Disclaimer: I don't own crap...Harry Potter, or any other interesting things that may pop up.
"That's right Granger, keep stuffing your face. Don't want to lose those chipmunk cheeks do you?"
Hermione's eyes widened slightly and pink tinged her cheeks. So it wasn't just her imagination. If Malfoy could see it, she must have gained weight over the summer.
"Shove off Malfoy," shot Ron.
"Forget it Ron, I was eating too fast anyway. I'm off to the library." Sweeping up her bag, Hermione fairly flew out of the Great Hall.
"Run faster Mudblood, you might burn off some of that ass!" Malfoy called after her. Before Harry and Ron could pull their wands, he was pulled off in the opposite direction by a guffawing crowd of Slytherins.
"Bloody hell!" exclaimed Harry. "Have you ever seen her eat that fast before?"
Ron shrugged. "It's the first week. Probably wants to get her cram sessions for N.E.W.T's started before it gets too late!"
Where the corridor split between the Gryffindor Common Room and the Library, Hermione changed from her usual direction instead heading up to the tower. That last comment from Malfoy hit a bit harder than usual. Suppressing her tears until in the safety of the bathroom, she managed to keep a normal pace up the rest of the stairs. Finally, after a silencing charm and a locking spell she allowed the tears to fall.
Never one to be overweight, her hormones finally started catching up with her. That, combined with her usual book-wormy ways, was not the best combination for keeping her metabolism rate up.
'Stop it, Hermione,' she thought to herself. 'So maybe I've gained a bit, these robes hide everything. If Harry and Ron didn't notice anything, it can't be that bad.' She groaned out loud. "Who do I think I'm fooling?" she asked the mirror. "They wouldn't even notice if I walked into the Great Hall naked! Well, Harry might if I had a snitch tattooed somewhere prominent."
Sighing, she glanced at her watch. 10 minutes to Arithmancy. Professor Vector probably would notice if she was late. Being Hermione, she was often the first in the room. Then again, it was in the same hallway as the library...
Hermione wiped her eyes, blew her nose, and washed her face. There. Presentable once again. No need to worry anyone. She tested a smile.
'Yup. That'll do.'
For being her favorite class, Hermione quickly became bored. Not only had she finished the text over the summer, the first week was always a brief review of last year. After receiving 'O's on every test and the O.W.L., she felt it safe to let her mind wander.
"Run faster Mudblood, you might burn off some of that ass!"
"Honey, you really should get out a bit. Your father and I are worried about you; you spend so much time indoors!"
"Hermione! Parvati and I are going to run around the Quidditch Pitch. You wanna join us?
"Run faster Mudblood, you might burn off some of that ass!"
'Ugh! Get out of my mind Malfoy! Hmmm...maybe Lavender was right, maybe I will join them tomorrow. Mum was right too, I did spend too much time indoors this summer. Sitting on my ass probably made it grow...'
"Miss Granger? Miss Granger!"
Hermione jumped. "Yes Professor?"
"Class is over dear. Are you alright?"
Hermione looked around the room, and blushed. It was empty.
"Yes...sorry Professor...I'm fine."
"Get some rest dear, you look tired."
"Yes, thank you Professor." She gathered her books and headed for the door.
Still distracted, and lost in her thoughts, she hardly noticed when she wandered down toward the quidditch pitch instead of to the library. In the distance, she could see Lavender and Parvati finishing up their run and heading into the locker rooms.
'A little exercise wouldn't be such a bad thing I suppose. I'd better start calorie counting again too, just to be safe. I have so much free time this year,' she thought with disgust.
At the end of her sixth year, McGonagall had called Hermione to her office. It turned out that thanks to the time-turner incident in her third year, she had taken everything possible, leaving her with very few choices for her seventh year. More time to study for N.E.W.T.'s she supposed, but now, with her last class of the day ending at 2:00 pm when the most other students weren't released until 4:00, she felt the absence of her boys heavily. Amazing really, how much she counted on those two. Ron was her comic relief, while Harry kept her grounded. With all this time alone she was at a loss. There was a limit to the time one could spend in the library, even for Hermione.
Sighing, she pulled a piece of parchment from her bag. With so few classes, and still being only a few days into the school year, homework was at a minimum, and what little she did have, had been completed already. With Malfoy's comments still ringing in her mind, she began to write down all the food she had consumed that day.
'Ok, let's see...breakfast...toast with butter, 2 slices that is, 4 slices of bacon, I think that's it. Oh wait...pumpkin juice too. All right...lunch...ham sandwich...that had ham, cheese, tomato, lettuce, mayo, mustard...pumpkin juice again...add this up now...'
She gasped. Close to 1300 calories and she hadn't had dinner yet! Calculating quickly, she realized 1000 calories a day max would cut her daily food intake in half, meaning with a little exercise, 10 pounds could be gone in about 2 weeks! She smiled in relief.
"Hey 'Mione! Why so happy? Shouldn't you be in the library to look like that?" greeted Lavender.
"Hey roommies! If you guys are still offering, I'd like to start running with you, I could stand to get a little more fit."
Surprised, Parvati smiled. "Sure! That'd be great!" Hermione never wanted to do anything with them, let alone refer to them in such a friendly way.
Hermione stood. "Thanks! I get out of Arithmancy at 2, is that ok?"
"Should be fine. Meet you in the locker room tomorrow?"
"Perfect! Well, like you said, I should be off to the library! See you at dinner!" With that, Hermione left the two astounded girls gaping after her.