Disclaimer: Everything you recognise belongs to JKR, everything else is mine. This is also my first fic so please be kind

Chapter 6

Ginny stood in the Room of Requirement, nervously tapping her fingers on her thigh, very conscious of the ten or so pairs of eyes staring expectantly at her. Now she understood why Harry hated this so much. She cleared her throat.

"Right," She swallowed, her mouth was suddenly very dry, "you know why we are all here." She swallowed again; seriously, where had all her saliva gone? "We are here because…because…"

"Because Snape and the Carrows are dicks and something needs to be done about it." Neville supplied. The rest of the room cheered in support.

"Right, exactly. So Neville, Luna, Seamus and I were talking and we were thinking that we need to recruit new members,"

"Strength in numbers, am I right?" Neville and Seamus high-fived, although Ginny was not quite sure that that comment warranted a high-five.

"We also should brush up on defensive spells." Susan Bones suggested, "Some of us are probably out of practice, and we should ensure that we are all of a similar level, including the new recruits."

"Does everyone still have their coins?" Neville asked. The majority of the room murmured their assent. "Ok great, well we've figured out a way to replicate them, for those who haven't, and new ones for the newbies. We should meet maybe once a week again? I say we take a week or so to experience the 'new' Hogwarts so we can formulate official plans next time. Also, keep an eye out for potential recruits – no one younger than third year – but I think we should discuss recruits beforehand. I would also suggest no Slytherins; I know not all Slytherins will be a Carrow supporter, but we can't be certain, and I don't want to take that risk without exposing our organization. At least not yet."

"Ok so now the general admin is out of the way," Ernie MacMillan said, "Where the hell are Harry, Ron and Hermione?" Ginny raised an eyebrow.

"Oh come on now Ernie, haven't you heard? Ron is extremely sick with Spattergroit, it's spread to his Uvula so I technically haven't heard from him in weeks. Hermione left to go abroad with her parents, I suspect to Scandinavia," She winked at Luna, "Harry dumped me right after Dumbledore's funeral and I haven't seen him since…he's probably off chasing some Veela somewhere." She reached up to toy with her pendant, trying not to sound too upset. She could tell no one was buying her story.

"Riiight. So is that 'I don't know, or I can't tell you'?"

"Both. That's the official story, but truthfully, they were really secretive over the summer and wouldn't let anyone else help or tell anyone from The Order what they were up to. They said they had special orders from Dumbledore and he had instructed Harry not to tell anyone. So I truly don't know what they are doing or where they are. Fred and George have still got their coins and they're going to keep me i.e. us updated regarding Order business and general life outside Hogwarts. We know that the mail will be monitored and The Prophet can't be trusted as a reliable source. For instance, two days ago, there was a break in at the Ministry – three intruders under Polyjuice. The Prophet is covering it up obviously, but The Order think it was Harry, Ron and Hermione and that they were looking for something. They think they found it too."

The room burst into conversation, alternating between hypothesizing what the trio were doing, why and where. Ginny suddenly felt her lungs constrict painfully, and she was finding it very difficult to breathe; She had broken out into a cold sweat and was feeling very dizzy. She sat on the floor trying to get her breath back. She pulled her necklace out from under her uniform, but instead of being warm, it was like ice against her skin; instead of being bright, gold and glowing, it was dark, tarnished and dull; instead of pawing the ground and tossing its head happily, the stag was now kneeling on its front legs, its antlered head bowed in defeat. Ginny wrapped her hand around it and held tight as she struggled not to panic. Did this mean something? In his note Harry had said that this necklace would remind her of him, and that he has the pair…does this mean they are magically connected? Was he ok?

"Ginny, are you ok?" Luna asked. Ginny jolted.

"Yeah, just a headache. Are we done here? It must be nearly curfew. I really just want to take some headache potion and go to sleep." Luna helped Ginny up, as she still felt a bit shaky. The other members were filing out the doorway in twos and threes.

"I think that went well," Seamus stated, as He, Ginny and Neville started towards Gryffindor Tower.

"hmm, yeah." Ginny agreed, absently, still pondering over her necklace. They walked in silence to Gryffindor tower, and through the portrait hole. Each of them lost in their own thoughts.

"Well night then." They parted ways at the staircases. Ginny practically raced into her own dorm, and flung herself on her bed. She drew the curtains around herself and curled up by the pillows. She took placed the charm in the palm of her hand and just stared at it, hoping that it would give any indication of what was going on. She willed the stag to move, or the pendant to change colour; she even took out her DA coin, just in case the Twins contacted her. Nothing. She woke up to find herself propped awkwardly against the headboard, with the charm clutched in her fist, against her heart.

So…the first DA meeting! Not that interesting I know, but it needed to happen. Their meetings will get more interesting I promise. Also, the issue with the pendant, for those of you who have read the book, this is when Harry is wearing the Locket and he tries to get food from that village and runs into a load of Dementors and can't fight them off.