Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot, the rest belongs to the glorious JK.

Miss Bookworm

Hermione did not quite know what to make of the Potions class, nor the Herbology class that followed. She hadn't quite enjoyed Herbology before as much as she did now. Now when she was paired up with Malfoy. It was an odd, alien feeling. They were far from friends, but they were getting along; actually they were working better together than any other partner she had had in the past. He was smart and intellectual. He… was Draco Malfoy. Hermione sighed as her heart fell. No matter how great he might have turned out to be, he was still a self-obsessed douche.

As much as Hermione wanted to believe Draco Malfoy had changed his ways, a part of her knew better.

"Hey!"

Speak of the devil, Hermione thought, rolling her eyes, but still turned around to face him. "I have a name, you know?"

"Ah, true. Miss Bookworm, if I'm not mistaken?"

"That's not…" She sighed. This is what he wants, she thought, to rile me up. Not wanting to grant him the satisfaction, she tried her hardest not to sigh loudly and exaggeratedly. "What do you want Malfoy?"

He seemed to stall a bit, which made Hermione's eyebrows furrow in confusion and annoyance.

"Nothing really." He shrugged with a look of indifference. "A Head cannot walk next to his fellow Head?" His eye twitched - the question sounded weird in his ears as well.

"Not when one of them is a Malfoy, no."

They had slowly started to walk again.

"And why is that?" He asked, his hands now in his trousers' pockets.

"Well…" She hesitated, not quite ready for that question. The answer was, after all, a given for the name it self. It didn't need explaining, apart from to a Malfoy himself. "A Malfoy never does something without an ulterior motive." She started.

At this Malfoy nodded while still watching to road ahead, seemingly wanting to hear more.

"A Malfoy is selfishly wanting to gather information that will gain his own name and needs. He always seem to have a plan of some sort, an evil one at that. Or cruel." She shot him a glance. "Do you want me to go on?"

"No that is fine for now. You have given me quite a bit to think about, thank you. I will see you on our nightly patrol." And with that he quickly moved up the stairs, as if they were escalators.

Hermione stopped and stared. What had just happened? She shook her head and realized they had made it all the way to the The Great Hall. Hermione could feel her stomach grumbling; she was starving. She pushed one of the giant doors open and headed towards the Gryffindor table. Harry and Ginny were not there yet. She figured as much, they were probably trying to spend some quality time together now that they were out of the Burrow. Ron was there, and Hermione's heart stung a bit, but she didn't stop. Once she reached the table she noticed Lavender was sitting ruefully close to him, giggling her sickening laugh. Sure, Ronald could be funny, but not that funny.

When he finally noticed her he shot away from Lavender in lightning speed and smiled. "'Mione!" His ears had gotten bright red.

"Ron" she answered back and plastered on a half hearted smile.

"How was Herbology? Heard you got paired with that Ferret again." His sad eyes only seemed to make her annoyed.

"Yes, but he really was not that bad."

"No of course not, he just killed a lot of people, that doesn't make him bad at all!" Lavender piped in.

"For your information, Lavender, Malfoy never killed anyone, and he was cleared of all charges, apart from a few fines for letting in the other Death Eaters. Although that, I must add, was a strike of genius as well, since he did it by fixing the Vanishing Cabinet. And that," She held up her finger. "is why he is not terrible to work with. He actually takes his work seriously." The two other Gryffindors, and a few around them, had fallen silent. This was something they clearly hadn't expected to hear.

She sat down abruptly. "Sausages and mashed potatoes" Hermione said to her plate. Seconds later the plate was filled with delicious food.

Hermione decided to stop by the Gryffindor common room. As much as she enjoyed having her own room, and separate place to study, she couldn't help but feel lonely in the giant rooms. She had lived so many years, in the confinement of small rooms crammed with people. She told her self she just needed time to get used to it. And in the transfer face she could use some company to fill that void. It surely would get easier once they had homework and tests to study for. Then she would come to enjoy it much more, she told herself.

Knowing all passwords in the castle, apart from the teachers', she easily got through the portrait. A lovely sight hit her. A room filled with warmth and lovely red crimson velvet, thick carpets and smiling paintings and a calm, big fire. On the big plush sofa Harry and Ginny sat close together and whispered to each other. A few outer students were scattered around the room, some writing letters, some playing wizards chess.

All of a sudden Hermione felt like she was intruding. She started to pull on her hands, trying to think of ways she could slowly make herself disappear without anyone noticing.

"Hermione"

Too late. "Hello, Ginny. I did not mean to disturb you, I can come back another time?"

"No, no, don't be silly! Sit down! Anyways have to ask you something." Ginny patted the seat beside her.

Hermione gave an apologetic look to Harry. He simply smiled kindly in response. Ginny was surely lucky to have him. If she had not thought of him as her brother she too would probably have something for Harry. Even though he was much too forgiving for her taste. She needed someone who could stand up against her, not cave at every request.

It was cozy sitting there, next to Ginny and Harry, in front of the looming fire.

"How do you feel about my brother?"

"Huh?" This is what Ginny wanted to ask her? "Well, I don't know…" she started. She had, after all, come to the conclusion they weren't compatible as a couple. Whatever feelings there might have been before, must have been due to all the tension the war brought, and the need to have someone in all the darkness. Someone to fight with and for. Something for fight for. Love.

