A/N: Hello! Thanks SO much to all the people who followed! It means so much :) I was going to introduce Draco in this chapter...but I'm still not sure what direction I want to take this in...any ideas? Please review! :D Would love to hear feedback! Hopefully you guys will enjoy :)
Hermione woke up with a start. Ever since the war ended she found all her dreams riddled with nightmares. Sometimes, if she was lucky, she'd just have flashes of Voldemort's face popping up everywhere. Other (most) days, she wasn't as lucky. The scarier ones involved seeing everyone dead (she could never get used to seeing Harry's unblinking eyes, or a trickle of blood running down Ron's mouth, no matter how often she dreamt it), or what would have happened if they had failed. Perhaps, arguably, the worst one was the one where she relived Malfoy Manor. She could feel the knife carving her skin, feel the pressure as Bellatrix stepped on her. It didn't matter if she turned or screamed, all she could see were Malfoy's eyes: staring, unblinking, cold. That one had her waking up in tears and screams. She would always clutch her arm, because the dream felt so real. It didn't matter that they had won in real life, in her dreams, she could only see the aftermath of their failure.
But today it wasn't too bad. She woke up after Voldemort's face popped up from underneath her bathroom door. (Almost comical, like a clown…but a scary clown with no nose.) Hermione realized she wasn't going to fall back asleep. She groaned and looked at her clock- 5:12 A.M. 'Well, I might as well get up…' she thought. Slowly, and with a grimace, she got out of bed and headed toward the showers.
She shivered then let out a contented sigh as the warm water hit her. The water was soothing and relaxed her muscles in a matter of seconds. The temperature was JUST perfect: not too hot, but warm enough to make her shiver. Hermione let the water run over her body for a good fifteen minutes. The sound of pounding water was the only noise in the bathroom, along with the occasional sigh. She was thinking back to the day she received her Hogwarts letter for her "eighth year." Prof. McGonagall had mentioned Head Girl duties, saying vaguely that things weren't decided yet. Hermione wondered grimly if that was Prof. McGonagall's way of gently letting her know she would never be Head Girl. She frowned. Ever since she had learned such a position existed she had done everything she could to get it. She sighed. 'Oh well…some things just aren't meant to be,' she thought, 'Just like with Ron.' That thought brought another frown to her face. They had kissed during the war…but something had been missing.
Hermione wouldn't ever say she had been in love, but she read enough books to have a vague idea what it was like. Weren't there supposed to be fireworks? Or at least some kind of fluttering in her stomach (if not there at least in her heart)? But when they kissed, there had been nothing. The kiss soon got awkward and she had broken apart. After the battle, she had talked to Ron, and luckily he felt the same way. So, their friendship was saved, but Hermione had always thought she would end up with Ron…The question had always been, "If not Ron, then who?" After learning it was indeed not Ron, she had struggled with the question. 'I guess I'll just die alone, with a million cats,' she sighed. She finished showering and turned off the water. A small shiver ran down her back as the cold air hit her. She dried off with an extremely fluffy towel. (Hermione found that after a year of "camping out" she had grown to…greatly appreciate the luxuries of life, such as the perfect temperature of water to shower with and super fluffy towels.) She groaned when she saw the time- 6:00 A.M. 'Still,' she thought brightly, 'I did manage to waste almost an hour in the shower.' With a small smile she started drying her hair.
There was no doubt Hermione had grown into a lovely woman. Her hair was no longer frizzy, but fluffy and wavy. Kind of like a waterfall, really. It was a deep chestnut brown that shone almost golden in the light. Her…lady parts, filled out nicely, but she was still petite and quite small. (But don't be fooled, she packed muscles under all those layers of "damsel in distress"-eque qualities; the muscles had been a necessity before, hanging out with boys 24/7 and also the whole "being on the run" thing.) Her eyes were round and had a subtle cat eye shape. They were a dark, but strikingly clear brown with fleck of light brown, almost yellow. Still, at first glance she was fairly plain. Her beauty lay in her personality, and in the details.
Having finished dressing, Hermione decided to go read in the common room.
She walked down the stairs to the toasty warmth of the fire. When she got there she was startled to find someone was already there, sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace. All Hermione could see was a bush of raven hair. She sighed, 'I should've known Harry would be up as well…' She padded over quietly and sat down next to her best friend. Silence followed. But it was the comforting kind, not awkward. Years of friendship had allowed the two friends to communicate without words. Both knew why the other was there and knew each other's presence was comfort enough.
"You know…nightmares are normal for everyone." Hermione broke the silence. She knew Harry had been having nightmares, although she was under the impression he had stopped.
"Same goes for you, little missy." Harry said quietly with a smile, staring into the fire.
"Yeah…I mean…I thought I was the only one still getting them…Ron was told me months ago that you stopped screaming. Care to explain?" The question was more of an invitation to share than an accusation, and she knew Harry would take it as such. Harry contemplated for a moment before responding.
"Silencio…"
His confession was so quiet Hermione wasn't sure if she heard correctly. She blinked in surprise when she realized she had. "Silencio? So you mean…all the progress Ron told me about…" Harry cut in with a small nod, "Wasn't true." He looked at her with sad eyes. Tears sprang to Hermione's eyes as comprehension dawned on her.
"Oh Harry! I had no idea! If I had known…or maybe I could've….I should've realized…" Harry cut her off. "No, it's fine. I didn't tell anyone on purpose…didn't want people to be so worried about me…I'm fine, really…" he mumbled. She quickly wiped the tears away and snuggled closer. Harry raised his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders.
The two stayed like that, silent and snuggled, until 7:38. Then they finally got up and stretched. Neither had spoken a word but both felt much better, knowing they were not alone. The two went up to their rooms to grab their school bags and headed off to breakfast.
Hermione slipped her arm into Harry's and smiled at him. He had grown quite a bit (although still much shorter than Ron), and was quite the formidable figure. He was like a brother to her, but the bond went even deeper. She sighed contentedly and the two headed to the Great Hall.
Since it was so early there weren't many people. But they did see Luna, who was sitting at the Ravenclaw table, and waved. She had lost weight over the winter, her face looked taught, but already her eyes were gaining back some of their twinkle. She waved back dreamily and wnet back to staring off into space with a doe-eyed expression.
"Reckon she'll be like that forever?"
"I suppose so…she IS in Ravenclaw…I wonder if her ideas actually might have some truth in them…" Hermione mused. "She might actually be onto something…"
"No. I think her smarts are in other areas." Harry said with a grin. "After you, mi lady," he said with a mock bow.
Hermione giggled, "Why thank you, brave knight." She curtsied and took a seat on the bench.
She reached for the pitcher of milk and cocoa powder. Chocolate milk had become her favorite drink over the winter. She found it helped calm down her frayed nerves after her nightmares. Not many people knew though, mainly because it was something so mundane (and almost childish). The two piled food onto their plates and began to eat, all the while chatting up a storm. There weren't many people in the Great Hall, but still they had failed to notice one person, who sat in the shadows.
