"Muffliato," Hermione whispered repeatedly, attempting to make sure no one could hear into her room. She knew that she would have another nightmare and end up screaming, but she didn't want anyone else to know about what was going on with her. Yes she would have told Harry or Ron if they'd bothered to even notice that something was wrong with her, but they hadn't. She wasn't sure if anyone besides her parents would really care, so she didn't want anyone to know. "Since when does being polite mean that I want to get along with someone? It's just being polite," she muttered, glancing around the room to find her trunk sitting near the foot of the bed.

She walked over, pulling out her pajamas and changing into them. It was still early; if she'd still been sleeping in the Gryffindor towers she would be talking to Harry, Ron, and Ginny but thankfully she wasn't. Hermione was glad to just be able to crawl into bed after starting a fire in the fireplace in her room. She knew that it would only be another hour or two before she was up again, but even an hour or two of sleep sounded nice. The nightmares that plagued her made it impossible to get more than that and besides, one nightmare a night was all she could handle.

Hermione sighed and fell on to her bed, curling up beneath her blanket. She wasn't entirely sure that she wanted to close her eyes because she knew what horrors would be waiting for her, but she knew that not getting any sleep would cause a large problem. So she did close her eyes, allowing her exhaustion to overtake her as she drifted off.

She didn't know exactly how long she was asleep before she was back in the battle, her heart racing as she threw spell after spell over her shoulder. What she knew was that eventually she did wake, screaming as she cluthed her heart and sat up in bed, the screaming finally subsiding. Hermione groaned and stood up, rubbing her eyes. She knew that she wouldn't sleep anymore so she pulled a book out of the trunk and walked out to the common room. It was empty; the clock on the wall telling her that it was only half-past midnight. She hoped that the book would take her six hours to read, though she doubted that it would. Hermione had always read fast and even though she was sure her brain was going slower than normal, she still read at about the same rate

Hermione went back to her room and pulled the blanket off her bed before going back to the common room and sitting on the sofa, pulling the blanket on top of her. She opened the book with a small sigh, something that she didn't do often. She loved to read; she'd never been upset about reading. Now all she wanted was to go to sleep though, so at least she could understand why she was a little unhappy to be reading. Hermione lost herself in the novel rather quickly, as she always did. She may not have been happy to be up and reading in the first place, but books always made her feel better. They definitely didn't make her less tired, but they did make her forget about the battle for a short period of time.

Hours passed and Hermione felt exhaustion hit her again, though she managed to keep her eyes open. She was nearing the end of the novel and it was only a little after five in the morning, but she planned on getting ready for the day when she'd finished. The novel was good, she decided as she closed it, though the end had been a bit predictable. She often found that she had that problem, though reading was still her favorite thing to do. She closed the book and stood up, yawning as she brought her belongings back into her room. She put the book on top of a desk in the room and went back to her trunk, searching for a towel and clean robes. She found them and hurried back out to the common room, disappearing to the bathroom next to Terry's room. The four of them were supposed to share it, though Hermione was sure no one would be up at five thirty in the morning to shower, so she'd have the room to herself. She sighed and hung her towel on the hook before climbing in and making sure the water was as cold as possible. Hermione was sure that having the water cold would wake her up more.

She found herself just standing under the water for a long while, letting it wash over her and soak her hair. She'd never been a huge fan of cold showers but it was working; she was beginning to feel more awake. It took her awhile to convince herself that she was prepared to climb out of the shower, though once she did she dried herself off and got changed into her clean robes. With a sigh, Hermione walked back out through the common room to get to her room. She set the towel out to dry, grabbed her wand from her beside table, and dried her hair with a quick spell. It was bushy and a bit crazy, but she decided to just leave it alone. It's not like Ron would take notice of her appearance anyway, so it didn't really matter.

"Granger," a cold voice said as she walked back into the common room.

Hermione sighed and glanced at Malfoy; she almost wanted to laugh at what she saw. His hair was a complete mess; she'd only ever seen it slicked back and perfectly in place. Messy hair suited him though; it made him seem more human. "Malfoy," she said, nodding in his direction. "You're up early,"

"I could say the same to you,"

"I suppose you could," she said, sighing softly. Being out of the cold water once again meant that she was becoming tired once more. She had an entire school day to get through and she wasn't sure how she was going to manage it. "Have a good day then,"

"I'll try," he muttered, walking toward the bathroom. Hermione rolled her eyes and walked out of the common room, wondering if Harry and Ron were awake yet. She was hoping things could partially return to normal now that they were back at Hogwarts, though she was worried that wouldn't happen. She hurried toward the Great Hall and walked in, but it was too early for any of her friends to be up yet. She should have expected it; they usually woke up late.

