The Room of Necessity

Disclaimer: Shhh! The voices are speaking… WHAT? I don't own Harry Potter? I don't believe you! Toto?

NOOOOO!

The voices say that I don't own any of the songs/lyrics in this chapter either. Darn. How can they be so cruel?

Chapter Twelve

"Enervate."

Draco lowered his wand and hurried to Hermione's side once more, feeling for her hand and grasping it tightly in his own. He had finished bandaging her leg and so had removed the spell. With the wound so tightly wrapped the blood flow had considerably slowed and Draco was giddy with relief. Now all that was left was for Hermione to wake up… C'mon Hermione, wake up.

Dumbledore strode down the corridor, his robes fluttering in his wake. Baa baa black sheep was what he softly hummed to himself. Unknown to him, Professor Trelawnley was about to enter the corridor but hearing the terrible nursery rhyme, scurried quickly back to her room in the North Tower. Dumbledore carried on. Yet, his thoughts were not on little Baa Baa, oh no. His thoughts were dwelling on a certain Mr Malfoy and Miss Granger.

As he turned another corner and looked to his left, Dumbledore's wrinkled old face broke into a smile at the sight of a door he had not seen for many, many years.

Draco was sitting next to Hermione on the bed, still clutching her hand. He had moved her onto the blood-less side of the bed, but that had simply made the huge red stain more obvious. Draco had wrapped her in the duvet to keep her warm and had cushioned her head with many pillows but she was still pale, and hadn't moved.

Draco was in a very similar state, and near exhaustion although he sat deep in thought. Absently he massaged her palm with his thumb as his unfocused eyes traced the lines on the opposite wall without registering any details... until now. Why were there lines on the wall when there hadn't been before? And why only there? And why were they outlining a rectangle? He started suddenly. Was that a door? He jumped down from the bed and started towards it, Hermione's hand forgotten. A door. A door! He couldn't believe his eyes. Slowly, tentatively, he reached out a pale hand towards it... when it was violently flung open and he was forced to jump back to avoid being hit. In the doorway stood a suddenly very tall Professor Dumbledore.

Completely ignoring Draco, Dumbledore strode across the room and looked down at Hermione, his eyes not missing the drying stains that spread across the bed.

"Mr Malfoy? Please come here." Draco didn't hesitate. He walked up until he was standing next to Dumbledore.

"Explain." Draco looked up sharply. He had never heard Dumbledore sound so tense. Gulping, he took the plunge, and with a lot of stammering managed to relate what had happened to Dumbledore, starting from when him and Hermione had found themselves to be locked in the room. What they had discovered. That they had completed Stage One and Two. He did, however, omit a few things...

Dumbledore was still for a long while after Draco had finished. When he finally did move, it was only his mouth, which moved silently as if of its own accord. Draco stood next to him, his eyes raking Hermione's body to see if anything had changed. He saw nothing. Puzzled, he turned to Dumbledore.

"FATE!" Dumbledore roared, his flashing eyes searching the nearly empty room. Draco jumped away from him, shocked at the evident fury.

"I am Albus Dumbledore and as Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and the temporary guardian of these two pupils, I demand that you explain yourself."

Dumbledore watched grimly as another ball of light appeared and left a roll of parchment in his cupped, outstretched hands. He drew with his wand a stuffed armchair, seated himself comfortably and began to read, nodding occasionally to himself as his eyes darted across the page. Curious, Draco crept forwards until he could peer at the parchment over Dumbledore's shoulder. His eyes widened at what he read.

"It was an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini."

What could it possibly mean? Was it about Hermione? Draco glanced over at Hermione uncertainly before looking down at the parchment again.

"Is this the way to Amarillo?"

What the hell was Amarillo? And why was the Room asking him that? Draco shook his head, closing his eyes tightly. Reluctantly, he opened one eye, then the other, finally looking at the parchment once more.

"Draco loves Harry forever."

He gave a cry and jumped back, glaring at the parchment in Dumbledore's hand even as he backed away and Dumbledore gave him a querying look. Draco ignored him, so Dumbledore turned back to the parchment and as he continued to read, a smile forming on his face. Draco kept his distance.

Abruptly, Dumbledore stood up and threw the parchment to the floor, where it disintegrated in a burst of flame. Draco watched him warily, but eventually relaxed. There was a certain twinkle in his Headmaster's eyes that there had not been before, and he took it as a good sign.

"Well Mr Malfoy, lets have a look at Miss Granger." And with that, Dumbledore turned to the bed, whipped out his wand, and the bandages around Hermione's leg fell away. The bleeding had stopped, thankfully. Moving to stand over her, Dumbledore aimed his wand at the gash in her leg and Draco watched mesmerised as the skin knitted itself back together. It was still very pink, but at least it was closed. Draco tore his eyes away to watch Dumbledore as he cleared the bed of any blood and turned towards the door.

