Disclaimer: I own Layali Meskhenet. Nothing else. Just playing in J.K. Rowling's world. Don't sue!
"Layali! Get up! Our O.W.L. results get in today."
Layali cracked open her eyes and promptly squeezed them shut again as her bed curtains were yanked open, assaulting her sleepy eyes with bright sunlight. "Mfh.. 'Mione.. It feels like I just got to sleep. Ten more minutes.." Layali mumbled, pulling the comforter high up to her chin.
"No, no, no. You're getting up right now. No arguments." Hermione then proceeded to yank the quilt off the bed and begin to beat on Layali with the pillow she grabbed from under her head.
"Ow! Five minutes then. Four. Three. Two. One! Please, one! Have mercy!" Layali cried, squirming away and tumbling out of her bed, landing hard on her rear. She frowned up at Hermione and got a pillow in her face. Grabbing the pillow she threw it back at Hermione and stuck her tongue out, muttering, "Meanie.." With a sigh, she rose up on her knees and opened the trunk at the foot of her bed, taking out a towel and a black bathrobe. "Fine, I'm up, I'm up. I'll take a shower and meet you in the Great Hall. Now go bother someone else."
Task accomplished, Hermione exited the girls' dormitory in triumph, heading towards the boys' rooms to do the same thing to Harry and Ron.
Slipping on the bathrobe, Layali left the room also, but headed for the showers.
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Refreshed and energized by the shower, Layali brushed her hair out and put on the robes that marked her proudly as a Gryffindor before walking to the Great Hall to grab some breakfast and meet Hermione. When she had a plate of food, she glanced around the slowly filling Hall and quickly spotted her bushy-haired friend at one of the Gryffindor tables, talking animatedly to two boys, one with black hair and another with bright orange. She made her way towards them and took a seat across from Hermione and the red-haired boy, next to the one with black hair.
Hermione grinned across the table at her and said, "Layali! Good, I was beginning to worry that you'd gone back to sleep after I left."
"She terrorized you too then?" The one next to Hermione said in between bites of an omelet.
Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "Layali, this is Ron, and that's Harry. Everyone, Layali Meskhenet."
"Harry Potter and Ronald Weasly?" Layali asked.
Harry nodded and mentally braced himself for that quick, awe-filled look at the scar slightly obscured by his messy bangs. It was getting quite annoying now – people seemed to think of him as a scar with a person attached to it, instead of someone with a life and personality who happed to have an interesting story.
However, the look never came. This new girl simply smiled at both him and Ron and said, "I've heard the most interesting things about the three of you."
Ron grinned at this and replied, "Don't believe them all. How come we haven't seen you around before, anyways?"
"Oh, I've been around, I'm just kind of a loner. I've kept a low profile. Unlike some people I could mention."
The infamous trio laughed at this, and Layali tackled her sizable breakfast – several sausages and bacon was piled on her plate, with a scrambled egg at the side. A goblet of orange juice completed it.
"What class does everyone have first?" Hermione asked, working on her toast and marmalade.
"Transfiguration for me." Layali said, cutting up a sausage and dipping a piece in tomato sauce before popping it in her mouth.
"Us too." Harry said, speaking for himself and Ron. They'd compared schedules on the train.
"Great! Me too. Oh, I can't stand the tension.. I'm so worried about my O.W.L.s! I got the rock to turn into a dog, but I didn't get to see much of it.. What if it had kidney stones? It's claws looked a bit much like granite.." Hermione said, nibbling at a piece of toast. She still had no appetite – her stomach was full of butterflies.
"Relax, Hermione. You'll be fine." Ron said past a mouthful of omelet.
"Chew it, don't spew it." Hermione said with a look of disgust. "And I won't be fine! Not if that dog wasn't fully functional!"
"It'll be okay. You're one of the top students at Hogwarts." Layali replied, taking a sip of her juice.
Hermione smiled back at her and said, "Thanks, I needed that."
Ron gave Harry an indignant look and muttered, "Oh, sure, when I say something encouraging, I get scolded. When she does, she gets a thank you!"
He was rewarded for this comment by a frown from Hermione, who replied, "Maybe if you hadn't shown me your half-chewed breakfast at the same time I would have been more receptive."
Ron took another bite of his omelet and chewed it up before sticking his tongue out at Hermione, purposefully grossing her out.
"Ronald Weasly, that's disgusting!" Hermione said, leaning away from him.
Layali fought to hide a smile at their banter. The four compared the rest of their schedules while they finished breakfast, the Great Hall starting to become packed by students and ghosts. When they were done, they went to retrieve their new Transfiguration books, parchment, and quills, then walked together to Professor McGonagall's classroom.