A/N: I was on a bit of a roll last night, so I wrote another part of this fic! I'm a bit more happy with it now, as I'm getting into the characters and my storyline. You may have noticed (if not you will now, lol) that I tend to stay away from the magic side of things. This is because while I have read the books millions of times, I don't feel comfortable enough to focus on spells and things in my own fic just yet. I don't want to discredit JK in any way, so I'm doing what I'm better at, which is relationships and people thinking too much about stuff, lol. So if it seems like it's not a very wizardy-type fic, that's why. I'm trying to add little things in here and there to be authentic but I think I'd mess it up if I went too far!

Obviously I own none of the characters - they're all JK Rowling's amazing creations, except for Nicky who isn't 100% my own idea either, but hey... ;)

Yay, I got 2 reviews! I hope to get more but I very much appreciate the ones I already have! :)

Sugar High: Thank you so much for reviewing my fic, I'm glad you're enjoying it, especially as I'm enjoying yours a lot! I know what you mean about the college thing and I'm trying to make that more obvious with each chapter but it's difficult to take them away from school, lol!

AbundantFear: Obviously you know how much I'm loving your fic, so thanks so much for saying you like mine! I'm definitely enjoying writing from Hermione's POV for a change, as I think she could become a very interesting and deep character if she was examined! Hope I'm doing her justice alright!

Chapter Three

Don't let your head rule your heart/Don't let your world be torn apart/Don't keep it all to yourself/Just let all your emotions run free/With someone like me/That's the way it should be/Someone like me

I know it's hard when you're feeling down/To lift your feet up off the ground/We make mistakes but doesn't everybody/You don't always have to agree/With someone like me/That's the way it should be/Someone like me

We know the story so far/Of what you want and who you are/Let all your emotions run free/You don't always have to agree/With someone like me/That's the way it should be/Someone like me...

[Atomic Kitten]

Hermione, Harry and Ron had been talking together for so long, they'd barely noticed anything happening around them, and were surprised when Cho's voice made all three look up.

"Hey, Hermione, the party's going really well, don't you think?" she asked, to which Hermione could only nod. She didn't know much about the party, because she'd spent most of it so far ensconced in the corner with her two best friends, catching up. Cho didn't seem to notice however, and smiled. "It's not out of hand yet at least. It's nice to see you, Harry, Ron," she added, nodding at them in turn. "Glad you could both come!"

Hermione watched the two boys return Cho's smile, but Harry's seemed rather forced. She supposed that, even after all this time, he still had strange feelings about her and their very brief relationship at school.

"Well, I'll speak to you later, Hermione," Cho said at last, after letting her gaze linger on Harry for slightly longer than was strictly necessary. She walked off, leaving the boys looking quizzically at the girl sitting between them, who was red in the cheeks.

"Since when were you so friendly with her?" Ron asked after a few moments' silence.

Hermione shrugged. "Not long. We got talking and she's a nice girl. I'm sorry Harry," she added, noticing his indignant expression, "but you two weren't around, and anyway, all that stuff was ages ago. I'm allowed to be her friend if I want to be. She's probably thinking I'm not interested any more, if I'm friends with you again..."

"Of course you can be friends with her," Harry sighed. "And you're right, it was all a long time ago. It doesn't even matter after everything that's happened. I should try to make it up with her, I guess."

Just then, Lavender, Seamus, Dean, Parvati and some people Hermione didn't know all descended upon them – or, more accurately, upon Harry. It appeared none of them had been in much contact with him recently either, and the girls started asking him loads of questions, sitting at his feet as if he was some sort of demi-god. The boys decided to hang back and discuss Quidditch with Ron, leaving Hermione once again out of the mix. She stood up and sighed, heading for the door. She was fed up of not fitting in, even with people she considered friends, and decided the time had come to finally do something about it. Obviously, none of them was going to change, so Hermione was going to do it instead, and then people would start taking proper notice of her. Especially...

