(a/n) To my reviewers: I'm listening. And if this chapter isn't to your liking or your critiques, I'm still listening. Which also brings me to my next point: I know these updates have been quick, and I it's probably a good thing, ha, but I won't be able to keep pumping these out. I mean, I'm not quitting the story; the updates just won't be as quick. I'll still update often, just not every day. SO, without further ado, here it is, chapter three:

Encounters and Schedules

The morning sun shone brightly through the window in the Gryffindor girls' dormitory. Hermione Granger slowly opened her eyes to adjust to the brightness coming in through the gap in her bed hangings. Trying to rid her eyes of the light, she rolled over and put the blankets over her face. But, after several minutes, she found it increasingly hard to breathe so she removed them. Hermione silently cursed herself as sat up and swung her legs to the side of the bed, opening the bed hangings even more. She glanced at the alarm clock on her table only to be more upset: 5:30 a.m. on a day with no classes.

She let her body fall back onto the bed. Her eyes and body were still exhausted, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to fall back to sleep. Sighing, she stood up and made her way to the common room. Nobody else was awake yet; of course nobody else was awake, breakfast wasn't even being served yet! The girl walked over to the plush chair by the fire and plopped down. She sat there for nearly a half of an hour just staring at the fire until she was pulled out of her trance by the random twitching of her eye.

Hermione stood once more and made her way from the common room to the girls' washroom under the stairs.

Once inside she showered, brushed her teeth, and brushed her hair. She looked at herself in the mirror through, now wide awake, eyes. She then pulled out her mascara and applied a light coat to her long, feminine eyelashes. After grooming herself for several more minutes she made her way back up to her dorm room.

She ambled her way over to the trunk at the foot of her bed and began searching for clothes to wear. She finally settled on a black zip-up hoody, purple t-shirt, and a pair of light denim skinny jeans. After dressing herself she walked toward Lavender Brown's bed to take a look in her full-length mirror. As she walked up to the mirror, she accidentally kicked the leg of Lavender's bed. Hermione let out a loud burst of laughter before controlling herself once more. Lavender snored loudly in her sleep but, luckily, did not wake up. After looking at herself from almost every angle, Hermione left the dormitory and headed through the common room and out into the castle.

She walked through the corridors, running her fingertips across the cold, uneven stone walls. She momentarily paused at a window that overlooked the Hogwarts grounds but then continued walking. Her leisurely pace brought her slowly through the halls of the school until she reached the Entrance Hall. She walked over to the heavy wooden door and pulled it open. A wave of fresh air hit her hard as she inhaled the scent of autumn.

With a small, satisfied smile on her face the Head girl left the building and headed out into the dew covered grounds toward the biggest tree she could find.

The sun was still rising as she made her way to the backside of the tree and sat down. She just sat there watching the sun, the birds, and the world. It was one of the moments when she realized how small she was in the world, but how beautiful it was anyway. It was a truly peaceful moment.

Draco Malfoy's eyes shot open when he felt something rub against his leg. With his entire body tense, he slowly turned his head to see what was sharing his bed with him. A sharp intake of breath came when he saw Blaise Zabini lying at the foot of his four-poster. Draco slowly pulled his legs out of the covers and off of the bed.

"Zabini get your lazy ass up and off my bed!" Draco yelled. The dark haired boy lifted his head to signal that he was awake but he did not move off the bed. "Don't make me move you," Draco hissed warningly. "Why are you on my bed in the first place?"

"Don' 'member," was all that Blaise said as he slid off of the blonde boys' bed and onto the floor.

Draco looked at the boy on the floor and shook his head. As his head turned left he caught a quick look of his alarm clock. "Oh, Zabini, you are going to have hell to pay. Six a fucking m." Draco lunged at the lounging boy and pushed his pillow playfully over his face.

"Can't…. breath," Blaise said through low, raspy breaths.

After wrestling with Blaise for several minutes, Draco stood and made his way to the boys' washroom. After his daily hygienically-charged routine, he made his way out of the washroom and up to his dorm.

He made his way over to the trunk at the foot of his bed and began pulling out articles of clothing. Finally, he settled on a forest green t-shirt and dark denim jeans.

As he slid his first leg into the pants, he felt eyes on his back. "Okay, Zabini, this is getting a little fucking creepy." He said after finishing pulling on his pants. "You like girls, I like girls. But yet, I wake up to you in my bed and watching me while I change… bit fucking weird, huh?" Draco turned to find, not Blaise, but Blaise's sister standing in the doorway.

"You woke up with my brother in your bed?" Ana asked through a fit of giggles. "What'd you two do last night?" she added with a wink.

Draco shrugged a wouldn't-you-like-to-know shrug before turning and putting on his shirt. "Why are you in here Lillyana?"

"Where's my brother?" Draco chuckled and pointed to the spot on the floor that Blaise hadn't moved from. "He's so embarrassing…"

Draco laughed once more. Then he turned, said goodbye to Ana, and headed out toward the castle.

As he walked toward the stairs leading him out of the dungeons he heard a little patter of footsteps behind him. He turned around to see Ana, once again, standing behind him.

"What do you want Lillyana?" He asked a little annoyed.

"Where are you going?" She took a few more steps so that she was next to the tall blonde.

"The grounds, I want to go running."

"Can I come?"

"Do you run?" The girl smiled and began walking out to the Entrance Hall.

"Okay, I'll take that as a yes." Draco said to himself as he followed the eleven year old to the doors rolling his eyes.

As he pulled them open, the doors gave a light squeak. He stood in the doorway with his eyes closed just listening to the birds and the water from the lake, just smelling the autumn breeze and the early morning.

