Here's chapter 4! I only own the plot, none of the characters or the setting. Also I made Pansy blonde in this story, but I do know she's not actually blonde.

Fifth year at Hogwarts could only be described as a complete mess. The start of the school year accompanied most of us turning sixteen and a whole new set of problems.

My summer had not been the best, but it also wasn't the worst. My parents had gone from screaming at my sister to loudly arguing with her about college. Whenever they talked about college, I was expected to be quiet because my sister was going through a lot. She was always going through a lot. According to my parents, I was never going through anything.

There had been a change in me over the summer. Since I spent most of it hiding away in my room, which only made my parents angrier with me, I had become more withdrawn. I couldn't focus like I used to. I stopped reading and I usually just watched TV all day because it was too difficult to concentrate long enough to get through a book. It felt like my head was stuffed with cotton most of the time, leading to a constant heavy feeling and multiple headaches. I was always stressed about everything that was going on with my family and thinking about all the things that could go wrong. The only way I managed to cope was by doing my best to completely ignore my thoughts. However, no matter how hard I tried, all of those worries were always in the back of my mind.

I, grudgingly, admit that I also found myself missing Draco. A lot. I missed how when I was with him, the tight feeling in my chest whenever I was stressed would suddenly disappear. He had an unnatural ability to take my mind off everything bothering me, whether it was by infuriating me or by making me laugh. Luckily, it was time to go back to school.

During Chemistry on our first day of class was when I finally saw him. Draco was late, as usual, and there was one empty chair left next to me. I broke into a smile when he entered the room, expecting him to immediately move towards the seat next to me and ask about my summer. My smile quickly fell when his eyes met mine for only a moment before he looked around and dragged a chair in the corner to the table where a few of his friends were sitting and sat down with them.

I watched him get situated, wondering why he hadn't even looked at me as if he knew me. He definitely recognized me, but there hadn't been a hint of his smirk anywhere on his face. It was like I was just any other classmate. I shrugged and chose to believe that he just wanted to sit by his friends instead of me and did my best to ignore the slight sting I felt in my chest. I couldn't shake the idea that something was wrong. Maybe it was because when he looked at me I didn't see any of the warmth I was used to, instead his eyes were just empty.

"Hey, how was your summer?" Ginny slid into the rejected seat next to me. She followed my gaze until hers also landed on Draco laughing with his friends. "Did he say anything? Like hi, I missed you or I've been in love with you since the moment I met you?"

I chose to ignore her last question for obvious reasons.

"My summer was fine, thanks for asking. And he said absolutely nothing. He looked at me, saw the empty seat next to me and then got a random chair from the corner and dragged it over there."

I watched him laugh again at one of his friend's jokes and noticed that it seemed more strained than I remembered, as if he didn't really mean it.

"Does something seem off to you?"

"Maybe. It's weird that he passed up an opportunity to annoy you."

"That's true. But I was thinking that something seems wrong with him. He's different."

"Puberty?" she grinned before looking at him again. "Our boy really filled out this summer. He has a Dorito shape now."

I snickered and turned towards his table too. He was a lot taller than he was last year, the top of my head probably only reached his shoulder now. Ginny was right though; he didn't even look like a teenager anymore. He had always been lean and muscular, but he had gained definition in his arms and his shoulders were a lot broader than they used to be. In fact, I caught many girls near him giggling and staring every time he stretched, which was an obnoxious amount in my opinion.

"Maybe. Do you think he's mad at me for something?"

"Well did you do something?"

"How could I have? I haven't talked to him in two months."

"Maybe that's it then. He could've just missed you."

"He didn't give me his number before we left. How was I supposed to talk to him?"

"Smoke signals."

I rolled my eyes before turning back to our table and joining Lavender and Hannah Abbott's conversation about what everyone had been up to over the summer. Draco and I were probably fine and maybe we'd talk later in the day.

