First Night Alone

"Miss Granger, the library closes in just a few minutes," came Madam Pince's voice came from the other end of the library.

"Okay, Mrs. Pince," Hermione yelled back and started gathering her things. She stabled all of her books, put some of them in her already heavy back pack and threw the back of her shoulder while she balanced the rest of her books on her arm. She glanced around on the table she had worked at. Nope, there was nothing she had forgotten. With a little happy grin she started walking towards the exit.

"Goodnight Miss Granger," Madam Pince smiled at Hermione as she walked by.

"Goodnight to you too, Madam Pince," Hermione said.

She almost made it to the door when she walked straight into a tall, hovering person and dropped all her books on the floor.

"Oh, great," she hissed, bent over and started picking up the books.

"You should watch your steps, Granger."

Hermione didn't need to look up to know who was talking. The evil smirk was evident in his mocking voice. It was a voice that Hermione knew all too well for her own liking. Draco Malfoy, that despicable git!

"I could say the same to you," Hermione replied without looking up. "You could help me, you know?"

Draco laughed a throaty, scorning laugh.

"You know I wouldn't do that, Granger," he laughed. "Not even if you were a queen. No, I enjoy seeing you at my feet."

At this Hermione abruptly stood and stared Draco straight in the eyes. She had to crane her neck to do so, but it didn't matter to her.

"Step aside, Malfoy," she hissed and tried to shove past him, but he wouldn't bulge. "Let me pass!"

He didn't move a centimetre. Instead he just glared at her with an evil smirk. Hermione loosened her stance and returned his glare angrily.

"What are you playing at, Malfoy?" she hissed, but got no other answer.

Suddenly she heard a loud crack and knew what had happened. All entries and exits from the library had been magically sealed. There was no getting out now.

"Malfoy!" Hermione shouted, dropped her books and hit him in the chest with open palms. His only response was a horse, throaty laughter.

"Are you aware of what you've just done?" Hermione shouted in outrage. "It's Friday night before the Easter vacation!"

"So?" Draco uttered his first word in a long time, and the sound of his indifferent voice sent Hermione into a fury.

"SO?!" she nearly screamed. "So, the library will remain closed for the next week! Nobody will come in here and we can't get out! Only Madam Pince has the ability to open these doors!"

"Then we'll just have to stay the week," Draco replied calmly, bent over and picked up her books. He studied each one of them intently not even caring that Hermione was ravenous. "A book about Muggle poetry?" he said sceptically. "Really Granger, what on earth would you use that for?"

Hermione snatched the book from his grip and beat his arm with it. She herself thought the blow was hard, but Draco just laughed at her.

"It's none of your bloody business!" she yelled and turned on her heel to leave.

With fierce, angry steps she strode towards the back of the great library, back to the table she had sat at earlier. She threw the Muggle Poetry book on the table and sat down with crossed arms. Draco came only a few seconds later and sat down opposite of her. Hermione did her best to ignore him, but it was hard when he was so obviously gleeful.

"What?!" she snapped at him and he laughed again. "How on earth could this be amusing to you?"

"You are so funny when you're angry," he just noted and comfortably leaned back in his chair.

"I find it hard to believe that you would lock us in a room together for a week just to see me get angry," Hermione spit at him and watched as his face became deadly serious. Ice erupted in her stomach and she swallowed hard to fight away the sudden fear.

"I didn't," Draco said and slowly rose, steadily inching towards her. "Though I do enjoy infuriating you, I will even admit that it's one of my favourite occupations, I have better things to do."

"Like spending Easter in a library with a dirty Mudblood?" Hermione asked sarcastically. Draco grinned.

"Like doing what is expected of me," he said gravely through his terrifying smile. His tone sent shivers of fear down Hermione's spine but she shook it off."

"What is expected of you?" she dared ask.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

They sat in silence just glaring at each other for a few minutes. Finally Hermione spoke.

"My family is expecting me home."

For a second she thought she saw sympathy flash on his face, but it was gone before she could tell for sure.

"Should that mean something to me?" he just with a sneer. "My family has never expected me to do anything else…"

He was about to say something more, but bit down hard on his lip before the words could escape him. Hermione didn't dare press him on the subject. Instead she picked up her discarded book and started reading. After only a few minutes she had to stop reading. She could feel Draco watching her intently and couldn't concentrate on her book. She snapped the book shut and threw him a nasty glance.

"Did you want something?" she asked with mock sweetness.

"Tell me about your family."

His request was absurd and totally unexpected. Hermione was caught off guard and unable to say anything for a few moments. Slowly she regained her cool.

"Why should I?" she retorted and opened the book again, but didn't even pretend to read.

"Can you think of something else to do right now that's better?"

"Plenty of things," she responded, not looking up from her book. "And neither of them involves you."

The retort was kind of childish, Hermione was only to aware of that. And apparently Draco was as well, since he started laughing and grabbed the book from her.

"My, my," he tsked her and threw the book over his shoulder. His grin widened as he heard Hermione gasp in horror at his action. "Aren't we a little feisty today?"

"Of course I am," she said sharply, stood up and collected the book, "I've been shut in a library with the one person I hate the most. Here I have to remain for a week while all my friends get to go home and spent the holiday with their families. Of course I'm feisty!"

"You could also be happy that you get to spend an entire week with Draco Malfoy," Draco suggested with a cocked eyebrow.

