Disclaimer…if I told you I owned Harry Potter, would you actually believe me? (Let's put it this way, if I owned Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy would be locked away in my closet. But sadly, I had to settle with Tom Felton, so you know I don't own Harry Potter.)

A/N: I actually had a whole different chapter written for this story. I wrote it like a day after I wrote chapter three, but now it's…November 27th, and I've decided that I don't want to use the chapter I wrote. The original chapter that was written is WAY out of character, and I would like to keep them IN character (well mostly anyway). So I'm re-writing it. I'd be more then happy to let you read the chapter on your own time (so you could see how it would change the story DRAMATICALLY). All you have to do is type out your little review and remember to ask. The problem though, is I don't know how to show it to you. Maybe I could email it to you. Or I could publish it in the story (sorta like an update) and let you read it that way. Or I could save it as a present and let you read it at the end of the story, so you can see how the story ended up, and then imagine how it would have ended up if I published the original chapter instead. Or, I could let you all vote on it! Publish them both and let you decide which you would like to read! …but I'd rather not do that, since I have the whole story pretty much vaguely planned out basing it off of THIS chapter. Oh well, you tell me what you want. I'm just here to please you mates! I'm in America this week, so I had all of THEIR Thanksgiving off! How fab is that? Problem, though, is that school is taking place over on Jersey. So I have so much catch-up work it's unreal. I don't know how quickly I'll be able to update after this chapter. I'll write it out now, publish it, then I'll have to take a bit of a break. I'm going to try and get to work on another chapter of Reality Check, but I don't know yet. Well, enough of my jabbering, here's the next chappie! Enjoy!

Down With Love

By Andi JJ

Chapter Four: The Proposal

The most arrogant of all the students had to barge into the compartment while groping some random whore, with no consideration for The Head Girl, IE: ME!

It was all I needed to convince myself that this new "Down With Love" idea was worth it!

They threw themselves into the compartment as if no one was there. The girl was spread out along the seats with Draco on top of her feeling his way about.

ERLACK!

Maybe they didn't see me… they obviously didn't acknowledge me…

"Ahem." They needed to know that I was there, hinting to them to show more dignity.

But they didn't even flinch. In fact, the girl let out an extremely loud squeal as Draco let his hand drift up her shirt.

That's it. I'm out of here! There is no way I can stand to be in the same room as him while he's high on hormones. Like I had said before, this was just more of a reason why my new stand against love was a good idea: As soon as they get to Hogwarts, Malfoy's going to drop her like a lead balloon.

They still didn't notice me, and by now I just didn't care. I grabbed my things and stormed out of the compartment. I slammed the door shut behind me, hoping that I caught their attention… and I think I did, because there was a pause between the disgusting snogging noises.

I didn't turn around to check, I just kept heading down the hall of the train to Ginny's compartment. I needed to find her. I had to tell her my plan now, it was driving me mad having to keep it a secret so long, and now with Malfoy… I was about to explode! I just still can't believe he didn't see me… Okay, I'll be honest: I sort of wanted to impress him, of all people. You know, see the look on his face when he sees how much his little mudblood changed.

In Hogwarts, he's the Sex God. Every girl wants a piece of him. All I'll ever be in his eyes is dirt. So If I could tarnish his name among the girls in the school, I guess that would suit as revenge, but if I could tease him with my new change in appearance, that would be even better! It would be like taking a child into a candy store and telling him to look, but not touch. I wanted to flaunt around what he could never have…now that I think about it, Malfoy is no different then Tom, maybe if I treated Malfoy the way I want to treat Tom, I'll feel better.

But I STILL needed to talk to Ginny first!

It wasn't hard to find their compartment; they were in the same one they've always been in for the past four years. I walked in without even knocking… actually it didn't occur to me to knock. But I probably should have, because as soon as I slid the compartment open, they all jumped, startled at my appearance.

I know, you're probably thinking, "Why would they be startled if she just casually walked in?" Well, you see, I didn't just casually walk in, I sort of opened the door forcefully, and slid it shut so fast I was surprised it didn't shatter the glass that acted as its window. I guess that would startle any random, unsuspecting, unaware person.

