Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize. Seriously. Nothing. It's really quite sad.

Chapter Five

Hermione slipped into the library as classes came to an end, finding a seat in the far corner so she wouldn't be disturbed as she read further into the diary. She wanted to find out what had happened to them, why were things so rocky? Was she just overly emotional and found something wrong with everything he did? Or was there a real reason why things had been strange even before she'd switched worlds?

Curling up in an overly stuffed armchair, her legs pulled up underneath her, she placed the spine of her diary against her leg and opened the leather-bound book to the next page, her eyes scanning the page quickly as she felt herself getting into the 'story'.

9 February 1996
Dear Diary;

Draco and I broke up last night. I just don't understand what happened. We were doing so well, and then it was like everything changed. Overnight. We had been talking after the Quidditch game between Gryffindor and Slytherin and things had been perfectly fine. Then Ron and Harry walked over, Ron boasting about the fact that Gryffindor beat Slytherin by a fairly large margin and I tried to get them to stop fighting, but every time I did Ron would say something else that would provoke Draco which would cause Draco to say something hateful back and it just kept going round and round.

Eventually I just got tired of it and told Draco that he needed to stop fighting with my friends like that. I guess he took it the wrong way (I guess? Hah. That's putting it mildly.) Next thing I know Draco has turned from fighting with Ron to staring hatefully at me like I had spent my entire existence trying to make him miserable. "You always side with those stupid friends of yours," he'd yelled at me. I glared at him and told him that they had been my friends far longer than he had been my boyfriend, which I know was the wrong thing to say but at the time he'd made me so angry that I just wanted to make him angrier.

He stomped away from us after that, but not before turning to look at me again with all the love I'd seen in his eyes for over a year completely gone. "You can just forget anything that ever happened between us. We're over. Why don't you just go out with Ron like you've always wanted. You deserve each other."

That was last night, over twenty-four hours ago, and I've only just now managed to stop crying. Ginny keeps trying to force me to eat something but the very thought of food makes me sick to my stomach. How could we fall apart like that? I thought we were truly in love. And how could he think that I could possibly want to be with Ronald Weasley? We deserve each other? I know it was an insult but I can't quite figure out just what he meant.

I hate feeling like this. I feel so helpless, like all of my happiness depended on my relationship with Draco. I suppose that's why my mom told me not to get too hung up in our relationship and to make sure that I kept my friendships with everyone else too. I just never thought she would be right in thinking we wouldn't last.

I suppose I'm just like every other stupid little girl thinking that the first boy I dated would be my perfect prince charming.

Xoxo.
Hermione Granger

So they'd broken up. At least once. Is that why things were strained between him and Ron? Because he believed that she liked him? Sure she liked him as her best friend, and in her reality she had tried to have a relationship with him, but it hadn't worked out. They'd figured out quite quickly that they were better off as friends. Now he was in a very happy relationship with Lavender Brown and she wouldn't dream of breaking them up.

But of course things were different here.

She couldn't be sure of what had happened between her and Ron in this reality, the only way she could find out being from the diary she held in her shaking hands.

Looking down at her hands a bit closer she hadn't even realized she was shaking. She clenched and unclenched her fists a couple times before it settled in her mind just what was wrong. She was chilly, sure. But that wasn't it. She was shaking because she was angry. She was angry that Draco had reacted in such an extreme way just because she'd said a true statement. She had been friends with Ron and Harry longer than her and Draco had been going out. It didn't matter that it hurt his feelings, it was a true statement.

But that wasn't completely true.

She sighed as she realized that despite the fact that she wasn't close to him, at all for that matter, and despite the fact that she'd never actually liked him, that it did matter somewhat that she'd hurt his feelings. But it wasn't really you that hurt them, she tried to reason with herself. It had been the other Hermione that had said the words that had caused him to end their relationship.

But you did hurt him when you told him that you didn't remember your relationship with him.

Oh shut up. He wanted to know why things were different. You told him. If he got hurt oh well.

When did you start being such a bitch?

She sighed again as she realized that her subconscious was far more willing to admit the truth about herself that she was consciously. When had she become such a bitch? When had people stopped mattering just because she wasn't always fond of them? Flipping the page she closed her eyes and let out a calming breath before reading the next entry.

11 February 1996
Dear Diary;

Hi again. Sorry I didn't write yesterday but I was busy. I was busy today too. It's past curfew already and I was just going to go to bed, but I figured I would go ahead and write in you so you would know that I'm still alive. I feel like everything is a blur, but the days are passing and I'm managing to make it through the day without bursting into tears.

