Chapter One

Seventeen-year-old Hermione Granger sat on her bed of her parents' home staring out the window while sketching random images in the journal she had recieved as a birthday present two years ago from her father. Summer break had come almost too soon, and as much as she loved her parents Hemione was anxious to get back to the life she had become accustumed to living. She missed everything about Hogwarts, from visiting Hagrid with her best friends Harry and Ron to the ghosts walking straight through you, sending chills up your back.

As close as her friends had been the past five years, it seemed as though they barely knew each other this summer. Harry was already at the Weasley's, no doubt making up for the two weeks he lost without his fiery haired girlfriend of two months, Ginny Weasley. Even Ron had managed to find someone to spend his time with, Lavender Brown, who was surprisingly at the Burrow as well. Ron had written Hermione and asked her to join them, but when she discovered that "Lav Lav" was going to be there she politely declined. She would have been bored out of her skull sitting around the lopsided house, watching her two best friends snog the brains out of their new girlfriends. She had told the tall red-head that her parents wished she would spend the summer with them, as they missed her throughout the year. Ron, being as gullible as he always was, had believed her.

"Hermione!"

Hermione snapped out of her trance and cast one last long look out the window at the sunset that was forming in front of her. With that she gently closed her journal and walked into the hallway.

"Yes mum?" She asked, slightly annoyed at being disturbed from her thoughts.

"Dinner's ready, dear," Her mother replied gently.

"Oh, I'm not all that hungry," Hermione lied easily,"I knew I shouldn't have had that bar of chocolate earlier."

"Oh, okay then, I'll put a plate in the microwave if you feel like a little something later."

Hermione nodded quickly and walked lightly back into her room. Upon entering the overly pink room (her mother's doing), she walked straight over to the full length mirror hanging on the opposite side.

"I'm so fat," she whispered, staring at her reflection. She pinched the non-existant fat on her thighs, and then her stomach. She then took the two steps over to her scale and stepped on. Numbers flashed for a few seconds but then finally decided on 125 pounds.

Hermione sighed deeply, realizing she had only lost 2 pounds that week. Her parents had become suspicious and subtley forced her to eat meals, never mentioning anything was wrong. She had went for a run every morning, 3 miles, in desperation to work off the calories she had consumed the day before. She considered herself lucky her mother had let her go only minutes before so easily.

The brunette walked over to her bedside table and pulled open the top drawer, grabbed her journal, and flopped, stomach down, onto her bed. She turned the pages quickly, eventually getting to the back in the secret section. She wrote "Current Weight-125 pounds. Goal Weight for next Monday-120 pounds" and then closed the book. Rolling over onto her back, Hermione stared up at the ceiling wondering what had happened to the confident, brave, Gryffindor, she had been only a month ago. She pondered this for a moment, before remembering that Malfoy had happened. Hermione remembered the day as if it were yesterday.

It was a Saturday afternoon and she was sitting in the library, completely surrounded by books. It had been dead silent, exactly the way she liked it, until Draco Malfoy and a gang of Slytherins came strutting in like they owned the place. She could hear the group nearing her and she hoped that they would leave her in peace for once so that she could continue with her homework. She knew this was probably not going to happen and was not surprised when she heard Draco Malfoy's voice echo through the room.

"Ugh, I thought i recognized that stench," he drawled, causing the others to laugh annoyingly.

"What do you want Malfoy?" she asked rudely.

"Oh, nothing really. Just saw the pile of books and wondered what loser would be sitting in here on such a beautiful day," he said loudly.

Hermione rolled her eyes,"Not all of us want to fail Transfiguration."

It was now Draco's turn to send his eyes for a loop, "Granger, there are two days left in the term, this is the last homework assignment, and i honestly doubt McGonagal expects anyone to actually do it!" He chuckled loudly. "You should be outside getting some exercise, god only knows you need it!"

Hermione glared at him, "And what exactly is that supposed to mean, Ferret?"

"Oh, nothing really, other then, you seem to have really been packing it on lately Mudblood," He said viscously. "Everyone can tell you've gained more than a few pounds!"

Hermione could feel her eyes filling with tears as she gathered up her books as quickly as she could and ran out of the library as fast as her legs would allow, the Slytherin's laughter loud behind her.

Hermione's thoughts were interupted by her cellular phone vibrating in her pocket.