I power-walked into the compartment and started pacing. Ginny was there, and she was looking at me as if I had gone mad. …Which I had.

"Hermione?"

I stopped and looked up. I knew Ginny was in the compartment, but I wasn't expecting Ron or Harry to be in there too. I know, that sounds silly, but for some odd reason, I just wasn't expecting them. I think, since I hadn't seen them all summer, I had just forgot about them. Oh, I'm so rude… It was Harry's voice that made me look up. He was watching me cautiously, and waiting for me to explain myself.

When I didn't, he went on, trying to make quaint conversation, as if nothing wasn't out of the ordinary, when, on the contrary, everything was.

"Ginny told us you made Head Girl. Congratulations!" Harry said hopefully.

I looked over to Ginny, who was still looking at me as if I was mad. Then I turned my head to Harry, who was smiling reassuringly. Something wasn't right though. There was an odd silence filling the room. Then I looked to Ron.

And I found my answer. Ron was staring at me in bewilderment. He was looking me up and down, with a shocked expression playing over his face. His face finally snapped back up to mine and I looked him straight in the eye.

"Bloody hell." He whispered. " 'Mione, what did you do to yourself?" He asked in disbelief.

I wasn't going to answer that. I had waited too long to explain my stand against love, and now Ron was going to make me wait longer. I'll just talk to him later. In fact, I'll talk to both him and Harry later. I was about to turn to Ginny and ask her to step out for a minute so we could talk, when Harry interrupted my thoughts AGAIN.

" 'Mione, who made Head Boy?" He asked curiously, still trying to maintain the 'quaint conversation'.

Okay, I'll answer that. Maybe it will take off some of the stress. And, it could lead into my conversation about my new theory.

I looked over to him with a painful smirk playing on my lips. "You'll never guess."

Harry looked over to Ron, hoping for a good guess, then looked back to me.

"I'll give you a hint," I said, giving in, "He's part ferret."

Harry looked at me in total shock and disbelief.

"No."

"Yes." I answered.

I felt that odd tension in the air lessen a bit.

"When did you find out?" Ginny asked this time.

I didn't even look at her when I answered. "Just now." Okay, now the odd tension was completely gone, but replaced instead with silent anger and confusion. I looked over to Ron, who was staring at the ground. His ears were looking a bit on the maroon side, and he seemed to be concentrating rather hard on the floor. But I didn't want to deal with this right now; I had to get this new plan of mine out and into the open.

"Ginny." I said, looking back to her. She looked up at me, showing me that she was giving me her full attention. "We need to talk."

She nodded as an answer.

"Now." I said.

I looked back over to the boys. "Please, do me a favor, and get out." I didn't mean to sound rude, but any passerby could tell that I was pissed beyond anything anyone could have ever imagined.

Thankfully, Ron and Harry saw this too, and did me that favor without hesitation.

Once they had left (I really have no idea where they went to) I took a seat across from Ginny. I could finally explain my theory and ingenious plan to her. And so I did. It didn't take long, and as I went on with this plan, I could see a very familiar twinkle in her eyes, one that I had only seen Dumbledore have. I think this was a good sign. Before I knew what was happening, Ginny stood up so abruptly and flew towards the door.

"I'll be right back, don't leave!" She said with a sinister grin on her face and the same twinkle in her big blue eyes.

I didn't have to wait that long for her to come back, maybe a few minutes or so, but when she came back, I really wasn't expecting what came next!

The compartment door slid open and in walked Ginny, then Parvarti and Lavender, and the rest of the schools female population, with the exception of any Slytherins (though this wasn't exactly surprising).

"Okay," Ginny said, taking a seat on one of the seats of the compartment (I was surprised one compartment could hold this many girls. Though, this was a magical train), "Tell them what you had just told me!" She said, looking like and eager child on Christmas morning.

I was a bit unsure about this, I mean, yeah, I wanted to get as many people into this as possible, but I didn't want to jump into it this quickly! I was hoping to just start off slow… like with S.P.E.W… but then again, look how far that got.

