At breakfast the next morning Hermione's stomach was twisting into knots anticipating the day ahead. Ron would be incensed by what was to come, but at what cost? No matter what attitude Harry was taking towards this scheme of theirs, she worried that Ron would never forgive him. Or her, for that matter. When she didn't have anyone around to distract her from her thoughts, when there was no Lavender Brown sucking the air from Ron's lungs or a row that she and Ron had had, Hermione could admit that they were both being extremely immature about the whole situation. They should be able to talk it out, act their age. But the thought fled as soon as it began, for Ron had just entered the Great Hall with none other than the lovely Lavender Brown.
All rational thoughts forgotten, she finished her bacon in one last gulp, getting up off the bench and heading out of the dining area. Casting a disdainful look towards Ron, she exited and began to search for Harry, which couldn't have been easier. He was just outside the door waiting for her.
"Shall we go to Herbology?" he inquired, a smile crossing his face. Hermione could tell that he was thinking of the day to come.
"Yes," she replied as she headed towards the front doors, "we shall."
The day went by in a blur, and Hermione had to admit that she was genuinely looking forward to the evening. On top of it all, she didn't even get any homework. It was as if her professors were willing her to succeed. After an excruciatingly tense period of double Potions, Hermione returned to the Gryffindor common room to consult with Ginny before putting the plan into action.
"Ready?" asked Ginny excitedly. "This has got to be good. You've been practicing your acting, right?" she finished with a skeptical look, but Hermione's reassurance that she had put a smile back on her face. "Excellent. Now, Ron and Lavender have already made their way down to dinner. You and Harry have to be in McGonagall's room fifteen minutes after it's over. I'll have to think of a reason for him to accompany me…"
Hermione smiled deviously. "Great. If all goes well, Lavender and Ron will never speak to each other again."
"Fifteen minutes after. Don't forget, or it will all have been for nothing." Ginny spun on her heel and exited the common room through the portrait hole. Fingers quivering in excitement, Hermione tensed her hands into fists and plopped down next to the fire to wait.
The minutes crawled by. To ease her jitters, Hermione summoned small birds and sent them flying around the room in a yellow blur. The common room was oddly empty and the only sound was the chirping of the finches in their airborne dance. It was soothing, really, to lie back on the cushions and stare at her creations going back and forth.
Hermione checked the clock. Still twenty minutes until she would have to be in McGonagall's room. As the birds had begun to bore her, she transfigured them into pencils and lowered them gently down onto a chess board next to the window. How to pass the time now? she wondered idly. There were runes to translate and plants to identify, which were not particularly interesting, but it would suit her purpose just fine. Translating runes in her head became Hermione's next task.
It wasn't until now that she realized just how warm the room was. Stifling a yawn, she took her wand and dimmed the fire to lessen the heat, then leaned her head back into the arm of the couch and immersed herself into her thoughts.
"And to think," Hermione said to herself, as there was nobody around to listen, "tomorrow everything could be back to normal…"
Caustic noises penetrated Hermione's reverie, and she put her arm over her head to block it out. Stupid first years, she thought groggily. Can't they see that someone's trying to sleep?
Realization crashed into her like an avalanche. "Dammit!" she cursed under her breath, swinging her legs off the side of the couch and standing up. She'd been awake a full ten seconds and already her hands were shaking out of her control. Glancing frantically at the clock, she digested the time as fast as her muddled thoughts would allow. Dinner had ended twenty minutes ago.
All around her there were people staring, but she paid them no notice, making a break for the Fat Lady's portrait and ignoring her angry outburst as she slammed it behind her.
Time had no meaning as Hermione shoved past anyone who was stupid enough to get in her way. It was as if she thought by sprinting as fast as possible, she could turn back time and not have screwed up a chance like this. Ginny is going to kill me.
She took the steps two at a time, running blindly around the students who, oblivious to her plight, huddled with their backs to her until she plowed past. Things were going as good as they could have, under the circumstances, until she made a first year mistake.
Hermione forgot to skip the vanishing step.
One foot plummeted into it, but the other was already well on its way to the next step. Her force driving her forward, Hermione plummeted head-first into Collin Creevy, who had the misfortune of standing directly in front of her. He grunted in pain as the pair tumbled head over heels to the bottom of the stairs, taking another few students with them.
The world was a blur around Hermione and she couldn't tell up from down. Then, as fast as the descent had begun, she was able to see the ground clearly, as it was headed straight for her face. Or rather, her face was headed straight for it. Acting of instinct, she shot her right hand out in front of her and saved herself from a very painful shattered bridge of her nose.
However, her inertia drove her into one last flip, bending her wrist past what it could support on its own. A resounding crack sounded in Hermione's ears, along with a red-hot pain blinding her to everything else. She let out a shriek of agony as her body settled at the bottom of the stairs, right on top of Collin.
Hyperventilating, she was reminded of her predicament and shoved the broken wrist from her mind. Cradling it to her chest, Hermione carefully gained her footing and made her way, slightly more cautious, to her destination.
A dazed Collin Creevy called to her from the scene of the accident. "Will you go out with me?"
Surprisingly, she ignored him.
Walking the familiar route with labored breath, she finally arrived at Professor McGonagall's classroom, albeit in a somewhat worsened condition. She didn't even look Harry's way before she collapsed onto a stool.
Without taking into account her injuries, or noticing them in the slightest, for that matter, he began ranting. "Where the hell have you been? Ginny would kill you if she wasn't late, too. I'd begun to think you'd called it off without telling me."
Hermione made no reply, digging her fingernails into her left hand to forget the pain in her right. Thick as he could be sometimes, Harry finally seemed to realize something was wrong and took the stool next to her, trying to get a glimpse of her face. Seemingly, he noticed the tears silently streaking down her face, for his voice softened and she felt his hand on her shoulder.
"Are you okay?" he inquired, concerned.
"Broken wrist, no big deal," she said faintly. "Except I should probably avoid Collin Creevy for a while…"
Taking Harry's incredulous look as her cue to begin talking, Hermione explained what happened in as few sentences as possible. Afterwards, she added, "Why are we even doing this, Harry?"
He paused for a moment, as if to make sure he had a suitable answer before replying. "To make Ron see sense."
"I can't change the way I feel," she stated obviously. "How is this going to affect us? Things will never be the same if this continues, for any of us. Can you see how this is going to end?" She laughed sardonically. "You are the one who had Trelawney a long while after I left."
Harry smiled sadly and said, "Maybe, for once, fate will play into our hands."
Hermione snorted. "Does it ever?" She stood up and steadied herself on the desk. "Come on," she suggested. "Something probably went wrong. It's getting late, and I want to get to the hospital wing."
They walked to the door, and Hermione's foot hit a desk, sending her staggering forward, once again. Thankfully, Harry grabbed her good hand before she could do much harm to herself, besides jostle her wrist a bit. Wincing, she looked back and, breathing a sigh of relief, she whispered, "Thanks."
Pushing the door open to an even darker corridor, Hermione turned towards the hospital wing, and ran directly into Ron.