Chapter 1: The detention

Hermione looked up at the ceiling once again, unable to sleep. Sighing she realized it was in fact the same ceiling she had gazed at thirteen and a half minutes ago, nothing had changed.

She was restless, anyone could see that, but no exams were in sight and there was certainly nothing to look forward to the next day. Two hours in an arithmancy class with Slytherins. Not just any Slytherins either, the only Slytherin she hated that was taking advanced arithmancy. None other than Draco Malfoy.

And the torture didn't end there. The only two other Gryffindors in advanced arithmancy were the only two students in all of Hogwarts able to pass one of Trelawney's crystal ball quizzes with over one hundred percent. Parvati and Padma Patil.

As if Hogwarts had not yet completed its worst curse for her, Hermione had just learned that a new instructor had taken over the arithmancy class. A new instructor that knew nothing of the inter-house rivalry between Slytherins and Gryffindors and one that had decided to put a Slytherin and a Gryffindor as partners, no less.

In what universe was this fair? Arithmancy used to be her favorite subject, but now that the new school term had started, a new teacher took over, and she was given a new partner, she would be willing to trade that class for divination.

Harry laughed when she told him and that certainly did not help the situation, Ron still gawked in disbelief every time he saw her, and Ginny had sympathized greatly with her. There was nothing worse than putting a Gryffindor and a Slytherin at the same table in a classroom. Worse things had happened when a field had stood between the two houses. And all of this was something that Professor Cameron was going to learn very soon.

With an angry sigh, Hermione heaved herself out of her bed covers that had become all too warm and got up. Walking to the window she shook her head as tears filled her eyes. She had worked so hard to gain the highest grades in the school and this was the obstacle she had been given.

Hermione looked upwards at the stars to keep the tears in her chocolate eyes from falling and when she looked down at the grounds she was incredibly surprised to see three dark shadows moving slowly along the edge of the lake. Her first fear was for Harry and she squinted her eyes trying to look closer, attempting to identify the three figures, but when no recognition her heart began pounding faster.

She knew Voldemort -yes she could say his name now- was out there somewhere and she knew that he would never stop hunting Harry, not until one or the other was dead. But these three figures could not be Voldemort for three very obvious reasons, though. First, Voldemort would not hide his presence, second, he would not reduce his image further by slinking around the Hogwarts grounds guarded, and third, THERE WAS NO POSSIBLE WAY FOR HIM TO GET ON TO THE GROUNDS. There was no way that he could get past the security system that Dumbledore Had put into place to assure the students' safety at Hogwarts.

See, she told herself, all it took to quench a mortal fear was to use process of common deduction, though it did not always work because obviously some fears were merited.

Now that Hermione knew it had to be students -not the Dark Lord himself- she felt the great need to inform McGonagal. After the escape of Sirius Black almost three years before, Hermione was sure that Professor McGonagal would appreciate the opportunity to prove a point with curfew and use those found, as an example.

Quietly and quickly, Hermione made her way to her large oak dresser on the other side of the room. Opening the first drawer, Hermione pulled out one of her winter cloaks and pulled it over her shoulders. With a swift, almost liquid movement she buckled the clasp and tightened it. On top of the dresser sat her wand and as she shoved it into the pocket of her robe she smiled proudly. Eleven and a third inch, poly-oak wood, with dragon hearts string. It was incredibly suited for her, as if it had been made just for her hand and for all of her expert subjects, there were many.

Suddenly remembering the shadows by the lake she hurried up the stone, spiral stairs and into the common room where a warm fire was burning in the grate. With a pang of guilt Hermione felt great gratitude towards the elf that had kept it going. She took a moment to warm up then was on her way.

"And where do you think you're going at this time of night, young lady?" Asked the soft voice of the fat lady as Hermione stepped out of the open portrait hole.

"Straight to McGonagal, not that it is any of your business. I saw some students out of doors. It's past curfew and I am a prefect, it is my responsibility to report violations of the rules." Hermione said while pushing a strand of unruly brown hair out of her eyes.

"All right, but don't you have any friends that could accompany you," She asked worriedly. "It is a dark night, a very dark night indeed."

"Ron and Harry are very tired, Quidditch try-outs were pretty rough and they're most likely sleeping like rocks right now." Not to mention Harry has wanted nothing to do with anything dangerous since Sirius' death… "I assure you, there will be no trouble anyway, and if there is, I am perfectly capable of handling it myself."

