Hermione was ambling down the moving staircases thinking about the Defence Against the Dark Arts homework she hadn't managed to finish. Why on earth had Snape wanted 2 rolls of parchment on werewolves by Monday morning? Disjointed thoughts ran across her mind, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that she just had to fit together if she could. What was the evidence? That once a month Professor Lupin was mysteriously ill for 3 consecutive days and Snape had set homework on recognising and how to kill werewolves. The jigsaw pieces began to fit together in her mind and Hermione lost track of where she was going, fully absorbed in this entertaining new puzzle. She was almost done solving it, despite the gaping hole in her theory that a quick trip to the library could fix when once again a horribly familiar voice rand out, shattering her thoughts.
"Hermione!" the voice yelled as she stopped in her tracks and almost fell to her death as the moving staircase she was about to step on swept out from under her extended foot. A blood curdling scream echoed around Hogwarts School for Wizardy and Witchcraft and rang in the brunette's ears. When she realised it was her own scream that issued from her mouth and was waking up grump portraits that expected a lie in at 7am in the morning she immediately closed her mouth and concentrated on not falling the remaining 5 floors to the great hall.
"Hermione!" Someone screamed again and she felt a slight but strong hand grab the back of her robes and pull her backwards away from the drop. She collided with her saviour and when she looked up through tearful eyes she saw the worried expression of her best friend Ginny Weasley.
"Oh, Merlin Ginny, Thank you so much" She wrapped her arms around the redheads waist and clung to her in fright. The redhead wrapped her arms around the older girl protectively.
"'Mione, are you sure you're alright?" Ginny asked, worried at the paleness of her best friend. Hermione wiped her tear stained cheeks and got up, pulling Ginny up and into a hug.
"Yes, I'm fine Gin. Thank you for saving me" she pulled back and looked into the redheads eyes. She brushed a stray piece of hair out of the younger girls eyes and then froze as memories of what had almost happened last night flooded back to her and a fresh onslaught of strange emotions attacked at her brain. The blood drained from her face as she realised that the girl she had tried to kiss last night was wrapped in her arms right now. Her eyes darted over Ginny's face.
"Beautiful…" she whispered and she felt the blood rush back and pool in her cheeks. Blushing a deep scarlet she unwound herself from Ginny and looked uncertainly at the younger girl who had an arm outstretched as if to pull her back close.
"Um, should we get down to breakfast? I'm, uh, starving" Ginny said nervously and Hermione nodded, leading the way to the dining hall and hoping that Harry and Ronald wouldn't be there to bombard her with devil stares because of that bloody broom.