Chapter 2
Return to Hogwarts

Disclaimer: I do not own or have credit to the creation of all the characters, events, places and significant objects of Harry Potter. Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. Entertainment respectively. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only. Some quotes are derived from the books and film and will be stated so beforehand or after.

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Throngs of students in robes of different colour accents and emblems filled the castle corridors as they rushed to their next classes. There were new faces among the crowds: the first years – fresh and excited about officially taking formal magical education in Hogwarts, especially from the Muggle-borns, which Hermione could relate to the most.

There were also familiar faces from the sixth years that Hermione could still recognize. She passed by the Ravenclaws Luna Lovegood and Cho Chang and managed to smile at them in greeting. She caught sight of Seamus Finnigan in a casual discussion with Neville Longbottom, which the latter had apparently matured into a fine young man. Hermione found it quite hard to believe that he was once a little goofy, lanky boy who often trips over his own feet. On second thought, he probably still does.

One student that caught Hermione's attention in particular, was one Draco Malfoy. It was rather astonishing that the brunette would have her interest piqued onto the blonde Slytherin. She had seen him not too long ago but she never noticed how much he had really changed, looks and attitude-wise, until she had seen him seated in the Great Hall at the Slytherin's table on the first day of school.

There was something off about him but Hermione couldn't quite put a finger on what exactly. The nasty scowl on his face was absent. Neither was the pompous and arrogant look of a pureblood heir he had as a child. Instead, a sombre and dull look bore on his aristocratic features. Even when the Slytherins were talking boisterously about Quidditch, he simply propped his elbow on the table and rested his chin on the palm of his hand, looking rather bored.

It was such an odd and peculiar sight but Hermione didn't want to be bothered about that white ferret. After years of mocking and humiliation, Hermione learned not to give any two cents about her childhood bully, no matter how much he seemed to have changed, whether for the better or for the worse.

Walking towards the Gryffindor common room, she bumped into Harry, who was talking to Neville. Hermione greeted her tall housemate, in which he greeted back awkwardly before telling Harry and her that he'll chat up with them soon.

After Neville left, Hermione looked around and asked the raven-haired boy, "Where's Ron?"

Harry nodded his head towards the other end of the corridor and Hermione looked over the bobbing heads of the students rushing about in the corridors. Eventually, her eyes landed on a mop of bright red hair unmistakably Ron's, but then noticed that he was with someone else.

As the crowd dissipated, Hermione could see clearly that the other person was none other than Lavender Brown, wearing her pretty pink polka dot bow on top of her neat strawberry blonde curls that made Hermione's wild brown ones look like a bird's nest. They were both talking very close to each other, each having a peculiarly shy smile and that seemed to spark something fiery inside Hermione's chest.

"They've been talking for 10 minutes now," Harry said with a sigh. "I didn't want you to see this, honestly, but he's taking longer than I thought."

"I don't think that's merely talking, Harry," Hermione said, trying not to sound annoyed. "They're outright flirting!"

Harry turned to look at his brunette best friend and noticed her furious expression. He understood, from the past few weeks they'd been spending together, that Hermione has developed some sort of feeling for his other ginger-haired best friend.

"You alright, Hermione?" he asked carefully.

Hermione realized she was getting angry for no reason and quickly calmed down as much as she could, whirling around and away from the flirty pair.

"Let's just go back," she said, turning her heels towards their dormitory, with Harry barely catching up behind her.

The brunette honestly didn't know what came over her. She was so angry at seeing Ron with her annoying roommate and now she was being furious at herself for being mad over such a petty matter. She could feel her face burning up and willed herself to cool her anger down. Her head was overflowing with thoughts and theories, rationalizing her illogical behaviour and she clearly knew why she was acting likewise.

Despite the fact that it made so much sense, Hermione denied the thought and deemed it nonsense.

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Fifteen minutes later, Harry and Hermione were seated in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room, discussing about who Harry ought to recruit in the new Quidditch team, since he was the current captain.

"I was thinking of having Ginny as Chaser," Harry said thoughtfully.

