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WRONG OR RIGHT,
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I F I C L O S E M Y E Y E S , I T ' S A L L T H E S A M E
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To say that grades came easy to Hermione Granger would be both correct and incorrect. Getting the grades was hard work, yes, but the work was simple. She had good study habits, so she passed the tests with flying colors; she knew how to use her work materials well, so homework could be done quickly and efficiently. The only problems were distractions that came in the forms of: Ronald Weasley, Harry Potter, Ginevra Weasley, and a few others; letters from home; and the really great banana pudding on the table before her.

Miss Granger was sitting in the Great Hall on a Saturday. It was between lunch and dinner, so the Hall was nearly empty save for a few people who shared her same idea: find quiet as soon as possible. The Gryffindor common room had been a riot, as usual, what with excited faces returning from Hogsmeade and what not, but Hermione needed to finish an excessively dull Potions essay for Professor Slughorn. Obviously, that couldn't be done in the common room, and the muggleborn had to admit that the view from her dormitory wasn't all that appealing. She much preferred the open sky above her, the sound of birds and lake water. However, it was lightly raining outside, so sitting beside the lake was a no-no; rain plus ink on parchment was not equivalent to success, she figured. Therefore, she was at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, a few books sat open around her and a roll of parchment was stretched out to its full length.

Alright, in the Confusing and Befuddlement Draught... she thought, tapping her lips with the feather-end of her black, ostrich feather quill. There is— Her thought paused as the moved the feather from her lips to one of the book's pages, then moved it downwards while she searched for ingredients. —sneezewort, scurvy-grass, and lovage... But what else? Her light brown eyes kept skipping, the feather going still somewhere near the middle of the page. After a moment, she looked to the illustrations for some hints.

For the moment, the other ingredients were being evasive. The whole ordeal was getting to be a touch frustrating, so she scribbled a few notes on her parchment and moved on to the process of making the potion. As she skimmed the pages of another book, her right hand was scribbling along the same sheaf of note paper. She didn’t even glance over to be sure that her notes were legible. If there was anyone who was good at reading crazy handwriting, it was Hermione Granger.

NOTES COME ONE, COME ALL!
WORDS 430
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WRONG OR RIGHT,
BLACK OR WHITE
I F I C L O S E M Y E Y E S , I T ' S A L L T H E S A M E
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Hermione took practically no notice of the blonde who sat down so close to her. She was reading and jotting things down with a frenzy, and the focus with which she worked made her blind to her surroundings. (You could certainly call it tunnel vision.) If she kept up that level of attention, she’d finish the essay before dinner, and her homework would be finished for the weekend. A hard-to-reach goal, to be sure, but obviously one worth trying for.

It was Emmeline’s voice that broke her concentration, and she had to blink a few times to pull her mind out of the book it had basically been suctioned to. “Oh, it’s quite simple really. I just tune everything else out,” she replied with a small smile. Of course, if it really was “quite simple”, more students would do it, right? However, Hermione didn’t know how to elaborate further; being a homework-whiz was something that came natural to her, and it was how she had always been. “I suppose it helps that I have a goal, mm.”

Considering this, she reached for the large bowl of banana pudding. Since she had stopped her homework momentarily, she might as well give in to that temptation. She used the small ladle to put some into a smaller bowl and stuck a spoon into it. The first bite was heaven, as she’d suspected it would be, and her mouth watered instantaneously. The second was just as wonderful, but she stopped after it and returned her attention to Emmeline so as not to be rude. “I’m set on finishing this essay up before dinner, you see? Once it’s done, I’ll be all set for the rest of the weekend.” As usual, Hermione didn’t consider the fact that every minute detail of her plans might not be appreciated and might, in fact, bore the listener instead.

That was one of her problems. Prattling on, that is. She had a habit of divulging too much boring information that the other person couldn’t care less about, which almost always lead to a rapid decline in conversation. Then again, it could be considered an asset—going on about pointless things. Such chatter could make for an excellent diversion or be a great way to stall for time.

NOTES COME ONE, COME ALL!
WORDS 379
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WRONG OR RIGHT,
BLACK OR WHITE
I F I C L O S E M Y E Y E S , I T ' S A L L T H E S A M E
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Hermione, of course, loved books. She believed wholeheartedly that every answer to every question could be found if only she were to look in the correct book. The problem was, there were millions upon millions of books at her disposal, and finding the right one—well, that was a rather daunting dilemma sometimes. Luckily enough, the school’s librarian seemed to be well-practiced in finding ones that were at least close to being good enough; she could point the inquiring student in the right direction, anyway. She had helped Miss Granger find more than what she had needed, after all, and look how far she’d gotten.

“Well, it helps me,” she replied with a light shrug. “If I can see where I want to be, then I know it’s all about getting there, and… Well, I think getting there is easier when broken down into smaller steps. Kind of like putting together a puzzle.” It was the first analogy she could come up with, she hoped it made sense. What if the other girl didn’t know what a puzzle was? Did pureblood families play with puzzles? She’d have to ask Ron later. It was so weird to think of a family not putting together puzzles, but after learning what she had learned of wizard homes, she wouldn’t (couldn’t, actually) be too surprised if they had no idea what puzzles were. Maybe they have puzzles with moving pictures, she mused. That would definitely make the simple activity a bit more fun.

