Fallout from Falling

Rose hadn't been joking when she had said that it was a bit of a walk. The crimson-haired girl led Hermione up staircase after staircase, stopping at the seventh floor.

Hermione was grateful when Rose finally stopped walking. A few times, Hermione considered walking away and leaving her roommate; whatever it was that she wanted to show Hermione, it couldn't possibly be worth all of this. By the time they reached the seventh floor, Hermione was only giving Rose a chance out of gratitude.

"Hold… on," Hermione panted. "Need to… catch my… breath."

"Take your time," Rose said.

As Hermione stopped to catch her breath, she took stock of her surroundings. On one wall, there was a tapestry of a bunch of trolls attempting to dance, but other than that, there was nothing. It looked just like every other stone corridor in the castle.

"That's the point!" Rose exclaimed, pacing back and forth along the corridor. Her strange winged ferret thing had retreated back into her picnic basket sometime around the third or fourth floor. How much space was in that thing? The ferret couldn't be comfortable in there, could it?

Hermione finally processed Rose's words, and she realized that the crimson-haired first-year had just responded to the bushy-haired first-year's thoughts.

Did she just read my mind?

"Nope!"

Hermione opened her mouth to protest, and left it open when she saw a door appearing on the empty wall. The tiny wooden door grew until it became a full-sized, arched door.

Her mouth still hanging open, Hermione turned to look at Rose, who in turn grinned back at her.

"Kethé, huh?" Rose said, looking at the door. "I haven't got a name for it; I just keep calling it 'The Room'. I found it about a week ago. You have to walk past it three times and think about what you need it to be. It took a while to figure that out; I had to figure it out from the stones, and unfortunately, stones aren't very specific. All they told me was 'pace and ponder'. Like I said, not very specific."

"What was that word?" asked Hermione.

"'Specific'?"

"No, the first word you used."

"Kethé?"

"That one."

"Draconic for 'Shiny'. My friend Bowie uses it a lot!"

"Bowie? As in David Bowie?"

"Who's David Bowie?"

Hermione paused for a moment. She had hardly seen Rose at all in the past week. The other girl always vanished immediately after class, and Hermione was certain that she hadn't seen Rose at their meals. Wait, had she? Hermione couldn't think straight. In fact, she could hardly see straight. How long had it been since she had gotten a full night's rest?

Rose looked at Hermione, tilting her head to the side.

"You in there?"

Hermione jumped, not realizing that she had been spacing out again.

"Yeah, er… I'm fine! Is this where you've been spending all your time this week?"

"Yup!" Rose replied.

Rose opened the door, and Hermione looked inside.

It was like a miniature common room. The floor was covered in a soft, red carpet. There was a fire crackling quietly in a fireplace on one wall, and facing the fireplace were two red armchairs. Not too far from the fireplace was a series of three red couches, arranged in an open square. Two of the couches faced each other, while the third faced the fireplace. Adorning the couches were black pillows, each with a red rose insignia on them.

Rose skipped over and flopped down with as little grace as possible on one of the couches. Hermione stood at the entrance for a moment, still getting over the whole "appearing room" bit.

"Come on," Rose said, straightening herself up and motioning to the couch opposite her. "Have a seat!"

Hermione reluctantly walked over and sat down on the couch. It was soft, but remained firm enough to be comfortable. Hermione resisted the urge to lay down on the couch and fall asleep.

"Hermione, as you've worked out, I'm not a people person," Rose began. "I've always left that to my friends. Sure, I've got the Diplomacy mod for it, but I don't really want to put in the effort beyond being polite."

Hermione nodded absently. Where did the objects come from? The castle didn't just conjure objects for the room, did it?

"How much sleep have you gotten in the past week?" Rose asked.

Hermione nodded again.

"That wasn't a yes-or-no question," Rose said.

Hermione nodded.

"Hermione, my hair's on fire."

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Ali was right," Rose said. "Fire does always get peoples' attention."

"I'm trying to pay attention," Hermione said as her eyelids drooped.

"No, you're trying to fall asleep," Rose said. "You're gonna start taking penalties if you don't get rest soon."

"Penalties?" Hermione asked, rubbing her eyes.

"It's alright," Rose said, "I often forget about the sleep rules, too." Rose tilted her head. "Actually, what are the rules on sleep?"

