Author's Note: Sorry to keep you all waiting! But, I had a major writing spree over the past few days and I have four new chapters for you! And I must say I'm much more satisfied with these than the last two.Thank you for reviewing!
Lady Foxgloves

Chapter 3

Serena's eyes flickered open as Hermione shook her awake, "What…" She grumbled. Hermione was already dressed and the sun was coming in through the windows of the third year's dormitories.

"Get up! It's the first day of classes; don't want to be late do you?" Hermione was buzzing around the room and taking books from her bag, then putting them in again.

"What time is it?" Serena sat up in her bed and swung her legs out over side, fearing that she may have woken up late. Then her thoughts returned to last night and she smiled.

"5:30."

"You woke me up at 5:30?" Serena sighed and dropped back down in her bed, "It's too early…"

"Nonsense, see you downstairs!" Hermione bustled out of the room and closed the dormitory door behind her, leaving Serena and the other sleeping girls alone.

Serena got up from her bed and went to the window beside it. The sun was coming up across the Hogwarts grounds; she rubbed the last bit of sleep from her eyes and went to her wardrobe. She pulled out her gray uniform and her black Gryffindor robe and began to undress from her tank top and pajama pants.

Once she was dressed she combed her hair in front of the mirror from the cupboard. Serena went to her bedside table and opened the drawer where a tiny wood box lay. She opened it and the silver shape of a crescent moon hung from a thin silver chain. She put the necklace on and then tucked it underneath her shirt.

She heard one of the other girls stir in her bed and decided she should leave. She picked up her bag and her textbooks for the morning classes. As she went to the door Frasier ran out from underneath her bed. "Good Morning Frasier." The orange and white cat meowed and licked his paw. Serena shook her head and made her way down the dormitory stairs.

When she came into the common room, she was astonished to see she wasn't the only one up. Hermione was sitting by the fireplace, but Harry and Ron were up as well. Serena looked around the room and it was filled with all sorts of gold and red objects. Banners were hanging from the ceiling, and gold and red bubbles were floating around.

George and Fred were laughing with their friends, who were patting them on the back. Serena went over to Harry and Ron, "What is all this?" She waved her hands around the room and a red bubble popped on her hand, causing a trumpet to blare from seemingly no where, which was greeted by another chorus of cheers from the fifth years.

Harry smiled, "This is another invention of the Weasley twins. They come in all sorts of colors and when they pop," Harry popped a gold one and a clarinet sounded, "you can hear an instrument."

"They decided the first day of school would be an opportune time to launch the product." Ron continued, "The first years have taken to it well, especially the girls…look at them all, as if they weren't obvious enough…" The three turned to a group of first year girls who were popping the bubbles and quickly turning to see if Fred or George had seen them.

Serena snorted, "Immaturity at it's finest. I'm going on down, I've got to stop at the library before breakfast." Serena waved good bye to Ron and Harry and went down the corridor to the picture of the pink lady. The picture swung open and she walked out into the portrait lined hallway. Clutching her books, she made her way to the library doors and gently pushed them open.

"Good Morning." Serena nodded slightly to the librarian and made her way to the back of the many cases. She set her books down on a chair and worked her way to the ancient runes section. She picked up a smaller volume and flipped through the pages looking at the intricate symbols and designs of old carvings found in Ireland. She had read this book before, so she flipped to the page where she left off.

I voice behind her said, "I don't think Ancient Runes is available for third years." Serena jumped and turned around where George was leaning against a bookcase across the aisle.

"George! You really shouldn't sneak up on people like that; you scared me half to death." Serena smiled at the end, hoping she hadn't sounded too severe like a certain friend of hers…

"I couldn't help it, there you were completely oblivious to the outside world, and it was all too tempting." George walked over to the books about ancient runes, "Do you really like this stuff?"

"I do, which is funny considering the fourth years that complain about it." Serena closed the book and put it back in its place on the shelf. She ran fingers across the spines of the many dusty volumes as she moved along the shelf. George followed her and picked up a particularly large, dusty volume and opened it up to a random page.

"Alright then, what does that mean?" On the left side of the page was a large hieroglyph of intricate designs and an animal in the middle. Serena gazed at it for a moment and then said coolly, "It's an Irish symbol that means 'Death of 20 grindylows'."

George's eyebrows shot up and he looked at the rune, "Seriously, how'd you know that?"

Serena laughed, "There's a caption under the picture."

"Ah! And so there is."

"Did you really think I'd know what that means?"

"You never know…" George slammed the book shut and a cloud of dust shot into the air. It poured down on them and they both started coughing. Serena waved her hands and tried to clear the dust away from her face. As the dust settled George began to laugh and Serena joined him, "You should see yourself, you're covered in it." George held his stomach trying to contain himself.

"Oh I'm covered in it? You need a mirror George Weasley, because you're covered in it too!" Serena reached up and wiped away some of the dust off George's cheek. They both stopped laughing and Serena could feel herself blushing.

"Uh…" Serena was cut off as the librarian rushed over to them. Serena quickly pulled her hand away as the librarian berated them for causing a disturbance. Serena gathered her bag and she and George walked awkwardly out of the library in silence.

"Well," George finally broke the silence, "I'll see you at breakfast then." With that he took off and before turning around the corner he looked back at Serena and smiled one last time.

Serena walked straight to the girl's bathroom and washed her face and hands; she tried to clean of the dust from her hair and resolved to put it up in a bun. She took of her robe and shook it near the window, trying not to inhale any of the dust. She picked up her bag once more and left the bathroom.

As she turned the corner she ducked behind a tapestry covered alcove and leaned against the wall. She could still feel her cheeks flush when she thought about touching his face, and the best part was, he hadn't seemed to mind it. She pressed her face into the cold stone of the wall and took a deep breath. She thought to herself, I hope I don't blush when I see him at breakfast, it would be terribly obvious…Why am I acting this way? He's just going to give me a tour of Zonko's, that's it. I just have to pull myself together.

Serena ducked her head outside the tapestry to see if anyone was coming and then she hurried out into the corridor. She walked down the staircase that lead to the great hall and ran into Hermione who was reading by the door.

Hermione looked up as Serena approached, "Oh Serena, good morning. I didn't see you in the common room, where'd you go?" Hermione sniffed Serena's shoulder, "And you smell like dust…"

Serena resisted the urge to blush and simply stated, "I was in the library."

"Oh, well let's eat. I'm starving." Hermione and Serena walked into the great hall and found where Harry and Ron were. Hermione squeezed in between Ron and George and Serena sat across the table between Fred and Harry.

"I see you've already dug in." Serena watched Harry stuff his face with a piece a toast and shook her head; she looked across the table at Hermione who was sniffing George's shoulder as well. Hermione scrunched up her nose and looked inquiringly at Serena, who pretended to be interested in a mushroom from her scrambled eggs. Hermione shrugged her shoulders and began talking to Ron. Serena glanced up at George who was looking at her over a glass of orange juice. Serena smiled slightly and then started talking to Harry about schedules all the while thinking, again, how good it was to be back at Hogwarts.