What the Room Requires

Chapter Ten

 (The song in this section is called Mrs. Brown’s Lullaby, from the film Nanny McPhee)

 

 

VVVVVVVV

DAY FOUR

HERMIONE

            “The sky looks different today,” I commented as the morning wind blew through my hair and rattled the barley.

            “No it doesn’t,” Draco griped from behind me. “Looks the same as it did yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that…”

            “No, look,” I insisted, stopping to point up at a narrow band of cloud. “See that? That’s different—it looks like a carpet.”

            Draco stopped beside me and gazed up at it.

            “Is that supposed to entertain me?” he said flatly.

            “You need entertaining?” I gave him an incredulous look. He rolled his eyes.

            “Either that or I want to get out of here,” He put his hands on his hips. I winced. Yes, he was talking to me—which was an improvement—but he was talking about getting out. Already. Probably because the scary forest wasn’t right in front of us anymore.

            “Erm…” I struggled to think of something to distract him sufficiently to forget about escaping—but one that also didn’t sound stupid. “What if we…What if we walked straight north—or whatever direction that is—until we almost can’t see the willow anymore?”

            “Why?” he gave me a funny look.

            “Well…to see if either of us smacks our faces on a wall?”

            I waited, trying to hide my wince, worried about his reaction—but from the clarity that came into his eyes, I knew right away he thought my idea had merit. He nodded once and turned north.

            “Fine. Better than wandering in circles, anyhow.”

            “Right.” I set myself. “Let’s go.”

            And we did. We walked and walked, trudging through some sections of barley that hardly came up to our knees, and others that rose up to our ears—which was odd. Every now and then, we would stop and glance back, making certain we could still see our willow. Then we would head off again. But I was careful not to think about ways to get out of here—because if I did, I had the sneaking suspicion we might suddenly wind up in another nightmare.