"I've got no idea what you're talking about," Hermione said.

"It's alright," Rose said. "I guess people just assume you've got to sleep. Still, you're a spellcaster, so you'll need eight hours of rest anyway."

"I'm fine," Hermione said.

"No, you're not. Your eyes are hardly open, although that's probably for the best, since they're kinda red, and you're starting to look pale."

"I'm fine," Hermione repeated.

"I want to help," Rose continued. "Now, if I'm not mistaken, you're trying to learn everything here, right?"

Hermione slowly nodded.

"I can help you with that. So I'll make you a deal: If you agree to take better care of yourself, then I'll give you something that will allow you to read a book just by touching it."

That got Hermione's attention.

"What?"

"Command-word item of scholar's touch," Rose replied. "Let's see… first-level spell, CL one, command-word activation, works for only one person… with my crafting feats that becomes 675 gold total… I could even have it for you by tomorrow morning."

Hermione stared at her.

"You can't be serious!"

"I am," Rose replied. "I'm an Artificer. I can do all sorts of cool things!"

Hermione continued to stare at the strange girl. Hermione was exhausted. She had just seen one of her roommates use wandless magic to stick three students to the ceiling, then carve out a section of the wall by touching it. Up until now, Hermione just figured that Rose was delusional. After what happened today, Hermione was seriously starting to rethink that. Maybe there was something to this girl.

"So, do we have a deal?"

"I've got a few questions first," Hermione said.

"Go for it."

"How do you know your way around Hogwarts?"

Rose shrugged. "I've got a good memory, and if I'm ever lost, the stones can usually give me directions."

I don't know what I was expecting, Hermione thought. "What about last Friday night? You told me not to go, then we found you lurking around."

"I got bored."

"What?!" Hermione shrieked. "You got bored, so you suddenly decide you're going to go wandering the castle?!"

"Yup," Rose replied.

"What in God's name would make you think that's a good idea?!"

"What's God?"

Hermione blinked. "You're kidding, right?"

"I know what a god is, but usually we call them 'deities'," Rose said. "Is there someone called 'God'?"

Hermione closed her eyes, forcing herself to concentrate. "You're serious?"

"Not as a rule," Rose replied.

Hermione rubbed her forehead. "I'm too tired to deal with you right now, Rose. Please just give me a straight answer. Preferably one that makes sense."

"I've never heard of someone called 'God'. There are people who believe themselves to be deities, and people who actually are deities, but I don't know anyone who is named as such."

Hermione nodded. "Thank you. There are some religions… Muggle religions, I don't know if Wizards have them, that worship someone called God, or… I can't remember what some of the others call him. I think the biggest one is Christianity, although I'm not positive it's the biggest. It's certainly the biggest in Europe. It teaches that God created the Earth, which is where we live. He then made humans to rule the Earth and all the animals on it. Afterwards, he watched over mankind to help them, sending his son to guide them."

"Up until the bit about having a kid, he sounds like EL," Rose said.

"What's EL?"

Rose tilted her head. "You know, I really don't know. Other than kinda annoying and possibly all-powerful, I'm not sure what he is. He's not limited by the powers of deities, and he's got a unique brand of highly interfering noninterference, and I'm pretty sure he's the reason I'm here."

"Here?"

"In this plane, rather than at home," Rose replied.

Hermione tried to process Rose's words, but she could hardly concentrate with her mind as cloudy as it was. All Hermione wanted to do was sleep, and the couch was horribly comfortable.

"Can't you just go home?" Hermione asked. "Don't your parents want to know where you are?"

Rose's cheer faded from her face.

"My parents are gone."

Hermione paled.

"I'm so sorry," she said. "I'm sorry, I didn't know, and I'm–"

"It's okay!" Rose exclaimed, perking up again. "My big brother Sk'lar's going to bring them back."

For the first time all day, Hermione's fatigue played in her favor. Had she been more conscious, she would've dismissed Rose, but now it suddenly made so much sense. It was like puzzle pieces falling into place.

Hermione finally understood the girl's delusions. Rose had created an entire fictional world for herself to make up for her parents being gone. Rose even had an "older sibling" that would fix it for her. This entire time Hermione had thought Rose was crazy, but in reality, she was just a scared little girl that missed her parents.

"Okay, Rose," Hermione replied. "Whatever you say. I'm done asking questions."

