Rhyann almost forgot the time as she sat there in the door, lost in her own thoughts. Dinner had come and gone, but her stomach was in no mood for food. She judged by the approaching twilight that it had to be near time to meet with Potter and hurried off in the direction of the secret meeting room.

She passed a clock in the hall that said it was ten minutes until eight and she slowed her pace. Taking the route past Olivia the Ordinary's portrait, she went down the twisting halls. The dreamer had been giving a lot of consideration as to what she wanted to do with the secret group this year. She could easily get them suspended or expelled. She could have them turn on Harry again and fight amongst themselves. Yet she was compelled by her current situation to want to take another direction. She had been used as a tool, shouldn't she have learned something and be able to use them for her own means? Rhyann desperately needed out of the Malfoys' grasp. Her fear of what they could do and her love of Draco had stilled her from doing anything. There had to be some way around those things.

Approaching the spot where she knew the room to be, she stopped dead in mid-step. The door was there. It had never appeared when she had come up to it herself before. Surely that meant that Harry had to be inside then. She nodded to herself and opened the door. No one was in there.

The bookcases, tables, pillows, and the two stuffed chairs were there just as she remembered it. Rhyann looked strangely at the door, swinging it back and forth experimentally as if to test that it was real. She had thought this room was an enchanted one and keyed to Potter. Her hand ran down the polished wood and she peered again into the room just to make sure it was empty.

"Is there something wrong with the door?" A quiet voice made her jump.

Her small hand swept up to her mouth to keep her from yipping out with her surprise. Turning around, she spied Harry and his best friend staring at her curiously. She was a bit embarrassed by her reaction and lowered her hand as she walked into the room. Once they had followed her in and closed the door, she had managed to calm her racing heart a bit so that she could speak calmly. "No, there's nothing wrong with the door. I just… It's strange. The times I've come here first ahead of you, Harry, the door was never there. This time, it was there and you weren't."

Harry and Ron exchanged grins. "You never knew what this room was?"

Rhyann shook her head and the redhead flopped down into one of the chairs. "This here is the Room of Requirement." She still looked confused and so he continued on sounding a bit like his girlfriend when she rattled on about things. "It only appears to someone when there is a great need. We have been meeting in here for a few years now 'cause we have the need to be able to learn to defend ourselves against the Dark Arts. I mean, with times how they are and it started in our fifth year when we were being lorded over by a great ugly toad."

"Umbridge." Harry added and clarified it for her. "Umbridge worked for the Ministry and tried to take over the school. It didn't work, of course, but she gave it a good try. She came in as our DADA professor that year."

"And didn't teach us a bloody thing! Ministry approved class work, my ass!" Ron finished for him. "The only reason I got an O.W.L. for that class is because we were practicing in here. Now the class is going to be a terror again with Snape teaching it!"

Harry's expression echoed his friend's sentiments. "So, you see, you probably didn't feel the need last year, Rhyann. But the room appeared for you. So I guess you do now."

"Yeah, one summer with the Malfoys would make anyone want to learn how to fix them good!" Ron exclaimed and then gave the dark eyed Slytherin an apologetic look. "Sorry 'bout that."

"No need to apologize." Rhyann shrugged it off. She didn't care of they sat there the whole time insulting the Malfoys. She was not going to talk about them herself, but it was almost like a bit of a release for her to hear them do so. "I don't exactly what I feel the need for… I just…" She did feel a need to free herself, but she wasn't sure how to go about that it. The key might be with this group. If she could brainstorm things with Draco, they might come up with a clearer idea, but he was part of her problem at the moment and she could not trust him any more.

Glancing at the one seat beside Ron, she was going to offer it to Potter and summon over a pillow to sit on. It would have been nice if there were three chairs for them though. Just as she thought that, a third one appeared directly behind her. She stepped away a bit startled.

"You feel the need for a chair!" Ron sniggered.

"Oh… well, I was just thinking that there are three of us…"

Harry chuckled too and sat down beside the other Gryffindor, signaling for her to sit down in the newly arrived chair. "It's the Room of Requirement. It will provide for you whatever you need."

Rhyann sat down as gracefully as she could, smoothing out her robes once she was seated. It was very interesting this room. Did it respond to anyone's need? Or was it triggered to only wholesome ones? She would not test it to that limits with the two teens there with her. "Have you ever tried needing to have your homework done in here and then it does it for you?"

Ron gave a little huff and his cheeks colored slightly. "I tried. It doesn't work."

"It's because it works towards needs and not selfish wants." Harry smirked at him and leaned back. He tried to arrange his arms in a comfortable position, fiddling about a bit. His green eyes turned back to the petite young woman. "Thanks for saying you'll help us with this. I was a bit worried when Hermione said she didn't have the time to organize things…"

"She's got enough to do this year with being Head Girl and then N.E.W.T.'s." Rhyann nodded sympathetically.

