Summer was interesting. Harry was left out of everything, something Hermione definitely didn't agree with, but she wasn't about to go against what her headmaster was saying. She could see Harry's anger when he finally did find out that he had been left out of the loop. She felt bad.

He had already gone through so much that when he had a hearing she was outraged. But luckily it all went according to plan and Dumbledore got Harry out of that mess. She heard him complain several times about how Dumbledore was acting towards him though, as if he didn't care. Cold and distant.

Hermione couldn't really say why. School started and she felt a mix of shock and dread when she took one look at Malfoy, and all those mixed feelings she had felt months ago returned in an instant.

She groaned as she caught herself staring at him during the feast.

"What's wrong?" Ron asked.

"Stomach ache," she lied.

Malfoy had changed. He had aged. He looked taller, his shoulders broader, his face more angular, but those silver eyes still shined exactly the same as they did before. So much that Hermione could almost see them do just that all the way from across the hall. Or because she knew exactly what Malfoy looked like and her brain already knew how light his eyes truly were. But who pays attention to the semantics, right?

Weeks seemed to fly by which was surprising because Umbridge was making everything a hell hole. Harry was already over her antics and Hermione could tell that he dreamed of strangling her.

His detentions didn't help either because Hermione only realized how much more of a devil witch she really was. The year dragged on and Hermione for the first time felt dread going to class. Umbridge had ruined everything. The three friends had little to look forward to, and Harry less; even quidditch had been taken from him by that worthless toad.

Even though her daily life was filled with very little emotion and spark, there was one thing that never failed to catch. Her feelings for Draco. She had only realized that they were feelings after a long night of thinking of the bloke. She had jumped out of bed and ran to the toilets to gag but nothing came out. She didn't sleep that night, in fact her hands shook for hours. The next morning she felt better, but when she saw him walking towards his seat at the great hall the butterflies in her belly began to fly again and she damned them all to hell.

To distract herself, she encouraged Harry to become the leader of a new group, Dumbledore's Army. If the toad witch wasn't going to teach them real magic, his best friend was. And so he did. Every week they'd meet. And for the first time in what felt like forever she had something to look forward to.

But of course, all things had to come to an end. Because Umbridge and her Imperial Squad had discovered them, Draco being a part of them.

A large group of them were dragged into her office and she dreaded the moment that Draco got close to her to pull her out of the room of requirement. She had never been this close to him. Well, she had been fairly close the day he had called her a Mudblood. And the day she had punched him in the face. But that was before she had started to fancy him. Why did she like Draco? She didn't know. She also realized that she now referred to him as Draco which made her heart leap in her chest.

In Umbridge's room, Harry had been tied down to a chair and questioned endlessly. Draco had let go of her hand and Hermione wanted to throw herself from the balcony when she realized she wanted him to touch her again. That's why all she could do was whimper when Umbridge had threatened Harry with the torture curse, she had lunged for her, Draco had grabbed on to her and pulled her close.

She nearly fainted, or gasped, maybe moaned? She could barely even breathe as her body was crushed to his. One of his hands was wrapped tightly around her waist as the other held on to her shoulder. She had never been this close to Draco. In fact, he could feel his body behind her and he had stiffened. His scent was intoxicating. She shuffled her feet, her body rubbing against his and he coughed. In that moment Hermione had let her teen mind whirl into speculation. Why had he sounded so uncomfortable? Was he as turned on as she was? Or was he disgusted by her like he always had been? When his hand tightened on her waist she took in another breath before yelling out that she knew where Dumbledore's secret weapon was.

The moment Draco had let go of her it had felt as though a ghost had run through her. She could have shivered from the cold that overcame her. But she and Harry ran to the forest soon to trick Umbridge and watch her be taken by centaurs. Served the bitch right.

But that small ounce of happiness only lasted for a fleeting few minutes. They were off to save Serius.

But things didn't turn out like they thought. What seemed like a vision had all been a scheme to get Harry to the ministry of magic. Serius was dead and Harry was broken.