A/N Hey guys, I'm so sorry for the long gap. Been really busy lately and writing has really been able to fit into my schedule but here is the next chapter. I hope you like it!!

Oh and PS thanks to my beta larubinita, you're the best.

Blowing up

Hermione moved quickly through the hallways due to the fact that she was running a bit late, however her haste did not express her true feelings about the lesson. She was dreading the experience more than anyone could imagine because, due to the light-hearted nature of the class, she was sure both Ron and Harry would be taking it. This thought alone was enough to make her stomach turn and her feel sick.

She shook her head in dismay. She could not believe that these were the feelings she was having about the two people who, just two days ago, were her best friends in the whole world. She felt the pressure building up behind her eyes indicating that tears were imminent but she shook them off. Not now!

As she walked, Hermione tried for the hundredth time to work out what the hell was going on. She forced herself to mentally distance from the situation and think about it logically, as though it was an arithmancy problem that had to be solved. She thought of all the different clues that there had been since the summer had started. The lack of letters should have been the first one to set off alarm bells and, in all actuality, she had known something was wrong then but had refused to admit it. Ron and Harry had merely been busy; Harry was planning the demise of the most evil wizard of all time, after all.

The person who confused her the most was Ginny. Hermione was sure she had ignored her on Platform 9 ¾ but Hermione had got the feeling from their brief conversation that it was at her reluctance.

"I can't talk to you."

She had said 'can't' not 'don't want to' as Ron had. Ginny had also claimed that her brother had been the one to convince her to behave as she was.

Why would Ron do that? The question plagued her. Of the two boys Ron had always held a very special place in her heart. Of course, she loved Harry as well but it was always different with Ron. She had always felt that it was just a matter of time before things had changed between them and, though she always knew Ron was probably too dense to realise it, she thought he felt the same way about her.

She sighed deeply as she approached the door of Flitwick's classroom. Then, with her head held high but her heart feeling low, she pushed the door open.

Charms passed in much the same manner as Transfiguration had. Ron and Harry were defiantly ignoring her presence, taking a break from this only to glare in her direction every so often.

Hermione knew that other people around them were starting to realise that something was wrong. There were several whispers when she entered the room and lowered herself into an empty chair away from the two boys.

She even thought she heard Seamus mutter, "There, see? She sat away from them again. Just like in Transfiguration."

Hermione also determinedly ignored Lavender Brown who was constantly trying to catch her eye, supposedly to ask what was going on. Hermione felt a spike of anger at this as she knew that the other girl was not doing this out of concern but rather to try and learn some gossip.

One bright side, however, was that Charms was a class shared with the Ravenclaws so she was not forced to sit with Draco Malfoy. She felt embarrassment at the display he had witnessed earlier. She was mentally kicking herself over and over at having cried in front of him. No doubt by dinner the whole school would know what had happened. What pissed her off the most though was that Malfoy was so arrogant that he probably thought he had been the one to cause her distress and was probably gloating to his two goons about how he still had the power to get to her. He was probably taking great pleasure from her pain.

The lesson ended, in Hermione's eyes, not a moment too soon. The cold shoulder she was getting from Harry and Ron was bad enough without everyone else whispering about her as well. And all she had gained was even more homework.

Glancing at her watch and considering the loud grumbles her stomach was making, Hermione decided to head down to the Great Hall for a very quick dinner before going to the library to begin her mountain of work.

"Miss Granger!" Hermione groaned at the sound of her name. She had been so close to dinner that she could smell the chicken. She stopped, however, and turned to see the kindly face of Albus Dumbledore.

"Professor," she greeted, "how are you today?"

"Oh, I am just wonderful. It is so refreshing to see my hallways filled once again with young minds, eager to learn." His blue eyes sparkled beneath his half-moon spectacles and Hermione thought that he looked very much like a proud parent. She couldn't help but offer him a small smile. "I was wondering if I could steal a moment of your time."

"Of course, sir. How can I assist you?" her voice was strained, even to her own ears but she hoped her headmaster wouldn't notice.

"Actually, Miss Granger, it is I who shall be assisting you. You left the Great Hall so quickly last night that I didn't have the chance to show you to your new quarters."

"New quarters?"

"Of course, you must have known that the Head Boy and Girl each year get their own room. It's in Hogwarts: A History."

Hermione kicked herself. Of course she had known. How could she not? She had just forgotten. Upon hearing Dumbledore's words though her spirits soared.

Her own room!

Her rumbling stomach forgotten she said, "Can we go now?!" Dumbledore smiled at her eagerness and she realised that she had been a bit abrupt, "If you are not busy, Sir, of course."

