Knowing that it was Hermione Granger's birthday I thought of what to get a student of Hermione's potential. I then thought of the book I wrote, "Wild Flowers and How to Tame Them." It went to depth on how one can handle the most potent plants and flowers and their uses.

"Right up her alley," I thought and opened an orginial copy then took my quill and signed the first page. "To Miss Hermione Granger a great student and a wonderful person, may this first copy bring you much needed information. Professor Angelina Logan Gryffindor."

I got a gold box and placed the book in it I thought I'd give it to Miss Granger when she had Herbology. I tied a ribbon on the box that changed from gold to red the Gryffindor colors and signed the tag. "To Hermione, From Professor Logan."

Sitting back I smiled at that and hoped she would like it.

---

Cho strode into her first class, Muggle Studies, which happened to be shared by none other than Fynn Greenleaf. Heels clicked lightly against the stone floor as she makes her way to the seat beside Master Greenleaf, setting her books down on the top of her desk and sliding gracefully into her seat. She seemed unaware of his presence, ignoring him pointedly as she spoke lightly with those around her, nimble fingers occasionally playing with her choker as the beginning of class was awaited.

Cho's eyes remained focused on the teacher, diligently taking notes, never once pausing to doodle or giggle at something someone else was doing. At some point during the lesson, she realized her soap had stuck on her skin, sniffing her hand, she smiled softly, thinking mmmm...ginger and cinnamon.

Her cursed thoughts drifted to the male sitting beside her. It hurt her to do this to him, he had helped her more than he could ever know, but (there is always a 'but') she'd seen him with a Slytherin girl yesterday. She gave an inner sigh, her appearance, however was calm and in control of herself, though not at the same level of cheer as she usually was. Cho thought she heard him say something, so she turned her face to him, expressive face void of emotion, completely bland.

The contrast between the animation she'd shown towards others earlier and her face now was stark.

---

Lunch Time
Author: Mirai Schultz
Date: 01-22-03 19:16

After spending time in the common room to rest, Diether, Kennard, Vincent, Christina, Margaritte, and she trooped to the Great Hall to grab some lunch. They moved their way to the Ravenclaw table, greeting people they know as they passed. As they sat down, she let her eyes roam the hall, looking at the people eating. Seeing Hermione Granger, she remembered Christa telling her that it's the Gryffindor prefect's birthday today. They haven't met personally yet but the few times she's seen her, she thought she's pretty nice.

Glancing back to the table, she's surprised that her plate's already filled with food, courtesy of Diether. She smiled her thanks to him and slowly ate, joining in the conversation around her. She always let her eyes stray to the people around her, though. Observing what's happening around her, and also looking for her friends that she hadn't talked to for weeks. Looking at the Hufflepuff table, she saw the person she was looking for.

"Hey, excuse me for awhile, will you?" she asked her friends.

"Why? Where are you going?" Marga asked, her spoon halfway to her mouth.

"And you haven't finished your food yet," Vince pointed out.

"I'll be quick. I'm just going to say hi to a friend," she said, pointing at the Hufflepuff table. Not waiting for another comment, she stood up and strode to the other table.

Arriving at the back of the person she sought, she tapped his shoulder.

"Mirai!" he exclaimed when he turned on his back and saw her.

Laughing, she said, "Lawrence! It's been awhile," as she sat next to him, her back to the table.

"I know," he said back, smiling at her.

"How have you been? And where's Vera?" she asked, a mischievously smile touching her lips.

"Looking for me?" a girl's voice asked.

Glancing up, she saw Vera standing in front of her.

"Yes, I am," she answered, while Vera sat down at Lawrence's other side, giving him a peck on the cheek. "So how are the two love-birds?" she said, grinning at the two.

"Fine," Vera answered with a wave of her hand, and they all laughed.

"Well, anyway, I just wanted to say hi," she told them, standing up. "We'll talk some more later in class, Lawrence?" He nodded. "It's been weeks and this is the only time we've been able to talk. A lot of catching up is due." She kissed them both on the cheeks and with a wave, she headed back to the Ravenclaw table.

---

Cho looked as cold as an icicle.

A really sharp, frozen icicle- gleaming point aimed directly at him. Her gaze was stellar-dangerous. Fynn had never seen her like that- unfriendly, authoritative, almost bossy and audacious looking- it unsettled him. He had to say that she looked wonderful, and smelt heavenly- must have been some strange perfume or whatever, specifically designed to intoxicate him. Still, she seemed less like Cho, and more like a different person, a stranger. Unsmiling, cold, her presence less lovely without the smiling radiance, but no less hurting. He didn't feel guilty about Alexis- it had been accidental, and they merely got along well- with that subtle hint of some kind of attraction- but that happened all the time. Yet he felt bad that Cho was acting in this way.

