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How was it possible for a person to be smart, sporty, and attractive? Hermione had comforted herself all her younger years that it was only the lucky few that could manage two out of three! And then she arrived at Hogwarts where being two out of those three things was commonplace, and there were plenty of students — boys and girls — that managed all three: Cho Chang, the Weasley twins, Katie Bell, Cedric Diggory, Roger Davis, Lucian Bole, and Fay Dunbar just to name a few. And Heri Potter was at the top of the list. It was enough to drive someone insane. Hermione had thought she'd get a leg up on academics by getting a Time-Tuners to attend all the electives as well as core classes, but it was like Potter was always one step ahead. Potter had received a Time-Turner as well, was taking just as many classes as Hermione. This might not have been so frustrating if it wasn't for the fact that Hermione was scrabbling to get all her assignments done on time while squeezing in sleep and eating whenever she could manage, but from all appearances Potter wasn't having a lick of trouble at all, she was seen just as often relaxing with her friends without cracking open a book as the years before. It was so unfair! Hermione studied for more than an hour before every class, going over theories, the arithmetic calculations, the wand movements, but she was never praised the way Potter was. Oh, sure, she gained loads of points for Gryffindor and none of the professors had anything bad to say about her work, but Hermione doubted she'd ever gain the level of affection they all seemed to have for the other girl. It wasn't just the professors that loved Potter either, the girl had friends in every House, never mind her fans. She had theoretical discussions with the Lovegood girl and the sycophants in Ravenclaw; she had wrapped the Slytherins around her little finger so thoroughly that it was only blood-supremacist bullies like Malfoy and Parkinson that disliked her; it didn't even need to be said that Gryffindors adored her, the Weasleys treated her like family, and the girls in the years above and bellow couldn't get enough of talking primping with her. Hermione was forever on the end of a nagging from Lavender and Parvati about doing something about her frizzy curls, but Potter — whose hair was just as untamed, albeit without the frizz — was fawned over for her thick hair that she recently started pinning up with those hair-sticks. "Where do you get your accessories?" Lavender had asked, that ridiculous pouting look on her face that made the boys in their year go stupid. "Just here and there," Potter had replied, shrugging as if it was of little consequence, a coy look on her face that made the boys just as stupid as when Lavender was prancing about. "A friend of mine took me shopping during the summer and we picked up quite a haul. You should come around and see all the cute clips and pins I picked up. I have a few that would look perfect on you." That was one of the top students in their year. That frivolous bobble-head more concerned about looking good and having fun than learning was Hermione's scholarly rival. It boggled the mind. She was just as frivolous and flighty in classes too. Just the other day, in Ancient Runes, Potter had finished the assignment — a runic crossword puzzle — early and decided to show off for her friends. It was like she couldn't be bothered that others were still working and needed quiet to think! They were technically allowed to discuss the questions with their neighbours, but really, it was so obvious that Professor Babbling wanted them to do it by themselves. Really. It didn't matter that the professor never scolded anyone for talking. "Fehu is cattle, or money, or wealth/," Potter had sung, drawing the rune in the air with coloured mist. The rune then shifted into a herd of animals. "Uruz is aurochs of strength and of health/," — another rune; another representation — "Thurizas' prickly, a thorn or a thurs;/ Ansuz is Odin, a mouth, or a verse./" Potter's entire song went along this vein: stating the rune and giving it a basic, easy to remember definition. With every Rune that she drew, images churned out, dancing in the air. Her friends were enthralled. "Raido is riding so tiring and long;/ Kenaz, a torch burning brightly and strong;/ Gebo's a gift, an exchange, an award;/ Wunjo is joy, sweet contentment's reward./ "Hagalaz, hail both harmful and good;/ Naudhiz, our need, helps up learn what we should;/ Isa, ice deadly, a danger unknown;/ Jera, the year, we will reap what we've sown./ "Eiwaz, the yew, reaches into the skies;/ Algiz, the elk-sedge, is foeman's demise;/ Perthro, the dice cup, is wyrd, luck, or fate;/ Sowilo, the sun, circles ever so great./ "Teiwaz is Tyr bringing justice and right;/ Berkana, the birch, is fertility's might;/ Ehwaz, the horse, is your partner and friend;/ Mannaz is people with lives that will end./ "Laguz, the lake, is both treacherous and deep;/ Inguz is Freyr whose abundance we reap;/ Othala, sweet home, is our ancestral right;/ Dagaz, the daybreak, turns darkness to light." "Well done, Potter!" Professor Babbling had said in her raspy voice. "Five points to Hufflepuff for creative learning methods." Potter had turned an ancient, sacred language used in magical practices for over a thousand years into a primary school nursery rhyme. And she had been praised for it. Hermione couldn't stand it! She hated Heri Potter, hated everything about the girl! She hated—! "Granger?" Hermione looked up with a start. It was Potter, Abbot, and Macmillan. "What is it?" said Hermione, her tone wary.