After a minute or two, Ana cleared her throat, pulling him out of his trance. The two Slytherin then made their way over toward the Quidditch Pitch. But, as they got closer, a figure could be seen leaning against the tree right at the entrance.

"Who comes out here at this hour, honestly?" Draco asked out loud.

"Hey Hermione," Ana said dryly as the approached the figure.

"Oh," the figure by the tree, Hermione, said timidly as she turned to see Lillyana and Draco walking toward her. "Hi Ana."

"Hello to you, too, Granger," Draco sneered.

"What are you doing out here so early?" Ana asked, taking a seat on the ground next to the Gryffindor.

"Just sitting, I guess. The sun woke me up." Hermione answered as she watched Draco walk to the pitch. She wondered why Ana was sitting there talking to her.

"Breakfast is in an hour, are you going in with me? I think we get our schedules. That means you have to show me around," Ana said with no emotion in her voice.

"Oh, um, I guess I could go with you and show you around. Do you just want me to show you around now?"

"No, I want my brother, Draco, and their first years to come with us." Hermione swore she saw a glint of smugness in the brunettes' eyes. "She wants to torture me…" Hermione thought to herself. "I mean, if that's okay," Ana added, trying her hardest to seem innocent.

Hermione rolled her eyes and inwardly sighed, "That's fine… I guess."

"Okay then," Ana said as she jumped to her feet and began heading toward the pitch. "I'll see you after breakfast, by the Slytherin table?" Hermione silently cursed the girl, her house, and her friends.

Draco was waiting just inside the pitch for the first year to come inside. He heard her footsteps approaching so he opened the door and held it for her.

"Why'd you stay and chat?"

"Because…. Guess who's coming with us after lunch to walk my schedule?" Lillyana winked and gave a sharp laugh. "HERMIONE!" Draco gave the girl a look like she was crazy. "Don't you get it? You and Blaise and Caleb and that Hufflepuff get to make fun of her then entire day. It'll be wonderful!"

Draco rolled his steely blue eyes as the girls' naivety. "Obviously you haven't had to spend much time with Granger; she's pretty much unbearable to be around." He said as he began running the pitch.

"Yeah, but you get to be mean to her and she can't do anything about it. I thought you'd like that. You are always so mean to her."

"Not that I'm not excited at the chance to be mean , Ana, but she's Head Girl: she can too do something about it," he said as he continued running. Ana looked hurt when she stopped running. "I don't want to lose my position as Head Boy, I'm sorry," Ana said as she walked back toward the entrance to the pitch and left without looking back.

Hermione made her way into the Great Hall. It was 8:15 now, so there were a few scatterings of people at the tables lining the hall. She looked down toward the Gryffindor table to find only Ginny Weasley sitting there.

Hermione slowly made her way toward Ginny who, by the looks of it, had just woken up.

"Hey, Gin. Where's Harry?" Hermione asked as she took a seat next to her best girl friend. Ginny turned her head toward Hermione very sluggishly.

"Sleeping like any other sane person should be." She put her head in hear hands and brought it down to the table. "I have no clue why I'm awake."

"Well, since you're here I'm going to tell you a story, okay?" The red head nodded in her arms. "Today I woke up really early, so I went out to the grounds, okay?" Ginny grunted. "Well, while I was there Ana and Malfoy make their way to the pitch. But, lucky me, they stop first! And Ana tells me that she wants to walk around with her brother and Malfoy once she gets her schedule. But Gin, I have to go too." Hermione began rubbing her temples while trying to calm herself down. "I don't know why this is happening to me. I'm just going to go right up to her and tell her she can-"

"Tell me that I can what?" Ana said as she walked up to the table near the two girls.

"Oh, um, tell you that you can… count on me… helping… with your schedule," Hermione quickly lied.

"Well good, because we're all done eating," the girl said motioning toward the group of Slytherin near the door from the hall. She began walking away so Hermione threw a quick 'help me' look at Ginny and followed.

Hermione walked unhurriedly toward the group by the doors; she really, really didn't want to be near them.

"I have to get my schedule from Flitwick," Ana said from over her shoulder, "then we can get going.

Hermione sighed and cracked the knuckles on her hand one by one. She waited and watched as the brunette retrieved her schedule and walked back toward her.

"Um, Ana?" Hermione breathed wearily, "I don't –er– I can't…. umm… I'm…" She paused and bit her bottom lip. "I'm not showing you your schedule if I have to walk with those boys," she pointed toward Blaise and Draco.

"But I want them to come," Ana said impatiently.

"Yes, but I don't. And, well, I won't. So you can choose: walk with them, or walk with me." Hermione internally sighed at her words.

"Well, seeing as you have to walk with me, I choose them. Because either way, Hermione, I get what I want." Ana rolled her eyes and pushed her sleek hair behind her ear.

"No, that's where you're wrong! I don't have to do what you want me to! I'm the seventh year, I'm Head Girl,and I'm the boss of what you and I do. So, Ana, I'll give the choice again: walk with me, or walk with them." Hermione was surprised by the heart and strength behind her words, but smiled nonetheless.

Ana shifted uncomfortably. Her movement made it very apparent that she had never been put in her place before. She wrinkled her nose and slowly tapped her index finger to her thumb. "Fine, let's go."

Ana walked over to her brother and Draco and told them what Hermione had said. She used harsh hand movements and even harsher words as she explained. The boys glared at the Gryffindor and told Ana that they would deal with it.

As Ana walked back toward Hermione, there was an evil smile on her face. She walked up to the girl quirked her eyebrow and began walking away. Hermione reluctantly followed.

Hermione led the girl around the building showing her where her classes were and what the easiest route would be.

Hermione did all the talking. Ana didn't say one word, she just walked around with a look of revenge on her Italian features.