Unwillingly she churned over the Gray Lady's advice all the way through rounds. No matter how hard she tried to think of other things, her mind continued to weave back to the words. She turned them over and over again. As hard as she struggled to find some hidden meaning to the message... It was straight forward enough.

Overthinking things can cloud your judgement. Keep listening to those Gryffindor instincts first and you will make the correct choices.

What good did it do her when her instincts screamed one hundred different things at once? Certainly the guidance would have been different if she had known the situation... There was no way she, or anyone, would approve of Hermione sneaking around to shack up with a confirmed Death Eater. Reformed or not! The choice would never be acceptable.

A deception tantamount to Judas Iscariot's betrayal. Especially in the Wizarding World... The traitorous knife she wielded was even heavier because it was against "The Boy Who Lived". The Chosen One, a true to life accidental Savior. Forgiveness would not be easily obtained if the truth of what she had already done was to come out. Which it would... Theodore Nott was proof enough of that.

She turned the corner down another dark corridor and ignored the hushed whispers for quiet behind a set of statues. Her distracted state had afforded many couples a pass that night. Instead of stopping and taking time from her musing, she left them for a different Prefect to happen upon and deal with. She rolled her eyes as the silence needed to conceal the happenings finally fell much too late, but continued on. Once again repeating the last seven sentences said to her earlier that evening. A different set of words stood out to her this time though:

Do not live your life afraid of what others think of you. That only leads to hastily excused decisions which turn into regrets eventually.

Had she not done just that at her fear of discovery? Made a monumental decision in a day because of her terror? Would she one day grow to regret not seeing where it could have gone? When she was on Death's doorstep would this be her biggest mistake? If they won and she survived to the age of one hundred and fifty would she still dream of him?

The answer to all of those questions was a loud and demanding "Yes".

They all already rang true... And if she was honest with herself, hadn't her instincts spoken that first night? Before her toxic doubts could start staining anything... She had chosen to trust Draco. It could have been a mix of confusion, desperation, adrenaline, hormones- and whatever else she wanted to blame. But deep down, even then, she had to of known on some subconscious level that he was a part of her future. Why else would she have ever taken the risk in the first place?

It was obvious that she was the one who had interrupted whatever he was doing in the room. Fate had put her in his path that night...

Or maybe she was overthinking again... Trying to find some hidden meaning so she could ease her guilty conscience. It very well could boil down to the fact that after spending time with him, he had become someone who actually made her happy in this madhouse of a school and she didn't want to lose that connection.

Whatever the reason, continuing to ignore his existence after the warnings given to her felt wrong. Even more wrong than being a traitor...

When she rounded the next corner, the first true smile in too long slipped onto her lips. She still had forty-five minutes left to her shift on patrol but started to make her way towards the seventh floor nonetheless. There was a chance, no matter how small, that he had still come up to escape from the ridiculousness of the holiday. If he wasn't there then she would have to resort to requesting for a meet up in the morning. And hoping he would answer her...

A prospect that was low considering how she had treated him since their last night together. She couldn't explain everything in a simple letter. The words had to be said in person or not all. They would never come out right scratched onto a piece of parchment. She wasn't even sure the description would be correct face to face, but it would allow for him to see how affected she had been by Nott and how sincere her apology was.

Her anxiety ratcheted up at the thought that she would never get the chance to tell him and she would end up like the Gray Lady, stuck with regrets she couldn't talk to anyone about. What if he refused to waste his time on someone who would drop him the first time someone said boo? If their situations had been reversed she doubted she would be able to forgive...

The closer she got to the corridor that held the entrance to the Room of Requirement her heart started to beat harder and a layer of sweat broke out on her palms. She wanted him to be there but was afraid that it wouldn't be Her Draco that she would find. How would she react if it was the Old Draco? Would she be able to keep herself together long enough to say what she needed to? Or would her anger at herself take control and get spewed at him?

Too many questions... And only one way to find answers.

-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-

Hermione stood across the hall and stared at the section of stone. She wasn't sure exactly how long she had been there but it had to be past shift change by then. Her lips and fingertips had started to go numb from being so still in the bitterness that still clung to the air. A quick sweep of the corridor confirmed that she was alone and she took slow steps until she was half way between both walls.

She closed her eyes tightly and paced. "I need the door to Draco Malfoy's room... I need the door to Draco Malfoy's room... I need the door to Draco Malfoy's room..."

She let out a trembling breath before she peeked out of the corner of her eye at the unchanged wall. Her teeth automatically found the flesh of her bottom lip and bit down hard enough to distract from her instantly racing thoughts. She tried the simple routine again, hoping for a different result. "I need the door to Draco Malfoy's room... I need the door to Draco Malfoy's room... I need the door to Draco's Malfoy's room... Please..."

The wall held firm and she let go of her lip to gulp down a deep breath of air. He just hadn't come... Why would he have? There was no way he could possibly know she'd show up after all, she reminded herself. There was also no reason to feel the sting of rejection when his room probably couldn't be summoned without occupancy. The theory did little to help, but she grasped onto it anyway.