"I believe I can take a moment out of my busy schedule, if you would like to follow me."

Dumbledore lead Hermione through the corridors of the ancient school up to the fifth floor. They passed a number of portraits who greeted the headmaster and each time he answered them, addressing each one by name. Hermione was amazed by the power and knowledge that the old man radiated. She very much doubted that there was a single corner of the castle that he did not know.

Finally, they reached a portrait of a young woman in lilac dress robes, sitting at an exquisite dressing table, who appeared to be getting ready for some kind of ball.

"Good evening, Matilda," greeting Professor Dumbledore, "How are you today?"

The woman smiled, radiantly, "Oh, Professor, I am all the better for seeing you."

The headmaster beamed, "Matilda, may I introduce Hermione Granger, our new Head Girl. Hermione, this is Matilda, she will be the guard to your quarters."

The two girls, both real and painted, exchanged their greetings. "You need to simply tell Matilda what you wish your password to be and you alone have the ability to change it." Upon these words Dumbledore wandered a few paces away so as not to overhear Hermione's next words.

She racked her brain for several moments attempting to think of a password that no-one would guess. Her eyes darkened as she thought of one. "Trahir." It seemed fitting in her eyes, to betray in French.

Dumbledore rejoined them and pointed to another portrait a few feet down the hall of a man in fine, Victorian-style robes. "That is the portrait hole of Mr. Thompson, our new Head Boy." Hermione nodded. "Now," he continued, "I will leave you to get settled into your new quarters, but first I must tell you that we are to have our first Prefect's meeting of the year tomorrow afternoon, straight after classes. I will be in attendance to help Mr. Thompson and yourself get organised but all subsequent meetings will be purely in your control. Would you please inform the Prefects of the time and tell them we shall meet in my office."

"Yes, Sir," Hermione replied. Brilliant, one more thing for me to do tonight. She watched the Headteacher depart and turned towards Matilda.

"Trahir."

Hermione gasped as she looked around her new quarters, a genuine smile appearing on her face for the first time since she had returned to Hogwarts. The carpet in the room was a deep, royal blue colour that Hermione thought was beautiful and it looked so thick and comfortable that she immediately stripped off her shoes and socks to feel its texture between her toes. In the centre of the room was an antique mahogany four-poster bed, with a quilt that matched the flooring. There was a large desk in the corner with a comfy-looking, leather chair before it. Hermione ran her fingers over the old wood and imagined herself seated there with books spread before her, working on some piece of work to complete. This image brought a smile to her face.

On the back wall was a large fireplace with a roaring fire heating the room to a pleasant temperature. In front of the fire was a large dark blue armchair that Hermione pictured herself sitting in, reading late into the night. She turned around and saw a door on the same wall as the desk and she opened it to discover a beautiful bathroom with gold fixings and a mirror that complimented her as she walked passed. For the first time in two days she forgot about Harry and Ron and grinned widely at her surroundings. These were her rooms. Hers.

After spending several more minutes examining her new accommodation in greater detail, Hermione looked at her watch and discovered, with a groan, that she had missed dinner.

So much for things looking up.

With a sigh she gathered her bag and books and headed to the library to begin the mountain of homework that was due the following day. As she entered the room that had long since been her favourite at Hogwarts she immediately spotted the two people that she least wanted to see.

They're even sucking the enjoyment out of the library for me.

With a sigh, she put her head down and discretely slipped passed the boys and down a nearby aisle that blocked her from view. She headed towards the back of the stacks, searching for a table that was as far away from other people as possible. Finally, she approached a desk in a relatively secluded corner. She sat down heavily and pulled out her Transfiguration assignment first.

It was almost four hours later when Hermione finally sighed and put down her quill as she completed her last piece of homework, the essay for Snape. She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her aching right hand. Her eyes were sore and heavy, a consequence of her almost completely sleepless night the night before, and a quick glance at her watch revealed it was nearly 11 o'clock. Gathering her books and parchment, Hermione stood and tiptoed quietly back through the almost deserted library, stopping only to wake a sixth year, Ravenclaw who had fallen asleep on his Arithmancy essay.

Hermione crept through the hallways of the dark school for ten minutes, peering around every corner, before she remembered that she was Head Girl and was thus allowed to be out as late as she liked. She arrived at the portrait of Matilda after what seemed like an hour and quietly muttered the password. Relief flooded onto her face as her eyes fell on her bed and she dropped her bag, kicked off her shoes before falling, rather ungracefully, onto it. She was asleep within seconds.

