The Soul Connection

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

As the days went by, Hermione's mood continued to deteriorate. She'd had her fair share of bad days, yet she'd never felt as depressed as she'd been feeling lately, and never so suddenly. She was thoroughly convinced that Draco's spell was the reason for her misery. When she awoke on saturday morning, she slipped on Harry's Invisibility cloak that she'd taken the night before and left the Gryffindor tower. It was early enough in the morning that nobody else was awake and the sun was only just beginning to illuminate the castle walls. Hermione tip toed throughout the chilly castle until she arrived on the seventh floor, at the entrance to the Room of Requirement. She'd been waiting for an opportunity to sneak inside and investigate what Draco was up to, and when Harry and Ron left for Quidditch practice the night before, she took the Invisibility cloak. Given that Draco appeared tired all of the time, Hermione figured that he must be in the Room late at night, and so he ought to be asleep by dawn.

Once inside she was comforted by the eerie quiet. The Room seemed to be empty, despite being well lit. Hermione rarely went to the Room of Requirement and figured it must be magically illuminated at all hours. She began to walk towards the centre tentatively, her eyes scanning along the ground around her for anything new or out of place. It seemed hopeless though, as she had no idea what to look for and if Draco had hidden something, it would take days or even weeks to find by herself. Convinced that she was alone, Hermione pulled the Invisibility cloak off of herself and stretched her arms as she kept walking, yawning slightly. She suddenly saw something move out of the corner of her eye and before she could react, she heard a voice.

"Don't move, mudblood. I warned you not to follow me again, you're going to pay for it this time," Draco said coldly. Hermione closed her eyes, her heart thumping in her chest. If Draco took the cloak, she would have to explain where it was to Harry the next time he wanted to use it. If Draco wanted to hurt her here in the Room, nobody would know.

"I'm just browsing the junk, students come here all the time," said Hermione, slowly turning to face him.

"No other students come here except me now," Draco snapped. "You're here because you're spying on me."

"I'm here because you cursed me, and I'm not leaving until you show me the spell you used," said Hermione, looking determined.

"Take out your wand and drop it on the ground," said Draco, pointing his wand at her threateningly.

"Are you going to hurt me?"

"I will if you don't do what I say-"

"Expelliar-!" Hermione started as she drew her wand.

"Stupify!" Draco roared, cutting her off. The Gryffindor girl dodged his stunning spell and slipped behind the cupboard, out of sight.

"Oh, you stupid fucking mudblood," Draco growled, feeling himself surge with anger. "You really picked a bad time to come here."

"I'm not Harry, Malfoy. We don't have to fight, I just want to know what spell you used," Hermione said from her hiding place. She sounded nervous, even panicked, which made Draco smile wickedly. He moved silently into a different position, eyes locked on the cupboard as he attempted to catch sight of her. Hermione kept creeping backward, behind more piles of junk, trying to listen to his footsteps.

"We're going to fight alright, mudblood. It's about time you learned your place," Draco answered, sounding livid. Hermione gasped as she felt surges of rage, rage and uncertainty. Draco heard her gasp and leapt forward.

"Reducto!" he shouted, pointing his wand towards her. She jumped behind a set of drawers which exploded violently, sending shards of wood in every direction. Hermione crawled quickly out of sight into another corridor of junk, gasping in pain. Draco continued sending exploding projectiles in her direction, spiralling into a rage as he destroyed everything in sight to get to her. Hermione felt herself being consumed by Draco's rage, and only just managed to stop herself from standing up to try and duel him. The more anger she felt emanating from Draco, the more terrified she felt herself become. She heard the Slytherin sigh a few paces away from her.