It turned out to be nothing less than a normal day in the halls of Hogwarts. The now seventh year renowned three friends, Harry potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger, entered the great hall only to halt to a loud drawling voice.

"Look at that, Potter's still dragging around the trash!" Rolling his eyes Harry gestured for Ron and Hermione to follow him. Hermione held Ron's arm as he made a lunge at the Slytherin table, and a light glare was quickly apparent on Malfoy's face at this gesture, but he soon replaced with his usual sneer and added, "Oh look, the Mudblood has to hold back dirt poor Weasley, who actually thinks he stands a chance!" At this point the Slytherin table was echoing through the hall with roars of laughter, and the three friends had quickly taken a seat at the Gryffindor table, trying desperately to ignore Malfoy.

All had definitely grown a lot in the past two years, Hermione's hair even looked as though it was a bit thinner and tamer, yet it still held its soft curls, and unruly nature. She had grown into her form, now about 5'6" her school uniform accentuated her womanly curves and figure, slender arms and legs, and a soft thin face, with large brown eyes and full rose lips. Ron was nearly 6'3" now and undoubtedly had been dating Lavender for a year. His flaming red hair was about eyes length and stood out brightly against his pale, freckle-filled, face. He was no longer the small scraggly thing he used to be, Quidditch had paid off. He now had a nice build, nothing spectacular, but muscles were evident, even in the slightest bit. Harry too was nearly 6'3" if not exactly. His untidy black hair, just the same, but his eyes more brilliant green than ever from behind his black glasses. His build was much more developed than Ron with strong arms and a wide chest. He was nearly every girl's dream in the school now, and Cho Chang was every girl's envy. The two had worked things out and were now dating, again. Hermione however, had declined any offer from any of the boys, who now seemed to only notice her for her looks. She continued to get looks from the boys and continued to return a light smile, as if saying, "Flattering, but no." in her own silent way. From the disappointed expressions on their faces, they understood though.

As for our mischievous little Draco, he too was tall, in fact, taller than Ron and Harry by about two inches. The boy was the dream of every girl it seemed, except Hermione. His sun golden hair now fell gently into his eyes, no longer sleeked back in a greasy manner. Cold grey blue eyes stood out vibrantly against his pale skin and blonde hair, and he was indeed muscular. If only that horrid attitude of his hadn't existed. He too had turned down nearly every request for a date though; using the excuse that she just wasn't good enough for him, talk about an egotistical maniac. Though now it seemed, that among the laughter at his snide remarks, he slumped at the table in silence, watching Hermione with a sort of glare.

Hermione quietly read the Daily Prophet and drank her pumpkin juice as Ron ranted to Harry about how he would rip out Draco's vocal chords, then place the Imperius curse on him....blah, blah, blah, he'd never do any of it, but Harry listened anyway. Hermione simply ignored them both, finding no interest in senseless revenge. It's just how Malfoy was, after all, what could you expect from a child who was raised by a family of death eaters? When glancing up from the paper, and letting her dark gaze set on Malfoy, he quickly sat up, running his fingers through his hair, and averting his own gaze. She gave a puzzled look, shrugged, and then went back to the paper. Nothing was said between any of them the rest of the day, until about 2:00 when they had potions. Snape had intentionally paired Draco with Harry, and Hermione knew it would be a disaster before it even began. For not only had Harry grown physically, it seems that the traits that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named left on him, included his attitude. For Harry had developed an exceedingly short temper when it came to just about anything he didn't like, and his attitude had taken a turn for the worst. Malfoy only took advantage of this.

"So Potty, just don't breath on anything, and maybe we can pass, hm?" Where Harry would have normally told Malfoy just to shut up, he instead "accidentally" spilt a vile of acid upon his lap. Malfoy stood up with a yelp, and Snape muttered a curse, which cleaned up the acid. Harry muttered to Draco with a light smirk, "Keep your greasy hands off things and we'll be fine..." Snape strode over to them, a venomous glare upon his face.

"Well, well, well. Already getting yourself into trouble, Mr. Potter, and the year just started. And to think, it's your last year as well....50 points from Gryffindor for reckless behavior and intentional injury to another student..."

"What?! You can't do that!"

A sneer curled upon Snape's thin lips as he leaned close to Harry, "Do not forget your place Potter, 20 more points from Gryffindor, would you like to add anything else to lose a few more? I'm sure your classmates are VERY pleased with you already..." His already slimy voice was tainted with contempt and sarcasm as he stood and walked back to his desk. Harry looked as though he was going to explode. If looks could kill, Snape would be dead ten times over. His hands dug into his desk as he looked to the potion they had to make, and Draco only smirked lightly, mixing the ingredients with Harry.

When class was over, Draco was waiting outside the dungeon door with his cronies as usual. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were undoubtedly stopped by the other three. Harry grit his teeth and Hermione only gave Draco a death glare, which he merely smiled at, as though he found it cute or amusing. At the puzzled looks from Crabbe and Goyle, his eyes quickly darted to Harry, at which point he glared again, "Look you little half-breed nobody. You ever pull shit like that again, and I'll have your bloody neck, got it?"

Harry growled lightly, but Hermione put her hand on Harry's chest and almost whispered between gritted teeth, "Don't Harry, he's not worth getting expelled over, besides, You-Know-Who will gladly murder him for us when school's out..." Draco now growled lightly as Harry smirked. Everyone seemed to assume he was already part of You-Know-Who's little assembly. After all, it was what his dad wanted right? Draco muttered to his goons to leave him, and Hermione told Ron and Harry to go on ahead. After they had gone, Hermione added, "What's the matter Draco? Truth hurt? No one cares if you're a pure-blood, when it comes down to it, you're just a snot-nosed rich kid, who's own mother is disgusted by him..."

This got him, "How dare you, you filthy little Mudblood. You piece of dirt trash on the floor of the wizarding world. I should kill you right now...."

With a death glare Hermione pulled back her arm, her hand in a fist now. Draco's expression soon changed and he held up his hands to stop her, "Wait, wait! I didn't mean it...Hermione..." For a second or two he looked around, so as to make sure no one was listening, or within earshot, then he continued, "...Truth is you little know-it-all, I love you..."

In an instant Hermione's expression changed to that of a scared surprised look, and her fist collided with Malfoy's face...