Emerald Slippers- [Ginny Weasley]

Seven

After what felt like a lifetime, but was only just a few weeks of hard work, the pair of young Death Eaters appeared to actually be getting somewhere. The countless hours slumped over library books, casting spells only for them to bounce right back at the pair seemed to finally just maybe be worth it. For the night before it appeared they might just have stumbled across the potential answer to the puzzle what was the vanishing cabinet. They might have legitimately found something that would connect the cabinet in the Hogwarts grounds to its twin in the dodgy little shop down Nockturn Alley. 

It had finally come to the time where Naomi and Draco would put it up to the final test. For if this did not work, there was no other option. They were very quickly running out of time. With only less than a week until the deadline was reached this was it. There was no going back. If this did not work. Neither would be returning to Hogwarts after the end of term. Therefore, as Draco placed the green apple he had stolen from the dinner table in the cabinet both turned to look at one another. They spoke no words, there was nothing to say. This continued all the way to the dungeons were they separated to head into their individual dorms. And that night no matter what Naomi did she was unable to go to sleep. For she laid awake all night pondering whether or not it was going to work this time. 

The next morning the pair of now friends, considering the sheet amount of time they had spent together, traipsed their way to the room of requirement skipping breakfast in the great hall. Naomi had assumed just like herself that Draco too felt too nauseous to be able to eat that morning and just wanted to get it out of the way. It was a familiar path the pair walked, tread so frequently that it was done almost on complete autopilot as they spent their time in their own minds. 

Draco remained slightly ahead of Naomi as he walked, his gait much larger and his anxiety feeling the increased speed. However, whilst his anxiety caused him to rush off, Naomi's caused her to want nothing but to turn back and return to bed where it was safe. Naomi may have only been a footstep or two ahead of him, though it felt like miles and it only encouraged her to turn around and run in the opposite direction. But there was no backing out now. This was it. There was no other option. 

Naomi stood there in fear as she watched the room of requirement form itself around her. The isles of misplaced belongings and items long forgotten would have been something she would have found just beautiful if the circumstances had not been the same. Had she found this room by accident instead of searching it out for the crime she was about to commit, she would have loved it. She could have spent hours here just trying to give the items back to their rightful owners. Perhaps she would have brought Ginny here on a date. 

"Are you ready for this little Nott?" Draco's voice brought Naomi back to the room and towards the door she was avoiding looking at. The cabinet which stood proudly in the middle of the room, casting an eery shadow on any item located close to its proximity. His voice had wavered slightly in his words confirming to Naomi that neither wanted to see whatever was behind the door. Either it had failed and they were one step closer to being forever a teenager. Or it had succeeded and they were going to have to come to terms with what they were about to do to the school. 

"I don't think I will ever be ready to see what is behind that door." Naomi's voice was about as strong as the older boy's. However, she did move closer to him to the point that they were shoulder to shoulder. No matter what was going to happen they were going to do it together. She placed her hand upon his which was weakly holding the door handle of the cabinet. 

"Together, we do this together." Naomi's voice this time was stronger than it had been yet with words she didn't know she would be repeating in just a few days time. 

"Together." Draco reaffirmed as they moved to open the door which was heavier than it first appeared to be. 

Inside the cabinet they only came face to face with the same apple from the night before. In the exact same position it had been left in. Naomi could feel her stomach drop at this moment as she realised that they had failed once again. An almost depression rushed over her as she stood staring at that stupid green apple. 

"Stupid apple." Draco huffed out as he went to throw the apple somewhere in the room to rot for the rest of time. 

But it was this moment that the pair suddenly noticed that the apple wasn't the same as they way they had left it. No on the very back was a chunk of the apple missing, a bite. Something neither of them had done the night before. 

"It worked!" Draco cheered as he dropped the apple to the floor and he went to swing Naomi around. At first the pair celebrated with gleeful laughter for they had seemed to repair the relic a task which seemed so impossible. However, their celebrations for what they had just achieved were suddenly halted. Draco placed Naomi down, not very gracefully, for it had dawned on them what this actually meant. 

Draco Malfoy and Naomi Nott were bringing the war to Hogwarts.