Do you know what it's like to believe something your entire life...and then have that belief stripped away from you in one instant? It changes everything. For me...it changed the way I thought. It changed the way I lived. It changed the way I saw things, not just about myself but about the things around me as well.

I don't know why.

I don't know why it affected me the way it did.

I wish I knew.

Smoothing out her copy of the Daily Prophet that very next morning, Hermione gave a sudden yelp that caused everyone in the vicinity to stare at her. As her eyes roamed over the front page of the newspaper, she felt her heartbeat quicken dangerously as she read the headline:

MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN

MINISTRY FEARS BLACK IS "RALLYING POINT"

FOR OLD DEATH EATERS

"What?" said Harry and Ron together.

Wordlessly, she spread the newspaper on the table in front of them and pointed at the black-and-white photographs of the ten Death Eaters who had broken out Azkaban.

Ten.

How had ten prisoners escaped from Azkaban? It was a miracle that Sirius had escaped and he was innocent.

The Dementors must have switched allegiance...

"Of course..." she whispered to herself, but neither Harry nor Ron heard her as they were both still engrossed in reading the article.

Her mind seemed to be working a mile a minute as her gaze fell back upon the paper.

The Dementors have switched allegiance. They've joined Voldemort...Yet the Ministry is laying the blame on—

"I don't believe this," snarled Harry, "Fudge is blaming the breakout on Sirius?"

Hermione glanced up at him. "What other choice does he have?" she said bitterly. "He can hardly say, 'Sorry everyone, Dumbledore warned me this might happen, the Azkaban guards have joined Lord Voldemort and now Voldemort's worst supporters have broken out too.' I mean he's spent a good six months telling everyone you and Dumbledore are liars, hasn't he?"

Hermione felt a renewed sense of fury towards Fudge and the entire Ministry in general.

They haven't given a plausible explanation. People won't believe this! There's a hole and we can fill it. We can fill it with the truth...but how?

Hermione stared, transfixed at the door of the Great Hall, looking but not really seeing, as she searched through the workings of her mind for an answer. She vaguely saw the doors open to reveal a dreamy-looking Luna walking backwards towards the Ravenclaw table, holding a copy of The Quibbler.

And suddenly it hit her.

She leapt to her feet, pulling the newspaper back towards her.

"Where are you going?" said Ron, startled.

"To send a letter," said Hermione, swinging her bag onto her shoulder. "It...well I don't know whether...but it's worth trying...and I'm the only one who can..."

"I hate it when she does that," she heard Ron grumble as she practically jogged out of the Great Hall and up to the Owlery.

When she finally reached, out of breath and a little concerned over her lack of stamina, she pulled out a piece of parchment, quill, and ink, and sat down to write her letter.

She hesitated, not knowing exactly what to say. This would be rather difficult considering she couldn't reveal practically anything since the post was still being watched.

It was four crumpled letters later when she held the final copy in her hands. It read:

Dear Ms. Skeeter,

I feel our last interaction during the Triwizard Tournament was cut much too short. I was hoping that we could meet sometime in Hogsmeade because I have a couple of questions that I know you, as a professional journalist, would probably be able to answer. I understand that your schedule may be hectic and I would hate to bug you with something as trivial as this, but how about it then? Our next trip is the 14th of February. Let me know if you can make it!

Yours Truly,

Hermione Granger

Hermione read it over one last time. It seemed innocent enough, she decided. But she hoped that Skeeter would be able to read between the lines for which the letter would actually say: Meet me in Hogsmeade or I spill your secret.

But she would just have to wait and see.

In the meantime she knew she had to ask Luna as well. Hermione was fairly confident that neither Luna nor her father would raise an objection to her idea. After all, they did support Harry and Dumbledore.

So after a DA meeting about two weeks before the Hogsmeade trip, Hermione asked Luna if she could have a quick word.

"Of course," Luna replied vaguely.

Hermione waited until everyone was out of the Room of Requirement before turning back to face her.

"Luna," she started, "I was wondering if you could do me a favour."

Luna gazed at Hermione. "I could," she said earnestly, her eyes growing slightly bigger. "But whether I will or not depends entirely on what you ask of me."

"Right," Hermione said, smiling politely. And she decided to get straight to the point. "Do you think your father would be up to publishing an interview with Harry in The Quibbler?"

