Hermione followed Draco up the infamous moving staircases of Hogwarts, keeping a small distance between them at all times. Despite her body's betrayal of her mind, she was not at all okay with the matter at hand. Being in the same classroom as Draco Malfoy was one thing, but being completely alone with him was an entirely different thing. At least she had witnesses in a classroom. Here, with no one but the portraits on the walls to keep her company, she felt very vulnerable. She clutched her wand beneath her robes absentmindedly, assuring herself that if need be, she could stun him and make a break for it.
"Where in the name of Merlin is he taking me?" She wondered, having already climbed five flights of stairs. She was getting impatient, and the deafening slience between the two was only making her feel even more uneasy. Though, what could they possibly talk about? They clearly weren't friends, so being chummy with him as she would with Harry or Ron was simply out of the question. But she couldn't stand not speaking to him, as it only made her tension greater, and therefore decided to engage in something more acceptable.
"That was brilliant, you know. What you did with the peppermint, I mean. How did you know that would counter-balance the effects of the potion?" She asked with sincere curiosity. Draco smirked devilishly, the mere sight of it causing Hermione's breath to hitch-in...fear? Yes, that must have been it-and rolled the question around in his mind, testng it. Finally, he spoke. "A friend suggested the idea to me." Something about the way he said "friend" made Hermione think that said person was anything but a friend. She nodded, realising that perhaps returning to the silence would be best for now.
After climbing to the seventh floor, Draco finally stepped off the stairs, Hermione soon treading after him. They had only walked a short way down the corridor when Draco stopped, turning to face Hermione, his eyes smoldering into hers. "Wait here," he ordered, stomping off towards one of the walls before she could reply.
She watched as he began pacing back and forth quickly down the hall, realisation dawning on her as a large door began forming along the wall. She couldn't believe her eyes. "The Room of Requirement?" She asked, confusion sweeping over her. The Room of Requirement would always be available and equipped with whatever someone desired if they needed it bad enough. She knew that. But what could Draco possibly need from there? And why was her presence necessary?
Draco's eyes met hers again, one hand on the door knob. "You're going to have to trust me," he insisted. "Like that will ever happen," Hermione scoffed internally, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes. She had made it this far, and she had no intention of turning back now. He had something he wanted her to see, and she was going to see it even if it killed her. "On second thought..." She closed her eyes briefly, clearing her head, and stepped towards him as he opened the door.
The Room of Requirement looked much different than she was used to; the only times she had ever been in there were to study and, more recently, to take part in the meetings of Dumbledore's Army. But the vast library and wide training space that she was familiar with had now been replaced by endless piles of things that most people would lose: various knick knacks, small pieces of furniture, even a few books. "So this is what Draco needed?" She thought, rather sarcastically. "A fortress of bobbins?"
She wandered down Draco's path, observing the area around her with keen interest. "A person could definitely get lost in here," she inferred. The uneasiness in her stomach rose up to her throat as she tried to swallow it back down. "Is that his plan? Bring me here so I could be lost forever, without anyone knowing where I was?" A chill ran up her spine at the thought. "No. I'm more clever than that. Even if he did find a way to trap me in here, I could easily find a way out." She composed herself and continued following him, this time sticking by his side rather than at his heels. "He'll have to try better than this to scare me."
He stopped in front of a tall wooden chest with a pointed tip. She recognized what it was almost instantly. "Is that-?"
"A Vanishing Cabinet? Yes." He smiled faintly at her, then turned his attention to the Cabinet, running a pale hand down the edge of it. "I'm sure you're well aware of the fact that there are only two left in the world. One here, one..." He trailed off, trying to find the right word without giving away something that he could get in trouble for later. "Somewhere else," he concluded.
She inhaled sharply. "Oh, bloody hell. He is trying to get rid of me." Instinctively, she took a step back. He didn't seem to notice, so she moved once more, this time catching her foot on a pile of books. Draco's head whipped around at the sound as they came tumbling down to the floor beneath her. She paled, slowly reaching for her wand.
