Disclaimer: I don't own anything HP related. Only the story idea is my own.
Summary: Hermione and Draco are forced to serve detention in an unusual location together, and maybe even discover they're not so different after all.
An Unusual Detention
Thump. Thump. Thump.
"Malfoy, would you please stop that? I'm trying to concentrate here, and that isn't helping."
"Whatever, Mud…"
"Don't even say it," Hermione interrupted. "In case you've forgotten; it was that mouth of yours that got us here in the first place. Now, you can either start helping me organize these supplies or you can go back banging your head against the wall. What will it be?"
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Hermione sighed in frustration as she continued to shift things around the shelves alone, wondering how she ended up in a dingy cupboard off of the Great Hall with the insufferable Draco Malfoy.
Flashback
It was an ordinary spring afternoon at Hogwarts and Harry, Ron, and Hermione were lounging underneath their favorite tree down by the lake. Hermione had her nose in her favorite book, Hogwarts, A History while her two best friends discussed Gryffindor's latest victory over Slytherin in Quidditch.
Because she was not enthralled in Harry's third retelling of how he caught the Snitch with his broken left hand, she was the first to notice the large group of Slytherins forming a circle on the lake's shore. After glancing at the gathering she went back to her book, but it was only when she heard Goyle utter, "hit him again Malfoy," that she really noticed the scene.
Draco Malfoy and a large group of Slytherins surrounded a Hufflepuff first year that was sprawled on the grass. Hermione sprang up from her seat and rushed to the gathering.
"Malfoy," she exclaimed, "what on earth do you think you're doing?"
Malfoy turned to face Hermione, and as he addressed her the Slytherins circled the two Prefects instead, the Hufflepuff forgotten and able to get away. "I was just having some fun with the Hufflepuff firstie Granger, not that it's any of your business."
"None of my business? Malfoy, you're a Prefect! What kind of an example are you setting?'' Hermione shouted as she was joined by Harry and Ron.
Malfoy sneered and replied, "The right kind of example, Mudblood." Before Harry or Ron could get to him, Hermione slapped Draco clear across the face.
"Ms. Granger!" The oddly assembled group turned together to find Professor McGonagall stalking across the lawn towards them. "I cannot imagine why I've just witnessed this kind of conduct from a Prefect, explain yourself."
Without giving Hermione a chance to speak, Ron blurted out, "It was Malfoy, Professor, he called Hermione a Mudblood. She just reacted before I could."
"Well, if that's the truth," McGonagall replied, "then I shall like to see Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy in the Great Hall at eight o'clock this evening to serve their detentions. No buts, Mr. Weasley," she said turning towards Ron who had been about to argue the punishment.
End of Flashback
When they met Professor McGonagall at eight o'clock she explained that they would clean and reorganize the school's messiest cupboard without magic. She closed the door behind her at 8:10, promising to return at midnight, and walked away with both of their wands in hand. And that was how Hermione found herself locked in a cupboard with the one and only Draco sodding Malfoy organizing supplies while he repeatedly banged his head against a shelf.
"You know Malfoy, we could finish this a lot sooner if you decided to help, even a little," Hermione exclaimed exasperatedly.
Draco glared at her and answered, "If I come over there Granger I will be entirely too close to you. And I won't have any Mudblood germs that close to me, think of the indecency." With this response Draco continued banging his head against the bottom shelf with his eyes closed.
"Don't." Hermione whispered, so quietly that Draco wasn't sure if she had uttered the one word or not. He chose to ignore her, however, and their present task.
They continued this way for a while; Hermione quietly rearranged the jars and boxes that adorned the cupboard's many shelves, and Draco rattled those same shelves by banging his head against them.
He opened his eyes to check the time and noticed Hermione swiping at her eyes with her sleeve. As much as he tried to ignore this uncharacteristic sign of weakness, he found himself intrigued. Hermione belonged to Gryffindor house, was a Prefect, and top of her class; so how could something he said have hurt her so much? Inwardly cursing himself about his bloody sense of morality, Draco stood up and soundlessly began to help Hermione.
They worked together side by side in silence. Out of the corner of his eye Draco noticed Hermione smilingly slightly to herself when he made an involuntary noise of disgust at the contents of one jar. He turned towards her and gave a half smile that she returned before returning to her work.
