Just a few things before I start the story: 1. I'll make the correction that they were getting their exam results, not taking them. And 2. If you'd like, read my first HP story, The Act of Being Vulnerable. I'm proud of it. Haha. This one will be a bit shorter. Anyway, here goes nothing.

It was after lunch and the boys & girls were separated into their dormitories, to finish, or in some cases, to start their packing. Hermione was sitting on her trunk, just outside the dorm. She must have looked sad because then Ginny smiled at her and asked,

"You feeling alright, Hermione?" Hermione nodded, but not convincingly.

"Didn't you do well on exams?" Ginny asked, sitting down next to her.

"Oh no, I did fine. It's just that," Hermione sighed. "Oh, it's nothing." She said, thinking that Ginny would dismiss her worries as pointless or silly. Ginny shrugged and packed the rest of her robes in her trunk. Just then, professor McGonogal entered the dorm.

"Ladies. Ladies!" She said, and once and waited until everyone was quiet. She continued, "You will have to go downstairs now. The train is leaving in fifteen minutes." The room erupted in excited laughter. Even professor McGonogal looked happy. Hermione wondered why she couldn't feel happy today. Her exam scores were great and she was going home - but a feeling inside her kept warning her of something that she couldn't quite ignore. IT was a deep, unnerving feeling, Hermione felt sick to her stomach and without saying a word; she exited the room and took her trunk down the stairs. She was carrying her trunk down when Draco approached her from behind.

"Hey, mudblood." He said, smirking.

"I'm not in the mood." She warned, shooting him a look.

"Weasley break up with you?" He said, knowing perfectly well that they weren't dating.

"Shove it, Malfoy." Hermione said as she scooted her trunk down three more stairs. Draco jumped in front of her.

"You should really start associating with your own kind." He stared her down, and she responded by roughly pushing him out of the way.

"You should really start attempting to be nice." She said, walking past him and 'accidentally' running over his foot with her trunk. He yelped in pain and swore under his breath. Hermione was at the end of the staircase and began looking for Ron and Harry. She wanted to quickly avoid them and maybe sit in the booth with Ginny and her friends. Things between her and Ron should cool down by next summer. But no, she heard her name being called.

"Hermione! Over here!" Hermione couldn't pretend not to see her friends, so she headed over. Ron smiled at her.

"Let's go get a seat." Harry said and they headed outside and into the train. They easily found an open compartment and piled themselves into it. Ginny quickly followed. Trying to escape the situation, Hermione said,

"Wow. It's crowded in here. I think I'll go find the lady with the cart." She tried to make a quick exit, but Ron leaped up.

"Don't worry yourself, Mion. I'll get you one." She smiled a little, trying not to look into his deep blue eyes. She knew she'd get lost. Why was she trying so hard to avoid him? She felt a pang of guilt, but remembered what she was thinking about last night . . .

When Ron returned, he had brought Hermione a class of ice-cold fresh water. She smiled gratefully.

"Thank you." She said quietly. The train began to move and Harry began a conversation.

"So, Hermione, you're staying with your parents most of the summer. In the muggle town?" Hermione was sitting next to Ginny, and across from Harry, so she propped her feet up on the seat. He wouldn't mind.

"Yeah. They'll be gone a lot but they're still really interested in seeing the wizarding world again. They wanna go back to Diagon Alley early this year and get a room."

"Maybe I'll meet you there." Harry told her, to which, Ginny and Ron spoke up.

"Us too!" They said in unison. Hermione couldn't help but roll her eyes and laugh. She found a book in her trunk that she only read three times, so she opened it and began reading. After about an hour or two, Ginny was asleep, leaning against the door, as was Ron and Harry. Hermione finally gave in to temptation and leaned back, gaining the hours of sleep she'd lost for exams.

She awoke when the train went over a bump and saw that Ron was up, staring at her. She met his eyes and forced a smile. He smiled back. They small talked a little until there was only about fifteen minutes left. Gently, Hermione awoke Harry and Ron nudged Ginny. They stirred and then Ron spoke.

"Mion, can I talk to you . . .in private?" Hermione was surprised at the idea, but nodded.

"Okay," they headed to an empty seat and shut the door. "What did you want to talk about?" Hermione sat herself down nervously across from Ron. She had a feeling that this 'talk' was going to be about feelings. Ron sat; his knees touching hers.

"I need to know something." He began.

"What?" She asked.

"I need to know," He paused. "I need to know if you love me."

"Ron . . ."

He grabbed her hands. "Hermione. Please. I need to know if what happened in the common room last night was real."

With much hesitation, she began, "Ron, I. . .I love you. I love you, but I'm not in love with you. Not that way." She kissed his cheek and moved out of the car, tears filling her eyes. She entered the car with Harry and Ginny in it.

"What's wrong, Mione?" Harry asked, standing up. She hugged him quickly as the train stopped and blew its whistle.

"Goodbye." She said softly to him.

"What's wrong?" He repeated. She kissed him on the cheek and turned around. With tears in her eyes she winked at Ginny and smiled with a shaky mouth.

"I'll write you." She mouthed to her and grabbed her trunk and left. She walked past Draco, who opened his mouth, but Hermione walked right past him. She sniffed and struggled to keep the tears in her eyes. She walked quickly to her parents and set down the trunk at her father's feet. She bit her lip and, walking to the car, wiped tears from her eyes.