Rose beamed.

"Come on," Rose said, getting up from the couch. "It takes me an hour to get a project started. While I'm doing that, you can get some rest."

"Okay," Hermione said hesitantly, not certain she wanted to fall asleep around Rose. Innocent child or not, Rose had still stuck three boys to the ceiling not 20 minutes ago.

The girls left the Room, but didn't go far. Rose turned right around and began to pace again.

I need a place to craft and rest. I need a place to craft and rest. I need a place to craft and rest.

The door appeared again, and Rose went inside, Hermione following close behind.

Hermione looked around, awestruck by the fact that the Room had actually changed. It was amazing. It was smaller than the miniature common room had been, probably about 20 feet by 10 feet. The floors, walls, and ceiling were all made of stone bricks, similar to the rest of the castle. There was a furnace against the wall to her left, which was one of the two shorter walls. Taking up the rest of the wall were a pair of tables that flanked the furnace. Not too far from the furnace against the far wall was a large cauldron. Against the wall through which they had entered were a bunch of drawers; each one bore a label in a language Hermione didn't recognize. Against the wall a few feet to her right was a bed for a single person. The bed had bright red sheets and matching pillows. Draped over the bed was a heavy, blue comforter with a pattern of red rose petals drifting in the wind.

They were greeted by a small creature no more than three feet tall. It looked like a large, thin, soft-boiled egg, with two small stumpy legs at its base. On its side were two arms, in one of which it was carrying a hammer. It had bright yellow skin and wore blue overalls. Its eyes took up most of where Hermione imagined its head would be. The creature had a mouth, but Hermione didn't see anything that resembled a nose or ears.

"Salutations, Inar!" Rose greeted the small creature. "I've got another job. We're going to make a bracelet of scholar's touch."

The creature nodded, making squeaking sounds as it did.

While Rose and "Inar" went to work, Hermione lied down on the bed. It was very soft, and the pillow was exactly as fluffy as Hermione liked it. She closed her eyes, and didn't open them again until Rose woke her up to go to lunch.

Just as the mudblood had said, two minutes later, Draco Malfoy fell to the ground. Grumbling, he picked himself up, dusted himself off, confirmed that his hair didn't look awful, then began to storm off. No one made a fool of Draco Malfoy! Especially not a mudblood! Draco was going to make her pay for this! His father would hear about what happened in the near future, but Draco needed to make sure justice was served. Draco knew just who to ask, but first he needed a cover story. It wouldn't go over well with a professor if Draco admitted to threatening another student, even if it was just a worthless mudblood.

After a few seconds, Crabbe and Goyle fell into step behind him, and together they walked straight to Professor Snape's office.

When they reached the Potion Master's office a minute later, Draco began banging on the door.

"Professor Snape!"

Severus looked at his office door. He didn't usually stay in his office on weekends, but today he had been taking inventory to figure out what else he needed for veritaserum. Severus didn't have any immediate plans to use it, but he liked to have some in stock at all times, just in case Albus finally caved and let him use it on students.

Merlin, the boy even whines like his father.

Severus found it amusing, as much as was possible, that Draco Malfoy looked almost identical to his father. He didn't know if the son was attempting to impersonate his father out of respect, or if the father was forcing his son to be just like him. Knowing Lucius Malfoy, the latter was far more likely than the former.

"Professor Snape!"

After taking a few seconds to complete his inventory, Severus determined that he had a few drops of veritaserum left, and everything he needed to make more. After that, he strode over to his office door and opened it.

Standing in front of him were Draco and his two henchmen, all three of them bruised and covered in dirt.

"What happened?"

"Peta-Lorrum!" Draco snarled.

Severus nodded his head, indicating that the boys should enter. Draco pushed past him, strutting into the Potions Master's office.

Severus strode over to his desk and calmly took a seat. Draco slumped into one of the chairs; his goons immediately mirrored him.

"We were walking along, minding our own business!" Draco explained. "Then Peta-Lorrum and Granger show up, wave their wands, and suddenly we're on the ceiling! Then they laugh at us, and walk off!"

As Draco told his story, Crabbe and Goyle nodded, trying and failing to add credibility to their boss's story.

Typical Gryffindors, Severus thought, walking around as if they own the castle, though not that different from you, Draco.