He frowned, removing his hand from the Cabinet."You have no reason to be frightened. I'm not going to hurt you." She stood her ground, her hand still itching for her wand, and glared at him. Sensing that she was not at all convinced, Draco ran a thin hand through his blond hair. In this dimly lit room, Hermione noted, it looked almost white. As if being in this room with her, trying to face whatever it was that was bothering him, had aged him a good sixty years. She couldn't help but feel some sort of pity for this boy.
"Hermione," he paused, then let out a sigh, figuring that if he wanted her to stay, it would be best to just tell her everything now. "I brought you here because I didn't know what else to do. I thought you might be able to help me, and I-" He cut off, not wanting to reveal too much.
Catching his internal conflict, she used the moment to her advantage. This was not the time to be choosy with words. "What are you planning to do with this?" She demanded, rather harshly, gesturing towards the Cabinet.
"I've been mending it," he explained. "It serves a greater purpose than you could ever understand." Taking a deep breath, he continued. "I've been chosen, Hermione. Chosen to do things that even I hadn't imagined doing. Terrible things." He dropped his gaze to the floor, unable to look at her.
"Chosen by who?" She inquired. His eyes shot up, locking with hers. Warm brown to icy grey. His hand went to the sleeve of his robes, and she half-suspected that he were about to draw his wand, when he yanked his sleeve up. She gasped, taking in the sight. Imprinted into the sallow skin on his forearm was a skull breathing out a snake. She'd seen that insignia enough times before to know what it was: the Dark Mark. "You're one of them," she breathed. "A Death Eater."
It wasn't as if the idea was complete rubbish. Harry and Ron had always had their suspicions, and all three of them knew that Draco's father was a Death Eater, so it would make sense for him to be one as well. But seeing it for herself, seeing the Dark Mark blazing on his fair skin...it was all just too much. She wanted to run away from him and this nightmare she was in, but something deep inside her was holding her back.
"I didn't choose this, Granger," he snarled. "I didn't choose any of this. You think I want to hurt people? You think I want to do the things he's making me do? I may not be a strong supporter of your kind, but I would never do what he has in mind to do." The icy way he said "your kind" made her shiver. At least the Draco she knew was still in there, though she couldn't say that was necessarily a good thing.
He stared at her, and she could see tears welling in his eyes. He squeezed them shut, willing himself not to cry, and opened them again once he had regained composure. "My family is the only thing I have left," he said flatly. "If I don't do what he asks, who knows what he'll do to us? And my father..." His voice faded out into a whisper. "He would be so disappointed in me."
Hermione felt something tugging at her heart. Sympathy, she suspected, though how could she not have sympathy for him? Before this day, she never would have thought that Draco Malfoy could be so...vulnerable. Seeing him the way he was at that moment, she couldn't help put picture a frightened young boy, afraid of losing his family and, quite possibly, his life. She wondered if perhaps You-Know-Who had never existed, Draco would have turned out differently. Her thoughts drifted to a beautiful young man, laughing with his friends, not having a care in the world. Then, she thought, maybe she could have been one of those friends. "Maybe even more...Oh, not this rubbish again."
Taking a steadying breath, she closed the distance between them. Then, with a wave of ambition and courage, she reached up to touch his face, feeling the rough stubble that ran across his jaw. She hadn't noticed it before, but then, she hadn't noticed much of anything about him until now. Resting her hand on his cheek, she spoke as kindly and as gently as she could. "How do you figure I could help?"
His eyes bore into hers with such intensity, the same intensity she felt earlier when he first looked at her in Potions class, and she felt as if she were melting into the floor where she stood. "Touching him was a very bad idea, obviously. He might be able to be civil around you with his words, but I can't imagine he'd want to be touched by someone whom he believes has dirty blood." She immediately began to withdraw her hand from his face, her cheeks boiling to a colour as red as the blood beneath them.
"No, don't." He pleaded, catching her hand and returning it to its previous location. She furrowed her eyebrows, clearly confused. "It helps," he explained. "I've come to realise that everything you do helps."
"What are you on about?" She inquired. Up until today, they had barely said more than a few words to each other, none of which were very pleasant. "I don't know what it is about you, Hermione, but you captivate me so. You're a very good...distraction, from what I'm dealing with. I never would have thought I would say this to you, let alone any Mud-" He paused, correcting himself. "Muggle-born...but I need you, Hermione. I need you more than I've ever needed anyone else."