He paid attention for the most part of Muggle Studies, taking his mind off anything except what the professor was saying. She seemed to follow suit, their quills racing across parchment. It reminded him of that time during Runes when they had doodled and he had sketched her, of course not to justice, but she'd liked it anyway. He wondered if she no longer fancied him, and had thrown that all away. He certainly hoped not.

Right beside him. He put down his quill and ran his fingers through his hair. This was a conundrum. He cleared his throat, stretched out his legs. "Cho," he said. Her name was in itself, lovely. He missed saying it.

"Look, I'm sorry about yesterday..." She turned to him. He looked her square in the face.

Her stare was unwavering, hard. Stark, even. "About yesterday...Alexis is a friend...and anyway...I've been acting this awful way, and I know I've been such a jerk of late..." Fynn looked at the floor, and was going to continue. But she had opened her mouth now, to say something...

---

Maybe Melting, Maybe Not
Author: Cho Chang
Date: 01-23-03 05:23

Fynn looked deeply sorry, not green or jealous.

To be honest, Cho had thought he was going to get envious at the way she was chatting with others earlier, but she'd thought wrong. That's what happens when you assume things. His words reached her ears and turned her brain upside down. She wasn't sure how to answer, she wanted to be kind, but she was still slightly upset about the way he had avoided her the other day, "She has a name then, eh?"

Fynn looked a little discouraged at her snide comment, "Well, yes..."

She frowns lightly, shifting to face him when the teacher wasn't looking, "I'm sorry, it just slipped out...But, the way you glared at me on the Pitch while I was talking to that guy...You looked as if someone had just betrayed you.." Her face softened a little bit.

He sighs and shrugs, not avoiding her gaze, "I thought you were flirting with Gabriel." She raises her eyebrows, suppressing a giggle, though a twinkle sparked in her eyes, "Me? Flirting with...Gabriel Baine? He's a year younger, Fynn. I can assure you, you have nothing to worry about."

---

Lunch Time 2
Author: Mirai Schultz
Date: 01-23-03 05:52

When she sat down on the table, questioning looks were thrown at her.

"Who were they?" Marga asked while wiggling her eyebrows.

"A friend I met before school started," she said, holding Diether's hand.

"Were they the one you saw when you got lost on the train?" he asked.

She smiled, remembering the accident, "Yup."

"You got lost on the train?!" Christa asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah," she told them. "I forgot to count how many doors to our compartment."

That gave them a pause, then they all cracked up all at once.

"Alright, alright," she said, waving her hands in the air in surrender. "Anyway, it's nearing time for our Arithmancy."

Remembering the time, Kennard and Vincent hurried eating.

"All right, let's go," Kennard said, as he stood up. She and Vincent stood up, too and they headed out of the Great Hall.

---

Hermoine, apparently having overslept, just barely made it to their first class of the day. As a result, as yet, neither Ron nor Harry had been able to even tell her Happy Birthday. When Ancient Runes ended, the three gathered their belongings and headed towards the greenhouses for Herbology. As they walked, Ron pulled out a card and handed it to Hermione, pausing long enough to give her a deep enough kiss that Harry turned away to give them the appearance of privacy. When they resumed walked, Harry turned shame faced to Hermione.

"Happy Birthday, Hermione," a finger crept up to work at his collar as if it were suddenly too tight, "I, errrr, don't have a card or present for you. Ummm, I mean, I forget them on my bed. Yes, I forgot to put them in my bag this morning when gathering up my books for Ancient Runes and Herbology. I'll, um, ummmm, get them later."

The impression Harry had tried to make was that in actuality he'd forgotten it was Hermione's birthday today and that there really was not a card or present. He hoped she would think he was going to scramble to put something together for her last minute. What Hermione didn't know was that everything was in place for her surprise party in the Gryffindor common room later today. All the Gryffindors who planned to give her a present, were going to give her the equivalent of token gifts prior to the party and then at the party, give Hermione her real presents.

Harry, though, had decided to let Hermione think he'd somehow forgotten entirely. In reality, Harry, with help from both his godfather Sirius, had gotten Hermione a custom made cat bed and carrier for Crookshanks. The carrier looks like a closed book that can then be magically converted into a cat bed that resembles an open book. Additionally, the whole thing is charmed to that it's light as a feather, whether in its carrier shape or as a bed.

