Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.

Chapter six

The Room of Requirement

Luna was hastily scribbling the last of her potions homework onto parchment. The sun had set behind the trees and only an orange glow backlit the forbidden forest. Neville and Luna had been working in silence for a good hour. Neville finally snapped his book closed. "I can't read anymore," he sighed. Luna looked up from her work.

"I've been meaning to tell you something," Luna told him.

Neville turned to face Luna properly, interested in what she was about to say. He watched as her eyes got a far-away look as she began to speak. "I was walking through the corridors yesterday, and the strangest thing happened to me. It was near where we used to meet for the DA." She looked at him then, and gave him a meaningful look.

"The Room of Requirement?" He asked, slightly surprised. She nodded excitedly. "And you went inside? I mean, it opened to you?"

"Yes! I didn't think it would open at all after Umbridge…" Neville nodded in agreement. He hadn't thought the room would appear after that hag had discovered it. None of the members of the DA had returned after that.

"What happened? How did it appear to you?" Neville asked excitedly.

"Well, the magic has been broken. It can't become anything anymore. It was a large room, with a huge arching ceiling. I didn't make it to the back wall though. It was too far." Luna extended her hands to demonstrate. "It was filled with objects. Just piles and piles of things."

"All of the objects the room had ever conjured up…" Neville trailed off.

"Yes, exactly." There was a silence as Neville wondered what that would be like. How it would look. Recognizing the look on his face, Luna asked, "Do you want to see it?"

A quarter of an hour later, Luna and Neville were pacing the halls in front of the Room of Requirement. "Are you sure this is the right place?" Neville asked.

"Of course. I was here only yesterday." But they had walked back and forth through the corridor three times now.

"It was never this hard when we met for the DA. Were you thinking of anything specific when you walked by?"

"I was reading a book," Luna said, thinking of Identifying Auras. She pulled it from her book bag and looked at Neville.

He took a look at the book and shrugged, "Okay… maybe it was a fluke?" Luna sighed and leaned against a pillar behind her. Neville ran his hand through his hair, disappointed.

A scraping sound had Luna snapping her head up. "I told you!" she said brightly. Neville looked up, pleased. They stepped towards the doors as they began to appear from the stone wall. Neville grinned at Luna. It was brilliant. When the doors were fully formed, the two stepped through and were swallowed by the magic of the Room of Requirement.

"Wow," was all that Neville could say. It was truly amazing. He had never seen anything like it.

"Isn't it great?" Luna exclaimed, truly happy. The room loomed before them, secrets and treasures waiting to be uncovered.

Neville was captivated. There so many objects. There were objects he recognized and others that made him wonder what they could be used for. The two lost track of time as they looked through items. Luna held up a dragon skin coat. "What do you suppose this was needed for?"

"Maybe…there was a bloke once," Neville said creating a story. "He… fancied this girl. And he wanted to impress her. One day, he was walking past the Room of Requirement, wishing he had a dragon skin coat to impress her." Neville said and shrugged. Luna had been listening aptly and broke out in laughter when he finished.

"Was the girl impressed, do you think?"

"Of course," he said smiling, "She loved a man in dragon skin." This time Neville couldn't keep a straight face and joined Luna when she began to laugh again. After that, they began creating stories for all of the really strange objects they found.

After finding two cushions that had been used by the DA, Neville and Luna lounged on the floor, items scattered around them. When they had run out of stories to tell, Luna wondered, "Do you think a summoning charm would work?"

"You mean: 'Accio… Floo powder!'" Neville said the first thing that came to his mind. They waited a few moments. There was a rustling in the distance and suddenly a jar of powder was dodging around piles to get to them. Neville took it in his hand when it was within reach.

"That's brilliant!" He said, grinning at Luna.

They had ten minutes to spare before curfew when Luna and Neville finally left the Room of Requirement. Standing at its exit, Neville stopped Luna. "Wait." She looked up at him. "Don't… tell anyone, about the room, I mean. It can be our place." There were others that knew of the existence of the Room of Requirement, the entire DA, for example. But after Umbridge's reign, Neville suspected it was forgotten. Others assumed it was useless now, as he had. In a way it was, as it no longer served its prior purpose. But in losing that magic, it had gained so much more. He wanted this to be something he shared with Luna. Only Luna. He could tell she understood what he meant. She appreciated the specialty of the room, just like he did.

