A/N: This is my first Harry Potter fic… I hope you guys like it!

I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape, or form and you must be clinically insane if you believe I do. I will not say this again.

This may seem like every other Hermione/Draco fic, but if you stay tuned I can promise you that it is not… I beg you to stay with the story!! I promise it will get good!!

Teaser: To Hermione, love was the last thing she needed more of in her life. She had loving parents, caring friends, and plenty of other people who were concerned about her. But the gradual loss of her best friends and the verbal attacks of her more vicious peers begin to sting more than before. Slowly, Hermione finds herself becoming an outcast with only the façade of shallow friends to keep her from being completely socially isolated. Love suddenly knocks on the door when she least expects it. After witnessing a tantalizing and then rather disturbing scene and then forced to hush up about it all, Hermione doesn't know whom to turn to. She tangles herself in relationships and deems herself unable to sort it all out. Now with the arrival of a new student to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, things complicate themselves even more. She finds strength and depth in people she hadn't even dreamt of before and when it all comes down to it, she will have to make an ultimate decision. Under circumstances unknown to Hermione, her time to decide is growing shorter and shorter, forcing her to eventually appreciate and understand the values of life, love, and happiness for what they really mean.

They Don't Love You Like I Love You

Chapter 1: A Controversial Potions Class

Everywhere I go, I gotta see you.

I don't wanna be where you're gonna be 'cause

You know I hate you, I do.

I Hate You, WIZO

I know it's ridiculous to be worrying about exams this early, but I just can't help it. Anyways, if I don't feel like studying I can always brush up on my Hogwarts, A History facts - they seem to often come in handy… Hermione rushed through the halls of the third floor, bumping into people with only a rushed 'Sorry!' to offer as papers fell like confetti through the air behind her.

She really did want to get to the library. She just needed some alone time. Hermione was so sick of Harry and Ron and their relentless Quidditch talk. She supposed she should be used to that, but for some reason it still bothered her.

So much had changed in the past few years. Sure, they had all matured, but their friendship was different. It was as if none of them wanted to be together, so they just stayed together for the sake of not breaking up. They still talked, but each of them has almost developed their own little worlds. Each of them had their secrets, which the other two knew nothing about. Hermione was truly sad that that things happened this way, but she knew she herself was a factor in making them happen.

Hermione had become better friends with Ginny. She found that girls she used to dislike rather strongly, like Lavender, Pavarti, and Padma, really could be awesomely good friends. She couldn't believe she'd made it through half of her teen years with two guys as best friends. She really was thankful for her new female comrades, but couldn't help but reminisce about her past escapades and the two people she used to share everything with.

Ron, eager to fulfill Fred and George's legacy, had begun his own trouble-making adventures. Harry, in Ron's opinion was 'too-tied-up-in-his-You-Know-Who-fighting-to-join-me', and so, Ron sought out others. He found Dean and Seamus to be great pals and very willing to stir things up. Between the three of them, they had managed to play a trick on everyone in the school (besides Dumbledore, of course) and only get slammed with a week of detention twice. No one in Hogwarts was safe from their clever pranks.

Harry became the troubled soul of the trio. In the summer between fifth and sixth year, Harry had managed to silence Voldemort, and so the Dark Lord was no longer a present threat. All his evil combating had only helped in creating a greater distance between him and his two best friends. Not knowing what else to do, he reached out for the object of his years of pining- and she grabbed his hand and pulled him in. He became friends with Cho and her pals, who were surprisingly accepting of Harry. Cho soon found herself falling for Harry, returning his long unrequited love. Their romance left them both failing the second half of the year. Harry was able to get his grades back up with a lot of help from Hermione, but Cho wasn't able to do the same. After much pleading, she was allowed to shamefully repeat the seventh year, placing her in the same grade as Harry and promising that this year, they wouldn't get too out of hand.

But all that was in the past. Hermione, just as the other two, didn't have the time to sit down and repair the holes in their relationship. It was intensely disheartening, but not something she could worry about now. She had been studying furiously for her Potions test for the past week, but she needed to check up on a few points she was unsure about, like exactly how much rat spleen was needed for a shrinking potion.

Approaching the vast library chock-full of mesmerizing (or dull, depending on whether you were Hermione or every other Hogwarts student) books, guides, and encyclopedias to everything in the wizarding world, all her thoughts were interrupted as she felt her body slam into someone else's. "Omigosh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay…?" Hermione's voice trailed off as she looked into the eyes of the victim of her clumsiness. The cold, steely gray of Draco Malfoy's eyes froze her heart over.

"Watch it, Mudblood. Or is your blood so clouded that it's affecting your vision?" As always, she could count on him for a snide remark and that trademark smirk.