The work was tedious and at times physically demanding; you wouldn't believe how much a box full of old cauldrons weighs. When it was Hermione who encountered these demanding obstacles Draco wordlessly, and without being asked, moved them effortlessly for her. The third time that this had happened Hermione told him to stop, saying that she could move them herself. Draco looked at her reproachfully, watched her struggle with another box of cauldrons, and lifted it away from her with a small, almost inaudible chuckle. She opened her mouth to protest, but fell silent as she watched him deposit the box on the topmost shelf with ease. Feeling it pointless to argue she turned back to the task at hand ignoring the strange new awareness she was beginning to feel about Draco Malfoy.
"Draco," Hermione questioned as she placed the last box on its appropriate shelf, "why were you hexing that Hufflepuff today?" She had been wondering about the answer to this question all day in her head. The thing she had deduced about Malfoy was that once you looked past his Slytherin prince persona, you realized that he was intelligent, quick witted, and honorable enough to have been named a Prefect. All of these characteristics had been running through Hermione's mind for the past few months, and she realized that she was subconsciously humanizing Malfoy. Malfoy, she thought with amazement, the same Malfoy who addressed her as Mudblood and terrorized her best friends. She looked up from her ponderings and found herself looking down at Draco who had resumed his position slumped against the shelves, except that this time his face was in his hands.
He sighed in exasperation, looked directly into Hermione's eyes, and said, "It's my father. Ever since I can remember I've been lectured about the superiority and nobility of the Malfoy family, and I believed it. I believed it because I didn't know any better. And then I got to Hogwarts and there was a Mud…Muggleborn student who beat me in every subject and was a naturally gifted witch." He paused here to nod slightly at Hermione before continuing. "My father was livid, obviously, and because I knew I could never beat you in school I decided to be cruel towards you instead. I put on the Slytherin facade of hatred towards all Muggleborns because I didn't know what else to do; I wanted to uphold my family's traditions in the only other way I knew how, through their prejudices."
Hermione instinctively went towards him and laid a supportive hand on his shoulder as he once again put his face back into his hands. "You know," Hermione began, "my parents don't understand the wizarding world and why I want so desperately to be a part of it. They understand about being made a Prefect and my receiving good grades, obviously, but they still think I'm going to become a dentist one day." As Draco looked at her questioningly, Hermione explained, "It's a profession where you take care of people's teeth. I never wanted to be a dentist anyway, but they don't understand that. I just try my hardest to make them proud and hope that that's enough."
Draco nodded his head in agreement and then lifted his eyes to where Hermione's hand still lay on his shoulder. She noticed where he was looking and began to pull her hand back, but he caught it before she had the chance. She looked from their hands clasped together to Draco's face and back again. As he opened his mouth and began, "Hermione, I," they were abruptly surrounded by a blinding light. After their eyes had adjusted to light encompassing the previously dreary cupboard they noticed the outline of Professor McGonagall in the doorway.
"Ms. Granger, Mr. Malfoy, it is now exactly midnight. Your detention is over and you are free to leave. But I want to warn you that I expect better behavior in the future from two Prefects. Is that understood?"
Draco immediately released Hermione's hand, letting it fall from his grasp and headed towards the door while she still stared at the space where their hands had been joined moments before. She gathered her composer, however, and addressed the professor, "Thank you Professor. I assure you this will never happen again."
"I expect not Ms. Granger. Goodnight." Professor McGonagall handed them their wands and ushered the two students out of the cupboard into the Great Hall where a surprise awaited them both.
Pansy shrieked, "Drakie!" and threw herself into him while his arms remained plastered to his sides. Meanwhile Ron had put a protective arm around Hermione and was leading her towards the staircase saying, "I have no idea how you did it Hermione. Being stuck in that cupboard with that little ferret, you must have gone crazy." Hermione only muttered a sound of agreement because she hadn't listened to a word Ron had said. Instead she was peering over her shoulder at the oddly embraced Draco and Pansy. As she watched, Draco turned his head from staring at the wall behind Pansy to look directly at Hermione. She gave him a small smile that he returned, but as Ron turned to see what Hermione was looking at Draco turned his smile into a sneer and stalked away.
While pretending to listen to Ron's prattling about Quidditch Hermione smiled slightly to herself and shook her head at the oddness of this whole situation. She couldn't know it, but her actions were being mimicked at that same moment by Draco as he descended the dungeon stairs before he replaced his smile with his characteristic sneer.