The Gryffindor table had four other students sitting at it, though Hermione sat away from all of them and laid her head against the wood. She hated the Great Hall at the moment; it was where they'd placed the dead and injured during the battle. It was where she had tried desperately to help heal some, but had failed. "Hermione? Are you all right?" a quiet voice asked.

Hermione raised her head off the table to see Luna standing in front of her, rocking back and forward on her heels. Her cork necklace could be seen laying on top of her tie and her Drigible plum earrings were hanging from her ears once more. Hermione hadn't seen her the entire summer, despite spending most of her time at the Weasley's which was actually quite close to Luna's home. "Luna," Hermione said, offering the other girl a small smile. "Yes, I'm fine; just tired is all," It was a rather large lie, though Hermione had the feeling if she told Luna then Luna would tell Neville, who would tell Ginny, who would tell Harry and Ron. She wasn't ready for everyone to find out her problems.

"I can tell," Luna said, smiling slightly. "You've got quite the bags under your eyes, did you know?"

Hermione nodded slightly, brushing the skin under her eyes with her fingers. "Yes, I'm aware,"

"I think I'm going to go sit at the Ravenclaw table now," Luna said, turning her back on Hermione and skipping away. Hermione smiled; she'd never get used to Luna's odd behavior, but she was a great person and an even better friend.

She pulled some food onto her plate, slowly eating breakfast and hoping that her friends would come in soon. Eating by herself was not something she enjoyed; there was no conversation she could latch on to that would prevent her mind from focusing on the battle once again. It seemed to be all she thought about these days and Hermione couldn't stand that.

After a few more minutes of quiet, Hermione heard the doors to the Great Hall open once more. She looked up, relieved to see Harry walking in to the hall. He looked around warily but smiled when he saw her. She hadn't spent much time around Harry either, since he was so busy trying to help Andromeda Tonks with Teddy Lupin and she'd spent quite a bit of time searching for her parents. "Hey Hermione," he greeted, sitting down across from her at the table.

"Harry," she said, breathing a sigh of relief. Harry wouldn't make her think of the battle; he would understand that she didn't want to think about it. "I'm glad you're awake; it's gotten rather boring sitting her by myself,"

He laughed and smiled at her. Obviously he was coping with everything a lot better than she was, though Hermione was happy for him. "I bet you'll be happy in a few minutes then; Ron was just starting to wake up when I left the dormitory. He should be down soon,"

"Oh, right," Hermione said, nodding slightly. She wasn't thrilled to see Ron, as he seemed to be sick of her, though she would act like she was to make sure they were okay. "That's good," Harry nodded, oblivious to her discomfort over the situation. He'd never been one to pick up on suttle things like that. "How are Teddy and Andromeda? I know you were with them the last week of summer,"

"They're okay," he said. "Andromeda's still upset about Ted, Tonks, and Remus dying, though she's quite good with Teddy. And Teddy doesn't really understand much of anything right now, but he's quite adorable,"

"That's good," Hermione smiled. "I've always liked children; they're innocent and they don't understand evil,"

"True," Harry said, nodding as he picked up a piece of bacon and chewed on it thoughtfully. "I think he likes his blue hair though; every now and then it changes but he usually puts it back after a few minutes,"

Hermione chuckled and nodded. "That reminds me of Tonks; she always liked her hair pink or purple,"

"That's what I thought," Harry said, continuing to eat his breakfast. After a while Ron came in and sat down next to Harry.

"Morning," he said, pulling sausage onto his plate. Harry nodded at him but Hermione sighed and looked at the table. She knew that Ginny wouldn't be far behind and then Harry would do something romantic to tell her good morning, as he had done each morning when he'd been at the Weasley's. Ron had barely even acknowledged her presence; it was about as romantic as he got. Hermione didn't want a lot, though a kiss on the cheek every now and then, holding hands, something to show her that he cared would have been nice.

"Did you two sleep well?" Hermione asked, trying to make a conversation.

"I slept fine," Ron muttered, and Harry nodded in agreement.

"That's good," Hermione said, offering them both smiles. Harry returned it but Ron just continued eating. "And how was the common room?" she asked curiously. "It's odd for me not to be in there anymore,"

"It was quiet," Ron said, glancing at her. "You know, without your constant chatter that is,"

Hermione stared at him, noticing that Harry had just continued to eat his breakfast. It was like he didn't even care about what Ron had said. She kenw it wasn't too bad, but she still felt offended. "Right," she mumbled. "Well, it's a good thing I'm not going to be there, right Ron?" she asked. He shrugged and didn't respond, which made Hermione sigh and roll her eyes. "I'm just going to get my schedule and meet you two in class, okay?"

"Okay," Harry said, waving at her. Ron didn't respond yet again.