy brought out her wand as Amora shrugged her coat and scarf off, tossing her beanie onto the table in front of her. She cast a quick warming charm on the brunette, causing Amora to smile. She grabbed Pansy's arm and gave her a small half-hug, making Pansy jump a little in surprise.

"You'll quickly realise we're not really huggers, Amora," Pansy said, "Although, I would have thought you'd have caught on by now, considering we've been hanging out since the school year started back up."

Amora shrugged. "I'll make you all huggers. My favourites are group hugs," she teased.

Theo's eyes widened and he feigned gagging. "No. Nope. No way."

Amora wiggled her brows. "One day, Theo."

Draco was smirking in amusement for a few moments before he slid out of the booth. "Butterbeer?" He asked Amora.

Amora would have stood up too if Blaise wasn't blocking her way out. She shook her head. "No, it's fine. I can get it."

"No," Draco said plainly, "I'm getting it for you."

The brunette girl tore her gaze away for a split second to fumble for some Galleons in her coat pocket, only to find Draco had disappeared by the time she glanced back up. Sagging back in her seat in defeat, Amora placed the coins on the table and pouted with a frown.

"Don't be stubborn, Amora," Pansy said, "It barely makes a dent in Draco's wallet. Take advantage of it. He won't pay for ours."

Amora giggled a little and shook her head. "I forget he's a Malfoy."

"How?" Blaise retorted, "It's all he goes on about."

Amora remembered thinking the same thing about Draco before they started dating; that his entire personality was built off of the fact that he was the Malfoy heir and a pureblood, but she hadn't thought of him in that way in such a long time. When Amora saw Draco, she never thought of him as Lucius Malfoy's son or some rich kid-- she just saw him. It was insanely cheesy, but true.

"What did you say to your friends to get away from them?" Theo asked as he leaned forward and took a large gulp of his own drink, leaving some froth above his lip which he wiped away with the back of his hand.

"Oh, well I didn't really need to say anything. I came here with Hannah and she went off with Zena and Susan," Amora replied, "I'm not exactly Miss Popular right now, remember? My whole house thinks I'm unstable."

"I'm sorry, but aren't Hufflepuffs supposed to be nice or whatever?" Pansy grumbled, her face scrunching up in disgust as she swirled her drink around with her straw.

"Ah, that's a common misconception," Amora smiled brightly, excited to debunk the stereotype. "Nowhere in Hufflepuff's traits is there kindness. There's loyalty, patience, justice, hard work... Kindness does seem to correlate with it, but not always. I think people think we're ditsy idiots, but take Zacharias Smith for example-- total dick. Always has been, always will be. To be fair, I thought he was the only one-- then Leon showed his true colours."

"What's the Hufflepuff common room like, then?" Blaise asked interestedly.

"Brighter than yours," Amora replied, "It's got plants everywhere, high ceilings with windows at the top so you can see people walk past on the grass. It's like all brass and golden tones, I suppose-- and all of the doors are circular. Like a real badger's home."

"I'll stick to the dark Slytherin aesthetic," Blaise muttered, "Ever been in Gryffindors or Ravenclaws?"

"Not Ravenclaw's, but I've been in Gryffindor's a bunch of times!" Amora said, "Gryffindor's kind of looks like the rest of the castle, just with red everywhere. It's quite cosy, though. They throw nice Christmas parties."

Theo snorted but tried to cover it by sipping at his Butterbeer again. Amora frowned at him.

"What's so funny?" Pansy demanded before she could.

"I'm just recalling the last Christmas party the Gryffindors had. Oh, yeah, Draco wouldn't stop going on about it..." Theo said, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

Amora frowned for a few seconds before catching on, her cheeks blazing. "I had to do it!" She hissed, "People were chanting and I wasn't just going to embarrass him."

"I'm lost," Pansy deadpanned.

"Oh, right. Amora kissed Potter under the mistletoe," Theo snickered, making Blaise crack up beside him, the two boys leaning on each other as they laughed. "D-Draco tried so hard not to look mad when he found out."

Amora's cheeks felt hot to touch as she buried her face into her hand. "Please stop."

