Okidoky everybody, this is an interesting little story. Everything in OotP stands, and everything in HBP stands if you cut out the last like three chapters and just think that Hermione's been going out with Viktor Krum for a year. Keep that mindset and you might not get confused.

Lara

Hermione woke up early that morning, hearing a rapping sound. She got up slowly, recognizing the owl that was tapping at her window, and opened the glass to let it in. She took the letter it held out to her and read:

Dear Hermione,

I am very sorry. I don't know what I was thinking and didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Please forgive me?

Viktor

Hermione finished the letter, and then stared out the window. A slow tear trickled down her cheek. Forgive him? How the hell could she do that?

She had gone to Bulgaria for a surprise visit to her boyfriend Viktor Krum.

Her aunt and uncle had been visiting on business, and they had kindly let her use their jet to avoid airfare.

When she arrived she went first to the mall to buy an anniversary gift for Viktor, and she decided to go to the jewelry shop to buy him a silver watch. Across from the jewelry shop was a coffee shop, where she saw Viktor sitting with a girl. She didn't mind at all because she remembered Viktor owling her that he needed to tour his cousin around Bulgaria because she lived in Austria.

One hour later, she arrived at Viktor's apartment and went straight to his bedroom to surprise him. Sadly she was the one surprised, and not in a good way. Viktor was in bed with the same girl she had seen in the mall.

He was cheating on her. He had been cheating on her.

He looked up and saw her in the doorway, and he looked horrified. She was so mad that she threw the gift onto his chest and said, "Happy anniversary…and we're through." She got into a taxi and went straight home.

The tears didn't come until she was on the plane.

When Hermione heard a knock on the door she quickly wiped her eyes. "Yes?" she said, and the door opened. It was her mom, bringing her breakfast in bed.

"Mione, here's your breakfast."

"Thanks mom, but I'm not hungry."

"You're still not eating? Mione!"

"I'm just not hungry, mom."

When her mother had left, Hermione pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill, and wrote simply,

No.

She folded it up and opened the door to her owl's cage. He clamped it in his beak and stepped onto her arm, and she brought him over to the window. "Give that to Victor, please, sweetheart," she said, ruffling his feathers slightly. He hooted comfortingly and took off, vanishing silently into the morning. Hermione watched him go, and not one tear fell from her eyes.

"Hi Auntie! Nice to see you…where's Hermione?" Jessa, Hermione's cousin, said, smiling as Mrs. Granger opened the door.

"Hi Jessa, she's in her room," Mrs. Granger replied. "And I really hope you can cheer her up. She's been mopey for weeks."

"I'll do my best." Jessa went up the stairs and opened the door to her cousin's room quietly. Hermione was lying on her bed with her eyes closed.

"Hi, Mione!" Jessa said very loudly, and Hermione's eyes flew open.

"Oh! Hi Jessa … why are you here?" Hermione said, puzzled.

"Your mom told me that you need someone to cheer you up, and she told me that your best friends are in Spain. So I guess it's up to me now. Which is really good, because all my parents want to do is talk about business and I have been bored out of my mind." She looked around interestedly. "Okay. Here's my first suggestion. Why don't we go shopping?" Jessa said.

"Umm…okay, I guess," Hermione said, getting off her bed. Jessa stopped her.

"Tomorrow. Don't worry, I'll pay for everything."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks!"

The next day Jessa and Hermione went around London shopping for new clothes, accessories and makeup. Jessa was, essentially, a clotheshorse. She figured out what exactly would look best on Hermione in about five minutes, and then all of her selections were of that type. The same thing happened with shoes, and then makeup. They shopped for the whole day, and had a blast. Hermione was actually smiling for the first time since the breakup.

The day after that they went to a salon for a makeover. Hermione's hair was cut and streaked at Jessa's direction. The streaks were blond and red-gold, and really all they had done was bleached her hair. Her hair was now layered, framing her face with shorter strands in the front. It looked amazing. It had lost much of its frizziness over the years and was now still very curly, but not frizzy. After Jessa was satisfied, they had their nails done, and then they went to the spa for a massage.

As they were walking down a street talking, somebody bumped into Hermione, knocking several of her things down.

"Sorry, miss," the person said politely.

Hermione sighed and knelt to pick up her things. When she looked up at the man's face, she got a huge shock.

It was Draco Malfoy. Without saying anything, she picked up the rest of her things and walked away as fast as she could, hoping that he hadn't recognized her.

Was that really Draco? I mean he looked pretty hot there, Hermione thought.

What the hell are you thinking, Hermione? It's Draco Malfoy, your worst enemy. You just called him hot! Another voice in her head said.

"Who was that?" Jessa said interestedly. "It seemed like you knew him."

"Yeah, I do," Hermione said shortly. "He goes to my school."

Jessa whistled. "Lucky you! He was pretty damn attractive."

"Yeah, I guess so," Hermione said. She'd never thought of him that way, but Jessa was right.

"Do you have any classes with him?" Jessa asked curiously.

"Actually, quite a few," Hermione said. "Usually we don't talk very much."

"Well, maybe you should start!" Jess said, laughing. "I can't believe you have someone like that in your classes and don't even talk to him!"

"Well, he didn't always look that good," Hermione protested. "I think it's a new thing this year."

"Well, start to get to know him!" Jessa said insistently.

"Maybe I will."

"Bye, Mione. I really had a great time with you," Jessa said at the door as she was leaving a week later. School was starting soon, and she needed to go back to the U.S.A.

Hermione wasn't sure if her cousin knew about her magic, but really couldn't risk it, and Jessa had spoken of going school shopping with her. Not only had she already gotten her things, but Jess would flip if she saw Diagon Alley. Hermione's mom had talked to Jessa's parents, who did know, and they had said that they had to go back to the U.S. So now Jessa was leaving.

"Me too. Hope to see you soon. Thanks for everything," Hermione said, smiling and hugging her cousin. "And you know what I mean," she said significantly. Jessa had been her confidant, and Hermione had told her everything about Viktor and cried again. Jessa had hugged her and they had had girl talks all week long.

"No problem," Jessa said, hugging her back.

Soooooooooo... Good, bad, okay? Not all of this story's mine, I must admit; some of it I got from other authors, so if you've read those stories, I am now giving credit where it's due! I hope to update soon. Cheers!

Lara