A/N: Okay, Okay…..I know this update has taken like….forever. I hadn’t realized I’d left off at such a bad point!! I’m SO sorry, and don’t want anyone to think I’d actually leave everyone hanging until they just delete my story. So, here’s the next chapter and I promise not to take so long with the one after.

Inside of the Great Hall, tables were being cleared away to make room for dancing. There was still fifteen minutes left of the official first hour of the ball, so if any dancing was going to be done, it would be done with other house partners.

After the conversation about house-elves over dinner, Cindra seemed quite a bit less bored. She, Blaise, Harry, and Ginny were now all dancing, but were paying more attention to talking. Harry had repeatedly stepped on Cindra’s toes, but she didn’t seem to notice. Blaise, who was dancing with Ginny right next to them, DID notice and had actually teased Harry about casting a Feather-toes Charm on him so he didn’t break Cindra’s feet. With about five minutes left in the first hour, Blaise brought up the topic of the D.A.

“So, Potter, is the D.A. open to members from any house? I know of a few Slytherins who might be interested in showing up. We’re not ALL junior Death Eaters in the making, you know.”

Harry was a bit taken aback. He’d never dreamed there would be a day when Slytherins would join the D.A. It made him a bit hopeful. “Well, sure. The D.A. is open to anyone who’s interested in joining. I was planning to have the first meeting next Tuesday after classes and dinner. Bring around anyone who’s interested.”

A loud bonging sound began as the clock struck nine. Showers of green, scarlet, blue, and purple sparks fell from the Northern Lights ceiling, signaling the end of the first hour. Blaise bowed to Ginny, thanking her for the dance and her company during dinner. Harry felt pressured, so he also thanked Cindra for her time. With a promise that they’d check back with Harry about the first D.A. meeting, Blaise took Cindra’s hand and began to waltz her around the Great Hall in a complicated manner. Harry gratefully took Ginny into his arms and began to sway back and forth with her to the music.

“No trodding on my toes now, Potter. I don’t think my delicate feet could take it,” she teased him, playfully pushing his glasses farther up his nose.

Before Harry could come up with a witty reply, the doors to the Great Hall banged open loudly. In came a desperate-looking Draco, carrying a passed out, paler than normal Luna.

“Madam Pomfrey! Where’s Madam Pomfrey?”

Madam Pomfrey, who was up at the staff table, rushed forward through the throng of coupled-up students. Carefully she inspected Luna’s limp form, noticing the tiny puncture wounds.

“What did this, Mr. Malfoy?” she asked, as she conjured a stretcher for Luna.

“It was a snakebite. And I’m NOT putting her on that. I’ll carry her to the hospital wing,” Draco said determinedly. His eyes scanned the crowd until he spotted Padma. “You! I need you to come!”

Padma, who’d been Neville’s date and was still with him, came rushing forward. Neville came along as well, having no choice since Padma still had a firm grip on his hand. As the group made their way out of the Great Hall and towards the hospital wing, Draco addressed his reason for asking Padma along.

“I need you to go to Luna’s dorm room and search for the box the snake came in. Someone stunned a live coral snake and sent it to her, and she thought it was a fake. She said it was a present from a Quibbler reader, but I don’t think it was. I’ve GOT to know who sent it.”

Padma nodded and headed off towards the Ravenclaw dorms with Neville following along. Draco continued his purposeful stride, reaching the hospital wing right before Madam Pomfrey. He laid Luna carefully on an empty bed, leaning over to put his cheek in front of her mouth. She was still breathing, but only just. Madam Pomfrey rushed around making preparations for an Anti-Venom Serum.

“Mr. Malfoy, where is the snake that bit her? It would be helpful to make the serum if I had it.”

“It’s out in the gardens, stunned within an inch of it’s life,” Draco said, never taking his eyes off Luna.

“Could you please go get it?” Madam Pomfrey asked, pulling vials out of a cabinet.

“Send someone else.”

Madam Pomfrey turned to look at him raising an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

A little of Draco’s old, cold glint entered his gray eyes. “I said SEND SOMEONE ELSE! I’m NOT leaving her!”

“I’ll go,” volunteered someone from the doorway. Draco looked up to see Harry. Standing with him were Ginny, Ron, and Hermione. Harry quickly turned on his heel to fetch the snake.

“Why are you here?” Draco asked a bit coldly, turning back to Luna.

“Well, Malfoy,” Ginny answered, her voice taking an angry tone, “Luna is our friend as well. I know you think she’s your sole property, but WE’RE concerned for her welfare as well.”

Draco nodded his head slightly, muttering something that sounded like, “Sorry.”

