Disclaimer- I don't own squat. Sue me not. I do wish however, that I owned Fiyero... YERO ROX MY SOX! Sorry, I'm probably confusing those of you poor, deprived readers who aren't fans of Wicked, which, by the way, is the best musical on the planet.

IMPORTANT NOTICE- If anyone would like to beta for me that'd be very nice of you. Drop me an e-mail or review (either is fine) if you're interested and we'll talk.

A/N (9/18/04)- As of 9/18 this chapter has been re-written. The original version had some problems, i.e. almost the whole thing was about Hermione and Draco in their classes. As this part of the story takes place over Christmas break that's a bit of a problem. So anyways, THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN RE-WRITTEN.

A/N- Look! My muse has risen from the dead! She's been dead for almost a year now... ever since I started my first story (which is now deleted). Of course the poor dear will probably die again sometime soon... Or maybe take a vacation, leaving me all alone...

"I'm wasting away, with no room to play! I'm trapped in a zoo, with buffalo poo!"

"Never fear Joshua! For a vision will appear!"

What on earth is a hippiepatostrapus? There's nothing weirder than Joshua Giraffe. Are you guys familiar with Raffi? You know, that kiddie singer guy? He's cool... Anyhow, you probably don't care much about kiddie singers. You're here for the story! So:

ON WITH THE MADNESS!

-Killing Me Softly-

-Chapter 3- Countin' Sheep-

Hermione had been sitting outside the snake portrait for almost an hour and had almost drifted off to sleep when she was startled out of her dream-like state by the painting behind her opening up.

"Blaise! What are you doing out here?" Pansy Parkinson squawked.

"I- uh..."

"Come in! Honestly!" The Slytherin girl dragged Hermione through the portrait hole and up the stairs to the 7th year girl's dorm. She sat Hermione down on a four-poster bed with dark green hangings. Hermione waved her wand tiredly, turning her clothes into a large green shirt that fell down to her knees. Crawling under the covers she slipped into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

The next morning Hermione was rudely awakened by Pansy screeching at her to "Wake up!" and "Get out of bed!"

"No. It's to early..."

"No it's not. It's almost 10:00."

"Go away."

"If you get up I'll go." Hermione, tempted by the though of Pansy leaving her alone, rolled out of bed, landing on the floor and hitting her head on the bedside table.

Hermione was by nature a late sleeper, waking up at almost 2:00 if allowed to stay in bed. Of course this was partially due to the fact that she rarely went to bed before 1:00 and never before 10:30, but all the same, she valued her sleep greatly. Needless to say she was not a happy person in the morning and people who were annoyed her to no end. 'Early risers deserve to be crucioed...' she thought, stumbling over to Blaise's trunk. She pulled on a black skirt that was just above knee length (the longest skirt Blaise owned, but the shortest Hermione felt comfortable in) and a white fitted blouse, then threw on a thick black coat over the whole ensemble. Throughout the process of getting dressed Hermione had slowly become more awake, but she was still slightly groggy when she went down the stairs and through the Slytherin common room. 'Argh... I need my iced tea...'

She shuffled out of the common room and up to the Great Hall. She sat down next to Draco at the Slytherin table and reached for an apple.

"Where were you? You're usually the first one up here." Malfoy asked disinterestedly as he stabbed a sausage with his fork.

Hermione winced, looking at the sausage apologetically and answered irritably "I was sleeping. Now shut up so I can eat." She bit into her apple, her teeth piercing the smooth green skin in a neat half circle. Then she took a long drink from the goblet of iced tea in front of her, savoring the taste of the cold, caffeine-filled drink.

After breakfast Hermione, considerably more awake than she had been before breakfast, dragged Malfoy off to the library saying "You've got quidditch this evening. If you don't do your homework now you'll regret it later." She sounded oddly like the planners she had gotten Harry and Ron in fifth year. 'I wonder what happened to those,' she thought 'they never seem to use them...'

"But I've got the whole break to-"

"Do it now and you'll have all the time you want to procrastinate later."

"That doesn't make sense."

"I know."

They sat down in a secluded corner, a remote part of the reference section that Hermione often came to when she wanted to be alone. Malfoy pulled out his Transfiguration notes and homework, scribbled a few words at the top of his parchment, and asked, ever so innocently, "So, how exactly would you turn a throw rug into a cat?"

"What?"

"A throw rug. Into a cat."

"You- Why do you want to know?"

"Homework."

"Oh. Honestly, if you aren't going to put any effort into the project you could have at least chosen an easier transfiguration."

"But that wouldn't be learning anything..." Malfoy grinned impishly at Hermione.

"Well, this isn't exactly- Oh never mind. Here." Hermione stood up and walked over to the dust covered shelves behind her. After a few moments of searching she pulled out a thick blue volume entitled Abstract Transfigurations: An A-Z Reference. "There. That should help."

Malfoy took the book from her, albeit somewhat skeptically, and opened it to the table of contents. Hermione pulled a slim black-bound book from her bag and sat down cross-legged on the floor to read. They sat in silence for almost an hour, only moving to turn a page or, in Malfoy's case, scribble down a note or two. When Malfoy triumphantly shouted out "Ha! Finished!" he was met by silence. He turned to look at Hermione and saw her curled up in a tiny little ball, short black hair falling across her face as she slept.

-End Chapter 3-

A/N- I would write more, and I know that's not a very good ending to a chapter, but it's so late and I'm just so tired... Besides, I have to be awake for chorus tomorrow. Yay! Chorus! I'm so chorus deprived, I haven't had it for over a month... It's scary. But that'll all change tomorrow so that's ok. So now, nighty night! Or is it morning yet? I don't know... REVIEW! It's my last request to you all before I die on Friday. We're having a geography test... Something about the Roman Empire... I don't even know where Rome is! I'm going to fail miserably... Oh, also. I don't know who wrote the song for this chapter and I don't know who sings it. It's off my old lullaby CD. I've listened to that thing since I was not even a year old... Oh the memories... Anyhow, like I said, I don't know who sings it or who wrote it because I can't find the case for the CD. All I know is that I don't own it. It's a cute song, about counting sheep, and I chose it because 1. I couldn't think of anything better and 2. Hermione is practically falling asleep through much of this chapter. So ya. Now, I'm off to get some well-deserved sleep... Hermione can get some sleep next chapter and then we'll both be happy... REVIEW! –SMs-