Ron's pulling of a small box from his pocket, brought Harry's attention back to his friends. Ron handed Hermione the box, wrapped so nicely in iridescent paper and ribbon that Harry briefly wondered if either Ginny or Majandra had wrapped the gift for Ron. As they three stepped out of the castle and turned the corner in the direction of the greenhouses, Hermione pried the ribbon from the box and tore into the paper, somehow managing not to let any of it drop to the ground. She halted her steps as she lifted the top off the box. Hermione's expectant face froze as she'd looked at the boys, "I don't understand, Ron. It's an empty box."

The size of the box probably gave Hermione the impression Ron was giving her another piece of jewelry. And, he did in fact have a beautiful book shaped charm locket to add to her charm bracelet, a picture of the two of them hugging gracing the book locket's cover and inside of it, on what looked liked tiny pages, an individual picture of each of them. That present was hidden away with the others to be given to Hermione at her surprise party.

Both boys had an extremely hard time stifling the laughter that threatened to spring forth from seeing the look on Hermione's face as she peered once more into the empty box. Ron, somehow managed to keep a straight face as he replied, "Oh, it's not empty, Hermione. It's a box of my love. I know the box seems awfully small but that's only because the alternative was to find something bigger than the universe."

Hermione, disarmed by Ron's answer, got the most lovey-dovey expression on her face Harry had ever seen. She shooed Harry into the greenhouse while stepping closer to Ron. When they entered a moment later, Harry guessed from the goofy grin on Ron's face it must have been one heck of a thank you kiss. And all for an tiny, empty box. As class started, Harry wondered if he and some of the other older students would need to cover the eyes of the first and second years who might be around to witness Hermione's thank you kiss to Ron for the surprise party and a more tangible gift.

---

Distractions
Author: Majandra
Date: 01-23-03 09:00

Majandra had planned on telling Hermione happy birthday and giving her a present before breakfast today. Majandra had showered and dressed and then gone to the Great Hall but when the time came to go to Ancient Runes, there had not been a sign of Hermione yet. Entering the classroom, Majandra saw that Hermione was also not with Ron and Harry. Just as Majandra had started to worry that Hermione was still asleep and perhaps she should run back to Gryffindor Tower and wake her friend up (better to both be late than have Hermione miss class entirely) in rushed her friend rushed.

Once class was over, Majandra waited patiently to exit the classroom then was rushing to catch up with Hermione, Ron, and Harry to walk with them to Herbology when an owl swooped in with several letters for Majandra. After searching her pockets for some sort of treat for the owl, she'd sorted through the stack, her smile becoming wider and wider until it was a broad grin, as she realized they were all from George. Locating the letter with the earliest date written in George's scrawl across the back of the envelope, Majandra began a slow, sedate walk out of the castle, reading as she went and relishing every word on the page.

Majandra had gotten so distracted reading the first page of the letter that when she looked up while shuffling the pages to read the second one, she realized she was late for class. Shoving the entire stack of letters into her book bag, Majandra sprinted the rest of the way to the greenhouses but still was tardy.

Hastily apologizing to the professor, Majandra took a spot between Hermione and Harry. After receiving their instructions, the students began working and Professor Logan-Gryffindor came over and gave Hermione a present wrapped in Gryffindor colors. Upon seeing that the gift was a book authored by none other than Professor Logan-Gryffindor, Majandra couldn't resist leaning over and rather tongue in cheek whispering to Harry, "Say, Harry, do you suppose she's good friends with Gilderoy Lockhart?"

This got Harry to snickering, which in turn caused Ron to lean behind Hermione and ask what was so funny. Majandra repeated what she'd said to Harry and Ron too began sniggering. With two people on one side of her laughing and one person on her other side laughing, it was hard for Hermione to ignore the three. After hearing what had set off her friends, Hermione was first indignent, pointing out how thoughtful it was that the professor had given her such a nice book as a gift. But, seconds later, Hermione admitted that she could see the humor in Majandra's comment and knowing her friend had said it in a teasing rather than a mean-spirited way, she too started chuckling. Before long, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Majandra were getting tickled by the slightest word or expression passing between them.

By the time Herbology ended, the four were red faced from the effort of not laughing loud enough to cause a scene or disrupt class. They literally raced out of the greenhouse and collapsed on the ground, finally succumbing to loud, body wracking laughter. Several long minutes passed before Majandra was composed enough to reach into her bag and pull out a card and a gift. Hermione open the bright, sky blue box and found a volume of poems. The book, obviously aged, was a collection of love poems that had been written by Aurora Floraunaweather and Phillip Prince, the Wizarding World's equivalent of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning, when the couple were still courting and then first married.

