(A/N: Hey everyone I really hope you all like my story even though I'm not getting that feeling from most . . .I'm sorry I haven't updated but I suffer from MAJOR writer's block. Haha! Ok here's my next chapter really *really* hope you like it!! ~Crazy~)

Questions, Confusion, and More

     That evening after lessons just before dinner Harry, Ron, and Hermione had gone back to the common room to discuss earlier incidents.

"Has Dumbledore said anything at all about Jake Thompson?" Hermione asked.

"Nothing …" Harry said trying to think of what could have happened.

"Well, I just don't understand it how can something as important as this go without anyone saying anything about it. I mean Candy must have been responsible for something, I just think everyone else is oblivious to the fact that there is something wrong with her." Hermione responded

"Look Hermione," Ron said clearly starting to get aggravated as Hermione had been asking questions all day, "I'm pretty sure if something was really wrong, Dumbledore would have said something at least, but in this case he hasn't said anything, the kid probably just walked into a wall or something I mean come on, he was a 4th year Slytherin."

"Oh yeah sorry Ron I forgot, according to you 'She's fine' so that means she couldn't have anything to do with what happened even though she was the only one walking with Jake after we left the Great Hall last night, he was just stupid enough to clonk himself on the head." Hermione said in her most sarcastic tone interpreting Ron.

"I knew you'd see it my way," Ron said officially convinced that Hermione was being serious. Hermione rolled her eyes and Harry shook his head at her as if to tell her it was absolutely no use to try setting him straight. Just then Ginny walked into the common room and she noticed Hermione, Ron, and Harry and hurried over, if anyone had any theories about the happenings around Hogwarts, it'd be her brother and his companions that often she considered to be family as they spent much, not to mention enjoyed, time at the Weasleys. Harry cast a nervous look at her then quickly glanced around the room. She smiled to herself as she stifled a laugh hoping no one noticed. She walked over and just to see what Harry's reaction would be she sat down on the couch in the gap between Hermione and Harry, however, as Harry was sitting on the edge of the couch Ginny sat right beside him and his legs went straight up in the air as he fell backwards and hit the floor with a hard thump. This was enjoyable because of the fact that Hermione and Ron had been arguing about Candy all day and they had needed a good laugh.

"Oh my gosh Harry are you alright?" Ginny asked also laughing.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Harry got up and sat on the other side by Ron as Ron whispered in his ear, "It's amazing, isn't it?"

"What is?" Harry asked embarrassed.

"You're more scared of her than you are of Voldemort," Ron said cracking up. Hermione and Ginny were chatting cheerfully and Harry and Ron looked over trying to be obvious.

"Yeah but at least I can take a hint, exactly how many times has Hermione had to 'accidentally' bump into your ass for you to realize something?" Harry said smiling right back at Ron. Ron's eyes widened. Harry thought now it's his turn to fall off the couch.

"So have you guys talked about Jake?" Ginny asked.

"Yes we have but your almighty brother thinks he has a brain tumor and passed out because it was hurting him so much," Hermione said getting annoyed at Ron again.

"Hey, I said he walked into a wall ok?" Said Ron making sure Hermione got it right. Ginny laughed half-heartedly, but stopped as she spoke again, "That does sound like Ron but I don't think brain tumors are contagious …"

"Yea that's true but the Flu is contagious!" Ron said nodding his head and trying to be serious.

"Oh this is really great, first you think Jake has a tumor, but now since you are just so smart you've decided that he has now caught the Flu," Hermione said. After that Ron and Hermione went at it again.

"Yeah well you know what Hermione??

"What?!"

"I'm starting to think it was probably you who gave him the Flu!"

"How the hell do you figure that?!"

"Oh I don't know maybe it's just you're pissy attitude that's confusing me, are you PMSing?!?!"

"Ronald Weasley! ---"

"Wait a second!!" Harry yelled, "Ginny, what do you mean they aren't contagious?" Harry asked worried again.

"I mean the staff has found someone else in the same state as Jake just about 15 minutes ago," Ginny said looking serious. Ron and Hermione shut up quickly and then Hermione and Harry exchanged panicked expressions and then they both glanced at Ron.

"Alright," Ron said in a tone admitting he had gone retarded by thinking something perfectly normal had happened, "Who was it?"

"Justin Finch-Fletchley," Ginny said shaking her head.

"Look I know this is serious and everything," Ron said, "but that kid is always getting in trouble, remember 2nd year? I mean they might as well just leave him however they found him that way he can't get in trouble with anything else."

"Anyways," Ginny said ignoring Ron, "it was kind of weird because he seemed perfectly normal except he seemed to be talking to himself or something he was like going crazy he was grabbing his hair like he was trying to tear it out or something, then his eyes rolled back and he just conked out."

"You know," Harry said, "I don't think I'll ever have a normal year at Hogwarts I mean after trying so hard after the 4 years I've been coming here, I might as well just give up." They all agreed silently by nodding.

