The situation at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was deteriorating rapidly.  As it turned out, a large number of the students had lost family members to the escaped convicts from Azkaban, and found themselves the targets of any number of borderline-rude queries from their classmates.  This severely annoyed all four of the "transfer" students, especially Haru, who was finding his temper was rather explosive these days.  The next DA meeting couldn't come fast enough.

Zuko had long since had the Room of Requirement provide him with a new pair of swords —though weighing the risks had convinced him it was slightly less dangerous to leave them behind when he went to class. When the time for the meeting came, he went to the room early to drill and blow some steam.

Teo had beaten him there and was nestled in a corner of the room with a sketchbook, staring up at the ceiling thoughtfully.

"Hey," he said, before having the room set him up a closed-off area in case he decided to work with fire.

"Hello, Zu," the distracted young man said absently, turning back to his book and making some strokes with his brush.

Zuko considered asking what he was drawing, then discarded the motion. He'd just distract the younger boy. He withdrew behind his barrier.

Less than an hour later, a heavy fist pounded on the barrier.  "Open up, Zuko!"  It was Haru.  "We need to talk lesson plan!"

The barrier silently let Haru through.

The young earthbender had tied his hair back at the nape of his neck and was wearing sparring clothes rather than the school uniform or his normal clothing.  His wand had been thrust through the belt at his left hip; on his right was a small bag.  The earthbender arched an eyebrow at him.

Zuko was holding his swords. There was faint cloud of smoke behind him. "So, how're we gonna work this?"

"First, we're going to find a vent so nobody notices the smoke.  Second, we should probably find out who has combat training among them — Teo tells me that some of the Muggleborn students he knows were enrolled in after-school martial-arts classes, and so they would know something of hand-to-hand," Haru said, considering.

Zuko nodded. "Right. Ty Lee takes those, and you take the others?"

"The ones who want to learn weaponless combat, yes.  You get the wanna-be swordsmen."  Haru glanced over his shoulder.  "And if you can, convince Teo to get some learning on this subject.  He won't listen to me."

Zuko nodded. "All right."

The older bender looked relieved.  "You should put the practise area away.  The kids'll be gathering in a few minutes."

"Got it." The prince closed his eyes, and the barrier sunk back into the rest of the room. "I like this room. Very useful."

"We can't take it back with us," Haru teased.

Zuko shot him a look. "I know."

The other man smirked.  "A sense of humour, Zu.  Grow you one."  He then moved to one side of the wall and began to stretch.

The younger bender muttered something rude under his breath, and went to sit next to Teo and wait for the other kids.  The youngest "transfer" greeted Zuko distractedly, making another note in his book.

"What're you working on?" he asked after a moment.

"New glider," Teo replied, looking up at him.  "Had to leave my old one back home."

The older boy nodded. "Right."

"Wish I could bring a broom back."  The boy sighed.  "Not that I'd be able to use it."  Deliberately, he bent over his book and made a few more strokes.

"Is that why you're not participating like Haru wants you to?" Zuko asked, quietly.

Teo went very still.  Then, just as quietly, he said, "What would be the point?"

"We don't know how long we're going to be here," the prince pointed out. "It could be months, years. Every little bit helps. And you're smart, I'm sure you can adapt at least some of it."

"I've already adapted everything I can," Teo admitted.  "I didn't learn to kick up on the back wheels to show off."

"How do you know what you can adapt unless you learn it?" Zuko replied.

"Common sense," the younger boy replied.  "The kicks are no good to me, and punches really only work if someone gets in range — and by then, I'll have gotten them with the chair."

"Not true. Suppose you're captured. You'll have a few extra tricks up your sleeve if they separate you from your chair. No one will expect it."

Teo hesitated.  "Well…"

"And my point about not knowing how long we're going to be here still stands," Zuko added. "Better know too much and never have to use it than not know enough when you need it."

"I guess so," said Teo, setting his brush down.

Satisfied that he'd convinced the younger boy, the prince turned back to watching the door and waiting for the other members of the DA.

As the students began filtering in in ones and twos — all had agreed that large groups were likely to get them caught faster — Teo quickly blew the ink dry and closed his sketchbook firmly.

Zuko stood and leaned against the wall, watching and trying to guess which ones would come to him.  Ty Lee was one of the last ones in, her head together with Ginny, the two girls giggling about something.

After a few minutes, Potter called the meeting to order.  He really hadn't got much better at public speaking when he knew that people might not like what they had to say.  "Um, we're going to be doing things a little bit differently today," he said hesitantly.

"Different how?" Smith called from the back of the group. Zuko frowned. He didn't much like the blond Hufflepuff.

"Um…"

Haru spoke now.  "Surprise tactics."

"What d'you mean?" Ginny asked, curious. Ty Lee had kept the plan a secret from her friend, apparently.

The older man shrugged carelessly.  "You all tend to… rely on your wands a little bit too much," he said, carefully picking his words despite his uncaring demeanour.  "So what happens if you lose your wand in the middle of a fight?"

"I break the other guy's nose," Ginny said, shrugging.

"D'you know how to do that without breaking your hand, too?" Ty Lee asked.

"Dunno, never had to try it."

"But you've got the right idea," Haru said encouragingly.  "Physical combat can turn up incredibly useful in a tight spot, especially if you know what you're doing and how do it without hurting yourself.  Ty Lee, want to demonstrate?"   He held out his right arm.

Rather than reply in words, she bounced over to him, almost impossibly fast, and struck a few key points on the extended arm.

The class murmured as Haru's arm fell limply to his side.  "Ty Lee," he said then, "happens to be an expert in a soft form of martial-arts.  It's very good for disabling one's opponent without killing them."

