Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter.

The alarm rang just as the clock struck 5am. Hermione was up on the first ring. She got ready as fast as she could, grabbed her bag and almost sprinted towards the door. Just as she was about to open it, the door opened and hit her right in the face. She stumbled few steps back and caught her face screaming. With one hand still holding her forehead, she took out her wand with her other hand and pointed it at the intruder. When she heard a familiar voice she lowered her wand and realised that it was Ron's voice.
"Oh god! Sorry Hermione! I didn't know you were behind the door. Are you ok?"
After a moment Harry's face materialised behind Ron's. both of them were staring at her worriedly waiting for a reply. She finally managed to answer.
"I'm fine. What are you two doing coming in this early in the morning? You'll scared the hell out of me! And where were you'll all night?"
Their worried face immediately turned red and they exchanged a glance, then they quickly brushed off the topic by mumbling incoherent words simultaneously.
"Alright! Alright! Forget it for now" Hermione said getting irritated "I'm getting late to reach the Research Centre. I'll interrogate you'll when I'm back."
"Why are you going so early today?" Ron asked.
The rune research I told you'll about, we've almost translated all the runes on the slab and we'll soon know what it says.
"That awesome! You'll have been at it since weeks." Ron said happily
He the whispered to Harry "Good! She might forget to interrogate us"
Harry whispered back "It's Hermione mate! She never forgets!"
And Ron groaned
Hermione grabbed her bag and made to leave again but Ron stopped her.
"Wait! Let me fix that huge growing bump on your head."
Hermione instinctively touched it and groaned
"God! Fix it fast."
Ron waved his wand and the bump reduced considerably but you could still see a small red bump.

Finally she left, still angry with both Harry and Ron and wondering what they were up to last night. Shaking off these thoughts she apparated right in front of the Research Centre. It looked like an old muggle mansion from outside. The muggles usually kept a good distance from it thinking it was haunted as a few of them claimed to have seen people disappear into it, but it was actually wizards entering the Research Centre they'd seen. Hermione tapped the doorbell with her wand, suddenly the step she was standing on started glowing and a green ray of light scanned her I'd which was pinned to her cloak. Then the porch slid open and the steps descended like an escalator into the porch. Ada soon as she was in the porch shut and the mansion looked as normal as ever.

There was a huge circular reception with spiral staircases all around. Hermione took the one labelled 'Ancient Runes'. When she reached her office she saw her colleagues already working on the slab. She greeted them and started working slab swell as well.

This slab was around 500 years old. It was excavated a month ago in Devon, England and since then the Ancient Rune Research Department was trying to decode the runes on the slab. Hermione was the head of the Department And her three collegues assisted her, Rosal, Abria and Jackson, all very good at what they did.

The runes on the slab, they discovered translated into a poem. Only the last few runes were left to translate. There was also a tear shaped dent on top of the slab which they thought was probably because of how old the slab was.

"YES! Abria screamed. "I got the last rune. It is a poem as we thought it was." Hermione ran to where Abria was working and saw a six line poem written on her working paper.

A drop is all you need
To uncover what is beneath
Call it black, call it brown
Call it red or yellow
It's either dry or moist
It's either hard or mellow

They all read it again and again. Hermione finally said "I think it means 'Earth'!"

"Could it be that simple?" Rosal asked

"I think the tear shaped dent is where we need to put the drop." Abria added

"How do we put a 'drop' of Earth?" Jackson asked apprehensively.

Suddenly something struck Hermione "Abria get some soil from the Herbology Department, I've got an idea"

After few minutes Abria was back with the soil. Hermione mixed a bit of it with water to a dropping consistency. She then put a drop of it a the tear shaped dent. All of them stared at the slab waiting for something to happen, but nothing did. Finally Hermione sighed and washed the drop out of the dent.

"Now what?" Rosal asked.

"I was soo hoping this would work." Hermione said "cause the other option what I think will work is some kind of potion relating to Earth and we'll have to take the potion department's help."

The remaining two girls gasped.

"What's the problem with taking their help?" Jackson asked all confused.

All three girls stared at him as if he'd used an unforgivable.

"Why are you'll staring at me like that?"

Finally Arabia answered "The head of the potions department is Malfoy!"

Author's Note:
This is my first attempt at fanfiction. Hope you'll like it. Please review it'll really help. Thanks!