Walking around the empty halls only made Hermione more depressed and lonely. Her steps quickened and before she knew it she found herself in the safety of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Nothing had changed from the second year. Slowly she sank to the cold tile floor leaning back against the sink.
"Hermione… why did you not leave with the others?" A female voice asked.
Opening her eyes Hermione glanced up seeing the translucent ghost hovering above her. Oddly there was a look of concern on the dead girl's face as she lowered herself so that she was face to face with the bushy haired Gryffindor.
"I didn't want to go home." Hermione sighed closing her eyes again thinking bout all that was going on between her parents.
"Where is Harry Potter?" Myrtle asked.
Hermione again looked up at the girl and glared. "He went home with his best friend." She said.
"Oh" was the only response followed by a high pitched moan as Myrtle disappeared from sight.
Alas she was alone again. Her thoughts were once again closing in on her and tears started to fall as she realized that Ron hadn't even invited her to come home with him to the burrow. They didn't want her she thought darkly. Only wanted her for the homework and the potions, that's all.
Her grades were dropping and she didn't care. Even Snape was wondering why she wasn't doing her best, but she didn't care.
Getting to her feet Hermione leaned against the sink, peering into the mirror. What stared back at her was nothing like the girl she remembered at the beginning of the year. Her once bright and happy honey eyes were now dull and void of any emotion. There were dark circles under her eyes from many sleepless nights. Her cheeks were sunken making her face gaunt. Bringing a thin hand to her face she traced her cheeks before running it through her tangled hair.
Holding her hand out in front of her she gazed down at it dully. In the past few months she had become thinner from lack of food in her system which clearly showed in her skeletal hand.
Tears pricked her eyes again at the thought that no one had said anything to her about her current appearance. Slipping out of her robe she yanked her shirt sleeve up revealing the angry pink, white and red scars that were running along her pale thin arm. She didn't have to look at the other arm to know it was almost the same. Absently her fingers traced the scars before she pulled the blade out of her pocket and brought it up to look at it.
"No one would care if I was gone." She whispered pressing the blade slightly to her skin.
Without little effort she dragged it across her skin watching with grim satisfaction as the blood appeared and began to stream down her arm and into the sink below. She did this a number of times until she felt slightly light headed and had to brace herself.
"What are you doing!" Myrtle's surprised voice came from above her.
Startled Hermione dropped the blade and looked up at the pigtailed ghost. "I… I was…none of your business." She stuttered out finally.
"You're not trying to kill yourself are you?" The ghost asked in glee.
"Myrtle leave me alone!." Hermione screamed in frustration grabbing her robes and running out of the bathroom.
Hermione blindly raced down the hallways not really sure where she was going, not really caring. She didn't even notice that she ran right passed Severus Snape who wore a shocked look only for a moment before turning and striding quickly after the girl.
Snape saw the 6th year coming down the hall at breakneck speed, barely getting out of the way. He could tell something was wrong with the girl and slight worry crossing his mind before he decided he better go find her.
Normally he didn't care about what the students were doing but something seemed so familiar in Granger's behavior the past few months. She had withdrawn from the golden boy and Weasley slowly. Her homework he had noticed was not up to par for Miss Know-it-all. Along with poor homework she had been tardy to several classes and had not retaliated in the least when he took points away.
Turning a corner Snape realized that he had lost her for she was no where in site. Taking one more glance her turned in the direction of the dungeons pushing all thoughts of Granger out of his mind.
Hermione slowed when the ache of her legs and her labored breathing was too much. She collapsed against the wall brushing tears from her eyes, concentrating on her breathing. Her head throbbed and her arms burned where she had sliced open the delicate skin.
The cuts were still spilling her precious life source as she stared at it blankly, tracing the scars yet again. As her mind slowed she became exhausted and decided to go back to Gryffindor tower to sleep, to escape from the world of loneliness.
Pushing herself to her feet, Hermione trekked back the way she came and found her way up to the portrait of the fat lady. Whispering the password she walked into the dark cold common room and sighed. It was so much different when no one was here. The warmth of the dorm was gone in all aspects. She trudged slowly up the stairs and to the 6th year girl dorm. Throwing her robe onto the end of her bed she slowly undressed and walked into the bathroom naked.
Hermione turned the water on and adjusted the temperature, testing it with her hand. As the hot water hit her wrist she hissed in pain as it mingled with the still flowing blood and jerked it back out of the spray.
"I don't deserve to be here." She whispered as she stepped into the spray of hot water.
She pulled her hair back away from her face and sighed feeling the warmth surround her thin body. Hermione stayed under the hot stream of water for a long time taking in the warmth that she so desperately needed.
Grudgingly Hermione stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a thick towel lazily walking back into the bedroom where she dressed in her night clothes and climbed into bed.