"Fred I though you said you had a place for us to meet...there aren't even any rooms in this part of the corridor!" Hermione complained.
"Now don't get your knickers in a twist Hermione." Fred smiled, but his brows were furrowed like he was concentrating hard. He began to pace.
"Fred what are you doing?" Ron asked his older brother.
"Concentrating...and I have to start all over, now the next person to talk's going to get their buttocks jinxed off." Harry, Emily, Ron and Hermione glared at me with a look that said "Do something!"
"Er...Fred?" But Fred didn't even look in my direction, he just kept pacing. He walked past the same length of wall once, twice, three times.
"Whoa!" We exclaimed with collective amazement. On Fred's third turn around, a highly polished door appeared in the wall as if it had been there the whole time. Harry eagerly stepped forward and revealed a room whose walls were lined with bookcases and instead of chairs there were large silk cushions on the floor. A set of shelves at the far end of the room carried a range of instruments such as Sneakoscopes, Secrecy Sensors, and a Large Foe-Glass.
"These will be good if we practice stunning." Ron said enthusiastically prodding one of the cushions with his foot.
"And just look at these books!" Hermione excitedly ran a hand over the spines of the nearest leather-bound books.
"Now I bet you're all wondering how I found this goblin's gold mine." Fred said quite proudly. "George and I wondered across it years ago when we were looking for a place to hide from Filch. This is also the place where I asked Ali to the Yule Ball."
"No that can't be!" I shook my head. "That room was smaller, and filled with flowers and, and fireworks!"
"You asked my sister out with fireworks?" Harry asked suddenly very interested in our conversation.
"Yes. It's no wonder Cho Chang said no to you." I rolled my eyes. "Hermione, how soon do you think you can gather everyone here?"
"So I've been thinking about what we should start with first." Harry addressed the room full of students who were watching the pair of us with eager eyes. But my eyes were on Hermione; she was standing across from us with the others, her hand high in the air. Harry followed my gaze and groaned at his friend. "What Hermione?"
"I think we ought to have a name." She said brightly. "It will promote a feeling of team spirit and unity, don't you think?"
"Can we be the Anti-Umbridge League?" Angelina called out.
"Or the Ministry of Magic Are Morons Group?" George suggested beside her.
"I was thinking more of a name that didn't tell everyone what we were up to, so we can refer to it safely outside meetings." Hermione frowned.
"The Defense Association?" Cho proposed. "The D.A. for short so nobody knows what we're talking about?"
"Yeah the DA is good!" Ginny agreed. "Only let's make it stand for Dumbledore's Army because that's the Ministry's worst fear, isn't it?"
"I like that Gin! All in favor of the D.A.?" Over half of the group rose their hands high above their heads. "Majority agrees then. Hermione you still have that list?"
"Yes right here." she nodded. I took the list from her and scrawled Dumbledore's Army across the top. I then pinned the list to the wall in a spot where everyone could see.
"So I was thinking," Harry said pointedly. "the first thing we should do is Expelliarmus, you know, the Disarming Charm. I know it's pretty basic, but Alice and I have found it really useful."
"Good idea Harry." I nodded. "We should all divide into pairs and practice." It felt strange giving instructions like a Professor, but even stranger to watch the other students oblige them. Once had been divided up, Harry and I stood in the center of the room. The room was suddenly full of shouts of Expelliarmus. Wands flew in all directions. Missed spells hit the bookshelves sending books flying.
"Er, probably not a good idea for us to practice together." Harry frowned from my side. "Neville looks like he needs a bit of help. I'll swap with Emily and send here over here to you." He walked off without another word.
"This is going well!" Emily called seconds later as she bounced over. "Hey why the long face?"
"Does Harry seem off to you?" I whispered, not wanting those around to hear us.
"How do you mean?"
"He just seems off. I can't quite place a finger on it. Like he's hiding something." I glanced in Harry direction, watching as Neville disarmed a distracted Harry.
"All people have secrets." Emily said, her tone clearly implying me.
"Expelliarmus." I said casually in response, sending her wand flying into my hand. We continued to practice as the others around the room did. Occasionally Harry or I would stop practicing with Emily and Neville to tour around the room. It truly was a good idea that Harry suggested starting with the Disarming Spell as an alarmingly low number of students had mastered it. Emily however, wasn't terrible at the spell, so we took more breaks than the others. That's what we were doing when Hermione and Ron came over.
"Have you checked the time?" Hermione said in a fluster. I glanced up at the clock on the wall, it was almost ten past nine.
"Oi Everyone!" I hollered over the crowd. "It's ten past nine, time for us to get going. Same time, same place, next Wednesday."