Anyone But Me

Chapter Forty-Three

The cursory glance she gave the entrance to the room was enough to clue her in that she was alone. Nothing had changed since the night before... Evidence of her moment of enlightenment still spilled into the makeshift threshold that served as a passageway to the hoard. Her deliberate blanket of parchment was left unblemished by the marks that would have been there if someone had walked across.

She sighed as she leaned back against the door in the same spot she had rested against that night. An intense memory of staring up into his stormy gray eyes had her gaze automatically seeking for him... All that she found was the same emptiness. The way her stomach twisted with a completely new round of guilt had her quickly disentangling herself from the bag across her middle. She set it down on the floor next to her, glad to have extra weight off of her body.

It did little for the nasty feelings that snaked their way through her veins but the intended freedom for easier movement was appeased and her body called for action. She pushed herself from the wall and made her way across the sea of papers, the crunching of old parchment was the only sound that joined the rushed breaths that left her lungs. Her pace was purposeful as she approached the entrance to the towering web of objects.

Instead of feeling the fear she had been expecting, there was a surge of recklessness. Tempting her to keep moving and conquer the unknown. Take away the air of mystique from the place, so it would not have the ability to stop her dead in her tracks. Giving her back some sense of power when everything else was utterly out of her control... She was ready this time. Sound of mind and with every bit of her intelligence at her disposal, she would easily be able to make her way around and resist any nasty bits of magic that could possibly try to entrap her.

All that she had to do was make the simple choice to step over the invisible barrier in her mind that somehow convinced her that she was only safe in the little alcove...

As soon as the thought ran through her mind the sudden burst of energy left her just as quickly as it had come. And she sank down onto the floor. How could she trust her choices when all she seemed capable of lately was messing things up? Was this another simple looking choice that could possibly lead to far reaching consequences? Would the feeling of accomplishment at the end be worth the risk?

Plagued with indecision she pulled her legs out from under her and brought them up against her chest so she could rest her chin on her knees. She knew that she should go back to her dorm. That was the logical thing to do, but she couldn't seem to find the strength that had made her think that she could tackle the maze again.

Heck, making her way back to the bag felt like an insurmountable task...

And what if she left only to miss his appearance? Harry's willingness to easily part with the map was a sign that Draco's behavior tonight was anything but suspicious. The chance was infinitesimally small that he would show up after her abhorrent behavior. It was laughable that she had come instead of sleeping in preparation for tomorrow. Which was sure to be a wonderful day filled with monotony and glares from one of the only teachers that didn't like her in the whole school. Besides, maybe, Trelawney...

But he would want answers wouldn't he? Or were the days of silence enough to piss him off so badly that he no longer cared?

Hermione sighed and glared at a rusted ax that was leaning against a broken wardrobe a few feet into the passageway that led to the right. She would give him thirty minutes... If he did not make an appearance before the allotted time she would go back and try to figure out how to word her explanation so that he would understand and no one else would be able to glean any useful information from it. A highly unlikely scenario but she wouldn't be left with any other choice.