In the early hours of the morning Hermione Granger ran down the seventh floor corridor to the room of requirement. It was normal for her to be out of bed late at night due to the ever pressing need to get her work done and as a result she sailed pretty close to the wind in terms of being caught. This particular night she had been studying arithmancy even though this particular subject had no bearing on her career goals. She had carelessly fallen asleep on the books that she had spread over 3 desks in the library. When she woke up she found not only that her disillusionment charm had started to wear off, but also that her wand was lost somewhere amongst the books she had spread in front of her.
With quickened panicked breaths she quickly tried to put her books away, stuffing them onto shelves. Suddenly the sound of a creaking door and Filch's disgusting wheeze came from the back of the library. With sudden dread, Hermione scarpered to the back door of the library (which Harry had thankfully shown her on the marauders map) and ran up 3 flights of stairs 2 at a time. When she finally relaxed and stopped to catch her breath she realised with horror that she had walked straight to the corridor that she herself had told Ron and Hannah Abbot to patrol. Being head girl had benefits in terms of knowing where prefects were, but this power was seldom utilised by Hermione as her mind was often full of her work. She tore down the corridor in the hope that she'd meet Ron first, or indeed that her disillusionment charm was still in place. As she turned a corner she saw Ron's tired face. He was mid yawn as he caught a glimpse of her. He looked shocked to see her there and froze mid yawn (she would have been very disapproving of him in the same circumstance). Then rolling his eyes at her he whispered 'muffliato' pointing his wand at Hannah whose back was to him looking for intruders from the opposite direction.
"what the hell are you doing here Hermione. I know you're head girl but you aren't meant to take that to the extreme. We want to see some other bits of you too."
Confused, Hermione glanced in the mirror behind her hanging at the end of the corridor and saw quite a comical sight. The disillusionment charm seemed to have worn off just on her head and neck so far so she looked like a floating head in the corridor.
Fighting down her desire to giggle, her panic soon overrode her amusement and she replied "Ron do you remember where the other prefects are tonight?" He shrugged for a second and then thoughtfully said "I'm sure there's no one else on this floor or the two above. It's about half an hour until five and you should be ok after then. The flying team is allowed to be up then, you can argue that you're extra studious and want to study early. When you say it people will believe you, unlike when Harry and me used it last year. Filch threatened us with castration when we said it...bit extreme although no more extreme than the practical joke we had planned for Mrs Norris"
Suddenly Hannah spoke and glanced over her shoulder "Ron how much longer do you think the bushy haired ugly cow expects us to stay here I'm so f-ing tired." Hermione at first stiffened up with Hannah's glance, but clearly Hannah didn't see her behind Ron so she soon relaxed. She shot Ron an irritated look as he started to laugh hard in her face.
"I spose its one of the occupational hazards of being head girl, people talking behind their back about you and in front of your head"
"Yes, all the same Ron I I'm going to run"
She slid the mirror to one side, as it was concealing the secret staircase to the seventh floor, and with her face still glowing from the insult ran up the stairs to the seventh floor.
That was how Hermione Granger came to be running down the seventh floor corridor at half past 4 in the morning. She just wanted to get to a place where she could relax until she could return to clean up her remaining books and find her wand. Absent mindedly she walked past the tapestry of dancing trolls while trying not to think of Hannah Abbot's insult. She began her usual 3 walks past the stretch of wall to make the room of requirement appear.
Hermione did not mind being called a cow, but she was more image conscious than people realised. Her recently shrunk front teeth helped, however her whole life she put her appearance second to her studies and she had always wished she could have the best of both worlds. Viktor Krum had shown her more attention than she was used to and she was grateful to him for that, but he lived over the other side of Europe and she was here, hardly a relationship. What she wanted was to know someone who liked her the same way and who would love her for the way she looked. Suddenly Hermione snapped out of her thoughts. She had not been thinking about the number of times she was walking past the stretch of wall and she had not been concentrating on finding a safe place of rest. The room was not going to appear if she was thinking about her love life. She had been entirely lost in her thoughts so when she turned to look at the stretch of wall she was not surprised to see there was no door to the room. Cursing herself, she got ready to walk again but something on the opposite wall caught her eye.
The wall no longer had the tapestry of dancing trolls, but there was what looked like a transparent sheet of water like cloth, not unlike Harry's invisibility cloak when he was not wearing it. Beyond this material there was what looked like a second corridor and in this corridor was a mirror, a fountain and a cup. Hermione knew from her experiences of Hogwarts to be suspicious of such things, Hogwart's secrets are not all rewarding.
