"Hey Usagi, wake up!" Said blonde girl mumbled something utterly incoherent and rolled over onto her back. Semiconsciously she grasped a couch pillow in her right hand and swung her arm with all the force a half-awake person possessed. Lee Jordan ducked in time to avoid the blow to his head, but the red-headed boy beside him wasn't as quick. Fred Weasley let out a shout mixed with pain and shock.

"Go away, Luna." Usagi grumbled, burying her face into the couch cushion and snoozing on. Fred rubbed the side of his head dramatically and backed away from the couch.

"Whoa, that girl packs a punch and she's still half asleep! I'm never getting her angry while she's awake, I'll be discombobulated." He cried.

"Oh quit whining. It was just a couch pillow." George rolled his eyes at his twin and turned back towards the sleeping girl, just in time to receive a couch pillow in the face. He cursed and massaged his nose while Fred mocked him. Lee shook his head at the two and poked the slumbering blonde warily.

"Usagi, it's time for breakfast. We're going to be late because of you." Lee couldn't have got more of a response if he'd set off a firecracker near her ear. As soon as he voiced the word 'late,' Usagi sprung from the couch like it was in flames and looked wildly around.

"I'm late?" She screamed. Only becoming more disoriented, she realized that she didn't really recognize any of her surroundings. Lee and the twins' laughter brought her from her confusion and she huffed slightly at the lot of them. Fred, remembering his pledge moments before, silenced at the first signs of anger, and Usagi giggled at the look on his face.

"Why are you sleeping on the couch?" Lee asked as the blonde gathered the scattered cushions and placed them back on the couch.

"When McGonagall dropped me off last night she didn't tell me which dorm or anything. I was too tired to search and the couch looked pretty comfortable." She explained, blinking as Fred and George grabbed her arms and began dragging her towards the exit to their commons. "Oi, I can walk."

"You weren't doing a very good job of it," George said, shrugging.

"Yeah, and we're starved." Fred agreed. Usagi rolled her eyes and fought her way out of their hold, straightening her robes. She grinned at the lot of them before sprinting out of the room fast enough to leave a trail of dust...if the floor had been dusty. The trio looked at each other before the ran after her, skidding into the Great Hall just as the bells for First Classes rang out above them. The blonde rabbit sprinted past them in the other direction, arm full of muffins and her mouth full. She winked and disappeared around the corner on Harry and company's heels.

Usagi was still inhaling muffins by the time the group reached the greenhouses. Despite the odd glances from her classmates, she never slowed her speed until the final muffin was nothing but crumbs stuck to its paper wrapper. Sighing as she licked away the stray crumbs, she smiled contentedly.

"I thought I was going to miss my breakfast. What class are we headed to again?" The blonde inquired grinning cheerfully. If this would have been an anime, Harry, Ron and Hermione would be sporting nice big sweatdrops. Instead, they stared blankly as they pointed on her schedule.

"Herbology," Ron offered. Usagi perked up slightly at the thought of working with plants. She loved flowers, so this class would be easy, right? Following the chattering group of students into the greenhouse, she looked around at the...interesting assortment of plant life. As the class stopped, she turned her attentions to the plants involved in today's lesson and suddenly felt significantly nauseous. The thick, black, slug-looking creatures jarred from the soil and stood upright in the air, wriggling creepily.

"Bubotubers," Professor Sprout announced jovially, making Usagi all the more uneasy. If she enjoyed these odd plants, if they could even be called such, then surely she would expect her class to be happy about the project as well. "They need squeezing. You will collect the pus-"

"The what?" Seamus Finnigan blurted, sounding as disgusted as the rest of the class felt. Usagi wrinkled her nose along with them as the slug-like plants waved back and forth.

"Pus, Finnigan, pus." Professor Sprout replied, not skipping a beat. "And it's extremely valuable, so don't waste it. You will collect the pus in these bottles. Wear your dragon-hide gloves; it can do funny things to the skin when undiluted, bubotuber pus."

After the lesson of squeezing those little creatures of their ooze, Usagi faced a whole new outlook on her Herbology course. Apparently it wasn't all sunshine and daisies, excusing the horrible pun. The group marched down towards the wooden cabin on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. Though thrown off by her first class, she was still looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures. She loved animals, and maybe she'd get to see a unicorn?

Her eyes, glazed and fixed on the Forbidden Forest, caught sight of a white blur moving through the trees. Usagi swore she spotted a shimmer of gold before the blur disappeared. Maybe the bubotubers had affected her more than she'd realized.

"Harry, did you see that?" She questioned, tugging on the black-haired boy's sleeve. Harry turned his attentions to the forest, where Usagi was obviously staring, and his brows knitted together.

"See what?" He asked, scrutinizing the dark trees for any signs of movement. Even in the daylight it was hard to penetrate very far into the darkness of the woods with your eyes alone.

