Disclaimer: I obviously don't own anything Harry Potter related, and I'm not making any money off the writing of this. It's all for my own perverted amusement! :)

My muse likes reviews - they give her motivation to cooperate with me, which then allows me to update quicker. So yay! Sorry that this one's a lil short again, but I promise the next chapter is going to be a bit longer!

Thank you to my two amazing betas, Lorcalon, and VIVAvivacious - You both are amazing!

Saturday morning was chilly, and Hermione woke up not wanting to leave the comfortable warmth of her bed. But as she glanced at the clock on her nightstand, and contemplated another hour of sleep, her stomach growled loudly. Reluctantly, she got out of bed and got dressed for the day, thinking only about getting breakfast down in the Great Hall. When she made it down to the common room, she was surprised to find it empty. She frowned as she looked around, wondering why her two best friends had gone down to breakfast without her. Once she entered the Great Hall, though, she had her answer.

Harry, Ron, and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team were in full gear as they dug in to plates of scrambled eggs and bacon. The Slytherin team, also in full gear, was huddled at one end of their table, and glaring across the hall at Harry and Ron, who were making gestures as they spoke to each other. As she made her way towards her usual seat across from the two, her eyes traveled to the staff table briefly, pausing only for a moment on Professor Snape's empty chair. She shrugged his absence off, as it wasn't unusual for him to leave meals quickly, and breakfast was nearly over now.

"...for Vaisey. He's been vicious in the practices," Harry was saying when Hermione sat down, quickly filling her plate.

"Hey, 'Mione!" Ron said around a mouthful of scrambled eggs, nodding at her and then turning back to Harry. "So what if Malfoy starts in on you again?"

"I've got Peakes aiming for him while Coote goes after their Chasers. As long as you stay in the bloody goal today, we should be fine," Harry muttered, taking a bite of his toast. Ron rolled his eyes.

"It was one practice, Harry! You just focus on catching the snitch and don't worry about me and the goals."

Hermione stifled a giggle and shot her friends a mock-disapproving look. "You know, if the two of you put half the energy into your school work that you do into Quidditch, I wouldn't have to help you all the time."

Both boys groaned, looking as if they were about to protest her reference to homework on their weekend, when suddenly Harry slapped his forehead. "I completely forgot! Have you started that Charms essay yet?"

Ron's eyes widened slightly and he quickly turned his attention back to his plate. Hermione sighed and shook her head at the two of them. "I've finished it, actually."

Harry and Ron exchanged a quick glance before turning to look at her with innocent smiles. "Could you help us with it after the game tonight?"

"Yeah, 'Mione, please?"

For a moment, she left the two of them to wonder while she gave them a disapproving look with her arms folded over her chest. Once they started to look a little nervous that she'd decline, she finally relaxed and dug back into her breakfast with a nod. "When don't I?"

"And that's why we love you!" Ron exclaimed playfully, his grin unfaltering when Hermione shot him a glare.

/-/SSHG/-/

The first Quidditch match of the season was a miserable one for Gryffindor. Draco Malfoy had taken over as Slytherin's keeper, and had only failed to block five goals; Ron, on the other hand, had let seventeen shots through the goal before the snitch was caught. Harper, the new Seeker for the Slytherin team had snatched the snitch from right under Harry's nose, winning the game with a score of 320 - 50.

After such a devastating loss, Hermione wasn't surprised that her two best friends trudged into the common room after the match with sullen expressions. She had reserved the couch in front of the fireplace for the three of them, and both boys seemed glad of it when they collapsed onto the overstuffed cushions. "That was miserable," Ron muttered as he leaned back over an arm of the couch, staring up at the ceiling. "What happened to us, Harry?"

"Just a bad day, I guess, mate."

Hermione rolled her eyes at them, giving both a painful flick in the shin. "Stop moping, both of you. You have the rest of the season to make up for it, and only this weekend to finish your homework." Her words were met with a loud groan from the two, which made her roll her eyes.

"Do we have to do this now, 'Mione?" Harry grumbled, mocking Ron's position over the opposite arm of the couch.

"Yes. You asked for help on the Charms essay, and I know full well you have other homework to finish. So let me just go get my ba-..." Hermione froze in the middle of her sentence, her eyes widening slightly. "Oh my god, I left my bag!" she exclaimed, jumping up.

Harry and Ron exchanged a confused look as she darted towards the portrait hole. "Where?"

"In the dungeons! Be right back!" she yelled over her shoulder as the portrait swung closed behind her.

/-/SSHG/-/

When Hermione reached the dungeons, she entered the unlocked Potions classroom and looked around, hoping to find her bag still sitting beside the desk where she had abandoned it. After checking every lab table and not seeing it, she made her way to the front of the room, where the door to Professor Snape's office was. She raised her fist to knock, but before she was able to, the door flew open and her teacher glared down at her.

He loomed over her, narrowing his eyes as he saw her begin to wring her hands nervously. "Professor, I..."

"While I find the sound of my wards blaring endlessly to be ever so pleasant, whatever you have to say, Miss Granger, can and will wait until your class on Monday. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an important potion to tend to," he hissed, slamming the door in her face.

Hermione stared at the door for a moment in stunned silence before finally knocking on it loudly. "But, Professor!" she yelled, hoping that he would hear her and come back. "Please, sir! I left my bag!" She knocked on the door, calling after her professor for several minutes before she finally gave a frustrated sigh and stormed from the classroom. Making her way back up to Gryffindor tower, she seethed in anger, wondering how she was going to redo three separate essays in just over a day.

"Hey, I thought you were getting your bag," Harry said when she climbed back through the portrait hole.

"I was. And I would have succeeded if Snape wasn't such a bloody git and hadn't slammed the door in my face before I could ask for it."

"Well, hell...now how are you going to help us with our Charms?" Ron muttered, looking worried, then afraid as Hermione spun on her heels to face him.

"How am I going to help you with your homework? That's what you're concerned with? Not even an ounce of consideration for all of my own work that was in my bag, that I will now have to redo. You're too concerned with the work that you decided to put off doing, knowing that if you put it off till the last second, I always come through to save you. Well you know what, Ronald? Not this time! Write your own bloody essay!"

Leaving a stunned Ron behind her, Hermione stomped up to the girls' dormitory and opened the trunk at the foot of her bed. She kept an extra, small bag in there, just in case something were to happen to her original. Yanking it out of the bottom, she stuffed several sheets of parchment, a few quills, and an ink pot into the bag, slammed her trunk closed, and went back down to the common room.

"'Mione..." Ron started, doing his best to look apologetic as the fuming girl stalked past him.

"I don't believe you're sorry, no, I will not help you, and yes, I am serious," she hissed angrily. "I'm going to the library. And don't bother following me, either of you."