Finding the Magic (a Clexa hogwarts au)

Room of Requirement

Clarke stumbled back and looked painstrickenly at Lexa, who was already staring at her, mouth agape. She opened her mouth to speak, but found no words to express what she felt churning inside her stomach. The group inside the greenhouse remained oblivious to the girls outside, erupting into nervous whispers. Clarke could make out Kane announcing that they needed to warn her mother. My mother? She thought furiously. Warn me. And explain to me what the hell is going on. Clarke, her mind still whirling, turned her back to the greenhouse, coaxing her heavy legs toward the castle. 

"Where are you going?" Lexa hissed.

"I just need to be alone, please don't follow me," Clarke responded, her breath coming in gasps. 

"No one is going to hurt you," Lexa said, her voice pleading. "I won't let that happen." 

But Clarke was already too far away to hear her. Lexa waited until she disappeared into the castle before following. 

I need somewhere to get away. I need somewhere to get away. I need somewhere to get away. The mantra repeated itself in Clarke's head as she searched for a place to go. She couldn't go to the common room, there were too many people there. She couldn't go to the astronomy tower, there might be a class. Clarke continued through the castle, the hallways becoming increasingly darker as she reached the parts that were rarely traveled by students. 

Clarke was slowed by a low rumble. She frantically whipped her head around, looking for the source of the noise. Great, now I've enraged some sort of castle monster and now it's going to kill me. Clarke stopped and spun around, halting when she noticed a line tracing itself on the wall. It swooped in an arcing curve, forming what almost looked like an outline of an enormous door. She squinted at it as the old bricks transformed into what appeared to be wood, ornately carved and freshly polished. It wasn't long before Clarke was standing in front of a large door, handle and all. 

"Well, if it wasn't here before, there is no way anyone is going to find it," Clarke whispered to herself, walking towards it. 

She grabbed the handle and pulled it open. Clarke stepped inside and immediately had to shade her eyes. Once her eyes adjusted to the bright, apparently natural but impossibly so, light, Clarke could distinguish a forested room. But it couldn't possibly be a room. There were no walls or a ceiling. Feeling as though she had just stepped into a storybook, Clarke walked further into the room. The door shut behind her, but it didn't disappear, thankfully.

Before her, thousands of grown trees spread out for what seemed to be miles, another impossible feat. Perhaps it was just an illusion, but, remembering she attended a magical school, Clarke figured it was probably a spell that allowed the room to extend forever. There were hundreds of different types of trees, but all were alive and flourishing. 

Clarke heard a quiet trickle, and moved toward the sound. She expected some sort of creek, but as she drew closer, it was apparent that the room housed a flowing river. Drawn to the bubbling noise, Clarke sat down on a large, flat rock by its bank. She could see flashes of silver darting about under the surface. Fish of all sizes went about their daily life, unaware that they lived in an endless room inside of a castle. 

There she sat for several minutes, sorting through the last hour's events in her head.

So there's an evil conspiracy group that kills people. They killed my dad. They kidnap kids and torture them. They let one escape. She comes here and warns teachers that said evil group wants to kill me-- or whatever it is they want to do to me.

"It truly is beautiful in here," a voice interrupted Clarke's thoughts. 

"I said I wanted to be alone, Lexa," Clarke countered, refusing to turn around.