Chapter Two- Utter pain, regret and a shocking revelation

Crack! Hermione Apparated into her apartment, her cheeks wet and her eyes bloodshot. She quickly ran into her room, locked it, and threw herself into the bed, sobbing.

"OH, I SHOULDN'T HAVE OPENED MY BIG MOUTH!!!" she moaned. "HE JUST CHEATED ME ONCE AND I TOOK IT THE WRONG WAY! I SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO HIS EXPLANATION FIRST!" She continued crying. "I MEAN, I AM SO DUMB TO EVEN THINK OF TELLING DRACO BECAUSE MAYBE IT WASN'T EVEN HIM! MAYBE IT WAS HIS FATHER…wait his father's dead, BUT…OH! I AM A HELL OF A PERSON!!!!

Poor Hermione, crying her heart out, thinking all these was her fault when it was not.

When she calmed down, she stood up and undressed her clothes and changed into a maroon nightshirt that said "Lions go for the Gold!" She brushed her silky straight hair that had perfect little curls on the ends. "I wonder how Draco's doing right now," she thought happily, then remembered that she wasn't supposed to be thinking of Draco right now, now that they were not going out anymore. Just the thought made her eyes well up with tears. She dropped her brush and sat on her dresser, her hands on her face. She didn't notice an Apparition occuring in her room. It was one of her best friends: Harry James Potter.

"Hullo, Hermione," greeted Harry cheerfully. "I was wondering if I could bor-.." He caught sight of his best friend crying. "Mione! What happened?" he asked, running toward her and giving her a bear hug.

"N-nothing…just…have…a…cold…" Hermione sniffed.

"So…tell me," Harry said casually. "Is the cause of this "FLU" a certain Draco Malfoy?"

Hermione nodded feebly.

"I knew it!" Harry roared, slamming his clenched fist on the dresser. "Oh, I'm going to kill him, cause nobody hurts our Hermione that easily."

'

Hermione gently unfolded Harry's fists and gave him a crooked smile. "No, Harry, you see, I called it quits with him because he's a jerk.

"Glad to know you came into your senses Hermione," Harry said. "Congratulations."

Hermione pelted Harry with a bottle of Professor Waxxeplaxx's Frizz-free hair formula. "Not funny, Harry. Anyway, now I'm regretting the whole break-up because I still love him."

"Whatever you say, Hermione," Harry said absently. "You're just saying that and don't you realize you've loved him for only a year? It's not like you loved him since birth…"

"Harry, you're not making any sense," Hermione said.

"Well, Hermione," Harry adjusted his much-taped glasses and gazed at Hermione. "Since when did you love that idiot boy?"

"Oh, I might as well tell you," Hermione replied, her voice shaking a little. She heaved a huge sigh and cleared her throat. "I loved Draco since…since our third year. See, I signed up for all the courses, right? Then I had so many things that half of my books fell down when I bumped into this guy. Well, turns out "this guy" turned out to be Draco Malfoy, and he picked my books for me. We just stared, and I never realized how he could be a gentleman and a hottie. In the Yule Ball, I was jealous that Draco went with that cow Pansy Parkinson. Then, he told me to meet him behind Morbid Cupid's statue and he confessed his love for me in a very romantic letter that he himself wrote. Then we kissed."

All Harry could do was snort. "Never knew that Draco could be oh, so romantic! Or did he pick that up from a Hallmark card?"

Hermione gave him a look that was reminiscent of a certain Professor McGonagall. "You are not helping at all, Harry James Potter. Anyway, why're you here, not to be rude or any

thing."

"Ah..well, I was supposed to borrow your Durmstrang and Dark Arts book, you know, for Auror training and to learn about what they do.."

Hermione tossed him the book. "Oof!" Harry said.

"You can have it. It's a load of codswallop and tosh anyway."

"Well, then, I guess I better be going then." Harry started to turn around to Disapparate. "And don't worry about that Draco jerk, you don't deserve him…and there are plentiful men in the sea…er, I mean the world. So, goodnight." And with that, he Disapparated, leaving a depressed, crazy in love Hermione Anne Granger.