Hermione stopped herself from mentally completing that sentence, and quietly slipped out of the room.
The next afternoon, Hermione found herself in a very boring lecture about 'the theories behind Charms', and despite her spotless track record in classes, even this was proving too much for her. It was a warm day and the lecture hall was stuffy and uncomfortable, forcing Hermione to push up the sleeves on her top and undo a couple of buttons. This didn't make a whole lot of difference to her concentration levels, and her notes, which had started out well in her usual neat handwriting, had turned into doodles.

The night before, at Cho's party, was playing heavily on Hermione's mind, as well. She'd been so relieved to see Harry and Ron and find that they were missing her after all, that she'd totally forgotten how angry she'd planned to be with them. It wasn't easy though, because as soon as they'd all sat down to talk, it was as if their time apart had never happened, and if Hermione was honest, she much preferred to pretend she'd never been lonely.

What she didn't like, however, were the excessive numbers of girls who'd spent the evening attaching themselves to both boys. Even her own roommates had been behaving stupidly, and they knew Harry and Ron perfectly well already! Hermione rested her chin on her hand and sighed. It was difficult when your best friends were so popular and you were... well, plain, unnoticable and boring.

It was just as she was thinking these things that she realised people around her were standing up to leave, and she figured the lecture must have finished at long last. Hermione picked up her books, parchment and quill before edging her way along the row to the end. As she was walking up the stairs, she was surprised to hear someone call her name.

"Excuse me, Hermione?"

She turned around and came face-to-face with the most gorgeous man she had ever laid eyes on. He was taller than her, with short blonde hair and twinkling blue eyes. His mouth was shaped into an attractive grin, and it was all Hermione could do not to let her jaw drop.

"You dropped this." The guy held out one of her doodle-covered pieces of parchment and she took it, blushing slightly.

"Thanks," she replied. "How do you know my name?" The question was out before she'd had a chance to check it over in her mind.

"Psychic," he winked. "My name's Nicky, if that makes you feel any better."

Hermione forced a weak smile. She felt ridiculous, talking to this guy who was clearly way out of her league. It was a measure of the way she'd changed at college that she was nervous at all; in school, Hermione had never been especially shy.

"Erm, well, thanks," she repeated, feeling sillier by the second. She turned to go again, but felt him lay a hand on her arm, sending a small shiver down her spine. This wasn't something that happened very often to Hermione, and she was a little apprehensive, but looked at him anyway.

"Would you like to go to dinner with me sometime?" He had such a lovely accent, and it made all of his words sound even better than they would have normally – if that was possible. As it was, Hermione almost fainted with the shock of being asked out. She nodded as if in a trance, not fully aware of the repercussions, and Nicky smiled broadly, displaying adorably uneven teeth. "Great! I'll send an owl tomorrow. See you later!"

And with that, he was off, leaving a very confused Hermione to make her way to her practical Potions lab.
That evening, while Hermione, Parvati and Padma were sprawled around their dorm, struggling with various pieces of work they'd been assigned, a handsome barn owl soared through the open window and came to a halt in front of Hermione, who was lying on her stomach on the floor.

"What a beautiful owl!" Parvati exclaimed. For once, Hermione couldn't roll her eyes, because she agreed. "Who's that from?"

Hermione shook her head. "Don't know." She removed the attached letter and unrolled it, trying to move so that the others wouldn't be able to see the writing.

"Dear Hermione,

I know I said I would owl tomorrow, but this is pretty close. I really enjoyed talking to you today and would love it if you would come with me for dinner on Saturday night. I realise this might seem a bit sudden, but I believe life's too short to wait around.

You don't need to reply – I will be waiting in the foyer for you at 7pm on Saturday and it's up to you whether you come, but I hope you do.

