Chapter 1 - Silence

The first day of the last year at Hogwarts. Such a bittersweet moment. Of course, for Draco Malfoy, it was no more than an ordinary day surrounded by uninteresting people. People whose brains are filled with little more than the Muggle cotton candy. Pour a little water over it, and it dissolves into nothing. Although these, with the lack of a better word, followers were useful at times, the Slytherin prince was unsatisfied with the lack of company able to have a intelligent conversation with. In addition to this small conflict, our Slytherin Prince was particularly upset this cloudy morning due to the fact that he recently discovered he was to be Head Boy along with…wait for it……GRANGER. How the mudblood attained that position, he had no clue, but he sure was going to file a complaint the minute he reached Hogwarts. Even with all these worries, Malfoy, being the typical Malfoy, was self-absorbed as usually with his trademark smirk in place as he calmly apparated onto Platform 9 ¾.

As he looked around, uninterested in the all too familiar and boring settings, someone, or as he thought, something, crashed into him. Something with extremely bushy hair that looked incredibly familiar.

"Watch where you're going, mudblood," Draco spit out as he quickly distanced himself from the potential filth and disease of the bookworm. Surprisingly, however, Hermione didn't respond. Instead, she collected herself, nodded in apology, and turned from the blond Slytherin, leaving him in a state of shock at her lack to response.

Before she could reach the Hogwarts Express, Draco stopped her. "Granger," he asked, genuinely curious, "Why aren't you wearing your Head Girl badge? I know that you may feel that you don't deserve to hold such high a position next to a pureblood, but I never expected this out of a mudblood such as you." Once again, Hermione, seemingly deaf, stared at the pale Slytherin, and without a word, turned on her heel and boarded the train.

Once again, the blond Slytherin was astonished at the abrupt change in the Gryffindor's attitude. Still, Malfoy pushed his curiosity to the back of his mind and boarded the train, looking for his brainless companions.

DMHGDMHGDMHGDMHGDMHGDMHGDMHG

As Hermione Granger searched the compartments on the train for a familiar face, she contemplated her actions towards Malfoy, which were sure to surprise a few. The usually quick-mouthed Gryffindor princess was silent.

Eventually, Hermione found Harry and Ron in a compartment and joined them.

"Hey, Hermione! How was your summer?" Harry asked.

Hermione responded with a half-hearted smile and a small thumbs-up. Both Harry and Ron seemed very surprised by the lack of enthusiasm and noise coming from their friend and shared a concerned glance when they noticed the dead look in her eyes.

"Hermione….are you okay?" Ron asked slowly and carefully. "Did anything happen? Anything we should know?" Hermione shook her head and smiled a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. She gestured to her throat and crossed her hands in a "X".

"You can't speak? Is that it?" Harry guessed. The silent girl nodded back and reached into her bag and pulled out some parchment, a quill, and ink. She quickly wrote something on the paper and showed it to her worried friends. I lost my voice a couple days ago from a concert I went to with my Muggle friends. It should come back in a few days. Don't worry, I'm fine. The two boys looked up and Hermione smiled once again and took out an Advanced Ancient Runes textbook and started to read. Harry and Ron glanced at each other once again, slightly relieved by Hermione's excuse, but still concerned about the absence of the sparkle in her eyes.

A/N: Hey everyone! I know I've been gone for a while, but now I'm back. However, I seem to have a HUGE writer's block on love Blooms from Secrets, so any help on that would be appreciated.

Also, I need a good title for this story so would everyone please review and suggest possible titles? REVIEW!