Chapter 4
The Come and Go Room
"Yeah, Miss Genius!" spat Draco."I've been waiting here for you forever. I was hoping you had the password because that Aebitspaicey woman never mentioned it."
The haughty expression on Granger's face slowly transformed into one of confusion. "Well, no — I mean —" she stammered, "Now that I think about it, I don't remember her telling us the password either. And I completely forgot to ask!" And then with a look of someone who just had a brainwave she whipped around and shot back away towards the stairs.
"Where are you going?" Draco called after her.
"To Professor McGonagall's office of course," she said without looking back, and to Draco's annoyance, recapturing her haughtiness, "Where else do you think, Mr. Genius? She's the only other teacher who knows the password and the feast must have ended by now."
Draco huffed. It was as if his whole body complained if he so much as took a single step, let alone climb four floors down and then back up again. "You're going to go all the way down to the first floor? I just searched for this Merlin forsaken dorm for almost an hour, walking up and down the castle, and then spent as much time waiting for you!"
At this remark, Granger stopped and turned. She opened her mouth to speak but then closed it abruptly as if she had thought better of it. After surveying him for an instant she said, in a surprising tone of empathy: "If you don't want to come with me, that's fine. Just wait here until I find out the password and come back up."
Draco arched an eye brow. "And how am I going know that you'll come back? What if you go back to Gryffindor tower and leave me out here for the night?"
Granger let out a sigh of frustration, shook her head, and resumed going down the stairs.
"Wait! You didn't answer me!" called Malfoy after her, beginning to feel sheepish about his pathetic predicament.
Granger continued to go down the stairs. "Move your precious feet and follow me if you distrust me so much, Malfoy!" she yelled, her curly locks bouncing on her back as she hopped down each stone step. "I don't have all night to carry on these silly squabbles with you!"
Out of any more arguments to put forth and unable to trust the Gryffindor witch, Draco grudgingly followed behind her down to McGonagall's office on the first floor, his legs and back throbbing in increasing protest with each passing floor. When they finally arrived, they found the office door closed with no detectable light coming from underneath the sill. Granger knocked several times and even put her ear to the door to listen in. But there was no reply or sound. The two Heads waited, in frosty silence, for a quarter of an hour outside of McGonagall's office before they realized the futility of lingering there since they had no idea when the Deputy Head Mistress would be back or whether she would even be back before morning.
"So… What now?" Draco asked, more to himself than Granger, feeling even more distressed and discouraged than he did when he was waiting for her in front of the portal. While he cursed his unrelenting bad luck under his breath, the Gryffindor witch narrowed her eyes and bit her bottom lip, seemingly immersed in deep thought.
"You can always go back to the Slytherin dorm to sleep for the night," she suggested after a long moment.
Draco had already thought about that option but it was even less appealing than going back up to the fifth floor and spending all night on the stone slab in front of the dorm portal. The Slytherin Boy did not want to see any one from his house if he could help it. It was the reason why he had skipped the feast in the first place. He just wanted a moment's peace, some privacy, away from the pressure of keeping up his usual façade, and tend to the bruises and wounds inflicted upon him by his father the night before. But what he could not understand was why Granger was still standing there with him. She obviously had more options than he did.
"What about you Granger?" he asked her suspiciously. "Aren't you going to the Gryffindor tower to bunk with your precious mates?"
For the first time, the know-it-all witch appeared hesitant to answer a question and shifted uncomfortably as if at a loss for words. Draco noticed that she looked just as eager to see her friends as he was his. This made him feel slightly, surprisingly, and awkwardly akin to the brown-haired girl standing before him. He felt some of his anger melt away at the realization that the two of them were in exactly the same situation, at least for the night. The fact that he wasn't the only person in the castle isolated from his friends came as an unexpected but welcomed relief that washed over him and made him feel less lonely. He felt a sudden urge to find out the cause of such a drastic fall-out amongst Harry Potter's sidekicks. But not wanting to push for an answer from the Head Girl, lest she demanded the same from him, Draco decided it would be wise to drop the matter… for the moment.
"So, what now?" repeated Draco, so exhausted and drowsy now that he could no longer form any plans.
Granger bit her bottom lip and considered him. A moment later, she nodded her head and said: "Follow me."
"Where are we going now?" asked Draco as she walked away.
"Just follow me and I'll explain when we get there."
Having very little patience for enigma but even less for waiting for McGonagall to return, Draco pushed his achy body up the stairs until they paused on the seventh floor opposite a tapestry showing Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls to dance the ballet.
"Now what you need to do," Granger began with a patronizing air that exasperated him at every class for the past six years, "is walk along with me back and forth along this blank wall and concentrate hard on the thought that you need a place to stay for the night and —"
"Granger, I know about the Room of Requirement! Remember?" interrupted Draco, his temper rising and his foot pain pounding. It was obvious that she had forgotten all about the events in the fifth year. He, however, was not one to forget anything so easily.
"Oh… right…errrm…" stammered the Head Girl, a look of recollection and embarrassment forming on her features. Evidently, Draco was not the only one who has had a long day. "Then let's do this together since you already know what to do."
They walked back and forth three times along the blank wall before a door materialized before them. Draco took the lead and opened the door and Granger followed him inside. The Room of Requirement had turned into a breath taking bedroom with a four-poster bed gracing the center, adorned with elaborate carvings on every surface flanked by two matching nightstands. The bed sheets were of an indigo colored silk fabric, topped with a matching comforter embellished with intricate embroidery patterns of gold and red swirls. Two silk pajamas lay neatly folded on edge of the bed, a green one and a smaller scarlet one, each with their own set of matching slippers next to them. The ceiling of the bedroom reflected the night sky, and unlike the enchanted dome of the Great Hall that mirrored the outdoor atmosphere, it rather crowned the room like a velvety, midnight blue painting with innumerous twinkling stars. Flickering candles mounted on golden wall sconces softly illuminated the room while sweet smell of sandalwood perfume filled the air. A magnificent mahogany door with ornate gold inlays led to a bathroom to the right decorated with gold fixtures, wall sconces, an enormous Roman tub, and cream color towels with gold lace trimmings.
As tired as he was, Draco could not but stand in awe of the exquisite ambiance of the place. When he finished inspecting the bathroom, he emerged to find Granger looking around the bedroom, her face contorted with shock and dismay.
"What? You don't like it?" he asked incredulously. If he, Draco Malfoy, who was surrounded by wealth and the best it could afford all of his life, could be impressed by the luxury of this room, a simple muggle-born witch should have been overwhelmed by it. But she appeared too traumatized to respond.
"But — No, it can't be — I mean I was sure there would be — don't understand — where — how —" Granger mumbled, shaking her head and shuffling back and forth.
"What is it?"
"Maybe we should have done this separately — No, no, no. That wouldn't have made a difference —"
"What, Granger?" demanded Draco impatiently.
The Gryffindor girl stared at him, her face turning a deep shade of crimson. She took a deep breath and reminded Draco of a detail he missed as he admired the room's general splendor: "Errrm… There is only one bed."
