Disclaimer: No, for the last time, this poor little excuse of a fifteen year old girl who is right now sick, with a COLD IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SUMMER, does not own any of these characters. All she owns is a box of tissue and tons of medicine, because her immune system SUCKS. So she is sitting in bed with her laptop and some soup, trying to write to the best of her medicine-fuzzed ability.
Don't know what's going on
Don't know what went wrong
Feels like a hundred years I
Still can't believe you're gone
So I'll stay up all night
With these bloodshot eyes
While these walls surround me with the story of our life
I feel so much better
Now that you're gone forever
I tell myself that I don't miss you at all
I'm not lying, denying, that I feel so much better
Now that you're gone forever
-0-3-0-3-0-3-0-
Hermione missed him. The man that had ruined her life, hurt her so many times...She missed him. Of course, it was probably an instinctive reaction to being parted from the Weasleys and Harry, after being with them for so long.
So she hated him, but she missed him. While she tried to analyze her feelings in her brain, Draco, Theo, and Blaise watched her from on their brooms.
"Think she's gone mental yet?" Blaise asked, taking mental note of her torn expression.
"Not yet," Draco said, smirking. "I think we've still got a week or so."
Theo just watched her, feeling a bit guilty. "Maybe we should go see what she's thinking about," He said, looking at Draco and Blaise.
Draco looked at him like he was insane, while Blaise just tried to hold back a smile.
"Theo, mate, Granger would bite my head off if I went anywhere near her," Draco said. "Blaise too. Because of Hogwarts. Maybe you should go. After all, you didn't torment her as much as we did."
Theo looked from Draco to Blaise, frowning. "Well I don't see why not...I suppose.."He murmured, then lowered himself to the ground. He moved over to Hermione, glancing up at Draco and Blaise as he did so. They just waved, then flew off again, throwing the quaffle back and forth as they did so.
"Oy, Granger," He said, standing to her left side. She either didn't notice him, or ignored him. He frowned, and waved his hand in front of her face. "GRANGER."
She jumped slightly, and turned to look at him, looking slightly dazed. "I-er..Sorry, did you want something?" She asked, regaining her composure quickly. She sat up a bit straighter, crossing her arms.
Theo frowned, and shook his head. "No, you just looked like you had a problem," He said, shrugging. "What's on your mind?"
Hermione tilted her head slightly, just looking at him, and he stared right back. After a simple moment of examining him, she broke the stare first, looking to the ground. "Nothing's on my mind," She said, shrugging lightly.
He looked at her dubiously. "Granger, really, I'm not an idiot," He said. "There is never a time when you're not thinking about something."
She forced a soft laugh. "I don't know if I'm supposed to take that as a compliment or an insult."
Theo rolled his eyes, but chuckled. "It was neither, I was simply making a statement," He told her informatively.
"Why weren't you like Draco and Blaise in school?" She asked suddenly, startling him.
"Well, my father is in Azkaban, so I don't have to worry about getting in trouble for not tormenting you," He shrugged. "And since when did you call them by their first name."
Hermione shrugged as well, looking away from him then. "Well if I'm going to spend the whole summer with you three, might as well be civil, right?"
He nodded. "I'm glad you've finally given up on going back. It's really not good for you, being with Weasley. What if he-"
"Theo," Hermione said softly. "Stop. I've already thought it through, I don't need any more lectures on it. You, Draco, and Blaise need to just stop worrying about it. I'm not gonna run off or anything."
"You've thought it through, have you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "And what conclusion have you reached? You'll deal with us for the summer, then in the school year go back to being Weasley's bitch?"
Hermione sighed. "Well, that's what I originally intended to do," She admitted, nodding.
"And now?" He questioned.
"I miss him," She said simply. Theo's fists clenched, and he opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off. "I miss him, but I'm not an idiot..Until I see that he's changed, I'm not going to go near him."
She had thought that would ease the obvious anger he felt upon hearing that, but it didn't. "Granger, you're an idiot!" He exclaimed. "He is not going to change, bloody hell! And even if he did, why the fuck would you forgive him?"
Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but quickly shut it, and looked down, but he wasn't done.
"He tried to rape you, in the middle of a fucking alley!" He yelled. "You can't just go waltz up to him and tell him that if he changes, you'll go back to him! He's not trustworthy, and obviously neither are your other friends! Don't you get it? None of them care about you!"
Hermione's eyes teared up at his last comment, and she stood up. Without another word, she was running again, and had reached the forest before he even had time to think.
"Well that went well," Draco said from his place on his broom. Theo sighed, shaking his head.
"I don't know why I said that, she just makes me so angry," He murmured. Blaise nodded, then started towards the woods.
"I'll go talk to her," He said. "Wouldn't want her getting lost, right?"
Theo and Draco just nodded, as Draco touched to the ground, then sat down beside Theo.
--
"Granger, stop!" Came a voice. Hermione did as the voice instructed, her feet stopping her beneath a large tree, where she simply plopped to the ground, bringing her knees up to her chest, and placing her arm around them.
"He was right," She said, ignoring the tears that fell down her face. "None of them care about me, I can't trust them."
Blaise sighed, and sat down next to her. "Granger, shit happens," He said bluntly. "I know you miss them, and it's idiotic, but it's something that you can get over. Theo shouldn't have been so rude about it, but he's right. They've changed since you were all just kids, and you can't help that."
"But what about Harry?" She asked, looking at him. "What about his fight with Voldemort? He needs my hep, I've been helping him since the beginning! First year, he wouldn't have even made it past the Devil's Snare without my help. Second year I found out what was in the Chamber of Secrets. Third year, I was the one with the Time Turner, he couldn't have saved Sirius or Buckbeak without me. Fourth year I tried to help him with his tasks, although I didn't really do much. Fifth year-"
"Granger, stop! I get it," He chuckled lightly, much to the annoyance of Hermione.
"This is not a laughing matter, Blaise! How am I supposed to help him if he hates me?!" She exclaimed, quickly wiping away her tears.
"You'll have to work that out with him once we get back to school," He said. "But until then, just let him think over everything that's gone on. And don't you even think about going back to Weasley."
"Are we friends?" She asked suddenly, and he frowned.
"What?"
"Are we friends..I mean, you, Draco, and Theo are trying so hard to help me, and if I'm going to be stuck with you all for the rest of the summer I don't want to do it completely friendless," She said. "None of you are completely horrible company..Well, Draco can be, but he's naturally an asshole."
Blaise laughed lightly at that, and nodded. "Yes, I suppose we are. Come on, we should get you back. Hop on," He said, getting on his broom again.
Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. "No! I am not getting on that thing! You go ahead, I'll just walk back," She said. He rolled his eyes.
"Granger, don't you trust my flying abilities?" He asked, pouting.
"No, Zabini," She said, smirking. "I don't. Go on, I'm sure I'll be fine to walk back."
He sighed, but nodded. "Alright, since you're so stubborn," He said, before heading back to Draco and Theo.
--
"You couldn't find her?" Theo asked, looking slightly worried. Blaise landed swiftly, then turned to Theo and Draco.
"I found her, and she's fine. Just misses them, and is worried about how she's supposed to help Potter with Voldemort, now that she's not actually with the Golden Trio daily."
"Well where is she now?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow.
Blaise shrugged. "Walking back, I guess. She won't get on a broom," He said with a laugh. "We'll have to get her up eventually, she'd probably like it once she tries."
Theo grinned at that. "Wanna make a bet on it then? First to get Granger on a broom gets fifty pounds?"
"I don't think we should put her through any more trauma," Blaise rolled his eyes. "Besides, she'd probably hex us into oblivion if we even thought of it."
"So?" Draco asked. "It's worth it."
"No," Blaise said firmly, and the other two sighed, nodding.
"Fine," Draco pouted, crossing his arms. "We'll just find some other way to torment her."
"I think you did enough of that at school, mate," Theo said, grinning.
