Fragments of the Sea

Youthful Yearning

Hermione slid along the cool walls of the 7th floor. Her breath caught in her throat every time she thought she heard footsteps behind her, or a loud gasp rang out in the hall after she tripped on something(though, after so many weeks of this, she was becoming more efficient in planning her routes).

As she passed Barnabus the Barmy's portrait one more time, Hermione paused and, with one more cautious glance over her shoulder, she carefully eased the heavy, iron door that had just appeared in the corridor open.

The sheer, grey metal glittered when the low light emanating from the windows glanced off the smooth surface. She shuffled into the Room of Requirement, but forgot to check for the telltale click of the door shutting and vanishing behind her...

And four feet slid through the entrance right after her.

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Ron and Harry were suspicious. And, as they always did, they fed those flames, letting their wariness flare and blossom. Eventually, they decided that enough was enough and quietly stole away in the middle of the night to see if and more, importantly, where their bookish friend(or, former friend rather, though their little spat didn't disregard all of their concerns for her, neither could claim that they were going through with this out of pure disquietude for her) decided to flee to.

Harry's invisibility cloak covered most of the boy's bodies, but with their newfound height and bulkiness, the cloth pulled up at the bottom to reveal their feet(though Ron's stood out much more with their sizable width). They waited the better part of an hour before she finally crept out of the girls' dormitory and their hunt began.

They trailed Hermione's bushy hair down the winding corridors and twisting halls; sliding through secret shortcuts and moving staircases, until the trio(not that they all knew it) stopped in front of a certain portrait.

Quiet footsteps followed the girl into the hidden room, as the two boys' curiosity and misgivings reached their peak. "Leonela! Finally, what took you so long? We were beginning to think that Potter and Weasley held you back. Speaking of which, do you think they've attempted to follow you using Potter's Thanatos Rag yet?" A deep, smooth voice called out. Harry inhaled sharply, almost giving away their position until he cast a quick Silencio charm around him and Ron.

"That's the voice that was in the library!" he blurted. Ron frowned. "Really? Huh, so we really have to find out who that is if he's been with 'Mione this long, right?" Harry was struck with another thought. "Wait a second...he called us by our surnames...and for some reason asked about a 'Thanatos Rag'...but, if that's who I think it is...Oh, Merlin, you don't think-"

"NO!" Ron shouted, the forcefulness behind his voice nearly shattering the silent bubble around them. "I refuse to believe that 'Mione would sneak around behind our backs to see that ferret!"

Harry's attention snapped back to the other figures' conversation(which consisted of surprisingly easy banter). Hermione was just delivering a playful comeback. "Oh, really, Romeo? 'Cause I seem to have walked in on you with a sleeping beauty- or should I call her 'your Juliette'?- on your shoulder. Have you two really been here all day?" She smirked.

A soft groan permeated the air, interrupting the unknown voice's unintelligable protests. "...nnnrrg...what are you two arguing about now?" The new melodious tone was distinctly feminine, and it had a lilting, soft quality, and both boys blinked under the filmy fabric of the invisibility cloak. 

They painstakingly made their way over to where they could see the beautiful detailing in the floor, and the exuberant swirls and curves of golden engravings on the edges of all the furniture. Harry and Ron were so caught up they were in the magical(and that's comings from two wizards), enchanting decorations that they almost didn't notice the bright, telltale white-blond head of sleeked-back hair that could only belong to a Malfoy. Almost.