The Cupboard Series 1: The Cupboard Under The Stairs

Chapter 10

Eyeing her partner, Hermione darted off to follow the Herbology teacher's instructions. Ordinarily, she'd write the essay requirements in her diary, but with only two days left of the term, she just didn't have time. She'd just have to rely on memorising Professor Sprout's instructions for now.

As expected, Harry left Greenhouse One before she'd even made it back to the table to collect her books and bag. This time, though, he didn't have as much a lead on her as usual.

With a rush that nearly knocked Ron into the pile of dragon dung near the door, Hermione raced out into the wintery grounds. A lone set of footprints in the snow marked Harry's passage back towards the castle and Hermione set off after him.

Seeing her quarry taking the steps to the side door two at a time, she lengthened her stride, only to stop dead just inside the door. Once again, he'd disappeared. The corridor in front of her was empty. But this wasn't she first time that she'd followed him.

With her bag bouncing awkwardly at her side, Hermione raced through the corridors that she'd seen Harry take on every other occasion.

As she burst out of the side corridor, she peered across the crowded hall and up the stairs that led to Gryffindor Tower. Each black cloaked figure was quickly assessed and discarded when they were all discovered to be missing a shock of messy black hair.

Knowing that there was no way that he would have been able to climb the stairs and disappear before she'd exited the corridor, she turned her attention to the crowd in front of her.

A mass of black cloaks swirled in front of her. She searched through them all, quickly discounting and ignoring the blue edged cloaks and the handful of yellow and green trimmed ones in favour of the red-trimmed Gryffindors.

Her eyes darted backwards and forwards and then, in a sudden break in the crowd, she spied a small, lone figure standing at the foot of the stairs. Her eyes narrowed as she watched him watching the crowd. His head swivelled to either side as he took a slow step away from the stairs and closer to the wall behind him.

A sudden flurry of movement hid Harry from her for no more than a couple of second, but it was enough.

A soft huff of annoyance escaped her as she realised that in those precious few seconds, Harry had once again disappeared. She darted her eyes up the stairs, but he wasn't there. Rising up on tip-toes, she once more scanned the hallway, but he was nowhere to be found.

There were no classrooms nearby. No doors of any description at all that he could have disappeared into.

Fixing her eyes on the last place that she'd seen him, Hermione marched straight across the hall to stand at the foot of the stairs. She turned around and tried to mimic the last movements that she'd seen him make.

He'd been moving this way, she remembered, as she copied the steps that he'd been making towards the wall.

Looking around, she frowned once more. The only object of interest anywhere nearby was a suit of armour standing in the middle of a tiny alcove just to the side of the stairs. Hermione stared at it, her teeth beginning to chew on her bottom lip as she thought.

Glancing around at the thinning crowd behind her, Hermione did the only thing that made any sort of sense to her – she ducked in behind the statue. And gasped. There, in the gloom from the shadow cast by the stairs, was a tiny door.

A lop-sided grin broke out on Hermione's face.

-oOoOo-

Dumping his bag, Harry plonked himself down on the coil of rope that had become his seat any time that he came down to his cupboard. With a soft sigh, he pulled the small wooden bench that he used as a desk closer, using one hand to prevent the spare quill and ink bottle that he kept on it from rolling off.