A/N: I am SO busy, so I hardly get time to update. But I promise at least once a week, okay? So if I don't, feel free to throw stones at me.

Chapter 3: The Beginning of Something New

"Oh my God! And then she said-"

Hermione sighed leaned her head against the wall of the compartment. She'd been listening to this mindless talk for an over hour, and it was really starting to get to her. Not that she didn't enjoy sitting with Parvati and Lavender. They were really nice, and they seemed to really be truly interested in her. The only problem was, they didn't seem to have any interest in Hogwarts: A History or the book she'd been reading since last Wednesday, Tried and True: Facts of Amazing Wizarding Discoveries. But she guessed that was the price to pay.

"Hermione? Are you alright?" Lavender asked, putting a lock of her silky soft brown hair behind her ear.

"Um, yeah, thanks. Just tired," Hermione lied. She was tired, but it wasn't from sleep loss. It was because they were so boring. She wished at that moment that she was sitting with Ron and Harry, listening to their conversations on Quidditch. At least they had a point, unlike the boring stuff Lavender and Parvati talked about.

"Okay. So, what do you think of Josh?" Lavender asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Who's Josh?" Hermione asked, feeling extremely stupid. She'd have to keep up better appearances if she was going to hang out with Parvati and Lavender. Wait? Did she just imagine hanging out with Parvati and Lavender? What was wrong with her?

"Josh Rodehimer? You've never heard of him?" Parvati looked at Hermione as if she'd committed a crime punishable by death.

"No, sorry."

"Well, for your information, he's only the most popular Ravenclaw in our grade!" Lavender said haughtily, as if offended by Hermione's lack of name knowledge.

"Yeah, and Lavender is completely obsessed with him," Parvati added, holding up a handheld mirror and applying a heavy coat of lip gloss. She smiled, and put a headband of Gryffindor colors on her head. "There. What do you think Hermione? I'm going for the preppy schoolgirl look this year."

"Um, it's nice," Hermione said. What was the preppy schoolgirl look? All this stuff about make up and fashion was making her brain hurt. No wonder they never could think about school! They were caught up in fashion.

"I think that would be the perfect look for you," Lavender said, music blasting from her CD player.

"Lavender, isn't that a muggle CD Player?" Hermione observed. It looked exactly like the ones that her parents listened to while they were on the treadmill.

"Nope, it's from the Wizarding World. It was in the new Diagon Alley store, what sit called… Tone Deaf," Lavender replied, rubbing lotion on her beautiful dark skin.

"Is that the Clueless soundtrack?" Parvati exclaimed.

"Yeah," Lavender agreed, handing Parvati her headphones.

"'And everyone is gonna dress like me, wait and see, when I'm a supermodel,'" Parvati belted out. Hermione covered her ears, she was a horrible singer. Lavender elbowed Parvati in the side.

"Oh, sorry, Hermione. Clueless is our favorite muggle movie ever. You should see it. But they had bad clothes, very bad clothes." Parvati handed Lavender her headphones back.

Hermione smiled, and was relieved to see they'd pulled into the station at Hogwarts. She gathered her stuff, ready to bolt to find Harry and Ron. She needed to talk to them. After all, they were her best friends.

"Well I'm going to find Harry and Ron. It was fun sitting with you guys!" Hermione grabbed her luggage and ran from the train.

Hermione didn't see any signs of her two best friends until she'd entered the Great Hall. They were seated between Neville and Dean at the Gryffindor table. The sight of them made her heart swell. Finally, someone she could talk to! She hurried over to the table and took a seat across from Ron.

"Hey guys!" She smiled, looking at Ron and Harry. Harry said hello, but Ron just sat their, a smirk on his face. He looked like something was upsetting him, but she couldn't tell what it was. She wished she could make him happy.

"Hello Hermione," Neville said, turning red and looking down at his empty plate.

"Oh, hello Neville. How was your summer?" Hermione said politely, Neville looked happy she'd replied.

"It was -"

"Heeeey Hermione! Lookin' good sweetheart!"

Hermione swallowed hard and turned around to see who it was, but he was gone. She felt her heart fall to her stomach. She didn't like it when people did that. She thought it was cruel and insensitive to women, and she had thought that ever since she saw it on a muggle movie her parents had rented a few years before. So this is what a new appearance gave her? Catcalls? She sighed and looked back at Neville, who seemed very unhappy to have been interrupted.

"I'm sorry about that insensitive jerk Neville, please continue."

