Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the HP universe, but if you can convince JK to give me Sevvie, I may consider kissing you. Every morning.

A/N: Once upon a time, a lunatic known as BaYer04rulz aka Zanthia checked her reviews.

B: *sings* My reviews are over the ocean, my reviews are over the sea...*frowns* hmm, what is this? *Reads*...'The only bone I have to pick with you is that you mention somewhere that Snape has a 'straight' nose. It's mentioned repeatedly in the books that he's got a big ol' hooked one'...O my GOSH!! Did I write that??? *searches frantically through piles and piles of paper*Not here, not here...o no!! *faints*

*Neville comes out and takes paper from fainted Zanthia's hand, reads*

N: "Chapter 3 of The Way They Were Meant To Be"...*ponders cutely* hmmm...this silly girl here must have written something wrong and had been pointed out by one of her reviewers. *turns to audience* but she was after all, a human only. Human make mistakes...so here I'd apologize for Zanthia to all who had read this. And a special thanks to- *glances at computer*Meressefers for pointing that out! *bows* And since she has fainted, I guess I'd have to be the one to thank the reviewers!

TeaRoses: Zanthia would like to thank you for coming back, and yes, she has tried to make Professor Snape *shudders* in character thatz why it is so difficult to write! And she promised to write longer chapters.

Meressefers: She would like to say thank you for not flaming her but pointed it out nicely! She promised to be more careful in the future.

Lily of the Shadow: *shudders* She is glad that you didn't send her to the Dementors, and even gladder that she did updated this in time.

chauntcy: She rejoices at the sight of a new reviewer, thankies! As for releasing the muse...*thinks* yes, she will if it promised to behave.

Mary :) : She will do a horrible dance once she regains consciousness because that's the only way she knows to express her love to a reviewer.

She-who-must-not-be-named: She loves your story too, but may be forced to harm you if you don't update. So...*shrugs*

worf: *consolingly* It's okay, she wasn't hurt in anyway by your review, and loves that you come back. Yes, Professor Snape *shudders again and again* is like a predator. But she would like to express thatz how all you like him. You girls are weird.

Ok, nuff babbling. On with the story!

----------

Hermione walked out of the dungeons still shocked. She was about to climb the stairs when someone called her from behind.

¡§Wait up Hermione!¡¨ Lavender had waited outside the dungeons but in her daze Hermione had missed her. She stopped and waited for Lavender to catch up. The two girls then went to the Great Hall together, it was lunch time.

¡§So, what did he say to you?¡¨ Lavender asked.

¡§He just reminds me about my detention.¡¨ Hermione sighed, ¡§I was hoping to finish my Herbology essay. Looks like I¡¦d have to do that tomorrow.¡¨

¡§It¡¦s not due until next Monday!¡¨ Lavender laughed at her habit to finish everything the day they were assigned. ¡§And detention! How romantic would that be! I always wanted a detention with Lupin, but he was just too nice to hand one out.¡¨

Hermione laughed at her friend¡¦s dreamy expression, ¡§¡¦Hand one out ¡¥! You sound like detentions are treats!¡¨ Shaking her head, she sighed again, ¡§I am not sure it is a good thing. I mean I still cringe upon his scowl... I don¡¦t know how I will react if we are alone."

¡§Just don¡¦t pounce on him okay?¡¨ Lavender threw her head back and chortled. ¡§It¡¦s no big deal, you have attended detention before! Just listen to your soul with your inner ears, and it will tell you what to do.¡¨

¡§You divination-obsessed imp,¡¨ Hermione gave her a friendly shove, ¡§I don¡¦t need inner-ears to know what to do, silly!¡¨

¡§You sure are much happier than this morning,¡¨ Lavender commented dryly, then more seriously, ¡§Hermione, I think you need to tell Harry and Ron about your, eh, new found interest in our Professor.¡¨

Hermione¡¦s smile faded. She bit on her lips thoughtfully, her eyes resolutely staring at the ground. ¡§I- I know Lav. I know I should. I just don¡¦t know how.¡¨

Lavender patted her back sympathetically. ¡§It¡¦s not going to be easy Herm, but you need all the support you can get. I suppose Harry would understand, but Ron... well, he would be mad first but he would stand behind you after a while. He always do, you know that.¡¨

Hermione wanted to say something more but didn¡¦t have the chance. They had arrived the Great Hall.