I was receiving many odd looks from some of the girls, and I could understand why. They were gazing at Hermione Granger, but in the same sense, they weren't. The Hermione Granger they knew was a bushy haired, know-it-all bookworm who believes in House Elf rights. The Hermione Granger they were looking at could pass as a super model candidate and was about to explain a new theory on love, and how to take a stand against it. If I were them, I'd be a bit on the confused side too.

But, I took the dive like a brave soldier and explained my theory. I told them my tale of the Sex God over brake, getting a few giggles as a response and a few "Ooer"s and "Aww"s. I explained how men shouldn't have to be the ones in control of a relationship and how women shouldn't have to suffer through one night of pleasure and a following day of neglect. I also explained how we had the opportunity to turn the tables, and start a revolution. I hoped this would be enough to convince the group of girls.

Well, I can successfully say I convinced them. But, I could see a few doubts lingering among a few of their faces.

I scanned the room… I don't know how much time had gone by but I must say, it was amazing how I kept all of their attention for this long.

I looked to Ginny, who was whispering to another girl. I watched them, waiting for her to say something. She saw me look her way, and stood up as if to say something on behalf of the audience.

She cleared her throat. "Hermione, what if we are in the middle of a relationship at this present moment? How do we take a stand against love then?" She asked. A few girls looked my way and nodded slightly, but still looking serious as if waiting for a good answer. I really DID have all of their attention… awesome! I seriously did not expect anything like this!

But as for the question, I wasn't expecting that either. I over looked the possibility that half of the girls in this room were in some kind of a relationship with a boy.

"Umm…" I thought about the question, it was a rather difficult one. Then it hit me! "Think about it this way," I started. "Compare how often you two…er, fondle… to how often you two talk." I didn't know if that made any sense, but judging by the expressions on the girl's faces, it must have.

The girls looked deep in thought and were talking amongst themselves. I was proud of my answer!

Then a slightly younger Hufflepuff stood up among the girls.

"Anthony and I don't exactly talk… all he ever wants to do is snog, he lets me do all the talking. So, when I compare them, we don't exactly talk, I do. But we snog… a lot." She blushed violently after her little speech. I was guessing that Anthony was her boyfriend.

After her comment, a few girls nodded and agreed, obviously saying that this same thing happens between them and their boyfriends also.

"Okay," I said, I had an answer to this one also (GO HERMIONE!) "If you do all the talking, how do you know he's listening? I mean, how often does he talk back? It's typical of a man to let the women do all the talking… and I'm asking if that's right. Let me give you an example. My muggle friend was in her boyfriend's room, and she was telling him this heart-braking story of how she heard from her schoolmates that he was messing around with other girls behind her back. Do you know how he responded to her emotions?" I asked, I was hoping that the girls were listening.

They shook their heads and were staring intently at me, waiting for the answer.

"He snogged her." I said. "That was his way of solving everything. He never said 'Yes, I'm messing around behind your back, could you ever forgive me?' and then snogged her, or 'No, that's preposterous! You're the only one for me!' and then snogged her… he just snogged her. And it turns out that he was messing around behind her back, and when she told me of this incident, I could see how much it hurt her, because that little bit of affection he showed towards her emotions that night seemed to convince her that he still loved her!" I finished matter-of-factly.

The girls just stared at me… Oh, no. Maybe I made this sound too unbelievable.

Then Parvarti stood up.

"How do we handle situations like that?" She asked.

I was about to answer, but she cut me off.

"No," She said.

Uh-Oh… 'No'?

"Better yet," She began, "How do we know if our boyfriends will act like that, or if they already do act like that? How do we know if they're really into us, or if they're only in it for the sex?" She asked. A few girls blushed after her last question.

PHEW! I though she was going to leave me there for a second.

Luckily, I had an answer for this, too.

"Test them." I said simply. If there was a slight doubt that I didn't have their attention before, it was gone now. Now, I knew I had all of their attention. They were looking at me eagerly, dieing to find out how to test their guys. "It's very simple." I went on. "Talk to them. I mean really talk to them. Ask them questions they have to answer with more then just one word. When you get together, try your best to avoid any… er, intercourse. See how long it takes him to want to get all over you. Time how long you can have an intelligent conversation with him and compare it to how long you can have a serious conversation with him about your emotions." I finished.

