Chapter 6- Confrontation

Every day for the remaining weeks, Hermione would sit in front of her computer for hours. She simply stared at her empty buddy list, passing the time slowly. Every time Hermione logged on, she would stare despondently at the list, wishing fervently that the name 'Lighteningbolt' were there, just waiting for her.

Once she would realize this, it took her hours to convince herself that wasn't really who she was waiting for. Internal battles raged inside her head at all times.

'You're waiting for Harry, you know it.'

'No I'm not, I'm waiting for Larry!'

'Umm…hello! They're the same person!'

'No they aren't! Larry would have told me!'

'In case you hadn't notice, he didn't.'

'Oh shut up!'

Hermione always lost against herself.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

On August 31, Hermione spent her day sulking in her room, staring at her trunk that had been packed for weeks. Her homework had been finished before she had gone to the Burrow, and so Hermione was eternally bored. Her parents tried to talk to her, but after minutes of monosyllabic answers, they gave up, assuming it was only PMS.

After hours of lying on her bed, and staring at her trunk, she turned on the computer, and stared at that for awhile. Hermione tried hard not to open her buddy list, but her will power soon crumbled.

But just like always, he wasn't there. His absence caused Hermione to start her inner battle all over again. But this time, she only agreed with the voice in her head.

'Yes, I miss Harry. Yes, I miss Ron. I want to talk to them again. I want Harry to still like me, because I still like him just as much as I used to.'

Then a new thought occurred to her. 'Maybe I should just apologize for over-reacting…'

Then her girl-power side spoke up. 'Don't apologize! You're right! Don't apologize when you're right. They should have told you, but no, they didn't. They got themselves into this mess, and they can get themselves out of it. Now pull yourself together. You have to look absolutely stunning when you arrive at that platform tomorrow'

With a plan in mind, Hermione bounded out of her room. "Mom, can you take me to Boot's? I need to buy some make-up."

Mrs. Granger just stared at her child before grabbing her keys and heading out the door. 'I always knew I had a teenage girl under that bookworm.'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next day, Hermione could be found wandering around the train. She would peak into windows, trying to find Ginny and her other 6th year friends, but could not find them anyway. Eventually though, she found Dean and Seamus. Hermione slid open the door, and waited for them to notice her. It didn't take long.

Hermione had redone her hair, and was wearing make-up. Her shirt made her breasts seem larger than they really were (for some reason that was beyond her, but her mum had said it would work).

"Hi. Can I sit here?"

Dean and Seamus nodded, and quickly scooted over to make room. She took a seat next to Dean.

"Hi. I'm Dean Thomas." He held out his hand for her to shake.

Hermione was startled. She hadn't realized the change was this drastic. But Hermione grabbed his hand, and started shaking it. "Hi. I'm Hermione Granger."

Both Dean and Seamus did a double take. Seamus was the first to recover. "Blimey Hermione! Summer was good to you! What finally got you to do this?"

Hermione blushed. "I guess it takes Harry and Ron to betray my trust so blatantly…" She had said too much. "But I don't really want to talk about it. I've spent all summer getting over it."

The two boys nodded. "Oh, and if you see them, don't tell them I'm me. I want to see how long it takes for them to figure it out."

Both gave her quizzical looks, but decided to comply with the beautiful girl.

"So what were you two up to this summer?" Dean and Seamus each had an equally long story to tell, and by the time they were done, the train had arrived to Hogwarts for Hermione's final year.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

At the feast, Hermione sat down next to Dean, and across from Seamus. Only a few moments later, Ron and Harry came and sat down next to them.

"Hey you guys, have you seen Hermione?"

Both boys shook their heads, remembering their promise to their new friend.

Ron swore. "Where could she be Harry? No one's seen her. Ginny hasn't seen her, she wasn't in the Head Girl and Boy compartments, and I'm almost positive she got it. I know we haven't seen her, and now these two haven't seen her either."

Seamus' curiosity sparked, ventured a question. "Why wasn't she riding with you guys? I mean, you're practically Siamese triplets."

Harry sighed. "I don't want to go into it. But basically, I was being a big prat. And a word to the wise, always tell a girls the truth."

Seamus was still curious, but promptly dropped it. The sorting started and finished, and soon Dumbledore was making his announcements.

"Welcome students! I am pleased to announce that we have a new Head boy and girl: Ms. Hermione Granger and Mr. Justin Finch-Fletchley. I wish to remind you that the Forbidden Forrest is still off-limits, and Mr. Filch has added more products to his list of illegal objects. Please consult the list if you have any questions. Now, please, tuck in!"

It took Ron and Harry a full 5 minutes of stuffing their faces to realize there was another person sitting next to Dean, that didn't seem to be a part of the younger students.

Harry swallowed, and asked. "Dean, would you care to introduce me to the person sitting next to you?"

Dean shifted his eyes nervously. "Well, Harry, this is…"

Hermione looked up. "My name is Herbie. I already know who you are."

Before Ron and Harry could register the information, Hermione put one last forkful of food in her mouth, and headed off to her private rooms.

All the way up, you could hear her mumbling. "Serves them right. Not even noticing that its me, and they know me the best!"

She said her password, and stomped around her rooms. She slammed doors, punched pillows, and created many different loud noises using her wand. Finally, tired, upset, frustrated, and hungry, Hermione cried herself to sleep.

1 End Chapter 6

There! This one is like…an entire page longer than the last chapter! YAY!

Just so you know, this is going to be a long fic, so Hermione may not forgive Harry and Ron for awhile. She's still pretty bitter about confessing her feelings like that….

~HerbieWerbie