However, her curiosity got the better of her and she touched the wall where the tapestry was just with one finger. As she touched it a feeling of total bliss spread from her finger through her entire body. It was a warmth that made both her spine tingle and her heart pound yet she felt totally relaxed. Without any willpower to stop herself, she stepped through the material to the corridor beyond.
The whole room emitted a red warm glow. As she walked down the corridor, still filled with the extreme contentedness she had before, she came to the goblet which she now noted to have a small inscription:
'welcome to the lovesick children of Hogwarts. In order to pass through the corridor of courtship to the end you must first drink your sorrows in love. To become better in love we must first face up to the heartbreak we have faced in the past.'
Hermione, being the practical person that she was, laughed immediately at the crassness. 'Corridor of courtship?' she thought 'what a pathetic name for a place' but as she laughed the inscription changed
'This corridor usually appears to those looking for the other secret room of Hogwarts, though in their haste and preoccupation with lost love walk past 4 times, once for each of the chambers of the heart. Each of the 4 facets of this room will help you in love and in life. The first drink is the pain of the past, the rest paves the way for a brighter future. Can you face the pain in order to reach the benefits beyond?'
Hermione smiled uneasily. She was not used to feeling like doing something rash. She thought of the number of times Draco Malfoy had made fun of her looks, about how Ron wanted to get the best looking girl he could, about how harry barely ever gave her a second glance except when asking for help with homework. Then she smelled the liquid in the stone goblet. The goblet itself was quite ugly and made of a sandstone that looked like it might at anytime crumble away, however the liquid inside smelled like the sweetest drink she had ever smelled. She could just walk away if she wanted and no danger would come. But she knew somehow that this room and this opportunity would not show its face again. So she slowly lifted the goblet to her face and though she knew it may be poison she drank it dry.
What started off as a sweet tasting liquid when she first drank it soon turned sour in her mouth. She choked on the tears in her eyes until the goblet was finished. Placing the goblet down she stood waiting. Suddenly she felt an incredible crushing pain in her chest as she saw the boy who was her first crush, who she left behind in the muggle world. She saw her parents yelling at each other fighting over whether she should be allowed to come to Hogwarts. She saw the boy in Hufflepuff she had asked to the yule ball before Krum had asked her. She saw the boy laughing at her as she turned red with embarrassment. She saw Krum and felt his goodbye kiss. All of these things welled up inside her and the memories became louder and louder in her ears until suddenly they stopped and she found herself on her knees in the corridor. The goblet of sandstone was dust in front of her.
Trembling she stood up and nimbly ran her fingers through her hair. That was an experience she never wanted to have again. Slowly she walked forward to the next item in the corridor, hoping like the message implied, that the worst was over. The next item was the small fountain which she gazed into. The water sparkled with an inviting gleam. The water appeared purer than any other that she had ever seen and the fountain itself was perfect. It was simplistic in design, with four small jets that pushed out water slowly, but on the bottom of the fountain she saw a message
'you have come to what most consider the best part of the 4 step journey. Many do not see any point in going further than this point. However, if you do not go further the love you seek is not complete and will be given to you in a shallow kind without any real substance or insight. Try not to run. Do not forget that love is more than to be simply washed clean'
Hermione scowled she thought about the words and knew obviously that she was meant to bathe in the fountain, which as she looked at it would only just fit her if she curled up into a small ball. She thought about her clothes and how wet she would be leading a puddle back to the library. Sincerely hoping she wouldn't regret it she took off her shoes and socks and holding her robes above the water with her hands she stepped into the fountain. As she did so all of the little freckles on her feet and ankles disappeared. A small scar from when she broke a glass in the kitchen disappeared. She also noticed that though the substance she was wading in appeared to be water, her feet did not feel the least bit wet. After hesitating a second she dropped her robes into the water. They did not grow heavy with water, but felt light and as she looked down she noticed that all the crinkles in them had ironed themselves flat. Suddenly she realised this fountain was not full of water, but instead cleansed her of all of her imperfections. Eagerly she screwed herself up tight into a ball and put her whole body into the water. When she stood up her whole body felt lighter as though she had lost a few pounds in the water.
