"In you go," an Auror snarled at Hermione as she was thrown into a cell. She let out a yelp as she tripped over her feet and landed on her chin hard. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep the sting of tears that sprang to her eyes in reaction to the pain. She pulled her arms out from under her and lifted her head up, wincing as she heard the cell door slam shut with a loud clang resounding through the hall. She got up and looked around her cell, dusting her grey robes that hung around her body.

It was a small dark room, and there was the sound of something leaking somewhere in the background. The constant dripping sound seemed to get louder and louder inside of her head. She looked through the bars of her cell and stared at Ron, who kept glanced at her worriedly. She glared at him, trying to make his steely expression replace the look of worry he had on his face now as she wiped at her mouth.

"I'm fine," she growled at him. He shrugged and folded his arms, flexing his biceps warningly as he glared at other prisoners in their cells. She took a look around again, running a hand through her short curls. There was a small bunk bed in the corner of the room, each bed covered in a flimsy dingy grey blanket. There was a misshapen figure lying beneath the covers, a white blonde head sticking out of one end and a large foot sticking out of the other. She sighed. Seemed like her cellmate was fast asleep.

"What're you lookin' at?" a voice growled at her. She spun around, narrowing her eyes. A large man towered over her, his bushy eyebrows drawn together in a permanent frown and his mouth pulled into a snarl. He had a tattoo of a vicious snake that went around the length of his neck and biceps the size of her thighs. She gulped.

"Er-" she squeaked. "I-" she cleared he throat, deepening her voice as she did so. "I didn't realize that there were three people in this cell," she said. The man grinned. She felt her stomach drop.

"There were three… Now it's four," he said. She turned around to see another bunk bed at the other corner of the cell with a very overweight man sitting atop of it. She grinned weakly.

"Oh… So which one's mine?"

"What're you talking about?" asked the man. She stared at him for a moment. Good Merlin, was this man seriously that stupid?

"Er, which bed is mine?"

"Who said that you get to have a bed?" the man grinned, bearing all of his teeth. Her eyes widened slightly as she tried to cover the jolt of fear that was sent through her body. Just as she was about to cower away, she remembered why she was there. She stuck out her jaw and stood her ground. If she showed weakness now, they would take advantage of her from day one.

"Says me," she said, deepening her voice. She sat herself on the bunk defiantly and stared at him, narrowing her eyes slightly. He let out a small chuckle.

"Looks like this one's got some spunk, Charlie," the man with the tattoo said. "I like men with spunk. They just fall down harder when you push them around," he said with a small chuckle of his own. "He'll get along with Malfoy just fine."

Charlie grinned at Hermione. She looked right back at him solemnly.

"Nah, I think they'll kill each other… We'll have more room for ourselves that way. Say, what's your name?" asked Charlie.

"What's it to you?" she replied smartly. She saw Ron at the corner of her eye glancing at her again worriedly. He thought she was going to be in trouble ready. Charlie barked out a laugh.

"Well, lookie here, this one's a smart one too, Phillip," he said. "Alright, you won't tell us your name… then what are you in here for?"

"Must've done something pretty horrible to be thrown into here with the likes of us," Phillip said, cracking his neck with a swift twist of his spine, making the snake tattooed on his neck wriggle.

"Not telling you that either," Hermione replied with a small smile. "But it was something very…" she stared at Phillip's teeth glinting in the faint light. "Very, very bad."

"Lights out in ten minutes," a harsh voice came from outside the cell. Hermione climbed under her covers and faced the two men, cracking her eyes open. She did not trust these two men.

The two men stared at her for a moment before going to their corner. Climbing into their bunks, they faced Hermione. It seemed clear that they did not trust her any more than she did. She smiled internally. This was a good sign. They were frightened, if not curious, as to whom she was and what did she do to land in a cell with people just as bad as they were.

