PLEASE DONT HATE ME!!!! im not going to make excuses and for those of u whos stories i stilll hvnt read or reviewed in like 6 months im really really really really really really really sorry. im going to get on it as soon as i can. which might b.... idk. no promises this time around. im very sorry though. umm please read and review :) this isnt quite as quality as i wuld have liked but im sick of looking at it so here goes. :)

Hermione woke in a foul mood. She was angry with herself for getting stuck on that stupid step, angry with Rita Skeeter for writing that stupid book, angry at Harry and Ron for being stupid and not coming to help her, angry at the stupid founders for making that stupid trick step, angry at stupid Blaise for putting her in the stupid position she now found herself in and most of all angry at the stupid person who thought up the word 'stupid' that completely summed up the stupid day she had yesterday.

Hermione sat up in bed, remembered the day before and promptly fell back on her bed and covered her head with her pillow. What was she going to tell Victor? What was she going to tell Blaise? What was she going to tell Harry and Ron?

She found herself extremely glad that she didn't have any classes today. She could just lie in her bed and avoid everyone. She could lie there for a little under two weeks. Even as she thought it though she knew it wasn't logical. Hermione didn't have nearly enough books in reaching distance for 2 weeks and people might decide they needed to check on her if books started flying to her from the library, never mind the necessity food.

With a resigned sigh and absolutely no plan Hermione pulled herself from her bed and walked toward the girls bathroom. She took a quick shower and came back to her room with a robe on and a towel wrapped around her already bushy hair. She changed and took her hair out of the towel, quickly pulling it back and out of her face with many hair ties before it had any time to decide on its own course of action.

Hermione sat back down on her bed. The hot water of a shower usually helped her think but she hadn't been able to decide on anything. She scratched at the nail polish that Ginny had flawlessly applied before Hermione left the burrow and started to peel it off as she thought. All that she could really do was find out what situation she was in. Blaise might not even want to date her. It could have been a joke or a one-time thing. She wasn't pretty and Blaise had always dated the prettiest girls at Hogwarts. Plus there was Krum. They weren't really going out at all. They had definitely both been single. She had gone out with Ron after all. But that had been when they never saw each other. Hermione was resolved to find all of this out before she made any decisions and if either of them said that they did want to be with her than she would just tell them that she needed a little time to think.

With that resolved Hermione slowly made her way down the stairs and out into the common room. Blaise was sitting in a chair and his head shot-up when he saw her. An easy grin made its way across his face and he strolled over to her. Seeing the conflicted expression on her face his expression became serious.

"So?" Blaise looked at her tentatively.

"What?" Hermione asked imploringly. Was this his way of asking her out or asking her to forget all about it?

Blaise's face hardened with determination. "Hermione, I want to go out with you. Will you be my girlfriend?"

Hermione's eyes widened and she took a small step back. She took a deep breath as she tried to center herself, all thoughts of her plan to learn everything gone. She had thought of it as a possibility but she hadn't really prepared herself for it.

"Yes. I will," Hermione said softly as a slow smile started to form across his face. She smiled softly back and his smile broke into a full grin as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into a hug. Hermione gasped as he lifted her into the air. He had very strong arms, muscular too. Hermione grinned.

Blaise gently set her back down on solid ground, still beaming. Hermione smiled at him but took a step backwards. "Blaise, you should know, I want to go slow," Hermione said softly but firmly. She was not going to make the same mistake with Blaise as she had with Victor. Blaise shrugged and nodded, nothing could kill his mood.

"Blaise, I mean really slow, like glacial slow," Hermione tried to explain. She wasn't sure he really understood what she meant. According to Lavender, who was in the realm of boy-knowledge a very competent and reliable source, Blaise understood 'slow' to mean full making out by the end of the first date. It wasn't that she didn't mind kissing him. She already sort of had. Hermione just didn't want to mess anything up.

"I guess I can deal with that. I've waited years for you Hermione. I can wait a bit longer now that I have you," Blaise said with a disarming smile. Hermione tried to focus on keeping her breathing normal. In. Out. In. Out.

"Years?" Hermione asked as she tried to swallow a lump in her throat.

"Years," Blaise confirmed. He read the question in her eyes and responded before she could open her mouth. "Since the middle of 5th year, maybe the beginning if I'm honest with myself. Although, the Yule Ball in 4th year, wow." Hermione blushed.

"But-But you dated other people. You went out with loads of other people!" Hermione said with wide eyes.