“Wow, you’re smart. Bet you can do whatever you want when you leave school,” Emmeline said, again bringing Hermione back from her musings.

She nodded, grinning brightly. “See, that’s part of my plan! I’m not sure exactly what I want to do yet, so if I’m good at everything, I won’t be limited when it comes down to making a choice.” The brunette spoke with enthusiasm, but sobered as she continued, “My main problems seem to come with heights… If I ever desire to be a professional Quidditch player, I will be sore out of luck. Same goes with Wizards Chess; I’m terrible.” Hermione knew the rules and objectives of both Quidditch and Wizards Chess, but she found the first one rather terrifying and the second one excessively dull. She didn’t care for flying, there was far too much left to chance, and the possible accidents were…overwhelming. As for ordering game pieces around a board and watching as they knocked each other over or worse—where was the excitement in that? Besides, it always ended the same anyway.

NOTES COME ONE, COME ALL!
WORDS 427
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WRONG OR RIGHT,
BLACK OR WHITE
I F I C L O S E M Y E Y E S , I T ' S A L L T H E S A M E
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It looked as if Hermione wouldn’t have to pester Ron about muggle puzzles after all. Emmeline proved her theory correct: wizard families didn’t play with puzzles. Of course, she amended, that doesn’t mean that all of them don’t. Hm, perhaps I should still ask Ron… It wasn’t a huge thing to be curious about, that was certain, but it was another bit of knowledge to either attain or reject, and Hermione didn’t reject knowledge. At least, not on purpose.

“Oh, see, they’re a muggle sort of…game. A picture is cut up into shapes, then mixed around, and the objective is to place them back together again,” she explained easily. “Do you know, muggle pictures don’t move? I was just thinking how much better a puzzle would be if the picture actually moved—more challenging, more interesting. Puzzles are rather boring, I admit, but they’re something to pass the time with.” She herself recalled numerous evenings that she had spent with her mother and father, working on a gigantic puzzle. The task was so simple that it was difficult for them. Three such smart people, all working on one puzzle, often made for complicating the matter further.

When Emmeline moved on to explain her love for flying and how wonderful it was, it was Hermione’s turn to feel slightly awkward. She had tried to love flying, of course, but it never ended well for her. “That’s how I feel when I read—feeling unaware of the war, I mean. Flying…” Her voice trailed off and she shuddered lightly. “There’s so much left to chance. What if you fall? Then, you have to worry about how high up you are, what angle you are falling at, how fast you’re falling… Maybe I just have a fear of falling.”

That had to be it, she realized. She simply could not be afraid of heights. How many times had she and her best friends stood at the top of one of the towers, looking over the grounds? That had never seemed to bother her, so it couldn’t be the heights. “That must be it,” she mumbled, more to herself than the other girl.

NOTES COME ONE, COME ALL!
WORDS 359
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SHE SPUN THE STARS ON HER FINGERNAILS
BUT IT NEVER MADE ME HAPPY.

alice knew that when that stupid professor had asked her to stay after class, that she was in for it. she knew it while he was trying to smooth talk her; that she was failing his class. she sighed and ran her hand through her curly black hair. gosh, i seriously hate school she thought to herself as she turned a corner and shifted the books in her arms. with piles of various charms books and history guides; alice already felt her brain ache. and she hadn't even opened up a book yet. yes, you may think that alice looks like those bookworms, like lily evans but she couldn't care less. if she had it her way, she wouldn't even be have this magical gifts. in fact, she would be in paris or america making horror films or writing books. alice quickly dodged put of the way as some incoming first years dashed by her. some books slipped from her grasp and in the heat of the moment to catch them she ended up slipping all of them. she titled her head back and let out a sigh of annoyance, her temper rising in her throat. she swallowed and bent to pick up the books. "stupid grades, stupid school, stupid professor and stupid first years." she chanted underneath her breathe, as she stood back up and dusted off her knees.

trying to calm herself down, she began to speed walk from the staircase and to wards the great hall. she knew not the enter the library because right now, she needed noise to distract her. zipping her way through people, she checked her list of things that were missing from charms class. "wow, where have i been?" she said to herself as she entered the great hall. she raised an eyebrow and decided that doing half would at least get her to a passing grade. that's when she spotted a head full of gorgeous blonde hair and knew it was em. she pulled her lips into a little smile and made b-line to wards her. "hey em!" she said plopping her books down across from her best friend. she heaved herself down and rested her head on the table. looking up at em, alice darted her blue eyes to wards hermione granger. "oh..hello..". alice didn't really know what to say, a faint blush came across her cheeks, she had no idea that one of the smartest people in school was talking to em and now alice had just made a huge distraction. "sorry if i..um, bothered you guys..." alice said, lifting her head up and quickly looked at em.