Hey! Sorry about the late update, but that's probably how it's gonna be for a while, because I'm starting two sports and my senior year, so things are gonna get busy. Or maybe not. Whenever my inspiration strikes. Who knows; I sure don't. Anyway, another chapter. I know everyone probably gets annoyed when authors ask for reviews, but hey. In the end, they help me write, which helps you, because then you get more story. So, help yourself! Enjoy :)

Draco looked at Hermione, completely nonplussed. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I mean what I say, Malfoy," Hermione snapped, "and I said that I don't know." Her voice shook a little.

Malfoy raised an eyebrow, perhaps not noticing the slightly unsettled look he wore, and finally extinguished his wand, darkening the corridor considerably. Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath, forcing herself to put the pieces back together. Her face tightened and she recognized the familiar, heavy weight take place in her stomach once again. After a few moments, she opened her eyes and looked back to Malfoy.

Malfoy almost started at the difference. While before —though he hadn't wanted to admit it, even to himself— he had been uncomfortable with the amount of shattered emotion clearly displayed in her eyes and face, he preferred that to the tired, blank emptiness there now. It was difficult to equate the vacant stare and defeated nature before him with the same girl who had believed so much in whatever cause she took upon herself, and defended it so passionately. Even her trademark frizzy mane was less domineering than usual. She seemed a different person.

"What are you staring at?" Hermione asked sharply. "And for that matter, what are you even doing here?" She looked around her, as if seeing where she were clearly for the first time. "It's still dark out. Shouldn't you be in bed, or plotting some fresh torture for some first year Hufflepuffs, or something?"

Malfoy set his jaw in annoyance. Clearly, her combative attitude and incredibly annoying nosy streak had survived whatever hardships she had faced.

Malfoy crosses his arms and answered, "Very funny, Granger. Glad to know your good opinion of me hasn't changed."

"Well, some things have to remain constant in this crazy world. I think, if I didn't still hate you, I might go crazy. The shock would be too great." Hermione sighed and shrugged her shoulders in mock resignation. "I guess I have you to thank for being so predictably horrible."

"Now, now, Professor, with that kind of talk, people might think you don't want to work with me." Malfoy twisted his lips into a sickening smile. "Don't you want to foster well wishes and harmonious tendencies among your fellow instructors and set a good example for the students?"

Hermione visibly bristled at his cloying words. "I want to make several things clear, Malfoy," she spat his name like an insult. "You and I are not working together, nor will we be in the same vicinity enough to set any examples. If you come anywhere near me, the only example I will be setting is how effective a well-placed curse can be toward removing unwelcome company."

Malfoy's smirk faded into a look of smug condescension. He leaned closer, ignoring the way her entire body tended defensively at his nearness. "You can't stop me, Granger."

Hermione's eyes widened and she visibly shook, whether from the memories associated with those words or from spitting anger, he couldn't tell, though he knew he'd stepped over some invisible line. Malfoy clenched his fists in apprehension, not letting his uncertainty show on his face. Hand tightening around her wand and eyes meeting his in a burning glare, Hermione surprised him by stepping even closer and lowering her voice dangerously.

"I swear to you, Malfoy, if you ever speak those words to me again, I will kill you. Painfully. And in such a way that if your body ever happens to be recovered, your remains won't fill a matchbox."

Hermione let out a shaky breath, stepped back, and said with an almost imperceptible weary note in her voice, "Just leave me alone."

Without waiting to see Malfoy's reaction, Hermione walked away.

Hermione shut the door to her room and collapsed onto her carpet in front of the fireplace. She focused her breathing, in and out, in and out, and let the soft popping and sizzling in the grate soothe her.

She hadn't even been here twenty-four hours, and Malfoy had already made a mess of things. Why did everything have to be so complicated? Why couldn't she just have graduated Hogwarts at the end of 7 years like any normal person, gotten a job doing something she believed in, and then finished out her career teaching students to love learning like she did? Her life had gotten totally out of control. Hermione didn't regret befriending Harry, certainly not. She loved him dearly, and would do everything all again. However, anyone who hung around Harry was asking for trouble. That's just how it was; it was practically part of his DNA.

And of course, through all of her adventures and escapades, she had quickly realized that normalcy was growing further and further out of reach. Then again, with her eagerness to learn, natural affection for teachers, and physically, her mountainous hair and buck teeth, maybe normalcy was never meant to be. Whatever the cause, inherent or not, she just couldn't shake the feeling that she had missed something.