"'Cause he wants you back you know."

"Why can he not tell me himself?" she asked her, but already knew the answer.

"You know my brother" Ginny sighed dramatically. "he can't do anything on his own, and he just messes up if he does"

Hermione smiled half heartedly. This was not exactly to his advantage, it also being one of the reasons it hadn't worked out in the first place.

"Just give it another shot, he really is sorry for what he did"

"You mean, what he didn't do, Ginny" Harry corrected.

"Didn't do." Ginny nodded.

"Well, it was not only that time, it's more complicated…" Hermione started, but got interrupted by Ginny.

"Please, just one more chance, then you can give up!"

"It's not that I gave up, I just got…"

"Please?"

Why did it feel like Ginny was doing this more for her own sake rather than Ron's? "I guess, I could give him one more chance." Hermione almost whispered.

"That's wonderful, Hermione!" She hurriedly hugged her. "You wont regret it!"

Hermione smiled slightly in response and hugged her back. I hope so, she silently answered.

"Where is he though?" Harry asked.

"I have not seen him since dinner." She answered.

"He was up here briefly but left quite quickly after." Ginny pondered. "Maybe he got another letter from mom." She mumbled. "He did look a bit flushed when he came in"

"From your mom?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, he's been receiving howlers since you left him."

That explained Ginny's desperate attempt at getting them back together again. She should have known Mrs. Weasley wouldn't let their relationship go that easily.

"But we have not exactly been here long."

"Nah, but he's gotten one for every meal. I think mom is a bit desperate, to be honest."

"What does she say?"

"Mostly it's just threats. But there's also some truths, like he will never get someone as good as you, and so on." Ginny said absentmindedly and waved her hand nonchalantly.

Hermione bit her lip. She did not want Ron to want her back only because his mother wanted them back together. She could not agree as much with the last statement though. She might be brilliant and smart, but not when it comes to relationships. As much as she wished it she couldn't be more like Lavender even when she tried. Because she was the epitome of an adorable girlfriend and how one should be. At least to boys like Ron. Her high pitched squeals and heart shaped eyes only added to her girlyness. They were so different. But still she couldn't help but feel she had failed him somehow. She needed to give him this second chance, it was the least she could do for him!

"Don't you have patrol now, Hermione?" Harry asked suddenly, abruptly breaking her train of thought.

"Oh, you are very right!" She stood up and flattened her skirt quickly, making sure all parts of her body was properly covered. "It starts in ten minutes. I need to hurry, don't want to be late."

"Bye 'Mione" Harry shouted as she rushed through the hole.

Once outside she took a breather and collected her thoughts. "Okay," she said "where am I heading? Dungeons. Right." She both questioned and answered herself.

While she made her way through the many corridors and staircases she thought about what she had just agreed to. Even though she did not feel the same for Ron anymore, she still felt something. He was, after all, a huge part of her life. It would be foolish to just throw something like that out the window.

Especially since she highly doubted anyone else would want her. She was broken, and not to mention boring. That shouldn't be a reason as to why one should be together with someone, but it wasn't the only reason! As she had come to the conclusion of earlier, she owed him this much. The more she thought about it, the more excited she started to become. Maybe a little break was all they had needed. Maybe he would pay her more attention now, and maybe even touch her. Maybe he now could look past her many scars, and actually love her. And maybe this time she would give him more joy than she had before.

She was determined now. All she needed to do, was find a way to be more… fun. She already knew how to be fun though, take the Yule Ball for example, it was just a question of adding a bit of that fun into a daily basis. It would be hard, for sure, but she was excited to try her hardest. She would make this work!

She rounded the corner and headed towards the final staircase. When she had come down one of the four stairs, she heard noises. She stopped in her tracks and almost tiptoed down the last few steps. They were on the ground floor. It was most definitely two people. And they were doing something she found very awkward to interrupt. She sighed, and took a deep breath before heading around the sharp corner towards the moaning couple.

And there, mere meters away from her, stood none other than Ronald Weasley himself with his pants around his ankles and his tiny red but cheeks glowing in the light of the torches. His arms were tightly wrapped around Lavender's waist, and her slithering arms were up on his shoulders. Her crumbled skirt was up around her waist where Ron was holding her tightly.

They were so wrapped up in the moment they hadn't noticed her presence even. The loud, high pitched panting was increasing, and Ron's grunting grew gruffer.

Hermione's eyes were as wide as could be, she couldn't be witnessing this? Her legs seemed to move on their own accord, leading her backwards. At first slowly, but the faster they got, the faster she seemed to want to get away. Far away.

As she turned her body and let herself follow her legs, she took off running, away from them, aways from Ron, away from her heart. A dark pitch was growing inside her with every pounding step she took. Not too soon after tears started to flow down her cheeks.

AN: Hey guys!

It's been a long time since I updated. I can only blame it on life, sadly. I'm so sorry. From now on though expect a bit more frequent updates! Yay!

Great news! I have a BETA! She is perfect in every sense and I'm forever grateful for her help! Everybody, meet kschwartz94 !

As usual, please please please let me know what you think!

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