Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't own Harry Potter

Author's Notes:

Okay, well, first off, sorry for the late update! I've been pretty busy lately doing this and that, and hopefully I'll be able to start posting at least two a week from now on! Another problem is that I have no clue what I want to do anymore! I have a beginning and end planned out, but I have no idea how to get from A to B. So, if you have any suggestions as to how to make my story more interesting, I would love to hear it!

I would like to thank you all for your awesome reviews! I'm glad you're liking the story!

For those of you who commented about forgetting Neville in the room. Sorry, that was a brain fart on my part. Yes, he's still there. I was looking up in the book how to spell Finnigan to make sure I had it right and I forgot to throw Mr. Longbottom in there!

Kate, I hope your mum lets you dye your hair blue sometime. That would be quite entertaining. Although, while it might be fun at first, I can't imagine people being able to tell how your feeling all the time would be fun, but who knows….

And now, onto the story!

When Hermione arrived back in the common room a few hours later with Draco, she immediately went into her room to search her trunk. Draco sat on the couch, a stunned look on his face as he'd see random articles of clothing being thrown from the room and Hermione groaning that she couldn't find it. What it was, however, Draco hadn't a clue.

Finally, after fifteen minutes of frantic searching, Draco heard a sudden scream of glee. "Yes! I found it, I found it!" He heard Hermione yelling.

"Found what?" Draco asked calmly, looking towards her room from his position on the couch.

"My muggle friend, Sarah, got me this as a joke for my birthday next week, but since I left for school she gave it to me early. Anyways, it's a mood ring!"

"So? I thought you were mad about that whole thing? What's having a mood ring going to do to change that?"

"Well…it comes with a list of the different colors and meanings, so now, even though I don't always realize my mood is changing, someone can look at my hair and tell what kind of mood I'm in. I suppose that would come in handy. People know when to back away…" She said, a wry grin plastered on her face.

"Well, what's it say, then?"

"Let's see…" She grabbed the paper folded nicely with the ring, unfolded it, and quickly read aloud, "black means stress; no surprise there, orange is upset, brown is fear, yellow is nervous, green is mixed emotions, blue is normal, bright blue is relaxed, dark blue is calm, purple is cool, red is love; again, no surprise, bright green is romance, navy blue is passion, and gold is very happy!" Her hair turned gold when she was finished.

"You look happy." Draco commented, smirking. She threw a pillow at him which he easily caught. She laughed and settled herself down on the couch next to him.

"You know, this won't be so bad. I guess I was just a little freaked out when I first saw it. But now that I think about it, it'll be kind of cool. Now when I snap at people for annoying me, I can tell them that they had their warning and should have noted the hair before talking to me."

"Nice, Granger, real nice. Well, enjoy your hair while it lasts, I suppose. You going to want it fixed when the Weasley dolts find a cure?"

"Of course! But until then, I may as well enjoy it." She said, happily smiling.

"Speaking of enjoying things…I must say, even for a Mudblood, you did look pretty hot in that towel today." Draco sneered, his eyebrows raised.

Hermione gasped. "Uh! You should not have come in! That was so embarrassing!" She grabbed the pillow from next to her and hit him with it.

"Fine, then. Next time I hear you scream in the bathroom, even if someone's attacking you and you're dying, I'll make sure to stay out. And if your friends try to attack me for letting you die, I'll just tell them you told me not to disturb Princess Granger." He retorted, his eyes laughing.

"You're a little ferret, you know that, right?" She said laughing. "Fine. If I ever scream bloody murder, I give you permission to come and save me."

"Deal." Draco laughed as well. It was the first time he had really laughed in a long time. It felt good. He thought to himself, looking at the gold-haired person sitting next to him. He quickly shuddered and looked back at Hermione with a look of disgust. Ah, there's the real me.

Or is it? Who is the real you anymore? You're not a Slytherin.

I'm still a Slytherin. Just because I'm not in that house anymore, doesn't mean I don't belong there.

But you care for people now. Remember that night on the tower? You could have let Hermione freeze, but instead you gave up some of your warmth to keep another warm. That's not very Slytherin like.

Oh what the bloody hell do you know?