They looked at me, still not quite satisfied.

Ginny spoke up this time. "When? When should we do this and for how long?" She asked.

"Umm… Do it when ever you're alone with him… and… I'll give it a week. I'll be out for Head duties for one week with Professor McGonagall, so while I'm gone, I'll give you that week to test your men. When I come back, we can get together, and if you feel that the test was a waste of time, you don't have to put up with any of this. But for those who think that men are 'only in it for sex' (I looked right at Parvarti when I said that last bit) then I encourage you to show up, and we can fix this little mishap. Okay?" I asked.

"Too right!" Ginny replied eagerly.

A few others agreed or nodded and smiled.

But before I dismissed the meeting, I had to add one more important detail.

"Make sure you don't let any of this get out to any of the men! Or the professors!" I added as an after thought.

"What about any girls that aren't here now?" A random voice asked.

I thought about that question. The only ones who weren't here (it seemed) were the Slytherins. But I guess it wouldn't hurt to have them along…

"Encourage them to start!" I replied. "But make sure you explain to them also that they can't say anything to any men either! If any males find out, you can say 'Bye-Bye' to any true results and possibly any further plans for this stand"

I had faith in them…

With that, they all left the compartment leaving Ginny and I to talk amongst ourselves.

Ginny looked over to me when they were all gone.

"You know," She began, "They only trust this idea of yours because it's your idea. If any one could come up with a fool-proof plan, and carry it out with good results and a worth-while conclusion, it's you." She said smiling. "And your reasons were good enough to convince ANYONE!"

"Aww, thank you Ginny!" I said giving her a hug. She really is a great friend!

We giggled and laughed for a good while, and I was about to ask her what made her all giddy about this new stand when the compartment door slid open once more.

In walked Harry and Ron.

"Are we allowed in now?" Harry asked uncertainly.

"Of course!" I said happily.

"May I ask why there were a bunch of girls leaving this compartment just a few minutes ago?" Ron asked, a bit flushed in the face.

"Umm…" I didn't know how to answer that…they weren't allowed to know.

"No," Ginny piped up, "You can't ask."

That works too… I guess.

Ron and Harry exchanged odd looks.

"Where did you guys go?" I asked, hoping to change the subject.

"We just joined up with Neville, Dean and Seamus." Harry said. "We were actually having a good time until your ferret friend decided to show up.

I looked over to Ron and now understood why his face looked flushed, there was a small bruise rising on his left cheek. Obviously a brawl had broken out among them…

"RONALD AND HARRY!" I shouted. Okay, maybe I looked a bit different, and maybe they had seen me acting a bit different, but inside, I was still the same Hermione and I NEVER approved of fighting, even if it was with a pratty git. Only once had I come to the conclusion of fighting, and that was in third year when I punched Malfoy… but I had a good reason.

"But 'Mione, he was talking crap about you being the Head Girl!" Ron yelled back, a little hurt from my outburst towards him when I guess he was only trying to stand up for me.

I thought about his words… God, I hate Malfoy. But I still had my plan to tarnish his name among the Girl World.

"You just let me deal with him." I said with a sly smile. I glanced over to Ginny and gave a small wink. I don't know if the boys saw this, but if they did, they acted as if they didn't, so it wasn't brought up again.

We sat on the train in peace, talking, eating, or playing Exploding Snap. The rest of the ride to Hogwarts was pleasant and un-interrupted. It was… Perfect. I almost forgot about my whole ordeal over love.

Almost.

-tbc-

Ok... I discovered the line button! Oh Yea! Go Andi!!! So now I'm going to revise all the chapters!!! This way everything is evenly spaced! I don't know how soon I'm going to get the next chapter up, but I can tell you now I have it planned out. To be honest, I'm probably going to type it out tomorrow, and I won't post it until like... christmas. I don't know why I do this, but with all the traveling I do, and all the catch-up work I'm going to have, and my lack of memory, I can't garuntee a quick update. But you never know... maybe it'll be up by tomorrow night!

Hope yall enjoyed the chapter!

Ta,

Andi