A/N: Thanks so much to all who have reviewed and favorited! A lot of the dialogue is taken straight from the book because I do want to keep the story similar to the original. Thanks again!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, I'm borrowing.

By the time Friday came by, Hermione was fairly certain Edward Cullen was not going to show up. She woke up the same time as usual and went through her morning routine. A look outside the window told her it was snowing. It wasn't sticking to the ground yet. Hermione gazed out the window pensively for a few minutes before continuing on. Snow held so many memories for her. Of Hogwarts and drinking warm tea at Hagrid's hut with Harry and Ron. Of camping during Christmas break with her parents. Of snowball fights on Hogsmeade weekends with Ginny and occasionally the Weasley twins. Of laughter, and friendship and hot chocolate.

She smiled sadly at the memories. It was unfortunate how her happiest memories are now always clouded with memories of war and sadness and fear. She couldn't remember Hagrid's hut without remembering how it had burned down to ashes and how Hagrid had almost burned down with it. She couldn't think of the twins without thinking of George who has become a mere shadow of himself since the death of his other half. She couldn't remember Hogwarts without remembering the destruction. The fire. She hadn't let Harry and Ron know how much the fiendfyre from the Room of Requirements affected her; she would never forget the fire. She closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath. This wasn't the time for a traumatic breakdown. Another deep breath. And then another. Until she felt calm enough to get in her truck and drive.

Outside the school, almost everyone was outside throwing snowballs or just chattering excitedly about the first snowfall of the season. Mike beckoned her to where he was standing, "Hey, Bella!"

Hermione trotted over there careful not to slip. "Hey," she replied back. She wasn't quite feeling herself yet since the reminiscing earlier.

"Do you like the snow?" he asked her.

Hermione sighed; she could never explain what snow meant to her. "No, not really. I'm going to go inside, okay?"

It seemed like he was about to offer to accompany her when a snowball hit him squarely in the head. He turned around to find his friend Eric running towards the other end of the campus. Hermione gave a small chuckle, "I will see you at lunch," she told him and scurried off.

The first few classes flew by. In Literature, their class had started reading Jane Eyre which was one of Hermione's absolute favorite novels but she wasn't able to pay as much attention as she generally did. Her thoughts kept drifting to the trials and how Harry was holding up. She wanted to be there for her best friend but she wasn't ready to go back just yet. But then again, neither was Harry.

For the rest of the day, she tried to think about her world as little as possible. By the time lunch came by Hermione was feeling better… less brooding at least. She entered the cafeteria with Jessica and Mike quickly caught up to them. She glanced at the Cullen clan out of habit now and froze for a second, Edward Cullen was back. She inwardly smiled, maybe today won't be so bad after all. She strengthened her Occlumency shield just in case.

"Bella?" Jessica called. She was waiting for her at the lunch line. Hermione uttered a quick apology and joined her at the line. But she wasn't at all hungry so she grabbed a soda pop.

She listened to her new friends half-heartedly. They were talking animatedly about the snow, and dating and classes; Hermione would be lying if she didn't say she was jealous of their carefree lives. She wondered, not for the first time, if breaking the news to the Cullens so soon would be a great idea. The aftermath of the war is still very apparent and the magical community only just started building itself back up again.

"Bella," Jessica said to her in a hushed tone breaking Hermione's train of though. "Don't look now, but Edward Cullen is staring at you."

"It's probably the whole new girl thing," Hermione shrugged her off. "Everyone stares."

Jessica seemed like she was going to contradict her when Mike interrupted them with his plans of an epic snowball fight after school. Hermione was glad for the intrusion. Edward was most likely wondering why he couldn't read her mind. Jessica agreed to it immediately; it was quite obvious she really liked Mike. Hermione politely declined, "No, sorry. I'm not feeling very well today."

Hermione walked to the other building alone. Snowballs were still being thrown about and she tried to clear her way as quickly as possible.

She was one of the first to reach the classroom; her teacher, Mr. Banner was handing out microscopes and slides to each table. Conversations started as more students came piling in.

"If even a little bit of snow comes in the classroom you will be out," Mr. Banner warned a group of boys lingering at the door with snowballs. Hermione smiled; he sounded a bit like McGonagall just then.

Hermione felt the chair next to her move before she saw the young Draekanae. She didn't glance at him yet. She could feel his mind trying to get past her Occlumency barriers though he might not have been aware of it. Hermione gave her beaded purse a small squeeze for assurance.

"Hello," he quietly said.

Hermione looked up at him watching her. He was beautiful, of course, that was to be expected. His hair was messy but not messy like Harry's always is but like it was meant to be worn that way. He wore a friendly smile.

"My name is Edward Cullen," he continued. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Bella Swan."

Hermione would have snorted if it weren't for her guise. He was being unnaturally polite. Maybe he thought he scared her last week with his… well… episode for the lack of a better word.

"Hello," Hermione replied back. "Yes, you're right. I'm Bella."

Neither said anything after that but Mr. Banner started the class soon enough. They were to separate each the slides of onion root tip cells into the phases of mitosis. Hermione was relieved that the topic was something she actually had previous knowledge on. Now that particular memory included her thirteen year old self getting The Talk from her medical based parents. Albeit they were both dentists but her mom had a deep interest in biology and anatomy.

"Ladies first, partner?" Edward asked motioning the microscope to her direction.

Hermione nodded and took the gadget. She wasn't quite so used to handling scientific equipment by hand though she used to play with her mom's old microscope. She caught up quickly and slid the first slide into the little slot. "I believed that's prophase," she told him.

"Do you mind if I look?" he asked as Hermione was sliding her hand away. He went to stop her and his stone cold hand took her by surprise. She wasn't surprised by the coldness but by the little shiver that ran down her hand. She wasn't sure if that was normal.

Edward muttered an apology as he continued to drag the microscope to his end of the table. "Prophase," he agreed confidently. He probably took this course countless times. He then switched it out with the second slide and examined it. "Anaphase," he said.

Hermione smiled, "May I?" Though she was certain he was right.

He slid the microscope towards her. After examining it for three seconds she nodded. They did the same back and forth for the next few slides. They finished before the rest of the class. Hermione could feel Edward's stare, he was unintentionally trying to break her mind barriers again. She looked up at him and felt his mind ease off. She noticed that his eyes were a golden color now, not the pitch black they were the first time she saw him. He must have been hunting for the past few days. "Your eye color is nice," she said and immediately thought that was a bad idea.

Edward looked confused but the look quickly passed, "Thank you."

Mr. Banner trotted towards their table just then and asked if Edward let Bella do anything.

"She actually identified three of the five," he replied.

Mr. Banner looked at her, "That's quite impressive, Miss Swan."

Hermione smiled, "Thank you."

"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" Edward asked. Hermione had a feeling he was only asking because he noticed her trying to avoid snow all day. "You don't like the cold?"

"No, it just…" Hermione didn't know how to explain; she shook her head, "it's complicated."

"I think I can keep up," he pressed.

Hermione shook her head again, "Maybe I'll tell you about it someday."

Edward nodded understanding. "I'll be here to listen."

Hermione decided he wasn't so bad.