----------

Hermione had to promise Lavender to tell 'the truth' to Harry and Ron thrice before she was satisfied and walked over to Dean and Parvati. Harry and Ron were sitting in their usual seats, with Ginny and Neville nearby, clearly lost in the sweet world of their own. Ron was decidedly not looking in their direction, but jumped up and waved at Hermione when he saw her entrance.

Hermione gulped and joined them.

"Say, Hermy, what took you so long? Did Snape assign you extra homework again?" Ron questioned once she had settled down. Harry looked mildly interested as he helped himself with pasta.

"Ron, how many times do I have to tell you, he didn¡¦t assign me extra homework. I asked for the credit project myself and I got an ¡¥E¡¦!" Hermione answered indignantly, but thinking of what she was about to tell them, her tone softened, "He merely reminded me of my detention tonight."

"I see." Ron seemed satisfied and had no further comments on their potions master, to Hermione¡¦s relief. They sat and talked a little about their lessons and the latest rumors, filling themselves with delicious food. Hermione felt relaxed and slowly forgot about the confession until she received a death-glare from Lavender. She shuddered, and looked away. She could feel Lavender¡¦s eyes on her back.

"Listen guys, I've got something to tell you." She blurted out. The two boys pulled themselves from their Quidditch talk, and focused on her quizzically. Hermione shifted under their gaze, and opened her mouth, only to close it again.

"Well?" Harry prompted gently, eager to get back to Quidditch.

"I, well, I-" Hermione had a strange feeling that she was on a cliff and behind there were armies chasing her. She could sense Lavender egging her on, and with Ron¡¦s and Harry¡¦s expectant looks it was almost too much. She closed her eyes and mumbled, "Ihadacrushumape."

"Wha-?" Harry and Ron exchanged a look. Hermione took a deep breath, she had say it, it was their fault if they didn¡¦t get it.

"Would you mind repeating that?" Ron asked brightly. Harry nodded with much more interest now; he had never seen Hermione mumble.

"Look, it is not that important-" Hermione started when a hand landed on her shoulder. Lavender was standing beside her with a big fake smile. "Hullo guys, mind if I join you?" she greeted pleasantly. Hermione gulped visibly. Harry and Ron sniggered, finding Hermione¡¦s reaction of Lavender very amusing since they were normally the ones cowering before her.

"Hermione had something to tell you here," Lavender announced adding pressure on Hermione¡¦s shoulder, who winced and paled.

"Yeah, I-" Hermione tried, but her voice was not right. She cleared her throat, "Look, this is weird and please take it calmly... I have- oh you won't believe this- I have this thing called-"

"A crush," offered Lavender helpfully, her smile faker than ever.

"On Snape." Hermione finished and closed her eyes, feeling doomed. All noises in the Great Hall seemed to die down, and there was only a strange ringing in her ears.

----------

"You what?" Harry cried loudly, earning himself a few curious glances. He lowered his head and whispered, "You had a crush on that- that-" He couldn't find a creative insult.

Ron, to the other two's surprise, boomed with laughter. He slammed his fist on the table, ignoring the disapproving looks of his fellow Griffindor. He looked up at Hermione a minute later, obviously having a hard time restraining himself from another fit of insane laughter, and wiped a tear of mirth from his eye. "That¡¦s a good one Hermione! Harry, did you just hear what I hear? I believe Hermione has finally developed a sense of humor!"

Hermione looked at both of them uncertainly. Lavender had left after she had blabbed out, satisfied and thinking she had done what she had to, so Hermione was left with no support. She stammered, "But Ron, it was not a joke. It was... true."

