1st New Gryffindor Note

[ down, down, they're hurtling down into gringotts. hermione tries not to show the fear she's feeling. she has to be strong; they have to make it into the vault before they're caught. the horcrux is there, everything they've worked on for months is resting on this one action-

-and then it's all over. water rushes over her, dousing the polyjuice potion, eliminating her disguise-

next thing hermione knows is that she's waking up in a very, very familiar place... or so it seems at first. she blinks and slowly sits up. well, honestly, it could be just about any forest, but she can hear and see things through the trees. no, it can't be...

but the open book next to her, the sundress she's wearing, and the black clothes folded next to her solidify her suspicions and so she cries out with the first thing to come to her mind: ]

You have got to be joking.

[ but, no... getting up, she grabs the clothes and her journal, making her way to the edge of the forest. the trees give way to that altogether too familiar village square and she shakes her head. opening up the journal again, she turns to it for clarification. ]

It would seem I've returned. Who else is still here? Harry, Ron? Draco? Are you all here? What month is it? I'm guessing I've arrived in winter or at the end of it, judging from the snow. And what year? How long have I missed?

[ with that, she begins to walk in the direction of house 26, not realizing that it's now empty. she's free to be intercepted at any point, either in the forest or somewhere in the village. ]