The owls entered, a cloud of wings and beaks, as they did every morning at eight o'clock.

I didn't look up from the table, except to check for the Daily Prophet, which arrived sporadically on weekdays and rarely on weekends. The paper must have been low on gold; I was always greeted by the same mangy owl with a split ear. And half the time it was missing pages five through seven.

Harry and Ron glanced upwards from their heaping plates of eggs and toast towards the illusory ceiling, which I knew today beamed cloudless blue. Then Pig soared behind my head and landed beside me, carrying a small package which Ron carefully pulled off his owl's leg and opened.

"Hey, 'Mione, it's that dragon quill Charlie said he would send!"

I looked up and made a clearly apathetic sound, while Harry pushed his plate sideways and made room for the package.

"Nice," he said. "What's it do?"

"It's a Romanian tourist gimmick that turns into a tiny dragon, but spews soot in the owner's face," I interjected, unable to resist commenting. "Ron, are you sure Charlie sent this? It sounds like it was from─"

"Hermione," Ron grumbled. "Charlie signed it and everything, do you really think Fred and George se─"

The quill burst, dousing his hands, forearms, and place setting in ash. A few sparks appeared, but immediately burned out, singing the tiny hairs on Ron's arms as they went.

I coughed from the smoke, folding my arms.

"Well? What did I say?"

Harry laughed, having missed the cloud of soot by mere inches, but seemed to be feeling cocky. Ron muttered something about 'dealing with Fred and George later.'

We had hardly resumed eating when the clock struck quarter to nine, and the crowd at our table had started to diminish. As I gulped down the rest of my pumpkin juice, Harry took another bite of sausage and checked his schedule.

"Ron and I've got Divination, so I guess I'll see you at double Potions?"

I nodded. Since I had quit that ridiculous subject in fourth year, I had a free period while they suffered. The two left for their dormitory, and then to class, I assumed.

As I purposefully walked towards Gryffindor Tower, I considered how to spend the hour I had before Double Potions. There wasn't any homework to do, of course; I had finished it the night before. I considered going to the library, but for once I had nothing really to research, and a fourth year told me Peeves was lurking there, near the Transfiguration corridor. I didn't fancy meeting him, especially by myself.

A passing third year proudly clutching an aging broomstick reminded me that Harry's birthday was coming up; maybe I could mail-order something from the Owlery? My steps adjusted to that path, and soon I was entering the open-air room, the ceiling so high owls could comfortably roost in the rafters. It reminded me of a warehouse, back in the muggle world.

Luna sat on a rusty barn stool, tying a note to the leg of a slender tawny bird. Her hair was plaited, enhanced with bits of shiny foil woven in. Luna, as usual, was wearing her orange pepper earrings. She let the owl go, and we watched it fly out the window, heading to deliver the message who knew where.

"Hi, Hermione," she said airily. I still couldn't work out how she did that. Was she some kind of minor Seer, or had she simply recognized my reflection in the window pane of the closed window, beside her open one?

"Hi, Luna," I answered.

"Are you sending anything, or looking for something? I was asking my father for another copy of the Quibbler. A new Slytherin friend of mine wants to read it."

I was about to interject with a depressing, yet true fact about most Slytherin females, when Luna continued seriously.

"I suspect─" she added, "she doesn't mean it, but I thought I'd ask for one anyway. So what about you?"

I hesitated for a moment. Luna confused me, something I hated to admit, but was true.

"Oh, nothing, I'm just looking for catalogs from the Quidditch shop in Diagon Alley. You wouldn't happen to know where they are, would you?"

Luna answered yes, but before she could show me where, she stopped and turned to me knowingly.

"There's a letter for you, one just arrived." I turned, seeing a black, pointy-eared owl swoop over my head, dropped a note sealed with sticky red wax that clung to my nails as I pried it open. I hesitated. I hadn't sent any letters, yet I was being sent one? I knew I shouldn't open it.

Then I recalled how Viktor and I had been penfriends over the summer, after the Triwizard Tournament last year. Perhaps this letter was from him as well? I neatly slit the wax using a cutting spell and opened the smooth paper to read a very short message.

Meet me in the forest at six. Come alone.

There was no signature, nor name or initial of any kind.