Advanced Arithmetic, Level II with Mrs. Sprout was mine and Ginny's next class. From the moment you walked into her room, Mrs. Sprout's bubbly personality was extremely obvious. She greeted everyone with a huge smile, a handshake, and a piece of candy. There were countless potted plants adorning her brightly lit room and little knick-knacks, which all revolved around the concept of plants and how much she loved them, covered her desk in the corner.

"She's evil," Ginny whispered, eyeing her candy and the perky blonde teacher suspiciously as we took our seats.

"Because?"

"No one is that happy to be here. What if she's poisoning us?"

I just looked at her for a moment. "With Jolly Ranchers?"

"I'm almost positive that it's possible."

I rolled my eyes before unwrapping the cherry flavored candy and popping it into my mouth.

"If I'm dead by the end of the class period you can go ahead and say 'I told you so' at my funeral."

Satisfied with that outcome, Ginny turned back around to get her school supplies out of her binder while I continued to watch the students file into the classroom. I had become quieter over the summer. There had just been so much noise in my house that I didn't feel like I needed to, and I also didn't want to, contribute to it. I preferred to just observe the people around me instead of talking nowadays.

I knew pretty much every student that walked in and whenever I spotted one that I was friends with, I would smile and wave. It wasn't long before Draco walked in. Our eyes met again and this time I saw surprise and something that almost resembled pride in his eyes. Ginny, Padma, and I had received our entrance exam results over the summer and the three of us had done very well. Luna, unfortunately, had barely missed the qualifying score and wasn't able to enroll herself in the course. She had remained optimistic though and said that she would try again for our sixth year.

I had completely forgotten that Draco would be in this class and hadn't told him the results from my exam since I hadn't seen him at all over the summer. That explained why he was surprised, but I had no idea why he was proud. Especially after he dropped all eye contact with me and moved towards the back of the room, as far away as possible.

I knew he was sitting somewhere directly behind me. I was glad he wasn't in front of me because I knew I wouldn't be able to focus at all, but, on the other hand, I could feel his eyes burning a hole in the back of my head. It was inexplicable how I knew, but there was no doubt in my mind that he was watching what I did. I subtly turned my head when I bent down to pick up a pencil from off the floor and confirmed my paranoia when I saw his eyes fixed on me. It still unnerved me how I couldn't tell what he was thinking at all.

Why is he still looking at me? I remembered asking myself that question when we met last year too, but this was different. He wasn't amused or happy, he was just impassive.

"Just ignore him," Ginny said frowning. "Men ain't shit."

"He's sixteen. I don't know if that qualifies as a man."

"Does he have a penis?"

"I would assume so."

"Then he qualifies. And even if he's not one yet, then he will be soon."

I guess you couldn't argue with that logic. Mrs. Sprout chose that moment to continue class, distracting me from Draco and directing my attention towards Ginny's intense suspicion of one of the nicest women on the planet.

"She wants to kill us in our sleep."

"I think she actually said she wants to know what we did over the summer."

"That's called gathering information on your target."

I paused. "Didn't you ask me what I did over the summer during our last class?"

"Exactly. Who says I'm not going to kill you?"

"… Well I would hope you'd say that?"

"We'll see," she shrugged before returning her concentration to our teacher. I tried to follow her example, but I couldn't ignore the feeling that every once in a while, a certain blonde-haired boy still had his eyes on me.

Within the next few months, the reasons behind Draco's behavior became very clear. They were Marcus Flint, Adrian Pucey and Pansy Parkinson. Marcus and Adrian were Draco's new "best friends." They were two sixth years who played soccer and football and were also considered popular. I personally had no idea who they were until Draco started hanging around them, nor did I particularly care.

"There he goes again," Ron commented from next to me.

I glanced up to find Draco, Marcus and Adrian walking towards one of the other tables in the courtyard and claiming three seats. Objectively speaking, the three of them made an attractive group. They were all lean and muscular and were constantly trailed by a group of third and fourth years. Marcus and Adrian were both brunettes, making Draco stand out even more to the younger girls.

I immediately looked away when Adrian caught my eye and slowly grinned at me. Something about him made me uncomfortable. Whenever he smiled, I was reminded of a piranha and I really didn't want to know what he was thinking about.

