Hermione was always one to follow a strict morning routine. At home she would wake up at seven in the morning to her beeping alarm clock, take a hot shower while listening to Aerosmith then go downstairs to make breakfast and a pot of coffee for herself and tea for her parents.

Her routine hadn't change in this time but it was the little differences in it that made Hermione feel that she was off balance. She still woke up at seven but it was to the loud ringing sound of a wind up clock. Instead of taking a hot shower she poured warm water into a white porcelain basin and washed her upper body, the water would be warm enough for a shower after breakfast. Her coffee was made and brought to her by a house elf and breakfast was served at eight sharp, whether you were at the table or not.

One of the things Hermione loved most was being able to go into her mum's kitchen and cook a wonderful meal for her parents and herself whenever she was feeling down or stressed. Here she didn't even know what Professor Dumbledore's kitchen looked like.

When Hermione entered the dining room she found the professor already seated at the table reading the Daily Prophet while shaking his head. He scoffed before smacking a hand against the paper and turning towards Hermione. "They're bloody fools…the lot of them."

She arched a brow at him. "Who are fools Professor?" She frowned at the thought that she had never heard Professor Dumbledore swear before and once again had to remind herself that that was a different time, a different place, and the professor that sat before her now was not yet that man.

Dumbledore handed her the paper with a scowl. "The damnable Wizengamot is who. They are now fining and imprisoning any witch or wizard that is discovered giving support to muggles in the war. Four years ago the minister decides that the magical community is not to be involved because of fear for the International Statue of Secrecy and now they want to imprison those that get involved whether they've used magic to assist or not. Don't these fools realize the consequences of what inactivity will do to this country, that if they win the magical community will be just as affected by the devastation?"

Hermione read the article in the paper while in her mind she went back to her History of Magic lessons. Great Britain was currently in the middle of World War One, the very last stretch of it if she remembers correctly. In fact the end of the war would be coming in about five months, sometime at the end of October.

She grinned to herself as she read the contents to herself. Dumbledore seemed to be able to read her mind without using legilimency. "From the look on your face I would say that you know something that I probably shouldn't ask you about."

Hermione glanced at him with a small smile. "Perhaps. Let's just say that I wouldn't worry too much about what they say."

Hermione thought about it for a moment before turning back to him. "Actually I don't think that telling you about this particular bit of knowledge will really affect any outcome in the future."

At his raised eyebrow she giggled and continued. "Through perhaps it would be best just to let events unfold and be surprised."

He chuckled along with her as the two were served their tea and coffee.

Rolanda woke up in a wonderful mood. The sun was shining and birds were chirping happily away, it was the perfect day for a date with a beautiful woman. She smiled to herself as she rose out of bed and readied herself for breakfast.

She descended the staircase with a slight skip in her step. At the last step she could hear her Uncle and Gen talking to one another in the dining room.

As she stepped onto the landing she spied something out of the corner of her eye. There sitting on a small table in the entry way was a small statue of Argus, a monster from Greek mythology. He was a giant with a hundred eyes located all over his body.

Ro looked around to make sure no one was watching then grinned mischievously. Quietly walking over to the table she picked up the statue then made her way back up the stairs and to the door that she knew was Genevieve's room.

Just as she was about to open the door a voice behind her startled her and she almost dropped the statue. "Rolanda Isobella Hooch! What do you think you're doing!?"

Ro looked over her shoulder and found her best friend standing there arms crossed and a foot tapping annoyingly. She turned fully around and held up the statue for Minerva to see with a grin.

The ebony haired young woman looked wide eyed at the item and her arms dropped to the side. "Is that what I think it is?"

Ro's grin grew wider as she patted the statue on top of its head. "Yep, it's the statue that we charmed four years ago to spy on the entry way for us." She looked down at Argus and pulled him to her chest. It had been Rolanda's idea to charm the eyes of the statue to watch everything that happened around it and with a charmed hand mirror Ro and Min were able to see whatever room the statue was in no matter where they were. Rolanda had come up with the idea so that she and Minerva could sneak out of the house at night without being caught.

Minerva's eyebrows furrowed as she crossed her arms again. "And what exactly are you doing with that up here?"

Ro looked around to make sure they were still alone before waving to Minerva to follow here. She opened the door and made her way to Gen's bathing room. When she entered she found a perfect spot on a little table next to the sink, after removing a vase of flowers.

Minerva's jaw dropped as she realized what her friend was doing. "Ro! You can't put that in here! That's an invasion of her privacy!"

Rolanda scoffed as she placed her hands on her hips. "Oh don't be such a stick in the mud Min! It's not like we can hear what she's saying and it isn't in her actual room so we can't watch all the time. We'll only be able to see when she's…" Looking over she gave a small wave towards the bath tub and shower. "…busy."

