Hermione wasn't sure how to dress for her internship, so she asked for help from her mother, who helped her find a black business-y dress from her own closet. The dress didn't fit too poorly, either – her mother helped her with the fit, clucking over how she was growing so fast, and that her growth spurt would probably end soon.

"And once you stop growing up, you'll start growing out, dear," she said with a wink. "Let me know when you're ready to go bra shopping."

"Mum!" Hermione's face flamed.

"Well, I presume you'll want normal bras, yes?" her mother pushed. "Who knows what your witch classmates wear? They might still use corsets and stays, especially given the way so many things seem stuck in time a century or two ago."

"I- okay," Hermione admitted. "That's probably a good idea. None of my dorm mates wear bras yet, so… I don't really know what witches wear."

"Whenever you need it, we'll go," her mother assured her. "Have you had your first period yet?"

"Mum!"

"There's nothing to be ashamed of, Hermione. It's a natural part of growing up."

Hermione hesitated.

"I… I had one," she said, faltering. "Only… it was just the one. I didn't have any others."

Hermione's mother turned to look at her curiously.

"Only one?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Hermione said. She hadn't realized that she hadn't had another one, after the first she'd had. "I had a period back in March, but I haven't had another one since."

Something flitted across her mother's face.

"Hermione, that's not how periods work," she said. "You get them every month. Are you sure it wasn't spotting of some sort?"

"I'm sure," Hermione said crossly. "I had cramps and everything. And there was a lot of blood. I even used tampons."

Hermione could tell her mother was trying not to laugh.

"But I only had the one," Hermione continued. "I'm… I didn't really realize I only had one. I forgot about it, once it went away."

Her mother shot her with a sharp look. "Hermione, are you pregnant?"

"No!" Hermione yelped. "Mum, I've never even kissed-"

"I'm just asking, love. I can't think of any other reason that a woman's period would suddenly stop like that."

Hermione watched her mother rummage through her jewelry box for business-appropriate jewelry. Hermione bit her lip.

"Mum," she said. "A girl gets a period because her body is trying to get ready to have a baby, right?"

"Yes, love," her mother said distractedly. "The uterus passes the lining of the womb after conception hasn't taken place."

"Well, maybe my body isn't ready to start having babies," Hermione said, keeping her voice very even. "Maybe it just wanted to try it the once, and then it decided it wasn't ready yet."

"Oh, Hermione." Her mother was exasperated. "That's not how it works. A woman-"

She broke off, and Hermione quickly looked up to see that her mother was looking at her, her eyes narrowed. Hermione quickly tried to school her expression into something more neutral.

"Hermione," her mother said, her tone sharp. Hermione winced. "Hermione Jean Granger, what have you done?"

"I- nothing mum, really!" Hermione objected. "I just had a period!"

"And did this period occur naturally…?"

Hermione winced, and her mother's face got very tight.

"So you had an unnatural period," her mother said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I take it this is some witchy thing? A hazing ritual? Everyone bleed in the cauldron to unite us as friends?"

"Mum!" Hermione was scandalized. "That'd be Dark magic! No! There's not- it wasn't-"

"Then what," she said, coming over and sitting down next to Hermione, "pray tell, was it?"

Her mother's eyes were sharp and piercing. Hermione squirmed, her Slytherin skills at hiding the truth abandoning her in the face of her mother's honed lie-detection skills.

"I did a ritual," Hermione said in a rush. "A witch having her first period at exactly eighteen months after she turns eleven helps maximize her magical potential. So I did a ritual for fertility, and it hurt a lot, but when I didn't have a sperm in me to fertilize anything, I got my period two weeks later, the day before my half birthday. So it worked, but then… I only had the one, I guess, because my body wasn't ready to start doing it on its own, and I didn't do the ritual again…" She trailed off. "I hope everything worked. If I did all that and it didn't even count as a proper period, I'm going to be mad. It hurt a lot."

"Oh, Hermione," her mother sighed. "What am I going to do with you?"

Her mother wound her arms around her, pulling her close. Hermione bit her lip and hugged her mother close, burying her face in her arm.

"You are growing up so fast, and growing up in this very different world," her mother said softly, stroking Hermione's hair. "How am I supposed to support my little girl when she's off doing things I can't understand? Doing things to change her body?"

"I'm fine," Hermione said, her voice petulant. "I just had the one period, that's all. I'm sure I'll get the normal annoying ones eventually."

Her mother pulled back, giving Hermione a stern look.

"Be as that may, we are making an appointment for you for the gynecologist," she told her. "We are making sure you haven't somehow permanently hurt yourself with this magical ritual."

Hermione sighed. "Fine."

"Now," said her mother, straightening up. She withdrew a pair of small earrings, extending them. "These are imitation black pearl studs. Does the wizarding world have things like this?"

"I think so," Hermione said. "No one really wears much jewelry at school, but I think so."

"Then these will go with that dress." Her mother stood and went to put away her other jewelry. "Do you have any sort of business shoe to wear with that dress? I don't want you to wear your school shoes with a calf-length dress."

"No, but I think I might fit in yours, now. My feet finished growing first," Hermione said, digging in her mother's closet. "Look! I can fit in your shoes."

She offered a hesitant grin at her mother, who sighed but smiled fondly at her.

"Are you sure you want to wear those?" she cautioned. "Heels can hurt after a while."

"I can use a cushioning charm," Hermione assured her.

"They'll hurt your legs, darling, not just your feet," her mother said, frowning. "They put a lot of strain on your calves."

"I can always take a pair of flats in my bag in case," Hermione said. She looked at herself in the mirror, in her mother's dress and heels. She pulled her hair up into a bun and held it there. She looked very grown up, she thought. Just like the professional type of witch who would have a job at a publishing firm.

"Well, it is a special occasion," her mother conceded. "Just be sure to take a couple painkillers with you in your purse and a pair of flats in case you need them. We'll need you to wake up early tomorrow, too – I'll have to do your hair before I leave for the practice."