"Have you guys hung out lately?" I asked, mildly curious.

"No. He hasn't talked to me, Harry, Greg or Theo in months. He spends all of his time with those guys and his girlfriend. If you can even call her that."

My head shot up when I heard a high-pitched crying noise, thinking a cat must have just gotten strangled. Unfortunately, I had looked up just in time to see a gorgeous, leggy blonde throw herself onto Draco and plant a huge kiss right on his lips. I ignored the sharp pain I felt at that image and directed my attention back to Ron, who was looking at me like I was a kicked puppy.

"What?"

"Pansy's a bitch you know," Ron tried to comfort me.

"I really don't care either way. He's allowed to spend time with whoever he wants."

"You're a lot better than her."

"Ronald," I glared at him. "I do not care. Malfoy and I weren't even friends to begin with."

"So, he's Malfoy now?"

I could tell that Ron was just concerned about me, as were Harry, Ginny, Luna and Padma, but I didn't want to think about Draco Malfoy anymore than I had to.

"I guess he is," I sighed.

Frustrated with my inability to focus due to the loud squeals and giggles that were coming from Draco's lap across the courtyard, I angrily shoved my homework into my book bag before lying across the bench and placing my head in Ron's lap. Ron, Lavender and I had gotten close over the past few months, but Ron now treated me as if I was his second sister while everyone knew that he was completely in love with Lavender.

"I'm sorry I snapped," I muttered, keeping my eyes close.

"It's fine," he said with a flick to my forehead, "I'm used to you, Ginny and Lavender snapping at me all the time because I'm the best thing that ever happened to you three."

"I don't think Ginny ever got a choice. Speaking of Lavender though, have you asked her out yet?"

"I'm thinking about it."

I opened my eyes and gave him a look that told him to stop bullshitting me.

"I'm just worried about messing stuff up."

"It's worth a try. You've liked her for years."

"No, it's worse than that. I think I'm in love with her now."

"Are you sure about it this time?" I smirked up at him.

Approximately a month ago, when Ron and I had just started to become close, he had called me and confessed his love for me. I had told him I loved him too, but only as a friend. The next day when we saw each other, he had been extremely embarrassed and said he had been high and also only loved me as a friend. Ron had also said that if I told anyone about that conversation, he would kill me in my sleep.

He glared at me before poking me in the side, making me almost fall off of him onto the ground.

"You're not supposed to talk about that ever. And yes, I'm sure."

"Then tell her. You may as well see where it goes. I don't know if she loves you, but I'm pretty sure she likes you a lot."

"I'll think about it."

I rolled my eyes before getting up as the first bell rang, telling us we had five minutes to get to class.

"Whatever you decide to do, I support both of you completely."

"Yeah, I know," he grinned before ruffling my hair and walking off.

I glared at the back of his head before tying my hair up into a messy bun and heading off towards my own class. I knew someone was watching me as I walked away, but I didn't turn back because I didn't want to know if it was Adrian or Draco. At that moment, I didn't know which one of them was worse.

"Stay away from Draco."

"Fuck!" I jumped when I heard the sickly-sweet voice right next to my ear.

I turned away from my desk and Luna in Biology to find myself face to face with Pansy Parkinson and Lavender. I knew that Lavender liked to be popular, so she was friends with Pansy, but this was ridiculous. I would never tell her not to hang out with someone, but coming with Pansy to harass me before class was taking this whole friendship thing a bit too far.

"Um, excuse me?"

"You heard me," Pansy practically snarled.

"I mean, I guess. I'm just not used to someone introducing themselves like that."

She rolled her eyes.

"Just stay away from Draco, Hermione. I know you have some weird thing for him, and I just want you to know, he's never going to want you. You're not his type."

I was honestly shocked. I hadn't talked to Draco in months at that point and I was really just minding my own business in Biology, which I was pretty sure neither of the two girls in front of me took. I glanced at Luna, only to find her looking as surprised as I felt.

