Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. His world belongs to the fabulous JK Rowling.

Year Two

Dear Ron,
I hope your summer is going well! Have you been very busy? I have. I looked at the homework we were assigned for over the summer, and nearly fainted! Naturally, I started on it right away.
My parents surprised me with a trip to Ireland last week though, and that was rather fascinating. I tried to learn more about Irish wizards, but it seems they are very similar to British wizards.
Have you heard from Harry at all? I wrote him almost a week ago and he hasn't replied yet. I hope his aunt and uncle aren't being too terrible to him.
Hope to see you soon!
Love, Hermione

Hermione had fretted for an hour if writing "Love, Hermione" was an appropriate thing to do, or not.

Dear Hermione,
My summer has been fine. We haven't done anything very exciting, just cleaning and visiting my Mum's family.
Fred and George nearly gave Mum a heart attack last week. They blew out their window during one of their "experiments".
I haven't even touched my homework. I can't imagine why you have.
Don't worry about Harry. Fred, George and I are going to pick him up tomorrow night from his Aunt and Uncle's.
When are you going to Diagon Alley to pick up your school supplies?

-Ron

Hermione waited for Harry and Ron to appear behind rest of the Weasley clan on Platform 9 and ¾, but they never did.
"Hello, Mrs. Weasley! Hi, Ginny. Where are Ron and Harry?" She asked, approaching them.
"Hello, Hermione! They should be right behind us!" Mrs. Weasley turned around. When she didn't see them, she began searching around the station.
"Arthur! Harry and Ron aren't here!" The train's horn blew, signaling its departure.
"Oh, dear. Hermione, Ginny, get on the train."
"But what about the boys?" Hermione asked, grabbing Mrs. Weasley's hand.
"Don't worry. We will find them." Hermione watched Mr. and Mrs. Weasley turn and run back across the barrier. She turned to Ginny.
"Do you want to find a compartment with me?"
"Sure." They searched the whole train, and the only compartment open was with Neville.
"Hi, Neville." Hermione greeted warmly. "How was your summer break?"
"It was horrible. I had to visit relatives." He said, petting his usually absent pet frog, Trevor.
"Oh, I'm sure it wasn't that terrible." Said Hermione, trying to make the conversation less awkward.
"It was. My Gran doesn't get along with any of them, but we had to visit them, because it was my Aunt's 50th birthday."
"Oh, well I'm sorry."
"It's alright. Say, where are Harry and Ron?" Hermione glanced at Ginny.
"Erm… we don't actually know. They didn't get across the barrier, apparently."
"Mum is going to kill Ron when she finds him." Said Ginny, with a small laugh.
"This is Ginny, Ron's younger sister. Ginny, this is Neville. He's in our year." Introduced Hermione.
"Nice to meet you." Neville said, and set Trevor down in order to shake Ginny's hand. The minute he was free, Trevor leaped off Neville's lap and hopped out of the compartment.
"Trevor!" Neville and Hermione yelled, and they both jumped up to follow him.

Ron entered the trophy room, and found Filch and Mrs. Norris waiting for him, with a giant tube of wax and a large pile of rags.
"Get to work." Filch instructed, with a nasty grin. "I better be able to see my face in them." Ron bit his tongue, grabbed a rag and went to work.
He ignored Filch's nasty remarks as he worked. It was hard, but he just focused on the task. His mind did drift occasionally to a daydream of him playing for the Chudley Cannons and being the best Keeper in their history, but that was only a couple times throughout the night.
When he had a small slug attack on a Special Award for Services to the School, Filch yelled at him until he was hoarse, but Ron just turned a deaf ear, which was extremely hard to do, and attempted to get the slime off the award.
Stupid Malfoy. If he hadn't opened his fat mouth and called Hermione a… I can't believe he called her that. Hermione is 10 times better than he ever will be. What gives him the right to be such an ass to her? Just because his family has money and is "pureblood". What rubbish. And Hermione didn't even know what that word meant! She needs to be more careful, especially around Malfoy. I don't want her to get hurt, because of that prick.
For rest of the night, Ron thought of all the tortures he could put Malfoy through, if he ever called Hermione that insulting word again.

Ron and Hermione left Harry in the hospital wing.
"What an idiot." Ron muttered.
"Who? Malfoy?"
"Him too, but I was talking about Lockhart." Hermione's face flushed pink.
"Professor Lockhart was doing what he thought was best." She said in a high-pitched voice.
"Hermione! He removed Harry's bones. That didn't end up helping him at all!"
"Well, I didn't see you trying to help Harry." Ron's mouth dropped.
"What the bloody hell was I supposed to do? I'm not Madam Pomfrey, and neither is Lockhart. Just because he supposedly saved people's lives doesn't give him the right to be a moron."
"He didn't supposedly save people's lives, he did. Haven't you read his books?" Hermione's voice was becoming more shrilly.
"Yes, I have actually." Hermione stopped in her tracks.
"What?"
"I read Gadding with Ghouls, after you told Lockhart you liked it so much. I wanted to see why. Didn't you see a lot of the loopholes in his story? It wasn't nearly as good as you or him made it seem." Hermione's face turned from an embarrassed pink to an angry red.
"You're just jealous of Lockhart's accomplishments, so you would look for anything to make it seem like he didn't help all of those people." She turned on her heel and stalked away.
"You are unbelievable, Hermione!" Ron cried as he followed after her. She ignored him and continued walking. They were both silent as they finished walking up to the Gryffindor common room. The room was packed with happy people, celebrating their win over Slytherin. Hermione stormed up to the common room, without saying goodnight to Ron.

