After a good night's sleep on the edge (the very, very edge) of Granger's bed, Draco felt quite refreshed. He still felt silly about last night's little banter, but he couldn't help but tease the girl. She had set herself up for it. He wondered if she would be offended this morning too. He hadn't really meant to be mean. She was best friends with Weasley and Potter, right? Draco had thought she would be used to the suggestive jokes by now.
Sitting up in the bed, he stretched like a cat with his arms up, and back arched. He found it a rather relaxing and energizing thing. His back popped loudly (and a bit painfully) as his arms fell backwards. He lazily looked around. Seeing nothing but white and lavender and bookshelves, Draco came back to his current reality. Shaking his head to clear his morning sleepiness, he wondered where Granger was.
He looked over his shoulder to see that Granger was still sound asleep. Coming to the conclusion that waking her up would not help his case (in case she was still angry, which was quite probable), Draco took in his surroundings.
The room was mainly themed in a pale lavender color, with a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf (overflowing, of course) on one wall. There were 2 doors, which one of them they came through. A desk underneath two windows sat opposite the bed. The room was pleasant enough, with rather little decoration. The desk and (rather remarkable) amount of books made the room look half office, half bedroom.
Draco quietly got up from the bed and inched toward the windows. He had no idea where she lived. How would he know? It's not like he ever thought about those things. Psh. No, he really didn't!
The carpet below his feet was soft and cushy. Just a small fact that made his morning a little more enjoyable as he approached the windows. They were standard sized, with white paneling that made him feel like he was in the countryside. He looked out.
Shock!
Draco couldn't believe his eyes. For a second, he held his hand up to the window. It wasn't an illusion; he could feel the cool misty glass beneath his fingertips. Something flashed in his mind, and he was shaking Hermione awake.
"Hermione! Hermione, Hermione, Hermione! Come, come quick!"
She got up slowly, in a very reluctant way. That was not an unfamiliar feeling to Draco, and if it wasn't for the circumstances he might have sympathized with her.
But it was too slow. Patience snapping, he grabbed her by the hand and unceremoniously yanked her out of bed, dragging her to the window.
"Wha… Draco… What? What's wrong?"
"Look! Look, look, look! It's Hogwarts, it's Hogwarts! See, that's the Slytherin common room, and there's… And see! There's the Great Hall, in that window! Can't you see it?" He looked anxiously at her. She was standing there with messy clothes, messy hair, and a very just-woken-up appearance. But her eyes told Draco she saw it too.
She stared a moment longer, then began banging on the window. Shucks, why hadn't he thought of that?
"Harry! Harry, hey! Ron! Hey! It's me! Guys, look! Here!"
Wait, what? There was no Potters or Weasleys. He looked through the window in front of Hermione. Nope, still the Great Hall. And it's empty. What is she seeing?
"Um, Hermione…" Draco trailed off, breaking his eye contact with the windows to look at her. She seemed strained and frustrated, probably because her friends aren't responding. At least, they probably aren't, seeing as they aren't there at all. But are they? Draco was confused. Did she see something else? Darned room, making everything complicated.
Hermione seemed confused too. He could almost see all the gears in her head cranking.
Let her think, Draco thought to himself. She'll come up with some answers, I'm sure.
He looked back at the Slytherin Common Room. He had never really liked the common room, mainly because it was in the dungeons. Dungeons were cold and dark and musty. He liked to be free and open and light. Pretty contradictory. But most Slytherins, he had noticed, liked it. He wasn't sure why. Something to do with Slytherins and their evil demeanor, certainly.
It was just the same as always. Dark, with a mismatched lanterns hanging here and there, with the chairs and tables of dark wood, scratched and stained. The two hallways, one leading to the girls' dorms, the other to the boys'. No windows. Small fires placed around the walls of the octagonal room. Plenty of room to go lurk in a corner and plan your enemies' doom. No, Draco did not like the Slytherin Common Room. It always felt like you were being forced apart from the others. Forced to become a stereotypical Slytherin. Dark, dangerous, dependent on nobody, dependent on nothing but yourself. Blech.
