𝐸𝑉𝐸𝑅𝐺𝑅𝐸𝐸𝑁 𝑀𝐼𝑆𝑇 || 𝐷.𝑀.

nineteen

Juniper looked around the Room of Requirement intensely, her eyes wandering from one table to the next, each one holding different piles of items. Her hands delicately gazed over them, finding small pocket watches and books covered in dust. There were piles of chairs stacked at least fifteen to twenty feet tall around them, paving a pathway to walk.
Draco followed Juniper through the room, watching her slowly walk and let her fingers touch the different artifacts around her. He noticed how curious her eyes were, seeing them jump around and unable to focus on one thing. She set her shoes on a cluttered table, part of him knowing she'd probably forget to grab them and she'd be one of the many people who'd made a contribution to the room over the thousands of years of Hogwarts existing. Juniper turned to face him, but she didn't look at him, her eyes were still wandering around the room.
"How...how did you come across this place?" Juniper asked as she finally met Draco's eyes.
"There are many secrets within this castle, many places to hide and run off to. You have your evergreen trees and I have the Room of Requirement." Draco told her as he picked up a small box and opened it, a tiny key sat in it. He picked up the key and twirled it in his fingers and turned to Juniper. "It's full of secrets and lost items, each ones holds a different story and no one truly knows what that story is. Like this key, what do you think this key belongs to?" Draco's open ended question made her ponder many possibilities in her mind, but settling on one single answer as she walked over and took the key from him.
"The detailing is intricate and it's thicker, so it's not to a box or cabinet. If I had to guess, I'd picture a house." She said as she examined the key closely. Draco's fingers slowly met under her chin and lifted her head up to look at him, their faces were so close together.
"And what type of house do you imagine that would be, Ms. Hartley?" Draco practically whispered the question to her and strangely it sent shivers up her spine. Ms. Hartley. The way he said her name like that made her feel as if she were speaking with a man from a different time period, as if they were about to run off to some English Tudor-style cottage together. She then realized she had her answer for him. She gave a small smile and held the key up a bit for them both to see.
"I picture a Tudor-style cottage somewhere in a little English village, but it's off in a valley, maybe there's a forest behind it full of evergreen trees." Juniper said as she tried to paint the image of the house she saw in her head into Draco's mind. He chuckled at the mention of evergreen trees, but nodded his head.
"What else? What does this house look like?" He asked her. Draco enjoyed seeing the inside of Juniper's imagination, gaining a sense for what she liked within the world. Juniper drew a breath in as she thought for a moment of what she'd picture this Tudor cottage to look like.
"It's white with dark green vines growing on part of the siding. There's a stone pathway that leads to it through a meadow of flowers and grass. The roof at one point was black but it's sun faded now to a more grayish color. And the windows have original stained glass that fill rooms with colors when the sun hits just right in the afternoon And in the early morning there's a fog that comes from surrounding mountains to covers the yard, making it ominously beautiful and peaceful." She tried her best to describe what she saw in her head so he could see it too and by the look on his face, she knew he was seeing it with her, that in another reality, they were standing in front of the Tudor cottage together.
"Say one day we find this white Tudor cottage?" Draco asked quietly as his eyes were focused on hers.
"Do you think such a place exists?" Juniper asked him. Draco thought for a moment about how to answer her question. He knew that in their world, no, a place like this most likely did not exist and it made him sad to think that if he answered yes, it would be a lie, but if he answered no, she would lose that Tudor cottage in her mind for good. He nodded though, knowing exactly what to say to please her visions of such a place in existence.
"I do believe such a place exists," he nodded, "and if we can't find it I would build you that white Tudor cottage with the stained glass windows, right on the edge of evergreen trees so that when the fog comes in the early morning, the air will be full of mist that carries their evergreen scent into that meadow full of flowers and grass." Draco spoke quietly and swiftly as if he could plan in his mind exactly how it would be, as if he could simply pick it up from his thoughts and place it in her hands so it could be her reality. Juniper watched him speak her imagination into reality, part of her feeling completely stunned that he could simply just offer to build her a cottage, the other part of her feeling overwhelmed with emotion that he cared about her so deeply that he could simply just offer to build her a cottage.
    "I could stay locked away in your imagination for eternity if it meant I was there with you." Juniper breathed out, feeling as if she were nearly unable to speak. "Say we run away there one day? We take this key and turn it to open the door that leads to our life in this white cottage." She suggested, making him chuckle a bit. Draco nodded his head slowly.
"One day we could run away there together. It'll be a reality one day, I promise." Draco gave her a smile his hand brushing a piece of her hair behind her ear and then Juniper leaned up to connect their lips, allowing them to slowly and passionately work together, consuming the both of them for a few minutes. After the kiss, Juniper placed the key in Draco's hand, folding his fingers around it so he could keep it until it was time to use it on that white Tudor cottage tucked away in the English mountains. They began to leave the Room of Requirement together quietly, but Juniper's mind was running wild with the thoughts of their conversation tonight.
    "You make it very difficult to realize that I'm about to spend two weeks without seeing you for holiday." Juniper said sadly.
    "It'll be a dark two weeks." Draco sighed.
    "Promise you'll write back to me when I write to you." She asked him. He nodded his head with a chuckle as her intertwined their fingers, rubbing his thumb into her soft skin.
    "I promise, Junebug." Draco swore to her.