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.

She came to the door, took a deep breath, and then opened it. Draco lay on his bed reading, his hair stylishly tousled, his shirt collar unbuttoned and tie loosely hung around his neck. He looked up as she came in and she gave him a cold stare and went over to her bed and sat down, slipping her shoes off.

"Didn't see you at dinner." He said after a moment. "Where'd you go?"

"What do you care?" Hermione said stonily, turning away from him and slipping her robes up over her head. She slipped her tie off and hung it in her wardrobe and tossed her robes down the laundry chute beside her dressing table.

"Grang-…Hermione…" Draco said slowly. "I'm…I…" He seemed to only be getting out one word at a time. She faced him, her hands on her hips. He was sitting on the side of his bed, staring at his feet. He no longer looked remotely cool, but downtrodden and ashamed.

"What? You wanted to apologize for how you acted today so you can wake up tomorrow and do it all again?" Hermione spat. "I know you Draco, whether or not I'm good enough for you to have bothered to get to know me. And one thing I've found from 6 years of dealing with you is that you don't change, and you're never sorry. So why don't we just put apologies and false civility behind us and decide to hate each other properly? That makes everything ever so much simpler."

She stalked into the bathroom and slammed the door of the stall, sitting on the toilet seat with her head in her hands. She gritted her teeth and blinked her eyes furiously. Why did he make her act this way? Why was she letting him get to her? As he'd sat there on the bed looking at her while she barraged him with words he'd seemed so shocked…So hurt. How dare he feel hurt? How dare he make her feel guilty? He'd made life hell for her whenever he could for half a dozen years, and now what? She was supposed to just give up, lie down and accept it because he'd attempted an apology? Well he had another thing coming to him if he thought that.

She took a hot shower and then toweled her hair and changed into pajamas. As she brushed her teeth she couldn't help still feeling a twinge of guilt. Maybe he really had been sorry…Maybe he'd realized how mean it had been…Maybe he'd had an explanation for why he'd said what he did. She drank some water and walked out into the main room. The hangings on Draco's bed were closed and he was nowhere to be seen. She walked out onto her balcony and looked out. The lake was glassy and beautiful in the moonlight and Hagrid's hut peeked out at the edge of the forest, light shining in the window. The air was crisp and she wrapped her arms around herself as cold breeze blew past. She went back inside after a few minutes. Draco still appeared to be hidden in his bed. She climbed into her bed and closed the hangings. She decided she'd stay mad at him for now, just to be in good form.

She woke up the next morning. A crack in the hangings around her bed let sunlight stream in and she pulled open the curtains enough to look at her clock. Her alarm was going to go off in about five minutes anyway, so she clambered out of bed. Her feet hit the cold wooden floor with a soft pat and she stood up and stretched, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She looked over at Draco's side, but he was gone, his hangings open and his bed vacated. She walked into the bathroom and squinted. There were water droplets in the sink that looked to be spelling letters.

I-A-M-S-O-R-R-Y.

She wiped the water away and shook her head. She was imagining things now. She brushed her teeth and pulled out her floss, when she cut it on the box it fell from her hands onto the floor and in cursive letters traced out:

I-Am-Sorry

She felt something stir in her stomach as she picked up her floss and continued to get ready. When she ran the hot water as she washed her face the mirror fogged. She looked up and there, written in the water vapor-

I'M SORRY

She went to her wardrobe and when she opened it her ties leapt off of their hook and spelled out-

SO SORRY on the floor.

She smiled to herself and finished getting dressed. She went down to breakfast and watchfully ate a half a bagel, having just seen several spoons and forks spell out

VERY SORRY! Between the bacon platter and egg dish.

Ron and Harry joined her a minute later, and the owls delivered post. A small note was dropped in front of her reading "I'm sorry!" in a curly scrawl. She folded it up and pocketed it, before either boy could pry.

When they walked out of the great hall many people were pointing and talking loudly. Hermione scarcely dared to look up, because sure enough, about 50 candles had been conjured up to float in the word "SORRY" above their heads. She felt herself turning pink as they walked to Care of Magical Creatures, and neither Harry nor Ron could understand why.

Readers: Awwwwwww….FLUFF! I'm LEAVING

Me: B-b-but there was a big hissy fight too!!

Readers: …that's true…

Me: please review? I promise – it gets better

Readers: …hrmmm…