"Shit!" Hermione cursed as she woke and looked at her watch, only to discover that she was even later than she had been the previous morning. Also, to make matters worse, her head was pounding. She jumped off the bed and pulled her shoes on as she climbed out through the portrait hole, still wearing yesterday's attire. Pulling her hair into a messy pony-tail and muttering a charm to clean her teeth as she ran through the halls towards her first class of the day, double Arithmancy. She slipped through the door a few minutes late and received a glare from her professor, to whom she smiled apologetically before slipping into her seat.

Of all the classes that she was taking this year (and the number was substantial) Arithmancy was the one that she was dreading the least for one, simple reason – Ron and Harry weren't in it. It was a lesson that neither of them had taken as it was definitely more academic and quite beyond them and this idea was confirmed by looking around the room to see that Hermione was the only Gryffindor and all of the rest of the students were Ravenclaws. This also meant that Draco Malfoy was absent, another fact that lightened her spirits.

Nodding to herself with determination, Hermione pulled out her parchment and quill and set out to make notes. This, however, proved to be quite impossible as she could not seem to focus on the words before her. Her vision was constantly swimming and the sensation was causing her to feel quite sick. Consequently, rather than spending the two hours taking notes in intricate detail, she spent it taking deep breaths in and out to attempt to maintain her composure.

When Professor Vector announced at the end of the class that they could leave, Hermione had not taken in a single word she had said. She left the room with the other students and was heading down to the Great Hall for lunch when she spotted Professor Dumbledore.

"Shit!" she whispered to herself, "The meeting! Shit, shit, shit!" Changing direction to turned and ran towards the Owlery. She had forgotten to inform the Prefects of the meeting that afternoon.

Arriving in the tower struggling for breath, Hermione pulled out some parchment and hastily wrote a note to each of the Prefects and Ben, the Head Boy, telling them the time and location of the meeting as well as apologising profusely for the last minute notice. It took her ages to catch enough owls for each of the recipients and attach the letters and by the time she finished she looked at her watch to discover that she had just ten minutes to get to Transfiguration and it was on the opposite side of the school. Hermione groaned and set out running again.

She arrived at the classroom with just a few minutes to spare and a pounding headache. She sighed as she remembered that it was McGonagall's policy that the seat you sat in at the first lesson was then your allocated place for the rest of the year. That meant that she would have to suffer another hour next to Malfoy and with double potions straight afterwards the afternoon was looking to go all to hell. Feeling defeated, she slid in the chair on Malfoy's left and began rummaging in her bag for the headache potion that she knew was in there somewhere.

Malfoy was looking particularly smug today, Hermione noted, as she tried determinedly to ignore him, removing book after book from her backpack. No doubt he was still feeling triumphant about getting to her yesterday and making her cry so easily. Her cheeks blushed red with embarrassment at the memory and she cursed herself inwardly for appearing so weak.

Finally, she let out a small noise of success as she found the tiny phial under a particularly large Potions book that she had been studying from over the summer. Fortunately, she had charmed it to be unbreakable so it was in one piece as she uncorked it and lifted it to her lips. Her headache began to subside almost immediately, though not completely, which was a small relief.

"What's the matter, Granger? Feeling under the weather?" Malfoy, sneered, "Careful, wouldn't want you to start crying."

His mocking tone which would normally have inspired anger in her just made her feel more depressed. "Sod off, Malfoy," she muttered as McGonagall entered the classroom. Hermione also noticed Ron and Harry slip in only seconds before their teacher, though she tried resolutely not to follow them with her gaze as they made their way to their seats a few rows on her left.

"Right, class," began Professor McGonagall, "today I will be giving you the list of items that you will need to learn how to transfigure in order to survive in our little project. As I mentioned before you will be working in pairs and to avoid any hassle you will just be working with whomever you are sitting with and that's final."

Hermione groaned as she realised the meaning of her words. She would have to work with Malfoy for four weeks plus survive with him for three nights in Merlin-knows-where.

I must have been really bad in a past life.

A quick glance to her right showed that Malfoy looked just as unhappy about the arrangement as she was.

We'll kill each other.

McGonagall began handing out the lists to each of the pairs and as she did Hermione looked over to her two best friends (EX-best friends, she reminded herself) and saw that they were pouring over their copy with looks of excitement. Jealousy and pain shot through her chest and she rubbed her eyes furiously in an attempt to stop the tears falling.