Luna's eyebrows rose slightly. "Oh yes of course! Daddy's actually been wanting to interview Harry for a long time about that Dementor attack during the summer. You see, he believes they weren't really Dementors at all, but rather hooded Ministry Officials that have been trained by Fudge to—"

"Actually Luna," Hermione interrupted quickly, "I already have someone to interview Harry."

"Oh," Luna replied unperturbed.

"But do you think your Dad would be able to publish the article?" Hermione asked. "It's going to be Harry's account of what happened last June."

"Oh, that does sound interesting," Luna said, "But I'll have to check with Daddy. He might be a little upset about having to push back the Aquavirius Maggot story he was going to be publishing for the next issue."

Hermione stared at her.

"Right," she said again, "well please do ask him, then. This story will be rather important considering recent events."

Luna nodded her head enthusiastically. "I'll go write him now!"

"Wait, Luna!" Hermione called as Luna began skipping towards the door.

"Yes, Hermione?" she replied.

"In your letter...make sure you don't say what the article will be about...the post is still being watched, you see," Hermione said.

"Of course," Luna said dreamily.

"Good, and thanks by the way. I'm sure your dad won't regret it," Hermione said.

"He won't," Luna stated simply, eyebrows raised once again.

Hermione nodded her head and watched as Luna left the room.

Now all she had to do was wait for Rita Skeeter's reply.

And wait she did.

It was the morning of Valentine's Day. Luna had received the 'ok' from her dad but Hermione had yet to hear back from Skeeter. She had been growing more and more anxious by the day.

Taking a seat at the Gryffindor table for breakfast, she noticed Harry looking quite anxious himself. He was barely eating anything and he seemed to be incessantly trying to flatten his hair, to no avail of course.

Hermione looked at him oddly as she took a swig of her orange juice and then almost choked on it as she realized the source of his strange behaviour.

Today was his first date with Cho.

With all her concern about Rita Skeeter and the interview she had completely forgotten about Harry's date. Which was today. Which would mean even if she were to finally receive a reply at this very moment, Harry would be busy anyway...

As if on cue, an unfamiliar brown owl suddenly swooped down in front of Hermione.

"And about time! If it hadn't come today..." she said eagerly, tearing open the envelope and pulling out a small piece of parchment which she saw only had four words written on it:

Three Broomsticks at noon.

Hermione smiled in grim satisfaction. Then she remembered Harry. She hadn't even asked him...Surely he wouldn't be upset?

"Listen, Harry," she said, looking up at him. "This is really important...Do you think you could meet me in the Three Broomsticks around midday?"

"Well...I dunno," said Harry dubiously. "Cho might be expecting me to spend the whole day with her. We never said what we were going to do."

Hermione suddenly felt a strong dislike for the girl. She knew she shouldn't and that Harry and Cho had every right to spend the whole day together in Hogsmeade. Yet, she couldn't help but feel irritated.

"Well, bring her along if you must," said Hermione urgently. "But will you come?"

"Well...all right, but why?"

Hermione felt slightly guilty for not telling Harry in the first place but she would apologize later.

"I haven't got time to tell you now, I've got to answer this quickly—"

And with that she hurried out of the Great Hall, the letter clutched in one hand and a piece of uneaten toast in the other.

Practically running into the entrance hall, Hermione spotted Luna making her way down the marble staircase.

"Luna!" she called, waving her toast frantically in the air as she made her way through the mass of students.

"Ooh, is that a type of signal?" Luna asked as they met each other on the stairs. "Wait, let me try and decipher it..."

"Luna," Hermione said quickly, ignoring her, "could you meet me today in the Three Broomsticks around noon for the article?"

Luna's eyes widened. "I could."

"But will you?" Hermione clarified.

Luna regarded Hermione with a look of approval. "Oh yes! Nobody's ever asked me to meet them in Hogsmeade before," she added with wonder.

"Well there's a first for everything," Hermione replied briskly. "I'll see you then!"

And with that, Hermione rushed up the many staircases and corridors to the Owlery.

Grabbing a piece of parchment, she hastily scribbled down a 'See you there' and attached the note to a brown barn owl near her. "Make sure it gets to Rita Skeeter," she told the owl.

It hooted in reply and then set off through the Owlery windows.

Hermione leaned back against the wall breathing deeply and blowing a piece of hair from her face. She looked at her watch. It was half-past ten at the moment.