"I'll ensure that they're punished," Severus said.

Draco sneered, an expression that was mirrored by the other boys.

"In the meantime, go to the Hospital Wing and have Madame Pomfrey look you over."

"I'm fine," Draco said indignantly, storming out of the room.

After the boys left, Severus took a moment to gather his thoughts. Severus didn't particularly like Draco, but seeing as how he needed the boy's father to like him, it helped that the boy liked Severus. He wasn't sure about a first-year student pulling off something like this, but Severus already suspected that Peta-Lorrum's sweet and innocent ruse was just that; a ruse.

He started off towards Albus' office, then stopped himself. The proper way to handle the situation would be to go to Minerva, as it involved her students. If Severus went to Albus, he would remind the Potions Master of this, and defer him to Minerva. The Transfiguration Professor would then lecture Severus on the chain of command, and he did not want to sit through yet another lecture on the subject.

Sighing, he began the walk to Minerva's flat. It was going to be a long day.

"Visitor for you, Ma'am," came the voice of the portrait that guarded Minerva McGonagall's flat. "Severus Snape."

Minerva sighed. This could not possibly go well.

"Let him in."

The portrait swung open, revealing the Potions Master. He looked even grouchier than usual.

"We need to discuss one of your students."

Minerva sighed.

"What'd those two do this– Wait, you said 'one'."

"Peta-Lorrum."

Minerva groaned.

"I should've known," she muttered, motioning for Severus to come inside. "She's been strangely quiet this week, and I haven't seen her outside of class. However, if we're going to discuss this–"

"Calming draught," Severus said, holding up a silver flask that always accompanied him to meetings when discussing the Weasley Twins. Or really any other annoying students. "I never enter a meeting without the Weasley Flask."

"Brilliant," Minerva said, taking the flask. "What did she do?"

"Allegedly stuck three of my students to the ceiling."

Minerva took a sip from the flask, and passed it back to Severus.

"'Allegedly'?"

"Lucius Jr. had the bruises to prove it," Severus replied. "The boy claims that Granger and Peta-Lorrum stuck him to the ceiling."

"That's a lie. Granger's a saint; I don't think that girl has it in her to cause trouble. She becomes almost as timid as Perks the second I start glaring at her."

"I didn't think she seemed the type to get up to no good," Severus replied. He smirked. "Even if she is a Gryffindor."

"Anyway," Minerva said. For such a smart man, Severus could be really immature sometimes. "Doesn't this discredit your source?"

"Look me in the eye and tell me you don't think she's up to something."

Minerva glared at him.

"So she's talented," she conceded. "That doesn't mean that she's up to something. Lots of students are talented. There's no reason to treat this any differently than any other fight between students."

"Well–"

"And I'm sure Albus will agree, so don't even think about going over my head again."

If there was one thing that Minerva could count on, it was Severus ignoring her and going straight to Albus. She was amazed that he had actually gone to her this time, as opposed to the last several incidents concerning her students. Was he finally getting bored of her lectures on the chain of command?

"I'll talk to them after lunch," Minerva said, rising to her feet. "Both of them, I suppose. I do appreciate you coming to me instead of Albus."

"I'm not your student anymore, Minerva, you don't need to lecture me," Severus said, storing the Weasley Flask.

If only that were true, Minerva thought as she watched the Potions Master leave.

During lunch that day, Professor McGonagall approached the Gryffindor table.

"Ms. Peta-Lorrum, Ms. Granger, please see me in my office after lunch."

"Yes, Ma'am!" exclaimed Rose.

Hermione nodded nervously.

"Is our Little Miss Perfect in trouble?" George gasped.

"What'd you do?" inquired Fred.

"I didn't do anything!" shouted Hermione. "Rose was the one who stuck Malfoy to the ceiling!"

The Twins exchanged glances, then looked at Rose with approval.

"Nice!"

Rose grinned.

"Don't encourage her!" Hermione shouted. "It's bad enough that you three keep scheming! We're going to–"

"Hermione, breathe," Rose said. "Deep breath. We're going to be fine. We'll probably just lose some points. It's no big deal."

"No big deal?!" Hermione shrieked. "We could be expelled or–"

"Hermione," George said.

"Relax," Fred added.

"We've allegedly done–"

"–so much worse than that."

"We're still here–"

"–so they're not going to expel you."