"Okay, Granger," Malfoy's voice came from her right and she let her hands drop and lifted her tired eyes to his glaring ones, "this is how we are going to do this." With that he torn the piece of parchment horizontally across the middle and handed her the bottom half. "You do those and I'll do these. Then, between us we'll be able to do them all and we won't have to speak anymore than we have to." Hermione nodded in agreement and took her half of the list and stuck it in her bag without even glancing at it.

McGonagall dismissed them all, explaining that tomorrow she would begin with the basics of environmental transfiguration, and Hermione stood, making her way to the dungeons, dreading the next two hours with two of the men she hated the most.

For the most part, the first hour and thirty minutes of Snape's lesson went relatively well. Hermione's headache potion seemed to have done the trick and although she kept being overcome by waves of sickness she was fighting through it, determined to prove that she deserved her place in front of her cauldron.

As usual, Snape began the lesson by lecturing his students and, after yesterday's 'incident', he was particularly brutal. The only thing that was different was that Blaise Zabini was notably absent and, Hermione had overheard Malfoy telling the only other remaining Slytherin, that after he had caused the explosion the previous day Snape had shouted at him, saying that there was 'No room for stupidity in this classroom,' until, finally, Zabini dropped the class. Hermione wasn't surprised to discover that the Potion Master's prediction that one of them wouldn't last two weeks had come true, though she was slightly stunned that it had been a Slytherin.

After his rant, Snape informed them that they were going to be brewing a particularly volatile potion used in healing that, if brewed correctly, could remove almost any virus from the human body. However, it was liable to explode during the making process with even the slightest miscalculation or error, so they were all warned to be especially careful.

So, an hour and a half into the lesson all was going well. Hermione's potion was the correct shade of green as indicated in the textbook and she had just one more ingredient to add. Having six minutes to wait before the next step, she went to retrieve the boomslang, her remaining component, from the supplies cupboard. However, this is where things went disastrous.

On her way back to her cauldron with two and a half minutes to spare, Hermione was overcame by a wave of dizziness and lost her balance, instinctively grabbing on to the nearest solid object to steady herself. Unfortunately, the nearest solid object was Draco Malfoy and, even more unfortunately, her bumping against him caused him to drop his phoenix feathers in all at once rather than one at a time as stated in the instructions. Subsequently, as had been previously warned, his cauldron exploded sending its contents everywhere. Three out of the five students and the teacher managed to duck under their desks in time to avoid getting splattered. Unfortunately, the two people standing closest to it did not and Draco's left arm (which was just protected by his thin shirt as he had removed his heavy robes in the heat of the dungeon) and the right side of Hermione's face got covered. Immediately, the substance began to burn though within seconds Snape jumped to his feet and pointed his wand at the pair, vanishing the liquid. All that remained were red marks wherever it had touched skin.

Snape swooped forward, his robes billowing behind him as usual and his face contorted with anger, and his glare fell on her. However, before he could open his mouth to scold her he was beaten to it.

"YOU STUPID MUDBLOOD!" Hermione spun around to face the uncontrolled fury of Draco Malfoy. "WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?! ARE YOU SO STUPID THAT YOU CANNOT EVEN WALK ACROSS A ROOM WITHOUT CAUSING HAVOCK?! OR IS IT THAT YOU ARE SO CAUGHT UP IN ALL YOUR FUCKING DRAMA WITH POTTER AND WEASLEY THAT IT HAS ZAPPED EVERY BIT OF CONCENTRATION FROM YOUR STUPID HEAD!"

Hermione's eyes widened at his words, them hitting home much closer than she would have liked. For a moment, she felt her eyes fill with tears that were about to fall but then her mood switched. She had done nothing but cry for days now and she was not going to do it anymore. Especially not because of Draco Fucking Malfoy. Her brown eyes met his grey ones and she stepped forward so that she was just inches from his face and when she spoke her voice was not loud or shouting, it was surprising low though filled with hate and anger.

"How dare you talk to me about things that you don't understand? You think that you are better than me just because you've got your fucking pure blood. Well, let me tell you something. That blood is going to cost you more than you can ever imagine. Yes, maybe I am feeling weak at the moment but that is because I have lost something I love but, you know what, at least I had it to lose. You have never loved anything in your sad little life and no-one had ever loved you and no-one ever will because you are so disgusting and pathetic that just looking at you makes me sick. You, Draco Malfoy, are going to die old and alone without ever being happy and, I'll tell you what, when that day comes I will laugh because it will be exactly what you deserve."

With that she stepped back and stormed out of the room before either Malfoy or Snape could say a word.

A/N there you go, hope you liked it, please R&R

xxxx