It was cold outside. The darkness swallowed the familiar storefronts and made it seem as if everything were curving in toward her. The only light came from the moon, and that faint illumination only made the shadows deeper. Hermione shivered and plodded down the well-worn path to Zonko's. She would have been able to make it back to the castle blind, she reckoned. A chilly wind whipped her cloak behind her, and even after it died down it seemed to seep through her thick sweater to her bones. Hermione wrapped her arms tighter around the sleeping phoenix, clutching the warmth closer. Perhaps it was all in her head, but something seemed off about this night.