Hermoine read the last few words on the page and closed the dictionary-sized textbook on her desk. She stretched her arms up over her head, but knew it wasn't going to help much. She would be still be stiff tomorrow from staying hunched over her books for so long. She stood up to gather her notes and drowsily made her way over to her bed. She would kill for a back massage right now, but there was no hope of that happening. Most reasonable people would be asleep by now; the rest of the Gryffindor tower had turned in ages ago. I bet Snape's still awake, a small part of her mind said. Hermione nearly burst out laughing as she tried to imagine asking him for a back massage. Just the same, she climbed into bed and rolled onto her stomach, imagining his strong hands kneading her neck and back and dissolving all her stress. She fell asleep with a smile on her face.
Morning came much too early. She blinked groggily at the sunlight streaming in through her window. This wasn't... it must have been a dream. She wished she could stay in bed in slip back into that dream... but she knew she ought to get up for breakfast and her morning class. She tried to get up, but fell back on her pillow. She was so tired... and felt worse than she usually did after a late night of studying. Her limbs ached and she felt physically exhausted. She mustered her strength and pried herself off her pillow, then practically fell off her bed. Trying to catch her balance, she stumbled onto a quill. Pain shot through her foot, and she sat down heavily to inspect the damage. She discovered only a shallow cut, but was shocked to see that the sole of her foot was almost entirely black. She looked at her other foot; it was black as well. What was going on?
"Bloody hell," Ron said, spotting Hermione as she came into the common room. "What happened to you?"
"Are you ok?" asked Harry, looking concerned.
Hermione fixed Ron with the best glare she could, considering her exhaustion. "Unlike some people, I have been preparing for NEWTs. I'm fine, Harry, I was just up late studying. Well, that, and... well, this might sound a bit odd..."
As the three walked down to breakfast, she explained about her feet and her tired muscles. The boys listened but looked thoroughly baffled. Just as they were about to enter the Great Hall, they ran into Luna Lovegood. "Quibbler?" she offered. Hermione took one and thanked her before Ron dragged her away from Luna and towards food. Harry hadn't followed. Hermione turned and saw him rooted to the spot with an unfocused gaze, as if he'd just had an epiphany. "Come on, mate," said Ron, "you can explain it and eat at the same time."
"Remember Slughorn's Christmas party?" said Harry as they sat down. Hermione and Ron both greeted this remark with rather pained faces. Hermione had spent most of that evening hiding from her date, and Ron hadn't been invited. "Oh, sorry..." Harry said, noting their expressions. "Well, I went with Luna-" Ron snorted "- and she was talking about how she sleepwalks. She said she wore shoes to bed... otherwise her feet would be filthy... do you think that's why...?"
"That would make sense..." Hermione was quite proud of Harry.
"We're not going to be seeing much of you today, are we?" asked Harry.
"And why is that?" asked Hermione.
"Well, you're going to the library, aren't you?" said Ron. "You have that library gleam in your eye."
"'Library gleam'?"
"Yeah, that's what gets me. You couldn't care less when Gryffindor has a quidditch match, but you get all excited about going to do work in the library. Honestly, you're mental."
"It's not work, it's research. And right now, it's research that will enable me to understand how to fix my sleepwalking, if that's what it is. Which could lead to an unconscious run-in with Snape or Filch in the middle of the night - the sleepwalking, I mean. So the prospect of being able to prevent that-"
"Ok, I see your point. Waking up and having he first thing you see be Snape..." Ron shuddered.