Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter OR Ferris Bueller, though if I were genius enough to come up with something like that that would be pretty cool, eh? Anyway . . .

Puzzle Piece

There it was—her masterpiece—on their little wooden table, gorgeous, beautiful, perfect. Her 2,000 piece puzzle of Hogwarts castle in all its glory was finally complete. She was so happy she could sing.

Hermione did a little spin (her over-large stomach in perilous danger of knocking something over) and clapped her hands, letting out a little squeal. Humming the tune of the school song she danced and twirled around the room like a weird pregnant ballerina while she got herself a snack (hey, putting together a giant puzzle was hard work).

Pickles, Ice cream, peanut butter, coachroach clusters . . . wait, coachroach clusters? Yet strangely the sounded quite more appealing than they would have normally . . . pudding, bananas, hmm. Yes. That sounded quite good. She got working on her concoction, scoping the ice cream in a bowl and mixing it with the peanut butter, she sprinkled the coachroach clusters on top and chopped up the bananas. Finally she poured the strawberry pudding all over it, and, just for fun, added multicolored sprinkles. She stuck a spoon in the mix and sat down at the table to admire her puzzle.

She had been staring at it for a full five minutes, her chest swelling in pride, when she noticed something.

No.

Thump, thump, thump, went her heart.

No. No no no no no!

There was a piece missing. Her heart was doing eighty in a fifty zone . . . no no NO! She nearly spasmed, her breathing going into overdrive, the ice cream falling to the floor with a clatter. There was a piece missing, a piece missing! How could she lose a piece? She never lost anything! This could not be happening.

She clutched the table, trying to calm herself, this was not good for the baby, she had to calm down . . . she must have just dropped it, that was it, it must be somewhere on the floor . . .

She scrambled to the ground, and after searching everywhere under the table and on the floor of the kitchen she concluded that it must not be there. What was she going to do? If she didn't chill out she would hurt the baby, and to calm down she really needed that puzzle piece, how could she lose something so important? (Okay, maybe it wasn't that important, but still)

Huffing, she paced, back and forth . . . where could it be? Crookshanks leapt on the table and watched her, his tail twitching in amusement. She stopped and glared at her cat.

"What did you do with it?" she said, pointing an accusing finger.

As though he were merely waiting for her to ask, he leapt off the table and shot off into the living room. Hermione followed him, and watched him dig under the couch for a few moments, and he emerged with . . .

A dead rat. Damn that cat! She could see now why Ron didn't like him.

"Eurgh! That's disgusting Crookshanks!"

Crookshanks merely munched happily. Losing her temper, she grabbed Crookshanks around the middle, staying well away from the rat in his mouth, and threw him outside.

"There! Go eat your stupid rat outside, and don't help me find my puzzle piece, whatever you do!"

Her cat slinked around the corner of the house and disappeared. Hermione slammed the door behind her. Breathing heavily, she turned to face the empty living room. It had to be somewhere in the house. It couldn't have just . . . disappeared. Hermione dived, looking under the couch. She turned over cushions, threw Quidditch magazines on the floor, searched behind the logs in the fireplace, underneath the lamps, behind the curtains . . . everywhere. It was not here.

Feeling panicky, she moved her search to the bathroom, no, there was nothing behind the toilet, not a hint of colored cardboard underneath the towels, and it was definitely not down the drain, or stuck to the shower curtains. Frustrated, she searched the rest of the house. It was not under her bed, or on any of the windowsills, nor under the carpets. It was not in One Thousands Herbs and Fungi, nor in What to do While You're Nine Months Pregnant and Going Crazy Because You Can't Leave The House and Are Supposed to be Resting, and it was not in Hogwarts, a History, though it should have been, as there was everything in Hogwarts, a History. It was not under the afghan, not in the drawers, not in the cupboards, not in the wardrobe, not hiding behind the hideous vase Percy had got them for Christmas.

It was nowhere. It was not in the house. It was gone.

Trying very hard not to hyperventilate, she sunk in the couch, and started to cry. She did not register the fact that she was crying because of something as stupid as a tiny puzzle piece, all she could think about was that it was gone, she was not going to find it, and her puzzle would have a hole in it forever where the top of the Astronomy Tower was supposed to go. And she had worked so hard on it . . .

She had been curled up on the couch for quite a while, drowning in her own misery, when she dimly registered the creak of the front door and a curse, hurried footsteps.

"Hermione? HERMIONE!"

Shaken out of her stupor, she made a grunt that was supposed to be "Ron," and raised her head. Ron rushed into the room, his wand out and looking panicky. He looked immensely relieved to see her sitting there.

"What—what happened?" he said, "Are you alright? Who did it? Is the baby okay?"

Sniffing, Hermione looked at her concerned husband and nodded her head. "Nobody did anything," she muttered, going red. "I . . . I lost a puzzle piece."

And she burst into tears.

"Wh—what?" Ron stood there looking baffled; and then, collecting himself, he crossed the room in three strides on his long legs to drop down on the couch beside her and rub her back. "Hermione, what-?"

"The puzzle piece! It was the last one and now it's g-gone and I'll never f-find it! I'll never f-finish the p-puzzle! I l-looked everywhere," she sobbed, emphasizing her point by waving her hands wildly.

"Hermione, calm down, it's okay!" said Ron, utterly bewildered. "It's just a puzzle piece!"

"It's not just a puzzle piece, Ron!" shouted Hermione, shaking him off. "It's . . . it's the last puzzle piece! And now Hogwarts will have a gaping hole right where the tip of the Astronomy Tower's supposed to be and the puzzle will never be finished and . . . and . . . and it's just awful."

Ron raised his eyebrows, but with surprising tact did not say anything. Instead he drew her in his arms and held her while she finished crying. When she was finally done, he spoke softly to her.

"Are you a witch, or what?" he raised his wand. "Accio puzzle piece!"

And there it was, zooming towards her, the little piece of cardboard that had reduced her to hysterics, Ron caught it in his hand and opened it. The tip of the Astronomy Tower was sitting in his palm.

Hermione burst into tears again, but she was grinning broadly. She threw herself at Ron, winding him. Once he caught his breath he chuckled, and took her by the hand, leading her into the kitchen.

She looked around the room and realized why Ron had panicked, as the room was utterly trashed. Her weird creation of ice cream, pickles, and coackroach clusters was slowly melting on the floor, the bowl shattered. The cupboards were thrown open and the cooking utensils had been scattered. He must have thought she'd been kidnapped or something.

"Oh no!" moaned Hermione. "I've trashed the house!"

Ron laughed and cleaned up the kitchen with a sweep of his wand. Hermione smiled weakly as he led her to the almost-finished puzzle. With shaking hands she inserted the last piece into the puzzle, and it glowed for a second, and then formed over into a solid picture, the lines from the jigsaw just faintly visible. She smiled at her finished puzzle, and threw herself into Ron's arms again.

"Ron Weasley, you're my hero!"

A/N: haha, "Ferris Bueller you're my hero". Awesome movie. Couldn't resist. Anyway, I thought my little fluff was pretty good. Poor Hermione, right? How badly does that suck? But magic can solve almost anything! : ) Tell me what you think by leaving a review!

~gfg