Blaise shrugged. "I was in denial for a long time and when Pansy got suspicious she made her suspicions known. Then 7th year you weren't here and I was worried out of my mind." Blaise laughed lightly. "It was weird for me. I thought that it would be easier, ya know, not having to see you everyday, but it was murder. Especially after we became decently good friends in the 'Slug Club'."

Hermione shook her head in amazement. "I never knew. I had no idea," Hermione muttered softly. Blaise grinned like a Cheshire cat.

"You don't really pick up well in the emotions department. Some of that I'm glad for. You might have found someone-, I mean, if it hadn't been for how ignorant you were of my feelings during 6th year I think I would have done something really stupid," Blaise said smiling with relief that she hadn't noticed what he'd almost said. Everything would be a lot less complicated if she just never knew.

Hermione slapped his arm lightly before walking towards the common room door. "I'm going to go prep Harry and Ron for the news," she said with a nervous laugh before she ducked out of the portrait and said a hurried good morning to Professor Dumbledore.

She dashed down all the flights of stairs and skidded to a halt in the entrance hall so that she could make a professional and mature entrance into the hall. She walked to the Gryffindor table blushing pink as she tried to fight down a smile that was pushing at the corners of her mouth. Harry raised an eyebrow at her as she drew nearer and she beamed at him. Ron of course noticed nothing. He was busy with Lavender.

"Hermy-own-ninny? Might I 'ave a vord?"

Hermione spun around with wide eyes. She had completely forgotten about talking to Krum. She blinked rapidly before nodding. "Yes. Of course, Victor."

"I 'ave not been 'ere very long but I feel I must tell you now. I vish to be vith you again. I 'ave missed you horribly," Krum said sadly. Hermione bit her lip as her brain shutdown. '..' There was no way that she could go out with him now and she wasn't sure if she would even have wanted too. They were much better as friends. She just wasn't sure how to tell Krum this.

"Victor, I've missed you too, but you see- you see, I have a boyfriend," Hermione said softly, ignoring Harry's look and Ron's wide eyes as he swung around to stare at her.

"You 'ave not mentioned a boyfriend before in your letters to me," Victor said frowning.

"Yes, well, it's kind of a recent development," very recent, Hermione added to herself. "I'm sorry, Victor. I really would still like to be friends. You've been a very good friend to me these past years."

"I see," Krum said sadly as he looked at his feet. He looked up suddenly, meeting her eyes, "yes. Ve vill be friends. I vish to meet this boyfriend of yours. I need to see vith mine own eyes that he is good enough for you," Victor said firmly. Hermione's eyes widened, startled. She turned to Harry for help but he just grinned at her as well.

"Hermione, I'd like to meet him too. It seems fair. I mean we are your friends," Harry said sweetly. He grabbed Ron by the back of his collar and dragged him across the bench toward them and away from Lavender. "Ron'll come too."

Hermione had to physically resist hitting herself on the head with her hands. Or was she resisting hitting Harry and Victor? This was not how she had imagined introducing them to Blaise as her boyfriend. Her best friend and her two ex-boyfriends, oh the joy.

Reluctantly she nodded and turned to walk away, waving at them over her shoulder to follow her. She was grateful at least that Blaise hadn't entered the hall yet. That meant that she didn't need to walk over to the Slytherin table and do the introduction in front of his whole house. As she went to leave the hall she felt an icy glare at her back. She turned her head in time to see Pansy narrow her eyes at her before turning to whisper into Draco's ear. Draco's head shot up and his eyes found Hermione's before he sneered and looked away again to whisper back in Pansy's ear.

Hermione narrowed her own eyes and tossed her head back, standing straight as she walked out of the hall but tiredness won out and she yawned loudly and closed her eyes as her mouth parted and her face screwed up.

"Careful there."

Hermione had walked right into someone. She felt hands reach out and grab her arms to steady her and she opened her eyes, blushing. At first she didn't recognize the person but he gave her a small smile and it rushed back to her. Theodore Nott. He released her arms and stepped back.

"Thanks Theodore," Hermione said stifling another yawn. Theo had been in the Slughorn's little club as well but she had never really talked to him.

"No problem. See ya around," Nott said before walking past her and nodding at Harry in acknowledgement.

"Vas that 'im?" Krum asked impatiently. "He is no good. He is bad for you."

"No that vasn't- I mean no that wasn't him," Hermione said irritably.

"Wasn't who?" Hermione turned to the voice with relief. It was Blaise.

"That wasn't you," Hermione said with a smile as she turned to see the boy's reactions. Harry was smiling as if he had known the whole time, Krum seemed incapable of putting two and two together, and Ron still seemed to be suffering from lack of oxygen because of his encounter with Lavender. She looked at Ron again; no he seemed to be suffering from withdrawal from Lavender.

