Chapter Seventeen

Seventh Floor Corridor, Hogwarts, Scotland, 30 October, 1991

Neville Longbottom was lost.

Not only lost, but lost after hours. He knew he was on the seventh floor, but that was about all he knew. He'd just gotten back from the Quidditch pitch, where Adrian and Draco had been giving him a flying lesson. (Ever since that outburst at their official flying lesson, Adrian had been being avoided by everyone but his seven close friends and (oddly), Henry Potter. He'd been followed by whispers in the halls and at meals, and had taken to wearing the invisibility cloak whenever out in public.) They were excellent, whereas he was lucky if he could stay on the broom for more than two seconds. They'd offered their invisibility cloak to him, but he'd declined.

He sighed in frustration as he glanced around. He must've seen that stupid tapestry of the dancing trolls three times now, and all he really needed to get to a dormitory before one of the professors found him. But he was so lost.

He sank to the floor, tears of frustration filling his eyes. He looked up and saw a door before him.

Funny, he thought, stumbling toward the door, I don't remember that door being there.

He pushed the door open to find a dormitory, complete with a king-sized four poster bed, roaring fire, several chairs and couches, tables, books, and a bathroom off to the left of the door.

"What the? Where did this come from?" he asked the empty room in amazement.

He was about to leave, but the bed looked so comfortable, and he was so tired, and his trunk was already in there.

And so he crossed to the bed and passed out as soon as his weary head hit the pillow.

Great Hall, Hogwarts, 31 October, 1991

Hermione looked around the tables, worry etched on her face. "Where is Neville? I promised to help him with his History of Magic homework!"

"And he promised to help me with Herbology," Ron muttered, glaring moodily at his shepherd's pie.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him and continued to scan the Great Hall for their missing friend. He hadn't shown up for any classes that day. Draco and Adrian were searching for him with Blaise, and Daphne was going up to the Hospital wing.

Just in case.

"Hullo!"

Hermione yelped and fell backwards off her chair, while Ron spat food across the table and onto Neville's formerly smiling face.

"Blech! Ron! Augh, disgusting!" Neville spluttered, wiping his face and making a face.

"NEVILLE, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? WE'VE BEEN SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU!" Hermione screamed, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly. "IF YOU EVER DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN, I'LL STRANGLE YOU!"

"I think you already are, Hermione," Ron snickered, watching Neville's face turn from pink to res to purple to blue.

" 'elp!" Neville gurgled.

With one last squeeze, she released him, and he fell gasping onto the tabletop.

"Where were you, mate? Everyone got really worried about you," Ron said, giving his friend a questioning look.

"Well, after my flying lesson, I got lost-"

"Oh, Neville!"

He shot Hermione what he thought was a withering glare and continued with his story. "I got lost, and I found this really cool room…"

Room of Requirement, Hogwarts, 31 October, 1991

"Wow!"

"Neville, how did you find this place?" Ron asked, taking in the squishy armchairs, sofas, ottomans, and rugs grouped around a massive fireplace, where the burning wood crackled and sent a pleasant, smoky aroma through the huge room, where bookshelves lined the walls. There were enough broomsticks (albeit old ones) leaning against the back wall for each of them, and he had no doubts that there would be plenty of room for them to fly around under the hundred foot ceilings.

As a matter of fact, Adrian was testing out one of the newer brooms with Daphne right now…

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" they screamed, their toes brushing the tops of their friends' heads. Daphne squeezed her eyes shut and gripped Adrian's waist even more tightly as he twisted them into a barrel roll and soared toward the endless ceiling. He stopped them only inches from the ceiling.

"Do you trust me?" Adrian asked her over his shoulder, a mischievous grin plastered on his face.

"Uh, I think so?" she gulped, looking down at the floor. They were well over two hundred feet above the stone floor.

"Good, then hold on, and don't you dare let go of my hand."

"Ade, what are going to dooooOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

Without warning, he jumped off the boom, taking her with him. He held her out to his side, broom grasped in his other hand, and fell through the air parallel to the ground, his adrenaline pumping so heavily it made his head spin with glee.

On the ground, everyone but Draco looked on with growing horror as they watched their friends plummet toward the ground.

Daphne knew that she was going to die. There was no point in denying it. She'd always been much too trusting, at least for a Slytherin. She couldn't shut her eyes, and tears ran up into her hair.

The floor was less than 15 feet away now, and they showed no signs of stopping or slowing down.

"NYEAH!" Adrian pulled her onto his back and threw his leg over the broom, pulling up so fast it gave her whiplash. Laughing, he did a back flip on the broom and skidded to a stop on the floor.

He helped her off and brushed the hair back off her face. "I thought I was going to fall," she said stupidly, shaken up from her plunge.

"I'll never let you fall, Daphne," he said, grinning cheekily at her.

She smiled sweetly at him, threw her arms wide, and knocked him unconscious with a rather nasty right hook.

As he faded into oblivion, he distantly heard the words, "If you'd killed me, Adrian Malfoy, I would've haunted you until the day you died!"

Okay, this is kind of a fluffy filler chapter, but I wanted them to find the Room of Requirement, as it will be a character as alive as they are in this story.

Always remember, reviews make me really happy. If you have any cool ideas, don't be afraid to PM me, alright?

Peace, Love, and Ice Cream!

-TheNefariousMe