"I hope to be seeing you soon, Draco." The trance was broken.

"Professor! You're not just going to...going to leave, are you?" He finished, uncertain.

"Yes Draco, I am. The Room has explained its plan to me, and you will be unable to leave here until your task is complete. Do not worry. Everything will be fine." And with a small smile and a twirl of his robes, Dumbledore left. Draco watched, disbelieving and open mouthed as the door disappeared once more. With an angry growl he was about to launch himself at the wall when...

"Draco?"

He was by her side in an instant, gripping her hand so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"I'm here Hermione. I'm here. Its alright now, everything's going to be OK. It's gone, I'm here. Don't worry Hermione. I'm here." He was nearly wringing her hand. She looked at him curiously.

"What are you going on about?"

Draco looked startled, then embarrassed. He dropped her hand.

"Oh..." Memories of the night before came crashing down on her, and they weren't all pleasant. Hermione levered herself into a sitting position and Draco sat next to her on the bed. He looked sullenly at the opposite wall. He was so tired...

Feeling a gentle pressure on his shoulder, Draco turned to look at Hermione. For a moment all he could see was hair, masses and masses of bushy, unbrushed hair that needed at least a steam roller to go over it. Maybe he could conjure an iron or something… But then he saw her face and his eyes became locked onto her beseeching, watery ones; which stood out so starkly against her pale face.

"Thank you Draco. For… for everything." He didn't move. Her voice became worried.

"Have you slept at all?" He shook his head almost imperceptibly, still looking at her eyes in wonder.

"Come." Draco could only look at her. He couldn't move. The relief, the tiredness… it was all too much to cope with. Hermione was alive, awake, talking to him. The one person in the world that had ever trusted him was alive. Dumbledore had come, healed her, had said everything was going to be OK. Hermione was back, was whole… and was worried about him, thanking him. He was too shocked to speak, let alone act. All he could do was stare at her wordlessly, brutally fighting any tears of relief that wanted to make themselves known.

And yet, Hermione seemed to understand this. Gently, firmly, she reached forward and grasped hold of both of his arms, and pulled them towards herself. She pulled him forward and positioned him next to her, pushed him gently until he was lying on his back. She put one of her many pillows under his head and covered him with the thick green duvet. Draco was silent, unresisting. He watched as if from a distance as she manoeuvred and positioned his body on the bed, and then gingerly lowered herself until she was lying on her side next to him. He turned his gaze away from her, to stare straight ahead at the ceiling. He was in shock.

Draco jumped as he felt something snake around his waist and glanced uncertainly at Hermione, who was a lot closer than he had thought. Sighing contentedly, she rested her head on his chest, her arm lax but wrapped firmly around his middle and she closed her eyes, a peaceful smile spreading across her face

Draco was unsure; he didn't know what to do. He reached up and gently he let his fingertips brush against her cheek, scared that he was only dreaming. Happiness overwhelmed him as he realised that she was indeed there and would not disappear, and that both of them were safe.

Draco looked at the ceiling once more before closing his eyes and letting his tired body get a bit of rest. Everything was going to be OK. He knew it.

Meanwhile:

Harry and Ron woke up to find themselves in the Hospital Wing, Dumbledore sitting comfortably in a chair between them and humming Baa baa black sheep to himself.

"Professor..." Ron warned at seeing Harry's eyes flash.

Nobody drugged him and got away with it. Nobody. Dumbledore froze as Madam Pomfrey came bustling in.

"Glad to see you are both awake..." She trailed into silence at the look she was receiving.

"Harry, don't..." It was too late.

A/N

Sorry for the long time it took to update, but I had a bit of writers block and then HBP came out and well… you know. Either way, I thought I'd write something sweet to cheer me up after what had happened. I've chosen to ignore a certain aspect of the book and decided to carry on with this fic, regardless. Please don't flame.

But, THANK YOU! Wow. I never thought I'd be so happy in my life! I got more reviews for last chapter than ever before. Woohoo! A HUMONGOUS thanks to EVERYONE!

Also, as Snicker16 kindly pointed out, maybe I should change my summary so more people will read my fic. But as luck would have it, I can't write summaries to safe my life from bunnies. So, if anyone had any suggestions…? They'd be more than welcome.

And FINALLY, if anyone has finished HBP and wants to have a good grumble, or express their feelings of disbelief, please e-mail me. I think we have something in common. Grrr… Or visit Incoming fluff for the next few chapters.