They had a point. From what Hermione had heard since coming to Hogwarts, before her sat two of the biggest troublemakers at Hogwarts. If they weren't actively pranking someone, then they were thinking about pranking someone. The Weasley Twins were only third-years and they had already made an impression at the school. There were even entire rules made because of them. If they hadn't been expelled yet, then maybe she would be alright.

"Eat some lunch, then we'll head off to Professor McGonagall's office," Rose said.

"What about you?"

"I don't eat."

Hermione stared at Rose in disbelief. She was joined by Sally-Anne, who had been quietly listening to their conversation.

"Ooooooh!" said the Twins.

"That's why we never see you eat!" George exclaimed.

"We've been trying to get you for weeks!" Fred added.

Rose grinned. "You were?"

"We were gonna put something in your food."

"Probably something to make you sprout gils–"

"Or cause boils to pop up on your face–"

"Or just make your food explode."

"It's not so easy when I don't eat," Rose bragged, still grinning. "Good luck getting any of my belongings either. They never leave my person."

"You can carry all of your things with you?" asked Fred, intrigued.

"You've got to tell us how!" George said.

Rose held up her bracelet, giving them the same explanation she gave her roommates their first night at school. As she explained her charms, the boys grew more and more interested.

"That's brilliant!" they exclaimed.

"Just imagine!"

"We could smuggle anything anywhere!"

"If that's what you want," Rose said, "you'll probably want a glove of storing. Each one can hold a single item, but unless specially made, you can only use one at a time. A wand bracelet is pretty good, but the items can still be seen. Plus, the bracelet has a size limit. When expanded to full size, each of these weighs less than three pounds. There's nothing about extradimensional storage, though. On the other hand, a glove of storing can't store extradimensional storage." Rose tilted her head to the side. "Actually, I'm not sure. Only a bag of holding and portable hole are known to explode when you put one in the other. Everyone's just assumed that everything else will too."

"Explode?!" Hermione gasped.

The Twins paused for a moment, processing everything that Rose had just said.

"Wait a minute," George said. He turned to Fred. "I think she's having us on, Fred."

"You're probably right, George."

Rose pulled off the picnic basket charm from her bracelet, and before the Twins' eyes, it expanded into a full-sized picnic basket. From the basket, Rose pulled a large, black metal tube. It was over three feet long, way too long to fit in the basket. She placed the tube back in the basket, then replaced the basket on her bracelet. The moment the basket came into contact with the bracelet, it reverted back to a charm.

Rose looked at the boys expectantly.

Hermione, Fred, George, and Sally-Anne gaped at her.

"Believe me now?"

Four heads nodded.

"Can we keep you?" asked George.

After lunch, Hermione and Rose made their way to Professor McGonagall's office as instructed. When they arrived, Hermione was more than a little relieved to find that Professor Snape would not be representing his students. Professor McGonagall was intimidating enough without Professor Snape backing her up.

"Please have a seat," Professor McGonagall said, indicating two chairs set up in front of her desk.

Rose skipped over to the seats, and sat down; she was followed shortly thereafter by Hermione, who displayed less enthusiasm than her companion.

"Professor Snape told me that you two used magic on students earlier today," McGonagall began. "Is this true?"

"Well… er… Malfoy had me backed into a corner, and…" Hermione began. Despite her catnap earlier, she was still tired. Her ability to function was being further impaired by the intimidating glare of Professor McGonagall and Hermione's deeply ingrained dislike of negative attention from an authority figure.

"Draco was going to assault Hermione with magic, Ma'am," Rose said. Rose had long since overcome her fear of authority figures. It was still a little off putting how intimidating McGonagall was. She was a Wizard, right? Or witch, or whatever silly name they wanted to use. How did she have the skill points to spare for Intimidate? Sk'lar hadn't had spare skill points until he had hit level 14 or so. How powerful was McGonagall?

"Ms. Granger, is this true?" McGonagall asked.

Hermione erratically nodded her head.

"So, in order to neutralize the boys, I used reverse gravity on them."

"Ms. Peta-Lorrum, it is forbidden to use magic in the corridors," McGonagall informed her. She wasn't even going to bother asking what "reverse gravity" was.

"They were fine!" Rose insisted. "It was only a few feet, so his falling damage was minimal. And it was only a readied action in response to him going after me."

