requirement | dramione

0.24

november 17, 1996

Something washed over Draco. Some invisible force that he would never be able to describe. A pull that he was now bowing to, as he turned his palm out to her and reaching through the space between them. He couldn't know it then, but he would regret this for the rest of his life. 

Hermione counted the gentle callouses that lined the edges of his palm before she placed her hand inside his. His fingers, slender and chill as snow, closed around hers. His coldness sent a shiver through her fingers, up her elbow, across her collarbone, and down into the pit of her stomach. Something stirred in her chess as if that shiver had awoken a fleet of young butterflies. 

His feet shifted, arranging their bodies and drawing them into the maze of hidden objects. Hermione followed him silently, quickening her small steps to keep up with his long, easy stride. She couldn't keep her eyes away from his hand. Their hands. Touching. In such an unusual, nonsexual, unforced way. She tried to recall at the times that his hand had been this close to hers. In every instance she could remember he had always held her wrist, whether it was in anger or pleasure, but never once had he taken her hand. 

She had hardly payed attention to where they were walking when he released his gentle hold, abandoning her hand to touch the object that was now in front of them. It was the large cabinet from earlier, made out of a dark and old wood with faded brass handles and fractures through the face of the wood. The brown haired girl mimicked the boy, lending her fingers upwards to touch the aged wood. 

"This is why you needed the book that I found for you? Magical Properties of Cupboards, Cabinets, and Closets. I'm not sure I fully understand... I've never seen anything like this. Why is it?" She took her eyes away from the cabinet, which was taller than she, and looked up to Draco's motionless face. He appeared to be deep in thought, gazing into the nothingness of the dark wood. 

"A spelled cabinet. I have to mend it." Draco's eyes were unwavering  and took slow blinks as if he were lost in his own words. Hermione turned once more to look at the creation. 

"What kind of spell do you mean?"

At last, Draco's weight shifted and his fingers gripped around the brass handle to pull the door open. The inside was empty, void of anything but a darkness that seemed unnatural and frightening. Still, Hermione did not understand what it was or how it functioned. 

"A Vanishing Cabinet.... A pair of these function as a passageway from one to the other. No matter where its twin is, should it be in good condition, the cabinets will connect."

"But what is its usefulness here? To Snape?"

Draco closed the door, letting his hand drop to his side before crossing both arms over his chest and turning to the brown haired girl. He looked down at her, watching to see the different tones in her cheeks. 

"They were common in the First War. People used them as easy escapes, to slip from place to place without being detected." He knew he had to be careful about how much information he allotted her. She was too smart. If he came right out and told her everything, she would hate him. 

"And where is its twin?" 

Draco swallowed, suddenly noticing how tight his throat felt. If she knew where the twin cabinet was, she would piece together everything before he could convince her otherwise. 

"Lost? I suppose. Broken like this one, perhaps. It's impossible to tell until this one is mended." He hoped that she hadn't heard the hesitation in his lie, but reminded himself that he was an excellent liar even if she was incredibly smart.