"You were looking for me?" Blaise asked curiously.

"Yep. They all decided that they wanted to meet my new boyfriend. Well, Ron seemed completely happy where he was but Harry decided for him."

"This is your boyfriend? This boy is the one I 'ave lost you to? I know him, Hermy-own-ninny. He had three girls come back vith him after the Yule Ball," Krum said exasperatedly.

"Oh yes. You're so much better because you only went off with one. But wait, it wasn't the girl you went to the ball with, was it?" Blaise was angry. No, Blaise was furious. Hermione stared at him in surprise. Blaise was easy going. He wasn't moody and he didn't get angry like this. At least, she'd never seen him like this.

"I 'ave no idea vat you are talking about," Krum said decisively but he took a step backwards.

"Oh you don't? Let me remind you then. You had Pansy but that wasn't enough. You had to ask Hermione to the ball too. When Hermione left the ball though, you didn't go to comfort her, did you? No, you went and found Pansy. Then you left Pansy again. It wasn't enough for you to hurt one of them. You had to hurt both," Blaise said, fury blazing in his eyes.

"I did not go looking for the Pansy girl. She came to me," Krum said angrily, as a last resort. Blaise just laughed mirthlessly.

"Don't try that crap with me. Pansy's one of my friends. I know. She's talked to me. You dare say that you're better for Hermione than I am?" Blaise said as he glared at Victor with something close to hatred.

"Victor?" Hermione asked softly, unsure. She had been so quick to forgive him when he came back to her that she had never asked any of the questions that Blaise was bringing up or even more personal questions of her own. Krum had proven to be a good friend but at the moment she was inclined to agree with Blaise. She didn't think for a second that Victor could be a good boyfriend.

"Hermy-own-ninny…" Victor said sadly, his eyes pleading. He took a deep breath before turning back to Blaise in defeat. He knew when he had been beaten. "You are a good man. You vill be good for Hermy-own-ninny. Better than me, I am thinking."

Blaise nodded his head in acceptance of the compliment and when Krum extended his hand to shake, Blaise took it firmly.

"I am glad she has found a man like you," Victor said before he turned and walked out the entrance hall doors into the brisk morning.

"Bloody Hell," Ron mutters. Harry laughed out loud and slapped Ron on the back, grinning.

"So this is why you were blushing, Mione?" Harry said grinning. Hermione barley heard him. She was still thinking.

"Blaise, how did you know all of that? What exactly did Pansy tell you and what exactly did you find out from a book," Hermione turned to him as she concentrated on keeping her head high and not losing her temper.

Blaise blinked once before he realized his mistake. "Hermione, I knew you wouldn't tell me and…I just…" Blaise scrunched his face up and he tried to reach for her hand but she pulled it back and stepped away.

She looked away from him. It wasn't like he had done anything that bad. She could forgive this. She could step forward and give him a hug and tell him it was okay. But did she want to? "Blaise, I need to think, okay? Just don't come looking for me," Hermione said, directing the last part to Harry and Ron as well.

They nodded. Ron looked confused and Harry resigned. The three of them returned to the Great Hall together where Blaise parted company.

Draco stood at the Slytherin table but Pansy grabbed his arm.

"And what exactly do you think you're going off to do?" Pansy hissed angrily.

"I'm not sure but I'm going after her," Draco said as a crease appeared between his eyebrows.

"Well wait. Don't go right away that's stupid. She obviously needs time to think so leave her for now. You can go after her later," Pansy said as she tugged him back down next to her.

Draco watched Hermione until she was out of sight but stayed beside Pansy, stabbing the eggs on his plate viciously.

Hermione walked briskly, not noticing where she was going. When she ended up in front of the secret passage she had used yesterday she growled angrily before turning and walking away.

She would go to the kitchens first. Hermione was still hungry. She had given up on trying to free the house elves that didn't want to be freed even though a part of her always wanted to tie them down with clothes.

She reached a hand up and rubbed her left temple where a headache was forming. Forgiving Blaise was easy. She had already pretty much forgiven him. Hermione was sensible. She wasn't going to go flying off the handle just because he read something she hadn't wanted him to. She really had just wanted to get away. Hermione found herself half-hoping that Pansy had followed her.

Things needed to be resolved with Pansy. They couldn't just let the old wound fester; especially now that Victor was back. They needed to talk. She sighed loudly. Things didn't get easier they just got more confusing.

She liked Blaise. She liked him a lot. He was charming and funny. She just… Hermione pressed her face into her hands in defeat. Nothing was missing. He was a great guy and she was being stupid.

