7th Year

So who wants to keep on reading? *crickets*

By byebye

Author's Note: So hey! *lalalalala* for now I have no storyline *still, yes, I know* and all of my peoples are getting bored *of course, that's almost a total of zero people who are mine, but anyhow* and I have no ideas. So when I was writing this keep that in mind. I have no life, and therefore can update lots *once a week at the least is a lot, right?*, but my stories never end as far as I'm concerned. If I ever wind up getting a plot, that is. I'm just trying to get them to get to Hogwarts already, and so I think I'm going to do that in this chapter. Yeah, I'm pretty sure. So I'm working off of nothing. Hope you like it! "Draco! Get your butt back here! What? No, the story isn't dead! DRACO!"

*****

 "'Mione?" Ginny walked into Percy's bedroom, where Hermione was sitting on the bed, skimming over the potions for something, anything interesting. "Harry and Ron are up now, if you want to go talk to them."
 Hermione looked up from her book, fluttering her fingers as a bookmark appeared to mark the page. "Are they talking about Quidditch?" she asked as she set it in the folds.
 Ginny laughed. "They're too sick of it for now. Enjoy the phase while you can. Come on; we're going to go swimming.

Hermione smiled lightly, setting the book down onto the bed. "Where?" The Weasleys didn't have a pool, and Ginny couldn't apparate to any beach.

"'Mione, floo powder?" Ginny seemed to know what she had been thinking; her face always gave everything away. "But we're going to the beach. I'm not sure which one, for now. Harry and Ron seemed to have some idea, but-"

"Don't let those two decide," Hermione interrupted. "With our luck and their.. well, their being them, they'll probably wind up taking us to some nude beach. Not the best place to relax at night."

Ginny nodded thoughtfully, heading towards the door. "Okay, well, I'll check that out. You pull on your swimsuit and I'll tell you where we're going in a minute."

With that she sighed. She supposed she would just tan or something before they left for school; she hadn't gotten around to it that much over the summer, and she could read her book while she did. Besides, it would be relaxing, she supposed. Getting up, she pulled out of her clothes after shutting the door and locking it, taking out her two piece swimsuit and trying it on. She grimaced when she looked in the mirror; it was far too skimpy to go to the beach in, more for some at home tanning kit, she hoped. She hadn't actually tried it on in the store, but she had assumed, as a swimsuit her size, it would cover everything properly.

"Hermione?" The familiar voice sounded outside of the door and she walked over, unlocking it to let Ginny in. The youngest Weasley wouldn't care if she just pulled on a large shirt over it while she was talking to her. Hermione opened the door to Ginny, Harry and Ron waiting impatiently behind her. "Whoa! Her-"

"Ginny! Hermione backed away when Ron and Harry looked up from their 'discussion' to stare at her. Grasping Ginny's hand, she pulled the girl in, shoving the door shut and locking it. "I wasn't expecting the two of them to be right there."

"Self conscious?" Ginny smiled knowingly, sitting down on the bed as Hermione pulled on a long shirt over the swimsuit, muttering something incoherent. "Well, we were going to go to ___ beach, if you still want to come.." Ginny was so sensitive. "If you don't that's okay, but I don't want to be stuck with the two of them near water. It might get dangerous without your, erm, supervision."

Hermione sighed lightly, looking through her bags for another, less revealing swimsuit. She didn't want to stoop to a one-piece though; Ginny would have a fit. "I'll still go, don't worry. My conscience wouldn't let you go by yourself; the boys would terrorize you half to death."

"Hermione, we can hear you out here!" Ron's voice sounded in a loud shout from behind the door, and Harry was probably nodding, the thought that the two girls wouldn't see him not connecting in his brain.

Ginny shook her head. "Well, at any rate, just come downstairs when you're ready. We'll get the floo powder out. Alright?"

With a nod, Hermione saw Ginny off, locking the door again before Ron or Harry tried to come in. She pulled out her slender black one and tried it on; the fit was perfect, and it covered her, at least, paired with loose gold flip-flops. Draping a thinly fluffy gold towel around her waist loosely, as well as pulling a loose dark shirt over her head, she slipped a few things in her color-changing beach bag and filled it with other things, changing the hue to a muted gold before she left the room and went down to the fireplace. She still didn't understand why the wizards and witches wanted such a place to be used for floo powder.

Ginny went first, lugging her towel in her beach bag; she wore a long shirt over her swimsuit that hung just below her knees. Then Ron, with loose surfer shorts, and then Hermione; Harry would go last. Hermione stepped out of the sparkling clean fireplace that rested in a shop near the beach selling beach clothes and swimsuits, among other things. "Well, this is nice." Hermione fingered a slender gold neck chain that rested in the jewelry section.