*   *   *   *

     The next day Ron and Harry were up and ready to go to breakfast although they were missing Hermione.

"Where's Hermione?" Ron asked looking around the common room.

"I don't know, maybe she was still a little angry from yesterday, what do you think?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Ron said a little disappointed. But after they felt they were worrying enough about Hermione, they just shrugged off the thought and decided to go down to breakfast before it was too late.

*   *   *   *

     As Harry and Ron were walking towards the Great Hall they saw Candy walking in also. She slowly turned her head and noticed them looking over in her direction, she tossed her dark hair with her red highlights so it looked as if her hair caught fire.

"Whoa . . .she's on fire" Ron said with a dazed expression.

"What?!" Harry exclaimed.

"I mean it looks like her hair is on fire Harry! Bloody hell, what did you think I meant?!" Ron asked.

"Nothing . . .come on lover boy," Harry said glad Hermione was not there. Ron walked up to the door of the Great Hall and opened it, Harry walked in and followed him was the girl with the ignited hair. As she passed Ron holding the door he held it open for her and quickly looked at the floor.

"Hey," she said, Ron looked up. "Thanks," she said.

"Huh?" Ron was nervous, " Oh ---yea---uhh---heh---umm no problem," Ron said. Candy walked through the door and went to sit down at the Slytherin table. Ron grinned pleased with himself and he strutted off towards the Gryffindor table, apparently Ron seemed to have the idea he was oh-so-cool because of him taking 5 minutes to stutter charmingly and finally answering Candy's "thanks". Harry was standing by the door waiting for Ron to join him.

"Smooth," Harry raised his eyebrows and nodded his head.

"Oh don't lie to yourself," Ron said shaking his head.

"Yeah that was a pretty far stretch, huh?" Harry laughed.

*   *   *   *

     Hermione woke up suddenly and she glanced at her clock and was startled to find herself about to be late for breakfast if she didn't get up and dress fast. She hurried out of bed and put on her robes and went to the mirror to brush her hair. She put on some lip-gloss (how grown up of her, she had probably figured it was time for her to get into using make-up since she was older) and some light eye shadow, she picked up her books and left immediately for breakfast. As Hermione practically ran down the stairs she turned a corner and bumped into someone rather tall with gleaming blonde hair and cold gray eyes. (A/N: 'oh I wonder who this could be') Hermione looked in front of her to see Malfoy lying on the floor with his books scattered everywhere as well as hers. Oh great, Hermione thought, maybe if I ignore him and just get up and walk away, he won't notice me . . .oh shut the hell up what am I invisible? Hermione thought she was going crazy, since when does she wake up late and then start asking herself questions? Get a hold of yourself Hermione, It's one thing to ask yourself questions, but when you start responding . . .it's all over.

"Watch it Granger!" Draco yelled, "Guess you've been too busy thinking about shagging Weasley so you're just going to walk around bumping into people until you realize it's never going to happen." As soon as Draco said this Hermione exploded.

"LISTEN HERE YOU BASTARD! THE LAST THING I HAVE ON MY MIND IS SHAGGING RON, HEY! MAYBE YOU'D LIKE TO HAVE A GO WITH HIM THOUGH! DON'T START WITH ME TODAY I AM NOT, I REPEAT, NOT HAVING A GOOD DAY I WOKE UP LATE, I STARTED OFF ONLY LATE FOR BREAKFAST AND NOW I'M PROBABLY GOING TO BE LATE FOR CLASS I'VE BEEN RUNNING AROUND TRYING TO GET TO WHERE I HAVE TO GO ON TIME SO MY HAIR MUST LOOK JUST ABOUT AS UGLY AS YOUR FACE, THAT IS WHAT YOU CALL IT RIGHT? A FACE? OR IS IT YOUR ASS? OH WELL I SHOULD KNOW NOW SHOULDN'T I? I MEAN I'VE CHECKED IT OUT ENOUGH. THEN SINCE I'VE JUST BEEN SO LUCKY ALREADY TODAY I GET TO RUN INTO YOU AND NOW YOUR BEING YOUR STUPID ASS USUAL SELF ONLY CARING ABOUT WHERE YOU'RE GOING AND NOT ABOUT ANYONE ELSE, Hermione was screaming so much she was on the verge of tears because of her frustration.

"NOW UNLESS YOU WANT SOME MORE I SUGGEST YOU HELP ME PICK UP MY BOOKS AND LEAVE ME ALONE, YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING PIECE OF SHIT WITH AN INCREDIBLY GOOD LOOKING BODY!" Hermione was shocked, " OH THIS IS JUST GREAT NOW I'M FLIRTING WITH YOU!" Draco stood there with his mouth hanging open, once he decided to close it, Hermione was grateful he had because he looked like he was catching flies, and he raised his eyebrows and said, " Um uh s-sorry," Draco was shocked, he picked up her books and even noticed one was ripped, "uh here take mine," he passed her the books and sped away. Hermione sighed and walked at normal pace, she no longer cared if she made it on time to class or not, she just smiled to herself and actually started laughing hysterically thinking of how she startled Draco. He looked down the corridor where she was walking and he shook his head with disbelief, that is one crazy bitch, he thought to himself maybe I should run into her more often …she does look kind of hott when she's pissed off …oh shit what am I thinking? With that thought Draco walked away. As he did Hermione paused and looked back at him, she thought, maybe I should run into him more often …he looks kind of hott when he's freaked …oh shit, She realized what she was thinking and she just shook her head and went to class.