"Oh, Ginny's spectacular in Quidditch! You should have her permanently on the team. Just my humble opinion, of course," Hermione agreed excitedly, knowing that the youngest Weasley would be ecstatic to hear the news. "Are you going to get Ron to try out as well?"

Harry narrowed his eyes towards the rug on the floor, thinking carefully and rubbing his chin in doing so.

"He's pretty good on a broom but he's a nerve wreck when it comes to Quidditch," he said. "I might try to convince him for the tryouts this weekend. Maybe he'll get a place in the team, who knows."

Just then, Ron came through the common room door, bearing a wide-toothed smile on his face. He joined his two best friends, still smiling like a dork and falling onto the couch beside Harry. The raven-haired boy glanced nervously at Hermione, who immediately seemed to have found a profound interest in the book on her lap, turning her back towards Ron.

Clearing his throat, he turned to Ron and said, "You seem to be in good spirits, mate. Anything you want to tell us?"

Ron's smile grew even wider as he said, "Lavender came up to me after class. She said she liked me."

Glancing at Hermione, Harry noticed her fingers curling and gripping her book in a death grip, the knuckles on her hand turning a ghostly white.

"And what did you do about it?" Harry continued to ask.

"Told her we could have lunch together tomorrow," Ron said, relaxing against the couch. "And then she kissed me on the cheek. She's so sweet."

Suddenly, Hermione got up on her feet and stormed towards her dormitory, leaving the two boys without a word. Harry and Ron watched her disappear up the spiral staircase – one with a confused face and the other with a helpless look.

"What's up with her?" Ron asked.

"Uh... she probably remembered she had homework to finish," Harry quickly said before changing the subject to Quidditch.

-xxx-

Professor Slughorn, the new Potions teacher, was running late – five minutes and counting, to be exact. Hermione sat at a work table with Harry, who was busy reading his Advanced Potions-making textbook that he got from the cupboard in the back of the class. It was a rather odd yet pleasing sight to Hermione.

She glanced around the room and her eyes landed on a Draco Malfoy, who was seated at the far corner of the room, sharing a table with his fellow housemate Blaise Zabini. The dark-skinned Italian boy was talking to Pansy Parkinson on another table, along with Gregory Goyle.

While the Slytherins were enthusiastically making fun about one Hufflepuff, Malfoy seemed to just stare into space, lost in his thoughts. It was odd to see the blonde so quiet and not joining the badmouthing parade his fellow Slytherins were on about. When Hermione looked carefully, she could almost see the dark rings under his eyes and it almost seemed as though he hadn't had enough sleep the night before.

Just then, Malfoy blinked and lifted his gaze to meet Hermione's. His eyebrows instantly furrowed and a hideous scowl marred his face when he realized Hermione had been staring at him.

"What are you staring at, Mudblood?" Malfoy spat, glaring at her, followed by a rude hand gesture.

"Mind your language, Malfoy!" Harry shot back, lifting his attention from the book momentarily when he heard the M-word and glaring back at the Slytherin.

"It's alright, Harry," Hermione told him quietly, placing a hand gently on his balled up fist.

Before Malfoy could retaliate, Slughorn barged into the classroom.

"Apologies for my tardiness, I seemed to have been caught up in a discussion with the Headmaster," he rambled on, placing his books and tomes on the teacher's table before removing vials and beakers from the shelf behind him. "Now, hurry up and prepare your beakers and cauldrons. Turn to page 10 and prepare the ingredients for the Draught of Living Dead."

While Hermione set up her materials, she lifted her eyes up at Malfoy one more time. He bore a frown on his face while setting up his cauldron, murmuring something under his breath. Their eyes met once again – a pair of cold silver eyes piercing through her pair of warm honey-brown ones. Hermione shuddered slightly.

Malfoy didn't say or do anything when he noticed her watching. He simply narrowed his eyes at her for a good few seconds before looking away, the scowl still etched across his facial features. Hermione let out a breath and tried to forget whatever happened between them just a moment ago – especially that odd wordless staring encounter.

