Fourteen
Curiosity always killed the cat, they say.
Higurashi Kagome ducked her head back around a corner, as she waited for the last of the giggling Ravenclaw group to vanish down the staircase and out of sight. It was silly to think that she was hiding from a pack of third year students, but, to be honest, she would rather not give anyone another reason to think she wanted to snog a snake. She just wanted to know what it was he needed from the Room of the Requirement so desperately.
There was no crime in trying to find out whether or not he was up to no good!
Certain that there were not any stragglers left behind from the previous Divination class, the Gryffindor girl finally swept down the corridor toward where she knew the Room of Requirement to appear. She paused only to check the corridor itself, though she was positive she had given the Slytherin Prince ample time to enter the Room himself. A slight nod of satisfaction shifted her robes, as she slowly approached the area where the Room had appeared each time she had seen it.
The only question now was whether or not her attempt to enter the Room after him would be successful. The Room of Requirement appeared only to those who needed it most, but she had absolutely no idea what it was that the Malfoy boy needed that was allowing him access to the Room. It was impossible to know whether or not her deeply embedded need to follow him, to discover what he was hiding, was going to open the Room to where it led the sixth year student.
A sigh escaped her at the thought, though it did little to crush her determination.
She would find her way into the Room of Requirement after him.
Her pace was steady and controlled when she began her trek back and forth across the corridor, knowing that the Room would grant her entrance upon the third pass if her need was great enough. There was a familiarity in the path that she did not recognize, and it took her a second to realize that she had drifted away from herself and into the unseen. The world was gray for a brief moment, before she found herself turning toward the door that split through the mist within her vision.
A swift shake of her head to disconnect the future from the now revealed that the door itself was real.
The Room of Requirement had heard her plea.
Kagome felt her heart quicken the moment she reached out to open the door. There was no telling what was on the other side. The Room could be leading her straight into a den of poisonous snakes waiting to strike once a lion entered their domain. But, it that were the case, why was it taking such a toll on Draco Malfoy? Was that what she had seen in Divination class earlier in the year? Was he, perhaps, being initiated into the Dark Lord's ranks?
"No," she whispered to herself. That did not make any sense. If there were Death Eaters within Hogwarts walls, they were students that had most likely been following in the footsteps of their parents. And why would the Dark Lord leave it to a bunch of children to determine whether or not a Malfoy was good enough to be a Death Eater?
Besides, she had yet to see anyone else approach the Room of Requirement while she was observing the Slytherin Prince.
The portion of the students from Dumbledore's Army no longer had any need of the Room since Dolores Umbridge had been expelled from the school the previous year. And many of the other students merely stumbled upon the Room whenever they were in a panic and found themselves on the wrong floor. So, really, the idea that anyone else had managed to slip by and enter the Room alongside the boy she was following was absurd.
Knowing that she was merely delaying the inevitable, the Higurashi girl finally pulled the door open. Her first step inside was filled with confusion and awe, as she gazed upon the cathedral like area that the Room had chosen to create before her eyes. The high windows sent shafts of light down upon the objects hidden for, perhaps, centuries within the Room, and now stowed away to create pathways lined with thousands and thousands of books, furniture, potions, hats, jewels, and everything else that she could possibly name.
She jumped when the door shut behind her, spinning on her heel.
A loud squeak forced itself from her throat the moment the Slytherin Prince grabbed her necktie and yanked her toward his chest. She stumbled into him, grabbing a fist full of his robe to steady herself in her surprise, before she cast a glance up into his sharp, burning gaze.
Draco's breath was hot against her ear, as he whispered, "Didn't your mother ever teach you that it's rude to stalk other people?"
Her face flushed immediately beneath his stare, and she gasped quietly when he pressed his cool forehead up against her own. She saw her future—their future—reflected in his eyes for a moment, and instantly pulled away from him with a hard shove to his shoulder. "Let go of me!" she cried.
"No," he yanked at her neck lightly.
Finding herself stumbling into him once more with the pull, Kagome spat, "What the hell is wrong with you?"
The Malfoy surprised her once again, as he placed a gentle hand upon the back of her head and pulled her back into him when she tried to escape once more. His long fingers shifted through her hair, and finally settled at the base of her neck to pull her head back so that she was gazing up at him. He seemingly ignored her, as he stated, "You shouldn't be here."
Her eyes widened in response.
And then he stepped back, leaving her to catch herself, as he demanded, "Leave."
Surprise filling her to the brim, the Gryffindor merely watched him as he brushed by her and vanished into the depths of the Room. Her heart was beating furiously within her chest, as she attempted to shake away the pleasant delirium that his mere presence had caused within her mind.