"… Okay. I'll humor you for a second. Why do you think that I like Malfoy?"

"Lavender told me," Pansy responded smugly.

My glare immediately landed on Lavender, who was avoiding my eyes. I had been there for Lavender through countless issues with her self-esteem since last year and I had honestly believed that we were pretty close. At least close enough where she wouldn't spread rumors about me. She was also always telling people that we were best friends and about how much she loved me.

It was taking me quite a lot to not deck this bitch right then and there.

"Is that true Lavender?" I bit out through clenched teeth.

"Well yeah," she said, her demeanor completely changing once she looked at Pansy and gained some confidence. "You were always flirting with him last year and in the courtyard earlier today he wouldn't stop staring at you and Ron. You obviously like him a lot and I'm sorry but he's with Pansy now so you should just leave him alone because it's getting kind of pathetic."

I sat there, completely shocked at the level of stupidity in front of me. Opening my mouth, I began to respond only to find that Lavender wasn't done yet.

"I-"

"And Pansy is the head cheerleader and just look at her really. Draco loves girls like her and he told her he loves her just a couple of days ago. It's not surprising at all and I love you, so I don't want to see you get hurt. This is really all for the best. Also, you're kind of a tease anyway so you don't even deserve to be in a relationship with Draco. Especially when you just flirt with people like Ron and Harry right in front of him. What were you even doing with Ron in the courtyard?"

It was right then that I noticed Ginny and Padma were in the classroom. I didn't know if Padma had heard what was happening, but Ginny definitely had. She stalked over to our table and slammed her stuff on her desk before turning to Lavender. I knew Ginny had been waiting for over a year for this moment. It was the moment she finally had an excuse to tell Lavender Brown exactly what she thought of her.

"What did you say about Hermione?" she hissed; her eyes narrowed angrily.

"Um, w-well," Lavender stammered, caught off guard by the amount of anger in Ginny's eyes.

A Weasley's temper was known to be unmatched. Ginny had six siblings, each of them with bright red hair and a temper to match her own. Every teacher and student at Hogwarts knew not to get on the bad side of any Weasley.

"Draco Malfoy is a disgusting pig," Ginny began. "And I have complete right to say that because I've known him since I was five. If he can't keep his eyes to himself and spent all of last year being a jackass to Hermione for attention, that's his problem not hers. How dumb are you two anyway? You know, I've heard that one person alone can be pretty stupid, but with teamwork? You're unmatched! There's not a original thought in that gigantic, blonde, ditzy head of yours Lavender! If Harry liked Hermione, then it's not her fucking fault and she doesn't owe Draco anything so if she wants to date Harry, or hell if she wanted to hop on his dick in the middle of the courtyard, there's really nothing you or Draco can say about it! And if you have a stick up your ass about how much time Ron spends with a decent person like Hermione, because she's, oh I don't know, nice to spend time with, then fucking talk to Ron about it instead of just leading him on because you like the attention! And don't even get me started on you having this pug-faced bitch- "

"Alright!"

I finally managed to interrupt Ginny's rant when I caught the teacher looking at our corner of the room because of how loud she was getting. The last thing I wanted was for anyone else to be involved.

"That's enough," I said, rubbing my forehead and wishing for death instead of the headache I knew was coming. "I didn't like Malfoy last year and I don't like Malfoy now. Regardless of whether or not you believe me, I won't be talking to him ever. So, you're getting what you want and now please leave."

Pansy, still focused on the pug-faced comment from Ginny, just glared at her before turning on her heel and leaving the classroom with her nose in the air. Lavender waited for a moment, fidgeting with her hands and trying to decide whether she should risk speaking.

"I'm-" she finally opened her mouth, only to be interrupted.

"Please leave, Lavender. I'll talk to you later maybe, but just get out." Luna said quietly.

All of us were shocked. Ginny was known for disliking people, and I was probably the next most likely to snap at someone, followed by Padma. Luna never said anything mean to anyone though. She saw getting mad as a waste of time and would prefer to remain impartial in any kind of fight. Her and Lavender had also known each other well for years due to the many art classes they took together, so they were arguably very close.