"Put a sock in it, Malfoy," Hermione snapped back, fuming mad on the inside but not particularly in the mood to get into a full-fledged verbal battle. She simply walked away before either of them really let the other one have it. Finally entering the library, she laid out her schoolbag and supplies on an empty table, heading towards that stacks for a thick-spined copy of An Advanced Guide to Potions of the World.

Hours later, she returned to her private common room. I almost forgot that being Head Girl can actually pay off, she thought as she sunk into the large scarlet armchair in front of the magically crackling fireplace. Luckily, Justin Finch-Fletchley, who had been named Head Boy for this year, was out for another late night himself, though Hermione hardly believed he was out studying. She let all the information she had just absorbed sink in as she sipped on some green tea, which she much preferred over coffee. When she was done with her tea, she stood up, stretched and shed her robes in place of more comfortable bedtime attire.

As she put out the fire and finally climbed, extremely weary, into bed, one lingering thought haunted her and did not permit her to sleep. She restlessly pondered why there was always that one moment, before those eyes iced over. That tiny moment where she actually thought of him as a person. But then, she would instantly remember all the pain and suffering he had put her through for those six long years and any kind feeling immediately evaporated into thin air. But why was there that moment in the first place? She couldn't believe that such a small instant could plague her dreams as it did that night.

Hermione woke up the next morning, fatigued due to her restless night. She decided to forget about this whole Draco business- she hated him and he hated her, simple as that. She had a Potions test to be early for.

She put on a fresh set of robes, grabbed her school bag, shoved her wand in her pocket, and headed for the door. This time, as she made her way to the dungeons, she promised herself that she would keep her eyes open and facing forward. The last thing she wanted to do was bump into Malfoy again.

Hermione finally reached the bleak Slytherin dungeon, pulling open the heavy wooden door to reveal her fellow classmates. It was her most dreaded class, because not only was first class of the day on Monday, but after seven years, they still shared it with Slytherins. She found most of the class pouring over their potions books, hoping to absorb enough information to pass the test. That is, everyone except Malfoy. He sat atop his desk, cruelly pestering Neville as he tried to do some last minute studying. He thinks he's too good for everyone. And he's so selfish, the way he makes jokes at other people's expenses. It wouldn't hurt him to be nice every once in a while. Hermione took his seat, waiting for class to start.

Snape suddenly appeared from a door behind his desk that Hermione had never before noticed. "As you full well know, today you will have an examination on how far you've come in your six-plus years here at Hogwarts: at least Potions-wise. Pair up with someone and make it quick, because you have exactly one hour to produce a Sleeping Draught, a Pepperup Potion, and a Confusing Concoction. Place all books in your bags, and commence."

Hermione knew Harry and Ron would pair up together, so she didn't even bother to look in their direction. She glanced over at Lavender and Pavarti, who were already gathering ingredients for their concertedly concocted potions. Hermione thought to pair with Neville, but he was already working with Seamus. She took this as an opportunity to pair with Dean, except for the fact that he was back in his dormitory, bedridden with a bad case of the flu. Just my luck, she thought to herself. Now I'm going to end up with a Slytherin as my partner! She saw Crabbe and Goyle pair up, Millicent Bulstrode go with the abominable Pansy Parkinson, and even Blaise Zabini pair off with someone who Hermione didn't recognize. She approached Snape's desk to present him with her dilemma. "Professor, I haven't anyone to work with-"

"Can't you see I am talking with someone else? Five points from Gryffindor for interrupting a teacher and unnecessary whining. No matter though, you'll just have to pair up with this student right here, or there is always the option of taking a zero," Snape concluded with a devious grin spread across his pale face.

Hermione looked to see whom it was she was to work with, and was immediately tempted to take that zero Snape had offered. Her partner looked equally disgusted. "You can't make me work with him!" Hermione wailed, pointing her finger at none other that Malfoy.

"Watch me," Snape hissed as he sad down at his desk, his greasy black hair spilling down over his sickly face.

Hermione couldn't will herself to take a zero- she physically could not do it. She instead had to force herself to work with the boy who had been nothing but nasty to her. "Let's just get this over with, okay, Malfoy? Can we have a truce for just this hour?"

"Over my roasting carcass. I don't make pacts with filthy Mudbloods like yourself, Granger. The day I do will be the very same day owls fly out of my-" But Draco didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, because he had just been punched in the nose by an enraged Hermione. "What the fuck was that for, Granger?"

"Didn't you learn anything from that slap in third year?!" Hermione yelled back at the pathetic excuse for a human being, who was presently on the ground, clutching his broken nose.

A/N: Actiony-enough for you? It can only get better from here…. PLEASE stay tuned!!! This is a lot coming from me, since I despise begging… You know you want to review… I am totally willing to hear your opinions!!! I wanna hear what you guys have to say!

Charlotte ;)