A/N: Remember this a fanfic and not the actual book so somethings are off for a reason. Obviously, I don't own any of the characters.

"Bloody Hell…"

For someone who would of just walked by with a group of friends and heard this phrase said from someone, they'd probably not really think much of it. Obviously, something went wrong with the person for them to have said it. Or, perhaps they just realized something, such as; their zipper has been open for the first three classes of the day and they just so happen to look down because they had a feeling that something wasn't right with their uniform. Well, the person who said this phrase wasn't referring to a zipper incident because they are wearing a skirt. So for this person, who is a female, something must be wrong.

Hermione Granger, top pupil of Gryffindor, usually refrains from saying such a phrase, but she can't really help what happened to come out of her mouth. For Hermione, is quite herself. In fact to her, everything is fuzzy and swirling due to her consumption of alcohol. Now, how did she come about to drinking alcohol? Especially, considering how unusual and strange this is for her to do such a thing. Well, there's a story, so let's take a look of how our clever witch came to be so drunk.

….

"One, two, three!"

"Happy Halloween!!!"

After shouting, every student wizard in Gryffindor laughed and cheered. For it once again was Halloween, a favorite holiday due to the candy and partying. Everyone was having a great time eating the loads of candy they got from dinner and drinking the wizard alcohol that one of the clever Gryffindors snuck in. Dancing was taking place in the middle of the common room, where Neville proceeded to show off his new moves, which he learned from the dancing classes he took over the summer to get away from his grandmum. To the amazement of everyone, he was actually a swell dancer despite his physical appearance and usually shy demeanor, but people are usually able to open up when they drink half a bottle of wine.

In a corner, there was an abundance of chortling and cheers. In the middle of the horde of cheering teens was Harry and Ginny who were trying to stuff as many marshmallows as possible into their mouths. Harry had evidently told them about a game from the Muggle world known as 'Chubby Bunny'. Ginny was actually beating Harry, who was trying to stuff his seventh marshmallow into his already full mouth. Both looked utterly ridiculous because of how huge their cheeks were and the fact, that marshmallow drool was dripping from their mouths.

In another corner, Ron was snogging with Lavender. Both were unaware that someone was watching them from her position on the couch. Ron was also unaware that this person was currently having her heart stomped on by him. This person, Hermione, was blankly staring at the couple with her hand raised in mid-air as if she were about to turn a page of the book in her lap, but the hand was frozen due to the swirl of emotions she was feeling. Hurt was the one she felt the most. Apparently, someone saw this for they came and sat by her.

" 'Mione, stop staring at them."

She blinked and turned to look at Dean Thomas, who had his brows furrowed in concern. She let out the breath she'd been holding and looked down at her book. Flipping the page, she'd been meaning to turn a while ago, she started reading again as she spoke.

" I wasn't staring, Dean," she said as she let her eyes roam the page before her, " I was simply observing the nature of two sucker fish."

" Granger, we both are well aware that, though your humor is funny, you were staring at them," Dean stated.

"So what if I was staring at them? I can stare at whomever I like, and I certainly don't need you to tell me this," She said bitterly.

"Does Ron even know that you like him?"

"No…"

"And whose fault is that? You shouldn't be angry that Lavender happened to show how much she… Uh… liked him first," Dean said not knowing that the statement made her flinch mentally.

"Maybe I shouldn't be angry, but honestly, Dean, how would you feel if the person you liked was snogging some retched whore?" she questioned.

"Uhm… Well… I dunno."

" My point taken."

"Well, the point is, that you need to lighten up," Dean said handing her a bottle of some type of alcohol, "it's Halloween, enjoy yourself for once."

He left her to her own devise, which was to stare at the bottle for a minute. She opened it and swirled its contents for a few seconds then took a tiny sip of it. It was bitter and sweet but burned on its way down her throat. She liked it. She kept drinking as a buzz began to fill her ears. She hiccupped loudly and started giggled for no reason. As she giggled, she looked around at everyone. She spotted Neville dancing and decided she would absolutely love to dance.

She stood up, dropping her book and the empty bottle to the ground, and stumbled to where he was. When she reacher her destination, she grinned stupidly at everyone and swayed lightly. Everyone proceeded to stare at her in amazement of how drunk she was.

"Woooo! Let's get this party started!" She yelled as she started dancing.

She swayed her hips and lifted her arms in the air as she turned in a circle. Then she proceeded to mock a chicken and other animals, while almost everyone was staring at her with mouths a gaped.

