The Room of Necessity

Disclaimer: If I ever owned anything other than my computer I would be a very happy bunny. But as life would have it, I don't. And that includes anything to do with J. K. Rowling. So I'm not a bunny. Ironic, isn't it?

Many thanks to Miraen for being a wonderful and helpful beta reader!

Just a note to say that I have now revised this fic and hopefully improved it a little, but because ffn is cracking down on authors writing personalised answers to reviews, I have deleted all of mine and any thanks to specific reviewers. However, valid questions that I have answered still remain, because I think that others might benefit from any explanations given.

Also, ffn's upload system will not allow you to put question marks and exclamation marks together; they just show up as exclamation marks. So that's why some question marks are missing. Don't know why I'm telling you this, but I suppose if you're a stickler for grammar…

"It is wisdom to recognize necessity… though as folly it may appear to those who cling to false hope."-Gandalf in 'The Fellowship of the Ring' by J. R. R. Tolkein.

Chapter One

Draco was in a foul mood. It was the first day of Christmas break and he was at school. He had spent the last few weeks eager to go home; a respite from Pansy Parkinson who was staying at Hogwarts, and back to the welcome privacy of his own room. He had been packed and ready to go, and had just been getting into a carriage that would take him to the train when none other than his moody potions master stalked up.

"Professor?" Malfoy asked, trying to look less irritated then he was actually feeling as he levitated his trunk into the carriage where Crabbe and Goyle sat, looking very much like two extremely large pigs. He bit his tongue when Snape levitated his trunk back out again.

"Professor…" He whined, turning to face Snape.

"You'll not be going home today Malfoy."

"What!"

"Don't you dare take that tone with me; I'm not happy either. Dumbledore and I have both received owls from your parents. They're busy. You're staying here. Go unpack your things."

Snape set Draco's trunk down on the wet, muddy ground and stalked off. Malfoy stood motionless, stared at by two gaping lumps of flesh with no brain. Ignoring them as the carriage began to pull away; a very angry Malfoy levitated his trunk back into Hogwarts and left it in the great hall, calling for a houself to carry it back to his dorm.

He then left for the owlery from where he sent blunt, annoyed letter to his mother demanding to know why this had happened. Just as he was chucking his owl – Darkwing – out of the window he heard voices and couldn't help but groan: it was Pot and Wease.

"…And I had this weight on my chest right here, and I couldn't breathe properly so I guess I woke up and…"

"It was Dobby!" Ron asked incredulously.

"Yup. I was scared out of my wits at the time but – "

Both froze in the doorframe glaring at Draco, who smirked.

"What the hell are you doing here Draco?" Draco ignored him.

"What was that about being scared of a houself Potter?"

"So your parents finally decided that they couldn't stand you any longer did they? Well, my congratulations to them for coming to their senses."

"It would be a lot funnier Weasel if you weren't here because all your parents can afford to feed you at home is mud."

Draco watched in amusement as Ron turned an interesting shade of fuchsia. Harry quickly grabbed Ron's forearm and started to drag him away, talking loudly enough for Draco to hear as they walked back down the corridor.

"C'mon Ron. Let's leave the stuck up little bastard alone with the patch of owl dung he's currently standing in."

Draco gasped and looked down. Sure enough, there it was. He lifted his leg in disgust and started trying to wipe his shoe on some clean hay.

"Oh, and look Harry. Here comes the love of his life. Hi Pansy."

Draco's head snapped up and all the colour that was there - disappeared.

'Oh no'.

"Pansy, Draco's decided to stay behind over Christmas to spend some quality time with you. He's in the owlery."

Pansy was about to bash Harry over the head for being such an impertinent little git to an upper-class lady such as herself, when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Peering in the direction of the owlery she saw a streak of blonde slip out and start running away down the corridor. This could only mean one thing, her furiously-working mind concluded. No one else had such glaringly white-blonde hair.

"Draco!" She squealed in a strangely guttural voice, and ignoring the Pot and Wease she dashed after him, clutching her robes tightly around her podgy frame. Ron and Harry watched with joy as Draco flinched when his name was called and pick up speed; sprinting away around that corner as if he was being chased by a rabid dog, which – in their opinion – he was. Clutching their stomachs in pain while they doubled over with laughter, Ron and Harry staggered back into the owlery.

HPHPHPHPHPHP

'Damn it all to hell!' Draco thought as he ran. 'How can my life be made any worse?' Sprinting around yet another corner he unexpectedly collided with something very hard and crashed to the floor in an undignified heap.

"Granger! You stupid mudblood! Watch where you're going!"

Hermione picked herself off of the floor and opened her mouth to reply when she heard Pansy call for Draco. She grinned as Draco's eyes widened and he jumped to his feet.

"Oh Pan-sy." She called in a sing-song voice, but then she felt a clammy hand over her mouth and she was forcefully shoved by Draco though a nearby door. He followed her through and locked the door with a quick spell.

"Malfoy! You'd better – "

"Expelliarmus!"

Gasping, Hermione watched in desperation as Malfoy grabbed her wand from the air and shoved it deep into an inner pocket of his cloak. She opened her mouth to scream but suddenly found this impossible. Instead she saw spots. Draco had pushed her hard up against a wall, bashing her head. He had one hand over her mouth and a forearm pressed against her windpipe. He pushed on it threateningly.

"If you so much as breathe Granger, I'll throttle you." He hissed before his body went rigid. He could hear Pansy calling for him just outside…

A/N

There ya go: Chapter One. Personally I think that my writing improves as we go along, but you'll just have to see. Remember to review and give me your opinion. It means a great deal.