Belle does homework
"You don't know about homework?" Ginny asked. "Well, I suppose not since you're from another time." She sighed. "I was going to talk to you about this today anyway. We have some catching up to do for Potions. I have no idea what else you have to do."
"Hermione mentioned that she'd done a lot of it already but might have some things left to do for some other subjects," Belle said. "I can't recall their names."
"After breakfast, we'll go back and check her planner," Ginny said. "She writes everything down in there."
The two women finished their breakfast, Ginny chatting about Quidditch yesterday and telling Belle about the sport.
"My favorite team is the Holyhead Harpies," Ginny commented as they exited the Great Hall and headed back up to Gryffindor Tower. "It's my dream to play for them one once I leave school."
"Why are they your favorite?" Belle asked.
"Well!" Ginny said. "For one thing, they're the only all-women team. For another…" Ginny began to list off all the things she loved about the team. Belle only half-listened, her thoughts drifting to Draco Malfoy. He really was handsome. She'd like to spend more time with him but feared him learning about her secret. She wondered if it would really be a bad thing if he learned. Ginny and the others didn't seem to like or trust him.
Belle was so new to this world that Ginny had been her only lifeline up until now. But in truth, she didn't know much about Ginny or Harry or Ron. Belle liked Ginny a lot, but she had only met the guys that one time. Ron hadn't made a great impression on Belle if she were being honest.
As they reached the landing with the portrait of the Fat Lady, Belle pulled herself out of her reverie.
Ginny said the password, "Will-of-the-wisp," and they clambered through the hole as the portrait swung forward.
"Sorry if I bored you," Ginny said, as they crossed through the common room. "I know I can go on."
"I couldn't follow most of it," Belle admitted. "But I'm happy to listen to you share something you're passionate about."
"That's kind of you," Ginny said, climbing the stairs to their doom. "Most people get bored and ask me to stop if they don't care about Quidditch."
"I understand what it's like for people not to want to listen to things you're excited about," Belle said, thinking about the people in her village. She had virtually nothing in common with them.
"It can be difficult," Ginny said, nodding as she opened the door to their now empty dormitory. "Now, let's look for Hermione's planner."
Belle led the way to Hermione's — now her — desk. She looked at all the contents strewn across the desk. There were many books and Belle wasn't sure what her planner looked like.
"There!" Ginny said, pointing at a black leather-bound book.
Belle picked it up and opened it from the beginning. The pages were full of writing and had a weekly calendar showing the days of the week.
"Turn to this week," Ginny said.
Belle started to turn the page and then paused. "Erm…" she said. "What is this week?"
Ginny chuckled. "Right," she said. "Today is September 14th, but we need to look at last week's assignments, so look for the dates September 8th-12th."
Belle turned the page and found it immediately.
"We've only completed two weeks of classes, so there's not too much to catch up on, at least," Ginny said. "Let me see what it says."
Ginny scanned over the two pages in front of her. "Looks like she's finished the Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, and Transfiguration homework for next week. Oh, thank Merlin, she's also done the Arithmancy assignment. But it looks like she needs to do Potions and Ancient Runes." Ginny grimaced. "Potions I can help you with, but I know nothing about Ancient Runes."
Ginny set the planner down. "I'm grateful that she's so organized and on top of things," Ginny said. "Let's see if we can find those assignments. It's not helpful if we don't actually have them to turn in."
Ginny rummaged through the desk, pulling out books and scrolls of parchment. She unfurled parchment after parchment, scanned each one, and then set them aside into piles, muttering to herself, "Ah here's Charms. This one's Transfiguration, I might want to take a look at that myself for some…ideas. Defense Against the Dark Arts, great."
Ginny turned to Belle and explained what she could figure out about Hermione's system. "Let's go to the library and work on the Potions essay," Ginny said. "I still need to finish some of my other homework. I'm not sure how to help you with Ancient Runes. Professor McGonagall did say that the teachers know about your situation, so maybe it'll be okay. It just might look weird if you don't turn anything in."
Ginny turned back to the desk and pulled out a textbook. "Here's the Ancient Runes textbook," Ginny said. "And I think Hermione's notes are here." Ginny handed both to Belle, which she promptly loaded into Hermione's backpack along with the stuff she'd need for Potions and her Field Guide.
The two headed for the library.