When Rowan got over the shock from the rush of noise that hit her seconds ago, she opened her eyes and took in the sight. The Room of Requirement. Simple stone walls that were covered with books dealing with Defense against the Dark Arts. Even in her eagerness, it seemed that all the other members were one step ahead of her. It actually seemed like they were waiting for her to arrive. Everyone turned at looked at Rowan when the door closed. Rowan couldn't stop the blood that ran up to her cheeks, she didn't really like this many eyes on her at once.
"Hey guys. Let's get started." Rowan said, with a small quiver in her voice. She walked over to the desk and set the picnic basket on top of it. She opened up one side and let Nazz and Deakon crawl out and perch themselves on the edge of the table. The students stared at the ferret and the tabby with interest. Suddenly they transformed themselves back into their human forms. A few of the girls in the room gasped, everyone else thought it was brilliant. Deakon smiled to himself for causing such commotion with the girls. Seconds later, Rowan met eyes with Harry, mentally letting him know to start the meeting.
"Okay everyone, can we all take a seat for a minute?" Asked Harry as he took his spot in front of the group. Rowan was still in awe of everyone's obedience to him. Though, she couldn't tell if Harry thought it was flattering or irritating. Deakon and Nazz stayed seated on the edges of the table behind Harry. Rowan leaned against the table's edge, next to Deakon.
"There are some things we need to talk about before we go any further. First of all, this is Deakon, Rowan's cousin and Nazz. They are going to help us with certain dark arts techniques…" Harry started. He looked at everyone in the room when he spoke. Directly in front of him sat Hermione, Ron, Neville and Luna. Bradley, the sixth year Gryffindor was sitting behind Ron. His brother Alex, a third year Ravenclaw sat beside Brad with Cho Chang directly to his left. Dean, Seamus, Ginny, Jordan and Virginia sat towards the back. Over in the far left corner of the room sat Zacharias Smith. Harry soon continued what he was saying.
"Other than that, I know you have all heard of Lynn getting kidnapped." As Harry finished this sentence his green eyes caught the sight of Virginia, Lynn's best friend, who bowed her head in mourning. Jordan instinctively squeezed her hand to offer some comfort.
"That's why were starting to have these meetings again." Harry voiced in a very serious tone. Everyone was looking up at him. He seemed like a general, pumping up all the soldiers before they went off to battle. Was that what this was going to come to? War?
"We are going to get her back. We'll fight back." Harry said this with such conviction that everyone in the room got the shivers up and down their arms. Rowan smiled at this.
"Anyway, this is Deakon like I said before. He knows a lot about the Dark Arts, so I'm gonna pass it over to him." Harry said as he took a step back and took Deakon's spot next to Rowan and Nazz. Deakon now stood in front of the group as they eagerly awaited his words.
"Uh…okay…how many of you know what shape your Patronus takes?" Deakon asked everyone. Only a few of them raised their hands, including Neville, Cho, Hermione, Ron and Harry. Rowan saw a hint of a smile creep up onto Deakon's face.
"Well, word on the grapevine is that Dementors are in service of Voldemort." A few of the students flinched at the mention of the Dark Lord's name. Deakon noticed but didn't make any mention of it as he went on.
"So I think defense against Dementors is the smartest place to start. We'll break up into pairs and go from there." After Deakon finished he walked over to Harry and they began pairing people together. Rowan was paired up with Alex. Bradley was paired with Ron. Neville with Virginia. Jordan with Luna. Hermione was with Cho. Deakon and Harry both walked around the room to help people to conjure their patronus'. All together they tried to think of their happiest memory. As Deakon and Harry circled the room, they caught snippets of everyone's conversation.
"No, you have to think of your happiest memory!" Alex said to Rowan, as she was getting more and more frustrated that she couldn't conjure a patronus.
"If you were me Alex, you would have a hard time picking a happy memory too!" Rowan said, as she lowered her wand.
"Come on, you have to have a moment stuffed in your brain somewhere!" Called Alex. Rowan stood there and thought long and hard. After a few moments of searching her brain a memory finally came to mind.
"My name is Severus. Don't be afraid."
Rowan lifted her wand towards Alex.
"Expecto Patronum!" She called out. Seconds later a burst of white mist began to flow out of the tip of her wand. It only lasted a moment, but it was enough. It was a start. Rowan had a wide, goofy smile on her face.
"See? What did I tell you?" Alex said as he walked towards her with a large smile on his face.
"Don't be a smartass." Rowan said, even though she couldn't hold in her laughter. Deakon and Harry continued to walk around the room and help anyone having trouble. All the kids who had done it before soon had otters and swans flying all over the room. Seconds later, there was a large gasp as Virginia had managed to conjure a corporal patronus. A large misty Dragon. At that, Harry decided they should that they should get some rest.
As Deakon and Nazz changed back into their Animagus forms, Harry took out his Marauders Map and started letting people out of the room in groups. Rowan left with Bradley and Alex, though they separated at the top of the stairway. Rowan had to go out of the castle again to let Deakon and Nazz leave. Once she had let them out, she quickly walked back into the Entrance Hall and went down the Slytherin corridor.
As she was walking the chilly corridor, Rowan had to suppress a giggle as she realized that Harry and Ginny hadn't left the Room of Requirement. Minutes later she was back in her warm dormitory and crawling into her bed. She had trouble sleeping because her adrenaline was still flowing through her and it gave her a constant excited feeling. It gave her hope that soon things would be all right. That they would somehow save Lynn and defeat the Dark Lord forever. Rowan shook her head at the ridiculousness of the idea. So, she kept her mind on happier thoughts and quickly fell asleep.