"That's when I realised something was going on," Theo mentioned casually as he stopped laughing a few moments later.

"Really?" Blaise raised his brows. "I knew he liked her way before you then. I kept trying to get him to admit it, but he kept saying he barely knew Amora. I knew for sure after he started that fight with Potter in the hallway. So that's why I asked you to the Yule Ball."

Amora's face scrunched up. "Huh?"

"To get Draco to confess," Blaise elaborated in an obvious tone, "But he's a stubborn arsehole and asked Pansy instead. Not that it was a bad night, Buckley. You looked gorgeous." He winked at her playfully.

Amora rolled her eyes with a small smile. "And there I was thinking that you genuinely wanted to go with me," she teased.

"Well, let's just say it wasn't a burden taking you," Blaise continued, "Either my best friend was going to confess, or I was taking one of the prettiest girls in the year to the ball. Win-win in my eyes."

The brunette's ears felt like they had been set on fire too. Pansy glared at Blaise. "I know you're a naturally flirty guy, but you better shut it before Draco comes back and literally flips the table on your arse. I don't feel like drama today."

"Jealous, Pans?" Blaise smirked, "I can flirt with you, too. Even though you're a lesbian. I've been told I'm even attractive to straight guys, so that's like... a lesbian's parallel right? So the same thing technically?"

Pansy pretended to gag. "Never compare me to a straight guy again."

"Why did you go to the ball with Draco if you don't like dick, Pans?" Theo asked, who hadn't been aware of Pansy's sexuality until this school year-- boys could be oblivious, especially the Slytherin kind.

"Cover up, obviously," Pansy huffed, "My parents wanted us to end up together to benefit the Parkinson name, and I knew Draco obviously wasn't interested like that so I said yes. Then he can pretend he's not making googly eyes at our Amora here all night and I can pretend that I'm as straight as a pole."

Amora furrowed her brows. "That's quite clever. Both of you using each other as a cover up."

"Draco didn't even realise it though, his self-absorbed arse thought Pansy would actually like to go with him," Blaise snickered.

"He thought I was crushing on him for years." Pansy rolled her eyes.

Harry was still staring at Amora as he was dragged away by Hermione, just long enough to see a flash of blond approaching her. Amora's eyes nearly widened when Draco appeared in front of her, but instead of looking at her, he was glancing over his shoulder.

"Look, you're not my first choice, Buckley, but I need a partner before Parkinson realises I'm free and comes hunting for me." Draco shuddered at the thought, glancing back towards her. "All your boyfriends seem pretty occupied, so this works in both our favour, I reckon."

Amora huffed and rolled her eyes when she realised he was most likely correct. She forcefully grabbed his hand and placed the other on his shoulder, having to crane her neck up slightly to look up at him. Draco seemed surprised that she had even agreed to dance with him, let alone been the first to take action.

Amora chuckled a little at the memory. She'd worked out that Pansy only gave Draco the time of day when she had to after Pansy told her that she was gay, but Draco was clearly too oblivious to even realise. To be fair, Amora always thought Pansy had been in love with Draco, but it turned out she couldn't have been further from the truth. If anything, the other annoyed them slightly, too similar for their own good.

"Talking about me?" Draco smirked as he arrived back at the table, Amora's Butterbeer in his hand.

He slid it across the table to her, a harsh glare crossing his features when Amora moved to push her Galleons over to him. He shoved them back.

"Don't be ridiculous, Amora," he scolded before turning to his friends. "What were we talking about?"

"How you thought Pansy liked you," Theo snickered.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Yes, well. That was quite a blow to the ego when I found out the truth."

Amora giggled, her hand moving to cover her mouth slightly as she shook her head at him. Most of the time Draco was funny without even trying to be. She grabbed her Butterbeer and took a long swig, appreciating the sweet taste as it trickled down her throat. Two figures that appeared at the end of the table made her start to choke on her drink.

Pansy tore the glass away from her and Blaise smacked her back as she coughed, her eyes stinging as she glanced up at Leon and Kathy standing there. Kathy was grabbing his arm, seemingly trying to pull him away a little, but when he tugged himself away from her and shot her a small glare, Kathy gave up.