"What was it?" asked Luna. I held it closer, blocking her from view, and told her it was nothing. Fortunately, she believed me, and I was free to go, completely forgetting about the catalogs and Harry's birthday.

-o-o-o-

I made it back to the dungeons for Potions just before class began, narrowly missing Snape as he headed for the doorway to check for stragglers. I was surprised that Harry and Ron weren't part of them, coming from the top of the school (the Divination tower) to the lowest dungeon.

"Where were you?" muttered Harry out of the corner of his mouth as I slipped into a seat beside him.

"Nowhere, er─ when do you mean? Well, I mean… I was in the library."

Harry gave me a strange look, but ignored my babbling when I mentioned the library.

"Typical Hermione," he whispered. "Going to the library when we don't even have homework yet." He rolled his eyes, just barely avoiding Snape's gaze, as he reentered the room after a fierce round of detentions ─ except for the late Slytherins, of course. I let out a breath. The anonymous note had startled me, and I was hoping no one would notice.

Class went on, and we were supposed to make a silencing solution. I tried to concentrate on my cauldron, but thought of the note filled my head. Who was it who sent the note? What was going to happen at the forest? For I had decided to go meet whoever had written to me, the mystery was too enticing. But I wanted to go alone, so Harry and Ron couldn't know about it.

Wrapped up in my thoughts, I added two measures of Albanian castor oil instead of one, turning my potion pale pink. When I focused on the instructions in front of me, then glanced down at my potion, I realized the mistake and gasped.

"Oh no," I exclaimed quietly, and Harry heard me. He saw my potion and looked surprised.

"You're acting odd today. I've never seen you mess up a potion!"

I glared at him, biting my lip, and heard Snape call out "time's up" from the front. He made us take a vial of our potions and give them to him for grading, before I ever had a chance to try and fix my horribly wrong silencing solution.

-o-o-o-

I managed to evade Harry and Ron at lunch by going to the library. There weren't any other students there, just Madam Pince, who had long grown used to seeing me there at all hours of the day. Later, I refused to speak to them during Charms, even though it was a partner lesson, and sat with Lavender and Parvarti during History of Magic even though their inane chatter drove me insane.

It was six o'clock, and all classes were done when I left the castle alone, quietly heading for the Forbidden Forest. The wind blew strongly, making my cloak fly out behind me as I walked down the sloping hill near Hagrid's hut. I could see a fire blooming inside in the fireplace, and smiled. But then I recalled my purpose, and the calming flush left my cheeks, replaced with potent anxiety. After all, I had no idea who I would be meeting.

Finally, I spotted a figure leaning against a tree at the very edge of the forest. It seemed to be looking towards me, but the darkness cloaked the person's features, so I couldn't even distinguish gender. I readied my wand ─ suddenly, this didn't seem like such a good idea.

I approached, ready to cast a stunning spell, or a shield, perhaps, to protect myself, but was so intrigued I couldn't help stopping to listen for a greeting.

"It's Valentine's Day," whispered the person as loudly as possible.

I was stunned. What was going on? But the person was right, it was that day. I had forgotten, not that I usually paid the holiday much attention. But the figure parted its lips once again, and I vaguely remembered the whisper from somewhere, but I couldn't recall what.

"Kiss me!" she shrieked, for now I knew it was a woman, and recognizing her gnarled black locks and red, red lips as those of Bellatrix Lestrange, I screamed louder.

"Get off me, you─" I started to yell, but she cast a curse at me and I ducked to avoid the white light. I put up a weak shield charm, but knew it wouldn't be enough.

"Get─ over─ here!" growled the Death Eater, shooting vines toward me out of her wand that grabbed my limbs, dragging me across the ground to meet her. I severed them easily, shooting up red sparks, but while my attention was diverted Bellatrix shot another spell at me that I ducked too slowly. It missed my temple, but what looked like eight inches of my hair was sliced off, burning as it hit the forest floor.

"How dare you!" I told her, enraged. While I wasn't as shallow as the other girls in my year, she had completely ruined my hair. I didn't know if it would grow back, being a cursed cut. But I had bigger problems.

