Hermione awoke to nothing. There was no light, no sound, no smell, and nothing to touch. Instinctively she reached her hands out in front of her, a useless effort, though it gave her hope. She walked, slowly at first, praying yet again to find something, anything. Even years ago, when she was blacking out more often, she always searched her nightmare land for whatever might be there. She just couldn't bear the concept of utter emptiness. Something had to be in here with her. And she had to find it.
Her pace quickened as she began to panic. She wondered what was going on in the waking world, if Malfoy had killed her yet or if Ron had stormed her house. She shivered in her fear. Suddenly, while her arms were wrapped around her naked shoulders, she realized something. She felt cold. She felt something. This had never happened before. Her black outs had always been completely neutral, never cold or hot. Her skin had never felt sensation while in this dark place. Something was different about this time. Something that scared her.
She walked faster and faster until she broke into a run. She knew she was panicking and at this point she didn't care. Tears of frustration were leaking from her eyes, though she kept running straight. Even running, she still felt cold. It was a deep-down cold, a chill creeping up and down her spine and then landing in a knot in the base of her stomach.
And as Hermione fled through the darkness at top speed, she finally collided with something. There was a distinct thumping sound, the only noise she'd heard besides the sound of her own feet moving across the unseen, unfelt floor. She was knocked to the ground.
She heard something else, something moving, thrashing around. Whatever she had ran into was alive. Finally a voice muttered "Lumos!" and for the first time in her life, there was light and vision in her blackout.
Malfoy's pale face, illuminated eerily by the glow of Hermione's stolen wand, peered at her. "Granger?! What the hell is going on?!"
Hermione was speechless. How had this happened? How had Malfoy ended up in here, with her? The shock wore off long enough for her to make a coherent sentence. "I… don't know."
Malfoy took a step back and lowered the wand, to get a better view of her in her position on the floor. "Oh bloody hell… you're naked!"
Hermione realized this too, and quickly put her hands over herself, making every effort to hide her nudity. She kept waiting for him to turn around, or at least look away, but she reminded herself that he was not that decent. He stared at her. "Can I please borrow your robe?" she asked, her tone very formal. She was trying to preserve her dignity.
Malfoy took another step back. "Why should I help you?"
"Loaning me a robe is hardly helping me. Don't you feel the least bit awkward?" she asked, her face red and flushed. She just wished he would stop looking at her.
Malfoy grumbled, muttering something that wasn't quite audible to her ears, as he pulled off his outer robe and threw it to her. She wasted no time pulling it on and tying it tightly together around her waist. "How did you end up here?" she asked him finally.
He gave her an incredulous look. "You're asking me? You're the one who brought me here."
"Brought you? What are you talking about?"
He sighed, and in the dim light she could see his exasperated expression. "You were pointing your wand at me oh-so-threateningly, when your eyes rolled back in your head and you started to fall over. I grabbed your arm, to get your wand away from you, and your other arm grabbed mine. Next thing I know, I'm here, wherever here is." He looked around, then back to her.
"I don't know what happened. I didn't intend to bring you here. I didn't even know I could bring anyone in."
He frowned. "So? Where are we?"
Hermione wrapped her arms around herself again. "I'm not sure. I black out a lot, and when I do, I always end up here. This is the first time I've even been able to hear my own voice here, much less see anything or talk to anyone."
Malfoy pointed the wand at her. "Well, you better be figuring out how we get back to the real world! There's no way I'm staying here with you!"
Hermione looked at him curiously, then it hit her. He couldn't kill her while they were in here. As far as he knew, he could be stuck in here forever if she were to die. She could definitely use this to her advantage. She'd just bought herself a lot more time.
Malfoy had found a blank gray wall, and was leaning against it. "How long do these things last?"
Hermione was sitting on the floor again. "It varies. Sometimes just a few minutes, sometimes hours."
"But never more than hours, right? Never days."
Hermione nodded, watching him. He was fiddling aimlessly with her wand, his hands shaking very slightly. He was nervous. He didn't like it here. Of course, she thought, it reminds him of Azkaban. Dark and quiet and lonely. She didn't like it either.
