"Ms. Granger, please pardon my horridly rude interruption, but I wouldn't mind terribly if you started paying attention." Professor Snape's voice was full of annoyance as he snapped at Hermione. Hermione turned back to the professor, breaking herself out of her daydream. She'd been in right on the edge of the forbidden forest, and was curious as to where her dream self was headed.

"Sorry, Professor," Hermione said softly as her cheeks reddened. It wasn't everyday that she was chastised, even in Snape's class. Snape went back to lecturing the class on dangers of using armadillo bile in too large of quantities at once. Hermione gave a sigh, writing down some key points.

After class Harry and Ron walked with Hermione, whispering not-so-charming comments about Snape under their breath. Hermione was developing a headache. Ah, well, it's time for lunch, she told herself. Food should make her feel better.

At the table, Ron and Harry sat across from Hermione talking about quidditch. "You're going to the game, right Hermione?" Harry was looking up at Hermione.

"Game? Like, Quidditch game? Don't you need to practice for a while, first?" Never had Hermione thought that the Gryffindor team would get so confident in their skill.

Harry and Ron gave Hermione almost incredulous looks. "Practice? Hermione, Ron and I have been practicing with the team almost every evening for the past month."

"What? MONTH?" Hermione dug into her bag, looking for the small calendar she wrote her assignments in. It was late October. "What? Where did…" Where did the month go, she wanted to ask. How had she completely missed a little over a month of life? Hermione looked back on her time already spent at Hogwarts; all she could remember were a few hazy moments. The majority was lost; almost as if it were all a dark river with a few floating pictures Hermione almost saw right beneath the surface. "Erm, yeah, I'll be at the game, for sure," Hermione assured the two boys.

The boys exchanged glances before continuing their conversation. Hermione realized her head was still hurting, and decided the best remedy was some quiet time. She stood up, said goodbye to Harry and Ron, and made her way to the library.


"Are you alright, Hermione?" Ron was giving Hermione a concerned look. Half an hour after leaving for the library, the girl seemed dead with exhaustion.

"Oh, I'm swell," Hermione said almost inaudibly. Her headache had just grown worse. "Thank you for asking." Ancient Runes was next- she was sure that would make her feel better, but she just felt worse. A little after class had started, Hermione asked Professor Vector if she could go to the nurse. She received another concerned glance- did she really look as bad as she felt? Professor Vector let her go, and off Hermione went, walking rather slowly.

Halfway to the Madame Pomfrey's office, Hermione hesitated. Why go to the nurse? Why not go out somewhere? She shook her head, banishing the rebellious thought, and went the rest of the way to the Madame Pomfrey's office.

She knocked on the nurse's door, and when it was opened Hermione walked in. "Madame Pomfrey, I don't feel well," Hermione said, mentally kicking herself for the redundancy of those words. Madame Pomfrey, I'm feeling perfectly well, but just decided that a nice stroll down to your office would be better than sitting in my Advanced Ancient Runes class. "My head's been hurting, and I feel kind of dizzy."

Madame Pomfrey surveyed Hermione, looking for anything physically wrong except for the fact that she looked exhausted. "Well, it doesn't seem anything is terribly wrong with you, dear, but I'll give a small potion to help you get some sleep for a while. It seems all you need is some time for rest." She walked off, and Hermione sat on a bed. Madame Pomfrey came back with a small goblet in her hand. She handed it to Hermione, who sipped down the potion, actually savoring the sweet taste. It was like nectar.

Hermione soon found herself slowly floating into sleep, and it was such a delicious feeling; she hadn't slept like this in a long time. The sleep wasn't quite as deep as she thought it would be, and aren't potion-induced sleeps supposed to be super deep? This would have confused Hermione if she weren't so comfortable.

She could still feel Madame Pomfrey walking around, fixing the other beds, and heard some second-year walk in with tentacles from a hex. Hermione soon found that she could zone it all out, though, and enjoyed the meditative peace. She was almost startled when what felt like to warm hands were pressed to her cheeks. This couldn't be, though, for now the feeling of warm hands was on her feet, spreading up her legs. They're going to get me, Hermione thought abstractly for a moment, full of panic. She was about to start struggling to move when the warmth was abruptly gone, leaving a feeling of empty cold.

Hermione's eyes opened and found Madame Pomfrey walking over to her bed, a smile on her face. "Feeling better?"

Hermione continued to look up at Madame Pomfrey, the feeling of panic subsiding. "Yes, I am, thank you." She smiled back at the woman and stood up, seeing herself to the door.

"You should start making your way to the great hall," Madame Pomfrey called after the girl. "You must eat, for that might be a cause of your sudden headaches as well. And get more sleep, dear!"