Blaise Zabini knew he was too quiet-natured to be popular. But too quiet-natured to have friends? That just didn't seem fair.

Fair or not, it was reality, and reality, he was certain it would stay. The tall teen had reached his seventh year at Hogwarts, and despite the fact that he'd been made Head Boy, he was not a known person and he had no friends. He didn't exactly mind these facts, as the point of school was not to make friends, but to learn.

Still, he couldn't help feeling neglected in times when he was under the weather. Everyone in school who visited the hospital wing would wake up with candy and chocolates and balloons of care sitting on their bedside. Everyone did not include Blaise, however. And for that sole reason, Blaise Zabini hated the Infirmary.

It was evening at Hogwarts, and Blaise lay sprawled out in his dorm on the four-poster bed, denying the dizziness that began to creep into his system.

I'm not sick, he assured himself; I definitely don't need the hospital wing. I'm fine. I just arrived here! Not sick at all…couldn't possibly be sick…

But underneath it all, he knew he just didn't want to visit the hospital wing. And besides, it wasn't like visiting the Infirmary was required for sick students. He didn't have to go—which was good, because he refused to.

With a half-moan, half-cry, he shoved his unfinished homework onto the floor and slipped between the stiff green sheets and bedspread, his mind drifting asleep instantaneously…

Hermione Granger woke up refreshed, with the bright sun shining a thin stream of light into her dorm. It still seemed mind-blowing to her that she had actually been made Head Girl! Yes, indeed—Head Girl!! She grinned, peeling her covers off and hopping out of bed with a skip in her step.

She didn't think that it was possible for her mood to be spoiled, not even if the Head Boy suddenly were to be replaced with Draco Malfoy. The girl paused at the very thought and scratched it nearly right away.

Draco being Head Boy would ruin everything. And even though there still was a Slytherin Head Boy, Blaise Zabini seemed nice enough to her. She barely knew the boy, (strange that she didn't, considering that he'd been in her classes every year she'd attended at Hogwarts…) but she intended on changing that.

The cheery Gryffindor showered and dressed, quickly making her way down to the Great Hall for breakfast to meet her best friends, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter.

"So…?" Ron pressed as soon as she squeezed between the two boys.

"So…what?" she questioned, reaching for a piece of toast and a knife to butter it.

"So…how was night one in planet Nightmare?" He continued, eager to know how Hermione was coping with Head Boy Blaise Zabini, who all three of them barely knew at all.

"Oh, Ron!" she cried with a sigh, "He's not that bad, really…in fact, I don't recall speaking to him…at all…" She paused at how terrible it sounded out loud.

"Well, how rude! He's thinks he's too good to speak to you! Why, I oughta!"

"It's not even been a full day." She reminded him kindly as she set down her knife and thought about it, "And he's probably just shy. I highly doubt he's the stuck up type,"

"You've never spoken to him, and already you're highly doubting things about him??"

"You've never spoken to him, either!" Hermione pointed out, scoffing at how intolerable Ron really could be.

"I'm not the one highly doubting that he's not stuck up even though he is, might I add, a Slytherin!"

"Both of you, hush!" Harry finally spoke up from his plate of bacon, eggs, and sausage, "It's too early in the morning to argue!"

"Harry's right," Hermione immediately agreed, "Especially over something so stupid! Now, if you two don't mind, I've got a class in ten minutes, and I don't wish to be late!" She pushed her way out of between the two boys and carefully stood up from the bench, walking away without another word, without finishing her buttered toast, without even so much as a glance back at the pair of them.

"What's her problem?" Ron questioned aloud as soon as she was out of earshot.

They were silent a moment, until a smile spread across both of their faces, "Hormones," they laughed in unison. It had to be.

A/N: I really am craving to write a Blaise/Hermione story. I hope this wasn't too unbearable to read for you guys. And I know the Hermione part is rushed--I'll try to fix that in the next chapter...heh, heh...hopefully...