Ok, so this idea sort of like hit me today, I hope you like it. It fills in some gaps in hall blood prince and darkens up the characters, especially Hermione, (I love dark female leads). I hope you like it!

XOXO

Disgirl07

Prologue

It was a cold and rainy day as Harry sat in an empty compartment on the Hogwarts express. He was not expecting Hermione or Ron to come join him anytime soon. They were probably made prefects, but hell, he wouldn't know. He never responded to their letters. He was not mad at them, nor did he wish to ignore them, he simply wanted time to think, to be able to spend a whole summer and contemplate things, but the most maddening thought of all was that: He was still just as confused, if not more, than he was at the beginning of the summer.

He had spent about a month in grieving from the loss of Siris, and the rest was done doing chorus for his cousins. He sat in silent contemplation staring out the window and onto the overly crowded platform. He quickly found the huge glob of red hair, the Weaslys, and saw Molly crying and kissing each child goodbye. Harry hated the thought that he had not seen the Weasleys all summer, but he couldn't have handled a visit to a place where everyone was so happy, their happiness made him even sadder.

He scanned the crowd and found Hermione standing next to her father, they exchanged a few words, and by the look of it, Hermione was pissed. She turned abruptly on her heels and Harry gasped at the sight he saw. She was different. Her clothes were no longer loose and bought from a second hand store, but they were stylish, close fitting, and designer. Her hair was darker and not frizzy; it hung in loose curls down to right above her breasts.

And, she was thinner, and her eyes had a darker look to them. She made her way quickly through the crowd and placed her bag in the luggage compartment. She walked in got on the bus. Harry, now bored, since he had no one to watch, he sat in silence and stared at the wall ahead of him, but never saw it. He was so lost in thought that he never heard the compartment door open, then close. He never even knew Hermione had entered until she laid her hand on his, "Time to come back to reality", she whispered.

"Hermione!" he quickly jumped up from his seat and gave her a tight hug that she returned, once they broke apart they sat down next to each other.

"Why are you here?" Hermione gave him an incredulous look, "What I mean is, aren't you a prefect?"

She gave a sad smile and replied, "Didn't you read my letter?"

He stuttered, "Letter, you only sent one?"

"Yes, Why?"

"I", he began, "I just thought that you would send more, you usually do. You see, I um, I never read anyone's letters, I made sure Hedwig never even brought them by."

Hermione nodded, "its okay. Well, to fill you in", she taunted, "I was asked to be made a perfect, but them Ron owled me and said he had been made one, and I was so mad that Dumbledore hadn't given it to you that I gave up, plus I don't think I could have dialed with it".

"You shouldn't have done that"

"No", Hermione interrupted to, "I wanted to, I don't want to be a prefect, I promise."

Harry looked into her eyes to see if she was lying, but he found that he could not decipher what it was she was thinking.

"Why did you only send one letter?"

"I, um, had a lot on my mind, a lot was going on."

"Like what?" Harry questioned.

"Stuff" She replied.

Harry frowned and brought her hand into his, "You know that you can tell me anything", he said.

"I know, and I do", she replied.

Harry stiffened, she wasn't telling him the truth, this never happened. Hermione never lied- period. Harry nodded and dropped her hand; she sighed and pulled out a book. Harry snorted.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"A book, you are reading a book! I could die from the shock!" Harry mocked.

"Yeah, well this", she held the book up, "Is not a textbook".

Harry smiled, "Then what is it?"

"A book, it's called Atonement"

"What's it about?"

"It's about two star crossed lovers and a young and foolish girl, she sees something she doesn't understand, and makes silly decisions that end up haunting her"

"And she atones for it?"

"No", Hermione smiled, "The lovers did."

Harry looks at her, puzzled, Hermione sighs. "Just read it!"

Harry cracked a grin, "I never read, that's why I have you".

Hermione frowns and looks into is emerald eyes, "Yes, absolutely."

She turns her head quickly and opens up her book. Harry sighs and runs a frustrated hand through his messy hair. Something was different with Hermione Granger, something was very different.

Please review and tell me if you like it or not!