If you're reading this, you liked my prologue. If you started here, the story won't make sense, so I suggest you go read the prologue. No hate. And I'm wasting your time again. Well I'm sorry, no one is perfect. I'll let you read now.

One year later

Hermione's P.O.V

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      "Ron," I say staring at the boy on his knee, "Yes." I say in a whisper. He picks me up and spins me around. "We'll have to wait until after school, you are coming back with me aren't you?" I ask, after a while. "Yes, I guess we will. Of course I'm coming back with you." I smile at him. I stay the night at his house, in Ginny's room. We stayed up late gossiping. I want to tell her about something that happened a year ago. I can't though, I promised myself, and this would be the worst day to tell her. "Yes, we should go to sleep though. It's three in the morning and we've been drinking, can't be hungover. Mum'd kill us." Ginny says tiredly. I nod and we lay down the lights out and curtains closed. I wait until I'm sure Ginny's asleep and get up and apparate to my apartment. I open the drawer, I undo the charm, unfasten the drawers compartment and pull out the notes and memories.

          "Draco, please stop it. If you were going to come back you couldn't come back to accept me as yours. Not to tell me to hide everything I feel for you in a drawer along with your notes. I can't do that!" "Hermione, stop it. I can't do that to Ron. See he loves you. I can't love you the way he does." "Maybe I don't want that type of love. Maybe I want the love you could give me." I scream at him. "I can't do that to him, it'd just solidify in his mind that I'm the enemy." "I can control myself. Please just stay, don't leave. Just be a friend. Please." He looked at me helplessly. "I've got to go. If you have to get those notes out it better be to burn them. Don't open this one unless he proposes." I stare at him, before nodding. He looks like he wants to hold me so I close the gap and kiss him. "Good-bye." He says, turning on his heel. I can't grab his arm to go with him.

          I look at the note, the first one I'd gotten. I love you, Hermione Granger. I add, not enough, to the end of it. Please let me go. To this one I add, don't. Don't look for me anymore. Because I'm coming back for you, I add. I don't love you the right way. Stop looking. Let me go. Fall in love with someone who can take care of you. For me. I'm the only one that can take care of you, I add. I stare at the notes for a second before opening his letter. It is blank, it only says, I hope you're not messing with me. I feel tears in my eyes, he was right Ron is the one for me. Before the tears spill I hear the sound of apparition. I stuff the notes and letter up my shirt in case it's Ron, Harry, Ginny or any of the Weasley's looking for me. I look to see who's come looking for me. I see him, the person I can no longer think about without thinking of Ron and my promise. "Get the hell away from me!" I scream. "Hermione?" he asks in shock. "Get out of my room. Get out of my house. Get out of my house!" "Hermione, calm down please." "No," my voice rose with slight hysteria, "I can't. Get out of my house! Get out of my sight! Ginny will notice I'm missing, I was staying over there. If you're planning to kidnap me it won't work." He stared and then laughed, he laughed. "Hermione. I'm not here to kidnap you. I'm here to say congratulations and that I'll stay out of you're life from now on," he said after he'd calmed down.

            I stare at him. I don't believe him. I walk towards him. "I don't care, you love me. I love you, no one knows. But I can't do this, I can't marry him. I can't." I sink into his arms. He holds me up. "I've got to go. I just don't think it's worth severing a friendship for me." "Then why'd you show up." I ask the anger returning. "You know what," I say when he takes a minute to answer. "I don't even care. Get out! GET OUT! And don't come back." The fire inside rekindled when he didn't answer and I realized I'd been kidding saying anything. At least that's what I told myself when he turned and apparated away. I sank to my bed and cried, for me, Ron, or Draco I don't know. I got up at around five in the morning and went to the bathroom to fix myself up. I realized I'd just look like I didn't sleep not liked I'd been crying. I apparated to Ginny's room in The Burrow. I couldn't see instead I felt my way to the bed and sank into it, exhausted. I fell asleep and I dreamed restless of what could have been.