"All right, but you be back soon, no need for a Gryffindor to lose house points. Especially on such an evil anniversary."

Hermione was about to ask what anniversary the fat lady spoke of but she heard hushed whisperings and the creak of the doors in the great hall. Hermione hurried quietly away from the portrait, pushing herself as deep into a corner as she could and sucked in a sharp breath as she heard the voices walk around the corner from the great hall.

She dared not breathe, but she almost let a gasp escape her lips when she recognized the voices of Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle. She paused, hearing only garbled talking but then their voices were readable and she listened closely.

"-Solutely no idea why that bloke has one of those, I mean I'm a first year if those aren't illegal." That was Malfoy, and his statement was soon followed by agreements from Crabbe and Goyle. Hermione wondered who the bloke was and what they had that could be so bad.

Then it suddenly clicked. Malfoy and his guard on the grounds in the dead of night, Hagrid's hut on the grounds unguarded, and a team of Slytherins talking about things they shouldn't… It all added up to one possible conclusion. Hagrid must have found a new pet.

Hermione inwardly groaned and she guessed it wasn't completely inward when suddenly the voices stopped.

"Is someone there?" Came the cold and dangerous drawl of Malfoy's voice and she could see his outline right in front of her. With the moonlight she could see just a shock of silver before he took a step away. "Hey, I think there's someone in the corner. Get over here Crabbe. Lumos." Instantly after the word was muttered the dark corner across from Hermione lit up. She uttered a silent sigh of relief as Malfoy cursed under his breath.

"Could have sworn there was someone there." Said Draco and he turned around. "Lum-"

"Mr. Malfoy, what a surprise to see you prowling around Hogwarts at two in the morning." Two in the morning, thought Hermione, but then she placed the teacher's name with a cringe. McGonagal.

Suddenly the room danced with light and Hermione jumped, almost startled out of her corner. In front of her stood four looming figures.

She noticed immediately Draco Malfoy wore perfectly pressed robes as did Crabbe and Goyle. Draco's platinum blond hair was slightly mussed to one side, hanging in his eyes, where the wind must have laid it sloppily.

Draco was almost close enough to touch and Hermione had the biggest urge to swipe away the stray strand of gold, then discarded the thought immediately. What do I care if he looks like a slob?

Hermione jumped, startled, as McGonagal spoke again. "Oh, Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle as well? I should have known, trouble always comes in threes." McGonagal was wearing a green night cloak and her hair was in a not so perfect bun but worst of all she wore a very stern, even scary, expression that Hermione had only seen once before. That had been in first year when she claimed to have tried overcoming a mountain troll to save Ron and Harry from detention.

Hermione's breathing became labored and she felt the urge to just jump out and reveal herself, the suspense was too much. But as it turned out, it wasn't needed.

"You there, in the corner, step out and show yourself at once." McGonagal said sharply. "You'll make it no easier on yourself or your house if you stay hidden."

Hermione sighed and stepped out of the dark sheltering stone of the corner. McGonagal's surprise was blatant, then her expression turned to one of stone. "I see, Ms. Granger… I expect you'll have a decent excuse for being out of bed at two in the morning?"

Hermione's throat tightened and she was unable to speak. Though she was looking down she was aware of Malfoy and his two idiots staring at her, clear amusement on their faces and still, she was unable to squeak out even one word.

"You don't…" McGonagal shook her head disappointedly then continued, "I must say Miss Granger; I am most surprised and very disappointed. However, I will not allow my station as the head of house Gryffindor to give biased punishments." She paused as if to add suspense but Hermione knew what was coming. "You will each serve two detentions with our newest Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, Miss Knock, and you will serve them together. Also ten points for each of your detentions will be taken from your houses."

McGonagal yawned and pulled her dark green cloak tighter around her. "I hope you will avoid this in the future, Miss Granger." She said, that stern look boring into Hermione, making her cheeks burn. Then she turned to Draco. "And as for you Mr. Malfoy, I expect your father will hear of this and will be a cause of great grievance for our headmaster, but know this, I am not Professor Snape and I will not lift this punishment until it has been fulfilled to the letter." She straightened her glasses and gave Hermione yet another harsh look. "I hope you have both finished the essay I assigned over summer and have it prepared for tomorrow. Goodnight."