"Yeah, she's already made a study schedule for all of us for the whole bloody year!" Ron snorted.

It was her turn to smirk. That definitely sounded like Granger. "So I agreed to help. She said that it was important and especially so since we need House unity this year… which is something that I don't know how to even make happen."

"Well, we had been talking," Harry started off slowly. "And we thought it would be best to do it gradually. Start off with just a select few. See how that works out and then bring in a few more so that the number from Slytherin rises. We want to start teaching to more students this year. Not just ones our age either. I mean, I know that will be a lot, but the room will grow if we need it to. We can hold as many as we want in here, even if it is most of the students here at Hogwarts."

"The more people that know how to defend themselves properly, the better." Ron nodded in agreement.

Their group had been fairly large last year and not every student had come to every meeting. If they wanted to recruit more, it was going to get quite chaotic in the room. She tapped her chin with a delicate finger. "You know, it might get suspicious if large groups of students were suddenly gone for a few hours in the evenings. I mean, you had nearly forty last year?"

"Almost fifty." Harry silently rattled off the names in his head. He was surprised he could remember all of them.

"People are going to notice that many students gone. Maybe if you split up the nights for different groups then it would not attract so much unwanted attention."

"That's a good point." Ron ran a hand through his red locks, tussling the longish hair. "I mean, if we double our numbers even, that's quite a bit to handle. But we can't be here every night ourselves. I mean, we got homework and stuff to do."

"Of course it would be suspicious too if you were disappearing every night as well." Rhyann reasoned. "You each could do one or two nights. I'll help. And you can pick people who've been doing it with you for these past few years that you trust to help others. We could split the groups up into Houses." She stopped herself and shook her head at that. "No, we need the unity, right? We'll mix up the groups. People from all houses in each one. That way there will be less students from each House missing in the evenings. We should have the different ages mixed in together too, so that the older ones can help the younger ones."

The Gryffindors sat quietly as she talked on. When she finally stopped, they grinned, pleased. Ron gave his best friend a nudge with his elbow. "Hey mate, it seems like we won't have to do any boring ol' planning ourselves! It's a real good idea, Rhyann."

"Yes, brilliant!" Harry piped in, smiling proudly at her.

It had all come to her so naturally. Really, it did make sense to do things that way. Especially if they thought they could double their numbers. Just The-Boy-That-Lived and his small group of friends had caused enough trouble, but dozens and dozens of them! She was going to have to find some way to get a firm hold on it all. She hoped that would to her just as easily when the time came.

"Thanks. We are going to need to make schedules and such. You two can choose who you want leading some groups. I think it would be good if we had another meeting with those that have been with you since you started before we begin this year. Let us see who is willing to do what and discuss exactly what we're going to do so one group isn't missing out on what the others are learning." A quill and some parchment appeared on a nearby table as she mentioned schedules. "Do any of the teachers know about the group? Do you think they can help out?"

"Yes. I mean, no! I mean," Harry fumbled around with his words, silently chastising himself. "There's a few teachers that know since we were almost caught in our fifth year. Yet it is best if we leave them out of it. They do have a duty to the school first and if they suddenly don't like what we're doing, we don't want them being able to stop us. We've done pretty well in teaching ourselves anyway."

Though she thought his reply a bit odd, Rhyann did not bother to pursue it. She had guessed that the Headmaster probably knew and she had no doubt that he encouraged it as well. "That's alright. I was just wondering. From what I've seen last year, you guys do have a good handle on things."

"Yeah, we do good ourselves." Ron seemed almost as nervous about Harry's answer as he did.

"So I guess any more planning can wait until the next meeting when more of us are here then." The dreamer did not turn to see if the quill and parchment stayed or disappeared. "Do you two have a preferable day for that?"

Harry gave a little shrug of his shoulders. "It's still the first week, so we haven't got that much going on yet. Maybe Wednesday will be good? Same time here?"

"That's fine." Rhyann made a mental note of it. She was hardly likely to forget anyway.

"Uh… so what Slytherins will you ask first?" Ron fiddled with some loose threads on his robes. "I mean… you aren't going to… you know…"

"No, I'm not telling Draco about any of this." She stated clearly and firmly. "You don't have to worry. I know he'd ruin it all." She saw them looking down at their hands uncomfortably and so she went on. "Listen, I know how to handle Draco and he's much too wrapped up in himself to care what I'm doing anyway. I know the Malfoys aren't exactly good people. And Draco is his father's son. I don't want to talk about it, but I didn't have the best of summers there. I hear what other people say about him. I've heard the mean stuff he's done to you all. So you have all the right to insult him if you like."

Harry and Ron exchanged befuddled looks. The redhead gave a shrug of his shoulders and seemed quite relieved. Harry, on the other hand, did not seem all that better with the situation.

