Author's Thermal Underwear: I love you guys. And by "you guys", I really mean me. But seriously, you guys are just great. And one more thing, go listen to a band called "Depswa". They are really cool. - Kathryn

Hermione awoke feeling rather excited, she always loved the first day of school. But just to soothe her jitters, Hermione sipped a bit of brandy out of a flask. She hopped in the shower and thought of what sort of make up she should put on to look punk. Suddenly, someone called her name, while she was in the shower of course.

"Hermione!"

"Yes, Ginny," Hermione answered, still shaving her legs.

"Do you think Harry likes me?" Ginny asked, sounding pouty and in need of comfort.

"Honestly, Ginny?"

"Well, yes, of course."

"He has his eye on that Ravenclaw girl… You know the one… What's her name?" Hermione said rudely, though she did not mean it to sound so mean.

"You mean that slut Lily Peterson?" said Ginny angrily, who was rather upset.

"She's no slut," Hermione said, now out of the shower and wrapped in a towel. "She's cool. She's a nice, respectable girl. Why ever would you think that she was so crude?"

Ginny huffed and leaned against the sink. "I don't know, I guess I was just mad or something… But she is a very pretty girl. I wish I were that beautiful…" Hermione thought about Lily. She really was a classic beauty, she had long and wavy brown hair, and brown eyes with a hint of black in them. She had cute little freckles and was just the right height for about any man. And her smile (A/N: Haha, what is it with me and stealing people's smiles? At any rate, Karly, imagine Sara's smile or my sister's, kay? Much love – Kathryn) was big and white, with perfectly straight teeth. Though, her naturally pink lips and bone structure were her best qualities.

Ginny sighed and said, "I think I'll go down to breakfast now… Thanks, Hermione."

"Don't mention it," Hermione was piling on mascara and black eyeliner. Then she finished it with brown eye shadow near her lashes, and then transitioning it to a sort of pink color. She would dye her hair later tonight, then she'd test out her sewing skills, magical of course, and try to make some punk rock knee-highs'.

Derick finally found his way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. He chowed down on some eggs and bacon and waited for Hermione to come join him. And then she walked through the doors; she lit up Derick's eyes. She had, apparently, made some fittings on her robes. They fit her body now, and the skirt was shorter. Her hair was in light waves and slight curls; she was more beautiful now that ever. Everyone took a brief moment to glance at her, though it wasn't too big a deal. But Hermione knew that when she dyed her hair, it would be.

Draco took particular notice in Hermione's new appearance. "Damn that woman is fine," Draco said aloud.

"Man," Blaise said. "Ever since you kissed that Mudblood bitch you've had this obsession with her. It's starting to bug the shit out of me. Knock it off."

"What? I'm not obsessed with her! I could never be infatuated with a Mudblood know-it-all. Even one with big, pouty, lips and long, soft hair. And damn, look at the legs on her! And don't get me started on the rest of her--"

"Shut the hell up! Ya know what, I'm going to class…" and Blaise left.

"Fine, fine…" said Draco with a feeble wave of his hand, his sight never leaving Hermione.

She sat down next to Derick, knowing full well that Draco Malfoy was staring at her. She rather enjoyed the attention, but knew it wasn't meant to be. She kissed Derick good morning and helped herself to a bagel. Hermione looked over her schedule, then Derick's. "Great," Hermione huffed.

"What?" said Derick.

"We have double potions with Slughorn! Harry's always showing me up in class… and, hey, I've never asked you, what were you like with grades?"

"Well, at first, I made straight A's. Then when things got harder I got worse. And then, one special year, I discovered the wonders of emo. And now you see the C minus student who stands before you." Hermione chuckled.

'This kid is unbelievable…' she thought.

all dreams end…

Christine awoke, her vision blurred and William nowhere to be found. She looked all around for the girl and the boy who talked of "potions". Her eyes masked with confusion, she ran into the woods screaming, "William". When her feet failed her and she fell to the mossy earth, after laying there for quite some time, she noticed something on the ground a few feet in front of her. What was it? A stump? An animal? She had to know. With all her might she reached for the object; her hands closed around it. It took her brain a few extra moments to process it, as soon as her mind quickened and her strength returned to her, she leapt to her feet and sprinted swiftly through the forest, as quietly as an elk or a deer. She practically flew with grace and anyone could have marveled at her speed, that is, if anyone had been around to see her.

She ran and ran, never speaking or taking time to rest; silent tears fell from her eyes and down her face. They flew through the wind and splashed to the ground and soaked into the earth. Where they lay out grew daises and lilies and trees and plants of all sorts you could imagine. Soon the dark and dreary forest grew with greens, reds, yellows, blues, oranges, magentas, whites and light browns. But when she passed and her tears were all soaked away, the plants died and returned to their normal deathly appearance.

When she could run no longer, Christine leapt into a clearing and stumbled to her knees. She cried, still more, hushed tears dropped to the dirt covered forest floor. She held the object in her hand firmly as a massive tree grew beneath her. She rose as it grew; it was the tallest tree in the forest. It towered above all other trees as they cowered in their roots. Just as the others, this tree died too. And Christine found herself on a stump. She sat there quite alone for a while until a rustling came from just the left of her clearing. She jumped up on the stump crouched and poised. She drew her stout sword from its sheath which was covered in black blood from her last encounter with an enemy. The sword was a rarity, with gold embroidery twisted around its hilt, and the tempered blade felt cool to the touch.

The rustling continued, growing stronger every second. Until finally Christine flew over to where the noise came from, intending to kill whatever would come out. She could hear the twigs breaking from under the thing that ran so blunderingly. She saw blood falling in front of her. The thing came out of nowhere and Christine, on impulse, stabbed the poor creature in its stomach. She pulled the sword out and kicked over her kill. It was a Fawn she believed. It was a sort of creature she only heard of in Greek Myth and old wives' tales. Yes, it was a Fawn. It had the lower body of a goat and the upper half of a stinky, old man. Christine saw it as a rather nasty thing; against her religion. What was it running from? In her excitement, she did not hear the other pair of footsteps following the Fawn's. William clambered out of the wilderness. "Christine, you fool!"

"What have I done? I killed this horrible creature that was against my faith and beliefs! I have done nothing wrong!"

"You have killed my guide, Christine. You have murdered not a creature of sin but a creature of God himself. You have killed me and even yourself in our pursuit of the future! You fool. You must not go about killing whatever may cross your blade," he shook his head in shame towards the ground.

"I-I am sorry, William. I did not know this Fawn served you a purpose. Find it in your heart to forgive my doltishness," she looked at the ground and a few tears slipped to the soil and a single rose grew.

"God knows I forgive you, Christine. I love you," William said as he watched the rose wilt. "What is wrong with your tears?"

"I do not know. It happened when I found your hat in a smaller clearing a ways back that way," she pointed to her right.

"Well, I have not the time to ponder this question. We must leave this place. We will come back another day in another month," said William. "But we have no guide out of the forest… Christine, do you think you could weep enough so that you could rise on a tree and point us the way out?"

"I think I could try…" Christine thought of horrible things. Of the wars in her country and her mother's hardships with her father. Soon enough, the tears were again falling to the ground. She rose again on the stump and saw the way out. It was to the north and then to the west. They traveled a good few hours before they even saw the light of day now upon them.