"Your pretty locks spoiled? Come to me, you little Mudblood, or I'll do a lot worse! I will kill you!" she screeched, cackling at me. I then knew I had no hope of surviving this duel; all I had done was stay alive so far, but that wouldn't last long. And that disgustingly beautiful woman was a Death Eater; she could do whatever she liked, including call for reinforcements. The outer forest wasn't part of Hogwarts. Bellatrix could Apparate to and from it however she liked.

"I hate you!" I screamed. "I hope you die a bloody death, you monster!"

Bellatrix shot a Cruciatus curse at me. With no time to top it, I leapt to the side, but she sent two more my way and one struck my calf. Suddenly, my whole world turned to fire. I could hear her laughing at my agony, but felt nothing other than my forehead exploding in pain ten times the worst headache I had felt before. It felt like I was bleeding everywhere at once, and my vision went spotty, turning to black as I lost control of my body and hit the ground. Luckily, the pain ended a second later, and I was left with nothing. I felt empty, but it was a relief. Now I knew how Harry had felt on multiple occasions, like in the graveyard that one night. But at least that was an accident. I had literally walked to my doom. I was an utter idiot.

As the last of the aftershocks of pain stopped, I looked up at Bellatrix's gleeful face, realizing I was lying on the ground, bound at the wrist.

"How do you feel now, Mudblood?" she said quietly, her voice quivering with malice. "Ready to die, like all your little friends will when I find them?"

But my wand was underneath me, and she didn't seem to realize that. I muttered a quick spell, which shot me in the air, breaking my bonds yet again, as Bellatrix's face wrinkled in horror. With effort, I caught my wand and yelled "Stupefy", striking her in the chest. A lucky shot. To my surprise, she collapsed backwards, still glaring at me, with her hand clutching her left arm. I urgently shot a few more stunning spells into her, and rolled up her sleeve, making sure the Mark there was not glowing. It wasn't.

Then the pain from the spells that found their mark on me kicked in. My chest contracted; I must have had a broken rib at least, maybe two. My robes were tattered, covered in earth, with holes here and there where curses had just missed my body. I had cuts and bruises everywhere, including a slice along my left side that I feared was already becoming infected.

But I was alive.

-o-o-o-

I was quickly discovered by some centaurs patrolling the edge of the forest. They tended to my wounds, using herbs and plants to stop the bleeding in various places, then using some kind of magic to partially fix my rib. At least it felt like magic, but I was certain I hadn't read about centaur magic in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I questioned the centaur who had performed the healing, but he responded with a knowing smile and silence. I made sure not to mention the book called "Fantastic Beasts" to him.

"How late is it?" I asked them carefully, hoping that someone had noticed my absence at dinner and come look for me.

"The sun has set. Jupiter predicts it shall not rise again for a rainfall, but when shines the moon? We let Venus decide."

"That makes no sense─" I began to complain, but stopped myself. Centaurs didn't like rudeness, and they would be offended if I questioned their way of life, however irritating it was. "So about eight o'clock?"

The centaur nodded. "In the speak of your people," he told me. "We use no such system, but does this make us simple 'animals?' Of course not. Yet humans fail to see this."

I began to get worried that he would take out his anger on me, so I politely said I would leave, but thanked him for his help healing me. Shuddering, I left the forest for the castle.

-o-o-o-

When I reached inside, I was made to tell Dumbledore everything that had happened. Harry and Ron came to see me, as well as all the girls from our year, for some reason.

We were told that Bellatrix's body was no longer by the forest, meaning that she must have escaped. The professors were out questioning centaurs, asking about activity in the forest, but getting nowhere. When I finally escaped the questioning, congratulations, and awarding of... awards, I retreated to the dormitory, where I took a hot shower and thought about my evening.

Yes, I had been a bit of an idiot in going to meet the letter-writer, but I was lucky enough to survive and now the whole wizarding world would know we were in danger. The Dark Lord had most certainly risen again, and his followers were out to get us.

Normal life had become something of the past, not to be known again for a long time.

Written for:

Build-a-Bear Challenge, Prompt: How fashionable is your Build-A-Bear? Pick an outfit type and write on that character fic prompt to dress your animal! Preppy: Hermione Granger.

Amateur Divination Game Challenge, Prompt: paper

Game of Life Challenge, Prompts: owlery, sticky, and Bellatrix/Hermione

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry- Potions: Prompt, write about a healer. Word Count: 500-3000.