The gigantic grin was still plastered on Ron's face, and he demanded jokingly, "Say, when are you going to tell him? Please don¡¦t do it in front of me because I may just be sick." He pretended to vomit over a dish, making some first years went 'ewww' and giggled.

Hermione went pallid, well, this is not unexpected. She closed her eyes wearily, the wish to cry had returned.

Harry elbowed Ron and pointed to the tired Hermione. Ron stopped chortling and watched the girl he had liked since God-knows-when. His grin subsided slowly, and he felt his color draining as well. Soon he was as white as Hermione.

"You are joking right? Tell me you are!" He wanted to grasp Hermione shoulders but Harry held him back. "Tell me! Tell me Hermione, tell me you didn't like him, we hated him, remember?" He shouted but fortunately the Griffindors were chattering and didn't hear him.

"Ron, I- I am sorry." Hermione's lips trembled, but she couldn't find anything else to say.

"You don't- you are jesting- you know how I-" Ron ranted, a drop of sweat rolled down his forehead. "You know all along Herm-"

"I am really, really sorry." Hermione berated herself for being so tactless and selfish. Sure she needed her friends' support, but that didn't justify her hurting Ron. Her chest heaved heavily as she filled herself with self-disgust and regrets. She tried to reach for Ron but he avoided her hand like he did in his third year, but then he was avoiding Peter Pettigrew. Yes, that's how he sees me now, some kind of filth. She felt a terrible jolt in her heart, her lungs asking for more air again. Ron's and Harry's friendship was most important to her, no matter how many arguments they had had, it was what made her new life in the wizarding world tolerable, with so many still frowning at her and referring her as 'mudblood'. And now she had dug a knife into Ron. She could feel the same knife stabbing into her abdomen at the same time. Harry looked at both of them with an unreadable expression.

"It's okay Hermione; it is not like you had ever considered me. There was always some Vicky or Cedric- don't you dare denying- before me, ain't there? It really doesn't matter if you just do it one more time." Ron replied with terrifying calmness, and with as much dignity as he could muster, he marched out of the Hall.

"Ron, no! I don't mean-" Hermione cried, inhaling shallow breaths, but Ron was already out of earshot.

"You know, that's very cruel of you Hermione," said Harry angrily, "You know Ron fancies you. You really shouldn't dump him like that."

"It's not like we had started anything!" Hermione wailed hopelessly. "It was not my fault; I never exactly led him on!" She stopped and gasped for air.

"Well, you never told him you don't like him either! How is he supposed to concentrate on his studies? Not to mention Voldemort's rising and he needs all he can learn from here! Now he'd probably flunk Potions on purpose!¡¨ Harry snapped savagely. Hermione gaped at him unbelievingly, if she had seen how Ron would react, she had not expected this from Harry. She clutched her chest tightly and stood up despite the getting-stronger pain.

"Harry Potter," she bellowed and the table, and soon, the whole Hall, fell silent upon hearing the name and seeing the rare sight of Hermione Granger losing her temper publicly, but she didn't seem to notice. "I tell you the truth because I trusted you both to be mature and understanding enough to see and empathize with my situation, which proves to be the worst idea of my life. And you know what? I think you two jerk can just go to hell because Lavender is right, I don't care what you think." Hermione went paler if that's possible, and she doubled up with pain. She shoved off Harry's helping hand and continued shouting, still unaware that the whole school was listening, "I am very, very tired of you snapping at me every chance you have, and I think it's about time someone smack you in the face and tell you the world don't stop revolving because you are angry. You think about this and when you are ready to say sorry, come and find me in the common room."

She had shouted all this very quickly, and her lungs were screaming when she had finished. She was not sure whether they could stand another shallow, raspy breath, but she stood up anyway and her only thought was to get away from everyone. She almost fell back into her seat. Nevertheless she stayed on her feet and walked. First, second, third...on her fourth step, she gasped a little and then an intense pain hit her chest, like someone was squeezing it with all his might. She tried reaching into her robes but her hands didn't react.