"Hello?"

"Hey there, beautiful."

Hermione laughed, "Hey Robbie, or should i say Romeo?" She had met Robbie on one of her many runs a couple weeks ago. They now ran together every morning and often hung out in the afternoon.

Robbie chuckled lightly, "Robbie's fine. What are you doing?"

"Nothing really, you?" She asked.

"Hoping you will grace me with your presence for a walk in about...one minute," He said casually.

"One minute?" Hermione asked, "How could you possibly be here in that amount of time?"

"Ah, well, you see, did you consider the possibility that I am calling you from right outside your window?" He asked, laughing slightly.

"I'll be down in one second," Hermione said, rushed, as she hung up the phone and raced around her room to find more suitable clothes. She finally decided on jeans with a regular black t-shirt. "Black is very slimming," she thought to herself.

Hermione ran downstairs towards the front door, stopping only momentarily to tell her parents she was going for a walk and would be home soon. She stopped at the front door and glanced at herself in the mirror next to her while she composed herself. The truth was, Hermione was lonely this summer and had developed a crush on Robbie. She slowly opened the door and stepped out onto the porch, glancing around for any sign of him. She stood confused for a few seconds while trying to locate him, and jumped when she felt someone tap her on the back.

"Boo."

"You scared me, you idiot!" Hermione said, reprimanding him.

"Sorry," He said, not looking the least bit apologetic. "You ready?"

"I'm out here aren't I?" She asked good-naturedly.

"Yes, well, I suppose you've got me there," Robbie said as he jumped down the porch steps. And began to walk down the walkway, Hermione hot on his heals.

"So, where do you wanna go?" She asked.

"Hmm, have you eaten dinner yet?" He asked in a bored tone.

"Er, well, no, not really..." She said, not wanting to lie to him just yet.

"Okay then, we can go to Johnny's Diner," he said happily.

"Erm, alright."

They continued to walk in silence. Hermione was happy with this silence, it was not the awkward kind a couple would endure on a first date, it was more of a friendly, nothing to talk about silence. They got to Johnny's and Robbie held open the door for her, causing her to smile. They sat down at a small table and waited for their waitress, who arrived minutes later to give them their menu's and get their drink orders.

"I'll have a Pepsi," Robbie said.

"And how about you?" The waitress asked politely.

"A water please," Hermione said, looking down.

"Alright, I'll be right back to take you orders," The waitress replied walking away.

Robbie looked at his menu for a moment and then closed it and looked up at Hermione. "What are you gunna get?" He asked.

"Oh, er, I'm not too sure yet. What about you?" She questioned awkwardly.

"Hmm, I think I'll get a cheeseburger with everything on it," He said, still thinking. "Oh! And a large order of fries. Can't forget the fries," He smiled. The waitress was back now, and taking their orders. Robbie repeated his and Hermione looked up timidly.

"Uh, I'll just have a salad," She said.

"Okay, your food should be here soon," The waitress said, walking away again.

"Only a salad Hermione? Are you trying to lose all that extra weight you're carrying around?" He asked sarcastically.

"Shut up Robbie! I know whats wrong with me and I'm trying to fix it, alright?" She practically yelled.

"Hermione...I was only joking with you. You're quite skinny, actually." He said cautiously.

"Yes, well, it wasn't funny!" She said angrily.

"Gee, I'm sorry Hermione," He said.

"Its alright," She said sadly. "I'm a bit uptight tonight, eh? I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have jumped on you like that."

Robbie laughed, "All right, well since both of us have apologized, can we eat our food now?" He asked, indicating the food that had just been placed in front of them.

"Sure," She said picking up her fork and taking a tiny bite of her salad. Within ten minutes Robbie had finished his meal, along with two sodas. Hermione had eaten a total of four bites of her salad, causing Robbie to glance at her worriedly.

"Your food alright Hermione?" He asked politetly.

"Yes, it was great. I'm just not all that hungry tonight," She said with a small smile.

"Oh, okay," He said shrugging it off. He put down some money and they walked out of the diner, and into the warm summer's night air. They had been walking in that comfortable silence for two minutes when Robbie grabbed her hand. She glanced at him quickly, only to see him smiling warmly back at her. They continued on this way until they reached Hermione's house, where he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, said goodnight, and walked away