"Did enough of what at school?" Came another voice, and the three of them looked over as Hermione walked up to the trio, tear tracks still on her cheeks. Theo felt a twinge of guilt, but quickly pushed it away. After all, he'd been telling the truth.
"Nothing that you need to worry about," Draco said with a cheeky grin. "Now, come on. I'm starving, and Theo's mum is the best cook in the world."
Hermione laughed lightly, then followed the three up to the house.
"HONEY, WE'RE HOME!" Draco called out once inside.
"Well, I didn't know you and Jason were that close," Mrs. Nott said with a smirk. "Shall I enlarge his room so that you can stay in it too?"
Draco grimaced at the thought, then shook his head. "No thanks. What's for dinner?"
"That depends," She replied. "Are you four actually eating at the table, or are you going back to Theo's room?"
"I think we'll go to the library, mum," Theo said. "Granger hasn't seen it yet."
"Library?" Hermione asked, her face brightening at the thought.
Draco snickered. "Don't show her, she'll probably stay in there for the rest of the summer."
"Is there something wrong with reading?" Mrs. Nott asked, hands on her hips.
"Of course not," Draco amended quickly. "I just..Well-"
"He's been making fun of me for ages for being a know it all," Hermione rolled her eyes. "I honestly don't see what's so bad about reading."
"Oh, dear, they're teenage boys," Mrs. Nott said, as if that explained everything. "You have fun in the library. You and I are going to go shopping later tonight, I have to buy you some new clothes."
"Mrs. Nott, that's really not necessary," Hermione bit her lip.
"Oh, nonsense dear," She replied. "After all, I looked into it, and you shared an account with Ronald Weasley. He's ensured that you don't get any of the money out of your vault without accompanying him to it."
Hermione took a moment to take that in, before her temper finally flared. "That dirty little scumbag, I'm going to kill him! How dare he?! That was MY money, he hasn't worked a day in his pathetic little life! Every penny of that-"
"Err, Granger," Theo said, putting his hand over her mouth, his eyes on his mother's shocked face. "Maybe now isn't the best time..."
Hermione blushed furiously. "I'm sorry," She apologized once Theo had removed his hand.
"No need, Dear," Mrs. Nott replied, looking slightly amused. "The boy deserves it. Now, hurry up and eat, I want to get to shopping."
Theo, Blaise, and Draco quickly led her into the kitchen then, and Mrs. Nott filled four plates with spaghetti, then sent them upstairs.
"My room," Theo said. "We'll save the library for later."
Hermione frowned, but nodded, and Theo opened the door. The room was huge, with a bed much like the ones at Hogwarts, only twice the size.
The three boys hopped onto the bed, sitting with their legs crossed, and patted the bed, indicating for her to join them.
Hermione hesitated, then closed the door behind her, and did so.
"So Granger, you're finally going to cooperate?" Draco asked with a smirk.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Yes, Draco, I've decided to cooperate, and just let the three of you hold me hostage for the rest of the summer."
Blaise snickered. "I don't think you can really consider it as holding you hostage when we're only trying to help."
"It is when I don't want to be helped," She replied, and they all fell silent at that. Hermione sighed. "Look, I'm grateful, okay? I just don't like needing help, especially from-"
"Slytherins?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow.
Hermione shook her head. "No. Anyone. I don't like needing help, ever, and it seems like I've been accepting it more and more recently."
"Well, maybe that's a good thing," Theo said. "After all, if it'll get you out of bad situations, why bother being stubborn and proud? Save that for those times it's appropriate. You're supposed to be the brightest witch of our age. The one thing you're missing is logic when it comes to home life."
Hermione just nodded, staying quiet. He was right, and she knew it.
The rest of the meal continued in an uncomfortable silence that none of them had the courage to try to break.
(A/N- Sorry for stopping it there, I took some nyquil so I'm horribly tired now. I tried making this chapter a bit longer :D. Please review, I'll probably update tomorrow or the next day. I'm sick, like I said earlier, so I've got a lot of time on the computer. G'night, readers!)