"Remind me again," Ginny hissed into Hermione's ear, "why you had to invite McGonagall to our meeting—in the Room of Requirement?"

Professor Minerva McGonagall was indeed present, sitting on a purple armchair that nearly engulfed her tall and skinny frame. Her austere black robes looked very out of place in the Room of Requirement, which had transformed itself into a cozy sitting room in reds, purples, and pinks—appropriate enough for the eleven teenage girls lounging around its central fireplace. Still, she looked comfortable enough, sipping tea while keeping her ramrod straight posture.

Hermione shrugged and straightened her three quills and parchment on the desk in front of her. " 'When a gathering of ten student or more convenes for a volunteer project, there must be an adult supervisor present'," she quoted from one of Hogwarts' many ancient codes of conduct. "Besides, McGonagall is the one who asked me to organize a fundraiser for Professor Babbling in the first place."

Ginny huffed and blew some bright red hair out of her eyes while Hermione smiled secretly to herself. Ginny didn't know it, but the rule she'd quoted was from a Hogwarts' Code of Conduct in 1897, but it was a good idea to keep Professor McGonagall around.

The truth was, Hermione was terrified of holding this meeting. She wanted to raise money for Professor Babbling's bridal shower and wedding, but the idea Ginny had gotten into her head… Well, it had to be a joke, plain and simple, but it was still smart to keep McGonagall around to squelch any votes in favor of it.

"So," Hermione began, calling the meeting to order, "I'm glad you all came today. As we all know, Professor Bathsheda Babbling is going to be married in a few months, and those of us who take Ancient Runes know what an excellent teacher she is. She deserves to have the fairytale wedding she's dreamed of, but without the proper funds, she'll have to get married somewhere completely plain and ordinary, devoid completely of glamour and romance—"

Lavender Brown shrieked with horror. "She'd have to get married somewhere boring, like in an office at the Ministry! How absolutely awful!"

Hermione narrowed her eyes at Lavender for interrupting, but Ginny continued for her. "The point is, it's up to us as her faithful students to raise money as a big surprise wedding present. And that's the reason you're all here—to help us brainstorm ideas for a wedding fundraiser. Who has the first suggestion—and please, no bake sales!"

The other nine girls offered no response, staring at Hermione and Ginny blankly.

"Well," Hermione began, confident that no one had suggested a calendar so far, "I thought for sure that we could make the money we need by learning how to knit and selling scarves and mittens for the winter semester!"

Every woman in the room, including Professor McGonagall, groaned in unison.

"You can't knit a single stitch, Hermione," Cho said pointedly, flipping her glossy black hair over a skinny shoulder.

"Only the house elves like your sewing," Parvati added.

Hermione's face grew red in protest. "I sold four scarves last year!"

"Yeah, to Potter and the Weasel," Pansy sneered, "and they only bought them because they felt sorry for you."

The Room of Requirement erupted into high-pitched bickering, as the Gryffindors jumped to defend Hermione, even though Pansy was right. The girls didn't even notice when a male visitor entered their midst.

"Granger," George Weasley asked in a lazy tone, "why is it that you discounted my calendar idea so quickly?"

The fighting in the room stopped immediately. "George, what are you doing in here?" screeched Ginny. "How did you get in?"

"I walked on by and thought to myself, I need the place that's loaded to the brim with shag-able females. Hope you don't mind you're included, Professor."

"Not at all, Weasley."

"Anyway," George continued, "you girls need to understand your marketability, something that my brother and I are experts on. You're all attractive students in the prime of your youth, and most of you are 15 or 16—though, Miss Greengrass, I don't really know why you're here."

The pretty Slytherin fourth-year grinned. "Curiosity."

"In any case, I'm sure you're all familiar with the concept of a sexy calendar—each month has a risqué photo of a good-looking girl. Is anyone here interested?"

The girls nodded eagerly in agreement, while Hermione shook her head vehemently. "George, we are not going to sully Professor Babbling's pure and wholesome wedding by funding it with such a—an—impure thing!"

"I'm game, mate," Katie said, giving George a high five. "As long as it's nothing more revealing than knickers. We don't want to get caught by the Ministry here."

Hermione's face blanched. "P-P-Professor!"

McGonagall shrugged, with a mischievous gleam in her eye. "I can't hear a word you're all saying. I'm just the presiding guardian."

"So it's settled, then," Hannah said, folding her hands neatly in her lap. "We'll shoot a calendar, one girl per month, and sell them. To who?"

"To us hormonal, crazed male students, of course!" George crowed, sidling next to Padma Patil. "Granger may not realize it, but we boys are of the age now where we'd pay good money for a calendar like that. I'd say a well-put together calendar could easily sell for 20 galleons, and say there are about 500 boys here…"

The girls laughed and began to chat about photo poses while Hermione pestered Professor McGonagall. "Professor, please—tell them we can't do this! It's inappropriate, we'll get in trouble with Professor Dumbledore and the Ministry and the Wizengamot!"

"Oh, Miss Granger!" said McGonagall. "Bathsheda is a close friend of mine, and she deserves a happy wedding, with everything she wants. If making a silly little calendar will make her dreams come true, Dumbledore and I can turn a blind eye. As long as it's not flat-out nakedness."

"Oooooh, and I know just who can photograph us!" Luna said, blue eyes wide with triumph. "Colin Creevey, in my year—he's an excellent photographer! He's gone on trips with me in the Forbidden Forest with special rolls of film, trying to catch Nargles and Blibbering Humdingers in a photo!"

"Oh, you took Creevey to the forest, did you?" George laughed, eyebrows waggling. "Did he see anything in there that we might get a glimpse of in the calendar?"

"Oh, I don't think so. Why? Will there be Humdingers in the calendar?"

The girls filed out of the room slowly with George, signing up for different months , while Hermione and Ginny stayed behind to gather their things from the Room of Requirement.

"I won't do it, you know," Hermione warned her, grabbing her quills and throwing them haphazardly into her bag. "It's immoral and Babbling deserves better. I'll knit scarves on my own."

"Oh, Hermione." Ginny squeezed her friend's shoulders and petted down her bushy hair. "You're so afraid of making one wrong step in school, you're not having any fun. Just think—what would Ron say if he saw you in that calendar?"

Hermione didn't try to deny her crush to her closest girl friend. " 'Blimey, Hermione, why on earth would people want to see that much skin on you?' "

"Try, 'Blimey, Hermione, my pants are off at your command. Shag me, or I'll die.' "

Hermione considered this. "Not too much skin?"

"Not at all."

"And 20 galleons a calendar?"

"Babbling will get the wedding of her dreams…"

Hermione sighed. "Fine. Sign me up. But as a matter of interest, what do you think Harry will say about you in the calendar?"

Ginny didn't deny her crush, either. "Why do you think I signed up for July? Happy birthday, Harry!"