Disclaimer: I do not Own Harry Potter. In this chapter, I used events on page 176-177 of HBP.

Chapter Seven

"Wake Up! Wake Up! You're going to be late for breakfast!" Ginny said as she tried to poke Hermione awake.

"Mmm.. Stop.. That tickles… Wait! What time is it? I can't be late! I'm a prefect" Hermione said as she sprung out of bed and ran to the washroom to get ready.

I can't believe I slept in.. Now I'm ten minutes late to breakfast! Just think about the horrible example I am setting for the younger years. Hermione visibly sighed as she sat down with Ron and Harry. The fact that they beat me to breakfast means something. Stupid Malfoy, kept me up all night thinking about what to do.. Where exactly should we meet for our conversations… the library will never do. We can't go out side anywhere we could be seen. Maybe I will have to find a spell where we could both be invisible? No, that won't work.

Hermione continued to play with her food until Ron interrupted her thoughts.

"Earth to Hermione! Are you there somewhere!" asked Ron.

"Of course, I'm right here. Sorry. What do you want?" she asked.

"Nothing… Just trying to get your attention. Is everything okay?" Ron inquired.

"Hmm.. Yes." Hermione felt instantly better from Ron stating he wanted her attentions.

"Err… right. Well… Anyways, we got Advanced Potions today" Harry said as he attempted to keep a conversation with Hermione continuing before she got lost in her own thoughts, again.

"Oh no. That's right. With the Slytherins… Oh well. Have to make the best of it. Not like we haven't had potions with them since year one. Why would this one be any different?" Said Hermione rather bitterly.

"Well.. You know.. it is actually smaller classes, not all Slytherins are in advanced potions, Herms. It won't be that bad." Said Harry while raising an eyebrow at his friend and trying to understand her mood.

"Will Draco be there?" asked Hermione looking Harry right in the eye.

"Um.. well.. he was Snapes favorite pupil. Even though he's not teaching it this year, I think its safe to assume that he will be there….." replied Harry hesitantly.

"Then it will be that bad." She replied

If Draco did anything to her, I swear I will hurt him. I will hex him into oblivion. He must have done something. Hermione is never this on edge. Don't you worry though; I will be there for you. Harry thought as he glared at the Slytherin table only to see Draco was glaring right back at him. What the Fuck? He continued to think to himself.

"I agree. Draco is a git. But me and Harry will be there Hermione. For once, I'm almost relieved to have Potions. It will be so much fun not to have to worry about Snape dropping a bit of poison into our potions." Agreed Ron.

"Right. Snape is a master of potions though. Don't think he would poison a student as a teacher. But, um, yeah... I forgot. I got to go read over some notes, I will catch up with you guys later." Hermione replied distractedly while picking up her book bag and exiting the room.

She probably noticed Malfoy glaring at us too. Harry thought as he saw his best friend walk quickly out of the hall.

Later that day, Hermione was in much better spirits then she was at breakfast. She was able to meet up with Harry and Ron during breaks and talk with them normally, even happily. Although she did notice that Harry was placing close attention to her. She had a harder time putting up a fake façade around him because he knew her too well, and also because she hated hiding or lying from him. He was truly her best friend. Unfortunately, she knew that class with Draco prove to ruin her mood, as he always does.

Draco was angry as ever. I miss Professor Snape he thought bitterly. Snape never put up with little miss-know-it-all bitch. Professor SlugAss doesn't even care that my father is a Malfoy! A fuckin pureblood! I should be hailed in this class and be part of his slug club. But its not worth it. I could care less. I just wish Hermio… Granger would stop showing off. Oh, look, another question she got right. I knew the answer too dammit, but you don't see me showing off… His attention returned to class as he saw Hermione blushing.

"May I ask your name, my dear?" said Slughorn, ignoring Hermione's embarrassment.

"Hermione Granger, sir" she replied as she was thinking this year maybe potions won't be that bad after all!

"Granger? Granger? Can you possibly be related to Hector Dagworth-Granger, who founded the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers?"

