A.N. - Sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter up. I'm currently working on some fics for other fandoms and haven't had time to finish this chapter. Oh, and I'm sorry about the angst ahead of time. Enjoy!

Chapter Seven: Advice

He's avoiding me.

The thought made her angry. It made her sad. But most of all it made her lonely. She had worn the charm on a bracelet everyday, but if she looked at it, that thought would run through her head. As a matter of fact, that thought ran through her head even when she didn't look at the charm. It didn't really run through her head, either. It just sort of stayed there, a constant reminder of what she once had. What she had screwed up.

Just like everything else.

Hermione rose swiftly from the table and stormed out of the Dining Hall, ignoring the curious glances and calls of her name by Harry and Ron. Ginny didn't even look up as she past her cluster of friends, which was the norm nowadays. Parvati had stopped speaking to her all together, and Lavender only when Parvati wasn't around. Draco had been her only friend. Maybe he'd been more... She didn't know, and Hermione didn't like thinking about it.

The Great Hall was cold and desolate. Everyone was eating dinner, like she should have been. There was no one there, which was appropriate as Hermione had never been so alone.

The Hall seemed so dark. It was six o'clock, no sunlight streaming through the windows. The only lights were the flickering torches, the only sounds were Hermione's catching breaths. She stood frozen in one spot, unable to walk towards the stairs, to her dorm. She stood at the doors to the Great Hall, wondering how much strength it would take to open the doors manually. Wondering how far she could run. There was nothing for her here.

Nothing but someone she'd already lost.

What did I do? she asked herself. What happened to our friendsip? Was I that naive to think that he could ever feel the same?

Stop it, Hermione, get over it, its done.

But it wasn't. Maybe it wasn't done. He might have seen her go. He might be coming after her right now. She'd wait for him. Wait for his hand to touch her shoulder and spin her around. She'd wait for him to hold her, whisper in her ear that it would be okay. That she was forgiven for whatever she'd done. That he would never leave again.

"Hermione?" said a voice behind her. She turned around eagerly, praying that it was him. But it wasn't. There was no one but the stones. The voice had been a phantom of a hope that would never come true.

She'd been heartbroken before, what girl hadn't. But at that moment when she realized he wasn't coming... her heart died.

"Miss Granger, please stay after class," Snape said in his cold drawl, not looking up from the potions he was grading. She obliged at the rest of the class filed past her. The Gryffindors gave her supportive looks while the Slytherins shot her sneers. The only person not to look at her was Draco.

When all the students were gone, Snape finally looked up. "Miss Granger, I have noticed young Draco's falling grades in my class. He had been doing well. May I ask why your study methods have failed him?"

"We... haven't been having the tutoring sessions, Professor," Hermione gulped, not looking at him. Lord knows she had sat in the library or the dungeon classroom for hours waiting for him. He never showed. Not that Snape would believe that.

"I suspected as much."

If Hermione had been expecting Snape to say anything, that wasn't it. Maybe a reprimand at the least, but just a calm sigh of his suspections? Not in the least. Before Hermione could question it, he went on.

"Draco's not like the other Slytherins, Miss Granger," he said. "He has a lot of history. I assume you found out about it and thought less of him."

"Actually, sir, he wouldn't tell me anything," Hermione said. "I think..."

"What do you think?" Snape asked. Hermione looked at him, wondering what her life had come to. Obsessed with a Slytherin and spilling her heart out to Snape. Will the irony never cease?

"I think he was scared that I would find out about... whatever 'history' he has," she said. "I wouldn't have thought less of him, Professor. As a matter of fact... I've grown to appreciate him."

"I see," was all he said. "Have you spoken to him at all in the last few weeks?"

"None, sir," Hermione admitted, looking shame-faced at the floor.

"Perhaps you should," Snape said, simply, and turned and walked into his office without another word.