"I seen something in the forest. A blur, really, but it was white..." She trailed off, still staring wistfully into the forest knowing the glimpsed thing wouldn't be returning anytime soon.

"There are lots of weird creatures in the Forbidden Forest, trust me. I would recommend wandering in there on your own. Actually I don't recommend going in there at all." Harry shrugged, turning back towards Ron and Hermione. The red-haired Weasley had been listening in on them, and he nodded at Harry's statement.

"Yeah, there are werewolves and gigantic spiders and centaurs-"

"But the centaurs are nice." Harry objected, raising an eyebrow at Ron.

"Well sure, there was the one that saved your life."

"Firenze," Harry informed

"Right, Firenze. The others were either rude or talking in circles. 'Mars is bright tonight.' How the hell are we supposed to know what that means? They wouldn't be bad if they spoke common English." Ron ranted with his exasperation apparent in his expression. Usagi giggled lightly at his frustrations.

"Well, if Mars is brighter than usual it means something important, likely bad is soon to happen. Mars was the god of war, also known as Ares, so naturally it would signal a major conflict about to take place." The blonde said, smiling brightly. Ron stared, nearly slack-jawed.

"I give up, the girls we hang out with are always smarter than us, Harry. We need to get a really stupid one to even things out." The red-head grumbled dully, making the rest of the group laugh.

"Which girl were you planning on inviting?" Hermione asked innocently.

"Well, if we really wanted the extreme, we could ask Pansy." Ron replied mirthfully, looking over as the pug-faced Slytherin walked over next to Draco Malfoy and his usual cronies. The four of them burst into uncontrollable laughter that made the Slytherins send them unsavory looks, which they were oblivious too.

Suddenly, the boom of Hagrid's greeting drowned out the class chatter. The bearded man had been waiting, waving jovially as he finally caught sight of them. He waved them over closer to the hut, and they approached warily.

"Class, say hello ter Blast-Ended Skrewts," Hagrid yelled jovially over the crowd of students, waving his hand over the collection of wooden crates at his feet. Usagi and co, being at the front of the pack, leaned over to get a look into the crates. The deformed, lobster-like creatures scurried around the square area, bumping into the walls and each other often. Each of them was only around six inches long.

The reason for their name soon became clear as several of the tiny creatures began to shoot sparks out of one end, propelling forward. The observing students jumped back a little when this happened, and Hagrid couldn't contain a chuckle.

"On'y just hatched so yeh'll be able ter raise 'em yourselves! Thought we'd make a bit of a project of it," Hagrid told them enthusiastically. Unfortunately for him, the feeling wasn't mutual as several of the students exchanged glances.

"Why would we want to raise them," came the cold, sarcastic voice that couldn't belong to anyone but Draco Malfoy. Usagi turned to face the blonde boy and gave him a dirty look, remembering she was still peeved at the slick-haired Slytherin. He rolled his eyes at her as he waited for Hagrid's answer. The bearded giant looked baffled by the question, so Malfoy pressed on. "I mean, what do they do? What is the point of them?"

"Do they have to have some higher purpose? Can't the fact that they're...um...interesting, be enough?" Usagi said loudly, stepping up to aid her silent professor. She connected heated gazes with Draco as she went on. "Besides, he's the teacher. If he says there are project then there's no room for argument from us, it's his lesson plan."

"Feh, some teacher," Draco shot back, rolling his eyes as he glanced at the sparking crates.

"Are you even capable of saying something nice?" Usagi inquired with much exasperation.

"No," Draco smirked, shrugging nonchalantly. Usagi glared at him once more before turning to face Hagrid. The professor was rather red in the face and still silent, but she offered him an encouraging smile.

"So, Professor Hagrid, what are we supposed to do with the...um...Skrewts?" She questioned.

"Well, I'm not sure what they eat yet so I got some ant eggs an' frog livers an' a bit o' grass snake—just try 'em out with a bit of each." Hagrid explained, stuttering his way through at points. Usagi nodded and, with much determination, hiked the sleeve of her robe up and plunged her hand into the bucket of frog liver. Lifting a fist full of the sickeningly squishy organs, she attempted to feed the odd creatures with it.

After their initial shock, Harry, Ron, and Hermione rushed forward to assist their fellow Gryffindor. With a few more groans, the rest of the class began to join in as well. Ron turned to Usagi with a huge grin lighting up his face, looking like he'd won the lottery.

"That was bloody brilliant! The look on Malfoy's face when you grabbed that liver was priceless...I'll never forget it." He announced dreamily. Usagi laughed lightly, still trying to find a mouth on the creatures she was trying to nourish.

"I was looking the other way so I didn't see it." She said regretfully, stealing a glance at the fuming Draco and giggling.

"That's too bad. He doesn't look that shocked too often." Harry grinned.

"He's not used to being challenged by a girl. Well, except for Hermione." Ron added.

"You know, he didn't seem so bad when I first met him." Usagi said thoughtfully.

"Where did you meet him?" Hermione asked.