       In the morning I woke up around eight after about only three hours of sleep. I couldn't get back to sleep otherwise Ginny would get suspicious. I got up and went to help Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen, shoving the events of last night out of my mind. Which would have worked had I not seen a ferret sitting on the kitchen table. I passed out on the last landing and heard Mrs. Weasley from a distance yelling for Ron, Harry and Ginny. I dreamed, not like the dreams last night, I dreamed of real things. Hermione, what did I do to you? He shouted. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. He lay on the floor, blood pooled around him. I'm sorry. I'll see you at school, then he passed out. I sat bolt upright on the stairs just as Ginny and Harry reach me, Ron right behind them. I realize I'm screaming, one drawn out terrible scream and force myself to stop. "Hermione what's wrong?" Mrs. Weasley asks. I see the rest of the Weasley's behind her. I turn to Ginny, "Malfoy." I squeak out and fall quiet. "What'd he do?" I don't answer. I stare ahead and cast a nonverbal, wandless spell. The ferret in the cage flies into the air. I feel silent tears stream down my face as I move it out of my sight. "Hermione." Ron says behind me. I cry out with physical pain and wrench myself to my feet. I shove past Ron, Harry and Ginny and up the stairs to Ginny's room. I cast a nonverbal spell to pack my bags and call my wand to me. When the three of them burst in, I aim the wand at the door. They know a witch that can do wandless magic that is nonverbal will be able to do even more powerful magic without speaking and using a wand. They back away slowly. I whimper slightly in the back of my throat at the sight of their faces. I turn swiftly and apparate to my home. No one dared follow me.

Two weeks later

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        I walked onto the platform and made my way to my friends. I look at them and smile. They smile back, "Are you all right?" Ginny breaths. I nod, I still don't feel much like speaking because the only words on my lips are for Draco. Ron leans over and kisses me softly. "Until you're ready to speak you don't have to." Harry says and the others nod. Harry gives me a brotherly hug and Ginny wraps me in her arms. "Let's go find a compartment." I follow them onto the train. I catch a glimpse of blond hair and move quicker through the crowds. He actually came back to school, I think. "Ugh, why'd he come back? If he knows what's good for him he'll stay away." I stare and nod at Ginny. She smiles grimly, "Let's go before he gets to the only compartment that'll have enough seats left for us." I smile slightly as she leads the three of us to a compartment. I'm going back to school, where I have to fake a smile, but that's okay, because I can fake it until I make it.

            I smile at my old friends as I pass them and find a compartment filled with Neville and Luna. I march in and sit down. They smile at me. I smile back, they greet me and I wave. "She lost her voice," Ginny says, walking in, saying the same thing she'd told everyone else. I nod sadly. "At least she's good at nonverbal magic she'll have no trouble with lessons." Neville smiles sadly and Luna clasps my hand. I smile and tears shimmer in my eyes, I have wonderful friends. Harry and Ron catch up to us and greet Neville and Luna. The conversation starts as the train pulls out of the station, I realize I'd sat my trunk down on the platform. I look at Ginny and spell, in the air with magic, what had happened. She groaned, "We'll get you new stuff." She looks out the window. "Is that all you forgot?" I nod. I had everything else, my wand, one set of robes, which I was wearing, one set of muggle clothes, underneath and money. Ginny sighs, "We'll get your stuff, but I didn't see it, maybe someone grabbed it." I nod, maybe. I lapse into silence, more complete than before as everyone talks around me. The world is a blur and then I see Draco passing our compartment and see that under the edge of his robes, where they were pushed up slightly, that he had cuts. I could've followed him then, but Blaise was with him. I was on good terms with Blaise, all of us were, and we could tolerate Pansy, but not for too long. I ignored his wave until he sighed and stalked away. I got up and closed the shade in the compartment, so I wouldn't see him walk by again. Harry looked at me oddly, but then shrugged. I fell asleep and didn't wake until we were at Hogwarts.