Moonstruck Madness Year One: Chapter 7

First Morning

"Marilla, isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?" Said by Anne Shirley, Anne of Green Gables

Anne finally entered the Great Hall for breakfast, after getting slightly confused with all the staircases, trying her best to avoid the talking portraits (which, truthfully, scared her a bit), and tripping over a few trick stairs. She was still quite early – the talk with Professor Burbage hadn't taken as long as she thought it would have. So it was to her surprise that Hermione was already at the breakfast table, sitting primly with a book in one hand, and a half eaten piece of toast in the other.

"Hermione!" Anne exclaimed, as she sat herself next to her, "What are you doing up so early?"

"Having breakfast of course," she replied. "It wouldn't do to be late on the first day of school." Her eyes remained glued to the hardcover book that was in her hands.

"Ah, Miss Shirley," said Professor McGonagall, handing Anne a small square of parchment, "Your timetable."

"But, Hermione," said Anne hesitantly after the professor left, "There's more than an hour before our first class starts."

Hermione looked at her strangely. "So? Percy says the staircases and doors and such can be quite tricky on the first day—it'll probably take us a while before we can find our class. Anyway, it's better to be early an hour and prepared, than late a minute and not, I always say."

Just then, Ron, Harry, and Gilbert tumbled into the Great Hall and plopped themselves unceremoniously at the Gryffindor table. They looked tousled, and had clearly just woken up minutes ago. Gilbert had obviously managed to get sleepier during his walk to the Gryffindor Tower- his head was lolling dangerously close to the mountain of scrambled eggs Ron had already piled on his plate. Strange, thought Anne, he was awake just a while ago. Harry was more awake, but he didn't seem to be registering what he was putting in his mouth.

Hermione quirked an eyebrow, as if to say, see what I mean?

"By the way, Anne, where were you this morning?"

Hermione prided herself on her abilities to multitask. A short while after she learned to read, she found that she could also read while doing various tasks – eating, listening, walking. After convincing her parents that no, she would not accidentally get herself hit by a car, mutitasking became a sort of habit. As much as people were doubtful, Hermione could be surprisingly observant while she was reading. And she definitely could tell Anne was acting strangely lately - strange even for her.

Lately, she had been acting mysteriously – disappearing after dinner last night and then again in the morning. Hermione was burning with curiosity - she wanted to know what was troubling Anne. And Hermione strongly disliked such questions without knowing their answers. When Anne showed up at breakfast, however, Hermione could tell she hadn't gotten a good night's sleep. She decided that questioning Anne at length could wait for another time.

But she still couldn't resist just one question –

"By the way, Anne, where were you this morning?"

Anne gave a vague answer about a meditcal testing with Pomfrey that told Hermione absolutely nothing at all. But Hemione could tell that Anne was clearly uncomfortable with the subject.

So Hermione changed the subject for her. She asked if she could come along for the medical examination, because her parents were doctors, and she was interested about how medicine was practiced in the Wizarding World. And she truly was interested. Anne said yes, before her eyes lit up, leaping into a story involving talking portraits, staircases and the like. Hermione returned to her book while listening to Anne's now familiar story-telling fashion - partly rant and partly her personal musings – before two key phrases caught her attention.

"—library – second floor-"

Hermione peered at Anne over her book. "You know where the library is?" she said, fighting to keep the excitement out of her voice.

Anne stopped mid sentence. "Well, yes."

"We've still got an hour left," Hermione said thoughtfully, "Charms is on the same floor, and Percy says it's fairly straightforward to get to. We'll probably have extra time." She was almost already out of her seat. The library! She hoped it was big, with lots of interesting books.

"But," Anne said hesitantly, "What about making sure we aren't late to class?"

"This is the library," Hermione said, brimming with enthusiasm. "Which is more important, checking out the library or sitting around for a while until we go to class?"

Anne chose, for once, not to reply to Hermione's self-contradiction. The girl had a strange way of prioritizing things.

After a long pause, the two girls looked at each other before saying simultaneously, "Library."

The library lived up to all of their wildest hopes and dreams. It was big enough to satisify Hermione, with books on almost every magical subject imaginable. She made a beeline for a special edition of Hogwarts, a History, and then immediately went to search out Madam Pince to borrow it. Anne browsed a little longer while waiting for Hermione to return, letting her hand slide over the volumes.

Her finger caught on a slim, dark green book. Anne slipped it out and saw the title, The Fay Folk: Myths and Reality. Fay Folk! Fairies! She opened it to the first page and began to read, her eyes glued after the first paragraph.

"Anne? ANNE!" Hermione waved her hand under Anne's nose. She didn't respond, response except move it even closer to her face so she could continue reading. Hermione reached under it and tweaked Anne's nose.

"Ouch!" Anne exclaimed, turning a wrathful glare on Hermione that could rival the look Madame Pince was shooting them for being noisy.

"We're going to be late!" Hermione whispered fiercely back. "We've got to go!"

Regretfully, Anne stuck the book back on the shelf, though not without memorizing its place.

Now it was time to go to her first classes. What would they be like? Anne wasn't sure if she was looking forward to them, but she was certainly full of anticipation.

A/N: Thanks for being so patient with us!

Again, thanks much for the reviews. Please tell us if you see any blaring mistakes in the story. :)

ME: Thanks! We're trying hard to update quickly. Oops – Junie named Anne's father Andrew temporarily, until she found out his name was Walter. Guess the revision never made it to the final copy. Thanks for pointing that out!

ariedling: Thanks! We hope you'll like the new updates.

luvbooks: Thank you! We're trying to update more quickly now, but we've got schoolwork to contend with. Hopefully the next few chapters, which we intend to post within the next few days, will make up for the lag. :D

random reviewer on a bender: Thanks. We hope that you like Anne's latest scrapes. ;)