Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, they are the brilliant works of the marvelous J.K.Rowling. I also do not own Coldplay or To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee.

CHAPTER 12

Hermione did not hear much that lesson. She occasionally caught some of the static noises and then over dramatic voices coming from the TV, and the quiet gasps and laughter from other students. But not Harry and Ron, they were not laughing. At the end of the class Hermione rushed out of the room to catch up with them. They had not stopped to wait for her like they normally did, and were only a few feet in front of her. She called out to them, and Draco caught up to her. She called again, and finally they stopped and turned around. Hermione gasped seeing Ron's face streaked with tears. His complexion was blotchy and his ears red. Harry gave her another contemptuous look and they turned and left. She collapsed, and Draco had no choice but to bundle her up and take her back the their room.

The next week was terrible. Ginny was the only one that would talk to Hermione, but she was torn between Hermione and Ron. The two friends often met in the library when it was fairly empty, sitting in a deserted corner. Hermione knew that Ginny was doing this so that Ron wouldn't find out that they were talking to each other. She didn't mind, she just wanted someone to talk to.

Normally they talked about how upset Ron was, and how Harry had been breaking things and then putting them magically together again just to break them the next day. He was angry. Ginny went through different moods. One day she was bubbling about how her best friend was going out with the gorgeous Draco Malfoy, and the next day she was confused how she could do that to her best friends.

Maybe it was because Hermione felt alone that it happened, or maybe it was because they were getting further in their relationship, but Hermione and Draco were actually getting closer during all of this. He was expecting her to push him away, as if he was the cause of all of this trouble. They didn't have to worry about Harry and Ron telling anyone what was going on; according to Ginny they were still in a funk about it, and were hardly talking to anyone but each other. Hermione felt that Ginny was beginning to understand both sides.

Not only did they not talk to her, but they would not look at her and refused to let her sit with them at meals or in classes. This gave her a lot of extra time to study, but what was the point? She could hardly concentrate when she was, either by being upset by what was happening or having Draco passionately showing her that he was there for her. (A/N lol!) Her grades slipping were not yet showing up in class, but they would be evident on her N.E.W.T's. The whole school was concerned for the Golden Trio; especially the others in their year, who had known them from the beginning and knew them never to be apart for as long.

Hermione walked the corridor to her room and spoke the password to the little man. He slowly opened the door and she wandered in, not quite sure what she was back there for. She found herself in bed, and soon fell asleep though it was before dinner. She was not hungry. When she woke up it was still dark and looking at her alarm clock it was only 1:37am, the rest of the school had only just gone to sleep. She thought about the whole situation with Ron and Harry and decided to take action. She wondered when she should do it, but realized (with a smile) it would probably make the biggest impression at some ungodly time of the morning. She lept from the covers and grabbed her wand, leaving the room.

Hermione spoke the Gryffindor Common Room password and entered without caution. If someone asked her what she was doing out so late at night, she could just tell them that she was on her night patrol. She walked briskly through the Common Room, casually telling two snogging Griffindors to go to bed…

"Separately!" on her way through. She made her way up the stairs to...the boys' dorms. The boys inside jumped at their study books when the fuming figure burst in through the door. All the boys looked up. When Neville saw the look in her eyes, he started stuttering

"H-hi Hermi-mione. Beu-eautiful night, isn't isn't it?" He looked stricken with fear, and Hermione said that he should leave the room. He seemed to agree.

She was standing there with her wand pointed at Harry and Ron. What they did not realize was when they were all hearing the great crash from the door opening she had muttered a freeze spell on the two, and they were paralyzed. Neville and the other boys sharing the dorm stumbled out of the room and went to sit by the fire in the Common Room. They did not want to hear what she had to yell at them. Harry and Ron had only just realized that they could not move when they went to put their textbooks down. Hermione surprised herself when she took to the situation quite calmly, she felt in control. They had only control of their faces. She muttered a fix spell to hold them there giving her free range of her wand.

Seeing them officially for the first time in quite a few days made everything come rushing back and her fury grew again. She stood at the end of the beds and announced:

"I'm sick of this! It's childish!" With this shout she slammed her hand on the bedpost in front of her, sending a crack down the middle. She resumed with a more composed tone:

"Do you…have any idea how I've felt over the last few days?" Hermione walked around the bed and saw that they had given up trying to move.

"It's really great to know my friends will support me through anything. How could you two be so selfish and abandon me because of all this? Don't you trust my judgment!" She screamed this last sentence and collapsed on the floor between the beds. She was no longer making a scene, but sat blank with her back leaning on one of the Gryffindor doonah covers hanging off the edge of the bed. They sat in silence. A lone tear rolled down her cheek and she said absent-mindedly, almost in a whisper,

"Is this what will come between us in our last year?" The fix spell did not last long and pretty soon she felt Ron's warm arms around her and his bright orange hair on her cheek. He had slid down next to her and was muttering things, Harry on the other side of her.

Eventually they loosened their grip and looked at her now tear-streaked face. She was breathing unsteadily and wiping her face.

"But why?" Harry asked simply. Hermione looked at the floor.

"He surprised me. He's not the same... On the surface, he's sly and repulsive, I'll admit that, but we never really saw what was underneath all of that. He's not that bad, and I fell for him"

They once again sat in silence, making Hermione think that there was no way they could approve. Harry got up and faced them, extending his arms to his friends to help them to their feet. Hermione stood there awaiting her judgment, but all he said was,

"My butt was sore"

He sat her down on the bed. The two boys walked off into the hallway to talk. She sat there, remembering all the years of living in shared rooms like this one. She picked up one of the textbooks and started reading it. They came back and said this:

"We don't understand why you are doing this. We'll never understand it, but if you are ok with him, he must be ok. We have missed you, and while we still hate him like we always have - and probably more now - we want to apologize" She smiled with relief hugged them both.

"But I hope you know, we're not going to be nice to the smimy git, and will shut off at the mention of him." She did not like it how they were hostile toward Draco, but could understand their point of view. Ron looked disappointed. She noticed it, but said nothing.

"Thank you. I'm happy. Just know that" She left and went back to her room, falling asleep listening to Coldplay again, too happy to nod off by herself. She loved the soothing sounds coming from her iPod and fell asleep with a smile on her face.