Ron patiently waited for Hermione in the common room the next morning. She came down the stairs a few minutes later, and stopped at the bottom when she saw Ron.
"We should get to work on the Polyjuice Potion." She said, crossing her arms.
"Yea… I'm sorry for what I said yesterday."
"It's going to be difficult to sneak in a caldron into the girl's bathroom." She said, walking over to Ron.
"Aren't you-"
"We'll have to make a stop in the student's supply cupboard first. Are you ready to go?" She asked.
"Uh, yea. Can we get breakfast first?" Hermione gave a small smile.
"Yes. Maybe we can stop in to see Harry too." Ron nodded and they left out the portrait hole.

Hermione looked up from her book when Ron entered the hospital wing. He was carrying a large pile of books, which he dropped near Hermione's bedside table.
"I brought all of them. And your assignments from today."
"Thank you. Where's Harry?"
"Quidditch practice. It should be done soon."
"Are people still calling him the Heir of Slytherin?" She asked, picking up one of Lockhart's books.
"Yes, but it's not as bad as before. Malfoy is still being a prick. I was so sure it was him!"
"I know, but at least we learned that it was opened 50 years ago. That narrows down a lot of possibilities." Ron sighed.
"Your fur seems to be going away." He commented. Hermione put her head down in embarrassment.
"I couldn't believe it when I looked down and saw fur covering my arms."
"At least it's nice fur." Ron said, with a smile. Hermione looked up.
"What?"
"Well, you could have been stuck with ugly fur, like white. I don't like white cats, they freak me out." Hermione laughed.
"You hate spiders and white cats. Good to know."
"I don't like cats at all, but white cats especially."
"I'll remember that."
"Good. Well, I guess I should get back to the common room. We'll bring tomorrow's homework down after dinner tomorrow."
"Thanks, Ron." Hermione smiled. Ron smiled back and left.

Ron and Harry sat in the crowded Gryffindor common room a week after Hermione was attacked.
"Do you understand this Potions homework?" Ron asked. Harry shook his head, not taking his eyes of the book, but Ron noticed his eyes weren't moving over the pages.
"Why Hermione?" Ron asked after another period of silence.
"She's Muggle-born. That's the only reason." Harry said dully.
"It's just… It's not fair. She's the best in our class! Who cares if she's Muggle-born-"
"The Heir of Slytherin does, Ron." Harry sighed. "I'm going up to bed. I can't concentrate." He gathered all of his books and left.
Ron closed his Potions book and laid his head down on the table. He couldn't tell Harry what he was really feeling. He missed Hermione a lot, and not just because she helped him with his homework. When he saw her lying on the hospital bed, his heart almost stopped.
Why anyone would want Hermione dead. She was smart, kind, independent, pretty… Ron sat up. Did he just… He looked around the room, like someone had overheard his thoughts. He gathered up the rest of his books and marched up to the dormitory. He didn't want to think about his new feelings for Hermione, when Harry and him had a monster to destroy.

Bright lights. Soft mumbling. A warm hand on my cheek. A kind voice.
"Hermione. Can you hear me?" Hermione blinked many times before she was able to open her eyes and see Dumbledore's face above her own. In a hesitant and raspy voice, she asked,
"What happened?" Dumbledore calmly explained the events that had unfolded while Hermione had been Petrified. During his speech, Hermione slowly gained more awareness of her surroundings and was able to see Professor Sprout brewing a simmering potion in the corner of the hospital wing.
"Do you understand?" He asked at the end of his speech. Hermione nodded.
"Where are Ron and Harry?" Hermione had a strong urge to see them.
"They are on their way to the Great Hall for a special feast. You may join them once Madam Pomfrey says you are able." Madam Pomfrey walked over with a glass of water.
"Drink this." She handed Hermione the glass, which she drank greedily.
"When can I leave?" Hermione asked.
"Goodness gracious dear, you just woke up from being Petrified! Surely you must be exhausted!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed.
"No, I'm fine. Really. I want to see my friends." Hermione begged Madam Pomfrey for nearly ten minutes. Only after Hermione showed she could walk to the door and back, and took something that eased the stiffness in her bones, could she leave.
Hermione flew down the stairs and into the Great Hall. The feast was already in full swing, and she saw Colin Creevey had already joined the Gryffindor table. She searched down the table for Harry and Ron, and linked eyes with Ron. He grinned, and Hermione's heart flipped as she smiled back at him. She ran down the aisle to them and swung her arms around Harry, before turning to Ron.
"You solved it!" She exclaimed.
"Only with your help." Explained Harry, smiling.
"We missed you, Hermione." Ron's ears were burning red when he said this, but his smile was genuine. Hermione's smile couldn't get any bigger.

1) I will try to get the next chapter up soon!

2) Reviews and suggestions are appreciated!