Disclaimer: All characters belong to J. K. Rowling and her publisher.

Taking It to Heart

Summary: After Hermione arrives at Hogwarts, she finds out that many people want to get to know her, in more ways than one. Who will she choose?

Rating: PG-13

Chapter One: Waking Up

            "Hermione! Wake up! You have to get ready to go! We need to get to the train station soon," Hermione's mother yelled, knocking on her door. Hermione's eyes snapped open and she gazed around her room. She lay in bed for a few more minutes and then hopped out of bed, and started gathering her school stuff.

            She collected her books from under her bed, her parchment from her desk drawers, and grabbed her extra quills. She looked around, wondering if she missed anything. She spotted her potion supplies and cauldron. She tipped it all in her cauldron and flung it in her trunk. She looked once more around the room, and nothing was left.

            She headed to her bathroom. She entered and looked at the clock. It read 8 o'clock. "Damn! I don't have a lot of time!" She raced into the middle of the room and started the bathtub. She looked at the knobs, which read: Lilac, Rose, Citrus, Banana, and chocolate. She quickly picked citrus. She pulled her hair out of the loose ponytail it was in and slipped out of her pajamas. She threw them down the laundry shoot and jumped into the tub. She washed up quickly and jumped out of the tub.

            She dried her hair and walked over to the sink. She took her purple toothbrush and loaded it with mint toothpaste. She scrubbed her teeth well. She had perfect teeth since she got them shrunk, and since her parents were dentists, she had sparkling white teeth. She rinsed her mouth and rinsed her toothbrush.

            Hermione walked over to her vanity, removing a brush from one of the drawers. She brushed her hair till it was left slightly wavy. She took out a pink box and removed a small vial from it. She slipped the box back in the vanity. Returning to the vial, that was filled with purple liquid; she pulled off the cap and gulped it down. She looked in the mirror and waited.

            Finally, she felt a tingling feeling at her hair's roots. She watched in the mirror as her hair smoothed out completely straight. She ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. She loved what that potion did. She stared in the mirror, gazing at herself for a moment, and then remembered the time. It was now 9 o'clock.

            She ran into her room and headed over to her wardrobe. She threw the doors open and looked inside. She looked through her cloths.

            Her taste in cloths had changed over the summer. Last year, she wore frumpy, book wormy cloths, like wool skirts, sweaters, nothing that showed skin. Now she enjoyed dark, attractive cloths. She had several shirts with Good Charlotte, her favorite band, written crossed the front in different colors. She also had a few with Simple plan written on the front and back. Other than those shirts, she had a lot of plain black shirts, all different styles, long bell sleeved, tank top, and regular t-shirt. She had a lot of dark colored shirts. She had a few white shirts and barley any really hot colors. She usually wore either big baggy blue jeans, tight blue jeans, or an assortment of black pants. She also owned a few skirts. She never really thought much about cloths. They were just there because she had to wear them. Now she took the time to coordinate the outfits. She was proud of her good taste.

            She tossed anything she wasn't going to wear into her trunk so she could wear them at school. She suddenly got an idea. She wasn't in the mood to wear dark, depressing cloths, she didn't want everyone to stereotype her as a Goth. She pulled out a comfortable pair of flared blue jeans and pulled them on. She looked through once more and pulled out a long sleeved cotton shirt. She had visited America over the summer, more specifically Michigan and she brought back and U of M football shirt. She didn't enjoy sports, but she bought it so she could remember the trip. She pulled in on and headed over to the mirror.

The shirt was short and showed a bit of skin by her bellybutton, but not enough to be distasteful. She looked herself over and grinned. She had changed so much, body wise. She had finally filled out. She had a thin waist and curvy hips. You could say she had curved in all the right places. Her hair, which was once frizzy and limp, was now smooth and straight.

She only hoped that someone would notice at school. That is what she longed for. Someone to notice her beauty, and to get to know her. Of course, she had Harry and Ron, but they were only good friends. She had been going out with Viktor for a few years, but soon he dumped her. That was years ago. She had almost forgotten. Almost. Tears welled up in her eyes when she thought about him. She wiped them away and went back to work.

She took out her makeup bag and pulled out what she needed. "Foundation, powder, blush, golden eye shadow, eyeliner, and mascara. She put a small amount of the foundation on a makeup sponge and smoothed it over her face. When she was done, she applied the powder and blush. She blended it in till it looked natural. She carefully put on her eyeliner. She put a generous amount of gold eye shadow and finished up with mascara. She looked in the mirror. It passed her inspection.

She headed down to breakfast. She galloped into the kitchen and took her seat. She looked around the kitchen. Her mother was standing at the stove cooking bacon. Hermione did a double take when she saw her mother. She had blond hair, almost white. She had dyed it. It reminded her of someone, she just couldn't put her finger on who. . .

"Mum, I still can't get used to your hair, it's so. . . Different!" Hermione smiled at her. Her mother brought a plate over to her and Hermione started taking some of the bacon. She picked through and took out the crispest pieces.

            Her father was reading the morning news. He never talked to anyone when he was reading the newspaper. He looked over his paper and snatched a piece of bacon. He was always irritable in the morning. He was sipping his coffee, which meant that he would be more talkative in a minute, coffee woke him up.

Hermione munched on her bacon while she pushed her waffles down in the toaster. She looked around the kitchen, taking it all in. She wouldn't be home for a year, she would miss it. She wasn't paying attention. She jumped when her waffles jumped out of the toaster. She threw them on her plate and slathered them with butter and syrup.

"So. . ." her father took a sip of his coffee. ". . . When do you want to leave for the train station?" He folded his paper up and laid it on the table. He gulped down the last of his coffee and shoved the last sausage in his mouth.

"As soon as possible, I have to get there early since I'm Head Girl." She watched as her parents mouths open and close over and over.

"Head Girl?!" Her mother whispered, her voice cracking. She suddenly broke out a smile and jumped up to hug her daughter. Hermione's father just smiled at her. She pulled out her Head Girl badge and passed it to her parents. They were beaming.

"This is great! Why didn't you tell us?" Hermione's father said with a frown.

"I wanted it to be a surprise!" Hermione jumped up and hugged her parents and snatched her badge back. She ran upstairs and laid it in her trunk. She tugged it downstairs and her father took them to the car. She leapt back upstairs and looked at her room once more. She jumped on her bed and laid there for a minute and then walked to the door, closing it behind her.

AN: I know I spent a lot of time on the cloths and makeup, but it will get better, R&R!