Circi | 2

TWENTY SIX (and a half)

"Party Crashers"

The next evening, Circi sat in the Slytherin common room wearing her favourite red and brown flannel shirt tucked into a black skirt she often wore to classes when her uniform was dirty. She was folding and unfolding an old letter whenever a student entered the common room to feign occupation. Eventually, Draco descended from the boys' dorm in an all-black suit and his hair brushed out of his face- a look he often opted for these days. He left the common room and, momentarily, Circi tucked the letter into her breast pocket and followed him out.

"I said dress as though you were going to Slughorn's party." She looked down at her cotton flannel and school flats.

"This is exactly what I would wear to a party."

"You wore a dress to the yule ball," he mumbled as they ascended a staircase that broke off from the main one.

"I'm not that person anymore." As they walked down a corridor, he paused and looked down at her. Not quite understanding what she meant herself, she scratched the side of her face and he caught a brief glance of the fading overlapped scars on the back of her hand. He slumped down onto a windowsill and she watched as he propped his feet up, fists clenched and shoulders tense. Lowering her eyebrows at the unusual scene, Circi climbed onto the windowsill, obscured by the pillar blocking half of it. "I don't know what that means but you're the same." He was glaring at her but she gathered the look wasn't meant for her. "I don't think you can say you're the same person you were two years ago-"

She was cut off by voices down the corridor. Harry Potter walked into view, accompanied by Luna Lovegood. They were dressed up, according to Slughorn's dress code and Circi suddenly grasped how underdressed she was if they were to claim attendance. The two strolled past and Luna mentioned something about wearing shoes to bed.

Circi watched Draco as they walked around the corner and he was staring after them with a deep hatred she hadn't seen in a while. Uncomfortable from sitting in the mere direction of such a look, she climbed out of her seat and patted his shoulder.

"Come on, it's getting late and I'd rather not get caught by Filch."

Draco agreed and walked at a much faster pace than she was accustomed to. She was thankful for her long legs as she only had to pick up her pace a little bit. They ascended another staircase where Draco marched down a corridor to stand in front of a wall with a mural intricately carved into the brick.

They stood there for a moment and Circi was ready to question him when the wall morphed into a door and opened for them. Her mouth fell agape, she hadn't been in the room of requirement for nearly a year and had completely forgotten the way. Of course, now she remembered and, though their route was different, she knew that if she were to walk a little further and around a corner she would come across the corridor she and Mica had argued about lying to Leslie.

Following Draco inside, she was surprised to find it so changed. Of course, the room of requirement was designed to change to its finder's needs but the last she had seen it was when the space was empty with mirror walls and a fireplace on the far wall. It was a training room, a classroom and here it looked to be storage and only storage. Miscellaneous objects piled up around them, drawers overflowed with clothes and jewellery, bookshelves overflowing with thick volumes, some lying sideways, others with their covers pointed outwards. They manoeuvred the maze of wardrobes and storage cabinets before passing by a cracked mirror and stopped as draco pulled a covering from a looming rickety free-standing cupboard.

The wood was faded, nearly grey, and cracked. It was nearly as tall as the room and Draco opened it to reveal that the two sides pointing into the room were also the doors. The cupboard was empty. There no shelves or draws inside, nor were there any objects stored on its floor.