Only minutes later, Malfoy had stepped away from the wall and was standing over Hermione. "Okay, just wake up."
She blinked. "What?"
"I know what you're doing. You're buying time. You cast some kind of spell on us. So drop the act and wake us up!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about. If it were that simple, I wouldn't have been naked would I?" She said dryly.
Malfoy was expressionless for a few seconds, his eyes examining her. "Maybe it was part of your act. Maybe you planned to seduce me into dropping my guard."
Hermione laughed, unable to hold in the hysteria of the very idea. She was holding her side. "Oh… Malfoy… that's absolutely ridiculous! What kind of person do you think I am?!"
He squatted down in front of her, the wand still pointed at her chest. "I think you're a very clever Mudblood who's brain is always working up schemes to further her own ends."
Hermione stopped laughing all at once. "Further my own ends? What sort of schemes are you talking about?"
"Well, let's see… sending me to Azkaban, thwarting my attempts to get revenge… do I really need to spell them out for you, Granger?"
Hermione took a deep breath. "Look, I did not plan to send you to Azkaban! I honestly thought you were trying to curse Harry! I told Dumbledore, thinking you'd get expelled at most. The next thing I knew, they ordered me to testify at the trial! I tried to get out of doing it, I even tried faking sickness! I didn't want it to go that far, and I never dreamed it would!"
Malfoy stood back up. "You're lying."
Hermione stood up too. "Prove it."
For several seconds, the two of them stared at each other, Malfoy glaring and Hermione looking defiant. Then Malfoy walked away to stand by the wall again. He was looking increasingly nervous as the minutes rolled by. Hermione almost felt guilty for taking an inch of pleasure in it. Neither of them spoke until an hour had passed.
"This is ridiculous!" Malfoy yelled, slamming his fist into the wall behind him.
Hermione was staring at the black floor. "I thought so too, the first time I came here," she said quietly.
Malfoy was rubbing his bruised fist. He spoke absently. "Yeah? When was that?"
Hermione looked him in the eyes. "The day you were sent to Azkaban."
Malfoy had no response for this, other than looking back to his hand wordlessly.
Hermione went on. "Do you really plan to kill me?"
"Of course I am. I broke out of Azkaban and tracked you down, didn't I?"
"But you haven't done it yet," she said.
He looked at her again. "When have I had a good opportunity to?"
"When I was unlocking my door this afternoon, when you had me cornered in my kitchen, now…"
"None of those were good for me," he said.
"Why not?"
"Why are you so bloody nosy?!"
Hermione was standing a few feet away from him, staring. "What's wrong with being curious? It is my death we're talking about."
"Just shut up, alright? You're annoying enough just sitting there being quiet, but if you're going to talk the whole time I'll pop a blood vessel!"
Hermione tilted her head, looking at him in an examining way. "Why are you always so mean? That's what started everything in the first place. You were mean to Ron."
"What are you talking about?"
"That day… the first day at Hogwarts… You tried to be friends with Harry, but you insulted Ron. I was right behind them, I heard the whole thing. That's why Harry rejected you."
Malfoy's face had disgust written all over it. "Potter did not reject me! And I wasn't trying to be friends with him! I was just introducing myself… and if I remember correctly, it was Weasley who first insulted me!"
"He did not!" Hermione said.
"You were behind them, Granger! You didn't see the face he made when I said my name! How was I supposed to react?"
Hermione looked thoughtful. "I'm sure there was a better way."
Malfoy stood up straight, away from the wall. "I don't have to listen to this," he told her and began walking away.
Hermione watched as the light faded with him. Everything was getting dark again. She shuddered. "Malfoy, wait!" she cried.
There was no answer, and the light only got farther away. "Malfoy! You can't just leave me here! What if we can't find each other again?!"
The light was almost invisible now. Hermione ran after it, but once she turned a corner, it was gone. Everything was dark and black again. She panicked, crying out Malfoy's name and whirling around in search of the light. Her troubled mind wondered if he had found a way out, or if he had put out the light just to scare her. Either way, the light was completely gone, vanished into the all-engulfing darkness.