Lavender was probably the most surprised. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, wanting to say something but too stunned to do so. There was a remarkable similarity between her and a fish. She finally followed in Pansy's footsteps and left without a word.

The four of us sat in awkward silence for a moment as we processed what had just happened and wondered what to say next. Finally, I turned to Ginny.

"Pug-faced?"

"Just think about it for a moment."

"It's pretty spot on actually."

"See? Padma gets it!"

A week went by after the incident in Biology and it seemed like everything was going back to normal, as long as I ignored Pansy and Lavender's glares every time I passed them in the hallway. By now, our confrontation had spread around the entire school, mixed with rumors that Pansy had slapped me or that Ginny had slapped Lavender.

Ron and Harry both checked on me after finding out what had happened. I just reassured them everything was fine and told Ron that I didn't care if he dated Lavender. I really didn't want to stand in between those two. It was their decision to date and there wasn't a reason that I should be involved.

"Bye guys!" I called to Ron and Harry as they left to go to the locker rooms and get changed for soccer practice.

I made my way over to my maroon Honda CRV. It wasn't expensive like Draco's Ferrari, Marcus' Corvette or Pansy's Porsche, but I loved that car. It had never let me down and it was probably the only thing I owned that I kept immaculate. My car was as spotless as it was the day it was handed down to me once my sister got a new car for graduating from sixth year. I didn't know why she needed a new car for graduating from sixth to seventh year, but I also didn't think about it too much since I got a car out of it.

Unlocking the car, I got in and tried to close the door before I realized it wasn't moving.

"Hermione Granger," a voice that gave me chills purred.

I looked up into the brown eyes of Adrian Pucey. His eyes were so dark they were almost black, making me think that if the devil was real, he was probably standing right in front of me. The way he was leering at me as he held open the door with one hand and leaned against my car with the other only supported my belief.

"Hi Adrian," I muttered. "Please remove your hands from Jesse."

"Who's Jesse?"

"My car. I don't like fingerprints on him."

He gave me a look that basically told me he thought I was insane, which I was perfectly okay with if it made him leave sooner, before taking his hand and putting it on the back of my chair next to my shoulder. I immediately tensed.

"Can I help you with something? If not, can I leave?"

"I heard about your little cat-fight with Pansy and Lavender."

"It was mostly between Lavender and Ginny."

"You're definitely not Pansy level in the face or tits departments," he said looking slowly up and down my body, "but I can definitely see why Draco's so interested."

"Alright," I growled angrily, "I'm definitely not interested in this conversation, so if you'll excuse me."

I tried to close the door again and Adrian once again used his hand to hold it open.

"Ah sassy," Adrian smirked. "It's becoming more and more obvious why Draco likes you. I don't usually want someone else's leftovers, but in your case I think I can make an exception."

He moved the hand that had been on the car seat to my thigh and squeezed. I could feel my skin actually crawl in response to his touch.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"That feistiness is probably great in the bedroom."

"Get your hands off of me and my car," I spat, my patience quickly running thin.

"Or what?"

"I'll rip off the arm that's on me and shove it up your ass and then run over you."

"I think I'm willing to take that chance," he grinned before leaning closer, causing me to almost choke on the overpowering smell of Axe deodorant.

I had just enough time to place my hand on his arm, fully intending to twist and possibly break it, before we were interrupted.

"Pucey!"

Both of us turned towards the voice. Draco stood behind Adrian in his soccer uniform with his gym bag in one hand and his soccer cleats in the other.

"Ten laps on the soccer field," he said coldly.

"What for Malfoy?" Adrian said passively, turning back to me. At least his hands weren't on me anymore.

"Because you're here instead of at practice."

"Don't get your panties in a twist. I'll be on my way in a minute. I'm just taking a moment to involve myself in some extracurriculars with Hermione here."

"Now Pucey." Draco was angrier than I had ever seen him. He was expressionless, but his eyes were a stormy grey and they told Adrian that if he didn't leave in the next two seconds he'd regret it.