"Come onnnnn," she slurred, " DANCE!"

She proceeded to make up her own dance which no one really got unless they were muggles or half-muggles.

"And staple, and staple, and copy it, and copy it, and type it and type it, and surf that Internet, and surf that Internet!"

She yelled this as she acted like she was stapling, being a copy machine, typing on a keyboard, and surfing while really she meant browsing the Internet. Now, everyone was staring opening at her because not only was there no more music playing, but she also looked like she'd gone completely mad.

" 'Mione! Stop it," Harry yelled trying to get her to stop twirling and being a stapler.

"Heehee! Come on, Harry, dance!"

"No, you've got to stop making a fool of yourself," Harry said still trying to get her to stop wiggling.

"I'm not making a fool of myself, but if you want me to, then I will!" She shouted angrily as she stumbled over to a table which she got on top of.

"Attention fellow Gryffindors! I am in love with Ronald Weasley!"

After she shouted this, she was then splashed with a cup of water as everyone looked on in silence. She blinked several times as she looked down at the person who splashed her. It was Ron who was staring at her with anger.

" 'Mione, you're my friend, but you need to stop," he stated in a quiet voice with no humor of the usual Ron.

She looked at him for a moment and then looked at everyone else. Harry and Ginny were both looking at her in disappointment. Dean looked guilty and Neville looked scared. The only ones who seemed to find this humorous was Seamus and the Creeve brothers. She then looked back at Ron only to find that he had turned away from her and was heading upstairs. Everyone did the same casting glances her way as they went. Soon, it was just her and the trash from the party. She numbly got down from where she stood and instead of going to bed, she ran out of the common room.

…

Now, she stood by the lake, which was eerily calm and shimmering in the moonlight. She knew that she could get in trouble at any moment, but after what happened, she'd rather that than have to deal with the pain she felt right now. On the outside, her body was numb but on the inside, she was burning with humiliation and searing with hurt. She'd always wandered what it'd feel like to get rejected, now she knew. The pain felt unbearable and nothing made sense anymore. She felt overwhelmed and she supposed that because she felt so overwhelmed on the inside, her tears naturally graced their presence by sliding down her face. They ran down her chin and dripped softly to the cold autumn ground.

"You stupid idiot," she whispered to herself as she slide to the ground in a fetal position.

"Well, that's not nice."

She stiffened and turned her head slightly to see the presence of Draco Malfoy staring down at her. He didn't have his usual sneer on his face, but he didn't smile either. He just looked at her. His blonde hair seemed to glow lightly in the night and face looked like marble. Yet, something about his demeanor made him seem lonely and utterly somber. Definitely unlike her drunk, depressed demeanor, but one thing they did share was the lonliness that seemed to posses them this Halloween night.

She wondered why he was out her like this. She wondered why someone of his statue would ever even look lonely with all the Slytherins by his side constantly. The thing is, Draco never felt like he belonged and he didn't want to be with the other drunken Slytherins at the moment.

She turned her face away from him and looked back at the lake while trying to clear her eyes of tears.

"Why are you here, Malfoy?"

"Why are you here, Granger?"

"I'm here because I'm an idiot," she laughed sadly.

"Let me guess, you confessed your love to Weasley?" he asked as he sat down beside her.

"Sure did," she said in mock-cheerfulness.

"Hmm, well, I'm out here because I was tired of being surrounded by idiots."

"Then you might want to find a new place, considering you're by another idiot."

"Yeah, I suppose I should."

He never left though. As uncharacteristic as he was being, she let him sit there. She knew that they were both against one another. She knew that if Harry or Ron were here, they'd think she'd gone mad. She knew a lot of things, but she didn't care anymore. She wanted to stop looking ahead and just sit here, which she was doing quite successfully.

"My father hates me," Draco said in a quiet matter-of-factly voice that broke the silence.

She looked at him and laughed lightly causing him to smile. For some reason, Draco saying something like that made her feel light on the inside. She'd never be able to explain it but for the moment, Draco was her only friend.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome, Hermione," he said softly putting his arm around her.

She actually enjoyed the feeling of someone comforting her, even if it was someone she usually couldn't tolerate at any level. She was tired of being so alone in her book-filled world, so she laid her head on his shoulder as he offered his comfort.

"So, how'd you end up confessing?"

"T'was drunk."

--

The End.