Hermione continued down the hallway until she came to the painting of the fruit bowl. She stopped and tickled the pear listlessly until the portrait swung open. Hermione walked in and greeted the merry little elves. She looked around for one elf in particular and felt a jarring stab of pain as she realized that Dobby wouldn't be here. She swallowed hard. She had forgotten. She smiled weakly at the other elves as they ran up to her.

"Hello Ms. Granger, what can we do for you today?" An elf with a very pointed nose pulled lightly on her robes from her left and she turned to face him.

"Hi, um I just decided not to go to the Great Hall for breakfast today. Do you have something that I could maybe take with me to eat in the astronomy tower?" Hermione asked politely.

Immediately twenty elves rushed at her with food. Cookies, crackers, bread and butter, an éclair, and a raspberry tart were all shoved into her arms until she could hold no more. She thanked them graciously and bowed out of the small room.

She took a bite of one of the cookies before juggling to keep all of the food in one arm while conjuring up a basket. She dumped the food in; careful to make sure the éclair and tart were on the top before starting off toward the astronomy tower. Halfway there she changed her mind and turned toward the entrance hall. She walked out the doors and into the fresh air, breathing in the relaxing scents of the grass and the lake.

Hermione started toward the far side of the lake. She would be alone there. The air was warm but a faint breeze stirred the air and tickled the leaves on the trees. She closed her eyes and listened to the birds and the light splashes of frogs jumping into the water as she passed by them on the lakeside.

Hermione walked until she found a comfortable spot at the foot of a tree she sat down looking at the lake but stood up quickly and walked around the tree to sit on the other side, facing away from the school. She didn't want to look at it right now. Today she could just enjoy being outside and alone with her thoughts. She didn't even have a book.

Hermione conjured a blanket out of thin air and spread it before her before crawling over to sit on top of it. She began to pull the food out of the basket and lay it before her. Her stomach growled hungrily. All the food looked so good. Hermione took a few delicate bites of the raspberry tart before giving in to her hunger and wolfing it down along with the éclair, a few crackers, another cookie and a slice of bread. She put the leftovers back in the basket and lay out on the blanket looking up at the sky and the branches of the tree that seemed to reach out to touch the clouds.

It was beautiful and peaceful. She made a mental note to bring Harry and Ron out here sometime. And Blaise, a voice in her head reminded her. Yes, and Blaise. She couldn't forget about him.

Hermione tried to direct her attention toward the upcoming Tri-Wizard Tournament. She would need to help design a task. What could they do? No underwater, no maze, no dragons. They needed things that were all new. What about a map? Sort of like a treasure map. They could have to follow it or maybe a riddle… no the merpeople did that and so did the sphinx. What to do…

"Granger?"

Hermione blinked slowly and opened her eyes a crack. She was curled up in a ball and the blanket was twisted around her ankles. She must have fallen asleep. She yawned widely and stretched her arms before turning to look at the person who had woken her up. She found herself looking into the face of a very bemused Draco Malfoy.

"What'r you doin 'ere," Hermione said in a slur, not fully awake. She yawned again.

Draco gave her a weird look before quickly looking away. Why was he here? Hermione blinked again and frowned.

"What time is it?" Hermione asked Malfoy curiously.

"Uh, it's around 1 in the afternoon," Draco said gratefully to be asked a question he could answer. He shifted awkwardly on his toes. He was squatting beside her and it was proving very uncomfortable.

"Did I ask you why you were here?" Hermione asked, as she looked at him inquisitively.

"Well," Draco said hesitantly as he shifted on his toes again. "You did ask."

Hermione glanced at his feet and spread the blanket out again. "Here sit down."

Draco sat gratefully and crossed his legs. Hermione continued to look at him and he looked at the ground. "Well?" Hermione prompted.

"You kind of left rather abruptly from the Great Hall and Krum came in all grumpy and then Blaise and Potter and Weasley. But Blaise wouldn't tell me what was up so… I brought you food," Draco said hesitantly as he glanced at the basked on her other side. He held out a cinnamon roll wrapped in a napkin.

Hermione gapped at him. "Malfoy? Are you feeling all right?"

"Yeah. I'm fine," Draco said standing up abruptly. "I'm only here because of Blaise. You can't really be so oblivious as not to realize that he likes you right?" Draco said as he started to raise his voice.

"Well actually-," Hermione started.

"Well, he's my friend and I'm not stupid. What am I supposed to think when you guys all go off to talk with your ex-boyfriends and Blaise comes back and won't tell me what the heck is going on? Blaise falls hard and fast, Granger. He's my friend and I need to look out for him," Draco said finishing his rant.

