Hey! First off, I want to say THANKS BUNCHES to those of you who reviewed. You have no idea how much you made my day! And second, I will not beg you all to review. That is your choice, and I am able to take constructive criticism in stride. I ask one thing of you, though. Please don't write to tell me you hate it, without telling me why – cause that's just annoying. Oh, and I decided that I probably won't answer people individually, unless you have a question. Nothing personal. Anyway, here's the story.

Um, yeah, by the way – I don't own Harry Potter or anyone else, though I wouldn't mind it. But let's face it, I don't, and I suppose this is the next best thing. Ok, here's the story. Really.

Chapter 2 : Hacky Sack and…

(A/N ha ha, told you so! Sorry, couldn't help myself)

It was third block. Hermione had been through Civics, where she found Mr. Eckhart to be rather eccentric. After hearing her speak, he decided to give her the nickname 'Britain'. Since they were reviewing for their final exam, Hermione just read through the book. Roxy's second block was Math, with Mr. Hazelman. Roxy didn't pay attention, and passed notes to Hermione, while she scolded. She was shocked to learn that either he didn't care or didn't notice. She had a hard time swallowing both. So she was now in Mrs. Pearson's biology class, where it was a 'food day' as Roxy called it. Hermione came to the conclusion that Mrs. Pearson was a very peppy person, and liked to have excuses for class parties. Hermione went to C lunch with Roxy, and almost had a choked on her noodles when they began talking about witches. She soon found they were talking about a TV show, and made friends with everybody quickly. They weren't the kind of girls that giggled ALL the time, and they seemed to love reading as much as she did. And while most of Roxy's friends were in band, Roxy had choir fourth block. Hermione was nervous about that class.

"So, I won't have to sing, right? I mean, I don't know any of the songs, and…" she trailed off.

"No, don't worry about it. Today is just show choir, and I'm not in that, so we just have study hall for the whole block. Everybody pretty much just talks."

"Oh, well then. Where are we having study hall?"

"The auditorium. Almost everybody wants to watch show choir practice, and the hackers have space, so they like it too."

"The hackers?"

"Yeah. It's just a bunch of dudes that aren't in choir or anything. They play hacky-sack. See, there they are now."

Roxy and Hermione had come from the lockers to find a group of boys standing in a circle on the whole left wing of the auditorium.

"It looks like fun. Let's go over."

"No way. I don't know how to play."

"So, we can both learn. Come on."

Hermione dragged Roxy over to where they were all playing. A blonde had his head back to theirs, and she couldn't see his face. Hermione started to feel a little nagging voice in her head. One of the boys missed the little sack, and they finally took notice.

"Did you want anything?"

"No. Hermione was the one who wanted to come over here."

"Yeah, sorry if we bothered you. I've just never seen this kind of game before."

"Oh, it's cool. Hey, Ryan, ya hear that? Sounds like she's from England."

"No shit Sherlock." He said sarcastically.

Hermione recognized the voice right away.

"Malfoy?!?!"

She couldn't help herself. She clapped her hand over her mouth as he turned around. "Ryan" was now facing Roxy and Hermione. She looked at him, shocked. He was so different. He was wearing semi-baggy jeans and had a black T-shirt on that was just tight enough to show his muscles. He had on black Vans (perfect for hacky-sack), and his hair was different. It was sorta shaggy and his bangs were hanging in front of his eyes. Hermione was astonished. He stepped forward.

"Hey, you okay?"

That just pushed her over the edge. So she did the only thing she could think of. She fainted.

Hermione awoke to find water being sprinked over her head and felt someone looming over her. She hesitantly opened her eyes and then immediately closed them as she saw who was over her. It was Malfoy.

"Malfoy, what are you doing here?"

"Hey, who are you talking to? Open your eyes."

'Why would he ask whom I was talking to. I said his name. Well, his last name, but still.' She heard Roxy's voice.

"Hermione, what happened? Why did you faint?" She sat up as he was no longer over her, and opened her eyes.

"Mr. Hazelman went to get you a drink of water. He'll be back soon though. Are you alright?"

"Could you just stop talking right now, Malfoy?"

"Hermione, who are you talking too? His name is Ryan, not Malfoy. What kind of a name is Malfoy?"

"It's a last name. His first name is Draco. I call him Malfoy."

She stood up. They were all staring at her blankly. All except for Malfoy. He had a strange, unreadable look on his face. She stepped forward.

"Look, Draco, enough's enough. Why are you here? You left in the middle of the school year!"

"You know me? We went to school together?"

"Of course. And you know me. Hermione Granger. What is wrong with you? Why Swanton, Ohio of all places. How did you do it? Even Dumbledore couldn't find you."

"Look, I can't remember anything. How long have you known me? Were we friends?"

"What do you mean? Look Malfoy. Granger. Know it all Granger. Mudblood Granger. And now you're telling me you don't know me?"

"Draco. Draco Malfoy. What's a mudblood?"

Once again, her hand flew to her mouth. He really didn't know!

"What? Hermione, what's going on?"

"Roxy, can't talk now." She grabbed his hand, "I need to talk to you."

She pulled his through the halls until she found an empty classroom. She started pacing the length of the room. He reached out to stop her and pulled away when she flinched at his touch.

"We weren't friends, were we?"

Hermione stopped her pacing and sat on a desk.

"No. We were anything but. You were ferret-boy and I was mudblood Granger. You hated me because of my parents. You never gave me a chance. And…."

Hermione broke off. She put her head in her hands, and soon he realized she was silently crying. He went to comfort her, but she pulled away.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I just can't remember anything and… I'm sorry."

"It's just not possible. You don't remember any of it? Me slapping you in third year, beating you in grades, you making fun of me? Nothing?"

"I made fun of you? Why? You just said you beat me in grades, and it's not like you're ugly-"

He was about to go on, but she stopped him.

"Wait. You don't think I'm ugly?"

"No. I'm not blind. All the guys are talking about you. And the accent just makes you more-"

This time the bell cut him off. They were silent for a minute.

"I've got to find Roxy. Do you know where she lives?"

"Yeah, but – "

"Be there, tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. I'll be up."

"What about school? You don't seem like the type to just skip it, and I'm not either."

"Well, I'm assuming you want to know more about yourself, and with who you are, it doesn't really matter."

"Was. Who I was. Past tense." After he said that, he walked past her and left the room. Hermione would repeat those very words to herself countless times that night, wondering what it could mean. She told Roxy that she wouldn't be going to school with her anymore. Roxy didn't question it, because after all, it was school. That night she wrote a very important, if not somewhat cryptic letter.

So? How'd you like it? Sorry it took so long, and I do plan on updating as regularly as I can. I'm in school right now, and exams are here. But next semester will be much easier. So, in turn, it will be easier to update more often.

Vamoose! BAM! Swoosh! $arah