Oddly enough, that made sense to Minerva. After surviving the Weasley Twins for two years and the Marauders for seven, perhaps she was finally beginning to understand the troublemakers that flocked to her house.

"Be that as it may," Minerva said, "ten points from Gryffindor for using magic in the corridors. And next time, Ms. Peta-Lorrum, please tell a teacher."

"That wouldn't have been possible, Ma'am," Rose said. "Draco and his minions would have been gone by the time I reached you. They would have just gotten away with hurting Hermione."

"Nevertheless, don't attack other students, regardless of the circumstances," McGonagall scolded. "That will be all."

"Fair enough," Rose replied. "Next time Draco decides to attack Hermione, I won't step in, watch him hurt my best friend, then drag her damaged body here to tell you all about it."

The next morning, Hermione awoke to find Rose staring at her.

"Ahh!"

"What is it?!" shouted Rose, her wand in hand. She waved it around the room, searching for a target. "Tarrasque?! Dragons?! Draco?!"

"Um…," Hermione started. "No, you just startled me."

"Oh," Rose said, lowering her wand. "Well, now I just feel silly."

That's possible? thought Hermione as she sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Why did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Stare at me while I was sleeping?"

"How else was I supposed to know when you woke up?"

"Er… Why did you need to know?"

"It's finished!" Rose produced a bracelet from her picnic basket and presented it to Hermione. "Happy Belated Birthday, Hermione!"

Hermione continued to stare back at her. "How'd you know it was just my birthday?"

"Ref told me that you were a little upset that you hadn't made any friends with whom to celebrate it," Rose said, pulling out their Transfiguration book from her basket.

"Who's Ref?"

"Reflectesalon!" Rose exclaimed. "He's my imaginary friend!"

Hermione stared at her.

"Sure," she said, taking the bracelet. "What do I do?"

"Put it on, say 'boop', and touch the book."

Hermione raised her eyebrows, while her eyes remained half closed.

"Seriously?" Hermione deadpanned.

"If I'm wrong, then you'll just look a little silly. We're the only two awake, except for Sally-Anne who's just pretending to be asleep. Parvati and Lavender are really heavy sleepers."

"Alright," Hermione conceded, and put on the bracelet. She sighed, then said, "Boop."

As Hermione touched the book, she felt a rush of information enter her head. In a matter of a few seconds, she could see the pages of the textbook in her head. She saw all the words clearly as if she had just read them instantly. Hermione looked up at Rose, who was grinning like a maniac.

"What was that?" Hermione panted.

"Scholar's touch," Rose replied, still grinning. "It's how I read all of our books."

"You do that frequently?" Hermione asked, holding her hand to her head, hoping the headache would subside.

"You'll get used to it," Rose said.

That night, Hermione pulled out one of her notebooks. She hadn't been sure what to write to her parents in her weekly letter before yesterday, but now she knew.

Dear Mum and Dad,

The bad news is that this week was still pretty miserable. I haven't been sleeping well since finding that dog on the third floor. Even if it doesn't leave the third floor, it's still a little scary knowing that it's here. The good news is that I've made a new friend. Sort of.

I'm still getting picked on by Draco Malfoy, who has family connections that allow him to get away with just about anything. Today I went exploring the castle, and ended up in the Dungeons, which is where the Slytherin Common Room is. It was there that none other than Malfoy found me, and literally backed me into a corner. He had me trapped, threatening me with his wand.

It was then that one of my housemates came along. Her name's Rose Peta-Lorrum (Yes, her name sounds like "Rose Petal"). She says she's a Muggle-born like me, but she's really clever, if a little odd. She talks about people and places that I don't think exist, as if she's created a whole world for herself. I think it's to fill the void of her late parents.

Anyway, Rose cast a spell that she said reversed the local gravity around Malfoy and his two bodyguards, and then carved out a piece of the wall so I could walk around it. It was amazing the way she stood up to them. I think she's done this kind of thing before.

After we left the Dungeons, Rose showed me a hidden room that she keeps calling 'The Room'. It's a special room that if you walk past the entrance three times, the door appears and the room becomes anything you want. She said she found it by talking to the walls. I still don't know whether to believe her, but I don't see how she did it otherwise. Rose says a lot of strange things like that.

But like I said, I think I've made a new friend.

Love,

Hermione