Hermione huffed in disgust.

"That's probably the part I hate the most," she said as she sat down again. "I can live without seeing my family, they'll forgive me. I can live in a library, Merlin I could probably here all my life. But you I just can't stand."

"Now Granger," Draco said with fake hurt covering his voice "you could at least try to be nice to me. We do have to be together for a long time. We might even get close."

Again Hermione's wit momentarily left her and she was unable to speak for another couple of seconds.

"We are only this close now because you followed me," Hermione replied. "If I had my way we would be in complete opposite sites of this place."

"You haven't asked me why I followed you," Draco pointed out.

"Why should I? You wouldn't answer anyway. Just like you won't tell me why you got us locked in here."

"You are absolutely right about that." He smirked smugly. "I just thought you were so eager for knowledge that you'd ask me anyway."

"Oh, forget it Malfoy!"

"Sure, if you tell me about your family."

The ultimatum was not at all appealing but Hermione decided to take the easy way out.

"Fine, what do you want to know?"

Draco smiled in triumph and placed his feet on the table and his hands behind his head.

"What do you parents do for a living?"

"They're dentist." Hermione didn't feel like going to much into detail and decided to keep it short.

"And that is…?" Draco prompted her to continue, but Hermione just waved her hand at him, impatiently waiting for the next question. "Oh, come on Granger, you might as well tell me!"

"Fine, it means they take care of people's teeth."

Draco looked very confused at this.

"Can't people do that by themselves?"

"They're Muggles, Draco," Hermione responded impatiently.

"Oh, right. How did you parents feel about you fighting in the war? Or didn't they know?"

Draco saw how he struck a nerve as Hermione instantly clammed up and became pale.

"They didn't know," she finally said, crossed her arms and turned her face away from him. Draco was utterly confused by her strange reaction and decided to probe around some more.

"How could they not know?"

"They just didn't okay?!" Hermione snapped with a finality that was undeniable. Draco grinned to herself.

"A wee bit touchy, huh?"

"Shove off, Malfoy!"

"I'll take that as a yes."

Hermione spun around in her chair and stared him straight in the eyes with a mix of hurt and anger Draco had never seen before.

"And what about your parents?" she threw at him. "What did they think when you were doing Voldemort's bidding during sixth year? I bet they were proud as Hell that their precious little Pureblood was chosen for such an honourable task!"

Her face was red and she was breathing heavily when she finished. Draco sat quite still and appeared to have taken it all in without any hurt at all. But the truth was far from what he showed. In fact all her words and hit like gigantic hammers, each blow sending him nearer and nearer the edge of his breaking point. But he managed to brush it all off like what she said didn't mean the slightest thing to him.

"We weren't talking about my parents, Granger," he said calmly, constantly fighting the rage in his chest. "We were talking about yours."

"Yeah, well, now we're not anymore. Actually, I suggest that we just stop talking at all. It's getting late, I'd like some sleep."

"Then go to sleep."

"With you watching me?" Hermione said through gritted teeth. "I have a limit Malfoy, and that would be crossing it."

"Okay, then stay awake. It's more fun like that anyway."

"Ugh, fine I'll stay up since you clearly can't bear being without me!" Sarcasm was always the most effective defence.

With a flick of her wand she transfigured her wooden chair into a more comfortable armchair. She carefully leaned back and rested her head on the comfortable headrest and sighed contently. When she opened her eyes again she was back to the calm and rational woman Draco recognised from class.

"Why are we hear, Malfoy?" she calmly asked.

"Because we're locked in and you wanted to go to the back of this place so I followed."

Hermione tilted her head to the side and sighed.

"That's not what I meant and you know it," she said with a tired voice.

"Yes, I know that," Draco responded. "Let's just say that we're here because I couldn't fight anymore."

His cryptic words scared her slightly and she wrapped her arms tightly around her chest to steady her shaking body.

"Couldn't fight what?" she whispered, but Draco just watched her with scrutinizing, grey eyes. "Couldn't fight your family? Your father? Your instincts to torture Muggleborns? Fight what, Malfoy?"

"You'll to figure that out for yourself," Draco whispered back as he leaned closer to her. His feet mate contact with the floors and his arms rested peacefully in his lap as his face came closer and closer to hers. He stopped as his nose was just a few inches away from hers. "But the truth probably would suit you that much."

His cold voice made her tremble and this didn't pass Draco unnoticed. He chuckled lightly and conjured a blanket which he almost gently wrapped around Hermione's shivering, little frame.

"Here you go Granger," he said and drew back again. "You look like you cold."

Hermione was lost of words, which was very unlike her. Finally she said the words she never thought she would say to her worst enemy (Voldemort not included of course), "Thank you."

"You sound like that's the worst thing you could ever have said to me," Draco laughed. "You curse me, yell at me and hit me with no second thought. But when it comes to thanking me you would probably rather rip your heart out."

Instead of answering straight away, Hermione just muttered the same spell over Draco's chair as she had just done with her own. Draco's eyes widened in wonder as his chair became a comfortable, black leather armchair.

"How do you feel about thanking me now?" Hermione asked with a sly smile but didn't wait for a reply. She huddled up with the blanket wrapped tightly around her and closed her eyes. Just before she fell asleep she heard Draco mutter under his breath, "No matter what you do to me, you won't ever hear me thank you." Then the world went black and she slept peacefully.

Okay, tell me what you think. Please review.