Rotten | D. Malfoy

Six

Staring up at the emerald green drapes surrounding my bed — my hands resting on my stomach and my ankles crossed, similar to someone in the grave — I listen for the sound of each girls' light snores. Bulstrode falls asleep first, then Davis, and Greengrass.

"Rory?" Pansy whispers through the darkness, her voice carrying from her own bed. "You up?" She asks, unable to see me past my bed curtains.

I don't respond hoping if she thinks I'm asleep, she'll follow suit. I hear her tossing and turning, kicking her blankets around to the cool side like she always does — she's a hot sleeper.

Eventually she settles in and her breathing turns heavy, small snores falling from her lips within ten minutes. I wait for a while more, giving time for all the girls to fall into a deeper sleep before sneaking out of bed.

Once I'm sure they're all completely out, I slowly climb out of bed. I step into my slippers, and tug on a jumper. I grab my book bag — that has everything I've prepared for tonight — and my wand before I creep out of our dorm room.

Closing the door behind me, it creaks from the old hinges and my face tightens up — my mouth turning down into a scared frown like I stepped on someone's freshly mopped floor with dirty shoes.

I stay still for a moment, listening for anyone who awoke from the door — but luckily no one does. I tiptoe down the freezing cold hall, down the stairs to the main area of our common room.

Slinking through the common room, I make my way to the exit when I hear a deep chuckle come from the sofas. "Where are you running off to?" Malfoy asks coldly, standing from his place on the couch and stepping over to me in a slow stride, his silk pajama top half undone.

"A walk." I lie with a shrug, my black hair slipping off my shoulders and falling behind my back. Malfoy's eyes flick down to my hair as it sways from its fall before they flick back up to meet mine.

"It's after hours." He answers simply, a smug look creeping onto his face. "As a prefect, I believe I can give you detention for that." He teases and I roll my eyes, folding my arms across my chest — my head tilting to the side.

"I heard you gave up the position, Malfoy, along with Quidditch." I throw back at him and his smug face drops into his routine sneer. "What's up with that?" I ask in a teasing tone as his face continues to twist as he grows more and more vexed with me.

"None of your business, Birch, or is it Riddle now?" He snaps back at me, his face turning up in triumph as my mouth falls open.

I turn on my heels, throwing open the common room door before glancing at him over my shoulder — Malfoy's eyes still fixed on me — "Sure, you can call me that if you'd like." I retort in a falsely sweet voice.

"Just don't forget who I come from and what I can do to you." I add — my tone turning bitter with every word, venom laced in each syllable — and with that I leave the common room, rushing through the dungeon halls and far away from Malfoy.

Able to avoid the caretaker Filch, his cat Mrs. Norris, and Peeves the poltergeist, I make it up to the seventh floor. I find the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy and turn to face the blank wall across from it.

Thinking about the same room Theo showed me and needing my jewelry box, I walk by the blank wall three times. After the third time, the door slowly appears — stretching and growing on the wall in front of me.

Glancing over my shoulders and down the corridors, I slowly open the door to the Room of Requirement. With one more quick glance, I step in and close the door behind me.

Taking a deep breath, exhaling the stress away — I begin to walk past the dozens of stacks of junk scattered around the enormous room. I trace my way to the couch Theo had shown me, then trail off towards the odd cabinet.