*   *   *   *

     As Ron and Harry were sitting 10 minutes into Transfiguration they began to worry about what had happened to Hermione.

"Where is she???" Ron asked getting anxious.

"Now see if I knew that, Ron, don't you think I would have told you?" Harry asked annoyed for that was about the 10th time Ron had asked. Just as Harry said this Hermione walked into the classroom.

"Come on Ron, don't you want to ask me again so I can tell you where Hermione is? I think I know where she is now," Harry said sarcastically making fun of Ron.

"Oh shut it," Ron said.

"Welcome Miss Granger, I'm so happy you thought of joining us before I actually started teaching anything," Professor McGonagall said sounding very fake.

"I'm sorry Professor, I wasn't feeling very well this morning," Hermione said.

"Alright then, that'll be 3 points from Gryffindor, but are you sure you're going to be ok?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Yes, Professor," Hermione said as she sat down and saw Ron and Harry give her a questioning look.

"Let's just say my day is looking up," Hermione whispered to them and she ignored their confused expressions as she opened up her notes on Transfiguration. Harry and Ron looked at each other but then just shrugged off her behavior and went back to thinking whatever it was they were thinking about because we all know it sure as hell wasn't Transfiguration.

*   *   *   *

     Later on after lessons, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were down in the Great Hall for dinner and they were all having an enthusiastic conversation about who knows what when Dumbledore got up out of his seat to make an announcement …

"May I please have everyone's attention," Dumbledore paused and waited for everyone to stop talking, He smiled slightly and then changed his expression to a serious one, then continued talking, "As you all have been aware of happenings around Hogwarts it hasn't alarmed me immensely but I do worry about the students who have thus far been endangered and I would like to warn all students to be careful as they walk around the corridors and that Mr. Thompson and Mr. Finch-Fletchley will both be perfectly fine in about a week or so, just as soon as Madam Pomfrey is supplied with some of Professor Sprout's Noggin Nutrition Clovers. Some more news I am sure all of you would be pleased to hear I am also about to announce. As it is the month of November you all know that Christmas is getting closer and closer and we are going to be having a Winter Ball." At this, everyone started conversation again excitedly, and Dumbledore spoke again, "Partners will be essential to attend the Ball and either dress robes or in particularly directed towards the female part of Hogwarts, evening gowns may be worn. Normally many students would go home to spend Christmas with their families, and that is why the Winter Ball, hence the name, will take place on the first Saturday after lessons end for winter break that way students may attend the ball as they please and also go home to enjoy the holidays with their loved ones. The Ball will start at 7:30 P.M. and will end at exactly 12 o' clock midnight. As I end my announcement please be sure to remember these few things for the ball, dress robes or evening gowns must be worn, it will be held on Saturday the 20th of December, and partners are completely necessary." After Dumbledore made his announcement everyone was ecstatic about the Winter Ball and because of the part about dates being required many people were casting glances at the person of whom they'd be delighted to attend the ball with. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were also overjoyed and Harry whispered to Ron out of the corner of his mouth, " Now this, " Harry nodded his head, "Should be interesting." Ron laughed and agreed. Harry looked down the table and threw an award-winning smile at Ginny she winked and went back to talking with some of her 4th year friends, Harry wobbled but soon caught himself and he thought if I fall off or out of something one more fucking time I'll hex myself. As He chuckled to himself at that comment Harry caught Hermione gazing over in Ron's direction out of the corner of his eye, however, he felt quite bad for her and quite pissed off at Ron at the same time, for as she tossed an interested look at Ron she found him being more interested in someone else. Harry watched her look behind her to where Ron was looking and her eyes stopped moving once they landed on Candy.

"You idiot!" Harry elbowed Ron in the ribs.

"Ouch!! What was that for?!?" Ron yelled.

"Oh I don't know maybe you were just born an oblivious moron." Harry said. Hermione turned back around and looked down at her plate acting as if it didn't affect her, but then she remembered something, or someone rather. Someone she was sure who wouldn't turn her down, I'll give you a hint it's not Harry and it's obviously not Ron. Hermione looked up regaining her self-confidence and slowly turned around and looked directly behind her …Draco Malfoy had done the very same thing. They both watched as if they were marching towards a death sentence and then their expressions changed, they were no longer afraid and hesitant but determined and satisfied. Harry watched and thought holy shit. This is going to be a hell of a year.