imprisonment

Chapter 3; H

It was several days of silence from Draco, and Hermione couldn't decide if she was thankful for it or not. The days felt endless and she had been without a shower. Her curls became matted up and her body was covered in dried sweat along with dirt. The room only contained a sink where she was able to wet her skin, but she needed a warm shower more than anything. The last time she felt like this was when she, Harry, and Ron were searching for Horcruxes, but regardless she was able to use her wand to cast a spell allowing her to shower.

She shook her head and decided to sit on the floor to begin practicing her wandless magic. She took a deep breath and decided to do something simple. Closing her eyes and visualizing a wand in her hand, Hermione swirled her hand around. The rocks laying on the floor of her cell gently rose in the air and spun around. Satisfied, she began to launch them at the wall of her cell causing them to create a small noise and fall to the ground.

"Could you stop with the racket! If we are going to spend Salazar knows how long in here I would appreciate some common decency," Draco called from the room next door. Hermione smirked knowing she just found a way to get under his skin.

"What do you know about common decency," she laughed, "You are the least decent person I know." She waited for a witty response. She knew he had one in him after years of his torment.

"I know more than you do mudblood," he said darkly. "You wouldn't know class if it slapped you in the face," Draco said trying to upset her. At this point she was immune to the word; I mean it was carved in her arm. She glanced at the scar. He would have to say more than that to hurt her feelings.

"So what did Slytherin's prince do to end up here? Daddy couldn't save you?" Hermione pushed further knowing the mention of his father would hit a nerve inside him. If he was going to try and push her buttons, she would do the same. She remained calm knowing it would irritate him that she didn't react to his insults.

"Shut the fuck up Granger. You would do well to shut your bloody mouth before I come through this wall and do it for you," Draco retorted. What a Slytherin thing to do: give meaningless threats with no follow-through. It was nearly impossible for him to come through the wall and both of them knew this.

"I'd love to see you try. If I can remember correctly, you're the one who ran away like a child when I hit you in the face third-year." Visions of third-year flashed in her mind. Her heart longed for the days where their only problems were Draco being a school bully and saving Buckbeak from his execution. What she would give to have a time turner now.

"Wow, you're more of a git than I thought," he retaliated back. A smile crept on her face remembering how good it felt to punch him in the face.

"It's okay, keep deflecting the question. Whatever you did must be pretty bad Malfoy," she countered back. Hermione sat right next to the vent now wanting him to hear her clearly. It was obvious that he didn't want her to know why he was in a cell next to her. Maybe he was here just to make this experience more hell for her than it already was. Either way, she planned to make it worse for him.

"I don't owe you an explanation," was the last thing he said causing tension to rise in the air. Hermione sucked in a breath and moved from the vent. Their playful banter turned cold when those words left his lips. She could imagine the scowl on his face in the other room without having to see it. It was the same disgusted look he had given her since first year, and she doubted it has changed since then.

                                             ***

Hermione was in the middle of trying to transfigure a rock into a book when she was interrupted by a bang on the door. Before she could figure out what caused the noise, the door opened to reveal a guard holding chains in his hand. In all the books she had read about Azkaban she didn't know there were human guards. She crept up to him and put her wrists forwards to be locked up.

"Sir, what is this for?" She squeaked out. She had no idea what was to come, and her stomach tied in knots. At least it wasn't a dementor, but she was just as scared to be alone with a grown man.

"Showers." He muttered out without any further explanation. As she walked out the door, she noticed her chains connected to another. She turned around to see him.

Draco looked worse than she had ever seen him before. His hair was oily and stuck to his forehead. He was covered in dirt, cuts, and bruises. His once blue eyes were a dull grey color and he had bags under them. He was in the striped uniform given to him and had a number tattooed on his neck. The boy was ghastly thin, and his collar bone poked out like he hadn't eaten in days. This was a paradox to the proud rich boy she knew for all these years.

He lurched forward causing her to jump back. She had been caught staring. Heaven knows she probably looked just as disastrous. Sheepishly looking away, anxiety took over. She was being taken to the showers with her nemesis. Discomfort swept across her. She didn't want him to see her naked body. No one had ever seen her like that. With each step forward she felt tears well in her eyes. She couldn't let him see her weakness though.

They walked along a deathly dark hallway echoing with screams and cries. It was as if they were walking deeper and deeper into the layers of hell. The chains rubbed on her wrists tightly causing them to bruise. She could hear Draco's footsteps behind her and she hurried to walk as far away from him as the chains allowed. After what seemed like half an hour and pitch-black darkness they reached the 'showers.'

"You have ten minutes," the guard said closing the door and standing outside. They were still chained together making it difficult to move. She couldn't find the knob to turn on the shower and she doubted there was any shampoo or conditioner.

"Don't you dare fucking touch me Granger." He snarled at her. Her body started to shake. There was no one around and if he really wanted to he could hurt her.

"I wouldn't dream of it," she said in a quiet voice. She could hear the metal ringing together and assume he was taking off his clothes. She took a deep breath and tried to remain as distant as possible. She began to remove her clothing and as soon as she did ice-cold water began to pour from the ceiling.

"Thank Salazar we are in the dark, so I don't have to see your pathetic excuse for a body," Draco said like the arsehole he was. She rolled her eyes. How would he know what her body looked like in order to deem it as pathetic? She scoffed and ran her fingers through her hair. The water felt like icicles piercing her skin, but it was better than nothing.

Hermione started to run her hands over her body in an effort to wash off the dirt she was coated in. As she was almost finished, she lost her footing and reached out to grab something for support. Her hands gripped onto what happened to be Draco's shoulder. Before she could pull away, he shoved her off of him causing her body to collide with the ground.

"What did I say? Don't touch me you fucking clutz." His words stung. She started to silently cry and pull herself up from the stone floor. The water shut off and she started to pull her dirty clothes back onto her body. She tried to imagine she was at home with a warm fuzzy towel surrounding her body. But she wasn't home and instead of a warm towel her body shook from the freezing water.

She heard movement next to her assuming to was him putting his clothes back on. The door opened and the guard grabbed their chains to drag them back to their cells. Draco was in front of her this time and walked fast on purpose so the cuffs would dig into her skin.

When the darkness faded, she looked forward to see Draco's wet platinum hair against the back of his neck. It was longer than she remembered and contained a slight wave to it without all the products he used to slick it back. Her own hair was soaked and laid across her back causing her clothes to become damp.

Moments later they approach what seemed to be their rooms. The guards unlocked both of their cuffs and shoved them back inside. Right before doing so, she glanced at Draco to see him raise his eyebrows at her and do his signature smirk.

"Until next time."

A/N

The POV will shift which each chapter in order to show what both of them are going through. Because of this, the chapters will be shorter, but I will post at least two a week. Hope you guys enjoyed this, let me know what you think!