Harry returned from outside a few minutes later, carrying the limp snake. As soon as Madam Pomfrey took it, she shoved the foursome out of the hospital wing so she could get to work.

“Potter!” Draco yelled, stopping Harry before he could make it out the door. Draco looked back over to Luna’s still form, taking her hand. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Harry said, tentatively smiling. “And it’s Harry, not Potter.”

Draco nodded to Harry before he followed Ron, Ginny, and Hermione out of the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey looked at Draco as if to indicate that he should follow them, but one glance at his face warned her that it would be a mistake.

Madam Pomfrey bustling about making the serum were the only sounds heard in the stillness of the hospital wing. Suddenly Luna began turning purple and gasping for air. Draco shot to his feet as Madam Pomfrey rushed over to administer the now-finished serum. Draco worried that she would choke, but Luna’s gasping for air did nothing to stop the chalky white-colored serum from making it down. When Madam Pomfrey laid Luna’s head back on her pillow, she had returned to a nice, normal color.

“There you have it, Mr. Malfoy. She’ll be fine now. Why don’t you run along and let her get some rest?”

The warning look came into Draco’s eyes again and he very coolly informed Madam Pomfrey that he wouldn’t be leaving. She realized she could do nothing but give in, and busied herself with putting away potion ingredients. Padma and Neville appeared in the doorway.

“Draco?” Padma asked apprehensively.

“Did you find it?”

Padma nodded. “I think so. This is the only box she had that a snake would have fit in. There’s a note taped to the side.”

Draco crossed the room in no time and took the box, ripping off the note and reading it quickly.

My dear Luna, I’ve heard that you have very unique tastes. I’ve also heard that there’s a ball coming up at Hogwarts. I thought that maybe a girl with your obvious flair for style could appreciate a hair ornament such as this. I hope you will wear it with pride. Sincerely, A faithful Quibbler reader

Draco shut his eyes tight, scowling. He wasn’t fooled for a second. The ink color choice, the type of parchment used, and the arrogant swoop at the end of each word all screamed out the sender of the snake. Even though he’d promised to protect her from him, Luna had been hurt by his father.

Draco spent the night in the hospital wing with Luna. He sat in a chair by her bed, his head resting on the edge. Somewhere in the foggy midst of his dreams, Draco was roused by Luna beginning to stir. He lifted his head and watched as her eyelids fluttered open slowly, her eyes coming to rest on him.

“You’re so beautiful, Draco; exactly what I would have chosen to wake up to, if I could have chosen. Do you still like me? I remember you saying you liked me.”

Draco smiled. How like Luna it was to wake up from a snakebite rambling. “Did I say I liked you? I really don’t remember,” he teased. It felt like the bottom was falling out of his stomach; kind of like the feeling he got when making a spectacular dive on his broomstick in a Quidditch match.

“You did say it, I remember. And I told you too. You remember that, don’t you?”

Draco gave her his half of a smile. “I might remember you saying something like that.”

“Draco, I think I’d rather like it if you’d kiss me. Would you? I think it could be ever so nice.”

The falling feeling in Draco’s stomach sped up, as did the thudding of his heart in his chest. He felt quite as if he was coming apart at the seams as he leaned forward, never taking his eyes off Luna’s. Draco brushed his lips against Luna’s, sweet and feather-soft. He savored the pulse-quickening sensation before drawing back and awaiting her reaction.

“Oh it was marvelous, Draco! I knew it would be. I’m feeling a bit chilly, and I have a notion you’d make an excellent bed warmer. Do you mind?

Wordlessly Draco stretched out onto the bed, spooning her back against his front and wrapping his arms around her. Soon the only sound in the quiet darkness of the hosptial wing was the deep breaths of their slumber.

Back in the Heads’ dorm, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione had all changed out of their ball attire and were discussing the events surrounding Draco and Luna. As news at Hogwarts usually did, the incident with Luna hadn’t taken long to spread. Members of the Order had arrived to confiscate the box and note that had been sent to Luna so that they might track down it’s origin.

“This whole thing just smacks of Lucius Malfoy,” Hermione stated, using an iron poker to stoke the embers in the fireplace.

“Can’t we ever have a nice, normal school year without stark-raving mad lunatics on the loose?” Ron asked.

Harry shook his head. “Not as long as there’s still a seriously evil wizard like Voldemort lurking about.”

“Oh please don’t start in on him right now, Potter,” Ginny pleaded, thinking again of the prophecy. “Let’s deal with one disturbed person at a time.”

The foursome sat quietly for a moment, staring into the now dancing flames in the fireplace. Finally Harry spoke. “I think we should offer to help Draco. I mean, evil elements always seem to have a way of crossing our paths. He shouldn’t have to deal with this alone. We could help him be…prepared.”

