Thankfully the next day was a Saturday and there were no classes. It had taken most of the day to finish her Holiday homework. Each year she was more and more thankful for her parents having her memorize books first week home. She was able to do her homework, study from supplement books, and still have time for private research.

However now she didn't have to worry about her school work and could focus on something normal for her age, a ball. She still wanted to wrap up some loose ends with Winky, and also do personal research for her pet project concerning elvish welfare. However she had a few days to figure out how she wanted to look, and decided it would be mind-shattering for all of Hogwarts. Hardly a single person who attended Hogwarts had anything nice to say about her appearance other than Neville. He was a sweet boy, if Viktor hadn't asked her, she would have agreed to go with him.

Yet she was also pleased that he did ask her. While she didn't care for his fame or anything of the sort, she could appreciate that he was handsome and it felt nice to have someone attractive find her attractive. She didn't put any effort into her appearance because she was here to learn, not find a life partner. Why waste an hour on makeup when that could be a whole book read? That wasn't to say that she didn't have a nightly beauty regime, it just fell in line with her nightly ablutions and took no time at all. She'd been doing it as soon as her body started to hit puberty, her mother got her in the habits.

There were some things magical that she preferred over muggle. For example, shaving. While she knew the charms she noticed that the other girls didn't have a firm grasp on them as she did. Her legs and arms were always smooth and she played with shape designs on her pubic hair. Started out simple, but lately they were getting more complex and detailed. She had no one to show off for, they were for pure self-satisfaction. Currently it was the lion for Gryffindor's crest.

She considered writing home about Winky, but didn't want to send them anything just yet. She didn't want to surprise them, but she also something more substantial to tell them. Not something blunt as;

"Dear Mum and Dad,

A few things have happened concerning my new social justice project with the house elves. You remember, S.P.E.W. Well apparently if they aren't in service and aren't working, they lose some "moons" off their lifespan. THEY CAN DIE! FROM NOT SERVING! So that poor house elf, Winky, that I told you about. That one that mean awful Crouch Sr owned? Well she's mine now because I didn't want her to die. Just so you know, that's what's new with me. That's all.

Much Love,

Hermione"

Hermione shivered at the thought, she'd rather dry heave.

Hermione was also glad to be going with a wizard who was of age in their world. While her parents loved her dearly, they had planned on keeping her home as long as they were able, and at first she was indignant that they felt the need to coddle her as such. But they reminded her of her status and how it was expected of her until she got married. It was something she didn't put much thought into since they continuously reminded her to not worry about it and focus on her studies.

Her mother may have been 19 when her and her father met, but she was assured that she didn't have to follow in her mother's footsteps. They also loved to joke about how she didn't have to find someone 13 years older than her. But they did assure her that there was no pressure on her finding someone to settle down with right away.

"It was just luck that your father was so smooth with his words that I fell for them." her mother always shot her father a secret smile whenever she said it.

"Smooth enough that she laughed in my face and tripped over her own two feet. I simply had to know her name." her father had a wicked dry sense of humor, and both of his girls loved it.

Hermione also had his sense of humor but had to tone it down for the silly Gryffindors she hung around. They barely understood Professor Snape's acerbic humor, which she had to bite on her tongue to keep from laughing. She was sure he saw her eyes sparkle at his humor though.

Her parents' relationship had started out a hot/cold friendship, making quips at each other. They dated other people through their friendship, but everyone else saw that they were merely dancing around each other because of their age difference. That dance didn't last long and soon they were sneaking off to snog like teenagers.

It was a precarious situation, what with her father's background that his family almost rejected their relationship because of her mother's background. It would have been easier if he wasn't Duke of Clarence, but her mother's sassy mouth won him over. Not that Hermione would ever let anyone know. She was glad they were extremely private concerning that and her mother grounded his sometimes fat head.

The brilliant witch preferred to keep her status a secret and never gave anything away, preferring to fall back on her parents' dentistry hobby when people asked. They had both gone and gotten their doctrines in dentistry for a laugh, but it also gave them something to do during the day. It was a struggle near the end, but her mother was more than pleased with herself. She was pregnant her graduate year with Hermione and had to deal with all the stress while dealing with all the pains that came with pregnancy. However they fought to keep her having had three miscarriages before her. So to them, she was worth all the effort.

It was an inside joke that she was so smart because she was learning from the womb, what with her mother studying like crazy. It still made her smile fondly.

However her foray with the time-turner, while being instructed to not abuse it, was indeed mildly abused. Aside from saving an innocent convict and a hippogriff who was to be put down, there were expected turns to get to class, a few more to do her homework (that she instead spent on private study since her homework was done relatively fast per normal), a few turns to include extra meals to keep her body's metabolism on track, and a few more for extra sleep. She kept a time journal to make sure she knew how old she was, it was extremely important in magic, especially in subjects such as arithmancy.

On the last day before she had to give up the time turner, she was exactly 7 hours away from fitting into a proper 2 year advancement, all the way down to the second. So she wouldn't have to remember another day for her birthday, it would be the same. So she spent the whole 7 hours on what she called "Hermione Time".