As she made her way out of the Owlery and through the castle, she didn't much feel like going into Hogsmeade just yet. Ron was at Quidditch practice and Harry was on his date. And she'd never been to Hogsmeade with anyone besides those two. It made her feel quite lonely to be honest.

Nevertheless, Hermione trudged all the way back up to the common room and into her dormitory to grab her coat, scarf, and hat. Perhaps she would run into someone in one of the shops, she decided.

Hermione had almost forgotten it was Valentine's Day but as soon as she entered the village it wasn't easy to forget. Many of the shop windows were decked out in red and pink. One shop in particular appeared almost nauseatingly festive with banners and hearts plastered all over the entrance.

"Madam Puddifoot's..." Hermione read the shop name to herself with immediate distaste.

She watched as a young couple entered the tea shop, their fingers interlaced, both staring at each other with sparkling eyes as if no one else in the world was around them.

Hermione snorted.

They'd probably end their relationship within the next few months. They'd have their hearts broken. They'd be depressed. Then someone new would enter their lives and they'd fall for them thinking for sure that things would be different this time around. But then, the cycle would just repeat itself. Again and again. Until one day, they would be too afraid to lend their hearts out to anyone anymore.

She thought about this as she sat on a bench, feeling the cold wind whip across her face. It wasn't that she didn't believe in love. She did. But the process that most people took to fall in love, she thought, was all wrong.

Love wasn't simply about romantic feelings and attraction. It was so much more than that. She would never dream of starting a relationship solely on that basis. Love was about knowing a person more than you knew yourself. Trusting them and understanding them. Being their friend. Their companion. Their soul mate.

That's what she wanted, anyway. But whether she would ever get it was another matter entirely.

Hermione exhaled slowly, watching the cold air escape from her mouth. She didn't know why she was feeling especially grim at the moment. But watching the many couples entering and exiting Madam Puddifoot's didn't seem to help.

She looked down at her watch and saw that it was nearly eleven. Seeking some warmth, she decided to head to the Three Broomsticks early.

She stood up from the bench and with one last pensive look at the tea shop behind her, she headed down the road.

The door tinkled as Hermione entered the noisy pub and she headed for a table near the back where it was less congested.

"Can I get you anything, dear?" asked Madam Rosmerta who had made her way over to Hermione.

"Um, one butterbeer please," she replied.

Rosmerta nodded and then left to take more orders.

Hermione looked around the pub. She wasn't expecting either Luna or Rita Skeeter to be there yet, but she scanned the crowd nonetheless.

Harry probably wouldn't be here for a while either, she thought.

She wondered what he was up to at the moment. Hermione smiled to herself as she remembered him attempting to flatten his hair this morning.

She felt bad for neglecting him these past couple of weeks. She should have at least given him some tips for his date. Merlin knows he needed as much help with girls as he could get. She just hoped he wouldn't botch it completely. He had no reason to, really. He was sweet and charming and a proper gentleman.

But then again...Cho was quite an emotional handful.

Hermione winced slightly as she imagined a weepy Cho flinging her arms around Harry for support.

But no, they were going to have a splendid time. Both of them would come into the Three Broomsticks beaming, with their fingers interlaced and sparkling eyes only for each other. Just like that couple she had seen outside Madam Puddifoot's.

But something inside Hermione's stomach twisted in discomfort and she was left to wonder why this image seemed even less appealing than a weepy Cho.

But she chose to ignore it.

The same way she chose to ignore many similar feelings for the past several weeks.

Hermione had been sitting that for some time when she heard the door of the pub open and turned to see Luna enter, standing there with her head shifted slightly sideways as she surveyed her surroundings.

"Luna!" Hermione called. "Luna, over here!"

Luna wordlessly made her way over.

Surprised by how quickly time had flown, Hermione glanced down at her watch to see that it was indeed a quarter till noon. Even more surprising, however, was the fact that for the past half-hour, Hermione had been sitting alone at a table drinking butterbeer thinking only about Harry.

But she chose to ignore that fact.

"Hello, Hermione," Luna greeted serenely as she took a seat at the table.

"Hi, Luna," she replied. "Harry probably won't be arriving for at least another hour but our other guest should be here soon."

Luna simply nodded, turning her head to stare out the window.

Hermione heard the door open once again and shot her head around quickly. There she spotted Rita Skeeter wearing an unpleasant sneer and looking around the room warily.