McGonagal turned and began walking away. Malfoy, turning back to Hermione gave her an evil glare. His platinum blond hair hung menacingly in front of his gray eyes and he smirked dangerously, making Hermione shiver. "Better watch it Granger, detention isn't very fun for mudbloods when you get cursed every time you turn the other wa-"

"Trust me Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger, Crabbe and Goyle, I meant what I said! Go to bed now or face another detention!" McGonagal shouted shrilly over her shoulder.

Malfoy rolled his eyes before he stalked towards the dungeons not missing the opportunity to knock into Hermione as he walked past even though the corridor was wide enough for ten Malfoys.

Hermione waited until Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle had gone before saying the password, "Mugwump," and opening the portrait hole. As she stepped safely within the Gryffindor common room she realized the events of the night had taken her insomnia and replaced it with exhaustion. With a twinge of disappointment she saw that the grate had died down.

After taking her wand out of her pocket, setting it on the dresser, and hung her robe for morning, she crawled into bed. She had no trouble whatsoever sleeping and in the morning she was still bleary-eyed-tired, almost to the point where she couldn't see, but not quite.

Stepping out into the great hall, Hermione spotted her three favorite Gryffindors immediately. As she sat down next to Harry he patted her on the back. "You look tired, were you up all night stressing about the Malfoy thing?" He asked with a knowing smile.

"Actually, no Harry, I was up all night getting two detentions." After the laughter from this statement had died down, Hermione gave each one of her friends a dead-serious expression and they sobered up.

"What on earth could you have possibly done to get two detentions, Hermione?" Ron asked while stuffing a whole piece of toast in his mouth.

She smiled at him and said through gritted teeth, "You know, Ron, I'm not always perfect." Pieces of the toast that Ron had just eaten flew over the table as he laughed himself silly. This was turning out to be a great morning, Hermione thought bitterly.

"No, really. Why'd you get detention?" Harry asked as he picked a piece of half chewed toast out of his pumpkin juice then took a drink.

"Well," she began with a nervous twinge. "I wasn't really very tired last night so I got up and went to the window. I saw these shadows on the grounds and I was going to go get McGonagal because obviously whoever was down there deserved detention and well-" Hermione was interrupted by a slow and dark drawling voice that belonged to none other than Draco Malfoy.

"Looking forward to detention, mudblood? I hope you've paid attention in all your defense against the dark arts classes… You're going to need all of the counter curses you can use…" He laughed cruelly and looked towards Harry. "Potty," He snarled and gave harry a mock-salute then walked off, leaving Harry on his feet, Ron right behind him, and Hermione holding both boys' cloaks.

"Sit down and finish your breakfast right this instant. You are making a scene." Hermione said in a harsh whisper and Harry and Ron reluctantly sat. Now they eyed Hermione suspiciously.

"You have to do detention with Malfoy? Is McGonagal mad? You'll mangle each other before you finish the first five minutes." Ron was no longer laughing and had a disgusted look on his face whereas Harry looked amused. Hermione looked to Ginny for support but all she got was a shrug and look that said, "Whatever you did, it must have been bad enough to bring this upon yourself."

"Now, Hermione, I really am intrigued. What did you do to get detention with that git?" Their conversation had begun to draw unwanted detention and Hermione blushed then began speaking very fast.

"I was on my way to McGonagal- well actually I was talking to the portrait when I heard three voices. They were coming down the hallway where I was at so I pushed myself into a corner and was sure to be silent." She paused to draw in a breath then continued, "Then McGonagal came out of nowhere and at first she didn't even notice someone was in the corner but then she did and I couldn't run or anything so I showed myself. She asked me if I had a reason, and of course I did, but I didn't answer, I couldn't for some reason. It was as if my tongue was tied or something. So then I got detention with Malfoy and he said something like 'detention isn't fun for mudbloods' and all those other things Malfoy says when he wants to look tough. McGonagal yelled at us to get to bed and then he left." She finished and her bottom lip quivered.

"Oh Harry! What am I going to do? He's going to torture me!" She wailed and when Harry could offer no condolences she jumped up and wiped fresh tears from her eyes. "I have to go, there is so much studying I have to do." She pulled her bag strap over her shoulder and walked off people staring after her. Harry looked to Ron and they both shrugged.

"We haven't even had all of our classes yet!" Ron Exclaimed and Harry shrugged.

" You know Hermione as well as I do." Ron smiled; nodding and they finished eating before walking to their first lesson of the day.