Hermione needed a break. She just couldn't take holing up in the common room studying anymore. She put her books away and walked into the corrider. She needed fresh air.

Hermione made her way towards the Great Hall. She figured on her way outside, she'd pick up a snack. After grabbing some biscuits, she headed towards the doors.

"And where do you think you're going, Granger?" She knew that voice. Hermione spun around on her heel and looked at the boy who spoke in disgust.

"A stroll, Malfoy. Why it concerns you, I do not know. I'll be going now."

"I don't think so," Malfoy chuckled. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at Hermione.

"IMPERIO!"

Hermiones eyes rolled back into her head, and her whole body shuddered. When she blinked, she was no longer in control.

"Come with me, Granger. Were going somewhere more private." Hermione agreed, and grabbed Malfoy's hand. They began walking down a back corrider, when a voice shouted at them.

"Hermione! HERMIONE! What are you doing with that bloke?" Ronald Weasley's angry, yet very troubled, voice shouted. Hermione, unaware of what was going on completely, looked at Malfoy for direction on what to do. He pulled her close and whispered in her ear.

"Ignore him. You love me." Hermione looked up at Malfoy again and nodded. They continued to walk down the hall, leaving Ron dumbfounded. Ron began chasing them, shouting Hermione's name over and over. As the couple continued to ignore them, Malfoy thought of a great idea. He stopped in his tracks, and pulled Hermione close.

"Kiss me. Now," he whispered, and pulled Hermione into an embrace. Ron was furious. He had finally caught up with the couple, and pulled out his wand.

"STUPEFY!" Ron bellowed the at Malfoy. Draco went flying backwards, but regained his composure after a minute. He walked back over to Ron and Hermione.

"Fancy seeing you here Weasley. As you can see, me and Miss Granger are in the middle of something," Draco chuckled darkly. "You are obvioulsy not wanted."

Ron looked incredibly hurt. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew something wasn't right. He looked at Hermione with pleading eyes.

"Hermione, what are you doing?"

"I was in the middle of snogging Draco, if you didn't notice."

"But – but Hermione, why?"

"Because I love him, silly." And with that, Hermione turned back to Malfoy.

"Where were we?" She asked, winking at him. He pulled her in for another kiss.

"I never thought you to be the type to touch a mudblood, Malfoy," Ron spat. He began to walk away when he heard his name being shrieked. He turned around to see Hermione running at him, hurt and anger in her eyes.

"HOW DARE YOU RONALD WEASLEY!" She shouted, and then ran away crying.

Ron was absolutley bewildered, as was Malfoy. They looked at eachother, then Ron turned and began to chase after Hermione for the second time that night. Before he left though, he heard Malfoy mutter something about how the curse could have possibly worn off. That git, Ronald thought.

Meanwhile, Hermione could not contain her sadness. She was letting the tears fall freely, not caring about the looks people were giving her. She needed to find Harry, and she needed to find him now. Rushing into the common room, Hermione searched frantically for her black haired friend. When she finally caught sight of him by the fire, she ran over to him immediatley and threw her arms around him in an embrace. She couldn't control the sobs coming from her.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" Harry asked, concerned for his close friend. After a few more minutes of continual sobbing, Hermione wiped her eyes and looked up at Harry.

"Harry, you would never call me a mudblood, right?" She asked, looking sad as Harry had ever seen her.

"You know I would never. Hermione, who called you that? Was it Malfoy? I'll kill him if it was."

"No..no Harry, it was much, much worse than Draco Malfoy."

"Who is worse than Malfoy? Snape? Because if it was Snape, well he's a teacher.. I'll go tell Dumbledore immiediatley, that's just not -"

"Harry, it wasn't Snape. It was worse," Hermione's eyes began to well up with water again. She couldn't believe what she was about to say.

"Ronald called me a mudblood, Harry. Ronald Weasley." And just like that, Hermione burst into tears and held onto Harry for support. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. Ron? Their best friend? How could he? He couldn't have... it had to have been a mistake.