"Well, okay," Neville said half-heartedly. "This summer Gran-"

Hermione smiled and nodded her head, only partly hearing what Neville was saying. She couldn't believe the nerve of that guy. She twirled her fingers in her hair. It was really smooth. Maybe getting a make over wasn't such a good idea. A few minutes later, she turned to Harry (when she was sure Neville had finished).

"So, Harry," she said, and he turned to look at her. Ron suddenly became very interested in the prongs on his fork. Why was he doing this? "how was your summer?"

"It was great! Ron and I had a great time at the Burrow, didn't we Ron?" Harry said, elbowing Ron in the side. He looked up briefly from his inspection of his golden fork.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Loads of fun."

"Oh, that's good. So, Ron, are you excited about Sixth year?" Hermione asked, hoping to get a good reply out of Ron. She didn't know what she did wrong. But she did know that she didn't like the feeling of making the person she liked mad at her.

"Yeah, I guess," Ron said shortly, now holding up the spoon he was inspecting.

Hermione shot Harry a questioning look. Harry just shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. What was going on here? She felt like crying. Something was going on and she wanted to know what it was.

"Ron?" she asked, observing the red haired boy across from her. He was now inspecting his knife. "Ron!"

"WHAT NOW HERMIONE?" Ron shouted. The whole Great Hall became silent. She could feel the motion of all the bodies in the room turning to face herself and Ron. She smiled weakly at them.

"Go back to what you were doing, nothing to see here," Harry said, coming to the rescue. She owed him for this. Slowly, everyone turned back to their previous occupations.

"Ron, can I talk to you - alone?" Hermione whispered, tears in her eyes. But if she had learned something from Parvati and Lavender, it was that she couldn't cry. Not because crying was stupid, but because her mascara would run down her face and make her look streaky.

"I suppose," Ron said, still avoiding eye contact. She stood up, and beckoned for Ron to follow her.

When they got just outside the doors of the Great Hall, Hermione pulled Ron aside. The stone wall was cold as she leaned against it, needing it's support. She looked intently at Ron, who now showed a great interest in the hem on his robes.

"Ron, look at me!" Hermione said sternly, her eyes looking daggers at Ron who finally looked up at her. "What is wrong with you today?"

"Nothing," Ron replied simply, as he again became immersed in the hem of his robes.

"I don't believe you. Something is wrong. I don't know what I did to you, but I'd like to know, right now, right here." Hermione pointed to the ground in fury, and looked expectantly at Ron, who just smirked.

"Hermione-"

"Ron, Hermione, what are you two doing here? The First Years have arrived and the sorting is about to start! Now into the Great Hall, both of you!"

Hermione looked up to see Professor McGonagall standing over them, her fists firmly planted on her hips. A new pack of First Years peered at Ron and Hermione from behind Professor McGonagall. Some were smirking, but some looked plain scared.

"Yes, Professor," Hermione said, looking to the floor and starting towards the Great Hall.

"And I'll have you know, Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley, if I catch you out in the hall again during an important mealtime I'll land you both with a detention! It's the beginning of the school year and you two are in trouble already. This could cost you your prefects badge!" Professor McGonagall continued, looking at them with annoyance.

"So-" Hermione began, but was interrupted by Ron. Surprised, she turned to see what he had to say.

"Sorry Professor. It won't happen again, I promise." Ron turned and walked away quickly to the Great Hall. Hermione followed, pondering what Ron had said. "It won't happen again, I promise." Those words echoed in her mind. Did he mean that he'd never be seen in the hall out of class time again, or did he mean he'd never be seen out in the hall with Hermione?

She went back to the Gryffindor table, but she didn't sit with Harry and Ron. Instead she went over to where Lavender and Parvati were seated.

"What a pleasant surprise Hermione," Lavender commented, smiling up at her.

"Glad you made the right decision," Parvati added, patting the seat next to her. "Come, we have many guys to discuss."

Hermione obliged uneasily.

"Is something wrong?" Lavender asked, staring into Hermione with her large brown eyes. Hermione looked quickly down the table to where Ron was animatedly talking to Harry. She shook her head.

"No, nothing."

That night in the dormitory, Hermione sat quietly on her four poster, writing in her diary. No one had yet come upstairs, so the only noises she could hear were the peepers outside the castle and the scratching of her quill on the pages of her journal. She bit on the end thoughtfully, and wrote,

"I don't know what's wrong with Ron lately. He's avoiding me, or something. I'm not sure what I ever did to him. It hurts me to see him acting this way, but if that's what he wants, then so be it.

"I got my O.W.L.' s results in the mail. I got one in every class, what I expected. I don't know what Harry and Ron got, but hopefully I'll have some classes with them. It'll give me a chance to see what's on Ron's mind.

