"Sorry, I'm late." I apologized, still scurrying down the stair case. I saw Draco sitting cross legged looking up at the sky through his brass telescope sitting beside him a globe of the moon.
"Hey, don't worry. We've got lots of time!" He insisted.
"Ron and Harry asked if I could help them study for Transfiguration." I moaned walking up beside him then looked up at the moon that had already started to come out of the darkening sky. "So what are you working on?"
"Oh, nothing really, just Astronomy obviously, but it can wait." He looked up at me and smiled warmly, "I need a break anyway."
He packed up his equipment into an ink black string up bag and we headed towards the stairs and slowly climbed up them.
"So where are you taking me this time?" I asked curiously, "Hopefully somewhere more exciting than the kitchen." I looked up at him and chuckled. Probably anything was more exciting than the kitchen.
"Oh, I think you'll find it quite interesting." He spoke suspiciously as we reached the top of the stairs.
No one was in the corridors because the evening meal had just started so Draco and I walked together hoping not to run into anybody.
"What are you doing?" He looked down at my feet laughing. I looked down at them too and to my surprise I had been skipping.
I starting laughing at myself embarrassed, "Um, I guess I got a little too excited." I felt my cheeks flush red.
"It's okay we'll skip together." He said reassuringly.
We both started joyfully skipping silently down the hall. After a while Draco sprang in front of me in a goofy skip swinging his arms around like his elbows were sewn to his shirt. I slowed down to a walk laughing so hard that I had to cover my face with my hands to keep quite.
He reminded me of the man from Mary Poppins, the way he just gaily skipped around the corner making me run after him. Once I caught up with him he settled down to a walk and laughed away with me. Not long into our journey I found we had made our way to the changing stair cases.
"Where are we going?" I questioned once again.
"You'll see!" He laughed, "We're almost there."
We had climbed onto the first flight of stairs, then onto a second. After about 4 flights Draco had led us up he turned around to look at me.
"Okay Hermione, when we get onto this next stair case you're going to have to follow my exact lead." He instructed firmly which made me quite fearful of what was about to happen, "It'll be fairly simple but you are going to have to be quick." He spoke sternly in a protective sort of way.
The stair case shifted and we climbed onto the supposedly last set. This specific set right next the wall that was covered with portraits of people who chattered about. I watched as Draco madly got up on the railing and pushed open a portrait revealing a hidden room inside.
He gestured me to climb in and I did so just as the staircase started to move. I looked back to see him skillfully maneuver around the portrait and swing inside closing the secret door behind him with a slam.
"That was insane!" I exclaimed in awe. He just shrugged.
"I found this place the last week of 3rd year." He strolled in gingerly looking around the room taking a deep breath as if he was preparing to give a speech.
We were standing on a balcony that stretched around the circular room with no way of getting down into the center. This may not have been as peculiar if there hadn't been a pendulum swinging in the center of the room. Odd thick pieces of wood curved in to meet where the pendulum was attached to the ceiling.
I walked over to the railing and looked down below to see a sand covered floor.
"Look closer." He softly whispered from behind me. I noticed an odd quiver in his voice.
I peered down and noticed a name had been written in the sand. The pendulum swung in its pattern crossing out the name over and over but it remained there unharmed.
"Draco, why does it say your name?" I asked him in terror but he just looked away rubbing his neck the way he did when he didn't want to talk, "Draco, why is your name written in the sand!"
He looked up at me, "I don't know." His eyes were full of fear and vulnerability, like he was about to cry but did not.
He rushed towards me and grabbed my shoulders, "That's why I brought you here." He looked me straight in the eyes while speaking and even though he was frightening me I returned the focus and concentration, "I know that you're smart enough you can figure this out. And I don't want to ask anything of you but I am just really hoping you can do this one thing for me." His hands started to tremble as he let go of me.
"I will." I reassured him instantly.
A few moments of silence passed by. "How did you find this place?" I asked calmly looking back down again, following the pattern of the pendulum, "You obviously didn't just walk through that portrait at random."
"Well," He started more calmly, "I obviously didn't first find it by walking through the portrait, no. I found it through the ceiling." He looked up at the ceiling that was covered with vines and leaves that spread over the corner thinning out the farther out they got. He walked over to the corner and poked up at wooden trap door in the ceiling.
"I was in another secret passage way I had found a couple of weeks before and fell through." He continued, "After I saw my name I stayed in here for at least a half hour and then the frustration caught up with me and I tried walking through the door. Well wasn't I surprised to find myself almost fall down past all those flights of moving stairs that could have either caught me or squished me like a bug." He took another pause catching his breath, "This is actually where I was on the night of the Yule Ball."
"Do you know what it's called?" I asked hoping he would know even though it was extremely unlikely.
"No." He replied just as I thought.
We both leaned over the rail to look at his name once again. "Well that's where I'm going to start." I looked at him firmly. He was obviously shaken by the secret this room concealed about him. I had to do everything to help him.
He reached over and hugged me tightly his arms shaking a little. His warm breath on my neck as he whispered, "Thank you."
We both slipped out of each other's arms and Draco suggested we go back to our common rooms because people would be leaving the evening meal soon. I agreed and we carefully made our way out of the mysterious room and went our separate ways.
I headed to the portrait of the fat Lady, "Password!" She exclaimed dramatically.
"Inflant Trahunt." I muttered then proceeded in looking behind me to see no sign of anyone.
I ran into the common room then up the stairs into the boy's dormitories. Once I came to Harry's room I lay flat on the floor beside his bed and pull his suitcase from underneath. After zipping it open I rummaged through his clothes until I found it. The marauder's map.
I tapped the old blank page and quickly muttered, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." And watched as Hogwarts slowly appeared upon the parchment along will everyone's name.
I first checked the great hall and saw the names of almost every single student pouring out into the corridors. I had to make this quick.
I skimmed for the changing stair cases which seemed to take forever and finally found it. I squinted to make out the words completely and read to myself, The Room of Many Fates.