Hermione's shoes clacked against the stone floor of the lowest level of Hogwarts, the dungeons. That was the second time she'd been down there on that fateful day, probably two times too many. She wasn't scared, per say, of the dungeons, just wary.
Every Hogwarts house had a silent agreement on what was their 'territory' within Hogwarts.The Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws and Gryffindors all claimed the floor that their common room was on and the Slytherins claimed the dungeons. Every other house had no reason to be down in the dungeons apart from when they were going to potions, so if a Slytherin saw another student down in their domain when it wasn't time for potions, they would rattle that student with questions about why they were there.
Hermione decided she would start at the far end of the floor and work her way across, checking every nook, cranny or room. Ginny couldn't have gone far, and she said that with complete confidence. Once she reached the far wall, she turned left and started poking her head into every room she could see. They were just classrooms; empty classrooms full of dusty desks and outdated calendars on the walls.
Annoyed, Hermione brushed a chocolate coloured curl behind her ear as it had escaped from her loose ponytail as time went by. She went to turn left again, down another hallway, when SMACK!
Hermione's head bashed against a hard something, seemingly encased in a soft cotton fabric. Looking up in a daze, she noticed that she'd just collided with Draco Malfoy's chest.
"Sorry, I uh, didn't see you there." Draco ran his hand awkwardly along the back of his neck. There was silence for a second. "Uh, you needed me?" He held up the metal summoning device. Hermione nodded. "I was just on my way to the Gryffindor common room when I-"
"Ginny's in trouble." Hermione cut in.
"What? How come?" Draco asked.
"She was last seen with Ron, no one has heard from her since." Hermione looked up at Draco. "She's in Hogwarts. I know that."
"Right, well let's search." Draco said bravely. Hermione was about to ask him to go and look on another floor to save time, but some unknown reason stopped her from doing so. She concluded it was because she would have a valid excuse to be in the dungeons if she was with a Slytherin.
Draco and Hermione continued looking into every room they could find, trailing every corridor until it's end. Suddenly, Draco stopped abruptly.
"Wait, I know where we haven't looked!" he said, causing Hermione to perk up a little, regaining hope.
"Where?"
"Well, I mean it's just this little hatch in the wall but it leads to this huge storage room... It's not in use anymore and.... Oh well, let's just look, I suppose." Draco walked to the other end of the floor with purpose, turning down a derelict corridor that was dark, dingy and crawling with cobwebs.
"This?" Hermione pointed to the tiny crawling hole in the wall. "It's bolted shut."
"Well, it doesn't hurt to look, does it?"
"I guess not." Hermione pulled out her wand and pointed it at the hefty padlock. "Alohamora." It jolted slightly, but didn't open. "Sheesh." Hermione waited a beat then facepalmed dramatically. "Gosh I'm so dumb!"
"What is it?" Draco inquired.
"The marauder's - merlin why didn't I think of this before - the marauder's map!" Hermione retrieved a empty, folded parchment paper from her pocket. "Borrowed it from Harry the other day. I solemnly swear I am up to no good". The paper sprung to life as deep red ink bled onto the page and created intricate patterns. Hermione unfolded it and scanned it quickly.
YOU ARE READING
Polyjuice Party
Fanfiction(COMPLETED) "This Friday, we are going to have what is known as the Polyjuice Party. A night in which everyone drinks a random polyjuice potion, transforming themselves into another member of the student body. Then, they can mingle and hang out and...
