Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any of its' characters, names, or settings.
Chapter 11- Breakfast In The Great Hall
Thanks for the reviews. . .
Angelic-Winkles, LilyMarielle, Blue-Dreamz, Shadow on the Wall, firehottie, NitenGale, and Lover 3-Becky. And. . .
confused: Umm. . . I thought you just said that you weren't even gonna waste your time by reading this story, so why are you now? Are you gonna turn back on what you said? But seriously. . . WHY DOES THE NAME POODLE BOTHER YOU SO MUCH? I mean, what's the big deal? I really don't get it. . .
gazy: Yo. . . just relax, k? It's no big deal if you don't get as much reviews. I mean, it doesn't mean my story is better than urs. I really like your story, and maybe you should just have longer chapters. Gazy… you are an AWESOME writer… don't give up, k? I'm you're biggest fan, and I'll be heartbroken if you stop!
GEmory: OMG! Thanks a lot for ALL of your ideas. You know, you should seriously consider writing your own fic, cuz you have like the biggest imagination ever. Yah. . . I'll be sure to use some of your ideas. Thanks again!
Lestat de Lioncourt: LMFAO! Omg. . . you are so funi! Thanks a lot for your review, and I don't mind about the swearing, cuz swearing IS my vocab. And. . . OMG! You're my biggest fan?. . . aw. . . you rock… ! I love you too. LoL. . . and who exactly is it that you like to flame? Need help?
Chach-A-Lot: gigantic. . . big. . . round. . .? LMAO! Funny AND weird!
At the top floor of the Head's Quarter, behind the left door from the stairs, a teenage girl was sprawled upon her king-sized bed, covered by mounds and mounds of soft, thick blankets and comforters. As the sun streamed down through her large window and her glass balcony doors, Hermione winced at the sudden brightness that had appeared behind her closed eyelids.
"Augh!" she groaned, as she opened up her eyes to the very bright room and sat up. "What time is it?"
Turning to her alarm clock that sat on her bedside table, she read, '7:30'.
'I have about 45 minutes to get ready and change,' she thought to herself. 'Then, I'll go down for breakfast at around 8:15. This will give me about 30 minutes to eat before classes start at 9:00.'
Hermione yawned one last time, before grabbing her wand from her bedside table. With a flick of her wrist, her bed was already made, with all of the blankets and sheets folded and spread out neatly on her bed. She slid her feet inside a pair of fuzzy pink slippers that were underneath her bed, and grabbing her blue bathrobe and a pink soft towel, she walked out of the room toward the bathroom next door.
Before entering the bathroom, Hermione peeked over the wooden banisters down to the second floor to see if anyone else was up yet. She was surprised to find two people already up; Ernie and Padma. Ernie was reading a book, and Padma was sitting on the floor with the coffee table in front of her, writing what looked like a letter.
"Hey Ernie!" Hermione called, completely ignoring Padma, who had just looked up at her. "Good morning! Did you sleep well last night?"
"Oh, hey Hermione!" Ernie called back startled, as he looked up in her direction. "I did sleep well actually, but I just decided to wake up earlier to catch up on some reading."
"Ok, well. . . I'll see you later then!" Hermione said, as she turned back around and stood facing the bathroom door. She knocked the hard wooden door three times to make sure that Draco wasn't inside. She suddenly felt herself blush at the thought of catching him in the bathroom.
As she pushed the door open, she felt annoyed, and she muttered to herself, 'Why do I get so embarrassed about Malfoy? I hardly even know the guy. I need to just calm down.'
After that last thought, Hermione quickly jumped into the warm shower, before drying herself up, brushing her teeth, and washing her face. She combed out all of the knots in her hair and blow-dried it straight until it was very soft. Then after applying a small amount of mascara, brown eyeliner and lip-gloss, she looked at herself in the mirror one last time. After nodding to herself in satisfaction, she went into her bedroom to change.
'I wonder why Malfoy's changed so much,' Hermione thought again, as she went back to the incident last night when they had bumped into each other. 'What could possibly have happened for him to change this much? Hmm. . . maybe he's just playing.'
She pulled on her new Hogwarts robes, and started to pack up her backpack with new quills, parchment and other school supplies. Then, swinging her bag over her right shoulder, she swung her bedroom door open and walked down the long staircase to the common room below.
"Ignore them, ignore them," Hermione muttered to herself, as she walked passed Padma and Ron sitting on a loveseat together without laying an eye on either of them.
The map tore down the middle and opened up like a door as she approached it, and she walked out soon thinking about the school year ahead of her. She had a small feeling of loneliness inside her, as she thought about all the memories she shared with Ron and Harry, and how they had moved on and were living their own lives now. But, the thought of Luna, Neville and all of her new friends reassured her once again.
