I entered my room hours later and stared at the box he gave me.

What could be inside?

Are you for real? You're going to open something a stranger gave you?

Well..

It might be chocolate or jewelry..

You're mental.

Just curious.

I sighed and tore the wrapping and opened the box.

He gave me.. a stressball?

A smiley stressball, at that.

There was a note inside.

Hermione-

For whenever you feel snappish or stressed or down..

But if you prefer to talk to people instead, I'm here.

Blaise

I know I sound redundant but..

Is he for real?

Yeah, I saw him myself. Isn't he gorgeous?

Please stop it (mentally rolling eyes)

Come on.. isn't the quiet intelligent good-looking guy your type?

Since when did I say that?

Since you found out Ron liked you?

Oh. Yeah.

Well?

Well?

Are you going to give him a chance?

You've got to be kidding me.

He's a Slytherin. He's probably doing this to just get in my pants or something.

Why spend then, if he could just charm you to get what he wants?

I have no idea.. but I'm honestly not interested. Now please shut up so I can sleep.

--

The following week the insanity officially began. He started to follow me everywhere, much to my annoyance. He would always walk up and say, "Hi love, how are you?"

"Would you please piss off? I'm trying to study here," I said, peeved.

"I just wanted to talk to you- is that so bad?" he said, hurt plastered onto his face. Of course it was fake.

"Why are you always following me?"

"I like you," he said bluntly.

"Oh really now," I said coolly as I turned another page of my book.

"You'll see," he said as he left my table, with a very evil grin.

The next few days he would walk up to me and say hello, even when I was with friends. He would talk to me in the library, would trail along as I would go to class- honestly, he acted like a lost puppy.

I knew Harry and Ron would blow their tops soon, so I decided to just talk to them about it.

I found them in the common room, playing wizarding chess as usual.

"Hello," I said as I plopped into my seat.

I got glares from the boys.

"What did I do?" I asked defensively.

"You know what you did," Harry said as he pondered his next move.

"You're enjoying his attention," Ron sneered as Harry took out one of his knights with his queen.

"Excuse me? Have you ever seen me being friendly to him? Have you ever seen me talk to him like we do? Have you ever seen me flirt with him? Have you ­ever seen me do anything inappropriate?"

Harry sighed then turned to Ron. "This is Hermione Ron, our best friend. As kind as she is to the people around us, you know she'll never be friendly to the Slytherins not just because of our history with them, but also because she knows they're a hopeless cause. She knows and acknowledges the fact that they are all evil to some degree, if not pure. She doesn't even know him at all to be friendly to him. Besides, she wouldn't do anything to hurt or spite us."

"We're sorry for thinking you could even associate with them," Ron finally said, getting up from his seat and hugging her. "We just want you to be careful because you know how nasty they could be."

"We'll stick by your side as much as possible," Harry suggested.

"There's no need," I said. "Honestly guys, I can take care of him. He just says hello, and I just ignore him. That's it. But thanks for the offer, oh chivalrous knights."

"Your welcome, fair damsel," the boys said, rolling their eyes.

I laughed and wished life was this uncomplicated.

--

Hi everyone:P Sorry I took so long updating..T.T Work and school.. sigh

To my lovely reviewers:

Queen of Serpents: Wahaha, thanks:P Sorry if I didn't make your birthday though:(

Un Petit Diable: Haven't had a beta before.. how is it done? Hehe:P

Dagmara: I know, they're cute.. As for the unrequited love? Well..:D

Padfoot's Sidekick: The gift's meaning figures in later parts of the story- I just stuck it in before realizing it had some purpose..;) You'll see later on:)

And thanks to everyone who read the first chapter!

Will update soon! I promise:D

rochena!Ü