Chapter Text
Hermione sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes. She let out a huge yawn and caught herself in the mirror. "I look like a lion." She smirked to herself, and pushed back her hair from her face. She looked outside onto the Hogwarts grounds. Overnight, snow had fallen and everything looked like a winter wonderland. The sunlight sparkled on the icicles hanging outside the windowsill.
Lavender broke the silence as she turned over in her bed and muttered, "M'cold."
On her right side, Parvati sat up in her own bed rubbing her eyes. Pushing herself out of the bed, Hermione tiptoed over to Lavender and pulled the blanket over her. She flashed a smile at Parvati and walked into the bathroom she shared with the other girls in the dormitory.
Since it was a Saturday and they did not have to be in uniform, she pulled on a pair of worn blue jeans along with a red jumper. Tugging on a pair of thick socks, Hermione shoved her feet into her black boots. Grabbing her white coat, scarf and gloves, she treaded softly through Gryffindor tower.
Jumping over scrolls and inkpots left carelessly on the stairwells and in the common room, she got to the portrait of the Fat Lady. Pushing it open and saying a quick good morning to the Fat Lady, she ran through the cold hallways of Hogwarts. She slipped into the Great Hall and grabbed a plate.
A few students were already there and a gentle murmuring had settled over the Hall. Hermione got some eggs, bacon, and sausage on her plate and started eating. It was nowhere as good as her mother's cooking but it would do. Flashing a smile at Seamus as he sat down at the table, she stood up and walked to the big front doors of the school. Putting on her white coat, the red scarf her parents had sent her as an early Christmas present, and thick black gloves, she pushed open the heavy doors.
"Wow," she breathed out as she took in the winter paradise. Something that many people did not know about Hermione was that she loved to take long walks whenever she felt stressed. And with Harry, the Triwizard Championship, and Yule Ball, she really was stressed.
Catching sight of a wild rabbit nestled between some trees, she followed a trail past Hagrid's Hut and to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. The rabbit slipped through into the forest and Hermione resolved to sit on a nearby tree stump and relax. She loved moments like these when she could just sit and do nothing. Before she realized it, the sun was over her head and her stomach was growling again. She stood up and patted the snow off her coat and turned to go back to the castle. She stepped down on to one of the blocks of snow and ice she had used as steps to climb up, when they gave away from beneath her.
"Granger, watch out! Wingardium Leviosa!" A shout came from behind her, and suddenly she was suspended in the air, not falling.
"Oh!" Gathering her wits, Hermione extracted her wand from her pocket and floated herself to safe ground.
"Thank you," she said to the person, who stood next to her.
"No problem," The tall guy said to her, "I'm Cedric Diggory, and you are?" He extended his hand to her.
"Hermione Granger," she shook the offered hand.
"Ah," He said, "Potter's and Weasley's friend from the Quidditch World Cup right?"
Hermione stiffened slightly but nodded assent.
"So were you planning on falling on your face?" He asked her with a mischievous smile.
"Of course I was, Diggory" she said in a snooty voice, starting to walk back to the castle, "Everyone knows putting snow on your face is wonderful for the complexion."
She walked a bit faster and then she heard Diggory laugh from behind her. He walked faster too and fell in step with her.
"I'm heading back to the castle too," He said as an explanation, Hermione saw that the cold had made Diggory's face red and flushed.
"Are you coming down with something?" she asked him, "Your face is all red."
"Oh no, I'm fine," He shrugged it off and stared at something in the distance.
Something was bothering Hermione but she couldn't figure out what. Something Diggory had said.
"All right then," They had reached the big doors by now and Hermione pulled them open, "Well it was nice talking to you, and thank you once again."
"No problem," He walked away in the opposite direction and Hermione climbed up the stairs to go back the Gryffindor Tower. That's when Hermione realized what it was that had been bothering her. Before he had cast the levitation charm he had said her name, so why had he acted like he didn't know who she was?
And so Hermione Granger slowly walked up the stairs with one more thing to dwell on over the winter holidays.