Hermione woke up, scrunched the covers off of her sleepy self, and slipped her feet into a pair of hideous hot-pink, bejewelled slippers that had been a gift from Ginny last Christmas. "They clash with my hair!" was all Ginny had had as an excuse! Hermione yawned, stretched, and padded down the stairs to the bathroom to freshen up. As she passed through the door of the common room enroute to the bathrooms, she noticed that no one else was awake yet. Lazy oafs, she grumbled to herself. Sleeping in on a Saturday! No time for homework. Hermione herself was not such a morning person, but we'll deal with that later. In the bathroom, Hermione doused her face in ice cold water. Running a quick hand through her hair, Hermione descended the Grand Staircase and headed towards the Great Hall for a hearty breakfast. When she got to the door that led to the Hall, she noticed that it didn't look quite right. It seemed, less aged somehow. And there were different pictures beside it. Hermione shrugged and pushed open the door.
As per usual, she was the first one to come downstairs. It was only 6AM, after all. No sense in wasting a morning sleeping when there was homework to be done. Hermione had just tucked into a plateful of French toast laden with cinnamon sugar when the next students began to arrive. A couple Ravenclaws sat down at their house table and began discussing something seemingly important. A lone, surly Slytherin loaded his plate with bacon and went to sit in a corner by himself. A dozy looking bunch of Hupplepuffs meandered in and flopped down on their bench. Hermione didn't recognize anyone, and soon went on her way to the library.
The halls looked slightly unfamiliar as Hermione made her way to her one refuge in Hogwarts. The pictures didn't seem right. In fact, her favourite portrait of a portly man in an armchair reading a book upside down was missing. Perhaps Filch had taken it down for cleaning. Hermione opened the library door, expecting to see Madam Pince sitting austerely at her desk. Instead, the desk was empty. Hermione went to the Transfiguration section and tried to find the new study guide for her NEWTS coming up. Professor McGonagall had said that it should be in the library within the week. After seven minutes of fruitless searching, she gave up and pulled out her favourite Transfiguration book. She opened its pages to smell that familiar old-book smell, but instead, it smelled...new... Maybe there was a new copy, she thought. In any case, Hermione sat down and began to read.
Who knows how long she sat there, but she began hearing some snickering coming from somewhere close by. Probably Ron and Harry up to something or other, she thought disapprovingly to herself. She ignored them and continued reading. Soon, she was disrupted again, this time by someone speaking directly to her. "Hey darlin'. I haven't seen you around before. Are you new here? I'd be glad to show you around."
Hermione looked up and said, "I'm in seventh year, you idiot. How long have you been...Oh my!"