Hermione waved, flashing her an award-winning smile. Rita caught sight of her and grudgingly made her way over.

"Have a seat," Hermione said, gesturing to an empty chair next to her.

Rita narrowed her eyes on Hermione before sitting down with a huff.

"Hello," Luna said dreamily. "You're Rita Skeeter."

Rita looked Luna up and down, her nose scrunched up in distaste. "And just who might you be?"

"Luna Lovegood," Luna replied, extending her hand out to Rita.

"Pleasure," Rita stated with disdain, reluctantly taking Luna's hand.

Then Rita turned on Hermione.

"I haven't got all day, Granger, so whatever it is you want, spit it out," she said.

"Don't worry you'll find out in due time," Hermione replied calmly.

"And what, may I ask, are you waiting for?" asked Rita, glaring daggers at Hermione.

"Harry," Hermione said simply.

She saw a glint in Rita's eyes that frightened her just a bit.

"Harry?" Rita inquired earnestly. "As in Harry Potter?"

"Mhm."

Rita suddenly seemed much more pleased about her current predicament.

"So," drawled Rita, "you and Potter spending Valentine's Day together, hmm?"

Hermione's heart skipped a beat.

"No," she said coolly, scolding her emotions for acting so strangely, "but even if we were, it would be absolutely none of your business."

Rita snorted. "Still a bit sour about my article last year, are we?"

Hermione scowled at her. "You had no right to make up such stories about us. It was all a bunch of lies!"

"Was it?" Rita asked, raising one eyebrow annoyingly high. "Your eyes say otherwise, Granger."

Hermione let out a laugh. "Is that so?"

"Nothing to be ashamed of," she goaded. "He's a very charming young wizard."

"I'm glad you think so. Perhaps you've taken an interest in him, then?" Hermione asked innocently.

"Just keep deflecting, Granger," Rita said.

Hermione scoffed at her, rolling her eyes. "How about I just tell you why we're here so that perhaps we can all gain a little peace of mind."

"Gladly," Rita replied, smiling maliciously.

"All right, well, because of recent events I thought it would be an excellent time to—"

"Harry's here," Luna stated vaguely.

Hermione and Rita both turned their heads towards the spot where Luna was staring.

"Harry! Harry, over here!" Hermione called, waving at him from the other side of the room.

Hermione watched him get up and make his way toward her through the crowded pub. She could see the confusion clearly written on his face as he saw Rita and Luna sitting next to her.

"You're early!" said Hermione, moving along to give him room to sit down. "I thought you were with Cho, I wasn't expecting you for another hour at least!"

And why isn't Cho with you...?

This couldn't be good.

"Cho?" said Rita at once, twisting around in her seat to stare avidly at Harry. "A girl?"

She snatched up her crocodile-skin handbag and groped within in.

"It's none of your business if Harry's been with a hundred girls," Hermione told Rita coolly. Harry's eyes widened considerably at that statement. "So you can put that away right now."

"What are you up to?" Harry asked, sitting down and staring from Rita to Luna to Hermione.

"Little Miss Perfect was just about to tell me when you arrived," said Rita, taking a large slurp of her drink. "I suppose I'm allowed to talk to him, am I?" she shot at Hermione.

Preferably not.

"Yes, I suppose you are," said Hermione coldly.

Rita took another great gulp of her drink and said out of the corner of her mouth, "Pretty girl, is she, Harry?"

Hermione could feel her blood start to boil.

"One more word about Harry's love life and the deal's off and that's a promise," said Hermione irritably.

"What deal?" said Rita. "You haven't mentioned a deal yet, Miss Prissy, you just told me to turn up. Oh, one of these days..."

"Yes, yes, one of these days you'll write more horrible stories about Harry and me," said Hermione indifferently. "Find someone who cares, why don't you?"

Hermione could feel her face heat up slightly at the mention of the article. But thankfully Rita hadn't noticed. Or Harry for that matter.

Stupid article.

"They've run plenty of horrible stories about Harry this year without my help," said Rita, shooting a sideways look at him over the top of her glass and adding in a rough whisper, "how has that made you feel, Harry? Betrayed? Distraught? Misunderstood?"

"He feels angry, of course," said Hermione in a hard clear voice. "Because he's told the Minister of Magic the truth and the Minister's too much of an idiot to believe him."

Rita continued prying answers out of Harry before stopping abruptly. "But of course," she said, lowering her quill and looking daggers at Hermione. "Little Miss Perfect wouldn't want that story out there, would she?"