The night passed uneventfully. Hermione tossed and turned in her cot, stretching and trying to get into a comfortable position. "I don't think I've ever slept in a more uncomfortable bed," she muttered to herself as she tossed again. She was about to turn to lie on her back when she felt a smack on her forehead.

"Stay still, new kid, I'm trying to sleep for Merlin's sake," said a grumpy voice from above her. She opened her eyes to see an upside down face glaring at her. Startling her, she let out a high pitched squeak. The upside down head raised a fair eyebrow at her. She caught herself and cleared her throat.

"Did you just smack me?" she said in the most menacing voice she could muster at what she assumed was around three in the morning. Unfortunately for her, it came out as a bunch of garbled words. She tried again.

"No, it was the imaginary Kneazles that prowl around the cells at night," said the head sarcastically. "Now go back to sleep, and don't move, dammit," he said. "You're shaking the entire bed."

Hermione rolled her eyes and flung the covers over her head.

Hermione wrinkled her nose as a hunk of lime-colored blob was slapped onto her tray. Was this supposed to be breakfast? She looked around and saw a similar look on the other people's faces in the lunchroom. She sighed and looked around, holding her tray to herself. This felt like the time when she was in muggle elementary school on the very first day, except instead of snobby children, there were menacing men hunched over tiny tables and belching loudly every once in a while. She did not know where to sit. She trudged to an empty table in the middle of the lunchroom and pulled out a chair after her tray was set down onto the table. There was a sudden hush as the chair she pulled out scraped against the floor with a large screech.

She looked around while picking her spork up (apparently in prisons, they were not allowed to have proper utensils as they could be used as weapons) and took a spoonful of green slime out. It seemed as if all eyes were on her. She began to feel a nervous sweat break out on her forehead. Oh Merlin, had the charms worn off somehow? Could everyone tell she was a girl? Oh Merlin, all the Aurors in the world could help her fast enough if her true identity was revealed. Why, she was the reason half of them were in here anyway! Whose smart idea was this anyway?

Oh right. It was hers.

Were they all going to kill her?

"New kid, what are you doing sitting in my seat?" a calm voice came from behind her. She turned around to see Charlie and Phillip standing behind her, each carrying a tray of their own. She gulped as she saw them flex their muscles at her. Dammit, she should have used some muscle enhancing charms on herself before she got into Azkaban.

"Er, your seat?" she replied, collecting herself. "I don't see either of your names on this seat, nor on this table, so technically, this isn't your table nor your seat."

"Oh-ho," Phillip snickered. "New kid is trying to act all smart now, huh?" She glared at him, clenching her jaw. Oh, if she had her wand right now… "Alright, alright, let's go, Charlie," he said, turning around as if to leave. She let out a silent breath of relief as their backs turned on her.

BANG.

"OUT OF MY SEAT, YOU LITTLE PIECE OF-"

"Lay off, Charlie," a man stepped out in front of him as he was about to charge at a startled Hermione. "It's his first day, leave him alone."

Charlie snarled at the man and Hermione before kicking the tray he threw down at the floor and walked out of the lunchroom.

"Merlin, it was just a seat!" Hermione mumbled under her breath as the man sat down in front of her, setting his tray down too. She looked up to thank him when her eyes finally rested on his face to take a good look at him. It was a light-haired man who looked like he hadn't shaved for a week or so. He had dark circles under his grey eyes that contrasted sharply against his pale skin. She recalled a vague upside down face from the middle of the night and put two and two together.

"Yeah, well next time you might not be so lucky. Charlie's got a nasty temper," the man spoke in a low voice as he pushed the green slime on his tray around with his spork. "I'm Draco, by the way. Draco Malfoy," he stuck a hand out across the table.

"H-Teddy. Teddy Glass," she reached out and took his hand, shaking it. She held in a squeal as he squeezed her hand with his. "Er, quite a grip you've got there, Malfoy," she said.

"You haven't got one at all," he said as he looked down at their hands. His seemed to envelop hers. Merlin, he had big hands.

Or maybe she just had tiny ones.