Hermione watched Draco in confusion as he fought inwardly with himself. His face sneered, then went calm, then sneered again. She laughed at the look at his face and he looked at her, looking for an explanation for her random outburst. "Your face just looked so funny. Arguing with yourself, now?"

"What are you talking about Granger?" Draco sneered, not looking at her. "I was just twitching from being in a room with a Mudblood for so long. It's not healthy for us purebloods." And with that, he stood up and went to his bedroom.

Hermione looked hurt. They were almost starting to get along! What happened? Did she say something wrong?

Draco slammed the door and immediately went over to his bed where he collapsed. Why did he always have to mess everything up? Could he ever do anything right? She sighed and stood up again, walking over to his desk. He kicked it. Hard. A little harder than he meant to and his foot immediately throbbed. I probably deserve that, he thought inwardly.

"Why do I always have to mess up anything good that happens to me?" Draco said aloud, furiously. "I can never do anything right! Why does Granger make me feel angry, wanted, liked, and annoyed all at the same time? No other girl has…"

Hermione was sitting on her bed, tears beginning to come up, but she wouldn't let them escape. What she needed were her friends. Ron and Harry are the floor below. Directly below she thought. "Hmm, I wonder…" She grabbed her wand and opened her window, sticking her head out. She muttered a spell and a rock came shooting out of her wand and hit the window below. Nothing. She tried again. Still nothing. Finally, after a third attempt, she saw red-hair coming out through the window.

"Oy! If one more rocks fly's at my window, I swear I'll –" Ron began yelling, obviously thinking someone from the ground was throwing rocks at the wall for fun.

"Ron! It's me!" Ron rolled his head towards the voice. It couldn't be a comfortable position.

"What is it, Mione?"

"I'm just having a bad night. You guys wanna come over?"

"Harry's not here. He stayed in the Gryffindor Common Room tonight. But I'll come over if you want."

"Thanks, Ron. You're the best."

A few minutes later, Ron was standing in the common room (he had gotten the password from Hermione earlier), waiting for Hermione to re-enter. When she didn't after two minutes, he slowly approached the first door and knocked.

"What are you doing here, Weasley?" Said a narrow-eyed Draco. Ron had obviously gone to the wrong room.

"Oh, sorry. I was looking for Hermione."

Draco's face softened momentarily, but he quickly regained his sneer and said, "I wouldn't know where your little girlfriend is. Hopefully went back to her Gryffindor room. But I won't get my hopes up."

Ron scowled at Malfoy, wanting to hit him. But Draco slammed the door before he could do anything. At that moment, Hermione walked out of the bathroom, her hair orange and her eyes red and puffy. Ron still had no idea what the different mood-colors were. Upon seeing Ron, Hermione quickly wiped her eyes and gave him a smile. "Hey Ron. How are you?"

"What happened, Mione?" Ron asked, concern etched in his face.

"Nothing…I just didn't feel like being up here alone right now, that's all."

"But Malfoy's up here…"

"I know, I just meant that I missed seeing you and Harry all the time and I want us to be together more." Hermione quickly said.

Ron smiled, obviously clueless as to what was really going on. He sat down on the couch and patted the seat next to him, motioning for Hermione to do the same. She slowly made her way over next to him and smiled. "So, what do you want to do?"

"Want to play a game of chess?"

"No…I'm not really the chess person, you know that." She saw a new book sitting on the coffee table in front of them. She quickly bent down to grab it. "Ohh! I have to tell you about this new book I started-"

"Hermione…nothing about books. Please."

Her head dropped slightly, but she still smiled, covering it up. "Okay, then, umm…" sigh "I've got nothing."

"Hermione, what's really bugging you. I know you didn't ask me up here just because you missed me. While that is a good reason," he smirked, "I know there's more to it than that."

"It's nothing, really. I just don't understand something. I've been trying so hard to be nice to Draco and make him feel welcome in Gryffindor, but he just keeps blowing up at me. He'll act friendly one minute, and the next he's calling me a Mudblood and storming into his room."

"Draco's a git, Mione. We all know that." When Hermione didn't look any happier upon hearing this, Ron sighed. "Look, Hermione, I know that you're tried really hard to make him feel welcome into Gryffindor, but there are some things you've just got face. Draco thinks he's better than us, he always has. So even if you tried for a hundred years to make him comfortable with us, the fact is, he's a Slytherin. He always has been and in his eyes, he always will be." Hermione looked defeated and sighed again. She still wasn't any happier. "What else is bothering you, Mione? You haven't looked well for days."