Ginny opened her eyes wide. She still wasn’t totally convinced of Draco’s change. “Are you suggesting we invite Draco Malfoy to join the D.A.?”

“That’s exactly what I’m suggesting. Let’s not forget, we’re officially a junior Order now. We have to work alongside the Order of the Phoenix to fight evil. I’m thinking we need to hold that first meeting as soon as possible. I’ll talk to Draco in the morning.”

“Any ideas on a name yet?” Ron asked, pulling Hermione away from the fire and into a chair on his lap. It was Hermione who answered.

“I have an idea, but I want to wait until the meeting to tell.”

Harry nodded. “Alright, Hermione. I’ll talk to Draco at breakfast. Tomorrow’s a Sunday. I think we’re going to have an emergency first meeting tomorrow after dinner. I’ll put up a notice in the morning.”

True to his word, before breakfast Harry pinned up a notice giving the meeting time and place. When he entered the Great Hall, he looked over to Luna and Draco’s usual spot. She had been released and was cheerfully eating and holding Draco’s hand. A bandage was wrapped around her neck to cover the snakebite. The interesting thing was that Draco and Luna weren’t alone. With them sat Padma and Neville, and a handful of Slytherins which included Blaise and Cindra. Harry cautiously approached them. Draco eyed him warily, but Luna beamed him her dreamiest smile.

“You’ve come to tell us about the meeting tonight, haven’t you, Harry?”

“Er…yeah. It’s going to be right after dinner in the Room of Requirement. Anyone who’s seriously interested can come,” he said, casting a meaningful glance at Blaise. “Er..Mal..I mean, Draco, can I have a word?”

Draco got up slowly, carefully watching Harry as he followed him to a corner of the Great Hall. “Alright, Pot…I mean, H…Harry. What do you want?”

Harry took a deep breath. “I’d like to formally invite you to come tonight. I think…I think we could help you.”

Draco stood quietly contemplating. Here before him stood his arch enemy, a Gryffindor, offering to help him. “Well…I’ll think about coming. I’m not promising anything.”

“Of course not. Well, hope to see you there.”

Harry realized that even this new Draco would be too proud to immediately consent. All Harry could do now was wait and see if he’d show up.

About ten minutes before dinner was over, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione left to prepare for the meeting. When they entered the Room of Requirement, all of the usual things were there; the books, the Dark Detectors, and other items. What was different was that the room seemed to have doubled in size.

“Wonder why it looks bigger?” Ron said, staring around the large space.

“Maybe the room knows something we don’t,” Hermione said. Before they had time to contemplate further, people began to arrive. Almost all of the old D.A. members came, excluding people such as Marietta Edgecomb and Michael Corner, who’d originally come because he was dating Ginny. In addition, there were many new faces; so far only Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and Gryffindors. Harry was beginning to feel like maybe Blaise hadn’t truly been serious, when the door opened and in came a new group. Led by Blaise and Cindra, it was a group of seven Slytherins. Bringing up the rear was Luna, happily dragging Draco by his hand.

“No wonder the room got so big,” Harry thought, looking over the group which seemed to have doubled in size. “Well, let’s get started,” Harry said, but before he could continue, the door opened and Charlie came in.

“Hello, everyone. Harry, Dumbledore thought maybe you could use some help from someone from the other Order to help with the new one.”

The last part was said in a whisper to Harry. Harry nodded and continued, feeling somehow emboldened by Charlie’s presence in this large group. “First of all, everyone here should know that this is a very serious group. This isn’t just some school club to join because you’re bored and have nothing else to do. If you join you can expect nothing short of hard work. We’re all about training to fight against and protect ourselves from dark forces. If you don’t think you can handle it you should probably leave now.”

Harry paused to let the full effect of what he was saying sink in. A few people looked a bit nervous, but none of them left. Harry’s eyes scanned the group. “You’re all sure?” he asked. Heads nodded and there were murmurs of consent. “All right then, I have some important things to say regarding this group. But first, anyone who’s not already a member and wants to join, please sign the parchment Hermione has just pulled out. Do not sign your name lightly. There are consequences for signed-up members who betray this trust.”

There was a moment’s pause in Harry’s speech as new members stood in line to scrawl their name in emerald ink across the parchment. When Draco’s turn came, the quill he was holding paused over the paper. Draco looked up at Harry sort of blankly for a moment, then turned back and signed his name across the bottom of the parchment. When everyone including Charlie had signed and Hermione had rolled up the parchment, Harry continued.

“Now that that bit of business is taken care of, welcome to members new and old. First of all I want to tell you that this group has officially been made a junior order.”

Excited chatter broke out amongst the group. Finally Ron stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled shrilly. “Oy! Let a man finish!”