"Hermione, we're here for the beach, not to shop" Ginny reminded, dragging her out the door to the beach. The sky was slowly darkening, though it was still relatively light now. "Okay, so you guys," she said, shrugging at Harry and Ron, "can go swim, or whatever. We're going to sit here for a while." Ginny paused. "Right, Hermione?"

She nodded, and Ron and Harry sat impatiently for a while as the two girls spread out their towels and laying down on them, Hermione rather self-consciously as she pulled out her book. "You guys can go, you know." She smiled as they left heading out into the ocean and getting pulled out by the tide, then attempting to body surf in. They were both physically strong, but as for talented in the water; they could forget about it. "So, why did you want to come to the beach anyhow?"

Ginny looked up from her magazine, laying it down next to her. "Guys. They're rather nice to look at in their swimsuits, Hermione, have you noticed?" She peered across the beach, and Hermione followed her gaze to a guy just coming in from the water, surfing.

"Sure." She picked her book back up, resting her head on the folded towel she had packed and continuing to read in the comfortable position. "But I don't go out of my way to notice it, Ginny. If a guy comes up, then so be it. If a cute guy comes up, so be it. It just happens to be nicer if it's a cute guy." Her facial expression hadn't changed.
 "Yeah, well.. What about Ron and Harry?" Ginny looked over at her curiously, and unknowingly rapped her fingers sporadically against the magazine that lay on the towel, forgotten for the moment.
 Hermione stared at her incredulously. "Ron? Harry?! Wha- I don't think either of us think of either of them like,.. that." At least she didn't think so. "Ginny?"
 "I was just wondering." With that the Weasley picked up her magazine, looking up from it every once and a while to gaze at some random guy walking by.
 "Ginny, Hermione!" Ron jogged up the beach to where the two were. "Come on down to the ocean, come on! The water is really great, and the tide isn't that strong." He shifted in a moment of stillness. "Please?"
 Rather reluctantly Hermione got up, to the surprise of Ginny, who got up just because she did. "Well, alright.." It was already dark, so she couldn't very well read anymore. Rubbing her hand on her upper thigh, she was suddenly conscious of her body again, quickly getting into the water to avoid being seen too extensively. "We're actually just swimming?" Hermione raised her eyebrows. And that was considered well spent time? When they could be reading or doing something useful? Shrugging to herself, she walked along the flat area of the water's floor before it dropped off quite suddenly. She swam out to where Harry was, treading the water rather nervously as Ron and Ginny followed her out.
 "So you decided to come out?" Harry spoke as he looked back to find a wave, slowly, easily treading the dark waters without using his arms as he brushed a wet lock of hair back.
 Hermione nodded, leaning back to look at the coming wave. "Gods, Harry!" He looked over at her questioningly, and she lifted her eyebrows high. "You're going to ride that?" She stared incredulously at the huge wave that slowly approached.
 "Yeah." He stretched his arms out and loosened them as she shook her head. "It's not as big as it looks, Hermione."
 She shook her head with sudden chills running down her spine. "Oh, well.. Alright." Pulling her breath in as it came up, she dove under, trying to keep her eyes and mouth shut as the force of the wave dragged her farther under and over with immense power. Now she remembered why she hated going out that far. Finally coming back up, she choked for breath as she treaded the water; Harry, only a bit ahead of her to the beach, swam over.
 "Are you okay?" He smiled, half concerned as she nodded, going underwater to spit and hack out the saltwater that had caught in her throat. "Are you sure?" A broad hand was placed on her bare back and she shivered again, leaning on it slightly as she coughed out the last of the water, though the taste remained in her mouth.
 "Yeah.. Thanks, Harry." He nodded, rubbing his thumb along the center of her back in a soothing massage as though to relax her. "Thanks.. You can go back and catch more waves, if you want." She smiled, almost laughing at herself. "Heaven knows when you'll be able to do anything with me holding you back. I'll stay up here." Looking comfortingly to the smaller waves that rippled by in the still somewhat deep water, she nodded at him as he hesitated. "Go."
 "Well.. Alright." Gently he removed his hand and her back tingled for a few moments as he reluctantly swam back out. She watched him come in four more times before all of them got tired, or in Ron's case, bored.
 "I can't sit around and stare at girls all night, you know," he had complained.
 So they went back to the shop and quickly went back to the Weasleys' house, Ron, Harry, and Hermione apparating, to Ginny's dismay as she went into the shop alone. "Well, that was.. interesting," Hermione said to herself as she arrived at the house before the other three. Harry and Ron appeared almost immediately after, and Ginny in a few moments later. "I'm going to go to bed now, if no one minds."
 Harry and Ron nodded lazily, but Ginny stared at them all as though they had all gone crazy. "What's wrong with all of you? 10 o'clock is not bedtime. I'm staying up some more. Anyone with me?" She frowned as they all left her to go up the steps to their rooms.
 "G'night, Hermione," Ron said, nodding back at her as he entered his room, half-asleep already. She could only imagine how short of a time it would take him to fall asleep.
 Harry paused for a moment, causing Hermione to as well, rather nervously, for whatever reason. "G'night." She said the same, and rather awkwardly he gave her a quick hug before escaping into Ron's room, leaving her to change, then fall asleep in the one she was staying in, Percy's.