Her vision blurred and suddenly all she could see was emptiness, like she was staring at a big white wall. She blinked but she couldn't see anything else. She wanted to blink again but this time she didn't open her eyes again. Her body slumped onto the floor, and her last memory was hearing Harry's frightened cry.

----------

"How's she?"

"She will wake up any second now, don't worry dear,"

"Is she going to be okay?"

"She'll be fine, I am sure..."

Hermione wanted to hear more but her head was swimming and she couldn't make sense of it all. She squinted her eyes shut, afraid of seeing that white emptiness again.

"Madam Pomfrey, why is she frowning?"

"What? Let me see-"

Hermione felt someone touching her face. A gentle, warm touch. She fluttered her eyelids, and squinted them close when the painfully bright ray slipped through them. She tried again, this time, she could opened her eyes, only to feel herself surrounded by whiteness.

"Oh!" she wanted to sit up but her chest hurt, and what would be a scream came out like a moan.

"Thank God, you are awake!" Harry bent over to see her. Hermione gave him a small smile, and waved her hand. Harry got the clue and helped her up. "You've scared me Hermione, never faint again okay?"

"Yeah, like I can help it," she took the cup out of his hand and drank the water in one gulp. Madam Pomfrey rushed over and checked her temperature, then vacated the room.

"Hey, what happened? Why did I fainted? Where's everyone?" Hermione felt strong enough to bombard questions on Harry now, "And where is- where is Ron?" Even saying the name hurt.

"Whoa, slow down," Harry looked amused but frowned a bit upon Ron's name, "You fainted after our row. Looks like you had an asthma attack when you were very angry. Everyone freaked out- I mean, everyone except the Slytherins- and Lavender helped me to bring you here. Everyone is in class but you're excused. And Ron- Ron left before you woke up."

Harry is a terrible liar, Hermione noted but bit back the bitterness. She looked away and focused on the small painting on the far end of the infirmary.

"So..." Harry started uneasily. "Sorry Hermione. I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay," she interrupted him quietly, "I mean, who would want to have a crush on that greasy ol' twit? It was kind of hard to accept, I understand." She laughed mirthlessly, her eyes still fixing on the painting.

He sighed. "See, Lavender told me what kind of things you had gone through. I shouldn't let my temper out on you. I am really sorry. And you are right, the world don't stop revolving just because of my anger."

She turned to look at him, he was smiling nervously, playing with his fingers. She smiled back.

"So, er, now that I knew how you felt I decided," Harry said through great difficulty, "to give you my full support. Yeah." He patted her hand a little.

"Did Lavender threaten you to do this?" Hermione asked.

"Well, she said she would hex me into a hog if I don't, so yeah," Harry said, standing up. "But no, Herm, I trusted you to do the right thing, and I owed you support. So I say go for it Herm, running is not an answer. Don't let him have that power over you. Don't doubt, don't worry." He patted her hand again before leaving the room.

----------

Hermione pulled her robes and fixed her badge. She ran her hand over her hair, attempting to make it straighter. She rapped her cheeks slightly and put on a big smile. No, I'd look silly, she thought and smiled once more, in a more mature way this time. Feeling more or less satisfied with her appearance, she ordered the bludger in her heart to stop bouncing so vigorously and tapped, one, two, three on the large ancient wooden door.

----------

A/N: *the author wakes up and hugs Neville for helping her with the A/N above* Sorry for the cliffhanger and the shorter chapter, and sorry for not putting in the detention! But next chapter will be better, I promise! One of the lines are from Charmed last night...did someone notice? *Dances* And I have written a new story...sorta one-shot. Would all of you please go and r/r it? And this one too, REVIEW please! I need them to keep me going! And in the meantime, I will go and correct my chapters. *Sings again* My Beta is over the ocean, my beta is over the sea......*sigh*

BTW, can someone tell me what is ROTFLMFAO and LMAO?! *silly grin*