Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of J.K .Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

This chapter was beta'ed by Jcat5507 and Alice's White Rabbit from Project Team Beta.

Laughing like Hyenas

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And with that, Hermione turned back towards the castle, the unicorn accompanying her till the edge of the forest where she had forgotten her book bag.

Continued…

As she made her way up the castle, Hermione saw Luna and Ginny standing near the Entrance Hall. Luna's platinum blonde hair and Ginny's fiery red hair stood out against the dark stone walls of the castle.

"It felt stuffy inside the castle so Ginny and I decided to have a stroll around the lake. We were just heading up when we saw you and we decided to wait up for you," explained Luna on seeing her confusion.

Hermione said gratefully, "Thank you, guys."

"Anyways, what were you doing here alone? And don't lie; I saw you came from the forest's direction. With Sirius Black on the loose and dementors on the ground, it's dangerous to be out alone. Especially in the Dark Forest," admonished Ginny. Ginny sounded eerily like Mrs. Weasley when she used that tone of voice.

"Oh, Merlin, I had completely forgotten that," worried Hermione. "We'll discuss it later. Can we meet tomorrow morning at 7?"

Ginny and Luna were quick to agree and let her be. They now walked towards the Great Hall to catch dinner.

As Hermione mulled over the events that occurred in the afternoon, Ginny and Luna were silent as they knew Hermione would eventually open up.

Harry and Ron had saved seats for Ginny and Hermione.

"See you later!" exclaimed Luna, as she skipped away towards her table.

Hogwarts had four houses in which students were sorted according to which best suited for them. Gryffindor housed those with courage and chivalry, Ravenclaw treasured those with wit and wisdom, Hufflepuff appreciated hard work and loyalty above everything else, and Slytherin took only those who were cunning and ambitious. Each house had separate common rooms.

The Great Hall had four long tables with banners depicting the mascot and colours of each house. At the opposite end of the hall was a high table meant for staff. Behind the wall was the Hogwarts' emblem with the school's motto written below it. The coat of arms of Hogwarts shows each house's mascot and house colours. Clockwise from top left: the Gryffindor lion, the Slytherin serpent, the Ravenclaw eagle, and the Hufflepuff badger. The motto written below is "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus"- never tickle a sleeping dragon.

Students were allowed to mingle and have breakfast and lunch at each other's tables, but for dinner, they were required to be seated at their house tables. However, only a select few students who had read "Hogwarts: A History" knew this. The rest of the student body assumed, without question, that they were required to sit at their tables for the meals.

Hermione slid into her place and started to prepare a plate as Harry silently poured orange juice into her glass and Ron passed her the salad. Harry, Ron and Hermione had been friends from the second half of their first year at Hogwarts and, by now, were attuned to each other's thoughts and behavior. Harry and Ron had already helped themselves to dinner. Ron choked out through a mouthful of food, "Where have you been the day?"

Hermione replied exasperatedly, "Ronald, please swallow your food before you speak. How many times do I have to ask you that? Actually, don't answer that. I don't need to hear it. And as for your question, I was in the library the whole day. I have been researching extinct magical creatures for my Care of Magical Creatures extra credit assignment."

It was true—she had been in library the whole time today. Actually, she had missed dinner having lost herself in the world of letters and numbers. She didn't even realise she fell asleep in the library. She woke up at 1:00AM and upon that realization, cursed under her breath and hastily shoved the parchments in her book bag. She returned the library books to their respective shelves.

After stealing a nearby lamp, she mentally thanked Harry for the invisibility cloak as she donned it. He'd insisted she take it with her as he reasoned, "Now, we wouldn't want the school to know that the Little Miss Perfect Granger is sneaking in the dorms after curfew now would we?" It had happened many times to count— Hermione losing track of time in the library.

"Hermione! Earth to Hermione." She snapped back to the present and realised Harry had been trying to get her attention. She turned towards Harry and waited for him to speak.

"I asked what could have been your Boggart." Harry reached for the treacle tart.

Hermione took a moment to answer his question. "Honestly speaking, I have got no idea. That is what I am curious to know too."

Hermione got a spark in her eye. "I've got an idea," she declared. "Harry, you and I will to Professor Lupin's classroom tomorrow after lunch and request him to allow us to practice on the boggart as most probably it will be on exams. Ron, you can come along if you want to." With that, she dug into her dinner.

After the satisfactory meal, she turned towards Harry and requested, "Can you please open the portrait when I knock? I don't want to wake up the Fat Lady." She pulled her best puppy dog eyes as she look at him beseechingly.

"Of course, I will, Mione. How can I say no to that? Besides, it's good to see you breaking rules willingly," answered Harry.

Ron joked, ruffling her hair, "We certainly are a bad influence on you." He uttered that quite proudly, puffing out his chest. Harry, too, imitated Ron's action. After a moment, the three of them burst out laughing at their antics.

"Oy, what's got the three of you laughing like hyenas?" bellowed one of the Weasley twins from across the table where the trio was seated. At that, Harry and Ron started laughing anew.

"OK, OK, now I bid adieu to all you gentlemen," proclaimed Hermione as she got out and started to make her way through the throng of students bustling in the Great Hall.

After getting out of the Great Hall, she made her way up to the seventh floor. She wanted to check out the Room of Requirement before her meeting with the Founder's tomorrow.

A/n: Please review! I didn't realize till now how reviews can help motivate an author.

Thanks to all of you for your reviews: Mrs. Handsome, deshna shah, bravensclawesome.

Now, I realize it might get annoying that I keep updating and changing things but please bear with me. It's all to improve the story. I've outlined the major parts but the smaller yet important moments are yet to done. I shall be updating, before Diwali, the next chapter.

So sorry, guys. I know I said I'll update the next chapter before Diwali, but where I was on a holiday, there was no network. I've got university exams coming up but I'll do my best to complete chapter 4 and send it for beta'ing. I'm truly sorry. I may edit the previous chapters but the next chapter is still not completed so that will take time.

I don't know what just happened. Sorry for that. I just edited some punctuation errors my friend pointed out. Also, I've got great new for you guys- I'm making the final draft of chapter 4 which shall be up by tomorrow.