Nicky"

Hermione's breath had caught in her throat. She had no idea what to think about this. Surely there had been some sort of mistake. She'd looked her normal self when Nicky had met her, so it wasn't as if she'd had her hair done and her make-up on to look attractive. Maybe he had an ulterior motive... Maybe he knew she was friends with Harry and wanted to harm him! As soon as that thought entered her head, she decided it was time to pay a visit to Harry and Ron's dorm.

After telling the other girls she was going for some fresh air, Hermione left the room and made her way along to the spiral staircase which linked all the dorm floors. She knew they were below her, so she went down a couple of flights until she was pretty sure she was in the right place and walked out into a long corridor which was identical to the one she lived in. Luckily, all of the doors had little gold name-plates on them down here as well, so Hermione simply walked along, examining each one, until she came across 'Potter, Weasley, Longbottom, Martin'. Taking a deep breath, she knocked gingerly on the door, listening for any signs of life inside. When nothing happened, she knocked again, this time a lot louder and harder, and within seconds the door was opened by Neville, who looked delighted to see her.

"Hermione!" he cried and let her inside, where Harry was sitting at the desk, clearly trying to study as well. The desk, however, had been moved right behind the door in the corner, which looked like the oddest place to be sitting when there was plenty of space by the window.

"Hey!" Harry grinned when he saw who it was, and came over to greet her. "What are you doing here?"

"Just stumbled down here by accident and thought I recognised the names," Hermione smiled. "Well, three of them. Who's Martin?"

"Oh, he's from another school or something," Neville replied, settling himself down on his bed with a large book entitled Plants and Plantations: A History of Foreign Species. Evidently, it was Neville's talent for Herbology which he was pursuing at college, much to Hermione's satisfaction.

Harry made a face. "Yeah," he said under his breath, "a school for mad wizards. Neville only likes him because he makes Neville cups of tea."

Hermione laughed. "Shame, he's not here for me to meet him."

"No, he went out. Didn't say where. And Ron is out with Amelia. At least, I think that's her name."

That made Hermione stare. "That... That girl from the party, you mean?"

Harry nodded, producing a chair for Hermione to sit on at the other side of his desk, while he sat back down, moving a few things over to give her space. "Yeah. I know, I was surprised as well, but apparently, she's one of the ones who actually likes him and not just me. His words, not mine," he added hurriedly.

"Oh." For some reason, this perturbed Hermione. She couldn't help picturing Ron and Amelia out somewhere having a laugh. Or at least, Ron would be laughing. Amelia, when Hermione had met her, looked as if she'd never laughed in her life. Perhaps laughing wasn't sophisticated enough. "Oh. Well, as long as he's enjoying himself."

Harry looked at her with a smile. "It's ok, you don't have to pretend with me, you know."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Hermione replied, trying to look affronted. "I really do hope they're having a good time."

"Hmm." Harry continued to give her sly looks until she told him to stop it. "Anyway, I thought you'd be studying or something."

"No. It might be a shock to learn this, Harry, but sometimes I do other things with my time," Hermione said airily.

Harry snorted. "Since when?"

Hermione felt heat rise in her face as she became more annoyed. "Since you didn't bother speaking to me for months. If you'd cared at all, you'd have found out I've changed too." She looked away, trying not to let herself get upset. This was stupid, she thought. Harry didn't mean it like that. What had got into her?

"You know we're sorry about that," Harry said quietly, glancing at Neville to make sure he wasn't listening. "I was only joking. I know you do other things." Their eyes met and Hermione knew they were both thinking about the many times they'd had to face evil together.

After a few moments, Hermione sat up. "So why are you sitting round here? Behind the door?"

"Oh. That." Harry went crimson. "It's in case anyone opens the door and there are girls out there. If I sit here, they can't see me unless they come in, and we never invite them in. Well, not if we're sober." He frowned. "That makes me sound really arrogant, doesn't it?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, not at all. It's not your fault all these airheads have decided to stalk you. Honestly, you should have something done."

Her brisk tone was much more like the old Hermione Harry had spent seven years being best friends with, and he couldn't help grinning as he turned the page in his textbook and asked her for some help.