When the noise died down Harry began again. “Before we start the actual meeting, I think we should decide on a new, official order name.”

Hermione thrust her arm in the air with such force that it was a wonder it didn’t come out of the socket. “Oh, Harry! I thought of a name. I think we should call ourselves the Order of the Dragon.”

Harry looked around to take in everyone’s reaction. “What does everyone think of becoming the Order of the Dragon?”

The new and old members of the junior order nodded, yelled, and clapped their approval of the new name. Harry smiled. “All right, we’re now officially the junior Order of the Dragon. Now let’s get started with a bit of a review of things we’ve done in the past. Maybe we could have some of the older members pair up with the newer members and then we’ll go through a couple of things.”

Harry waited while people shifted around to suit his request. They spent a few moments practicing disarming before moving on to Shield charms. Harry sent Ron and Hermione around to see who could shield themselves from the combined force of Godric and Rowena’s wands. Not one was able to.

“Don’t worry, we’ll keep working on it,” Harry assured them. “Eventually you’ll all be able to block even Ron and Hermione. Now we’ll work on Patronus Charms.”

Some veteran members had no trouble producing a corporeal Patronus, but most of the new members merely produced silver vapor. Before the end of the meeting, Ginny was playfully pouncing her tiger Patronus around the room, and Draco’s wolf Patronus stalked in and out between the students. Luna was obviously pleased with his progress as she jumped up and down at his side.

After about an hour, Harry finally called the meeting to a close, saying the next meeting would take place the following Sunday at the same time. Draco and Luna were the last ones to head for the door before Harry and Ginny. Draco paused in the doorway and turned to face Harry.

“I suppose I’ll see you next week…Harry,” he said, before being exuberantly pulled through the door by Luna. As Harry and Ginny straightened scattered books and cushions, Harry couldn’t help but think things were going pretty good.

Hermione and Ron hadn’t stayed behind after the meeting to help clean up. Ron had told Hermione that he had a Potions assignment due the next day that he needed her help with. Of course, she scolded him all the way back to their rooms.

“Honestly, Ron, maybe someday you’ll learn not to put things off to the last minute,” she reprimanded, falling back onto the couch. “Go and get your things.”

However when Ron came back down he had no books, parchment, quills, or ink; only a small box.

“Ron, where’s your work?” she asked with exasperation. “Honestly, you’ll never pass your classes if you aren’t even going to try.”

“Hermione, I lied. I don’t have a Potions assignment due tomorrow. I just wanted to get you here quickly so I could talk to you.”

Hermione simply looked perplexed as Ron sat next to her and gave her the little wrapped box. “Ron?”

“Remember I told you I had something for you, that I’d give to you at school? Well, this is it. I had to wait for Mum to send it.”

Hermione eyed the tiny package, willing her heart to stop beating so quickly. As she began to carefully pick at the wrappings, Ron began to ramble.

“I mean…we Weasleys, we’re not so well off…but this is something special. My Aunt Vera left it to me. It’s been passed down through our family for centuries. You’re supposed to give it to the person you want to…want to…ah…”

He stopped as Hermione lifted the lid off of the box to reveal a simple gold band. “Thank you, Ron. It doesn’t matter that it’s not fancy. I love it anyways.”

Ron pulled the ring out of the box. “No, you don’t understand. You have to put it on to really see.”

He took Hermione’s left hand and pushed it onto her ring finger. From the top of the band a golden morning glory bud sprang up. Within a few seconds the golden petals opened up to reveal the center of the morning glory. In the center was set a perfect sapphire. Hermione couldn’t speak.

“It changes to the birthstone and birth flower of whoever wears it. I’m supposed to give it to the person I want to…I mean this IS our last year at school and it isn’t too early to start thinking about…you know.”

Hermione smiled deviously. “No, Ron, I don’t know. Not too early to start thinking about what?”

Ron’s face grew redder than his Weasley hair. “About maybe…after school…someday…marrying me,” he stammered, looking at the ceiling. “I understand if you don’t want to. I mean…”

Hermione put a hand on either side of Ron’s face and forced him to look at her. “But, Ron, I do.”

As soon as Hermione spoke those words, tiny flower roots began to etch themselves into the gold all around the band of the ring. “Why did it do that, Ron? What does it mean?”

Ron took hold of Hermione’s hands on the sides of his face and looked deeply in her eyes. “It means…you said yes.”

A/N: Okay, I don’t know who all is still reading my story, but I hope you enjoyed this! Let me know in a review. Also, is everything seeming to go along a bit to smoothly for all the couples involved? Should there be a bit of mayhem? Let me know in your review. The next chapter will see more of Morgan the dragon.