I think I confused everyone with the last chapter that I uploaded…It wasn't a repost, I stuck in a new chapter five…ah…well…

New chapter now! And I'll get it right this time, I promise!

Disclaimer: Harry Potter equalsJ. K. Rowling's genius equalsnot mine.

How She Came to Be…

Chapter VII:

What Will Come, Will Come (1994)

Hermione, now age fifteen with relentlessly bushy hair (unless a generous amount of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion was applied), perched on a large boulder next to the giant lake in front of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A group of second years giggled and shrieked as they splashed and swam a few feet away from her. She ignored them as she stared at the horizon.

Who knew all this would happen? Ron was up in the Gryffindor tower, playing chess with Harry. Nobody in the school really knew about what happened after Harry and Cedric Diggory reached the Triward Cup, except Dumbledore and the select few that Harry opened up to.

She clenched her hands into tight fists. It was the stupid Triward Tournament. It wasn't fair. If the stupid tournament wasn't reinstated, then You-Know-Who would not have gotten his hands on Harry and used his blood to make a body. A body that was no longer affected by the invisible force that Harry's mother left to protect him.

She relaxed her arm muscles. No, it wasn't the tournament. She sighed, her head tilted forward dejectedly. It was bound to happen sooner or later. You-Know-Who was back. It was just a bit sooner than anyone expected.

And the Ron business this year! One minute he was her best friend, fun, insane, sidekick Ron, but the next minute…he was a completely different person. No, that wasn't right. She saw him in a different light. And Victor Krum? He was older than her by three years and noticed her before all the boys in her year put together! What happened to a normal life? What happened to destroying evil and living in peace for all eternity? What happened to being able to predict every move that the rest of the world made? Life was so complicated.

"That's a fake life," she murmured under her breath. But, still, she liked being ahead of everyone else. Which was why she liked school. The only people that die or do anything unpredictable were already dead, so it didn't matter. All she had to do was read each textbook thoroughly and understand it before anyone else did. But…

Life wasn't a game of winners and losers. It was a journey that everyone took that went to the same place; some just got there earlier than others.

"Herm-own-ninny?" came a gruff voice.

She looked up and was surprised to find the renowned Quidditch star on the deck of the Durmstrang ship, looking at her. He looked down at her with a strange expression. "Are you all vight?"

"Hi, Victor," she greeted with a slightly forced smile.

There was an awkward pause.

"Vell, I haf to go help vith the chores," he said, pulling his wand out of his pocket.

"You do chores?"

"Vhy, of course!" he said, taken back by the surprise in her voice. His offended expression changed as she raised an eyebrow, "Vell, actually, Karkaroff never made me vork much. But I think I should now that…" his eyes darkened.

"Okay, then, I'll see you later!" she said quickly.

"Good-vye," he said in wistful tone. She waved as he disappeared into the cabin. Sighing because she was unable to figure out the problems that were burning her forehead, Hermione got up from the boulder and walked up to the great castle of Hogwarts, deep in thought.

"Welcome back," Ron Weasley greeted as his bishop wrestled a pawn off the chessboard. "Where've you been?"

"Out," she answered as she pulled a chair up to the table where the lanky redhead and raven-haired boy were sitting.

"Doing what?" asked Ron.

"Thinking."

He blew out a puff of breath. "How many times do we have to go over this: thinking is not something you want to do at three in the afternoon, especially at the end of the year!"

She glared at him. "Well not thinking, especially in between classes, can make idiots like you walk into the wrong bathroom."

Ron flushed bright red. "It was just that one time!"

"Yeah, one time too many!" she shot back.

"Will you two shut up so I can make my move in peace?" Harry asked impatiently as he stared at the stone chess figures.

The two quickly fell into silence as Harry directed his knight forward.

I feel sorry for him, thought Hermione as she sat back and stared at the chessboard unseeingly. She looked around the common room and was not surprised to find its comfortable, scarlet couches empty. Everyone's either outside enjoying the weather or they are avoiding Harry because they think he killed Cedric or something equally absurd. It's stupid how gossip blazes through the school. She looked at the two boys before her. They both seemed older than the other boys in their year, especially the one with the famous lightning bolt-shaped scar.

"Hey, Hermione."

She blinked and refocused her vision, breaking out of her reverie. "What?"

"D'you wanna play?" Ron asked as he motioned at the chessboard. The white figures were hopping up and down with glee, thumping sounds of stone on wood could be heard over the squeals of pleasure.

"You won again?" she asked even though she already knew the answer.

"Of course," he spread his arms out to make himself look superior. "I'm the master of chess, remember?"

"Someday one of us is going to de-throne you," she said as she got out of her chair.

"So do you want to play?" he asked, dropping his arms to his sides.

"No," she refused flatly.

"But…but," Ron looked at her with pleading eyes.

"Go pack your trunk!" she ordered as she pointed at the boys' dormitory, ignoring the belly flop that her stomach made when she looked at his expression. "Harry, go with him so he won't decide to procrastinate and wait until tomorrow morning!"

Ron grumbled as he roughly swept his still-celebrating chess figures into his arms. The figures shrieked in protest as they jarred and bounced with every stomp that he took. Harry's figures sniggered until the famous boy-who-lived swept them into his arms.

"And if you play chess up there, I'll take your figures and chuck them into the lake!" Hermione called after Ron's retreating back. He scowled at her. She placed her hands on his hips and glared at him warningly. Harry chuckled quietly as he followed the less-than-pleased redhead up the spiral steps.

She waited until she was up in the empty girls' dormitory before she burst into laughter. It was moments like those that made life worth living. With a very bleak future standing before them, Hermione quietly cherished these moments. Despite the drama of having a man three years older than her telling her that he liked her, of being friends with two of the greatest guys in the world, and of trying to find herself as a war between the good and the evil loomed before her.

Sure they might die sooner than they expected. Sure she was a major target because she was a close friend of Harry's. And, sure they were definitely going to grow up a few years faster than expected, but so long as Ron kept cracking his jokes, Harry kept his feet on the ground, and she kept everyone in line, they would be all right.

She smirked at a glass jar on her bedside table. Maybe she could tell the other two she captured a certain nosy reporter when they got on the train the next day…

She sighed as she started to pack her trunk. Being the eldest and most responsible was not fun, but someone had to take the job. She was just grateful it wasn't Ron…

Wow, that was a short one… Next one's definitely gonna be longer! Especially since it's…it's my last chapter…(-tear- -tear-).

Watched Chamber of Secrets on ABC last night! Seriously can't wait for the fourth movie! Or the sixth book for that matter! More so the book than the movie…

I'm a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE Hermione/Ron shipper, so I kinda stuck the little stuff in. Sorry, I'm a sucker for that couple. Can't wait 'til they get together (and for Ron to grow up, for that matter…)

Okay, um…anything else?

Oh. Yeah.

PLEASE REVIEW! I could use some constructive criticism (flames are okay, too…so…) 'coz I only have a chapter left and I really wanna make it my best one! Plus those things are better than chocolate…so…

'Til we meet again, my little muffins,

Farfanugans,

Chikin Wang.