Majandra knew that Hermione would never suspect this book of amazing love poems was really just Maj's token gift to Hermione. While a very nice present in and of itself, Majandra has hopes that Hermione will like her other gift, to be given at the surprise party later today, even better!

---

I saw the students come into the greenhouse and most of all Mr.Weasley's expression. I knew that look and said nothing. "All right class, let's sit at our respective benches for today. We are working on monkshood. Now who can tell me what are some of the good properties of this plant?"

Hermione's hand shot up like a rocket and I smiled. "Yes, Miss Granger?" I asked.

Hermione proceeded to give me the Latin name as well as the properties and smiled as she finished. "Most satisfactory, Miss Granger. 10 points for Gryffindor," I answered and continued the class. I had them trimming the plant and bottling it for Madam Pomfrey and Professor Snape.

The class went on well and I went to my bench then looked at the package and waited for the bell to ring, as it did the class filed out. "Miss Granger, a moment of your time please." Hermione stayed back and I reached under my bench. "I heard today is your birthday and I wanted to give you something I hope you'll enjoy." I said and presented the package. Hermione looked at it then back at me.

---

"Ah," was all Fynn could say.

And indeed, it did make perfect sense. Why had he been so unreasonable? "Well...um...glad we cleared that up." He looked up, and grinned, genuinely. And then his face turned grave again. "Well, look Cho- I'm never this possessive or anything...it's just that recently....what with my mother and all..."

Her face softened. "I know what you mean..." she said. "Glad of that," Fynn replied, and smiled again, a twinkle in his eye.

---

The Tender Lapse of Friendship
Author: Gabriel Baine
Date: 01-24-03 07:34

"You're sure I should align these two spheres?" asked Annabella. The everlasting clarity of her good humored temperament shone through the sweetness that flowed in her voice, and the tender affect she was able to hold within her face. Attentively she looked across at Gabriel, whose remote gaze informed her that his attention had been long removed from her. His alluring green eyes were dull and grey, their focused fixed elsewhere. The contours of his face attached with his silence caused her to feel an awkward sensation of knowing this chilly person was perhaps the most miserable person she knew. There underneath the looming ceiling of the library, sat at the table, a biting David and a one of Botticelli's Graces.

"Gabriel?" she whispered, as though he were an object so fragile her voice might shatter him.

"Yeah," he pointed out two dots on the map she had before her, "It seems the most likely pattern, and based on what you've said you're learning, it should work." Annabella looked across the alignments she had already made, and willingly made the final addition as Gabriel had suggested. Clearing away the school work, she looked back at Gabriel and found a complete alteration. He looked about the room with an easy, gentle glance before settling back upon her with a pleasant calm come across him.

"You amaze me," she said, Annabella hadn't meant for her thought to be spoken, and immediately she blushed as a sly grin slid across Gabriel's face.

"Oh? And why would that be?" he inquired. His face was lit now in eagerness of her answer. The flush color on Annabella's face increased with a smile and she looked away to indicate there would be no response. Gabriel sighed from his comfort there in the library with Annabella.

"Oh! That's funny!" laughed Annabella as Gabriel told her his drunken story from back in New Zealand. They had twice been scowled and warned to keep their volume down, but they continued to fall into fits of giggles as they told one another hilarious tales and embarrassing moments. "What did your mum do then?"

"After I heaved on the sidewalk, she grabbed a hold of me arm to lessen my staggering. Straight to my dad's car and off they drove me. I had to sit there in my underwear while they shouted at me from the front. I don't quite remember what they said, just a lot of yelling before I passed out. Never did get those clothes back, I don't quite know whose home that was. Not like I was going to ask my parents to go back after that ordeal."

Annabella was shaking with hysteria as she imagined the episode in her head. Gabriel laughed, but caught sight of movement among several other persons in the library.

"You've got to get off to class Anna," said Gabriel and he helped her gather together the books and quills from the table. Beside her he walked until they neared the Astronomy room. Annabella smiled and waved to him with the slightest lift her hand and flex of her soft fingers.

He watched her intently like a young pup waiting for his jovial play to come again. Nearing the door, her hand was seized and Gabriel pulled her willing body close into him and wrapped his arms around her. He'd always welcomed emotions first in relationships, and reasoning second. The unexplainable rush of expectation caused his heart to beat furiously and a tingling sensation overwhelmed him. His deep, green eyes were flashing with a fire. They belonged to Annabella in that moment, and she reached her hand up to stroke the side of his handsome face. The long kiss that followed was only broken when she began to push him away. The willingness of her form had been replaced with reluctance and shame. She turned away and left him there before the entrance, there to determine the mistake. Another misstep.