Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It remains property of J.K Rowling.

It had all started in her fourth year; the year of the Triwizard Tournament. The year of the Yule Ball. It had taken her more than 3 hours to prepare for it because somebody asked her to go with them. She had been asked. For the first time someone had appreciated her personality, someone had accepted her for who she was, rather than making snide remarks about her 'neediness. And plus he had been very good looking, and had a sweet accent…although he couldn't say her name properly.

She'd bought a very feminine, pink dress especially for the occasion, and tried desperately to make her hair seem presentable. Never had she tried to make an effort as much as she did that night; she even wore some make-up. She had felt nervous, as if butterflies the size of fully grown Blast-Ended Skrewts were flapping around in her stomach, the feeling increasing dramatically as she walked slowly down the stairs, so she didn't trip and fall on her head.. Especially with everyone looking at her, watching her very carefully, as if they had no clue who she was. However, she could also see that they were admiring her which they had never done before. A warm feeling of comfort and happiness tingled all through her body.

She had seen Ron and Harry as she walked past them to link arms with Viktor, smiling at them and giving them a small wave, which only Harry returned. Then as she proceeded into the Great Hall, she saw him watching her with a look she had never seen in his eyes before, a look she had never thought to ever see: a look of compassion and admiration. Her head half turned towards him, in shock, and her eyes locked with his and it seemed the world slowed down. Every blink took a thousand years and seemed exaggerated and bigger. Every breath seemed to take a million years to draw and a million more to expel. The overwhelming feeling of cliché hit her full on and everything seemed to speed up again. Sneaking a glance back, she noticed his stony hardness covering his feelings once more.

For the rest of the evening he had dwelled on her mind, she couldn't get rid of the memory of his eyes, appraising her as if seeing her in a different light. As if seeing her as something worth taking notice of. As if seeing her as a woman. She had even thought of him as she said goodnight to Viktor, a good four hours later, whilst walking up to her dormitory. Even when she argued with Ron, her mind had still been preoccupied.

She had stormed off into her dormitory, gotten undressed quickly into her pyjamas, and fallen asleep still thinking off his eyes connected with hers.

She should have realised that as soon as term had started again everything would be back to normal, that he would go back to treating her like a piece of dirt again, but somehow she hadn't figured it out. The result of her naivety had shocked her when he began picking on her again, which then led her to her sadness and her isolation of her friends so she could be alone. She had never quite understood why she felt so upset over all his name-callings and other ghastly actions. I mean, she was talking about Draco Malfoy for goodness sake…

In her Fourth, Fifth and Sixth years she had lain thinking about the past, she had thought to herself how stupid she had been back then, and how she had been delusional, but now in her Seventh year, she knew she had just been in love.

The thought haunted her; in love with Malfoy, for crying out loud. But she knew she was right, even if she didn't want to be. It was the only time Hermione had ever hated being right. She wanted to be wrong, so much it hurt, but deep down in her heart she knew she'd been right.

She had busied herself with S.P.E.W, Dumbledore's Army, The Order of the Phoenix and trying to get herself back to the top of her potions class in Slughorn's classes. It helped that Malfoy wasn't in all her classes like Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, and Defence against the Dark Arts. It helped that Malfoy was more concerned in what Voldemort had commanded him to do – kill Dumbledore. With this pressure of needing to succeed, and the daily reminder of his dad a convicted Death Eater and in prison, he definitely had very little time for such petty things such as teasing Mudbloods.

It had certainly helped being in the common room with her friends surrounding her, making her laugh, keeping her relaxed. In fact, whilst she was in the company of her friends, Harry, Ron and Ginny, she found she could almost forget about her feelings for Draco Malfoy. Her life was pretty relaxed, and even quite fun and enjoyable to live. Even with the few ups and downs such as: Cedric's death, Voldemort returning, Sirius' death and more.

But then a letter had come with a Hogwarts Owl during the Summer Holiday between sixth and seventh year. She had been leaping for joy after reading the letter, and had even taken the time to memorise it, word for word.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Miss Hermione Granger,

I am pleased to inform you that you are now entering your seventh and final year at Hogwarts, a very important year you know I am sure. This year you will take your last examinations known as N.E.W.T. s (Nastily Exhaustingly Wizarding Tests) which are vital to your future career after school.

As the top of your year, we at Hogwarts are confident in your ability to deal with responsibility, as shown by your very respectful performance as Gryffindor Prefect for the past two years. As we are sure you can handle responsibility whilst also handling the task of revising for important tests, I am extremely pleased to inform you have been chosen as this years Head Girl.

Also enclosed with this letter are your Head Girl's badge and your year's list of Spell Books.

Congratulations on your success. I know you will do well with the responsibility. Please go to the Head Boy and Girl compartment on September 1st at 11 o'clock. There you will get your instructions for the rest of the year and you will also meet the Head Boy. I'm sure you will get on well.

Yours sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster

Hermione was pretty sure she had been the happiest girl on the planet.