You know that necklace set that I told you Draco gave me for Christmas, well since he had given it to me I hadn't taken it off for anything. I didn't even take it off to shower. I never wanted to part from it. But I can't wear it anymore. It reminds me too much of what I've lost because I couldn't shut my big mouth.

I put it in a box which I glued shut and put into the very bottom of my trunk. That way I won't be tempted to look at it. I feel bare now, like I'm walking around naked, but I suppose that's just because I got so used to wearing it. I'll get used to walking around without it again.

But the reason I've been so busy is because I can't sit in my room anymore. I can't even sit in the library and just read. Everything I do reminds me of something Draco and I used to enjoy and it makes all the anger and sorrow come rushing back. So now when I need to study, I study with someone. When I need to do my homework, I make sure to do it in the common room so that there's always noise and I can't just let my mind wander.

I've been spending more time than ever with my friends, not wanting to be alone for a single moment. We're having a girl's night in tomorrow. It's going to be like a slumber party, gossiping and eating treats and doing each other's hair and nails and makeup. Lavender said it's because she wants to make me look good so I can get back out on the dating scene, but I'm not sure I want to do that so soon.

I told her I would join them though. Ginny's coming too. I'm sure it'll be plenty fun and I'll have a good enough time. I'll let you know how it goes.

Xoxo.
Hermione Granger

Sitting up, she almost dropped the diary from her lap. The necklace she had been looking for, that's why she hadn't been wearing it, and why she hadn't seen it laying around. She'd hidden it in a box. Stuffing the book into her bag, she quickly set off for her dorm room so she could go find it.

She'd just stepped out of the library when she ran into a wall of muscle.

"Oh I'm so sorry," she said as her eyes adjusted to the light difference of the hallway and her eyes widened as she realized the wall of muscle she'd run headfirst into was none other than Draco Malfoy. "Mal – Draco. Sorry," she smiled sheepishly.

"I was looking for you," he said softly, looking down at the ground. Hermione's eyes widened further and she opened her mouth a couple times, trying to form the words she wanted to say to him.

"I was actually on my way back to my dorm." Nice one, 'Mione. Shoot him down again.

"Well I won't keep you, I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to go with my to Hogsmeade this weekend." She'd completely forgotten that the coming weekend was supposed to be a Hogsmeade weekend and she hadn't yet made any plans. But before she could tell him that, she began speaking again, afraid she would say no before thinking about it. "We don't have to be alone at any time, I mean, Hogsmeade is a pretty populated place so there's always someone around. We can go to the Three Broomsticks, it's always packed there. I just wanted to talk to you, hang out a bit, ya know?"

Hermione's lips quirked into a smirk as she listened to Draco ramble on about them not being alone so she wouldn't be too scared to be around him. Crossing her arms in front of her and leaned her weight to one leg and extended the other in front of her slightly. "You always talk this much?" she asked him with a growing smile.

Things she never expected to see happen in her lifetime : Snape have a girlfriend, Dumbledore give a straightforward answer, Ron's temper not get the best of him, and Draco Malfoy blush.

Strangely enough, the latter is exactly what she got to see after her statement. Draco's cheeks turned a bright pink and he hung his head. "Not usually," he admitted.

"I'll see what I can do," she told him and then stepped away. "But I have to go."

She watched Draco's eyes light up even though she hadn't actually said yes to meeting with him. A sudden warm feeling filled her as she looked at him. She'd actually made him feel good for once.

"Bye Hermione," he called to her when she'd gotten a few steps away.

She looked back at him, her eyes searching his face for something, though she wasn't sure what. After a few seconds of looking over him she just waved, "bye Draco."

Rushing up to her room she didn't bother stopping to talk to any of her friends that she saw along the way, she just hurried in and closed the door behind her. Her trunk sat against the end of her bed, the latches all closed. Walking closer to it, she bent in front of it and opened the top. Books, quills, parchment, extra robes, ink pots, all littered the trunk from top to bottom. She moved everything aside, searching for the box that held the necklace, but after twenty minutes of searching through the large chest over and over again, she came up empty.

The necklace was still nowhere to be found.

A/N : Well there's chapter five for you guys. Let me know what you think. I actually managed to get this one out in a decent amount of time. So where do you think the necklace is? I'm curious to hear what ideas you guys have.