Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter- but I do own my rights, which say that you can't sue me, now that I'm posted this disclaimer! So ha!

Chapter 2: Worthlessness

The sun was so bright, it was blinding. Hermione sat up in bed, blinking repeatedly and wiggling her toes. She checked her clock out of habit, and groaned.

She had woken up an hour late.

Knowing Hermione, we understand that this is a huge deal.

Wide-awake, albeit she had only just awoken, Hermione jumped out of bed and began to search rapidly through her trunk. She pulled out her school robes and hesitated before grabbing her make up bag. (She didn't wear make up any previous year, but she now found it as a necessity.)

Robes, socks, shoes, foundation, compact, eye shadow, eye liner, mascara, blush, lip gloss, and a tap on the head with her wand to put her curly mass of hair up in a much less curly ponytail. She grabbed her bag and ran down who knows how many busy corridors and stairways until she reached the Great Hall right as Professor McGonagall was leaving it.

"My schedule," Hermione gasped. Professor McGonagall shook her head as she handed over a folded piece of parchment. Hermione opened it quickly, not noticing when Professor McGonagall left.

"Shit…" Hermione murmured. "DADA… in the dungeons of course." But she didn't have time to curse at her luck much longer, and instead decided to run to her first class in hopes that she could make it on time.

Four floors down later, she could see the door! Hermione glanced at her watch…. She had thirty seconds before she was late- she might make it on time! Hermione put off an extra spurt of energy, and then slowed to a walk right before entering the room with ten seconds to spare. She sat down beside Ron and Harry at the back of the room before-

"Miss Granger… you're late." Snape said from behind her.

Hermione cringed at her lap, but remained silent. Ron however, didn't.

"Actually, Professor, she's on time. I'd suggest that you add 'learn to tell time' on your list of things to do. Put it way up at the top, next to the things your Master tells you to do." He said loudly. Snape turned around to shut the door, then strode up to his desk- robes billowing a little more diminished than Hermione remembered.

Whispers filled his room for the first time in history. "Silence!" He shouted, banging a fist on his desk. But silence was not what he received.

"Of course he'd want us to stop talking and expect it to happen! He's stopped things before hasn't he? He's stopped dreams… lives…" Harry told his classmates.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor! You may thank Harry, Ron, and Hermione here for sending you into the negatives on the first day of school…"

"Go ahead, take our points away! You've taken our headmaster and this weighs nothing compared to it!" Someone yelled.

" I'd thank you for subtracting the points but I find it hard to thank someone as heartless as you…" A Slytherin shouted from across the room.

Random insults were being thrown at Snape now, and he stared at the door as if he heard nothing.

"MURDERER!" was shouted from the back of the room, and Snape jumped as if awoken from a trance.

"I had to do it... He murmured. "It wasn't my decision… I HAD NO CHOICE!"

Hermione watched as Snape struggled at the front of the room, and without realizing it, stood up.

"SHUT UP!" She screamed, looking around the room. People looked at her to see who she was yelling at, and opened their mouths in protest. "SHUT YOUR BLOODY MOUTHS! Yes… we all know- Snape killed Dumbledore… but you know what? Snape's back now! He's back and McGonagall and the school board wouldn't allow him to be here if he didn't have an excuse for killing Dumbledore! Now if you're all done being so immature I'd like to learn some defense against the dark arts." Hermione sat down in her seat and ignored the looks people gave her.

" Miss Granger…" Came an unwanted voice from the front of the class. "I do not need a student to explain what I have done or to defend me. You might think you're special. I bet you think you're so intelligent and pretty and clever… but you're not. You are a nobody and will be treated so." He then turned to the now quiet class to say, "Open your books to the chapter on Wandless Magic."

But Hermione didn't hear him; she was off dashing down the hall again- this time with her mind wrapped around the word "Nobody".

…

"I know I shouldn't even think about the foul load of crap that comes out of his mouth… but I can't help it and it hurts!" Hermione said in a rather high voice. She accepted a tissue from Ron and blew her nose.

They were sitting on the floor of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom (Myrtle was nowhere to be found, thankfully), Ron handing Hermione tissue after tissue. Suddenly, Hermione began to laugh. It was an awkward laugh- in a peal of laughter, sniff, second peal of laughter sort of pattern. Ron stared at her quizzically, and Hermione shook her head.

Calming down, she told him, "I haven't cried so hard since Dumbledore's funeral…"

Ron frowned slightly, but smiled all the same. "And how is that funny?"

"I have no idea!" She shouted, and threw her head back in yet another fit of giggles.

Holding her chin, Ron kissed her. Hermione closed her eyes, and kissed him back. She tried to put her feelings for Ron into the kiss, but found that she couldn't. Hermione pulled away abruptly, and bent over her lap from laughing so hard.

Watching her, Ron joined in the laughter, shaking his head and wondering what was up with Hermione…

…

Hermione, Ron, and Harry entered the Great Hall at lunch in a very emotional state- Hermione was ecstatic for no reason yet sad for what should be no reason, Ron was in awe of his love for Hermione, and Harry was questioning the sanity of his best friends. Somehow, these three friends manage to exist quite nicely together… as usual…

"Hermione…" Ron started, looking at Hermione who was busy piling food on her plate.

"Hmm?" Potatoes… some veggies… whatever that stuff is… some more of that stuff…

"Hermione…" He repeated.

"Yeah?" What is that stuff? Is that cheese on it? Ooh I'll get some more of that…

"Hermione!" He nearly shouted.

"What?" She did shout.

"I was wondering if you'd like to go to Hogsmede with me?" He was more than slightly pink.

"I always go with you…" Hermione pointed out. I could be eating right now… I haven't eaten since the train ride yesterday…

Harry hit his head on the table and said between thumps, "You- two- are- so- weird!" Hermione stared at him through out his self-mutilation and as he told her, "He's asking you out on a date."

"Oh…" And she turned around to let him bruise his forehead in peace. She watched Ron turn from 'more than slightly pink' to just plain scarlet. She smiled and accepted, then took Ron and kissed him on the forehead (though Harry's was definitely in more pain than Ron's).

Harry let out some oddly loud laughter as if he had heard the authoress' latest comment. Hermione smiled and kissed Harry's forehead. Suddenly Hermione shivered. She had the strangest feeling that someone was watching her. She turned around, and immediately met eyes with Snape. Promptly every worthless feeling flooded back in. Her eyes filled with tears, but she didn't look away and neither did he.

"Hermione, you're one of a kind," said Neville, who had apparently witnessed the whole forehead-kissing incident. Hermione turned and nodded, wiping at her tears.

Neville spotted her tears and frowned, asking Harry in a culpable whisper, "Was it something I said?"