One thing is for sure: there was something up with Malfoy, and Death Eater or not, insufferable git or not, Hermione was set to find out what and why.

-xxx-

A couple of weeks had passed and the first Quidditch game of the year had just ended. Gryffindor had won victoriously against Slytherin. The entire house of Gryffindor cheered merrily for the team during dinner at the Great Hall, while the Slytherin house was extremely quiet and the mood at their table was bitter.

Back in the Gryffindor common room, the sixth and seventh years – and some fifth years – stayed in the common room to celebrate their win while the younger ones returned to their dormitories. Harry was cheered upon for doing an amazing job as the new captain, but Ron too got some special spotlight from his housemates for his spectacular play as the new Keeper.

Hermione was seated in the far corner of the room on a small couch, watching everybody cheer joyously for the Quidditch team, when she saw Harry squeeze his way through the crowd towards her.

"Not a fan of the spotlight, are you, Captain?" Hermione teased with a light giggle.

She shifted to the side to make some space for Harry. The new Quidditch captain sat beside Hermione and looked at the rest of his team cheering and making toasts among their friends.

"No, being the Chosen One is enough attention for me," Harry joked. "Ron's having a blast though."

"He deserved it. He did a wonderful job, thanks to a little help," Hermione said, hinting Harry for his contribution of the Felix Felicis potion he won the other day from Slughorn.

Just then, they suddenly heard a distinct whistle from the middle of the crowd and then some of the guys made howling noises, the crowd shifting away from the subject of the commotion. As the crowd dispersed, Hermione and Harry saw the center of the commotion: Ron and Lavender were kissing right in the middle of the common room, arms wrapped tightly around each other.

Hermione didn't know what she was feeling at that moment. She first felt her heart sink to the bottom pit of her stomach, a shuddering cold feeling prickling her insides and then waves after waves of different emotions kept washing over her and it didn't stop. She just felt her chest tighten and her gut wrenching uncomfortably.

Watching them as they part away and smile sweetly at each other was the last straw for Hermione. She up and hurried out of the common room, avoiding the Gryffindors who were cheering for Ron and his new-found girlfriend. She could hear Harry calling out for her and she knew he was right at her heels, but she kept running, out of the common room and down the hallway.

Reaching the end of the empty corridor, Hermione stood by the open window, overlooking the vast Black Lake and letting the cool breeze sweep her curls away from her face. Her fingers curled into tight fists, her fingernails piercing into her skin painfully as she tried to control her tears, which were blurring her vision.

"Hermione," she heard Harry's soft voice and his hand on her shoulder.

She instantly turned around and buried her face into his chest, bursting into sad and angry tears as Harry wrapped his arm around his friend.

"He is such a dickhead, Harry!" Hermione said angrily, hitting Harry's chest with her fist limply. "A pompous, ignorant, blasted wanker!"

Harry did his best to soothe his friend, rubbing his hand up and down her back until she calmed down. A couple of minutes later, they sat down on the steps of the nearby stairway, Hermione leaning against Harry's shoulder as her sobs slowly eased down.

"Did you know?" Hermione asked quietly. "You know, about my feelings for..."

"Yeah, I kinda figured it out," Harry said with a shrug. "Don't think about it, 'Mione. Ron's my best friend, but I swear, he can be the most brainless person I know. He won't know what he's missing out on."

Lifting her head up, Hermione managed a smile at Harry.

"Thank you, Harry," she said quietly. "What about you? Don't you have one too?"

"Me?" Harry stiffened for a second and ran his hand through his hair. "Well... Yeah, but she's seeing someone else too."

Hermione wrapped her arms around Harry and they both sat there in the dim moonlight filtering through the light clouds in the sky, comforting each other the best they can and listening to the loud Gryffindors still partying in the common room, their muffled joyous cheers echoing off the walls.

A rather ironic situation, both Hermione and Harry wordlessly agreed.

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Author's Notes: Thanks so much for reading! As always, reviews are loved! 3