She ran up the stairs, opening the door to the seventh year dormitories. Hermione went over to where the raven-haired boy lay on the bed, and simply stared for a minute, in shock. Ron, Dean, and Seamus stood around Harry's bed, all in different types of pajamas, and all looking equally shaken. He was screaming, shrieking maybe, but he was still asleep. He thrashed on the bed, and then suddenly stopped, breathing deeply. Hermione looked over at Ron, and said, "How long has he been this way? Why didn't you wake him up?"

Ron looked slightly guilty, but put up a defensive face. "Come on Hermione, we were all asleep! When he started screaming, only about when you came in, we all woke up. We tried to wake him, but we couldn't get near 'im."

Hermione sighed, walking up to Harry's now-still form on the bed. She placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking it gently. "Harry," she whispered. "Come on Harry, wake up."

He sat up quickly, grabbing her wrist, his white T-shirt slightly twisted from turning in the bed. As he looked not at her, but at the wall of the dormitory, his green eyes turned from a startled, deer-caught-in-headlights look, to their normal, calm state. Harry looked over at Hermione, who was grimacing slightly at the grip he had on her wrist. He dropped it immediately, moving backward slightly, staring at her as though he were seeing something extremely odd.

"But…you..."

He seemed unable to put a complete sentence together as Hermione rubbed her wrist absent-mindedly. Ron stepped up hesitantly and said, "What happened, mate? Were you having a nightmare or something? Must've been bloody awful, the way you were screaming."

"Screaming? I screamed? Wha…" With a somewhat dazed look on his face, Harry looked down at the sheets he clenched in one hand. "I thought…well, in the dream, I guess I screamed too, I couldn't really tell. I was…oh God."

As Hermione sat down next to him on the bed, she saw his eyes tear up. She frowned: this was unusual for Harry, for him to cry. He was usually so…well, brave. Dean and Seamus went back to sit on their bed, slightly embarrassed at this unusual show from their year mate. Ron sat on the edge of his own bed, looking at Harry, his face worried. "Come on mate, you can tell us."

"I…it was…that day, in the Department of Mysteries. I saw…I saw Sirius, dying again. Going through the veil. And then…I saw different things. You," Harry said quietly, lifting his head up to look at Hermione. "You were dead. They killed you. Neville was being killed from the cruciatus curse. Ron…well, everybody who accompanied us that day, you were all being tortured, killed, and then as if that wasn't enough, I couldn't do a thing. I couldn't do a damn thing. I just…I stood there, helpless. I had to watch while that…thing…destroyed everyone."

He buried his face in his hands, but continued to commentate his dream, mumbling. "I was silent…and then Voldemort raised his wand, and I tried to grab mine, but it wasn't there, he, he used the cruciatus curse on me. Again, and again. I think that's when I screamed. I've…I've felt it before, but it felt like it was magnified, if that's even possible. And then…well, that's when you woke me up, I guess. I'm sorry I grabbed you Herm, did I hurt you?" When he looked up, his eyes were filled with such anguish and hurt that Hermione shook her head, though he had a little.

"It's alright Harry, I'm fine. I can only imagine how hard it must've been for you. I mean…to see us all being killed, and then being helpless…well, that's even worse than being killed yourself, almost. But…well, we're still here, right?"

As Harry looked back and forth at his two friends, almost asking for more assurance, Ron nodded in agreement. "That's right, mate. We're still 'ere. You're bloody stuck with us, whether you like it or not. But do you think…well, do you think You-Know-Who," Ron still refused to say his name. "Do you think he sent the dream or something? Like…do you think he's near here?"

Hermione shuddered at the thought, but looked at Harry for an answer. He looked thoughtful for a moment, and then a bit sheepish. "Well, I don't think so. I think…well, I think it was just a dream. Yes, that's all it was. Look, we've got classes tomorrow, we better get back to sleep."

As Ron shrugged, and went back under the covers of his bed, Harry looked over at Hermione. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I know you said I didn't hurt you, but you know, you're a terrible liar sometimes."

Blushing, Hermione squeezed his shoulder gently before getting off his bed. "Harry, really, it's alright. It was just a reflex. No harm…I mean, no lasting harm done," she said hastily at a reproving glance from Harry. "Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow then. G'night."

"Good night Hermione," Harry said, settling under the covers once more. As Hermione opened the door that led to the staircases, she looked back once more at the tired boys: frowning, she thought she saw Harry's hand fly away from his scar for a moment. But it was so quick, Hermione thought it was just a trick of the mind because she was so tired. Shrugging, she closed the door behind her and walked over to the Girls' Dormitories, yawning.