Adrian hesitated, looking at me hungrily one more time before glaring at Draco and stomping away. I closed my eyes and tried to control my breathing, my hands turning white from how tightly they were clenching the steering wheel. As the adrenaline coursing through my body faded, so did my anger and next thing I knew I was scared and disgusted by what had happened with Adrian. I shuddered as I remembered how his hand had felt moving up my thigh. My heart was still beating way too fast.

"Are you okay?" Draco had walked up to my car and was looking at me with concern in his eyes. When I saw him looking at me the way he used to, there was a major part of me that just wanted to get out of the car and have him hold me.

"He touched Jesse," I managed to choke out, still working on calming down.

Draco smiled at me and rubbed clean the part of the car door where Adrian's hand had been using his shirt.

"There, now it's like he was never here."

I grinned back at him instinctively, until I remembered my conversation with Pansy and the fact that Draco had ignored me for months. My face fell as I immediately shut down and began to rebuild the wall that had been between us since he started dating her and hanging out with Adrian and Marcus.

"I'm fine. You should get to practice."

"Hermione-"

"I'm fine Malfoy. I can take care of myself and I could have handled Adrian alone."

I knew part of the reason I was being so harsh on him was because I hated that he had seen me so vulnerable after Adrian left. I had luckily stopped the panic attack before it happened, but the only other person who had ever seen me so shaken was Ron because he had accidentally ran into me at a park one day.

I had been there after my parents had yelled at me for hours over something that I couldn't even remember doing anymore. Ron had been on a morning run and had found me crying on a park bench by myself. Without saying anything, he just held me for an hour while I cried. He was the only person in years who had ever seen me cry and we had never talked about it because I wasn't ready to deal with the fact that someone had seen me when I was that weak.

For similar reasons, I just wanted to get as far away from Draco as I could right then. I moved to close the door, but Draco's hand stopped it from shutting. I could feel my eye twitch as my temper started to rise. What part of don't touch the fucking car could these dumbasses not understand?

"Since when have I been Malfoy to you?" he snapped.

I just stared at him in shock. That's what he cares about right now?

"It's your last name isn't it?"

"You've never called me that before."

"Well, there's a first time for everything."

I attempted to shut my door again. In one smooth movement, Draco leaned in until he was inches away from me and quickly grabbed my keys from the ignition. Stunned, it took me a moment to realize what had happened.

"Why'd you take my keys?"

"Because we're talking and it's rude for you to keep trying to leave during a conversation."

"I really don't give a fuck. Keys please."

"No."

"Malfoy."

"Stop calling me that, Hermione."

I sighed angrily. Fine, if he wants me to talk to him so badly, I'll talk.

"Why on earth should I listen to anything you say?" I yelled. My patience was obviously out the window at this point. "I call you Malfoy because I don't know you anymore! We haven't said a word to each other in months because you think you're better than me and your old friends now. I'm sorry that none of us care as much as you do about being popular and having the prettiest girlfriend, but that doesn't give you the right to be a complete dick to us! Especially to Ron, Harry and Ginny! You've known them since you were fucking five-years-old! But none of that matters when a pretty girl bats her eyes at you right? You want a fucking conversation? Let's talk about how your girlfriend is batshit crazy and threatened me so I'd stay away from you! OR let's talk about how you're so shallow that you only care about people like Pansy and Adrian, who never even cared about you to begin with! OR BETTER YET, LET'S TALK ABOUT HOW YOU WANT A FUCKING CONVERSATION NOW AFTER SPENDING THE PAST FOUR MONTHS IGNORING ME!"

I had never raised my voice like that at really anyone before. It was Draco's turn to be surprised. Taking advantage of the startled look on his face, I reached out and snatched my keys from his hands. I then shoved him away from Jesse so that I could close the door and immediately sped out of the parking lot.

I angrily wiped away the tears that finally started to fall as I drove home. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't ignore how much I missed Draco Malfoy.

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