A/N: Thank you for all your reviews! Anyway. I'll shut up and get on with the story.
At lunch Harry and Ron piled their plates with sandwiches. "How can you two gorge yourselves so much?" Hermione queried as she snapped into a carrot stick. "I mean, you just had the feast last night, and then a huge breakfast this morning."
"Doing magic ish draining, Er-my-nee." Ron said through a mouthful of ham. Harry nodded in assent, his cheeks stuffed with chicken. She ate the rest of her salad quickly and drank her pumpkin juice, skimming the pages of her advanced arithmancy text. "How can you do that stuff?" Ron asked, looking over her shoulder at the complex symbols and equations. "My head hurts just from staring at the ruddy page."
"Some people's minds are just more mathematic." She shrugged, closing the book as the bell rang.
Hermione felt nervous about fraternizing with the Slytherins as she Harry and Ron descended into the dungeons. She picked a table alongside them and pulled out her textbook and set up her cauldron. She followed Draco with her gaze when he walked in but he didn't give her the slightest glance. He seated himself on the farthest end of the dungeon away from them and throughout class didn't bother them at all. When Snape dismissed them they all rose up and Hermione stuffed her potions book into her bag and hurried to the door. She accidentally bumped into Pansy on her way up the stairs and she dropped her books.
"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry." Hermione said, stooping to help her pick them up. Pansy made a disdainful noise, "Just leave them, I don't want your grubby hands all over them." she scowled.
"I was just trying to help." Hermione said defensively.
"Well maybe next time you should mind your own business. Or just don't get in the way in the first place you filthy mudblood." A voice said from behind her. Draco was smiling wryly from a step below her, his blue eyes narrowed. Crabbe and Goyle chuckled dully on either side of him.
Hermione pursed her lips and stared at him coldly for a second and then whipped around and stormed up the stairs. Harry and Ron had missed it all, and were already at the top of the staircase, joining the crowd in the hall. Hermione blinked back tears. Why was she reacting this way? She'd let her guard down and look what had happened…Well no more. She wouldn't let that idiotic excuse for a wizard get under her skin again.
After arithmancy she walked up the stairs to her dormitory quickly and dumped her books in their room. She didn't meet Draco on the way down and she quickly went into the Gryffindor common room and slumped into an armchair by the fire. A few minutes later Harry, Ron, Lavender, Parvati, and some other 7th years came in the portrait hole.
Ron and Harry sat down opposite Hermione in chairs.
"How was arithmancy?" Harry asked, stretching his feet out onto a puffy ottoman.
"Advanced arithmancy." Hermione corrected. "It's actually a good deal more difficult than the two years. I'm excited about the challenge that this year will be."
"Do you hear her?" Said Ron, grinning, "You know, Hermione, you're the only person I know who would say their class is ridiculously hard, and then follow it up with how pleased you are about it!"
"Well Hermione's just special like that." said Neville, pausing for a moment by Hermione's seat. "Have you seen Trevor?" He then added.
"Thank you, Neville." Hermione smiled. "And no, I haven't seen him around. Check in the bathrooms maybe?"
"Good idea." He said, hurrying off in that direction.
Harry looked up from the fire. "Do you want to go visit Hagrid for dinner tonight?" he suggested.
"I'd love to!" said Hermione "I didn't get to talk to him last night after we got off the train."
"Yeah, me either." Ron said.
"Well let's go see him then." Harry said, standing up.
They tramped down the lawn to Hagrid's hut and knocked on the door. He opened it and a grin broke out onto his hairy face. "It's about time yeh came ter visit me!" he cried, grabbing all three of them in a huge hug. He set them down a moment later, all of them smiling sheepishly and rubbing their ribs.
"We thought we'd ask to stay for dinner." Hermione said. "If it's not too much trouble."
"Not at all!" Hagrid beamed, "Go on, sit down!" he said, motioning to the chairs set around the table. "I swear all of yeh get bigger every time I see yeh." He smiled, sitting down with them. "I jus put the kettle on, so we'll have tea in a mo." He added.
They talked about the order's activities and movements of Voldemort, but also about lighter things, like N.E.W.T.s, Hermione's ranking as Head Girl, and quidditch. "Chudley Cannons are 26th in the league this year!" Ron boasted, "Last year they were ranked 33rd!"
"An' how bout the house team this year? Whatcha think, as captain, what's yer personal opinion Harry? Is the cup yers this year?"
"I hope so." Harry smiled. "But we'll need our new chasers trained up well, since they only joined last year. Of course, we've already got an excellent keeper."
Ron blushed slightly and added, "And of course the 'best seeker in a century'"
Both of them rolled their eyes and Hagrid laughed.
"Ah, I've missed yeh. All three of yeh."
They all poked at Hagrid's pheasant pie. Ron ate bravely at his until he found what appeared to be a beak in it and then politely declined a second helping. They sipped at strong tea until Hagrid suggested they go up and get to bed, as most people were probably cleared out of the great hall by then.
"Thanks for vistitin! I'll expect ter see more of yeh!" He called after them, and they waved as they walked back up to the castle. Ron and Harry said goodnight to Hermione as she took the turn that went to her dormitory and them to theirs. A deeper feeling of dread dropped into her stomach with each stair she took up the tower.
Readers: Uh-oh! Hermione/Draco confrontation! What'll happen?
Me: Ooooh, I dunnooo…how about you review and then find out!?