"Malfoy, it's okay. Blaise and I are dating," Hermione said, trying to pacify him.

"You're what?" Malfoy said slowly. He didn't seem to be registering the information. "You mean that- you guys are like- you mean that… did he finally… bloody hell…" Draco said sitting back down in a daze.

Hermione grinned sheepishly and looked at the ground. "So uh, what happened to snarky Malfoy?" Hermione asked as she tried to change the subject. She grabbed the cinnamon bun hungrily and started to eat it. Napping really was an energy sapper.

Draco smirked at her. "He's taking time off but don't get used to it."

"I don't think I could ever get used to a not snarky Malfoy. I mean not after 6 years of dealing with regular Malfoy."

"Just because that's the only side of me you knew doesn't mean it's 'regular Malfoy'," Draco said angrily as he glared at a blade of grass.

"I know. Sorry, slip of the tongue," Hermione said consolingly.

"Whatever," Malfoy said, still burning a hole in the grass with his eyes.

"Hey did Blaise ever give you back your book? You know that one from the library that fell when you bumped into me?" Hermione asked

"When you bumped into me," Draco corrected automatically. "No he didn't. What book was it?"

"Tales of Beadle the Bard. What did you want with that book anyways," Hermione asked cautiously.

"Uh, just… curious. Do you notice anything odd about the new teacher?" Draco asked Hermione as he gave her a sidelong glance.

"Yes, no that you mention it. Why?" Hermione responded.

"No reason. Blaise thinks I'm making mountains out of molehills," Draco said looking away from her.

"Tell me," Hermione said seriously.

Draco glanced at her. "I don't think that she's who she says she is. You see I tried to look her up in the lists of wizarding families and-"

Hermione cut him off, "not finding her in the lists doesn't mean anything. She could be muggleborn or her parents could just not have registered her."

"I know that," Draco snapped. "If you had let me finish…" He gave her a pointed look and she mimed zipping her lips to which Draco rolled his eyes and muttered 'muggles'.

"I did find her. But not in the family lists, in the history books."

"The history books?" Hermione raised eyebrows. "People can use old names you know."

"Yeah I know that," Draco said, irritated. "It's something else that-,"

"Hermione! Hermione!" Harry and Ron came running up to where Draco and Hermione were sitting and grinned at Hermione, Harry giving Draco a nod and Ron pointedly ignoring him. "You'll never guess who has an idea for the tournament," Ron said excitedly.

"Is it Lavender and does it have something to do with 'who can snog the longest without coming up for air'?" Hermione asked sarcastically.

Ron's eyes widened and he apparently missed her tone because he gaped at her in amazement. "Has she suggested that?"

"Not yet," Hermione said adding it to the list of definite 'no's.

"Hermione, you have to come and hear this," Harry said. "It's brilliant. You should come too," he said to Draco as he grabbed Hermione's hands and pulled her to her feet.

"Come on. We'd better go," Hermione said as Draco stood. She folded up the blanket and placed it on top of the food in the basket before picking that up as well and heading towards the castle with them.

Harry walked on Hermione's left side and Ron walked on her right, making it quite clear that he would not tolerate it if Draco walked beside him. Malfoy, not oblivious, walked on Harry's other side.

"Blaise was worried about you, Mione. He wanted to go looking for you five minutes after you left, claiming that he had to apologize for a bunch of weird things that seemed to stretch from something about a trick step to harassment in a library to a book he wasn't supposed to have read to calling you a mudblood at some random time in third grade," Harry said, quite amused.

"How'd you convince him not too?" Hermione asked, laughing.

"It was less convincing and more tying him down and hitting him over the head with a brick," Harry said grinning.

"You hit my boyfriend with a brick? Oh no. I'm only dating him for his beautiful face," Hermione said jokingly as she pushed Harry lightly.

"Okay, fine. Maybe hitting him with a brick was a bit of an exaggeration but really it would have been quite effective and I fantasized about doing just that when he threatened to curse me if I didn't move out of his way," Harry said seriously.

Hermione gasped. "He didn't!"

Harry nodded solemnly and Hermione burst out laughing. "What did he think I was going to do? Drown myself in the lake?"

"Quite probably. He did yell something along those lines… and then something about Moaning Myrtle and ketchup…" Ron mumbled.

hope you enjoyed :) or tht ur hatred and anger was at least softned. if not please send me hate mail if it will make u feel better. i feel very gulity. especially to the ppl whose i was supposed to read and review. please review though and ill try to do better

ps. scarlettcat i is very very very sorry. will read urs first. top of my list.