"What do you want, Holloway?" Draco sneered, before he began to grin maliciously. "Come to see how mealtime is supposed to go? You see, it's pretty simple actually, when you go to hand your friend their drink, you just don't put Veritaserum inside it--"

"Oh, shut it, Malfoy," Leon spat, "I came over to tell you that I know it was you lot that pulled that little prank on me the other day in the Great Hall."

"Well done," Blaise scowled, "What gave it away? The fact that Draco had a wand in his hand, or the fact that we were all laughing our arses off at you?"

"Ah, no, Blaise, to be fair on Holloway, everybody was laughing at him-- not just us," Theo grinned, his tongue sliding across his teeth as he made eye contact with a furious Leon.

"Leon--" Kathy hissed, trying to tug him away again, but he shrugged her off once more.

"So, what, Amora? You can't fight your own battles now? You have your new friends doing all your dirty work for you?" Leon snapped at her, making Amora raise her brows a little with a nonchalant expression written across her face.

"I had no idea, actually," she said innocently before a small smirk crossed her features. "But... I am glad I got to walk in on it before it was all over. It was quite funny, actually."

Draco's grin widened from opposite her, his eyes eventually tearing from Amora as he glanced up to Leon, brows raised and an amused expression on his face as he watched Leon's face fall before rage took over.

"Look what's happened to you, Amora! The Amora I knew--"

"Shut up, Leon," Amora hissed, now actually angry. "Shut up going on about 'the Amora you knew'. Do you know how cheesy that sounds? I'm still the same person; I've just realised that I don't need you making all my decisions for me anymore."

"So what's your point being here, then, Holloway?" Pansy said boredly, "Have you just come for a chitchat? Come to threaten us..?"

"Maybe," Leon blurted, his eyes narrowing on Amora. "Maybe some of you should watch your back."

Draco immediately stood from his seat in the booth, his figure suddenly right in Leon's face and even looming over him slightly. His pale hand was clenched around his wand, his lip curled in his signature scowl. Blaise shifted in his seat slightly, prepared to tug Draco away if things got out of hand. Amora frowned worriedly.

"If you're talking to her then I suggest you take that back," Draco seethed, taking a step forward so Leon was forced to take one backwards. "In fact, for your own safety, I would suggest that you don't even so much as look at her anymore. Don't talk to her, don't talk about her, just leave her the fuck alone. Or you'll regret it." Draco purposefully flickered his eyes over to Kathy for emphasis.

Leon moved backwards, glaring. Kathy grabbed him much more forcefully this time and Leon didn't protest, allowing himself to be pulled away. Draco took a deep breath and didn't avert his gaze until they were long gone out of the pub, their figures trudging past the window in the white snow. When he turned, he found his friends looking at him in slight surprise and amazement.

"Anyone else kind of turned on right now?" Theo asked, earning a smack from Pansy.

"Draco..." Amora began.

"Don't," Draco snapped as he slid back into the booth. "Don't tell me I shouldn't have done that or that you could have dealt with it yourself."

Amora gave a breathy laugh through her nose. "Actually, I was going to say thank you."

D.M + A.B

By the next Monday morning, Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four had been put in place. Professor Umbridge must have learnt somewhere that there had been a meeting in the Hog's Head that Saturday, because now all clubs were banned. Nothing could exist without the permission of the High Inquisitor herself, and any student who even belonged to any club of some sort was said to be expelled.

Amora could not be expelled.

With Hermione helping to lead Dumbledore's Army, Amora expected news to spread that it was over before it had even properly begun, alas, that did not happen. In fact, Neville had informed her as they walked together a couple of days later that Hermione was now even more eager to get it up and running.

"The way I see it, is I would rather be expelled than get c-caught by D-Death Eaters," Neville said to her, his voice slightly shaky at the thought as they round the corner. "But I trust Harry. And Hermione. She promised we wouldn't all get caught."

Amora hummed slightly in agreement. "So nobody's pulled out, then?"

"Not that I know of," Neville shrugged, "We just need somewhere to practice. Somewhere where nobody will catch us, especially not Umbridge."

