After Care of Magical Creatures, Marietta and Eloise decided to go straight to the common room instead of to dinner. Marietta didn't want to face Alice so soon after what had happened because she was afraid she might lose control. As the two girls sat chatting on Marietta's bed, Renny walked in. She saw Eloise and Marietta and sneered.
"Still hanging out with a reject, Marietta? Oh, wait---you are a reject now!" Renny laughed hysterically. "After all, that's what happens when you cheat on your boyfriend, isn't it?" Both Eloise and Marietta looked like they wanted to punch Renny in the face. They knew that even though it was Alice who had actually spread the rumor, Renny was most likely the brains behind it all. "Now, now, girls, let's not get violent!" Renny cackled and turned, starting to walk out of the dormitory when Eloise flew at her.
"You stupid, vindictive cow! You're so insecure that you have to pick on others to feel good about yourself. You think you're so great and so popular, but you're really not. Welcome to reality, where everyone hates you, even your friends. Do you really think that if someone was spreading rumors about you, that Alice and Lucy would stick up for you? No! They might even be the ones spreading the rumor!" Renny looked shocked. Apparently she had thought that Eloise was a pushover, but she was beginning to realize otherwise. Eloise, however, was not done. "I can't believe you have the guts to accuse someone else of something that, first, they would never do, and second, that you would do in a heartbeat! I bet you would sleep with any guy if they told you that you were pretty. That's sad, Renny, that's really sad."
Renny turned again to go, but Marietta wasn't going to let her leave before she had her word in. "For your information, Patrick and I are back together and stronger than ever---you can go ahead and ask him. Oh, and to think I almost forgot. This really cute Gryffindor---his name's James Knight---came up to Eloise at breakfast yesterday and told her that Ron Weasley was a total git for what he said to her. And we're the rejects?" Renny opened her mouth, but Marietta wouldn't let her speak. "I don't want to hear it. You can pass everything we said on to Alice and Lucy- --'m sure they'd be glad to hear it."
Renny glared at them, but couldn't seem to summon any words except, "You're going to regret this," before she stumbled out the door.
Eloise grinned broadly. "That felt so good."
"I completely agree," Marietta smiled triumphantly. "You were great. But I guess we kind of ruined the purpose of not going to dinner. Now they're all going to be really furious."
"Um, about that..." Eloise said as she grimaced slightly. "I have to sleep in here with them tonight, and I'm not sure that's the best idea at the moment."
"Excuse me, but I sleep here, too."
"I know that, but you're probably going to be with Patrick for quite a while tonight. Am I right?"
Marietta rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but I still have to sleep here for a few hours. What should we do?"
Eloise thought. "Well, I heard of this room once called the Room of Requirement..."
"What's that do?" Marietta said, puzzled.
"I think you were supposed to go past the room three times thinking about what you needed, then the room would appear... I just can't remember where it was supposed to be." Eloise paced back and forth thoughtfully.
Marietta shrugged. "Don't look at me. I don't read enough to know any of that sort of stuff."
"Well, you know where we could find out..." Eloise said slowly.
"Where's that?"
"The library, of course." Eloise said simply. "Come on, we need to hurry if we want to be in the Room of Requirement by nine. Eloise tugged on Marietta's arm impatiently.
"All right, all right, I'm coming."
Once the girls arrived at the library, they realized that they had absolutely no idea where they could find a book on the Room of Requirement. After much puzzling, musing, and opening random books, Eloise finally decided to look in Hogwarts, A History. She didn't really think that there would be anything in there on such a secret room, but as Marietta said, anything was worth a try at this point. However, after flipping through every page of the book and not finding a single thing on the Room of Requirement, Eloise was at a loss. She had never been failed by the Hogwarts library before, and it was rather shocking to discover that she couldn't always find what she needed.
Marietta raised her head. "You know, you could just ask Madam Pince. She knows every book in this library."
"Are you kidding?" Eloise whispered incredulously. "Madam Pince is probably already suspicious of the fact that we've been here so long, what do you think she'd do if I asked her for a book on secret rooms?"
"Just tell her that it's for a project you're doing on Hogwarts." Marietta appeared unconcerned. "And hurry up, I want to get a couple hours of sleep before I go to meet Patrick."
"Well, if you want to find out where it is so badly, go ask her yourself." Eloise said, mildly annoyed.
"Are you kidding? You know she'd never believe me if I told her it was for a 'special research project'. Madam Pince might be mean, but she isn't stupid. I never study or research anything, but you're just the sort of person that would be doing extra schoolwork on top of what's assigned. You ask."
Eloise stood up suddenly. "Fine. But if Madam Pince gets us in trouble, you're explaining everything." She strode over to Madam Pince, who glanced up from a dusty old book she was reading.
"Madam Pince, I've been doing a special research project on Hogwarts, and I wondered if you knew any books that might talk about some secret passages or rooms that I could include in my report." Eloise shifted nervously.
"What class is this for?" Madam Pince asked, shutting her book.
"Um, it's not for a class, actually." Eloise half-lied, "I'm very interested in all the different rooms and magical features in Hogwarts, you see, and I thought it might be fun to do a essay on it."
Madam Pince looked suspiciously over the top of her glasses, but seemed to decide that a girl like Eloise couldn't possibly do any harm to her precious books. "I suppose I could show you a few books..."