Finding himself rather disgusted with the window, he scooted a tiny bit towards Hermione. She was still deep in thought. Her fingers tapped on the glass, like she was still unconsciously calling for help.
The Great Hall was much more appealing. Bright with the house banners, the bewitched ceiling a bright sunny blue. Weird weather for the time of year, but people would enjoy it while it lasted. That explained the lack of people. Or it might have just been classes. Draco wondered what time it was there. Where would he be right now, if he weren't trapped in this room-thing with Hermione?
As if on cue, Hermione's head snapped up and she snapped her fingers. Ooh, idea. Surprisingly enough.
"What do you see?" She asked. Good morning to you too. At least I'm not getting yelled at.
"This window," point to the left, "shows the Slytherin Common Room. This window," point to the right, "is the Great Hall." He looked at her. "What do you see?"
Her eyebrows rose. "That window," left. "Is outside of the castle, down by the lake. That window," right. "It's the Gryffindor Common Room. Why do you see something different?"
"Good, we're thinking along the same lines. Now if only…" The Slytherin Common Room had faded to grey.
"Now if only what? We had something to tell us what was going on? Or someone?" She paused. Draco knew what was coming. "If only I had the library." Never would have guessed you'd ask for that, Miss Granger. "I could look something up about the Room of Requirements, and see if there is something about windows. I mean, it makes sense that you're not going to see the walls around the room out of windows. That would be boring."
Boring? Sure. It's extremely boring when you're in a room that transfigures itself and everything in it.
Oh God, oh God. Transfiguring?
If I turn into a boat… Sweet Merlin, please don't turn me into a boat. Or a sponge. Or anything. Please. I like this version of Draco Malfoy very much, and I don't think I'll be changing my mind about that fact anytime soon.
"Rowena Ravenclaw would certainly come up with something more interesting than that. Oh, I know I read about the Room for D.A., I should have paid more attention. But I can't remember anything about windows. Or having traveling doors, for that matter. Well, other than the door that you come in and out of, that's obvious. But the rest of this is so weird! Windows that show inside the school? I've never heard of anything like it. And they can't see us, I think. Otherwise someone would see us. And I've never seen windows floating in midair out by the lake, and the ones in the common room obviously wouldn't be looking into my room…" Draco didn't want to hear the rest. He had more important things on his mind.
Nothing made sense! Stupid room. Hermione was not the only one who had read up on the room. He wasn't stupid, even though he wasn't miss know-it-all Granger. He wasn't going to let his father send him into some trick room that would kill him or imperious him or who knows what. No, he was a practical Malfoy.
The problem was, Hermione didn't remember because she didn't pay enough attention to it at the time, she didn't remember because there were no window parts. He had scrutinized those Rowena Ravenclaw and Her Triumphs and What to Expect When Your Mind's Wishes Take Over books up and down and in between the pages and invisible ink and everything possible within the rules of Madam Pince's and his magical abilities. This was beyond anything he had ever learned about the room. Expected of the room. Beyond his imagination, special room or no special room.
There was a moment of degradedness that struck Draco. No, he would never, ever come up with something crazy like this. Absolutely beyond his mental capabilities. He'd be put in Azkaban for being crazy and stressed and most likely a threat to the common wizard.
Was this part of Rowena Ravenclaw's mind? Her ideas? She was a founder of Hogwarts. But did that make someone's mind so twisted in such a strange way? Not evil, but intensely creative in a bad way. No, that would be highly unlikely. She probably would have been treated the same as crazy-stress-genius Draco: granted with a free one-way forever-long holiday to Azkaban.
Maybe the room had a mind of it's own now, with the amount of magic that not only made it live, but was stashed in it's ever-transforming walls. If he could make a button turn into a slug, he figured a room with a brain wasn't too far out there.
Enough with that, Draco's head voice scolded him. You've got enough on your hands without confusing yourself more than you have since the Slytherin Common Room went away. No arguing with that. He had a mighty fine headache.
And so Draco glared helplessly back at the grey window that had now become the glimmering library of Hogwarts, Madam Pince and biting creature books and all.