"Alright. Our secret." When the coast was clear, they exited, Luna heading left to Ravenclaw and Neville, right to Gryffindor.

As the school year progressed and the autumn days became cooler, Luna and Neville visited the Room of Requirement frequently. They began to leave items there, in a spot they had created. Luna had collected what cushions she could find and spread them across the floor between two towering piles of objects. Neville had found a chest inscribed with all four Hogwarts House names. It was old and worn down at the corners, yet the wood was solid with a deep cherry finish. While standing, the chest came even with Luna's knees and was about as wide as her arm span. A sturdy lock clasped the lid shut, slightly rusted with a small key hole. Luna had tried charms such as "alohomora" but had been unsuccessful in opening it. They were both intrigued by it. What might it contain? Luna suspected it might have something to do with the founders. She was excited by the idea that it might contain the personal effects of the founders themselves. The challenge of opening it was one Luna and Neville had accepted, thus the chest had earned its presence in their spot, nestled between the cushions.

Other objects that scattered the area included: parchment, quills and ink, a stack of books from Luna's reading list, and Luna's new pair of spectrepecs. Occasionally Neville left behind his sweater vest, and Luna almost always left a text book or two, along with some unfinished homework. The Room of Requirement had become their common room, of sorts.

In fashion with a secret common room, Luna believed that there was a need for a code for the Room of Requirement. A word or phrase they could use when they wanted to meet there. What would be the most fun?

Luna carried a hard cover bound book as she walked past the Gryffindor table one morning. It had been cold when she got out of bed that morning. She had put on her warmest sweater and pulled on her woolly knee socks with her pleated skirt. And a good thing she had, too. As she took a glance out the window in the great hall, she noticed snow flakes falling. Winter was around the corner.

She stopped when she spotted Neville. "Hello, Neville," she said smiling. She recognized the look in his eye when she handed him the book in her arms. He knew what he would find inside. "Here's the book I was talking about. I hope you like it."

Catching on, Neville quickly responded, "Right, thanks Luna." As she walked away, he opened the book in his lap. Inside the front cover was a laundry tag for one dragon skin jacket. On the first page was Luna's script.

Last night I met a dragon,

His scales, they needed washing.

I said, "I'll being a flagon."

Full of soap, it will be sloshing.

I'll meet him at his nest,

At half past two, I'll be his guest.

A poem. She wanted to meet in the Room of Requirement. Typical Luna style. Neville chuckled as he closed the book. He was going to have to check out a poetry book if she expected him to communicate back to her in the same fashion.

Sitting in the Room of Requirement, Luna held the Quibbler in her lap. Neville hadn't arrived yet. She fiddled in her pocket, trying to find her spectrespecs. She had just settled them on her nose when she heard someone enter. She waited for Neville to come around the corner. She flipped the page of the magazine and continued reading. She had read a paragraph before she realized there were no footsteps. Neville wasn't that sloothy. Quietly, she folded the Quibbler closed and pushed her specrespecs so they rested on the top of her head. She held her breath and listened closely. Suddenly there was a movement, like the shuffling of parchment. Slowly, she rose from the cushion on the floor and noiselessly crouched behind a towering pile of newspapers. Luna peered between the piles to get a look at the entrance.

Draco Malfoy stood just in front of the doors. No wonder she hadn't heard footsteps, he hadn't moved except to enter the room. In his hands was a sheaf of parchment which obscured Luna's view of his face. Yet that platinum blonde hair was unmistakable. What was he doing here? She worried Neville would walk in at any moment.

She continued to watch Malfoy, curious. Finally he looked up and clenched the parchment in his left hand. He still hadn't moved from his place. Luna guessed he was seeing the Room of Requirement for the first time since it had become a resting place for objects. The scuffle of his shoes resounded through the room as he started making his way through the piles. He disappeared behind a pile of stacked chairs, but promptly reappeared on the other side. He appeared to be looking for something, as he consulted the papers in his hand several times before he stopped.

