The Room of Necessity
Disclaimer: Nope, you guessed right. None of it's mine.
Chapter Three
Wand in hand Hermione watched as Draco threw himself against the door. She was fuming, but he looked so much like a frightened rabbit… Cute but really, really sad. She stalked up to him and noted how he quailed at her presence.
"What have you done Malfoy?"
"I've done nothing." Draco had begun to regain his composure. If she hadn't attacked him already, she wasn't going to.
"Move aside." He considered arguing but decided that it wasn't worth it. Reluctantly he moved.
"Alohamora." Nothing happened. She tried again. Still nothing. "Malfoy…" she warned.
"I didn't do anything, I swear!"
"Just wait until Dumbledore hears about all this." He gulped.
They spent the next few minutes trying to open the door. Draco was just about to try another spell when suddenly: the door disappeared, leaving nothing but hard grey stone wall. Draco and Hermione both screamed and flung themselves at it, but nothing happened.
"See what you've done!"
"ME!"
"No, it was Elvis. Of course you!"
"Who's Elvis? Never mind. Granger, I don't see how you can blame any of this on me."
"Quite easily." Hermione sighed heavily in frustration and dropped to the floor, her back resting against the wall where there had once been a door. She closed her eyes in resignation and sighed again. 'What have I let myself in for?'
"Granger," Her eyes snapped open. "Have you ever seen this place before?"
She surveyed the room they were in. No windows, no doors. No desks. It was a box. An empty box with stone sides. She began to panic.
"Where are we Malfoy?" He groaned. How could anyone think that she was clever? He opened his mouth to say something vicious, but closed it again. This wasn't completely her fault. Nor his for that matter. He sighed, deciding to be civil.
"I've never been here before in my life."
"It must be one of Hogwarts' special rooms." Draco cocked his head in query and she elaborated: "Dumbledore told Harry one time that there are rooms in this school that appear and disappear. This must be one of them." It looked for a second as if Malfoy was about to argue but for her eternal relief he didn't. "I wish I knew how to get out." Hermione closed her eyes again and tilted her head back against the wall. She was sooo tired…
"Me too." For the second time Hermione's eyes snapped open, but this time in shock. She looked sharply at Malfoy who was sitting across from her, against the opposite wall. Had he just AGREED with her? What was the world coming to? She was about to shake her head when a sphere of light appeared in midair.
"Granger?" Came a worried voice.
"I see it."
Hermione watched, mesmerised, as the ball came to rest on the floor exactly in the middle of the room. Then it disappeared, leaving in its place a scruffy old piece of parchment. Curious, she stood up and walked over.
"Don't touch it!" Ignoring him, Hermione picked it up. She sensed Malfoy creep up behind her and read it over her shoulder.
"The Fates work in mysterious ways. Welcome to the Room of Want. You can only leave when you have completed your task."
"Eh?"
'How odd…' Hermione reread the parchment and absently handed it to Malfoy before beginning to pace. He glanced at it once more and then resumed his seat, following Hermione with his silvery eyes. She was mumbling to herself while she paced. Meanwhile, Draco's own mind was ticking away, trying to fit the pieces of this puzzle together. Then an idea occurred to him.
"Granger?" She stopped her pacing and looked at him. "Are you hungry?" After all, it was about dinner time. The train he was supposed to have been on left after lunch.
"Malfoy I don't see what–"
"What's your favourite food? I like freshly baked bread, hot out of the oven." Hermione nodded, looking at him oddly. Yeah, she was hungry, and some hot rolls would go down well at the moment but what had that got to do with ANYTHING? He reminded her of Ron… She noticed the smug look on his face. What now? Hermione scowled until she noticed what he was looking at: a small basket of steaming bread rolls.
"Oh." She smiled and Draco looked back at her, grinning. Then they realised what they were doing and stopped.
"So… this is the Room of Want then."
"Honestly Granger, how slow can one person be? Yes, this is the Room of Want; and from what I have just cleverly discovered, whatever we both seem to want - appears."
"Then why can't we get out," She argued.
"Seems to me that we have a task to complete first," He mumbled around the bread roll that was in his mouth. "Anyway, it's your turn. You can figure that one out."
Again she scowled at him, but he paid no attention as he ate. Finally she decided to join him. Something was missing… Ah yes. Warm butter and knives appeared next to the bread.
A/N
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