Ron listening silently, nodding his head when appropriate, and gave his shoulder as her personal handkerchief, as she told him everything that had been going through her mind over the past few months. Apparently Sirius' death had really shaken her and gave her a whole new perspective on things. Hermione was very appreciative of his company and she knew she could tell him anything without worrying about it getting spread around.

There was so much about her that even Ron, as her best friend, didn't know. She explained that she had written Viktor a lot over the past year and he was the one that she used to confide everything in, but Quidditch was getting more intense and there was a new girl Viktor was interesting in (which stung Hermione badly), and his letters got fewer and fewer and shorter and shorter. Soon, she had no one to talk to besides Ginny, but even that was hard with the new projects going on because the only times they really saw each other were at meals. After fifteen minutes of Hermione talking (taking the occasional break to sob into Ron's shoulder), she was all talked and cried out. Ron took the opportunity to put his arm around her and she buried her head into his shoulder, breathing heavily. Her bushy hair, now green with mixed emotions, pressing against his mouth, some getting in, but he didn't take notice. They both just sat there silently, Ron rubbing her back slowly up and down and Hermione snuggled into his shoulder. Neither noticed Draco's slightly opened door shut silently, nor did they notice him listening intently to the whole conversation. Well, more of Hermione's long monologue.

After about half an hour of silence, Ron noticed Hermione go more limp and relaxed. She had fallen asleep. Ron smiled to himself and carefully scooped her up into his arms and carried her to her bedroom. He set her in her bed gently and removed her shoes, and pulled the covers up to her chin. He then leaned down carefully and kissed her temple. "Sweet Dreams, Mione, you could really use some." A vacant smile spread across her face as Ron left.

The next morning Hermione awoke, the smile still plastered on her lips. She rolled over and her hand hit something soft and silky. A beautiful golden rose was lying there with a small note on it. I hope your hair can match this rose today. Hermione smiled. Ron was so thoughtful, she thought.

As she got dressed and entered the Common Room, she noticed she was alone. Draco must have already left. She thought bitterly. Too much over-exposure with a Mudblood.

Going down to the Great Hall for breakfast, she saw Draco wasn't there either. She worried for a moment, but all thoughts of Draco soon left her mind as she saw Ron walk into the Great Hall. They both sat down opposite of Harry and Ginny who were acting quite…strangely. They would both take glances at each other when they thought the other wasn't looking, and when they got caught, they would turn and blush madly. What's going on with them? Hermione wondered.

Ron was also shooting Hermione quick glances, although they were very obvious. Hermione blushed and couldn't bring herself to look at him. After ten minutes of awkward silence, Hermione finally said, "So, Harry, how was staying in Gryffindor last night? It's so weird not being there anymore…much more peaceful, though." She added as an afterthought.

"It was fine." Harry managed between mouthfuls of porridge. "Weird being the only one in my dorm, though!"

After that, it went back to the awkward silence, filled with Ginny and Harry giving each other glances, and Ron giving Hermione glances and they all ate slowly. Finally, Hermione couldn't take it anymore and she stood up. "Erm, I think I'm going to go take a walk around the lake for a bit, okay?"

Ron stood up quickly as well. "Do you want some company?"

"Uh, sure, Ron. Thanks."

Ginny shot Hermione a knowing look and mouthed we'll talk later. Hermione gave her a confused look back and Ginny shot her eyes from her to Ron. Hermione pretended not to notice and walked out of the Great Hall, Ron not far behind.

The two walked silently for a while, walking a few feet apart, then Ron walked a bit slower, looking at her carefully, as if to decide what to say. He went with, "So, you feeling a bit better?"

"Yeah. I'm really sorry about last night. I don't know what came over me! I guess I've just held so much stuff bottled in for so long! And then it just burst out of me and I couldn't stop it."

