Rendering the basilisk took most of the day. Hermione and Harry had gotten bored and started bothering the ingredient gatherers, asking them questions about what each part of the basilisk could do, before they resorted to drawing absurdly difficult hopscotch boards in the muck, using a crumbled piece of the chamber as a rock to skip around.

They got more than a few weird looks from the adults present, but they had to entertain themselves somehow.

The next day at breakfast, there was more news:

RHAMNACEAE ROOKWOOD INDICTED FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER
Rookwood denies all charges; pleads not guilty by reason of mental possession

As Hermione read on, she smiled with dark satisfaction as she came to the part saying that Rhamnaceae Rookwood had been formally expelled from Hogwarts. Both McGonagall and Dumbledore had signed off on it, making it doubly official.

Four down, then, she noted. Three still to go.

The article went on to cover Harry and Hermione's discovery of Rookwood hissing in the corridor in incredible detail. Rita must have interviewed every witness she could have gotten her hands on – she'd mapped the entire path they'd run, and she'd gotten several descriptions of the spells they were throwing as well. It made Hermione fiercely glad they'd gone over the plan as many times as they had – if Blaise hadn't been throwing real cutting curses, or if any of them had held back, and this reporter had found out…

The mood in the Great Hall was largely celebratory, still. Slytherin was glad for the 450 house points Hermione had earned them (she and Harry had each been given 50 for catching the Heir), and the other houses were glad to not have to worry about being attacked anymore. Despite classes resuming for only one day before the weekend, it was a much-desired return to normalcy.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts first thing, Hermione," Tracey said, teasing as they stood to go to class. "Lockhart's going to be so proud of you."

"He'll probably ask you to do a dramatic reenactment of the entire thing," Blaise said, grinning. He got up from beside her. "You'll have to choose a helper to be the basilisk."

"I bet he offers to help you write your epic book about it," Millie said, her eyes glinting, "for a portion of the profits, of course."

"It was one fight!" Hermione objected. "The whole thing took maybe an hour! Add another ten minutes for catching Rookwood, and that's it."

"That's never stopped Lockhart for milking something dramatic for all its worth before, has it?" Millie smirked.

"If he wants you to act it out, pick me as the basilisk," Blaise begged. "I have the perfect idea for how to—"

There was a loud commotion from the Ravenclaw table that cut him off, and Hermione turned to look.

Several people were pointing and snickering at Luna – people Hermione recognized; Sue Li and Orla Quirke and Becky Arncliffe. Other people looked embarrassed and were turning away. Some people were just staring at her, looking mildly impressed. Susan Bones was hurrying over from the Hufflepuff table, taking off her school robe, leaving her just in a modest underrobe. She draped her outer robe over Luna's shoulders, covering her pale blue robes, and hurried her from the room.

Hermione blinked.

"Why was Luna out of uniform?" she asked.

Blaise looked just as puzzled as her. "I've got no idea."

Hermione drifted closer to the Ravenclaws as they exited the Great Hall for classes, eavesdropping on Mandy Brocklehurst talking to Padma Patil.

"I swear, she knew this was coming," Mandy was saying. "When I asked her about going to breakfast out of uniform, she said, 'it might as well be today, and I'll be wearing these robes when it happens' and just smiled." She shook her head. "I mean, if I was lucky enough to know when my first blood would come, I'd much rather ruin black uniform robes than those…"

Understanding slammed into Hermione, and she made her way back to her friends.

"Luna got her period," she said quietly to Tracey and Millie. "It sank through and stained her robes, and everyone could see when she stood up. That's the fuss is all about."

Tracey looked horrified and embarrassed for Luna, while Millie gave Hermione a sharp look.

"Her cycle, Hermione," she admonished. "Her cycle."

"Right," Hermione said wearily.

"That's what the fuss was over?" Blaise said from behind her, and Hermione whirled around to see him raising an eyebrow. "A bit of blood?"

"It's more than that; she stained her robes," Hermione defended, taking the stairs up to Lockhart's classroom. "People were staring; I'm sure it was terribly embarrassing—"

"Only to some," Blaise dismissed. "It's a natural thing, and of course her first would come as a surprise." He shrugged. "If anything, we should give Luna a gift later, you know – to celebrate and recognize."

Hermione was taken aback by Blaise's laid-back and blasé attitude about the entire thing. She'd been expecting the instinctual cringe from feminine bodily functions her male muggle classmates had displayed when they'd learned about menstruation in school.

Blaise's matter-of-fact, nonplussed view of it was startling, but a highly welcome discovery.

"I hope the House Elves can get the blood out," Tracey said with a moue. She led the way into the classroom, taking her customary seat at the front, the better to ogle Lockhart from. "Those were rather pretty robes, really…"

She and Millie led the way to the classroom, Blaise and Hermione trailing slightly behind and taking a desk further in the back.

"Well, if nothing else, we'll be able to form the coven now," Hermione said to Blaise quietly. "She did say before Beltane, but with everything going on, it'd slipped my mind…"

"Wait, what?" Blaise turned to look at her, his eyes wide. "That's what we were waiting for? All the girls to chrysalize?"

Hermione thought she'd never get used to actually using that word.

"Yes," she said uncomfortably. "That's when a witch's magic becomes mature. We needed everyone's magic to reach that stage before we could bond together as a coven."

Blaise continued looking at her, wisely saying nothing about Hermione's own chrysalization.

"If the mark for girls is their chrysalization," he said slowly, "what marks when boys' magic starts to mature?"

A slow grin spread across Hermione's face.

"When a girl chrysalizes, blood leaves her body," she told him. Her eyes sparkled with mirth. "Can you think of no bodily fluid that might leave the body of an adolescent boy that marks a change?"

Blaise's eyes widened, and to Hermione's distinct pleasure, she saw two spots of color bloom high on his cheeks. She laughed.

"Never thought I'd ever be able to get you to blush," she teased, and Blaise looked embarrassed and disgruntled.

"That's—that's not discussed in polite society," he defended. "You can't just—"

"You were the one who asked," Hermione said pointedly. "And I'm not discussing it; I'm referencing it, so you understand."

"Well, I understand now." Blaise's voice was embarrassed, annoyed. "You can drop it now."

"I already have," Hermione said promptly. A mischievous streak spurred her on to tease him, and she looked up at him through her lashes, giving him a suggestive look. "At least, until we're not in polite society anymore…"

The choking noise he made and the bright blush staining his cheeks made Hermione laugh, and she turned toward the front of the classroom as Lockhart flounced to the chalkboard, suddenly in a much better mood than she'd been in before.