"By hitting points and blocking his chi, I can paralyze him or take away his ability to b— use magic." She'd never exactly tried that, but she was sure it would work the same. "Or both!"

Haru noted the contemplative look on Granger's face and tried not to swear.  She'd noticed the near-slip.  "It's this very skill that has made Ty Lee more than a formidable opponent on our island."  He smiled fondly at his girlfriend, then returned his attention to the club.  "However, it's also an advanced skill, acquired after years of practise."  His arm still wasn't working.

"It only works for about ten or fifteen minutes. But it does work."

The earthbender smiled ruefully.  "This is only one of the lessons you lot will have a choice of receiving, however.  Zuko here has committed himself to teaching you swordplay, and I know enough basic hand-to-hand to be able to work with whoever isn't ready for Ty Lee's lessons yet."

"Are you two going to demonstrate, too?" Smith called out.

"You may ask any Slytherin you see about my demonstration," Haru said sweetly, but his eyes had gone hard.  "As for the other — Zuko?"

The Room helpfully provided a target, which Zuko cut into several pieces in a series of quick, sweeping motions with his broadswords.

Haru turned back to Smith, one eyebrow raised.  "Enough of a demonstration for you?"

"...Yes."

"Any other questions?"

There were none.  Relieved, Haru got the club separated into three groups — those who had any sort of hand-to-hand training went to Ty Lee, so she could figure out their skill levels.  The remainder were divided between Haru and Zuko; the earthbender noted with interest that Potter had gone with those who wanted to learn to use bladed weaponry.

To the sword-weilders' general disappointment, Zuko shoved weighted wooden blades at them.

"Do you want to explain missing limbs to Madam Pomfrey?" Haru head a scornful Teo demand before he busied himself with his trainees, and laughed to himself.  Trust Teo to think up excuses on the quick.

Potter almost forgot to call the meeting to a halt an hour and a half later.  After everyone had been shooed off to the showers, Haru stretched like Zuko's cat.  "Not bad," he said with a slight smile.  "We should probably switch it out every meeting, though — the spells are pretty useful too."

"Yeah," Ty Lee said, stretching out herself.

Teo groaned.  "I've never been this stiff before."

"It'll be worse in the morning," Zuko assured him, before setting up a barrier to disappear behind again.

Teo groaned and dragged himself out,

Haru just shook his head.  "Poor kid."

"Could be worse. One of my boys almost dislocated his shoulder," Ty Lee informed him.

That hadn't been what Haru meant, but he chose to let Ty Lee believe it.  "I suppose you're right."

She bounced over and hugged him. "Are you sleeping here again tonight, or have you moved back into your dorm?"

"I refuse to go back to that bed of vipers," Haru replied.

"You can't stay here forever," she pointed out. "Sooner or later, Professor Snape'll find out and pitch a fit."

"Watch me," the earthbender muttered, putting both arms around her.

She sighed, and rested her head on his shoulder. "Well, he'll be pissy. And he's been in a worse mood than usual lately, I dunno if you've noticed."

"Well, he does have to give Potter 'Remedial Potions'," Haru pointed out.  The quote marks were audible.

"Yeah. Ginny says she doesn't know what's really going on. She thinks her brother Ron might, but he never says when she asks."

"Well, whatever it is, he probably needs it.  Since I don't think Snape is offering from the goodness of his heart."

"Not where Potter's concerned, anyway," Ty Lee agreed.

Haru sighed and pressed a kiss into her hair.  "Sometimes I think the politics back home are a lot more straightforward than the ones here."

"You've never been in our court," she said, dryly. "'Specially with the rumors about Zuzu's grandfather's death..."

"Believe me, I've heard a good many of them," Haru replied.  "Quite a few people in the Earth Kingdom were dreading the reign of Firelord Iroh.  Imagine the surprise."

"Azula says her mom was involved," the acrobat said quietly, after glancing over to Zuko's barrier to make sure he couldn't hear.

"Azula is a psychopath, darling," Haru said.  "I feel like some fresh air.  Come on."

"...Okay."

Ty Lee followed Haru back outside. "You think he heard that?" she asked, worriedly.

"Yes.  I do," Haru said softly.

"...Oh. Oops..."

"Yeah.  I'd… really rather not talk about that.  Not until he's ready to."

Ty Lee nodded emphatically. "Especially if what Zuli told me about why is true."

"'Women of the Fire Court are vipers'," Haru said softly, shaking his head.  "Or maybe whoever came up with that proverb threatened the child of one of the Fire Nobles."

"That's kind of what happened," she agreed, tugging at the end of her braid. "I kinda really hope she was lying."

"Azula always lies," Haru muttered.  "Except when she doesn't."  They'd come upon the lake, and Haru abruptly let go of Ty Lee's hand and, heedless of the cold weather, threw himself in.

"Haru—" she started, tempted to dive in after him.

He emerged quickly with a yell that would have awakened the dead.  "Oh, I needed that."

"Get out of there, it's freezing," she protested, wading a few feet in to try and tug him out.

"I'm coming, I'm coming."  He drew himself out and shivered.  "I think I'll just go jump in the lake whenever I get mad."

"Good way to freeze," she pointed out, but didn't try otherwise to dissuade him. "Let's get inside, you need to change."

"I hid my clothes," he commented.

"Well, go unhide them and change," she said, pushing him gently towards the castle.

"Yes, love," he said in his best 'henpecked' voice, and stole a kiss.

She was happy to let it be taken. "I'm heading to bed. I'll see you at breakfast?"

"Of course."

She kissed him one more time, then headed off to her dorm.

Haru watched her go, then headed back for the Room of Requirement to boot Zuko out and get some sleep.