"Gringotts, before school started. He wasn't very nice really, he did insult me, but he also shook my hand. Maybe it's because I confused him, he must not be used to someone ignoring his crude comments." Usagi grinned in amusement as she remembered the look on his face when she offered to shake his hand. After a while of adventures with the Blast-Ended Skrewts, the bell rang across the grounds, signaling the end of class.

"Well, on the bright side, the Skrewts are small." Ron commented.

"They are now, but as soon as Hagrid finds out what they eat they'll probably be six feet long." Hermione said exasperated.

"How was your Care of Magical Creatures class in Japan?" Harry asked, trying to change the subject. Usagi laughed nervously.

"It wasn't much different, but the creatures we studied were less dangerous." She said quickly. Ron snorted.

"If only Hagrid knew the definition of a 'dangerous creature'. I swear I worry about him sometimes. One day he'll get eaten by a dragon for thinking it was harmless."

"Ron, don't say that!" Hermione said as they sat down at the Gryffindor table and helped their selves to lunch.

"I'm just saying that he puts himself in danger a lot and it can get him into trouble, that's all." Ron replied as he piled food on his plate.

"He does have a point." Usagi said as she watched Hermione digging into her food like a rabid wolf. "What's the rush, Hermione?"

"I want to get to the Library." She replied. Ron stared in disbelief.

"Hermione—it's the first day back! We haven't even got homework yet!" Hermione shrugged and finished her plate.

"See you at dinner!" She called before taking of at high speed. Usagi shrugged and dug into her plate as well. Harry and Ron looked at each other.

"Are you going to the library too?" Harry asked. Usagi looked up.

"Huh? Oh, no, I always eat like this." She replied, flushing slightly.

"Always? That's amazing, and it's almost inhuman. Do all Japanese people eat like that?" Ron asked in awe.

"Um...no, I don't think so, just me." Usagi said, still embarrassed.

"We have Divination next right?" Harry interrupted, changing the subject.

"Uh...yeah," Ron replied.

"Divination sounds cool, is it fun?" Usagi asked, grateful to Harry for changing the subject.

"Well it would be if we didn't have Trelawney." Ron said.

"What's so bad about her?" Usagi asked.

"She has a habit of predicting my death every chance she gets." Harry said annoyed. Usagi blinked.

"Why would she do that?"

"We don't know. Boredom? Amusement? Just plain malice?" Ron said as he counted of the possible reasons on his fingers while Usagi laughed lightly. Suddenly, someone grabbed her hand and pulled her under the table, making Usagi yelp in surprise. Ron and Harry blinked at her sudden disappearance.

"Hello Usagi."

"Lee? What was the point of that?" Usagi asked as they sat crouched under they table.

"I was bored." Lee shrugged.

"Hey, don't forget us!" Fred and George interrupted.

"Fred and George are here too?" Usagi asked.

"You bet you!" Fred said cheerfully. Ron and Harry joined them.

"What's going on down here?" Ron asked.

"Are you guys having some kind of secret meeting?" Harry asked, half-joking.

"Well it certainly isn't secret now." George said sarcastically.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Ginny?" Ron asked, looking behind him.

"And me."

"Neville too?"

"What are you guys up to?"

"Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan?"

"Yep."

"That's us."

"We aren't having a party or anything you know." Usagi called to the growing group.

"Hey, we've started a trend." Lee said, bobbing his head as 10 more people slid under the table.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Nothing."

"Why are you under the table?"

"We don't know."

"Is this some sort of club meeting?" Half of the Gryffindor table was now under the table instead of at it.

"No."

"Then what are you doing?"

"Just sitting here."

"Oh." The other houses began to stare as most of the Gryffindors had disappeared.

"It's getting awfully crowded in here." Fred pointed out.

"Thank you captain obvious," Usagi said sarcastically.

"You're welcome." Dumbledore grinned in amusement as the whole Gryffindor table was now under the table.

"So, now what?" Ron asked.

"How about we play tag?" George suggested.

"Very funny," Harry replied sarcastically.

"Hey, that's my foot Lee!"

"Sorry Usagi." Just then, the bell rang. The whole mass of students under the table jumped to leave, bumping their heads violently against the tabletop. Several people moved to rub their aching heads, elbowing more people in the process. Usagi and Lee looked at each other.

"Shall we leave?" Usagi asked.

"Let's." Lee replied. Both slid out from under the table and left for class.

In all my revision, I like the dialogue between Usagi and the gang during this chapter. Also, there was no way in hell I was getting rid of the infamous "Congregation Under the Table!" It's probably my favorite part of this story.

Well, that's all. Keep those reviews coming, give me suggestions, tell me if there's something you really want to happen and I might be able to make it work. Constructive criticism will get you everywhere, don't be afraid to be honest people, you won't hurt my feelings. :P

-SachiNyoko- 'Man fears the darkness, and so he scrapes away at the edges of it with fire.' (Rei Ayanami)