Setting post war, year seven

Hermione Granger of number 19 Winhester Lane, was no ordinary girl. Not only did she exhibit exemplary tooth and gum hygiene, she was a witch. But not just any witch mind, the top witch in her year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and prime candidate for Head Girl.

However homework and head-girlship was at the back of her mind today, as she poured over pages desperately hoping to find an answer that would set her at ease. Skimming through Malign Magical Maladies and Witch Womanly Woes, did nothing to diminish her fears. In fact, they all but confirmed what she had been hoping against.

Hermione was never what you would call a wild witch. Yes she had been through her fair share of adventures, however she had always been the logical, advice giving, sensible one. Pushing herself to excel in all areas of academia from a young age onwards, she gave herself over to the pleasures of the pursuit of knowledge. Her mind combated between asking herself how on earth had she gotten herself into this perilous predicament, and trying to convince herself that she was wrong, and there was a logical explanation for all this that she was just missing.

After all, the impending school year imposed many worries on those taking their NEWT level exams, those right there were enough reason right there to send her emotions awry. Or what about her anxiety over not knowing weather or not she had been chosen for head girl or not… and of course her recent break up with Ronald Wesley. That was enough stress for anyone to deal with, and certainly enough to explain her recent crying jags and bouts of irrational behavior.

Not to mention the reason for her extreme exhaustion. She had been pushing herself for six long years emotionally and mentally. She was bound to crash sometime. Being top student, founder and organizer of S.P.E.W, participating actively in the war against He-who-had-been-vanquished, and volunteering in the muggle world every summer left little time for sleep. She shouldn't be worried about her inability to stay awake, she should give into it and stop pushing herself so hard. Just because she was tired didn't mean there was anything going on…

Perhaps the combination of stress and lack of sleep had caused her to succumb to the flu. That's all it was really, a stomach bug that should be gone in a week. The feelings of nausea and pain in her abdomen was temporary. Her parents were right. A little bit of medicine would set her right again.

And the heat! Maybe she was a little feverish. Or a lot feverish. The high temperatures this summer combined with flu symptoms certainly explained why she was sweating buckets and laying around miserably in her knickers all day.

So what about the pain and tenderness in her breasts? It was another growth spurt. She had experienced them before and just because this one was extra bad didn't mean anything. She thought she should probably ask her mother to go with her to Woolworths to pick her up some new bras.

Then the slight weight gain, well it was in her hips and breasts wasn't it? That was normal for a girl her age. She should just lay off the crisps and fizzy drinks and that problem would right itself in time.

But all the self justifications and excuses in the world couldn't magic away the fact, that Hermione Granger, future Head Girl of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, daughter of two muggle dentists, best friend of Harry Potter and ex-girlfriend of Ronald Wesley, was a month late on her period.