Disclaimer: All characters belong to J. K. Rowling and her publisher.

Betrayal by Numbers

Chapter 2: Hurting Harry

          "Harry? Ron? Ginny!?" She yelled, running towards her friends.

          They all turned around. Hermione noticed that they all had changed. Especially Ginny. She had grown about five inches taller and didn't have any freckles left on her milky face. She was just as tall as Hermione now. She then looked closely at Ron. He had grown taller too, by about four inches. Quidditch practice had been good to him, he was no longer skinny and lanky, and he was now quite muscular.

          Finally, she looked over Harry. His black hair was just as messy as usual. His green eyes were just as bright. He didn't seem to have grown at all; he had already had his growth spurts, before Ron. She looked him over for a few moments. She hoped Harry wouldn't notice.

          "Hermione? You okay? Earth to Hermi!" Ron said, waving his hand in front of her face. Hermione was shaken out of her fantasies of Harry.

          "Oh, what? Huh?" Hermione mumbled.

          "This is Mandy! She's transferred to Hogwarts from Durmstrang!" Harry said, motioning towards a blond girl that had her arm linked around Harry's. Hermione's heart fell to her stomach. Ron seemed to notice her acting weird and pulled her aside. When they were out of hearing distance of Harry, Ron started talking to her.

          "Hermione, I think I know what's wrong, you're jealous of Mandy, am I right?"  Ron looked at her with a frown.

          "Yes, of course, what else!" Hermione mumbled.

          "He isn't going out with her, she's just acting sluttish!" he screamed.

          "Just what Hogwarts needs, another Pansy Parkinson!" exclaimed Hermione.

          Ron started laughing repeating her sentence. Then he spoke up. "I personally don't like her; she seems too friendly to come from Durmstrang. She's up to no good!"

          "As long as she isn't in Gryffindor, I'll be fine!" Hermione said with a frown.

            "We better be getting on the train, it's leaving soon!" Ron started to walk away.

"I'll be there in a second, save me a seat!" She yelled after him. She started walking the other way. She had to go see McGonagall about being Head Girl. She pulled her trunk onto the train and pulled Nattie, her owl on second. Crookshanks had died last year, so her parents wanted to make it up to her with an owl. She was similar to Hedwig except that she was speckled with brown, black, and gray spots. After she loaded her stuff into the Head's compartment, she waited for Head boy and McGonagall to arrive.

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 A few minutes later, McGonagall apparerated to the compartment.

          "Hello Miss. Granger! How are you today?" McGonagall asked with a grin.

          "Fine Professor. How are you?" Hermione smiled.

          "Good, thank you for asking! Now, where is Mr. Malfoy?" McGonagall asked with a frown.

          "Malfoy!?" Hermione mumbled her eyes wide.

          "He is head boy!" McGonagall explained.

          "Just great."

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          After waiting a few minutes, Malfoy strode in. he had a smirk on his face. He sat down opposite of Hermione and got ready to listen.

          "Now that you are both here, I can explain your responsibilities." They both nodded. "On the train ride, you will be patrolling the halls. You won't have to the whole ride, just the first couple minutes. I will explain more at school and show you your living arrangements. Good day!"

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          Hermione had been patrolling the train for a few minutes when she started daydreaming.

~Daydream~

Hermione was running through a field, stopping every once and a while to smell the wild flowers. She sensed someone around her. She turned around, happy to find Harry, smiling.

          "Hermione, you look beautiful," Harry said, tucking a flower behind her ear. She blushed at his compliment and looked deep into his eyes.

          "But what about Mandy?" Hermione said, looking down.

          "Mandy? Mandy who? Oh yes. . . That girl from Durmstrang, she was simply horrible." Harry said with a grin. Harry and Hermione stood, content on looking into her eyes. He slowly tilted his head and leaned in for a kiss.  

Their lips were inches away. . . Less than inches. . . millimeters… Bang!

~End of Daydream~

          She was brought out of her fantasy for the second time today, this time by someone she would've rather not seen.

          "Granger," Malfoy said coolly.

          "Ferret," Hermione said with a sneer. His cheeks went slightly pink at this comment. 'Did he just blush? No, probably just an accident.' She stared at him for a minute and then finally spoke up. "Well, are you going to help me up or what?"

          "And get my hands dirty? No, of course not." He walked in the opposite direction.

          "Why does he have to be such a prat?" Hermione asked herself out loud.

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          She had finally finished her patrolling and heading to the back of the train where their normal compartment was. Hermione walked in and looked around. She felt anger swelling in her chest.

          "Why thank you for saving me a seat Ron!" She screamed and walked out of the compartment. Not having a seat wasn't the main reason she was mad. Sitting in the corner was Harry and that Mandy girl. Harry was whispering in her ear and she was giggling.

          She ran down the hall, not watching where she was going. She stopped into every compartment, looking for someone she knew. She had no luck, they were all full or strangers. She finally gave up and decided to walk the hall. After about ten minutes, she heard footsteps behind her, then a tap on her shoulder.

          "Hermione? What's wrong? Ron said he was sorry, but why'd you get so mad?" Harry mumbled.

          "I don't wan to talk to you right now, why don't you go talk to Mandy!?" Hermione screamed. She suddenly saw a hurt look flash crossed his face.

          "Hermione, I know what this is about, I already told you, I only want to be friends!" Harry said, putting his hands on her shoulders. She quickly pulled away.

          "I can't be friends with you if it will never be more, I have lived with it for years, and I can't take it anymore. I mean, I felt horrible when Cho and you went out, but now it's different. That Mandy girl is weird. To top it all off, you don't even care if you hurt me, flirting with her in front of me!" With that,  she turned on her heel and started running.

          'He doesn't care. He hurt me beyond repair. I hate Harry Potter!'

          As she ran, tears poured out of her eyes. She ran and ran, just wanted to be away from Harry. She didn't realize that someone was in front of her in the hall. She ran head first into someone and she blacked out.

R&R! J