A/N: Okay! Well then. Glad you're still reading to here. And I know, I just remembered that the Head Boy and Girl tell the prefects on the train what to do, so they know who the other is, but whatever. I said it was AU, didn't I? Lol. And just to explain something, Hermione has already changed—before, she was the innocent girl with a bad attitude. Now she's a girl with a bad attitude with a slightly innocent side still deep inside her. So if anyone was going to complain that things are moving too fast, there's you're answer. On to the story!

Truly Showing

Hermione woke up the next morning at only 7 AM. Classes started at 9 o'clock, with breakfast beginning at 8. She yawned, stretched, and stopped mid-stretch, remembering what she had done last night. Her first thought was, Whatever. They deserved it, for being annoying prats at dinner. Although I don't know why that would be such bad punishment…Hmm. Oh well. Not my problem if they actually enjoyed it. Then the other side of her jumped in, panicking. Oh, god. Now I've made it really awkward between the three of us. What did I do that for anyway? It's not like I was drunk.

What about drunk on hatred? Hell you weren't. And besides, I don't need them. I'm an independent woman. I don't need anyone. The only people I need in my life are people who I will specifically choose… Yawning once more, she got out of bed and began to get dressed.

She skipped breakfast that morning. Instead, she conjured up a bagel with cream cheese and ate in her dorm. She was alone in her new room. She looked around; she hadn't done much of that last night. She was currently sitting on the same old four-poster bed, which she thought had been magically changed to fit all the girls' preferences, as every night it felt perfect to her. Or maybe it was just all the advanced classes she was always taking. The room basically fit her perfect room, with a beach-resort feel but with Gryffindor touches all the same. The walls were white, with floaty white, blue, and green curtains. She had a shell-framed mirror and a shell-decorated dresser. The covers on her bed were sandy-colored, and she now had a canopy that was the same bluish-green-white fabric as her curtains. She still had pictures of Harry and Ron and Ginny all over the place, and even though it was only the first day her trunk was all unpacked for the most part, and her books were placed in a neat stack next to her bag for the day. She started thinking about her life, her horrible life at home--all the screaming, all the swearing, both of her parents basically going insane, and both occasionally leaving for a couple weeks at a time because they were so mad. She shook herself out of her reverie and checked her schedule again--double Potions first thing on a Monday. Ugh. Then she checked her watch. 8:30. Time to go; she never liked being late to anything.

She walked out of the picture of the Fat Lady's daughter simply to find a deserted common room. Everyone was probably still at breakfast. She swore at her pathetic life, then walked down to Potions.

She arrived to Potions, as usual, early. She was the first one in the dungeon, and was thinking about leaving before Professor Snape walked in to find her alone, when Malfoy and his cronies entered the dark stone room.

"Ah! Well what do we have here! The filthy little dirty disgusting prat git Mudblood know-it-all!" That, obviously, was Malfoy, in his usual greeting to Hermione. She had been planning on ignoring him the second she saw him walk through the door, but then, still angry from thinking about her parents, she smirked, noticing that whenever it seemed as if he wasn't completely in control, he simply put down others with even more words.

"Glad you actually put a few more words in your vocabulary than simply 'Mudblood know-it-all', Malfoy," she remarked coolly, as he put his books on a desk on the other side of the dungeon. He turned around abruptly, since he had thought he would shut her up with his opening line. Obviously he hadn't. Now that was two days that she had actually talked back to him. The only other time she hadn't ignored him was in third year, when she had slapped him. Rubbing his cheek in memory, he faced her. Damn, when did she grow up? I mean... shit. Granger? Mudblood know-it-all? What the hell happened to me? It was true, though. Hermione had filled out perfectly, with a not-too-big-not-too-small bust and a butt the same--curvy, but not overly so. She hadn't finished buttoning her blouse yet, since she hated to wear her tie, so her shirt provided a very sexy neckline to Malfoy. Her skirt must've been from last year too, as it showed off quite a bit of her perfect legs from being a bit too small.

Hermione noticed him looking her up and down with his eyes. She strode over to him so that she was about a foot in front of him. Even though she was wearing against-school-policy heels three inches high, she was still a couple inches shorter than Malfoy. "Yeah, yeah, I know you're a bastard who only likes girls for what he can see, but you can stop your gawking now." She buttoned up her shirt as she said this, and tied her tie around her neck. "And by the way, Malfoy, your tie's undone." She reached up to him, but one hand on the know and the other on the tie part. She pulled, tightening up his tie like a mother, but when it was almost tight enough, she jerked her hand so that he almost choked. She stopped. "Just thought you should know."

Malfoy coughed and threw her a dirty look, then undid his tie a little bit, but not enough so that Hermione would want to practically choke him again. It was then that Snape entered the room, oblivious to what had just happened (and good thing too, or else he would've docked points) and a few minutes later, so did the rest of the class. Then the dreary day began.