The End's Intent

Chapter 25

Draco hated every second of this. From the moment Hermione had suggested they trick the Room of Requirement into becoming the room of lost things, he'd known that something was bound to go wrong. He'd thought for sure the Carrows or someone else would come storming around the corner before they could even attempt it, but fifteen minutes later, the Room of Requirement was empty and Hermione tried to turn it into her supposed room of lost things.

"You can't be sure the diadem is even in there," Draco muttered, watching her pace in front of the room seven times. As the door appeared in front of them, Hermione turned and scowled at him.

"Until you have a better idea, this is what we're doing," she said. Without hesitating, she yanked open the door and stepped into the room.

Draco stood at her back as they stepped through the door and into a room so large Draco wondered if it ever ended. His wolf wanted to take her away from there immediately and he almost did, except Hermione was looking around in awe and he didn't want to be the one to pull her away from something she found so fascinating. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but feel antsy as the door shut behind them and he wondered just what hid in between the tall shelves and down the endless corridor.

"We shouldn't be here, Hermione," he grumbled, grabbing her hand tightly when she stepped forward. She glanced back at him shortly then back down the aisle of shelves.

"This is it, Draco," she told him, tugging on his hand. "This has to be where the diadem is hidden. The Room of Requirement wouldn't turn into this if it wasn't."

"How do you propose we find the diadem then?" he asked, trying not to snarl. His wolf hated to be there even though he still had one hand against the door and knew they could easily leave.

With a shrug, Hermione attempted to summon the diadem. Draco was unsurprised when nothing happened, but Hermione's shoulders deflated and he knew she'd been hoping that would work. If they couldn't summon it, it would take years to explore the room. They'd never find the diadem by the time they needed it and Voldemort would win.

"We won't find it like this, Hermione," Draco told her. He released the door so he could wrap both of his arms around Hermione. He turned her in his arms and looked down at her. "The diadem could be anywhere."

"We need to at least look," she replied, pulling away from him and starting down the long row of shelves.

Draco surged forward after her. He looked around the room warily, waiting for something to jinx or hex them, while Hermione scanned every shelf they passed. The ceiling was high and the shelves seemed to extend all the way to the top. Draco knew it was futile to look for the diadem with the shelves stacked so tall and the room endlessly long. Every little sound set him on edge and when one of the shelves behind them creaked, he'd had enough.

"We need to go, Hermione," he said, grabbing her arm. She tried to pull away, but Draco refused to let go of her. "The room has no end and Potter's going to face the Dark Lord any minute. Who knows how time passes in here."

"Just a few more minutes!" she begged, looking up at him desperately. "If we don't destroy it, there's no chance Harry can defeat You Know Who and where will we be then?"

Draco knew exactly where they'd be if Potter couldn't defeat the Dark Lord. Even if he hadn't been made such an obvious move to defect and help Potter, now that he was a werewolf, he'd still be on the lower end of Voldemort's new social order. His wolf snarled at the thought of what the Death Eaters would do with Hermione and he pulled her tight against his chest.

"Is there a spell we can cast to destroy it?" Draco asked her, looking down the corridor behind her. He could have sworn he heard something shift and he could feel his wolf straining toward the exit.