Chapter Two

Welcome to Azkaban

(A/N --- Thanks go out to latinachikita for my first review on this story! Also, many thanks go out to heidi191976 for reviewing as well! I'd just like to repeat, any plot suggestions are welcome as I'm writing this story as I go and I'm more than willing to try to please all my readers!!! I know this is a very unorthodox pairing so bare with me because they're very stubborn!! Thanks again for reading!!)

Merely two hours later found a still-soundly-sleeping Hermione in one of the most feared and dreaded place in the entire wizarding world; Azkaban prison. She was thrown roughly into a small cell, next to a long row of many other cells, all of which were occupied by criminals in various states of disarray. The bars of her cell were closed and she groggily awoke to the sound of her cell door being locked and the drifting sound of jingling keys which were being carried away by a large guard.

Hermione opened her eyes slowly, unsure of where she was for a moment, and then the earlier day's events came crashing unceremoniously back into her memory like a train wreck. Her eyes were puffy and swollen from crying and her nose felt large and inflamed from landing on it twice. Her head hurt and her knees were scraped up from being thrown so roughly into her new cage. She immediately knew where she was, though the absence of dementors was very noticeable. However, although they were gone, the feeling of sadness and despair still hung in the air, probably due to the fact that they stayed in this prison for so many years. A few short months could not rid the air of their presence.

Opening her eyes the best she could, she looked around at her surroundings. Her cell was no more than six by six with a small cot in the corner that contained no pillow and a single stained sheet. A fetid toilet lay attached to the wall right next to it. Hay was scattered on the hard cement ground, as well as rat droppings, rocks, and other unidentifiable small objects; other than that, her room lay barren.

Peering through her puffy eyes some more, she looked towards her left to see one of her cellmates. A scruffy looking man lay on his bed, propped up on one elbow, reading what appeared to be the Daily Prophet. His cell appeared exactly the same as her own, except that his prison slipper shoes lay on the ground under his bed with stacks upon stacks of Daily Prophets. He was dressed in dirty prison garb and too-small black socks. Newspaper clippings littered the ground and thousands of them lay attached to the farthest wall. Hermione continued to study him until he felt her stare upon him and lowered his newspaper to look at her.

His eyes were blank and dull, and seemed to hold no recognition of her presence for several long moments. He shifted slightly before speaking.

"Dawson used to be in that cell. 'E died just there," the scruffy man pointed to a far corner. Hermione shuffled a little farther away, looking rather disgusted.

"W-who are you?" Hermione managed to squeak out, wondering what he had done to deserve a cell in here.

"Browning," He sighed, " 'prised I 'membered that, been in here so long, ya see," he drawled out, showing her the few teeth he had. "Anyways, I'm goin' to bed, nothin' else to do in this place but shit and sleep." With that, he folded his newspaper and placed it under his bed with all the others, rolled over, and didn't move again. Hermione paused momentarily, and turned to the cell on her right to address her other cellmate, but he had his back to her on his cot, sheet covered completely over his head. He did not appear to be awake.

There was one very small window in each of their cells, all the way to the ceiling and barred, so that there was no way for her to see out unless she moved her cot, and even that appeared to be bolted down. The window did not offer her any solace, however, as the only thing she could see was dark storm clouds brewing overhead. The sound of jingling keys brought her out of her silent reverie, and she turned sharply around to see what the commotion was.

Two guards were coming from an unknown doorway down the hall, followed by three of the people she wanted to see the most.

"Harry, Ron, Remus!" Hermione shouted, jumping to her feet and grasping the bars that kept her captive. "Thank Merlin you're all here! What is going on?"

"Hermione!" They all screamed in unison. Ron and Harry tried the best they could to hug her through the bars and then backed up looking concerned when tears welled up in her eyes. "Sorry Hermione, we didn't mean to upset you," Ron looked sheepish.

"It's okay you two, I just don't know what's going on! I don't know why I'm in here. Please tell me you have information for me, tell me you're getting me out of this awful place," Hermione sputtered through sobs. This time it was Lupin who spoke up.

" Hermione, there is a lot to explain, firstly let me tell you a bit about the place you're in, because it is not how it has always been. After the mass breakout of many of the high security prisoners last year, and the desertion of the Dementors, Azkaban prison's forty-seven floors are now being controlled by many ministry officials under very highly controlled magical wards. Prisoners with sentences for misdemeanors were located in the lower levels of Azkaban, and as the severity of their crimes increases, so do their room numbers. The top floors are reserved for known Death Eaters, Voldemort supporters who had committed heinous crimes in public or the privacy of their homes, and other criminals that would be classified as being equal to such. Single murderers or other ghastly wrongdoers are located just below this, and so on and so forth. Hermione, you have been charged with the murder of Colin Creevey; you are on the 41st floor," Lupin finished, letting her take some of it in before continuing. Her mouth fell open, but no sound came out, so he carried on.

