Harry, Ron and Hermione were extremely grumpy. It was dinner time, they had loads of homework, and they weren't able to do anything about either of these things because they were locked in the dungeons. Snape, it seemed, did not appreciate humorous references to his apparently innocent teacher-student relationship with Draco Malfoy. And so the trio were locked in the dungeons for two days with no food.
"I'm sorry Hermione, okay?" Harry and Ron had been apologizing for almost half an hour.
"…and you two have to make your stupid jokes while I'm stuck sitting between you! Why can't you just shut up in class? You're constantly getting into trouble and dragging me along for the ride!" Hermione yelled, her eyes filled with rage.
"Look…" Ron began, but was interrupted when the dungeon door was violently thrown open. Snape and McGonagall came storming into the room. Snape had a smirk on his face that told Harry something bad was about to happen. McGonagall looked furious.
"You three have given me a lot of grief over the past five years and you tend to get punished together. But that is obviously not teaching you anything. You especially, Miss Granger, should know better. So I'm separating you," McGonagall said firmly. "Hand over your wands," she added, holding out her hand.
All three began to protest, but Snape cut them off.
"Give Professor McGonagall your wands," Snape hissed. The three miserably handed them over. McGonagall pocketed them.
"Weasley, you will share detention with Vincent Crabbe," Snape smirked. "Potter, you'll go with Pansy Parkinson,"
Both boys groaned. Hermione waited with a nervous look on her face, praying that she would not be stuck with…
"Draco Malfoy, unfortunately, decided it was not important that he do his Potions homework, and so will be put through the agony of two days with you, Granger," Snape spat the last word with pure hatred. Hermione's face fell, and she turned to Harry and Ron for help. They were, of course, useless at this point, and the three followed their teachers out into the dimly lit hall.
They traipsed up the dark stairs and along a brighter hallway to the Transfiguration classrooms. As they came to one of many large wooden doors, McGonagall and Snape came to a halt, and McGonagall opened it. Sitting at a desk up the back was Crabbe, looking miserable and bored.
"In you go, Weasley," McGonagall said, putting a hand on Ron's shoulder and guiding him through the doorway. Ron gave Harry and Hermione a last pleading look as the door was shut behind him. McGonagall flicked her wand at the door and it clicked to the locked position. Harry and Hermione exchanged nervous glances as they continued on.
They walked up another staircase, and found themselves at the Charms classrooms. Once again, their teachers stopped at a seemingly random door, and McGonagall opened it. Perched on the teacher's desk was Pansy Parkinson, looking awful as usual. Harry gulped as he quickly grasped Hermione's hand and then walked into the classroom. Snape slammed the door, and McGonagall locked it with her wand.
Suddenly, Snape bid good-bye to McGonagall and strode off, his black robes billowing behind him. Hermione had a fleeting image in her mind of Snape slipping elegantly out of his robes, before she was snapped out of it by McGonagall's impatient cough.
"Follow me, then, Miss Granger," she said sternly. Hermione obeyed, walking right behind her up an unknown number of stairs, and down many hallways, until they came to the Divination room at the top of the North Tower. McGonagall opened the door, and standing by the window in his usual smug stance was Draco Malfoy. He spun around as Hermione walked in.
"You will be collected by Professor Lockhart in exactly 48 hours," McGonagall said, closing the door and locking it. Hermione and Malfoy glared at each other.
"So, Granger, it looks like I'm stuck with you for two days. You better not act like your usual stuck-up, know-it-all self," Malfoy snarled.
"Exactly what are you going to do about it if I do?" she replied, daring him to react. But to her surprise, Draco reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand.
"I'll hex you, you filthy little mudblood," he said, pointing his wand at her face.
"You wouldn't dare, Malfoy," Hermione tried to sound confident, but could not hide the hint of fear in her voice.
"I noticed that McGonagall had three wands sticking out of her pocket, Granger. One wouldn't happen to be your's, would it?" Malfoy asked smugly, knowing he'd caught her unarmed.
"Good old Snape thought I might need mine," he continued. "He figured that since you're such a know-it-all library-addict you might have already learned to perform unspoken spells. I think he gives you far too much credit,"
Hermione decided now was the time to play dirty.
"So, he's 'Good old Snape'? You two are quite a pair, aren't you?" Draco's face contorted in a look of outrage.
"What is that supposed to mean, Granger?" he snarled.
"Oh, you know, you just seem very close. A little too close, some might say," Hermione was fighting to keep a straight face.
"Are you implying something, mudblood?" Hermione winced at the name. "Because if you are, then spit it out!"
"Well, there are a few of us who are a little bit suspicious of your, um, orientation," she began.
"JUST SAY IT!"
"All right, all right! Are you, or are you not having a relationship with Professor Snape?"
"SECTUMSEMPRA!" Draco screamed, slashing his wand through the air.
Suddenly a burning pain seared her right cheek. She reached up to feel it, and when she checked her fingers, there was blood on them. When she looked up at Draco, he was staring at her, his mouth open in shock.
"How do you know that curse?" Hermione asked, barely above a whisper. She knew it was one of the spells Harry had marked in his graffiti-covered copy of Advanced Potion-Making. How could Malfoy know it?
"I…I just…my fath…" but suddenly he stopped, clapping a hand over his mouth.
"Your father?" Hermione finished for him.
Suddenly he pointed his wand straight to Hermione's heart.
"My father is innocent! They've locked him up for nothing! Don't you accuse him you mudblood!" he screamed. Hermione's shock was escalated when she spotted a single tear rolling down his cheek. Then, without warning, he simply collapsed in a heap on the floor, sobbing. She just stood there looking at him, not sure what to do. Malfoy didn't cry! Malfoy was an evil, conniving, nasty little bastard! Yet here he was, bawling his eyes out on the floor in front of her.