"No, I don't think so, sir. I'm Muggle-born, you see"

There she goes, showing off her lowly heritage again. "Pss. Nott. Clearly she meant to say she's Mudblood and could not possibly be related to anybody worth knowing"

"Oho! 'One of my best friends is Muggle-born and she's the best in our year!' I'm assuming this is the very friend of which you spoke, Harry?" asked Slughorn.

"Yes, sir," said Harry. She is also one of the most kind-hearted and beautiful witches of our year. Heck, she is probably the smartest and prettiest witch of our time, not just our year.

Malfoy looked rather as he had done the time Hermione had punched him in the face. This is completely insufferable. Why is she always praised? No wonder she thinks she knows everything, everyone treats her like a goddamn queen! I still can't believe the nerve of the mudblood.I wonder if Hermione is still going to "force" me to talk to her. I will just lie.. thats not a big deal. But I will have to be careful of what I say, make sure nothing slips. Then again, at the point, I don't even have a plan! Dammit! Granger is going to be such a waste of my fucking time. I will just make up a quick lie, and then she won't be bothering me anymore. Aww how cute, Potter earned brownie points. Freakin LOSERS.

"Did you really tell him I'm the best in the year? Oh, Harry!" she couldn't help but smile at her best friend. She also noticed the look the Malfoy had on his face, but did not let that damper her moods. Ron was even showing some signs of jealousy, at least I think its jealousy.. maybe he does like me!

Hermione spent the rest of the class paying class attention to the side effects of liquid luck. As a muggle born, she had an advantage over many half-bloods or pure-bloods. Not that many people would see it that way. Everything she learned was new and exciting. Her ordinary life in London pales in comparison to everything she got to learn at Hogwarts. She felt lucky to be a witch and wanted to learn as much as possible because knowledge of the wizarding world was like a gift to her. She did not want to take advantage of things that are so great. That why she continued to concentrate, even though she could feel Draco glaring at her and she still had no idea about what to do with him.; where would she talk to him?And what would shesay to him?

The day continued as normally, as far as a normal day went at Hogwarts. When dinnertime approached, Hermione was quite relieved.

As a prefect, she offered tutoring and counciling to younger students. Today, she had a first year boy named Damian Karol visit her. He wasn't even from the Gryffindor house! He was Ravenclaw, but since no other prefects offered tutoring or help like Hermione, he went to her. Of course, she couldn't refuse talking to the boy that was scared out of his wits of Snape. She was finally able to convince him just to pay close attention to his work and lesson plans, as a good Ravenclaw always does, and eventually he would get used to Snape.

On the way to the Great Hall for dinner, Hermione got thought about other times she tried to help student over come fear and be stronger. Instantly she thought about how much she enjoyed DA meetings.

Suddenly, it hit Hermione.

"That's it!" she said outloud, forgetting that she was by herself and getting quite a few weird looks from other people heading towards the Great Hall.

Malfoy and I will just have to meet in the Room of Requirement! Perfect!

She had no way of knowing how badly this decision would unfold at the future. At the time, it just seemed like the perfect place for her to get Malfoy to open up to her so that she could help him; to prevent the dark side from getting one more person.

In less than a year from now, she would be wishing she could go back in time to this exact moment.

SugarN'SpiceRin: Mythology! That would be interesting! I can't believe you spent soo long writing a paper, I'm the worst procastinator when it comes to things like that. Hence, I now admire you :P Glad you like the chapter! Oh, and i agree, relationships should be built up slow, it def. does make it more realistic! I just wanted to make sure I don't bore the audience :)

Sparkle Black: Thank You So Much for All the Reviews! I've learnt my lesson on referring back to the book about specific details :) Don't worry tho, I'm not easily offended and I love constructive criticism, it could only help me to improve! Also, just about Hermiones character - at the quidditch field it was more instinctive for her to go up to Draco. She didn't really reflect over what she was doing, nor did she realise it would turn out to be a big deal. But with the scene at the library, she felt proud of being on her own with out Wonder boy and Sidekick Weasley because she had time to be logical about it, and there was greater risk because he had proof that he was a death eater, so in my head it was a big step for her. But i could definetly see now that it would be harder for a reader to see it as that because I left most of the explaination in my own head :P Sorry. Thanks Again!

Please keep Reading and Reviewing )