"As a matter of fact," said Hermione sweetly, "that's exactly what Little Miss Perfect does want."

Harry and Rita both stared her.

And so Hermione set out to explain exactly what she wanted out of each of the three occupants at the table. Harry would give an interview. Rita would write up the article. And Luna would take it to her father who would then publish it in The Quibbler.

At this, Rita cackled loudly.

Then, when she found out that she would not be receiving any sort of monetary compensation her cackles turned into venomous glares.

"I don't suppose I've got any choice, have I?" said Rita, her voice shaking slightly.

"Daddy will be pleased," said Luna brightly. A muscle twitched in Rita's jaw.

"Okay, Harry?" said Hermione, turning to him. "Ready to tell the truth?"

"I suppose," said Harry.

"Fire away, then, Rita," said Hermione serenely.

While Harry and Hermione sat at dinner on Monday night waiting for Ron to return from Quidditch practice, Hermione saw Cho Chang walk into the hall with her friend Marietta.

"Oh, I forgot to ask you," said Hermione brightly, "what happened on your date with Cho? How come you were back so early?"

Harry suddenly looked uncomfortable.

Uh oh.

"Er...well, it was..."

Oh great, he's mumbling.

"A complete fiasco, now you mention it."

The image of weepy Cho suddenly flitted through Hermione's mind and she grimaced.

And so, Harry launched into his story of what had transpired in Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop.

Hermione listened intently as Harry explained in detail the disaster after disaster that had occurred on his date with Cho.

"...so then," he finished several minutes later, "she jumps up, right, and says 'I'll see you around, Harry,' and runs out of the place!" He put down his spoon and looked at Hermione, "I mean, what was all that about? What was going on?"

Well for starters...she took you to Madam Puddifoot's.

She chose not to speak this particular thought aloud, however and forced herself to remain objective. Hermione glanced over at the back of Cho's head and sighed. "Oh, Harry," she said sadly. "Well, I'm sorry, but you were a bit tactless."

"Me, tactless?" said Harry outraged. "One minute we were getting on fine, next minute she was telling me that Roger Davies asked her out, and how she used to go and snog Cedric in that stupid tea shop—how was I supposed to feel about that?"

Hermione sighed again. She wanted so desperately to assure him that not all girls were this complicated and that unfortunately he just happened to pick one that had far too much emotional baggage attached to her. However she continued to remain objective.

"Well you see," said Hermione, "you shouldn't have told her that you wanted to meet me halfway through your date."

"But, but," spluttered Harry, "but—you told me to meet you at twelve and to bring her along, how was I supposed to do that without telling her—"

"You should have told her differently," said Hermione patiently. "You should have said it was really annoying, but I'd made you promise to come along to the Three Broomsticks, and you really didn't want to go, you'd much rather spend the whole day with her, but unfortunately you thought you really ought to meet me and would she please, please come along with you, and hopefully you'd be able to get away more quickly? And—"

Hermione looked down for a moment before adding the last bit. Something inside her chest squeezed tightly. But she forced herself to look back up into his eyes. "And...it might have been a good idea to mention how ugly you think I am too."

And just like always, she hated herself for feeling this way. For being so pathetic. For caring so much. But she refused to let a single emotion cross her features as she continued to stare into Harry's eyes. His green eyes. Her favourite colour.

Then he spoke.

"But I don't think you're ugly," said Harry bemused.

Hermione continued to stare at him for a moment. But in her mind a whirlwind of thoughts were rushing about a mile a minute before her eyes. Memory upon memory came crashing to the forefront of her mind. Images of a little girl with a tear-streaked face, bushy hair, and big front teeth, running home and into her mother's arms. The sounds of laughing and jeering that used to ring in her ears for hours upon hours at a time as she sat alone in her room, staring at her reflection in the mirror. And the voices. The terrible voices shrieking at her. Telling her that she was ugly. That her hair was ugly. Her clothes. Her teeth. Her books. Her everything was ugly.

But I don't think you're ugly.

A/N: Hey guys, so as you can probably tell this chapter is one of the first turning points in the story therefore I would appreciate it immensely if you could leave me a review and give me some feedback. Sometimes when I read through my chapters I don't particularly like the pacing so it would be really helpful to gain another person's perspective. But anything would be appreciated, thanks for reading!