Lemon Grass and Sleep

A TEA PARLOR, OR SOMETHING

"I think I'm going to throw up," I mumbled, glancing up to my left at Fred who looked no better than I did.

"Try to avoid my shoes, my mum just had them shined."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Glinda and George were taking a nap straight after the test, so that left Fred and I to our own devices. I had wanted to stop by the greenhouses to practice more hands-on studying but I couldn't bring myself to walk that far.

"Oh," the memory of the small parlor from last night flashed in my head, "Do you know about this small little tea parlor on the seventh floor?"

"A tea parlor?" He asked incredulously, "All the way up there? I don't think so, why?"

"It's just so nice, I was so surprised to find it myself."

"So it's just a little sitting room or what? How'd you even find this place?"

"Oh, no, it's got the comfiest couch and then this little desk. It must be someone's old office or something, but it's got this enchanted fireplace, and-"

"What were you doing all the way up there anyways?" He interrupted me, looking a bit suspicious.

"I needed somewhere quiet to practice spells, my roommates were bothered by my mumbling so I went up there last night."

"Uh huh," he slowly said, "And when did you sleep during all that?"

I went quiet for a moment, glancing up at him nervously.

"I may or may not have, well- I didn't sleep. I couldn't, not when there was so much to review and-"

"We're going to your little tea room, and you're taking a nap." He stated, looking at me expectantly. "Go on, lead the way."

And so I followed in my footsteps, or at least what I remembered of them, to the hallway with the tapestry of Barnabas. Once the familiar piece of fabric caught my eye, I looked at the wall expecting to find a door where there wasn't one.

"What?" I said quietly, looking back and forth down the hallway for the familiar gray door, "It should be right here."

"I thought it was weird when you said seventh floor," Fred mumbled under his breath. "Maybe it's a bit further down than you remember."

"No, I'm sure it was in front of the tapestry," but I followed him down the hallway anyway. We walked back and forth like that two more times, just to make sure we hadn't missed it.

"Maybe you were on the other side of the castle and just got turned around," he suggested, patting me on the back. "It must've been late and you haven't been sleeping well."

"I guess so," I said glumly, wondering if the room was a lucid dream or something. "Let's go ahead to the library so we can..."

As we turned to head back to the shifting staircases I locked eyes with two iron door handles and a taunting gray wooden door.

"Merlin's beard," I whispered, "That's the door."

"That wasn't there a second ago, was it?" He whispered back. "I got some sleep last night, I know I'm not seeing things."

"No, this is what happened last night too, it only showed up after I walked around a bit." Hesitantly, I walked up to the door and knocked softly.

"Pardon us," I murmured as I pushed it open, just as silent as it had been the previous night.

The room looked slightly different than I remembered, for example the desk wasn't as big, and there was a sitting chair I didn't remember at all. If it was possible, the couch looked even more inviting...