Amora liked talking with Neville. He was her first proper friend at Hogwarts and the only person to ask if she wanted to sit with him on the train. Whilst their friendship had dimmed out a little as the years passed, there was also a mutual agreement between each other that they would always be friends. Like last year, when Neville had helped her with Herbology some nights.

"Somewhere where nobody will catch us..." Amora repeated under her breath, her brows furrowed as she thought deeply.

Suddenly, a small rumbling noise came from behind them. Neville flinched and grabbed Amora's arm, the brunette's eyes enlarging as she turned around. The two of them gaped as the centre of a large bare wall began to blacken, before spirals spread out and danced across the bricks. Amora and Neville stayed close to each other, staring up in amazement as the wall became two large doors which swung open silently.

Inside, there was a huge hall filled with mirrors and bookshelves, but most importantly lots of empty space. Neville's mouth was still open in surprise.

"What-- What is it?" Neville questioned.

Amora blinked. "Ur- Um, I'm not sure. We should get Harry."

"What if it disappears?"

"Okay, you go and get Harry, I'll wait here," Amora ordered, Neville nodding quickly and rushing off.

Amora wanted to step inside the dimly lit room, wanted to see what it was all about, but she was half-scared that if she stepped foot inside, the door would turn into a wall again and she'd never be allowed back out. She stuck by the doorway, craning her head to look inside. Squinting her brown eyes, she could just make out that the spines of the books read things like 'Understanding the Dark Arts', 'Defence Against Evil' and others like it.

"Amora," a voice called.

Amora's eyes widened and she whirled around to see Kathy heading towards her. The curly-haired blonde girl was about to speak when her eyes landed on the huge set of doors and the empty hall inside.

"I-I've never seen this place before," Kathy said.

"Well, of course you wouldn't have, because Neville and I just found it," Amora replied stubbornly, crossing her arms against her chest. "What do you want? Come to rub it in my face that everybody hates me and loves Leon now? Just so you know, he's lucky that I don't tell everyone why I punched him that night--"

"I know, I know, okay?" Kathy said desperately, "Listen, Amora, Leon's changed without you. And before you say anything, no, this isn't another one of my desperate attempts to get you to be friends with him again. He's letting the whole Captain thing go to his head, he's angry at you so he's making it sound like you punched him for no good reason. Leon's... He's just changed now, okay? Even I can't seem to get to him anymore."

Amora swallowed. "What do you expect me to do about it?"

"Nothing," Kathy said, "He's not your problem to fix. I've been thinking about it a lot though. He slipped you truth serum because he wanted the truth and didn't want to lose you, and now he's being a dick about you because he lost you and he knows he'll lose everyone else if they know the truth about what he said--"

"Leon's Boggart was being alone," Amora recalled quietly, nodding along. "Makes sense. Does make him kind of messed up in the head for it, though."

"I used to mistake it for loyalty," Kathy whispered hushly, as if she was worried he'd come round the corner. "I thought he was so dedicated to you and his house that he was willing to do anything to keep you all around, but I think at this point, Leon's just doing it for himself. He surrounds himself with people all of the time, and I don't like who he's becoming."

"Then..." Amora couldn't come up with a quick solution. "I don't know, Kathy. I don't know why you expect me to help you out with him either."

"I'm not asking for your help," Kathy repeated, "I'm asking for your forgiveness. Not for Leon this time, for me. I'm sorry I stuck to his side the entire time and let him lie about why you punched him. I'm even more sorry for the way I haven't been talking to you for the past few weeks. I've seen how lonely you look... I should have said something sooner, but he really showed his true colours to me this weekend when he threatened you. I didn't think he'd ever stoop that low."

"Kathy, you're too loyal to him," Amora said, "And I'm telling you this because you seemed happier months ago, before this school year started. You're too dependent on him and it's blinding you. You should have realised he would stoop that low when he slipped me truth serum."

"I know." Kathy's bottom lip began to tremble and her eyes filled with tears. "I know, but I don't want to leave him. I'm in love with him, Amora, and I just want to help him."

