The Small Door

Tik... Tok... Tik... Tok...

Draco stared at the big grandfather clock towering over him. It's dulled golden pendulum swung in a rhythmic pattern.

Tik... Tok... Tik... Tok...

It continued to swing as the young boy followed it with his eyes. With how closely he was looking at it, he could see small engravings etched into the golden surface.

Tik... Tok... Tik... Tok...

He was pulled away from his trance when he heard footsteps quieted by the carpet coming from behind him. He looked up and saw his father walking towards him. Draco quickly straightened his back and stood attentive. His father only continued on and passed without saying a word. Draco felt his body slowly go back to its previously relaxed form. He sighed and looked at the old clock once more before returning to his room.

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It was the day after Draco's seventh birthday when he noticed it. An outline of a small door. It sat next to the grandfather clock like it had always been there. When he first saw it, he had tried to pry it open but had failed. It seemed to be stuck and wouldn't budge even when he pulled at the edges with all his might.

This had only made him more curious as to what was behind this door.

"Draco, what are you doing?" 

The stern voice had come behind him and he whipped his head around to see his mother with a disapproving look on her face. Draco quickly got up and dusted himself off. "Nothing mother, I was just observing this door I found."

She glanced behind Draco at the faint outline he was pulling at not moments ago. She shook her head, "Don't mess with it anymore." 

"Yes mother."

With that, Draco ran back to his room.  

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Dinner was quiet. The only sound was the clinking of Draco's fork against his plate. His mother had gone to her bedroom awhile ago after his father had left to go to his study. This left Draco alone. This happened often though so Draco was used to being in the presence of no one.

He stopped eating and pushed his plate away. He sat and stared at the table in silence. 

Then he heard it.

The sound of a small creature scuttling across the floor. He turned to look behind him and caught the sight of a pink tail disappearing behind the dining room door.

Draco furrowed his brows at it. If his mother had seen that she would have start a screaming fit and hex the house elves for not doing their jobs correctly. Draco wasn't his mother.

He got up and peeked out from behind the door. A group of mice, around five, where running in a circle. They where perfectly white with no sign of dirt on them and they had cute pink tails and noses. One of them noticed the boy staring at them and squeaked before running off. The rest of the mice followed. Draco then found himself chasing after them.

They ran to the main hall and up the grand stair case. They turned corners every chance they could and Draco almost thought he had lost them once. 

As they turned the next corner, Draco quickly followed them. His eyes then widened when he saw the small door opened. The mice began jumping around before going through it. He went to follow them but the small door slammed shut. He tried opening it but failed just like the time before. He let out a frustrated grunt as he stepped back. He poked at it a bit more before sadly walking away.

——————————————————————————————————

It had happened again. This time at a later time of night. The same scenario repeated itself and Draco went back to his bed, more dejected than last time. 

As he climbed back on his bed, he knocked over a stuffed rabbit. 

He bent down to pick it up and noticed something strange. The day before he could have sworn the plush had beaded eyes but now there were two black round buttons sewn neatly into the rabbit. This confused Draco but he just brushed it off as him mistaking a small detail.

——————————————————————————————————

A key was left behind. As the mice ran through the door, a mouse wearing a key around its neck shook it off before following the others. 

Draco slowly made his way out from behind the wall. He bent down and picked up the key. 

It was silver and as polished as his family's prized silverware. The faint moonlight streaming in from the window glinted off it and landed at the lock on the door. It was obvious that this would be the key that opened the door.

——————————————————————————————————

Draco hadn't gone through the door. He didn't know why as the urge to follow the mice through the door had strangely taken over him. That's probably why he hadn't followed them though. It felt too strong.

After returning to his room he thought for a bit. He was.. well.. he was unsure. Unsure if he should actually go through the door or not.

On one hand, he would love to find out what was there and get rid of the need to know that was gnawing at his stomach, but on the other hand, he felt unnerved.

Unnerved over the fact that these strange mice kept appearing every night and woke him. Unnerved that none of the house elves had gotten rid of them and that his parents had never mentioned anything about them. Unnerved about how strong the feeling was. The feeling to go through that door.

That small innocent door.

 ——————————————————————————————————

It was dark. Too dark.

Draco couldn't sleep for the sound of scuttling mice had kept him up. They had seemed to multiplied as there were ten of them now. Ten mice running up and down the hall way and only he seemed to notice.

 ——————————————————————————————————

He couldn't bear it anymore. 

Getting up from his bed, he roughly pulled open the drawer of his bed night stand and snatched the key out from it. He then quietly pushed his door open and snuck down the empty hallway.

He could hear them. Hear the mice prancing around ahead of him. Leading him. 

They suddenly disappeared as he arrived at the small door. The small door that had been haunting his mind.

Draco got onto his knees and inserted the key into the lock. It fit perfectly and he quickly turned it. The sound of it un-locking was barely heard by Draco as excitement filled his body. Gone were the worried and uncertain feelings.

Finally he would quell the aching question of what was behind this small door.

 He pulled it open and came face to face with a small circular hallway. To be more precise, it was less of a hallway and more of a pink and purple tunnel.

This just made Draco more excited and he hurriedly crawled into the small space. As he crawled he noticed that the other end was also a door. He hoped it was unlocked and soon found out it was. 

Pushing open the door, he happily got out of the small tunnel and was confronted with.... the hallway he'd just been in? Draco looked around confused. He previous excitement deterred as he noticed the same paintings and the same old grandfather clock.

Tik.. Tok.. Tik.. Tok..

Exactly the same.

Disappointment flooded him as he got up. It must have been a charmed door. Why anyone would do that, he had no clue.

As he made his way down the hallway he was stopped by the pressure of a hand on his shoulder.

He looked up and saw his mother with a concerned expression. Her hair was down and she was in her nightgown. The moonlight illuminated her and made an almost small glow enxcircle her body. She looked exactly as she did every night. Except for the fact that she had two big buttons sewn into her face in place for eyes.

"Why Draco, what are you doing being up so late?"