A/N: The thing to remember about me is that I post when you least expect me to! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I am truly the mistress of surprise. I can't believe that I have finally finished this...well, actually…it has been written for quite a long time, just didn't have the guts to post it. Hope you guys like it! Don't forget to review afterwards.

Disclaimer: Potter is not mine…sad isn't it…pitiful, pathetic and putrid.

She wasn't always like this. She was normally vibrant and full of life when she had a class. She usually paid close attention to the Professor while meticulously taking notes. She usually raised her hand to answer every question asked. But she was different today. Hermione was defiantly different today.

Instead of her usual seat in the front row, she sat way at the end of the room. She sat in a dark corner and sulked…sulking was very unlike her. She just sat there and stared into the nothingness before her. She didn't even care about what Professor Binns was talking about. All that seemed to register in her mind was that it was something about Goblins. She didn't care that Ron and Harry were sleeping in the middle of the class. She didn't care that the Professor said something about a test the next day. She didn't care. She just stared into space as thoughts begin to occupy her mind. She thought about the way her life was turning out.

She thought about the way all the Professors seemed to expect something extra special from her.

All of the Professors held her in a higher standard than the other students. Other students were expected to get A's as the highest; she was expected to get O's in everything. Anything lower than that would be a disappointment. She was expected to have the most thorough notes in her entire year, if not the whole school. Anything less than complete wouldn't be held acceptable.

She thought about the way her friends viewed her.

Harry. He seemed to expect Hermione to always be the voice of reason. She was always the one he went to when his indecisiveness kicked in. She was always the one who was forced to choose between the lesser evils. He also expected her to be this ever strong person…weakness was not an option. She was never expected to cry, never expected to be confused, never expected to be scared. Again, weakness never seemed to be like an option to her.

Ron. He viewed Hermione as the all knowing, all seeing brain. He expected her to know everything, like an endless fountain of knowledge. She was never allowed a moment of ignorance. He also expected her to be this ever reliable doormat who would take over everything if he couldn't do it. He also saw her as this social pariah who didn't have a social life whatsoever. In his eyes, no body could possibly have any romantic interests in her at all. She was a bloke to him. Not expected to have any 'girly' needs or wants. He didn't expect her to have insecurities, which she has in abundance.

She thought about how other people viewed her.

Brainy Nice Sensible Gryffindor. It seemed like she had that tattooed on her forehead, because that seemed to be the general perception of her.

Brainy. Everyone expected academic excellence in her. It was as if it was inconceivable for her to get a grade lower than an O. Nice. Being the resident nice girl has its drawbacks. She was never allowed those fits of rage, never expected to have her 'bad mood days', never allowed her moments of pessimism. Sensible. Everybody assumed that she never had fun. They all viewed her to be too sensible to enjoy the frivolities of life. That irritated her; she knew how to have fun. It's just that nobody asked her before because she was too sensible. Gryffindor. Being Gryffindor came with a few assumptions of its own. She was always to be brave; never having a moment's fear. She was expected to hex every Slytherin that came her way. Not all the Slytherins were that bad, with the exception of Malfoy and his crew (now they were just unbearable).

She summarized every aspect of her life and it hit her. Everybody expected her to be perfect.

Perfect. She hated that word. Nobody was perfect. Everybody had their flaws. Everyone had their quirks and idiosyncrasies. But, apparently, she was expected to have none.

Expected. That was another word she hated. She hated the way people just assumed things about her, without having the smallest notion that she might be different. If she didn't meet their expectations, people got disappointed.

With all the people's assumptions, they all forgot what Hermione Granger was. She wasn't a creature above all others. She wasn't a thing that had no limits, no flaws and no weaknesses. She was just like them. She was human.

She looked at her life, and she hated the way it had turned out. All the pressure and expectations were just too much. She needed an outlet. She needed to let it all out. She looked for a thing in her bag…anything that could release these emotions. She found a knife. Now all of you would wonder what kind of psycho carries a knife in there bag. It's not what you think. Hermione Granger is not a mass murderer. She used that knife to sharpen her quill.

She took her knife and started to carve on her table.

A little bit of her pain and anger seemed to diminish with each stroke. She felt lighter with every letter that she carved. The harder she carved, the better she felt.

'I should have done this years ago.'

She carved harder and harder. The words were now etched deep into her table.

'Not deep enough.'

She felt a sense of release take over her. This was the first impulsive thing she had done in such a long time. It was definitely worth it.

At last she had finished. Hermione sat back and looked at her handy work. It was a beauty to behold.

I HATE MY LIFE

Those four words encapsulated everything she felt. Simple yet effective.

'The consequences will have to wait 'til tomorrow to bite me in the arse.'

"Alright class dismissed." Said Professor Binns.

Hermione collected her things and stood up. She got out of the classroom walked on to her next class.

"Hey 'Mione!" said a voice from behind her. She turned around to see that a raven haired boy and a flaming redhead were hot on her tail.

"Hey guys." She said, trying to sound excited.

"You weren't at your regular seat." Said Harry.

"Yeah, what were you doing back there?"

"Nothing Ronald. Just thinking." She answered.

"Oh, ok." Ron shrugged. With that, the trio continued to walk to Transfiguration with out so much as a second thought on the events of the previous class.

The next day, Hermione walked to History of Magic feeling a little bit better. She had thought about her 'issues' last night and decided to just put it down as effects of fatigue. She pushed back those thoughts and chose not to think on it anymore.

Just as she was walking on to her table in the front row, she caught a glance at the table she sat at the day before. What she saw on it utterly shocked her.

Something was now carved below her engraving.

DON'T WORRY, YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE

Somehow, that gave her a little felling that she wasn't alone. Someone else felt the same. She wasn't the only one. That put a smile on her face.

'I'm sure that Professor Binns wouldn't mind if I sat here again.'

She put her things down and the class started.

Hermione took out her knife again and carved another note. After she was done, she smiled. She took out her quill and parchment and took notes for the class.

THANKS

A/N: I hope you guys like it. The standard threat applies. If this is not liked and no reviews come…this will remain a oneshot and you are all doomed to wonder about who carved the response…aren't I just evil. The one who etched the response is the winner of the poll. Guess who it is…hahahahahahaha! I am evil! (insert sinister laugh!)

Big news… I have now created my own website. It holds all the teasers for my upcoming fics (teasers like first chapters, clues, teaser paragraphs…things like that. Please go to my homepage to see it. Thankies!)

Oh and plus…I have a poll on my website and I would like ya'll to answer it. I need a pairing for this fic I'm writing called On The Way. Summary is on the website or my profile. Please…I need feedback…the imagination lacks the fuel to decide on a ship. I NEED YOUR HELP!

Don't forget to review.

The Tofuubeaver

PS: HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY…AT LEAST IT'S VALENTINE'S DAY HERE IN THE PHILIPPINES! FOR THOSE OF A DIFFERENT TIMEZONE, ADVANCED OR BELATED VALENTINE'S DAY! LOVE YA'LL!