"Good, 'cause he really is a bloody git!" Ron lounged back, relaxed, as if he had been holding that in for days! "So who are you bringing then?"

Rhyann did not need to think too long upon it. She already had two people in mind when the idea first came up. "Drucinda Nott and Millicent Bulstrode."

"What!" Ron sprang forward as if someone had just kicked him in his back. "Millicent will pound all us into little bloody messes and Drucinda will blab it all to Pansy and her spoiled squad!"

Shaking her head, she smiled at him. "Millicent may like to put on that act, but she wouldn't do that. I honestly think she's one of the most level-headed ones in Slytherin. As for Dru, she isn't Pansy's biggest fan any more. The two of them have sort of withdrawn themselves back from our house mates much like I have."

"Well, if you think those two won't tell anyone…" Harry said cautiously, looking nervous about the two selections as well.

"They won't." Rhyann assured them. "They'll do it because it's for me and because Pansy will never know." If she had to, she would make sure they keep the secret by planting the suggestions in their sleeping minds. It would probably be safer that way to do it no matter what.

"I'm glad you won't be involving Parkinson either. I can't stand that shrieking laugh of hers!" Ron muttered. He doubted that he would be easy with any Slytherin - other than Rhyann - knowing about their secrets.

"I'll bring them to the next meeting so that everyone can start to get use to House unity."

"Alright then." Ron stood up, glad to end the conversation there. "Best we be off so no one is wondering where we got to."

"Right." Harry stood up slowly and peered down at her. "Uh, I was just curious, umm, did you have any bad dreams over the summer?"

That was a loaded question, she knew. By the redhead's reaction - or, really, the lack thereof - it seemed he was oblivious to the meaning of it. Harry did know she was a dreamer though even if he did not understand truly what that meant. Rhyann could sense that he wanted to talk about it more and wondered what he had to say himself. "No bad dreams. You?"

"No… I made up for my lack of sleep over the last semester though." He gave her a sheepish grin.

"You two go back first. I'll wait a few minutes and then leave." She told them and did not rise from the chair. That way, neither of them could see how tense that last question had made her.

"See you later, Rhyann." Ron waved over his shoulder as he left the room.

Harry followed behind him and gave another smile to her. "Good night."

"Good night."

Once they were gone, Rhyann leaned fully back in the chair and sighed. She thought about her family and how much she wanted to be with them. She pictured her uncles in her mind and squeezed her eyes shut, concentrating on them, on her need to be with them. Nothing appeared in the room though. Harry had explained it would not respond to selfish desires. Though it felt like a painful need that made her chest ache, she knew that it was just her own selfish want. She would not apologize for it though. Nor would she try to stop herself from wanting it.

She closed her eyes again and imagined Lucius Malfoy's head upon a silver platter. She bet that even then, he'd be sneering at her. Of course that did not appear either, but it was amusing just to picture such a thing. Rhyann wished there were some way she could free herself from him, from anyone who would use her. There was only so much she could do by herself though. She was strong in the dreaming realm, but she had little power in the waking world.

Rhyann stood up to leave, having given enough time to the Gryffindors to get back to their tower. She almost didn't notice the book that was sitting on the chair Harry had been in. He didn't have a book bag with him. It might have fallen out of his robes since it was not a large volume. Her brows furrowed slightly as she leaned over to gaze down at the title: Daring Dialogues on Dreaming: Sleeping & Awake by Salome.

Her hand darted out and snatched it up. It was an extremely old book. She carefully opened to the cover page and noted the date it had been written was 1037. The corners threatened to crumbled between her fingers and so she had to turn the pages by pinching the middle. The author of the book had been a dreamer herself and she had theorized that what a dreamer could do in the dreaming realm, she could also do in the waking one. Salome stated to have been unsuccessful herself, but she claimed that the book contained the philosophy needed to guide other dreamers in that direction.

Rhyann had not noticed she had been holding her breath until her lungs started burning for air. She took in a great gulp, her hands trembling slightly. Could such a thing be true? Her energy in the waking world was not strong. It took a lot of practice and concentration for her to do more complicated magic. In the dreaming realm, she was a hundred times more powerful. What if it were really possible to bring that energy and her talents there into the waking world?

It felt too good to be true. Of course she had only read the forward of the book; she did not know what else it contained and if it might all be just a bunch of philosophical mumbo-jumbo. Yet the room had given it to her. It felt her need and this was the means it gave her to get it. She clutched the book against her chest and stepped out of the room.

She almost expected it to suddenly disappear, but it remained in her hands. Shutting the door quietly, she made her way back to Slytherin tower. The young dreamer had work she had to do this night, but if she could learn from the book and it did for her as Salome promised, she might get what she really wanted. Freedom.

And the power to gain that freedom.