Third Person's POV

That night, Hermione couldn't sleep. Not because of all the information about the Chamber of Secrets that Professor McGonagall had told them, but because of an empty feeling inside of her.

She sighed and flipped to her side, then back to her back, and finally to her other side. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She put on a sweater and a pair of slippers, and went down the stairs to the common room.

Hermione sat on the couch, not knowing what to do. She had started on her essay, and had finished all the other homework, but why does she feel like she's forgetting something?

As she stared at the ceiling, a single lily flower came to her mind.

This was it. Liliana.

It seems so strange now, thinking of her. They hadn't talked for almost a year, and Hermione was actually trying to forget her, which was nearly impossible because of all the events that had happened.

But she wanted to know. Hermione was curious. She wanted to know, just one thing.

If Liliana hated her.

~Time Skip~

The next morning, Hermione woke up very early, despite waking up in the middle of the night. She wanted to talk a walk around the school to clear her thoughts so she could get really for school.

She had expected to be alone, at this time.

But the last person she wanted to see at that moment blocked her way just as she exited from her common room.

"L-Liliana?"

"You know, sometimes I wonder if it's breaking curfew to walk around really early in the morning. Because you know, how will they know if you didn't just stay up really late?"

Regardless of all her thoughts about Liliana she had previously, Hermione couldn't help but smile. She missed it. All of it. Whether it was Liliana's voice, her jokes, or just her in general being nice.

Liliana yawned. "Believe it or not, but I actually don't know why I woke up so early today. Why did you?"

"I..." Hermione didn't know what to say. She didn't want to tell Liliana exactly what she had been thinking, so she just said, "I think that you shouldn't be with you Slytherin friends anymore."

Liliana looked surprised. "Why?"

"Because," Hermione answered. "I think they've had a bad influence on you. They've made you hate Harry, Ron, and I, and-"

Liliana laughed. "I don't hate you, silly."

"You...you don't?" Hermione thought she had heard wrong.

Liliana shook her head. "I don't. Really."

Hermione grabbed her hands. "Say it again."

"I don't hate you, Hermione."

Hermione sighed and let go of Liliana's hands. "Thank Merlin."

"Why?" Liliana asked. "What makes you think I hated you?"

"Because last year, you kept calling me Mudblood, and this year you've started calling me Granger, like the rest of Slytherin house. It feels really good to hear you calling me Hermione again, or maybe...Mione?"

Liliana looked at Hermione seriously. "But only when we're alone, alright? I might still need to call you 'Granger' in front of the others, because I need a good Slytherin reputation. But once we're alone, or with Harry and Ron, I'll call you Mione."

"That's great, Lily!" Hermione exclaimed. Liliana smiled as Hermione hugged her. "But can't you transfer back to Gryffindor-?"

"No, Hermione." Liliana pulled Hermione's arms off her and frowned. "I need to stay in Slytherin. My family is there. And most of my friends. And I also need to stay...for another reason too." She looked at Hermione in the eye. "I cannot tell you what it is, but you don't need to worry about that. All that matters in between us now, is that you need to know that when I insult you in front of others, I don't mean it. The good Slytherin impressions, all that. It will all be an act, but our friendship is real."

Hermione smiled again. Just then, she remembered the first question she was going to ask. "Oh right, why did you come to the Gryffindor common room so early in the morning?"

Liliana shrugged. "Just needed a piece of me restored."

Hermione giggled, and soon, Liliana joined in.