Minerva looked from her friend to the shower and back again. She held her lip tightly between her teeth. Rolanda turned the other witch towards the door and put an arm around her shoulders. "Come on Min! Tell me you aren't dying to know what that lovely creature looks like beneath her robes? It's no different than when we told each other about our sexual preference when we were in third year then snuck into the perfect baths to watch the sixth years bathing, except we won't need to sneak back to our common room after."

"That's beside the point!" Throwing her hands in the air she huffed before rubbing the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. "I don't want you to put the statue in here. Actually I wanted to speak to you about your date with Genevieve."

Ro looked at the seriousness on her friends face and put the statue down on the table then placed a hand on Minerva's shoulder. "Min? What is it?"

Minerva looked at the brunette between her fingers before dropping her hand. "I…I don't want to compete with you for her." Rolanda's confused look had Minerva shyly glance away. "I think I want to date her, I mean really date her, exclusively. I…I really like this one Ro."

Rolanda turned her head away and dropped her hand to wrap her arms around herself. As she ran a hand through her hair she looked up to see the anxious look on Minerva's face and whispered. "Me to."

The shock on her friends face was not completely unexpected, the words that came next even less so. "You're…? But…you can't! You said yourself that you don't fall in love with girls! That you could never picture yourself settling down with anyone! You CAN'T fall for this one Rolanda!"

Ro looked down at her shoes and rubbed her hands together. "I know what I said! But people can change their minds Minerva!" She sighed deeply before looking up. "I'm not saying this to hurt you Min. You're my best friend and I would never do that to you, but after talking to her last night I felt something that I've never felt before."

She crossed her arms and began to pace in front of the other witch. "We both know that there's only ever been one thing that I've looked for in a woman and that was a bit of fun in the bedroom. I've never told you this before, but ever year that we've had our competition I honestly tried to see if I could really feel anything for our conquests. To see if I could fall in love with someone, Gen is the first person that has ever given me this strange giddy feeling. I'm actually looking forward to spending time with her and not just to get her to sleep with me."

The darker haired witch gave a resigned sigh as her shoulders dropped and she moved to lean against the sink. "So what do we do now?"

Ro moved next to her to copy her stance. "I think we should continue with our plans, but this time to win her heart instead of bedding her then breaking her heart like the others."

Minerva raised one eyebrow at her friend before she nodded her head in agreement. Rolanda shrugged her shoulders "And who knows, after a few dates maybe only one of us will still be interested in her. The important thing is that we make a promise to each that no matter what this, no matter the outcome, won't affect our friendship." She held her pinkie out with a grin.

Minerva smiled back and seized the digit with her own. "Agreed."

The two hugged briefly before heading out and down the stairs to breakfast. The girls walked into the dining room to see both Uncle Albus and Gen finishing up on a full English breakfast. "Hello ladies, glad to see you could join us." He smiled at them through his spoonful of egg.

The girls had the good grace to blush as they approached the table and Rolanda begrudgingly let Minerva sit beside Gen. "Sorry Uncle, we overslept a bit this morning. Good morning Gen!" She paused beside the beautiful brunette, took the girl's hand into her own and kissed it. "I hope you slept well my dear."

Hermione blushed and smiled at the suave move before nodded slightly. "I did, thank you." She could hear Minerva grumbling beside her and shook her head to stop herself from laughing out loud. It was at that moment that Bixby had entered the room and went to Rolanda first to dish out her now cold breakfast.

Hermione, having just finished hers gently wiped her mouth and stood giving the others a polite little curtsy. "If you'll please excuse me, I'm going to go and get washed up for our outing." With that she left for her room and her shower.

Dumbledore returned his attention to the daily prophet. Minerva was just about to tuck in to her own breakfast when she saw a look pass over the other woman's features and freeze. She looked directly at her and mouthed the word 'What?' to her.

Rolanda in response bit her lip before mouthing back 'Statue!' to the other witch. Both women's eyebrows rose up to their hairline before they pushed back their chairs and stood. "On second thought I think we'll both just have an apple and go get ready ourselves, please excuse us Uncle!" The two each grabbed a piece of fruit and raced up to Rolanda's room. Dumbledore just merely shook his head with a smile as he sipped the remainder of his tea.

The door to Rolanda's room opened and shut with a loud slam as the two raced over to the handheld mirror in the top dresser drawer. They moved to sit on her bed as Rolanda touched a signal finger to the glass while says. "Argus, give me sight."

The two gasped as the mirror no longer reflected their faces but it now broadcasted the most spectacular view in Genevieve's bathing room. Frankly that of the girl in question naked and wet in the shower and touching the most delicious parts of her body with a loofah, luckiest damned sponge on the planet both thought.

"Holy…" Said one.

"Merlin…" Said the other.