"My GOD this is uninteresting…Hermione muttered under her breath as the little squirmy children called first-years slowly spread throughout the great hall where the hat told them to go. She was rapping her knuckles on the table to the rhythm of some song, hating how slow the line of first-years was shrinking. Ron was sitting next to her, glancing at her every now and then as she resumed her rapping.

'Such bad manners. Don't you know it's not polite to rap on the table?'

"Ah, shut up," Hermione whispered.

"What?" Ron asked.

"Why does everybody keep asking me that," Hermione whined. Once again she was wishing that Harry had become a prefect; he might be the one sitting next to her if that was the case. She could already imagine how she'd act; she'd slowly lean in closer to him until her arm was touching his, and then she would look into his beautiful, bright green eyes and smile. It would be lovely.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Hermione," Ron asked, his voice rather on edge and even slightly squeaky. Hermione assessed her position, and realized that she'd been acting out her daydream on Ron.

'Ooh…awkward.'

Hermione cleared her throat and went back to staring at the line of first-years, slowly resuming the rapping of knuckles to her song. At some point Hermione must have zoned out, because when she came to she found Dumbledore taking his seat and the tables being filled with food. "Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed. Ron was startled, and looked over at Hermione. "How did I just miss our welcoming speech," she cried out in dismay.

"Well, you didn't miss much," Ron said to calm down the girl next to him. "Did you not get enough sleep last night, Hermione?"

Hermione shrugged, and started eating.

That night in the common room, Hermione sat with Harry and Ron for a while before going off to bed. They talked and laughed, and this time Hermione actually listened. She was tired, however, and decided to go to sleep. Had she stayed a few moments longer, though, she might have been able to witness Ron lean in to Harry and whisper, "You know, I think Hermione might fancy me." She might have seen Crookshanks sneak into the common room and hide below one of the tables with one of the other girl's frilly ribbons.

Hermione wasn't usually that light of a sleeper. Tonight, however, she couldn't get comfortable. She kept tossing and turning, and finally sat up, calling for Crookshanks. Usually, when he felt like getting in bed with her, the purring and cuddliness made Hermione fall asleep. "Crookshanks?"

Hermione stood up, whispering her cat's name, trying to see if he was in the room. She walked out into the common room, and stood there for a moment trying to let her eyes adjust to the darkness. "Crookshanks?"

"Not quite," a voice whispered back.

Hermione peered in the darkness and saw a face that looked quite familiar. Even with only different shades of gray for color, Hermione could see how the eyes were still shining. "You!"

Hermione saw the figure bounce a bit as it laughed. "What a nice greeting. No hello?"

"Who are you?" Hermione had never seen this girl before, but somehow she felt very familiar.

"Rowan; pleased to meet." By now Hermione's eyes had gotten used to the darkness, and she saw Rowan smirk.

"Have we met," Hermione asked Rowan tentatively.

"Mm, well, in a way, yes," Rowan started. "If you mean with all the formalities- handshakes, bow of the head- then no. But…you know…" She waved her hand as if that were all the explanation needed. "You're cat is under that table," she said, pointing to one of the tables, "And I suggest you go to sleep. There are classes tomorrow."

Rowan smiled and walked away through one of the doors as Hermione picked up her cat and went back to bed. She couldn't help but think that Rowan's voice sounded oddly familiar; where had she met this girl before?

The next morning, Hermione woke up and licked her lips; they tasted sweet. This only momentarily puzzled her, however, before she realized that it was indeed the first day of school. The other girls of the dormitory were waking up, too, and getting out of bed.

"So what'dchoo…think of the…the knew defense teacher," Lavender asked through yawns.

"Oh! I forgot we have a new one," Hermione exclaimed. She would think about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher when it came to that, but for now she just wanted to see her schedule. In the great hall, Hermione sat across from Harry and Ron, eating her breakfast. "You know," she said abruptly, dragging her fork through a puddle of syrup on her plate, "This morning when I woke up my lips tasted sweet."

She looked up as Ron jumped out of his seat. "I gotta go," he said rather squeakily, walking out of the great hall.

Hermione let out a sigh and turned to receive her schedule from the person sitting next to her. She looked down at the list, not really registering any of the names, until she came to one- 'Advanced Ancient Runes'. Her eyes were making it seem like the name of the class was highlighted; she blinked and looked up at Harry with a smile. "School has now started." She dropped her fork in the syrup and stood up, looking at her fellow Gryffindors.

She sighed, shaking her head, and left Harry to look after her with a confused look on his face. Something about Hermione was different today.