A few minutes later, the opening to the common room opened. Harry looked up to see a very disheveled Ron running towards him.

"Harry, I need to talk to her. Please." Ron looked down to see Hermione wrapped in Harry's arms, crying silently. A twinge of jealousy went through him. That's absurd, he thought. They're just friends.

Hearing that familiar voice, Hermione looked up. She turned to Ron in upmost disgust.

"I do not wish to speak to you, now or ever," she said, then turned to Harry. "Thanks for being there, Harry. I'm going up to my room now." She got off the couch then walked up to her dorm, purposley avoiding touching Ron at all costs. Ron looked hurt beyond belief.

"Harry, you've got to understand. I didn't mean it, I -"

"Save it, Weasley." Harry spat, then he also went up to his dorm. Ron sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands. He didn't blame his friends for being angry at him. He just didn't know if he could handle them hating him.

It had been a long, tough night. Ron didn't sleep at all. He just sat on the couch staring into the fire until it burned out. Then, he just stared at the coals. He could not believe what he had done. How in the world did I say that about her? Ron thought. I love her.

He knew he did not mean what he had said, blood status meant absolutley nothing to him. But somehow, the word came out of his mouth so easily. Ron could feel the tears forming in his eyes. He couldn't control the pain he felt. He had messed up, and he had messed up bad.

A few minutes later, Ron heard someone walking down the stairs. He quickly wiped the tears off his face, but it was hopeless because more kept on coming.

"Oh... it's you," he heard Hermione say. "I'll be going now."

He did not even bother looking up. Quiet sobs rocked his body as he sat there miserably.

"Ron, are you crying? You are, aren't you. Oh dear, I cannot handle you crying," Hermione said, her voice cracking a bit at the end. Ron felt her sit down next to him. He heard a whimper, and looked over to see her head in her hands. Here I go, making her cry again. And this time, all she had to do was look at me. Brilliant, Ron thought. He wiped his face again then slowly put his hand on Hermione's shoulder. She quickly pulled away. He shuddered.

"Hermione, I know -"

"Save it, Ron. I don't want to hear it."

"I know. But Hermione, you have got to at least let me say this."

"Why should I let you do anything, Ron? You betrayed me. And I can never forgive you."

"Because I love you!" He blurted out, instantly turning red. Hermione's face went from sad to shocked to angry to embarassed and finally settled back on angry. She stood up and started pacing back and forth.

"You love me? YOU LOVE ME? Oh yeah, when I love people I tend to call them discriminating words too. It's quite natural, don't you think? Oh wait, of course you do. No, Ron, you don't love me. If you loved me like I love you, then you wouldn't have called me a mudblood." She spat the words out at him before realizing what she had said. She reddened, but Ron didn't seem to notice. He stood up too, and addressed her calmly.

"Hermione... I love you. I do. I really, really love you. I love the way you are always there for me. I love that you are so smart. I love how you blush whenever you catch me staring at you. I love how you are the greatest friend anybody could ask for. I love all the things you have done for me in the past. I love that you are talking to me right now, even though I made the biggest mistake of my life last night. And most of all, I love that you love me, too."

"Ronald Weasley, do not come one step closer to me. I am absolutley disgusted with you. You sit there and...lie, lie to me! Play with my emotions just so I will forgive you. Well, it's not going to work, Ron! Our friendship is done for! You are right on one thing, you made a huge mistake last night. A mistake that I'm afraid you can't make up for."

"Hermione Granger," Ron started, walking towards her. She backed up, making him wince. He took a step closer to her again. She tried to back up, but realized she was standing against the wall. He heard her swear under her breath.

"Hermione Granger," he repeated. "I would never lie to you about how I feel. I love you. No, that's not good enough. I am in love with you, Hermione. I have been for a long time. I probably always will be. And if you want this friendship to be over, fine. I understand. I wouldn't want to be friends with me either. But Hermione," he put his hands on her shoulders, "just know that I am completely, totally, utterly in love with you." He sighed and turned around, hoping that she would say something back to him.

She didn't.