Unless You Tell Them to Everyone

Not really wanting to, Hermione headed that night to the Room of Hidden Things, where she knew she'd find Draco.

As usual, she found him near the vanishing cabinet, just sort of staring at it and pondering what to do next. When she tapped him on the shoulder, he jumped nearly three feet in the air. "Good lord, you gave me a fright!"

Hermione just crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "That's it, Draco. It's me, or these stupid letters! I want to know what's going on, or I'm out of this relationship. I can not be in a relationship where you don't trust me, and likewise, right now, I don't trust you. You're being secretive, and not as loving, and I don't understand why. So if you can't just tell me what's going on, I'm not going to be your girlfriend anymore."

Draco's head fell to his hands and his shoulders started to shake slightly. Hermione touched him softly, and he looked up at her, eyes shining. "I want to be with you Hermione. Forever, and ever. But for some reason... something is telling me not to tell you and I don't know why!"

"Draco, I understand that you don't want to tell me... But this doesn't sound good. Random letters telling you to deal with vanishing cabinets? That points to dark magic and you need to tell me Draco."

"You're right, Hermione... I just don't know how to say it."

"Just take a deep breath, and tell me everything."

Draco did as he was told; he took a deep breath and started to tell Hermione everything. "Last year, at Christmas break, my father and the Dark Lord were working on some plans on how to get in to Hogwarts. They mentioned something about a vanishing cabinet in Borgin and Burkes... and how it's twin was here, somewhere in Hogwarts. They hadn't gotten all the details worked out yet, and I wasn't technically supposed to be listening... but it basically sounded like they wanted me to find the cabinet and get the death eaters in to Hogwarts."

"Draco! Why are you doing it then? You know what's going to happen, but you're still coming here to work on it? It's despicable. We need to leave, now, and I need you not to come back here ever again!"

Draco let a cry of frustration, and Hermione jumped, startled. "Don't you get it, Hermione? When I say something is telling me to come up here, it's not just telling me. It is making my legs walk up the steps one by one and conjure up the Room of Hidden Things, and then making me walk up and down aisles, searching for this damn cabinet! I'm being brainwashed, or forced, or possessed, or whatever you want to call it and there's nothing I can do about it!"

He sat down again, clearly distraught, and Hermione sat down next to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He nestled in to her and let out a long sigh.

"We need to go to Professor Dumbledore about this, you know," she murmured.

"I know... but right now, can we just sit here? Just for a moment?"

Hermione didn't let go until her arms went numb, and Draco was almost asleep in her arms.