Whatever Sylvia was going to talk to Mr. Vitac about was put aside from Hermione's mind, as she had a doctor's appointment scheduled for that Tuesday and wouldn't be present at her internship that day. Her mother had even taken off work for it, and Hermione was mortified to have her mother going along.

"Now, this is perfectly normal, Hermione," her mother told her, for what felt like the fiftieth time. "Going to the gynecologist is just part of being a woman and growing up."

"Mum," Hermione hissed. "I'm not a woman yet. I haven't gotten my period, and I don't have breasts."

"Well, this is good practice, then," her mother replied, unflustered. "Come on."

The exam had gone fine. The gynecologist had even seemed mildly amused by it.

"It's not uncommon for young women to have their first period, and then not have another one for several months," she said kindly. "It can take a few years for a teen's cycle to work itself into a more regular one."

Hermione had shot her mother a triumphant grin, and her mother rolled her eyes.

"Shouldn't she get an ultrasound?" Hermione's mother asked. "What if her womb is abnormal?"

"That'd be excessive," the doctor explained. "All we would do with that is measure the endometrial lining, which isn't necessary - there's no real medical case for that here. It's not as if Hermione is complaining of stomach pains." The doctor turned to Hermione. "Do you have heavy abdominal cramping?"

"Umm," Hermione said. "No."

The doctor nodded, satisfied.

"I'll order some blood work to rule out anything more serious, but other than that, everything seems perfectly normal," the doctor reassured them both. "I'm sure it was just an odd quirk of nature. Everything seems to be in order."

The blood from her arm was a hassle, but a welcome one – it meant Hermione was about to leave. Hermione's mother made arrangements with the front desk to be called with the results of the tests within a week, while Hermione occupied herself through searching through the dish of lollipops the receptionist had out.

"Oh, no, Hermione," her mother sighed. "Hermione, those are for children."

Just to spite her, Hermione took two.

Hermione's summer settled down, to her smug satisfaction. Her blood work all came back fine, so her mother was forced to calm down about the whole magical period thing. Hermione was sure she'd get the normal kind sooner or later (she was hoping for 'later'), and until then, she needn't pay it any more attention.

And whatever Sylvia had been hoping for by talking to Cadmus Vitac about her in the spelling room for her internship had come to nothing – there was nothing in her contract about her being used as a regular speller, and Vitac was firm she stay at her job copy-editing manuscripts. Hermione suspected that he was using her to do a lot of his own work, but she didn't mind – reading all day was pretty much the best job she could ask for, in her opinion. Hermione wondered what type of salary an adult copy-writer or fact-checker made, here, but she didn't want to ask – it seemed rude somehow, and she had no idea of wizarding salaries in the first place to determine if it would be a high or low figure.

The only thing was that she had had to hear the story of Sylvia's discussion (or confrontation, according to Michael) with Vitac second-hand; Hermione had learned of it while circulating and delivering coffee and tea to her coworkers. According to rumor, Sylvia had stormed out of work the day before after her meeting with Vitac, yelling something the others couldn't make out, and she hadn't been seen or heard from since. When one of her coworkers attempted to Floo her to see if she was out sick, they discovered a vacant flat - completely emptied out and abandoned.

There was no sign of where Sylvia had gone.

It made Hermione uneasy to think about.

It was entirely possible that Sylvia had gotten very upset at what Vitac had said and quit her job in a huff. Having quit her job and being a single woman, she would have had no reason to stay where she lived geographically, and, being a witch, surely magically packing her things would have taken her a matter of minutes, not hours. It was entirely possible that Sylvia had just up and left, going to look for employment in another country's magical community instead of the UK's.

It was entirely possible.

But it wasn't entirely probable.

What had Sylvia discussed with Vitac that would have made her so angry? What had been said that made her change the course of her entire life so abruptly? It was absurd to think that it was her own fault, but Hermione couldn't seem to shake the memory of the stunned expression on Sylvia's face from the copying day, and wonder if she hadn't played some small role in it all.

Hermione quietly resolved to herself to be more careful who she showed the extent of her power to. If nothing else, Sylvia's reaction had made it obvious that most adults weren't capable of casting Gemino that many times that quickly. And Hermione didn't really want the adults around her paying her extra attention.

She tried her best to push the entire issue from her mind.

Harry had resumed writing her, to Hermione's pleasure, once he had settled in with the Weasleys. He invited her to come and meet them all in Diagon Alley the next week, and Hermione happily accepted, asking Cadmus for the day off. He gave it to her without hesitation, only warning her to be careful of Flourish and Blotts on the chosen day – there was a book signing arranged, and it might be crowded. Hermione thanked him for his advice.

Hermione unpacked her bag the night before, carefully putting in shrunken boxes of the books she'd made. It was important she give them to the Weasleys before they bought their own books. She also put in a check from her parents to convert into galleons to spend on school supplies and new spellbooks. She set out her best casual robes, the green ones that her parents had gotten her for Christmas, and she polished her wand. After a long deliberation, she pinned her Slytherin crest to the front of her robes as well.

If she was going to be in Diagon Alley, there was a chance her Slytherin classmates might see her, and their parents might be with them. That meant Hermione had to look her best, to provide the best representation of a New Blood that she possibly could. After all, you only got to make a first impression once – and she needed to be sure she left a good one wherever she went.

Hermione was determined to be ready for anything.