"Don't be sorry. I'm your best friend, Mione; I'm always here for you." He thought for a moment and then reached out and took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. She was taken aback for a moment and then smiled. Ron's just doing this a friendly gesture. He doesn't like me as anything more than a friend. He never has and never will. She told herself over and over as she shot a quick glance at a smiling and blushing Ron. But how do you feel about him? Me? He's just my friend. Always has been. I've never thought of him as anything more. Liar. Okay, that was a long time ago! And it was obvious he wasn't interested in me so I moved on! It was last month! You've liked him since your first year and you know it! Not true! He was just my best friend! You didn't look at Harry the same way you looked at him. Shut up! Not listening to you anymore! Only because you know I'm right. Are not! Are so. Are not! We could keep doing this, but in the end, you know I'm right. Shut up. I hate you. Oh, that's real bright. Hate yourself.

"Mione, you alright?" Ron asked, looking at her suspiciously.

Hermione realized it must have been very odd to look at her when she was having the inward argument with herself. "Oh, I'm just fine. It's just a little cold out here." She recovered quickly.

"Here, take my cloak." He said, taking off his cloak and wrapping it around her shoulders.

"Oh, thank you." She said, blushing. He's just a friend, he's just a friend, he's just a friend. Then why'd he give you that rose? I thought I said I wasn't talking to you anymore!

"You sure you're alright? You're face is a little red."

"No, no. I'm just fine. I actually wanted to thank you for that rose you left me this morning. It was really thoughtful of you and it's really beautiful! And it worked!" She finished, her eyes looking up at her golden hair and giving his hand a quick squeeze.

"What are you talking about Mione? What rose? What worked?"

"…You mean you didn't leave it?"

"Leave what?"

"The rose."

"No."

"Oh. Well then who did?"

"I dunno…. Listen, the next Hogsmeade visit is next weekend and, erm, do you think we could hang out…you know…alone…just the two of us?"

Hermione's thoughts were still on who would had given her the rose so she barely heard what Ron said. "Oh, yeah, sure." She answered, not realizing what she was agreeing to.

Ron beamed. "Great! I can't wait. So, we could start off the day with Harry and Ginny will probably tag along, too, and then we can break off from them and go get a bite or something."

"What?" Hermione asked, snapping back into reality?

"On Saturday…Hogsmeade…you and me…going together…"

"Oh, right." Hermione managed, kicking herself mentally for not having listened. She was planning on trying to get Draco to go with them. Maybe then he wouldn't feel like such an outsider. Draco…

"Draco!" Hermione said audibly.

"Huh? What about him? You want him to come with us to Hogsmeade? I doubt he'd want to do that, Hermione. He's got his own friends."

"Right. I know. Umm, listen, I just remembered that I have a huge potions assignment due tomorrow and I really need to do it. So, I guess I'll just see you later?"

"Snape didn't give us any potions homework." Ron said slowly.

"Right then, bye!" Hermione ran off back towards the castle. Ron just stood there, dumbfounded. Hermione was acting so odd lately… Oh well. I have a date with her next Saturday! I, Ron Weasley, have a date with Hermione Granger. Wow…I never thought I would hear myself say those words.

Hermione ran back towards her room, stopping quickly to give the password and bolting inside. She found Draco sitting on the couch. He looked at her questioningly and then slowly went to stand up to go back into his room. He still felt bad about the way he treated her yesterday.

"No. Don't leave, please. I wanted to ask you something."

Draco sat back down slowly, eyeing her suspiciously. "Okay, what?"

She quickly ran into her room and grabbed the rose, which was obviously an enchanted one that didn't need water to survive because it looked even more beautiful even after being on her bed all morning. She brought it back in, sitting down next to him, and put the rose under his nose. "You gave this to me, didn't you?"

"Oh, well, you looked like you could use it after your water works last night…"

"You heard that?" Hermione's face dropped.

"Er, yeah. Sorry. I couldn't help over hearing it."

"Oh. Well, thank you for the rose. It's really beautiful. Where'd you get it?"

"I conjured it. I learned the spell when I was little. I would watch my mum use it to make her garden better than anyone else's."

"So, then, why'd you give it to me?"

"I dunno…I guess I just felt bad for calling you a Mudblood last night. I know living with me and away from your golden boys is hard and I don't really make it much easier."

"Well it was really thoughtful of you. Thank you." She patted him on the arm and smiled weakly. Surprisingly, he returned the smile. "So we're good, then?"

"Yeah, we're good." Draco answered, his signature smirk coming back.

"Good."