Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah, Harry Potter is not mine, he never was and he never will be because God hates me and life's a bitch. Amen.

"…And he kept saying over and over that it wasn't his place to tell us what you were doing…"

"Yeah! And we were worried sick that something had happened to you and he was just lying to make us feel better…"

"Well, HARRY did. You should have seen him. He was huffing and puffing like he was giving birth to a hippogriff…"

"…So WHERE WERE YOU, HERMIONE?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and looked up to heaven for strength. She then turned towards them and sighed.

"All right, do you REALLY want to know?" She asked solemnly. Harry and Ron looked at her like she was the most idiotic person on earth.

"Of course, we want to know! We've been badgering you about it this whole time!" Ron sputtered indignantly.

"All right." Hermione sighed again. "My aunt died and I had to attend her funeral."

Shocked and guilty expressions spread across both her best friends' faces.

"Oh Gods, we're real sorry Hermione. We had no idea." Harry breathed.

"Yeah, I mean, we were just real worried where you were and you hadn't been here for three weeks-"

"It's all right." Hermione whispered quietly. "I just…I just need some time to be alone."

Harry and Ron nodded. All of a sudden, a blush seemed to crawl up Harry's cheeks.

"Um...Hermione… by the way, why are you…um…dressed like that?" He squeaked. Hermione's heart stopped. What could she say?

"Oy, Granger!"

"Saved by the ferret." She thought as Harry and Ron were temporarily distracted when Draco Malfoy sauntered towards them.

"What do YOU want, MALFOY?" Ron practically hissed out Draco's last name.

"I was just wondering what Granger was doing the entire summer. Rolling around in dirt with the rest of the mudbloods?" Draco spat out maliciously. Harry and Ron both tensed up.

"Very mature, Malfoy." Hermione stated, rolling her eyes.

"I wonder what your parents thought, seeing you play in mud all day. Oh, I forgot. They were probably joining you." Draco retorted, then cruelly laughed out. The rest of the Slytherins joined him. There laughter stopped quickly when Hermione quickly withdrew her wand and pointed it at Draco.

"Shut up, you albino prat." She whispered menacingly. The Slytherins all went "Oooohhh" at her comment. Draco's eyes flickered with anger as he clenched his left hand into a fist and tightened his grip on the wand.

"Don't you dare tell me what to do, Granger." Draco threatened.

"Make me."

And Draco immediately cried out, "Expelliarmus!" and a jet of red light omitted from his wand. But what happened next shocked everyone.

Hermione crouched lower and then sprung up, her feet lifting several feet off the air. At first it looked like she was just trying to jump over the spell but then she arched her spine backwards and the rest of her body followed as she executed a flawless back-flip. She then landed unharmed on her feet with her bushy hair fanning out around her cheeks.

"BLOODY BRILLINAT, HERMIONE!" Ron cried out. Harry merely stood there in shock. The Slytherins faces were mirror images of Harry's. Draco, on the other hand, looked pissed. He immediately grabbed Hermione's wrist and pulled her towards the Slytherin common room.

"I need to speak with you, Granger!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GET THE FUCK OFF HER MALFOY!" Harry's angry voice echoed off the stone walls. Draco continued dragging Hermione with him.

"Draco, what are you doing? She's not allowed in our common room!" Blaise cried out in surprise.

Draco muttered the password to the Slytherin entrance and the door immediately opened. He shoved Hermione into the room and she fell to the floor with an OOF! He then quickly turned around and closed the entrance doors. He withdrew his wand again and cast a silencing charm on the door. Finally, Draco turned around and stared into Hermione's honey colored eyes.

"What the fuck was that, Hermione? You could have blown our cover!"

(A/N: Ooooohhh, what's Draco up to? Review and you'll find out!)