As she got out of the water she walked slowly to the mirror which clearly was the third step of the journey. When she looked into it she saw herself, but eerily it was as though she was seeing herself the way she always wanted to look. Her hair was sleek and shiny and all of the small blemishes on her face were gone. She had bright blue eyes. She was taller too with long legs and her waist was thinner. Her breasts were not exactly bigger, but with the change in the rest of her body they appeared to be so. Slowly a message came up in front of her:
'This mirror shows you what it is that you want from yourself. It is the unrealistic expectation and comparison you hold yourself to. You can walk away now and remain like this. The mirror has the gift of inner beauty. Of being able to recognise beauty in others. Of knowing what people want or need you to say and how to say it. You will glow with an inner light. If you have this gift you will have the ability to look at someone and know also if their love is pure in return. If you leave now you go no further but remain with your skin deep beauty. If you stay, slowly you will change back to your normal self. The longer you stay in front of the mirror the more of the gift you will have. The longer you stay the more benefit you will get from the fourth and final stage.'
Hermione was stunned. She could see how some people would not wish to stay in front of the mirror. Hermione was not a particularly vain person compared to most, but she had her insecurities. Looking in the mirror for the first time she really liked what she saw. She felt a great urge to run and to take her new found gift with her. She knew somehow that the mirror was waiting for her to decide. The mirror then flashed her images of herself with her new body walking through the school with boys staring at her. Then she was left staring at her face. The ability to recognise the right person to fall in love with was surely better than having just anyone want her. After all she could always tell the mirror to stop if she felt like she wanted to keep some of the fountain's effects.
"ok" she said "show me" suddenly her skin grew hot and she felt her body change. Her skin felt like it was melting inwards as though the heat from her skin was making its way into her head and into the centre of her body. Her blemishes slowly began to come back, her height was disappearing, the scar on her foot was returning, suddenly her vainity got the best of her "STOP!" she yelled and all was still. She looked into the mirror and noticed that she was her old height and she had lost the thin waist that the fountain had given her. But her eyes remained the purest blue and her hair was soft and silky. Her freckles and blemishes were also significantly faded. She had almost got the full benefit of the mirror, but had not got all of it. She found herself thinking of Ron and how he would have liked her much better if she had not stood as long in front of the mirror. Suddenly there was a tug in her chest. She didn't know what it was or what it meant. She knew that if she had stood in front of the mirror a bit longer she would understand it. Slightly irritated with her own obsession with looks she moved into the space beyond the mirror.
She was at the end of the corridor now. It was dark and foreboding here and she felt a chill which was a sharp contrast to the warmth she had initially felt on entering the corridor. If she had known then what this corridor held she would not have laughed so hard. As she stepped forward a door appeared at the end. A message flashed on it
'you are the only person to reach this far in the corridor. Your choices are wise and your motives are purer than most. You have some benefits from all components of the room, even when reliving the heartbreak you have felt from the past. The last area would have told you who all the people in your life are that love you and how much they love you. It would show you of all the people who you meet, who you would be most compatible with. It would also give you the ability to follow the people you love with your mind and know whenever they needed you'
Hermione scowled, she did not believe that she wanted this last thing anyway. Then she thought of all the times Harry had been in trouble and needed her. She cursed herself a little for not staying longer in front of the mirror.
The message on the door changed:
'Because you did not stand in front of the mirror for as long, you shall see only one person, the person who will love you best even if you both don't know it yet. The only person who has the ability to make you happiest. You will be able to know only when they need you and when they are safe.'
Hermione thought for a moment, perhaps Viktor? She again felt a tug in her chest, she did not know what it meant but she knew in her mind that it was not love that was making the tug occur. Then she thought of Ron again. The tug in her chest was still there though not as strong. Then she thought of Harry and the tug was its strongest yet. It was only when the feeling was at its strongest that she recognised it. It was not love but foreboding and heartbreak that filled her chest. In the back of her mind Hermione knew that behind the door she would not find any of these men. So, slowly but surely she put her hand on the doorknob and turned it. As she looked inside she saw a face that she never would have thought of first in a million years, but he stood there sneering at her just the same. The image of the boy she knew was not real, simply a shadow, like the ghosts that walked the corridors of Hogwarts castle. When she saw him a gateway opened in her mind to a possibility she never imagined. She knew somehow that he was safe and right now he did not need her but one day he would.
She watched as the ghost of the boy slowly dissolved into air.
She knew difficult times were ahead, for it was not a person who showed any sign of liking her. It was a boy who before now openly despised her. The boy was Draco Malfoy.