Chapter Three- The First Week

Note: Thank you very much to all the reviewers, for all the comments, criticisms and compliments I have received. I would love to keep on getting reviews so I know the strengths and weaknesses of this story, or my writing. :)


Hermione dried her tears and took a hold of herself. She wasn't going to let Draco get to her- not anymore. She might think he was good looking, but just thinking about the way that he treated her and her friends made her blood boil. From now on, she told herself, I'm going to pretend he's not there.

She glanced in a mirror hanging upon the wall of the girl's bathroom, and sighed. Her hair was straggly from not being brushed and her face was a little blotchy from the tears. Splashing her face with cold water, she then left the bathroom and prepared to face Harry and Ron in the Common Room.

She was given the new password by a frightened-looking first year, and entered the portrait hole to be faced with her two anxious best friends.

"You okay Hermione?" Ron asked immediately. "I'm telling you, I could swing for Malfoy. What a git!"

"Sure I'm okay," she replied briskly, sounding surer than she felt. "Don't worry about me! We'd better get ready for school tomorrow, you know, get all our books sorted out. I want to settle into my revision routine pretty soon." Harry and Ron groaned, but they were satisfied that Hermione was okay if she was thinking about schoolwork.

The next week was pretty hectic- most of the teachers congratulated them on their marvellous OWL results- but a little different to last year, mainly owing to Fleur Delacour. Whenever she entered a room, the boys would all rush from their desks and crowd around her, all boasting at the top of their voices. Poor Professor Flitwick got knocked over in the mad crowd eager to see Miss Delacour in the Charms lesson. And in her own Defence Against The Dark Arts, she got so annoyed that she cast a spell to make everyone unable to get out of their seats for the whole lesson.

Everyone was happy to see Saturday, upon which all three of the best friends had a well deserved lie-in. It was eleven o' clock, and they had just sat down to some toast and porridge, before Hermione even thought about Draco again. There he stormed into the Great Hall, flanked with the two oafs Crabbe and Goyle. He looked particularly smug about something.

"Oh here we go," Harry said. He stood up, as did Ron, and faced their enemy.

"What is it Malfoy? If you want to start something, start it," Ron said.

"Nothing at all," Malfoy answered, chuckling to himself. "Just I'd watch out Weasley. Seems like your little sister may be in a spot of trouble."

"What have you done?" Harry demanded, placing a hand warningly on Ron's chest. Ron seemed to be having difficulty breathing.

"Go and see for yourself. By the way, it might be useful to tell her to watch her drink in future," Malfoy said meaningfully, and walked off to the Slytherin table, casting evil knowing looks back at them. Hermione noticed his steely glance fall on her and she glared back unwaveringly, sure to reveal no sign of weakness since the day she had cried. No mention of it had been made since, which surprised her immensely.

"Let's go and see!" she said, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. They ran from the Hall and into the corridor, where a large crowd was gathered around someone, a buzz of excited and concerned voices filling the air. Pushing their way through, they found Ginny crouched on the floor, covering her face with her hands.

"Push off!" Ron shouted to the crowd, and they all dissolved back to where they came from, muttering dark remarks about "that red haired kid who had an attitude problem". Hermione leaned over her younger friend and gently pulled her hands away from her face. Then with horror, she realised why Ginny was so reluctant to let people see her features.

Her whole face had gone bright red and puffy, and her nose as round as a tomato- it was if her whole head had become the vibrant fruit. The fact that her eyes had gone watery and shot with scarlet streaks, and that her hair was naturally ginger, didn't help whatsoever.

"What happened to you?" Hermione asked gently.

"I- I don't know. It happened just after I drank my juice at breakfast, and all of a sudden I felt my face burning, then people started laughing at me. I tried to run away, but then it started hurting… it's so painful!"

"It was Malfoy," Ron said immediately. "You heard what he said, he told us that she should watch her drinks in future. He dropped something in her drink!"

Harry was watching Ginny with concern etched into his features, and he helped Hermione and Ron assist her to the hospital wing.

"I'll stay with her," Harry said when Ginny was safely lying on a hospital bed. "I mean- I'd better watch out… you know… in case Malfoy comes back or something."

"Er- ok," Ron answered, and he could have sworn that Harry's face was almost as red as Ginny's. Hermione and he walked off downstairs, outside and near the school lake, where they sat basking in the autumnal sunshine.

"It's your birthday soon isn't it?" Ron asked Hermione, who was lying across his lap and staring at the sky. He felt his heat rise as he watched her, her breath making a few curls framing her face dance idly. She seemed oblivious to his watching her, and only continued to snuggle closer.

"Yes, I'm going to be seventeen," she smiled. "What are you going to get me eh Ron?"

"I don't know yet," Ron replied, thinking carefully. There was silence for a few minutes, and all that could be heard was the soft ripple of the water in the gentle breeze. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself to say what he had wanted to say for years now- to shed the feelings of want in his heart. If he didn't tell her now, he would go crazy

"Hermione?"

"Yes Ron?"

"I've got something to tell you."

Hermione sat up and studied her friend. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, not at all. Far from it." He took her hand and clasped it into his own fair one, blushing slightly at the intimacy of his gesture. He stared into Hermione's coffee coloured eyes. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you for a long time."

"Erm… okay." Hermione didn't like this one bit. She had always been close to her two best friends in the world and treated them with affection, though no more or less than a female friend. Hugging and the occasional kiss had always come to the naturally warm and goodnatured Hermione, when she wasn't stressed about exams.

"I care about you a lot, and before I wasn't too sure if you felt the same way. I'd always thought you felt like that about Harry. But now- now that Harry seems almost set up with Ginny- I thought that maybe me and you would get together."

His face was close against hers and she could feel his hot breath against her face. "What do you say, Hermione?" Scared by his own nerve, he brought his lips to hers, and felt his pulse quicken and the warmth inside him rise even more. He placed his arms against her shoulders and for one blissful moment he was happy- but something was wrong. Why was she pulling away? Why was she taking her hand from his?

"No Ron," she whispered sadly. "I'm sorry, but no." His gaze wasn't just disappointed; he looked heartbroken. "I can never be more to you than a friend, I'm not right for you."

"I see," Ron said, though he didn't quite meet her eyes. "Well, if that's the way you feel then I'd better go." He got up and began walking away- anything was preferable to that embarrassment he had just set up for himself, and all he needed right now was to forget he'd ever felt like that.

"No! Ron! I don't mean to make you feel bad, it's just… Ron!" but he had left her, and for the second time that week, Hermione wondered just exactly who she was turning into.