"Hermione, there was an attack at Hogwarts, and from the look on your face, I understand that you have hardly any recollection of it. Do not be alarmed, your memory has not been erased, you have merely repressed the memories to the back of your mind because they are so very unpleasant. As far as Professors Snape and Mcgonagall and I are aware, there was an explosion outside of Severus' office, and when he went to find the Headmistress, late Mr. Colin Creevey and you were assaulted by two Death Eaters, one of which Severus recognized as Bellatrix Lestrange, and one that he is almost positive was Antonin Dolohov. The two retreated after using your wand to hex and kill Colin, and using their wand to hex yourself, so it appeared that you attacked Colin," Lupin sighed.

"But that's ridiculous; everyone knows I would never do that, surely Professor McGonagall or Snape would testify for me! They saw what happened!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Hermione, you know it isn't that easy. Snape couldn't testify for you because of you-know-who running around, and not only that but the ministry found hard evidence that it was you and no one else." Lupin said sadly.

"You mean they used Priori Incantatum on my wand and saw that it was me?"

"Well yes, but the real ministry knows that this spell can be very deceptive. They also found a picture in Colin's camera that showed you holding your wand and yelling a curse that resulted in a green light issuing from it. The only spell that results in a green light is the killing curse, Avada Kavadra."

"But that's impossible! You know I didn't do it, right?" Hermione exclaimed. "And what do you mean by the real ministry?"

"Of course I know you didn't do it. It takes a powerful witch or wizard to charm a magical device like Colin's camera without leaving any traces or wrongdoing. By the 'real ministry', I mean the people that are actually trying to be in charge, but are being overrun by corrupt followers of Voldemort that have really taken over the ministry behind Scrimgeours back. He tried to maintain the fact that he is an authority figure, but the public is seeing that things are getting out of control. It isn't the real ministry that wants you here Hermione, it's Voldemort and his followers. Azkaban is filling up with people that are innocent of their crimes because all hell is breaking loose across the wizarding world, and there is nothing that can stop it but the demise of Voldemort." At these words, Harry's face hardened and his normally warm eyes turn to bricks of ice, but he remained silent.

"We're going to get you out of here Hermione, we promise! Dad told me that your hearing is in three months time, but that's only a start. He said if he talks to the right people, he can probably get it down to one or two," Ron said, shivering. The dementor's aura was getting to him already.

"Three months? That seems like an awfully long time. I don't know if I'm going to make it. Are you sure there's nothing else you can do? I mean I know you all have a lot on your plates right now, what with the Order and everything, but I've never been in a place like this…" She trailed off.

"We're doing everything we can. We brought you some things, but being a semi-high security prisoner, you aren't allowed the things that some of the lower floors are allowed. We brought you the Daily Prophet, The Quibbler courtesy Luna, a pair of Wool socks from Molly, Hogwarts a History," Lupin was cut off by Ron and Harry.

"That ones from us!"

"Ahem, and a few other books we thought you might want to occupy yourself with. They were all Okayed by the warden. He also wanted me to give you your… uniform. Anyways, we have to go, we have a time limit being here and it looks like they're flagging us in. Try to do well Hermione and we will visit you as often as possible."

Ron, Harry, and Lupin all took turns hugging her through the bars and she struggled not to cry as she was yelling out her goodbyes as they walked down the hallway. She continued to yell goodbye even after the door was shut, then, dropping all of her new belongings onto the cot, she slumped into a corner on the far wall and began to weep whole heartedly. Mere moments into her weeping session, she jumped when she realized that this was where "Dawson" had just recently died and she scooted farther away, grabbing the bars that divided the prisoner to her right and herself. She was startled out of crying again when she heard the voice of the prisoner she had no yet spoken to sound out very near to her.

"My my Miss Granger, we meet again," he drawled out, uncovering himself slowly from his sheets and sitting on the edge of his cot, facing her. His long blonde hair remained impeccable, and instead of a prison uniform, he retained his usual black ensemble and she even noticed his serpent cane leaning against the wall next to his bed. He smoothed his already slicked hair back, lifting his nose into the air and looking down on her.

"Lucius Malfoy, master Death Eater and second in command, fancy meeting you here. Why aren't you on the top floor with the rest of your friends?" Hermione called out, trying to sound more angry than alarmed. "Couldn't your money get you out of this one, you evil little ferret?"

"How dare you insult me you slippery little Mudblood, you should have been dead by Dolohov's hands twice now; he failed once in the Ministry, and again today. You won't be so lucky next time. Perhaps you should pray that you stay in this place instead of wish for the day they set you free," he sneered.

"While I would love to hear more of your opinions of me Lucius, you have not answered my questions at all. Perhaps you are the slippery one."

"I do not answer to Mudbloods," He said simply.

"You just did."

A/N ---Thank you so much for reading, please let me know what you think so far, it was really hard to write and get it to the place it is now, I know they just met but beleive me, it was hard to even think of an excuse as to why they would come in contact! haha, anyways, Thanks again to the people that reviewed, and also for the people that have added this to their alert list. And of course, to the people who just read this, it means so much to me that you take the time! Let me know what you think! THANKS!)