*****

Ron sat up on the bed, looking down at Harry on the floor. He had gotten the bed tonight, but Harry would on their last day before Hogwarts. Looking out the window, he yawned, then froze. The sun was already shining brightly in, but his curtains covered most of the light, leaving only a thin slice of sun. It had to be nearly noon; had Hermione really let them sleep in for that long? Would Hermione ever let them sleep that long? Or anyone for that matter. Maybe their complaints yesterday had been enough for her. No, Hermione wouldn't have given up that easily. 'Ron, who cares?' he thought to himself. 'It's not like you need a reason to keep sleeping.'

"Ron? You're awake too?" Harry's eyes were open now, and he frowned. "I had thought Hermione would wake us early again."

"Yeah." Ron rolled off the bed. "Seeing as we're awake though.. D'you think she's awake?"

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Ron, she's incapable of sleeping in. I'm fairly sure she is, at any rate. Maybe she decided to let us wake up really late and wind up learning out lesson or something." He paused, and Ron spoke.

"Listen, Harry, can we just stop contemplating this. My head is starting to hurt." Ron shrugged and rolled off the bed, changing into a loose pair of pants and a t-shirt while Harry pulled a shirt over his head and changed into loose pants. "So we'll go figure out where Hermione is, and then see what goes from there, alright?"

"Sure.." Harry yawned and Ron walked out of the room, quickly going up the stairs to see if Hermione was still sleeping, which she wasn't, before heading downstairs again. There was a note on the table in the kitchen reading:

Harry, Ron,

I've gone shopping, and I don't want to be a drag to the two of you, so I've allowed the two of you to sleep in, for today; I wouldn't want either of you nagging at me while I'm searching through the apothecary; when I'm rushed I tend to choose my ingredients rather poorly. If you'd like, or if you're awake by the time, then you can meet me at Zonko's at 1; I'll wait for a few minutes, seeing as there are a few things I need to buy there, but if not that's perfectly fine: I understand that the two of you need a certain amount of sleep in order to successfully cooperate with anything. Oh, yes, Ginny's gone shopping, but she's not going to be with me; we had a bit of a conflict over where to go, so don't expect to see her at Zonko's, if you were wondering. Well, tata, and perhaps I'll see you at Zonko's.

Hermione Granger

P.S. Sorry if you can't read my handwriting; I was a bit rushed, and seeing as my cursive is the quickest way for me to write, though not the most legible.. oh! I must be going.
*****
(if no one can read that, here's a translation in Times New Roman :

Harry, Ron,

I've gone shopping, and I don't want to be a drag to the two of you, so I've allowed the two of you to sleep in, for today; I wouldn't want either of you nagging at me while I'm searching through the apothecary; when I'm rushed I tend to choose my ingredients rather poorly. If you'd like, or if you're awake by the time, then you can meet me at Zonko's at 1; I'll wait for a few minutes, seeing as there are a few things I need to buy there, but if not that's perfectly fine: I understand that the two of you need a certain amount of sleep in order to successfully cooperate with anything. Oh, yes, Ginny's gone shopping, but she's not going to be with me; we had a bit of a conflict over where to go, so don't expect to see her at Zonko's, if you were wondering. Well, tata, and perhaps I'll see you at Zonko's.

Hermione Granger

P.S. Sorry if you can't read my handwriting; I was a bit rushed, and seeing as my cursive is the quickest way for me to write, though not the most legible.. oh! I must be going.
Alrighty then, on with the story)
*****
 "What time is it?" Ron muttered a few words and looked at something on his palm. "Well, if we want to go see her we have approximately 2 minutes." He shook his head. "I can't believe we slept in for that long. Even without Hermione we should've been able to get up. Harry?" He looked over at him. "We're going to have a long school year."

