Hermione spent the rest of the day dreading her detention with Malfoy. Harry and Ron tried to pass her encouraging words, but nothing helped the fact that she would be spending her night with the person she hated the most, and one of the few people who knew about what she had been doing to herself.
After dinner, Hermione sat in the Common Room, studying. She was antsy because of detention. At ten minutes to nine, she left the Common Room and started toward the dungeons. The hallways were only illuminated by a few torches. The darkness reminded her of how dark her life seemed to be all the time these days. There was no light in her life anymore. Walking through the dark by herself made her a little jumpy. She quickened her pace until she reached the dungeons.
Opening the door to the Potions classroom, she saw the Malfoy was already there, as was Professor Snape. There were at least a hundred cauldrons sitting on the desks. She walked up to them and took a seat next to Malfoy. Snape cleared his throat.
"I have saved every cauldron used today for you two to clean," he said as is he had done them a favor. "There is about 120. You may not use magic, only the buckets of water and sponges on the floor. Have fun, and come get me when you finish."
He took both of their wands. Snape turned on his heel and his greasy, black hair swung around with him. He walked into his office, and shut the door behind him. Hermione stood up, went over to the bucket of water, and soaked a sponge. Then, she picked a cauldron, and started to scrub down the inside. Malfoy followed suit, and started to scrub the cauldron next to her. They worked in silence. After finishing about thirty cauldrons, Hermione went to wet her sponge again and slipped. She landed on her side with an "Ah!"

When she slipped, Draco dropped his sponge in the cauldron he was working on. He rushed to her side, grabbed her arm, and helped her up. She brushed herself off and looked up at him. Her chocolate eyes locked onto his, and he was caught in the stare. It made his heart sink inside at how her once bright eyes seemed so lifeless and dark. There was no light in them.
"Thank you," Granger said.
"It's nothing," he replied, trying not to act kind.
Granger shook her head. "No, not just for that. For, oh, I don't know, understanding how I was feeling. With Pansy and Millicent."
Draco shrugged. "It was true, though. I wouldn't even make a remark about your mum like that."
"Thanks anyway."

Hermione returned to her scrubbing. They worked in silence once more. About an hour and a half later, they were halfway done with all of the cauldrons. Malfoy kept throwing her glances, as if to catch her eye. She saw him do so a few times out of the corner of her eye, but never let him have eye-contact with her because she didn't know why he was doing this.
"Granger," he said.
Hermione looked up at him. It was the same way he had said her name earlier that day, before Transfiguration.
"You've been doing better, haven't you?" he asked.
"What are you-?"
"You know, what I saw on the train ride here," Malfoy continued. He gave a cautious glance to the door of Snape's office. Then, he looked back at her. "You haven't done that, have you?"
"Oh," she said, understanding. She looked back down at her scrubbing. "No, it's been three weeks." Then, thinking about his question, she looked back up at him. "Why do you ask?"
Malfoy smiled. Merlin, he smiled at Hermione Granger. "I've been watching you, ever since that day. I saw you in the Astronomy Tower last night."

Granger's eyes widened in anger. "What all did you see? Did you tell-?"
"I didn't tell anyone," Draco said, shaking his head. "I swear."
Granger dropped her eyes from his, acting again submissive and vulnerable. "How long did you watch me?"
"The whole time, ever since you had left the Great Hall. I followed you." He put a finger underneath Granger's chin and lifted her face back up. "And I had to keep myself from screaming with joy when you didn't do anything to yourself."
Granger pulled away from Draco's hand.
"Why do you all of a sudden care what's going on with me?" she asked. "You hate me, Draco Malfoy. I'm just a terrible, stinking, stupid Mudblood!"
Draco's mouth fell open and he shook his head fiercely. "No, Granger, I never hated you. I was competing with you. You were perfect. You were what I was expected to be. I never, ever hated you."
"So you think after five years of constant torment and torture that I would accept you with open arms when you try to help me through this?!?!" she exclaimed. Tears started to form in her eyes.
"No, Granger, I never-"
"Stop toying with my emotions, Malfoy! Don't you ever think you can help me again. You can't, my friends can't, no one can!"
"Just let me-"
"You know what my favorite saying is, Malfoy?" Granger asked calmly, cutting him off again.
Draco shook his head, hurt and confused.
"'People are born to die,'" she said. "It's true. What's the point of living when you'll just die and be forgotten anyway?"
She had gotten to him. He exploded. "Damn it, Granger, that's not true!"
Granger raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, really?"
Draco stepped closer to her, and she did not back away. "You are the smartest girl I know. You can do great things, and they will never be forgotten. Someday you're going to do something that will change everyone's world."
"Finished?" she asked coldly.
Draco nodded.
Granger leaned her face up closer to his. "Don't attempt to help me again. Don't ever talk to me. And don't you dare tell me about myself. There's no point to the world we live in. We all are born to die, and someday you'll realize that."

Hermione scrubbed the rest of the cauldrons with some new, unknown speed. When they were all finished, she and Malfoy reported back to Snape, got their wands back, and Hermione left in a hurry. She ran back into the hallway, dark, like her life had become.

A/N: thanks for all of you who have been reviewing! I'm not going to name you specifically, but you know who you are. Sorry it's been so long, I was on vacation. Hahaha, not what you expected out of this scene, eh? You were probably hoping for some "action", but that might come later in the story. -winks-