Early morning
A rare night spent sleeping underneath the soft covers of her common room bed she now finds herself surrounded by her fellow Hufflepuffs as they rush to prepare for the day ahead. She herself is still sat idly on the corner of her bed after getting dressed, hair brushed and pulled into a practical bun. She's waiting for her turn to use the washbasin to brush her teeth and wash her face...Well, mayhaps 'her turn' isn't the correct term to use seeing as the basin in question isn't actually in use at the moment but it is behind the backs of a pair of her housemates engaged in light morning conversation and she doesn't have the nerve needed to ask them to scoot over.

She throws a worried glance at the clock by her bed, fiddling with the frayed end of her scarf as she starts to worry she'll have to walk to her Room of Requirement to wash up because she knows she won't bother attending classes today if she sets foot in it. A cautious eye is cast towards the still-chatting girls and to her utter horror one of them catches her looking. The witch in question has a lovely pattern of freckles adorning her features and for a terrible moment the expression she meets her eyes with is a scowl....Which melts into a friendly grin. "We have a lot of classes with the Slytherins today." The freckled blonde adds and the sudden shift of conversational topic is met with a look of confusion from the girl she's been chatting with, not to mention the volume at which the information was shared.

Before the nervous witch on the bed has time to process the meaning of the outburst the town crier of the washbasin has turned to leave the room with her friend but as they turn the corner...She leaves her with a conspiratory wink. Shooting off the bed with unusual speed the short brunette rushes to the basin to get herself in order in the now empty dorm (making sure to use the coldest water possible to wash her face in hopes of reducing the blush the wink and implication behind it caused) the retreating sound of her boots hitting the floor soon ringing out in the common room.

Herbology
She's stood infront of her assigned station staring intently into the resting maws of a relaxed chinese chomping cabbage. Why...Did she decide to attend today? She doesn't like this class. Professor Garlick means well and is kind enough to pay special attention to her on the rare event of her attending, greeting her with a warm smile and blinding enthusiasm that should make her happy but instead leaves her feeling grossly inadequate. To her great shame she cannot stop herself from comparing her own self to the contrasting warmth and passion of the popular young professor and she's filled with the urge to apologize to anyone who lays eyes on her. 'How self-centered' She adds in the privacy of her own thoughts as she treats the plant infront of her to a refreshing spray of water to rejuvenate it.

Her gloomy self-reflection is interrupted by a polite cough from her right. She turns her head to the witch at the station next to hers; a dark haired Slytherin girl of similar height to herself who's looking at her meaningfully. "Can I borrow that?" She points a pale finger at the device she's just used to spray her relaxed cabbage with. She wants to smile at her in a friendly, relaxed way as she hands it over but she lacks the nerve to maintain eyecontact as she does so and she's sure she hears a small chuckle accompany the thank you she recieves in reply. She tries not to think about it for the remainder of class which turns out to be surprisingly easy because the potting table behind them is occupied by a group of Slytherin boys and the sheer heat she feels emitting from her ears everytime they laugh at something is terribly distracting. A lot of shared classes.

In her rush to leave before Professor Garlick has a chance to pull her aside to impart words of plant-focused encouragement she nearly runs into a different Slytherin student, this one a girl with light hair, warm brown eyes and a very fetching scar over one of her eyebrows. 'That looks so cool' she thinks to herself, ever ready to be awed at the traits of others. "'m orry!" her words rush out as they always do; unclear, uncertain and horribly embarrassing. It's almost enough to send her into full retreat to avoid seeing the reaction of the unfortunate girl she just spewed nonsense at. "No harm done." she replies, barely even pausing to decipher her apology. The relief rising in her chest is enough to dispell the threat of tears and allows her to catch the smile and nod she's offered by the Slytherin witch as she leaves.

Hallway
It would be nice to be a rat wouldn't it? Is what she thinks to herself as she leans against a railing while watching fellow students move between classes and chatting away on the lower levels of the tower. She's vaguely aware of a group of girls engaged in conversation to her side but she's too busy considering the perks of rathood to pay them much mind. Small, clever, fast...Disliked by many, tolerated by some. They're quite good at swimming too she notes as she remembers the joy she felt when she discovered the tail of her animagus form could be used to increase her swimming speed quite dramatically.

There's the food to consider too...Her gaze finally falls on the pair next to her and to her horror she realizes she must've been smiling to herself like a creep because they're both looking her way sporting expressions ranging from unabashed amusement to confusion. "You look happy." one of them comments with a friendly smile and a wave of her hand which she later realizes might have been a gesture meant to encourage her to elaborate on why. It's offered by a Ravenclaw witch wearing glasses, one she's actually seen from afar numerous times when off-school grounds and have taken to refer to as "adventure girl" in her mind. "Wish I did too, I stayed up too late." the girl next to her adds, possibly in an attempt to shift the focus away from the blankly staring ratty witch who seems to have lost the ability to process the world around her in her horror. She recognizes her too. A lot actually. Her eyes are green, her hair is a shade of blonde that reminds her of fields of golden wheat, complexion healthy and she too has freckles like the friendly witch she encountered in her common room. Back home there's a portrait of a woman smiling while sat on a swing, blonde hair flowing behind her and the student reminds her of it. At the moment those same green eyes are regarding her intently in a way that makes her consider the option of launching herself off the balcony but before she has a chance to act on it the student shifts her attention back to her bespectacled friend.

Intermission part one
She's put off thinking about it until now but considering how exhausted she feels after being around her fellow students for half a day...Why is she still making an effort to continue, exactly? It's not as if she's enthusiastic about the prospect of Slytherins paying attention to her if she keeps showing up to shared spaces, quite the opposite.

She adjusts her grip around the heavy tome she's carrying under her arm on her way to potions class which she knows is going to be rough, both because Professor Sharp intimidates her and because she suspects there will be explosions involved in her near future. Is she stupid? Last time she attended her hair got singed! 'But he'd been there and he'd laughed hadn't he?' she's glad she's out of earshot of other people because she can't stop the croaked "ueack?" that escapes her mouth as the thought occurs to her and she can't imagine the look on her face. Well. She can actually and it makes her shoulders shake with contained laughter as she lowers her head and rushes to make it in time for class.

Oh...To be a rat.