Luna shuffled to get a better view. As she did, the toe of her sneaker slid on the floor and collided with the base of a stack of newspapers. No, no, no. The newspapers swayed dangerously, threatening to tip over. Malfoy's head jerked up at the sound, his eyes traveling to find the source of the noise. A few newspapers from the top of the pile slid off, unbalancing the rest. The whole tower came cascading down, scattering the floor with the Daily Prophet. Luna panicked, ducking her head and making her self as small as possible behind the newspapers. There was silence. Luna didn't dare look up. She was confident she was completely hidden from view… as long as Draco didn't venture closer.

Footsteps, slow and steady approached her hiding spot. No! Luna's was heart was racing like the night her and Neville had almost been caught by Filch. Yet she suspected the consequences of being discovered by Draco would be far more severe. She would never find out what he was up to. Because he was up to something.

Suddenly a noise like a bird's chirp resounded throughout the room. Draco swore louadly and reached into his pocket. Luna dared to peek between the stacks again, and found Draco only feet from discovering her. He held in his hand a pocket watch, which seemed to be the source of the noise. He clicked the top and shoved it back into his pocket. Whatever it meant, Luna was grateful, as Draco's attention was once again concentrated on finding what he came here to find. He retreated to the place he had been standing before Luna's distraction, casting one last suspicious glace over his shoulder.

Malfoy approached a cabinet that rose above his head. The shape of the cabinet was peculiar; the top peaked in a triangular shape and Luna wondered what kind of cabinet it could be. Why was Draco interested in it?

He lifted a hand and grasped the fabric, tugging it away. The sheet fell away to reveal the front of the cabinet. The dark wood finish was damaged; scratched and peeling paint made up most of its surface. Still… it had this look about it. It was imposing, but also alluring, and Luna found herself examining every part of it. The entire cabinet was shaped as a triangular prism standing vertically. One of its points created the meeting point of two doors. One was slightly ajar, yet Luna could only make out darkness from within. Two shapes like crescent moons decorated each door, one at the top and one at the bottom. Two slim, dark handles adorned the front as well.

Draco slipped his pale hand over the handle of the open door and pulled it back. Nothing was inside. The surface was dusty, yet the cabinet was clearly empty. This seemed to trouble Malfoy. He looked… angry? Why? What was he expecting to find? So many questions spun around in Luna's mind.

Malfoy dragged his fingers through his hair. Luna watched as he let out a huff of frustration. He clenched the parchment tighter in his hand then turned back the way he came. Luna waited until his footsteps faded. There was the sound of the doors opening and then nothing. Utter silence. Luna was still crouched on the floor, dumbfounded. What did all this mean?

She was still thinking about it when Neville startled her out of her reverie.

"Sorry I'm late. I lost track of time…" Neville trailed off as he realized Luna appeared to be hiding behind a stack of newspapers.

Luna jumped at his words; she hadn't heard him enter. "Neville!"

"What are you…?"

"The strangest thing just happened," she said, slightly dazed.

"Are you…alright?"

Luna explained what she saw with Malfoy and the strange cabinet. "He seemed like he was looking specifically for that one thing. What would Malfoy want with a cabinet in the Room of Requirement?" Luna finished account and proceeded to stare off into the distance, lost in thought.

"Which cabinet was it?" Neville asked.

"Oh, right over here," she said, motioning for him to follow. She led him past the newspapers to the cabinet. The sheet lay discarded on the floor, moth eaten and musty. Neville examined the cabinet, tracing the crescent shapes on the doors with his hand. Luna pulled open one of the doors and peeked inside. There was nothing inside that she hadn't seen from her hiding place. Crouching, she ran her finger through the dust on the floor of the antique. "It obviously hasn't been used in a long time. Why would Malfoy suddenly be interested in it?"

"I don't know, but I don't like the idea of a Sytherin sneaking around the Room of Requirement," Neville said with distaste. Draco Malfoy was as sneaky as they come. Slytherins, that is. And it was no wonder, when he had a father like Lucius Malfoy.

"Do you know what this means?" Luna asked.

"The Room of Requirement is not out secret," Neville answered. Of course, leave it to Malfoy to ruin things, Neville thought bitterly. Though he was angry that their place had been compromised, in the back of his mind a worry was growing. Neville had never trusted Malfoy, but after today, he would be extra cautious. He and Luna would have to find out what he was up to. Because there was no way this was going to turn out well.

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