"This make over thing isn't turning out the way I expected. How come it makes no difference to Ron, but seems to to everyone else? I changed for Ron, but he doesn't seem to care or notice. What is WRONG with me? I'll never be able to be with him. I can just tell. I'd be lucky if I could date Neville. Why does life have to be so hard?"

Hermione stood up and walked over to the mirror, where she brushed her shiny hair. It was beautiful. She only wished Ron would notice. She was just wiping off her make up when Lavender and Parvati came in, talking nonstop about Josh.

"- he looked so hot wearing his Prefect's badge. I never thought that Dumbledore would let anyone become a Prefect in sixth year. But he is the best in our grade, I think. Way better than Ron Weasley. I mean, how did he get in?" Hermione dropped her brush at the sound of Ron's name. Anger welled up inside her stomach. She couldn't believe they'd talk about Ron like that. What had he ever done to them?

"Hey there, Hermione," Parvati said, turning at the sound of the wooden brush hitting the stone floor. She continued her conversation with Lavender, "I don't know. Ron's not that bad, but you'd think that Harry would have gotten it. He's so much cuter."

Hermione walked over to her bed silently, sitting on the soft mattress. She leaned forward, hair behind her ears, listening intently to the two girl's conversation. If Ron and Harry wouldn't be her friends, she was going to need to learn how to get along with Parvati and Lavender. What other choice did she have?

"So what do you think, Hermione?" Lavender asked, pulling her hair into a messy bun, and sitting on her bed with her knees pulled up to her chest. "Ron or Harry?"

Hermione blushed. "I - er - They're my friends, I don't look at them that way!"

"Whether you do or don't, there's got to be one that is cuter than the other," Parvati noted, looking expectantly at Hermione.

"Well - uh - I guess," Hermione stuttered. What was she supposed to say? She really did like Ron, but they'd all think she was weird if she said his name. On the other hand, saying she thought Harry was cuter would be a lie. "I think Harry's better."

"That's my girl," Parvati smiled.

Hermione smiled back, feeling her stomach drop. She wasn't used to lying about things like that. She needed to change the subject. She didn't want to talk about Ron, or Harry for that matter. She looked around the room quickly, trying to find an answer. Finally her eyes laid upon a envelope on top of her trunk.

"So how many OWL's did you get?" Hermione said, receiving a strange look from Parvati and Lavender.

"Um, three," Lavender answered oddly, and Parvati nodded in agreement.

"Oh…" Hermione knew she'd said the wrong thing. She should have known talking about school work would not go over well with them. "So what does he look like, this Josh guy?"

Lavender automatically smiled.

"Well," She began, looking at the roof. "He's medium height, with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. He's built, too. Oh, and his tan. It's to die for!"

Hermione just nodded. She couldn't hardly keep from saying what she thought, His tan probably is to die for, with all the skin cancer these days, but she refrained. She knew it wouldn't be a good idea to contradict the laws of beauty.

"This year's your year, Lavender, I know it!" Parvati pulled down her covers and slid underneath.

"You really think so?"

"Yeah! You're so much thinner and your hair is SO glossy," Parvati said, as Lavender smiled shyly.

"We're so perfect." Lavender fell back onto her bed, her hands over her heart.

"So Hermione," Parvati said, lighting the candelabra next to her bed, "who do you like?" She blew out the match and tossed it into the empty porcelain bowl.

"No one," Hermione lied, looking at her knees.

"You've got to be kidding me," Lavender said, swinging her hair over her shoulder in a conceited manner. "No one can just not like anyone."

"Sure you can," Hermione said, pulling her book out of her trunk. She was prepared to get out of this mindless talk and read her book.

"We're going to set you up with someone, then," Parvati said, looking thoughtful.

"No, that's really not necessary," Hermione said, blushing. She removed her bookmark and buried her nose in the pages.

"Of course it is!" Lavender said. "Everyone must have a boyfriend at some point. Hey, didn't you date that Bulgarian-"

"No," Hermione said in a rather angry tone. Ron bugged her about Viktor too much, and she didn't want to hear it from Parvati and Lavender. "We're just pen pals."

"Suuuuuure."

"Really, we are. Now I'm going to bed. I have a full schedule tomorrow."

Hermione blew out her candle and turned over haughtily, only to miss the surprised faces of Lavender and Parvati. Since when did they care about her love life? It was her business, and no one else's. She wished that she had Harry and Ron. They didn't jabber on about girls all day long. She sighed and closed her eyes. The last thing she thought before sleep took over was that she hoped she did all her summer homework correctly.