Before they could do anything however, a soft knocking came at the door of 12 Grimmauld Place. Ginny ran down the stairs to open it, praying that it was important to interrupt what had been about to happen, and she found Luna Lovegood standing there with a very tired looking Hannah Abbott.

"Luna, Hannah, what are you doing here?"

"Harry sent us an owl telling us you were here, and inviting us to start the D.A. again." Ginny nodded slowly.

"But you weren't supposed to come for another three days. That's when Neville and the others are coming." Internally, she wasn't quite surprised that the often confused girl was early, but she was glad to see her best friend.

"My father sent me along with Luna this summer, since they were traveling. He thought it would be safer for me than staying in one place, since my mother…" she trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. It seemed unusual that Mr. Abbott would have sent Hannah off with the Lovegoods, but the next sentence answered Ginny's unasked question. "I think I remind him too much of her." Ginny didn't blame Hannah for sounding broken-hearted, and put her arm around her and led her into the kitchen, a miniature Mrs. Weasley in bloom.

"You two stay here, we'll be right down." The two girls nodded and Ginny quickly conjured up two cups of tea for them, ignoring Hannah's gasp of amazement. Nothing of course ever surprised Luna Lovegood. She raced back up the stairs two at a time just in time to hear Ron say,

"Don't give it to him, Harry. He'll just jinx you or something." Ginny opened the door to see Draco reaching out his hand for Harry's wand.

"Honestly, Ron. He could have killed us all while we were sleeping by now. What is it going to take for you to trust him?" Hermione argued in an exasperated tone of voice.

"Ron, we don't have time for this," Harry said, and handed Draco the wand. Draco pointed the wand at the locket and said,

"Apertum torquatus!" The locked popped open and Draco shouted, "NOW!" Hermione quickly poured the contents of the vial over the mist that began to pour out of the inside of the locket. The mist turned red, then black and began to make odd contortions and shapes. Harry began to see the shape of a dementor take form, and quickly grabbed his wand back to conjure his patronus. The silvery stag lowered his antlers and charged the mist, which emitted an awful shriek before evaporating. The locket slammed shut, and when they looked at it, the gold had turned to black. They all let out a collective sigh of relief, the breath that none of them had realized that they had been holding.

"That's three down, three to go," Harry said weakly.