Hermione remained in bed the next few days. Draco brought up her meals and continued to apply the ointment that Professor Snape had left to Hermione's arm. She could not bring herself to look at the mark that branded her skin-the mark that confirmed her true identity. She was not ready to accept it.
She found that her dreams were becoming more and more disturbing, and began suffering from lack of sleep. One evening her eyes scanned the bookcase within her room, she had read nearly half of the collection. With a small smile she recognized a title dear to her heart. Hogwarts; A History, she immersed herself in the familiar book, ignoring her tired eyes. The candlelight flickered over the worn pages; Hermione yawned.
She was walking towards the castle, a large snake gliding along beside her. She could hear someone laughing- merciless and cruel. She entered the grand school and made her way to the Gryffindor Common Room. He would be there. Pushing her way through the portrait she saw Ron sitting on an armchair in front of the fire, pouring over a complicated astronomy chart, tapping his fingers impatiently on the arm of the chair. She looked around the room. He was standing by the window. Raising her wand she approached. He turned to look at her, his green eyes blazing with kindness. She studied his face one last time, taking in his jet black hair, his comforting smile, his lighting shaped scar...There was a flash of green light. Harry fell to the floor. Ron continued strumming his fingers ...tapping ...tapping ... tapping...
Hermione jerked herself awake, wiping the sweat off of her face. She looked around and jumped as she saw a great snowy owl outside her window, tapping on the glass with its beak.
"Hedwig?" Hermione jumped up, letting the familiar bird inside and untying a letter that was bound to her leg. Hedwig hooted softly and then took off into the night's sky. Hermione watched the bird disappear from sight. She lay back down on her bed, opening the letter and unfolding the parchment within. Tears filled her eyes as she read Harry's messy handwriting.
'Hermione, where are you? We've been sending owls yet they all return with our letters still attached. Hopefully Hedwig will be able to track you down. I arrived at The Burrow last week and my summer has finally improved. Nothing too interesting has happened. Members of the Order have been stopping by occasionally but they have been annoyingly secretive, Fred and George have been inventing ways to eavesdrop, but Mrs. Weasley always catches them. Ron is hounding me right now to write that you're invited to his house and we both hope that you can make it here before summer is over, if not, then perhaps we'll see you at Diagon Alley, we'll be there on August 30th.
Hope you're ok,
Harry & Ron'
Hermione reread the letter several times, craving her lost life and wishing she could be with her friends. Safely tucking the parchment into her suitcase, Hermione wondered why she had not yet fully unpacked. I'll have to pack it up again right quick anyway. She then retrieved a muggle calendar, sporting pictures of cats in funny poses, and flipped to the appropriate month. Performing a simple charm Hermione posted the calendar to the wall. It was August 2nd. In thirty days time she would be on her way to Hogwarts. She grabbed a pen and crossed off the first two days, the countdown begins.