 Hermione finished buying what she needed at Zonko's and stood at the entrance for a few moments, waiting for Ron and Harry, if they were going to come. Ginny hadn't really gotten in a 'conflict' with her over their destination; she was meeting with Seamus for a Quidditch practice. Once she was sure the two weren't coming, she left the shop, carrying three bags. She wasn't going to have enough room in her suitcase for everything unless she enchanted it. Which wouldn't be a bad idea, except for the bits of security that Hogwarts had installed to detect that sort of thing. Oh well. She would find a way to avoid that, if she was to bring everything. Walking along the street, she paused, trying to remember what she had forgotten to buy. She had stopped at the apothecary for last minute ingredients, at the bookstore for more books on spells, hexes, curses, and of course several potions (all of the advanced ones, no less), and she had paused for a few moments at a small trinket shop, buying a few odds and ends, such as enchanted quills and rather tightly compacted papyrus, among others. 'Clothes,' a voice reminded her, and she reluctantly stepped into the rather large installment, looking through the store until she found the section for formal articles of clothing. As she looked from dress to dress, she paused when she felt the hints of a breath at her back. "Malfoy?"
 She turned around, and it was him. "So, Granger, you recognized me." He smirked. "Looking for something you can look good in? I wouldn't bother."
 "Because I already look good or because I won't find anything that does that?" She knew the answer he would give her, but it couldn't hurt; he hesitated.
 "You know it's the latter; don't be dumb." He frowned and she shrugged slightly. "Besides, it's not like you're going to be going anywhere, are you?"
 "For school, Malfoy. There are these things called dances, and all of the last years have to go to them. Particularly Head Girl and Boy." She frowned. At least he hadn't made any actually irritating jubes. Yet. "And besides," she began, borrowing his term, "it's not like you care, do you?"
 He smirked. "Why would I?" Shaking his head, he looked at the dress she was holding, a slender white one, with a corset-like top and delicate lace lining the top with teardrop pearls dabbing along the webs of lace. "This one, Granger," he said, handing her a loose silk lilac one, a faint shawl draped around the middle along the hips of the slender dress, the definition of elegant simplicity.
 "What..?" She looked up at him as she accepted the dress, draping it over her front to see what it would look like briefly. She smiled, a bit confused. "Is there any specific reason why?"
 "Your hair won't look as bad with that on. It's lilac, Granger, know anything about the color spectrum?" She frowned, not quite meaning anger, but more an 'explain then' type of frown. A somewhat frustrated one that was being sarcastic. "Purple. Your stupid orange hair." She would have said something about how her hair was more brown, but she was actually interested. "It'll either emphasize it if your hair looks halfway decent, or it'll draw the attention away from it in a sort of mesh if it doesn't. Which is usually the case."
 Hermione's eyebrows came together. "And you know this how?" Surely he hadn't taken some sort of fashion or styling class over the vacation.
 "Because I'm not a half-wit like Crabbe and Goyle." Well, at least he hadn't used Potter and Weasley, as could have been the case. "Besides, I won't want to have to look at you if you're going to look as horrible as you probably would. You might break a window or something. Your mirror, most likely, and then I'll miss the dance having to take you to Madame Pomfrey."
 She didn't comment on how he wouldn't have to take her to Madame Pomfrey, on how that would be a random act of kindness. If he knew what those were, of course. "Well then." At least they hadn't torn each other's hair out this time.

*****

hah. So how was that for a chapter? And for a late disclaimer, I am NOT J.K.Rowling. At least the last time I checked. Which means I own nothing. Okay, well here at any rate. Or rather the characters and that sort of stuff. Anything you recognize *or anything that you forget to recognize, but really should recognize* is from the books. So I don't own that sorta thing. And on a side note, you people aren't allowed to hurt me for the stupidity or total awful writing-style of this chapter because I only did it in two days, and I made Hermione act all different (to me it seems), but really, two days? *same as my others, but I could use this 'thing' for my others as well *. And, well, as always, I'd love for you people to review. Please. Really. I truly do love reviews. I even have a section for my luvly reviewers. What? Whaddaya mean you're never gonna get there if I keep typing? Well I guess I'll stop. Just as soon as my fingers stop moving across the keyboard like they own the darn thi

*****

AND THANK YOU TO ALL OF MY REVIEWERS, OF WHICH THERE ARE FEW:

kelpiemonkey- YES! YES! I so totally acknowledge that. I don't know what happened (I used a word document, is that why it did that?) So I switched it to html and it's not clumping, or whatever anymore. I'm a Filipina (kinda; only half) too! At any rate, thanks for reviewing, and I liked your story lots! So update!

harryhermioneluv- yeah.. me too.. Quidditch.. And no problem; I like to read stories that I like to read *cough*. (no one cares that you're not exactly a direct reviewer, right? Yeah, that was just in response.. alrighty then)