Her body disregarded the attempt at explanation and tears still sprung to her eyes. She blinked violently, trying in vain to keep them from her cheeks. Quickly growing annoyed at herself she realized she needed to get a grip before going anywhere near the vicinity of Gryffindor Tower. Loads of couples were bound to still be engaging in amorous activities and she didn't want word of her crying again to reach Harry's or Ginny's ears.

For a moment she thought of the normal tiny room she had taken to earlier in the year, but returning to the scene of the crime was much too tempting. Especially considering who her tears were for.

Once again she paced and mumbled the words she had used the night of the party. "I need a place to hide. I need a place to hide. I need a place to hide."

This time she chose to keep her eyes open to watch what happened. Her shoulders sagged in relief as the ancient door appeared for her, there had been a split second where she had thought she wouldn't be that lucky. She rushed forward and quietly slipped inside. Immediately the surreal sense of déjà vu hit her in the face like a brick, as if she had come full circle since the last holiday.

Somehow the room looked to have grown even bigger than the last time she had been there. Admittedly it was probably more along the lines of her mind just not being able to recall the expansiveness correctly. Even as the tears continued to run jagged lines down her face she was in awe. Her feet brought her forward to the edge of where the maze began... It wouldn't be hard for her to retrace her steps and find the exact spot...

The allure of the notion was definitely there, but tempting Fate for the second time when it came to that jewelry box was a foolish endeavor. Especially when she had no guarantee that her knowledge of its power would help her in the slightest. She took a step back before her curiosity could drive her to take the plunge and wiped at the dampness on her cheeks.

What she needed was a way to distract herself from the illogical mess the crash from all of the adrenaline having no outlet had caused inside of her. The logical part of her brain understood that the response was wrong... Or more that she had no proof of the perceived slight so the fact that she was upset was wrong... There was no reason to feel this way, other than the hormone centers of her brain taking control.

She made her way over to the table that now held Willcott's letter to Matilda, being careful not to slip on any loose piece of parchment that littered the floor. As her eyes clouded over again she sank to the ground and started to gather them all quickly. Desperate for something to do and organizing had always been one of her specialties. It was mind numbing work and that was exactly what she needed.

She let herself get lost in the process of collecting each stray piece of parchment that did not yet belong to a stack and finding it a place. By the time she was done, she could see clearly. So she continued on, righting the stacks that looked like they were one nudge away from toppling.

As she started to calm down she let her thoughts slip from the simple task and wander. She wondered if this was Karma's way of letting her know a small taste of what Draco must have been going through the past few days. If so, She was as much of a bitch as her sister. Maybe even more so with her love of retribution...

The explanation for her uncontrollable reaction made sense in a sick and twisted way. She deserved to feel the way she did because no matter what she did she was hurting someone. Her consequence for being too weak-willed the first time she had found herself here...

She needed to figure out how to make things right with everyone that she cared about. It might not even be possible but she had to try... A quick shake of her head brought her back to the present and she looked around at the much more stable looking table, the thing no longer looked about to fall under the immense weight. She hadn't removed anything, it was all just perception.

The parallel to her life actually made a giggle rise up. When everything seemed all chaotic and out of control she always wanted to fix it. Push everything into neat little rows to mask the disarray. Draco had shown her that good could come from the madness. She quickly pocketed the letter meant for the eyes of another and then swept her arms against one of the piles, watching as a part of her hard work fell and scattered across the floor.

Another giggle left her mouth as she grabbed a large pile from the stack before throwing them up into the air. The way each parchment was unique, both in the markings strewn on them and their sizes reminded her of giant snowflakes, as they floated down and landed on the floor at her feet and across the newly made workspace she had cleared. She slipped her hand back into her pocket and clutched the token she had stolen. It was something to remind of her realizations that night when things got hard... Which they were sure to do.

Hermione stepped carefully over the new carpet, making sure she was on solid stone before turning and taking in the havoc she had created. The grin that was on her lips from her earlier giggles turned into a full blown smile. Maybe one day she would come back to clean it up, but she liked the mark she had left on the space. It felt fitting to leave it exactly as it was... A physical representation of her frenzied rush of thoughts hidden from the world.

She couldn't fix everything, no matter how hard she tried. And it was time to throw her hands up and see where the pieces landed...

-\?/-\?/-\?/-\?/-\?/-\?/-\?/-\?/-\?/-

I really liked this chapter, for being a kind of... "Filler" chapter, I guess. What did you all think?

How do you think Draco is going to react? Ignore her summons? Come but be an ass? Or will he be all sweet and understanding?

You know the drill! Let me know down below...

Thank you for being understanding and such awesome readers.

I know I said this just a couple chapters back but... You all make the sleepless nights, when writer's block hits and I feel like giving up, worth it! A thousand times over! Thank you for your support and words of encouragement. Thank you for coming back over and over again. Thank you for boosting my confidence in the choice to even start! Each and every single one of you are amazing!

I hope your day is filled with laughter and all the good things.

As Always...

Much love,
SlytherclawLuv