'I can't wait to start working in class,' Hermione thought eagerly. 'There is SO much magic and spells that I want to learn, and I am going to see if I can pull off better grades this year than usual. It'll probably be easier actually, considering the fact that I don't have Harry or Ron holding me back.'
"Hermione!" called out a voice from down the corridor. "Over here!"
Startled, Hermione turned around to find Luna waving at her.
"Good morning Luna!" Hermione greeted cheerfully. "How'd you know that this was where the Heads' Quarter is?"
"I didn't," replied Luna. "Aren't you forgetting that this is also the way to the Great Hall? I was just headed for breakfast. But hey, aren't you grateful to have me as company to walk with you into the Great Hall?"
Hermione, who felt very grateful for Luna's company, said to her, " Of course, and thanks a lot. You can visit my dormitory anytime you want because I'll need the company. I don't really have anyone in there that I know, except for Anthony, Ernie and Hannah."
"Sure, no problem," Luna replied. "Neville and I can't wait to see what it looks like, since this is the first year that you heads get your own tower to stay in. And, I'll probably be in there A LOT considering the fact that everyone in Ravenclaw still thinks of me as Loony; nobody even bothers to talk to me anymore."
Hermione laughed at this, but she still felt a small pang of sympathy and guilt, for she thought Luna was strange and weird ever since she had first met her.
'Yah. . . but I'm glad I got to know her in fifth year,' thought Hermione. 'I'm a lot used to her now.'
"Don't worry about it," she told Luna reassuringly. "You can stay as much as you want in the Heads' Quarter, and I can't wait for you to see it."
Luna and Hermione then started to have an animated conversation as they headed for breakfast. They were discussing the topic of how Luna was considering becoming one of the editors for her father's magazine, The Quibbler.
Approaching the Great Hall, the sounds of voices, cutlery, and the clinging of glasses filled the air. As they pushed open the tall wooden doors, surprise hit both Luna and Hermione when several heads swerved around in their direction. About 15 people in 15 different directions in the hall began calling out "Hey Hermione!", or "How're you doing Mione?", or also "Nice to see you guys again!"
Hermione could feel her face grow hot as she tried to wave to 5 people at once. She and Luna exchanged confused glances, before plopping themselves down beside Neville and Seamus.
"Boy," Neville said in awe, as he looked over at Hermione. "Someone sure is popular."
Hermione laughed before replying, "Oh, don't be silly! Who said I'm popular? And, it wouldn't matter anyways."
She, however, felt a warm ray of happiness as she replayed the scene of her and Luna entering the Great Hall, over and over again. She was finally the center of attention, and she knew it. It wasn't Harry, or even the loud-mouthed Ron, but it was actually her. . . little Ms. Bookworm.
But Hermione quietly thought, 'I still wonder what IS going on.'
She poured herself a glass of orange juice and started to load up her plate with eggs, sausages, and bacon, before saying out loud, "Well. . . I can't wait to see what we have first period."
"Aahhh. . . same old 'Mione," muttered Seamus relieved, as he turned back to his plate of food.
She chuckled softly, before turning to Luna and continued on where their conversation had left off. None of them noticed, however, that three pairs of eyes from down the Gryffindor table were watching her every move.
"Augh!" whined Ginny, as she, Harry and Ron continued to watch Hermione. "Who does she think she is, strutting into the hall, expecting everyone to bow down to her?"
Harry turned to Ginny, and he put his arms around her.
"Don't worry your pretty little head about it," he told her. "Everyone knows you're much better than she is."
"I dunno," Ron said, as he continued to watch her laugh and talk with the people around her. "She seems pretty popular to me."
"Ron!" cried Ginny in disbelief. "What's your problem?"
"Nothing's my problem," he replied, as he finally tore his eyes away from Hermione and turned back to Ginny and Harry. "I just don't see why we have to deny the fact that she has a lot of new friends now."
"Yah. . . friends she got by ditching us!" Ginny retorted.
Harry patted her hand, and then said softly, "Ginny, just calm down."
"I don't see how you can stay calm, knowing that Hermione suddenly ditches us to find 'better' friends," Ginny replied coldly, as she pulled her hand away.
"Yah. . . I hate her for that too," Ron agreed, as he began to stare at Hermione again with an almost wistful look on his face. "But, I still can't believe that that's our little Hermione who was only good for helping us with our work. . . now just look at her!"
'Oh my gosh. . .' Harry thought to himself, feeling slightly alarmed as he observed Ron. 'That's the exact same expression he had on his face when he first laid eyes on Padma. . .'
