Ch 7

It was already the last day of August. The weather was still warm, and the sun was strong whenever it peaked out from behind the clouds. Summer was coming to an end; one could feel it in the air. Hermione say in her kitchen, holding a large coffee mug in her right hand, staring absentmindedly out the window at the rising sun. Before her, lay a sealed school letter. It had arrived the day before, delivered by a small brown owl. Since it had been received, it had laid on the counter untouched. She knew what it contained.

Hermione sighed softly before finishing her now lukewarm drink, the sun having cleared the horizon. The ginger colored cat meandered into the kitchen, rubbing against its mistress's legs. Hermione strode to the pantry and took out a can of wet cat food. Having opened the can and emptied the contents onto a saucer, she turned to find her cat sitting primly next to the letter.

"Get away from that," she chastised the feline, placing the saucer on the floor, "I've told you I won't open it."

The cat stared back with what could be guessed a why? Look. However, it seemed to shrug off the matter entirely as it jumped to the floor, towards it's breakfast.

Having already received her letter regarding the materials she'd need for the following school year, she'd gone to Diagon Alley two days ago. She felt it necessary to get things done as quickly as possible. Not stopping to chat with friends and acquaintances about their summer, she did her shopping in relative silence. She enjoyed her solitude knowing that as soon as the school year started, she'd hardly have any of it for herself.

She went to her room to finish packing. Though most of her broken bones had healed, her upper body movements were still stiff, do mostly to her still tender ribs. She made a mental note to ask Madame Pomfrey about it. By the time Hermione had finished, it was 8:56 AM. Seeing as there was nothing else to do, she showered and changed. Deciding to veg out, she traipsed downstairs and turned on the television. The sound of the postman delivering the mail through the mail slot told her it was already past noon.

"Crookshanks!" she called, "Get the mail, please!"

The cat appeared almost instantly when it was called. However upon hearing what he was told to do, he hissed at her and walked away, obviously miffed at the situation. Groaning and muttering as she rose from the couch, Hermione went to retrieve the mail. Trash, bill, trash, trash. Hmm…what's this? A plain white envelope addressed to her. Her curiosity got the best of her and she opened it.

Open the door.

Indecision gripped her, but eventually her curiosity once again won out. Grabbing an umbrella from the coat rack, she opened the door, ready to whack the possible assailant if necessary.

"Surprise!"

"Tony, Eliza," she said shocked, dropping her 'weapon,' "What are you two doing here? I mean, I thought you'd gone to the States for all of this month."

"Well, we were gong to stay a bit longer," Tony started.

"But I convinced him to come back early and see you off," Eliza finished.

For the first time that month, Hermione smiled. Her eyes began to tear up, but she blinked them away rapidly.

"You two are the best," she replied hugging them, "Now come in, and tell me about your trip."

And so, the three friends spent the entire evening talking and joking. Tony told his account on certain events that happened to Eliza, to which she denied them all, and in turn, revealing some embarrassing things that had occurred to Tony. At one point, Tony announced he was going to make dinner. He insisted he didn't need their help because of obvious reasons.

"Hermione, even though you top us all in the intelligence department, I know that you have been living off of frozen waffles ever since that we left because, let's face it, you can't work a toaster to save your life," he said seriously, "And you, Eliza, you can't even boil water either, so I wouldn't be laughing if I were you."

After being attacked by his female companions with various throw pillows, he stood up and reached for a backpack that Hermione had not noticed before. Heading over to the kitchen, he began to remove various plastic containers from the bag.

"I thought you were going to cook," Hermione said leaning against the doorframe.

"I did."

"Emptying plastic containers on dinner plates does not count as cooking," she said in a-matter-of-fact voice.

"Well, like I said before," he said rolling his eyes, "You can't cook, and given that fact, I have a feeling that you don't have shit in your refrigerator or pantry."

"So?"

"I cooked before we got here," he said shrugging, "So, I in fact did slave over a hot stove."

Hermione laughed and moved back to the living room to keep Eliza company. Both girls agreed that when it came to working in the kitchen, Tony took the cake. He had a natural ability to create wondrous meals, and make everyone feel happy. Tony often entertained them by mimicking Jaime from the Naked Chef, the girl's favorite cooking show.

"Ladies, dinner is ready!" he called from the kitchen.

"Finally, I was thinking about just eating frozen waffles," Eliza said entering the kitchen.

"What?" Tony exclaimed, face frozen in mock horror, "And miss out on all of this?"

"Well, what are we having?" Hermione asked.

"We'll start of our meal with a fresh fruit salad, sprinkled with pomegranates," he said indicting to a colorful tray filled with mixed greens, orange wedges, papaya chunks, kiwi slices and pomegranate seeds.

"Then we'll move on to some coconut shrimp with peanut sauce," he said presenting a large tray filled with large fried coconut coated shrimp, alongside two dipping cups filled with the sauce.

"And finally, we'll have some peach Melba toast a la mode," he announced presenting 3 large dessert cups with a medley of fruit topped with vanilla ice cream.

After the dining, to which they all agreed was delicious and drinking, which consisted of orange soda, the trio began to play board games. From Scrabble to Clue, they spent hours having fun. It was well past ten o'clock when Tony and Eliza decided to leave. Bidding Hermione a good night, they reminded her that they'd pick her up and drive her to the station around eight.

"OK, goodnight you two," she said, waving after them at the door.

Smiling, she turned and closed the door. It had turned out to be a good day after all. Maybe this year won't be so hard, she thought. She slipped underneath her bed sheets, after changing and finishing her toiletries, and sighed in contentment. Staring up at the ceiling for a while, she became aware of Crookshanks jumping upon the bed. However, it wasn't until something grazed her right arm that she was brought back to reality. Crookshanks sat near her arm with the unopened envelope in his mouth, looking expectantly at her. Once he was sure that he got her attention, he dropped it on the bed.

"Fine, I'll open it," she said taking the letter. She sat up, leaning against the headboard. Opening the wax seal with ease, she unfolded the letter to which a silver trinket fell out. The full moon shone brightly, giving Hermione enough light to read the contents. Her eyes quickly skimmed the paper before she placed it and the trinket on her bedside table.

"Goodnight, Crookshanks," she said, rubbing him underneath his chin, "Sleep well, we have a busy day tomorrow."

Crookshanks remained sitting, looking down at the girl well after she fell asleep. It's luminous eyes held within them both pride and sympathy. He turned his head to look at the letter lying peacefully, before curling up in a comfortable position. The moonlight shone on, casting an eerie silver glow on the room; making the silver object, which lay over the letter, shine brightly. It was a simple pin with two words engraved in it: Head Girl.