Eloise nearly burst with excitement. "Oh, thank you, Madam Pince, I really appreciate it. I can't tell you how grateful I am, really. You're a wonderful librarian," Eloise said ecstatically.
"Humph," Madam Pince grunted, "I haven't found anything yet." She started to move off to a secluded corner of the library, Eloise right behind her. Madam Pince mused through the books on the shelves, all of them looking like they hadn't been so much as touched since they were first placed on the library shelves. She picked out a few volumes and handed them to Eloise. "These should tell you what you need to know."
"Could I check them out? I'll need to do quite a bit of reading," Eloise asked hopefully.
Madam Pince sniffed. "I suppose. Make sure and get them back on time, though." Madam Pince wrote Eloise's name on a card at her desk and turned back to Eloise.
"Oh, I will, Madam Pince, I will. Thank you very much!" Eloise rushed out of the library, Marietta following her. As soon as they were out of Madam Pince's earshot, Marietta sniggered.
"That was hilarious, Eloise, really hilarious," Marietta chuckled, "Honestly, you have no idea how funny you sounded. 'I can't tell you how grateful I am, really. You're a wonderful librarian!'" Marietta said in an exaggerated imitation.
Eloise smiled. "Yeah, yeah, milk it for all it's worth. I'm the reason we don't have to sleep with three crones that would probably murder us in our sleep, though, so you've got no room to talk." Eloise stopped at a broom cupboard, opening the door. "Come on, it's past curfew."
Marietta looked puzzled. "I thought we were going to look for the Room of Requirement." Eloise pushed her roughly into the cupboard and shut the door.
"Lumos! We are," Eloise whispered, lighting the tip of her wand, "but we're going to find out where it is in here so we don't get caught. Here, shove something against the space at the bottom of the door so the light from my wand doesn't shine through." Marietta obliged, finding a few dirty rags and stuffing them in the crack as Eloise began to skim through the first of the heavy volumes Madam Pince had provided. Then she flipped through the second. Finally, about halfway through the third book, she glanced up and poked Marietta, who was beginning to fall asleep.
"Look at this," Eloise said, pointing to a passage in the book, "it says, 'The Room of Requirement, also known as the Come and Go Room, is a room in Hogwarts that is only accessible to those who need it, and it can change according to the user's need. The user can access the room by walking past it three times, concentrating hard on what the user needs the room for. The Room of Requirement is located across from a tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy on the seventh floor of Hogwarts.' Do you know where that is?"
Marietta thought, then said, "I might... Isn't Barnabas the Barmy the one that tried to teach trolls ballet?"
"I think so, but--"
"Then I know where it is. Follow me." Marietta crept out of the broom cupboard after making sure the coast was clear, and Eloise extinguished her wand. Once they got to the tapestry, Marietta and Eloise paced back and forth three times, thinking, 'We need a place to sleep for the night... somewhere safe from The Evil Crones... Just give us somewhere to stay...' As they turned around from their third walk past, they noticed a small, rough, wooden door that hadn't been there before.
"Well, I guess this is it." Eloise opened the door and walked inside, Marietta behind her. The girls gasped simultaneously at what they saw inside.
There were two enormous four-poster beds with yellow and black silk covers, apparently to represent Hufflepuff, and too many pillows to count. A set of luxurious pajamas was laid out on each bed, and, tied back with black ribbon, there were pale yellow silk hangings with black tassels on the bottom. In the corner they saw a small sink and mirror, two toothbrushes, toothpaste, and a small cabinet. Beside each bed was a small mahogany bedside table with a candle on it, and on the wall was an ornate clock.
Eloise slowly walked over to one of the beds and lay face down on it. Marietta, on the other hand, ran and jumped onto her bed, causing all the pillows to bounce off the bed. After Marietta got over her shock, she started giggling uncontrollably and began to jump up and down on her bed. Eloise raised herself from her bed and began to laugh as well.
"Can you believe this? This is so amazing!" Eloise laughed, jumping up and down on her bed.
"I know!" Marietta shouted back. "I want to sleep here every night!"
The girls jumped until they were out of breath, then collapsed onto the silk covers. While Marietta's eyes were closed, Eloise slowly sat up and reached for a pillow, hiding it behind her back. "Marietta?"
"What?" Marietta sat up sleepily.
Eloise drew the pillow from behind her and threw it at Marietta, hitting her square in the face. Marietta shrieked and threw it back. A barrage of pillows ensued until ten minutes or so later, when Marietta glanced at the clock.
"Eloise, look! It's five 'til eleven already---I'm supposed be at the Astronomy Tower in five minutes to meet Patrick!" Marietta panicked.
"Calm down, Marietta, I'm sure he won't mind if you're a couple minutes late. Go on, I'll go to sleep and you can wake me up when you get back." Eloise waved Marietta out. After she left, Eloise changed into her pajamas, rolled over, and fell asleep.
Eloise Midgen and the Acute Acne by eowyngirl
Chapter Notes: Okay, so Marietta and Eloise yell at Renny, go to the library, and camp out in the Room of Requirement! Over all, a fantastic chapter to write. If you think it was a fantastic chapter to read, or if you thought it was hideous, or if you didn't think anything at all, please leave a review. You know you I love reviews. :) Well, read on!
Disclaimer: By the way, of course I'm not JK. How absurd!