Amora felt something stir in her stomach. Perhaps it was sympathy for Kathy, because she sometimes felt the same way about Draco. She liked to think she was a bit stronger than that though-- that if Draco was dragging her down with him then she would do the right thing for herself and leave him, no matter how in love with him she was.

The short silence was cut off by footsteps rounding the corner. Amora glanced up, her eyes meeting Harry's as he marched around the corner with Neville. Hermione, Ron, Fred, and George were in tow. They stumbled to a stop by Amora and Kathy, looking into the room in amazement. A fireplace was lit up at the very end of the room, welcoming them all inside.

"What is this place?" Harry asked.

"It's the Room of Requirement," Hermione replied, shocked, "It's also known as the Come and Go room. It only appears when a person is in real need of it. And it's always equipped for the seeker's needs. Amora, Neville-- how on earth did you find it?"

Neville shook his head. "We were just talking about how we needed somewhere for the DA... and it just appeared."

"It's brilliant," Harry grinned, turning to face them both. "It's like Hogwarts wants us to fight back."

And fight back they would.

D.M + A.B

The first meeting for Dumbledore's Army was due to be held the very next day, on Wednesday. Amora arrived at eight, just in time to catch everybody else filtering into the Room of Requirement. Dean Thomas gave her a small smile as he slipped inside, immediately complimenting Harry on the room. Everybody was in amazement, most having been unaware that the room really existed before today.

Amora took a place on a cushion next to Ginny and Fred and George as Kathy strode in, Leon right by her side. She frowned slightly, part of her hoping that Kathy would have done something by now. Maybe she wouldn't do anything at all. After all, Amora had barely seen Kathy without Leon for the past year.

The meeting started with Hermione asking for everybody to vote for a leader-- and Harry was chosen, of course. She pinned the parchment with their signatures on it to the wall, 'DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY' written boldly on top. For their first lesson, Harry suggested that they focus on the Disarming Charm (which Zacharias briefly suggested would 'do no harm against Death Eaters trying to kill them'), and Amora paired up with Neville, seeing as neither of them had anybody else to go with.

Wands were being flown around everywhere all lesson, 'Expelliarmus' being yelled in different variants of the British accent, all at different volumes and pitches. Amora managed to get Neville's wand to go flying out of his hand pretty quickly, watching it fly towards the bookcases.

"Well done, Amora!" Harry grinned, using a Summoning Charm to bring Neville's wand back over. "Now you try disarming Amora, Neville."

Neville gulped as Harry grabbed his shoulders and positioned him straighter so he didn't look so timid and anxious. Amora stood still with her wand raised slightly, as if she was about to attack him, and watching as Neville called 'Expelliarmus!'

Her wand went flying left, nearly smacking one of the twins right in the face. Amora grinned at Neville as his entire face lit up and he turned to face Harry excitedly.

"I did it!" He yelled, "I did it! I've never done that one before!"

"Good one, Neville," Harry said encouragingly, "Now try and see who can disarm the other the fastest. Your enemy won't always be standing still waiting for you."

Harry moved on to watch the rest of the students, leaving Amora and Neville to practice. They didn't have long left, maybe half an hour until they all had to sneak back to their dorms, but in that time both Neville and Amora managed to improve their Disarming Charms on each other. Amora caught sight of George messing with Zacharias', muttering spells that caused the Hufflepuff boy's wand to fly out of his hand every time he went to disarm Anthony. That made her laugh a little.

By the end, they'd all agreed to meet the same time next week, and Amora felt a rush of adrenaline hit her at the thought. They could all get expelled for this. Somehow, despite how small and perhaps insignificant it was, it sort of felt like a revolution of some kind. As if they were going to take back the school from Umbridge somehow.

They were conspiring right under her nose and the pink witch had no idea.

...

i had a thought and maybe it's been answered before-- but there are lots of northern and scottish students at hogwarts and just generally people who don't live in or below london, so at the start of the school year, why would they be on the hogwarts express? like cho chang (scottish) why is she there-- like why does she have to go all the way down to london just to go back up to scotland? maybe ive misread something but idk

^ that was kind of random but yeah. thanks for reading <33

dyiansobrien.