Disclaimer: I said it in the last chapter. Look there.

Chapter Three

Hermione sank into a bubble bath after she had secured her hair in a plait with a huge clip. She had hoped her hair would calm down over the years, but it was still a bushy, brown mess. It took almost an hour to brush it each morning, and she only did so after applying liberal amounts of conditioner. Plus, it had to be wet.

Most of the time in the bathroom was spent worrying about the next day. She had seen any of her old friends in so long. She still received Christmas and birthday presents from everyone and sent everyone theirs, usually a book, but no actual words were exchanged.

Hermione sighed when she realized the water had grown cold. She climbed out and wrapped a towel around her body. She dried off and slipped into her nightgown before leaving the bathroom.

As she climbed into bed, her stomach gave a loud growl. It actually frightened her until she realized what it was. She gave up trying to sleep before she had ever really started. She knew she could never sleep on an empty stomach. She threw on her dressing gown and trudged down the stairs.

When she reached the kitchen, she saw Harry sitting at the table. Obviously, they had had similar thoughts.

"Hey."

"I guess we forgot dinner," Harry replied. There were pork chops on a plate in front of him and a rather large bowl of mashed potatoes. It seemed Dobby still cooked insane portions of food.

Hermione took a plate out of the cabinet, a chop off Harry's plate, and half the potatoes.

"Hey!" He reached for his food back and found a steak knife incredibly close to his hand.

"Remember what happens if you touch my food?"

Harry withdrew his hand. "You know, you're a lot more like Ron than either of you care to admit."

Hermione growled jokingly.

Harry laughed. "I just remembered someone you never asked about."

"Really? Who?"

"Neville!" Harry said simply.

"Oh my goodness! How is he?"

"Dating Luna. Since the final battle, I think he realized how painful it would be to lose her."

"I remember…" They had almost lost Luna. For awhile, it seemed she wouldn't make it. She turned out to be more resilient than anyone expected.

Hermione slowly finished her meal. Harry left before she was done, claiming exhaustion. They said their good nights again, then Hermione was alone. Well, almost.

"Miss?" A squeaky voice came from her left.

She turned to see Dobby looking at her. "Yes?"

"Could Dobby ask Miss a question?"

"Of course. Have a seat."

It seemed Dobby had grown used to being treated as an equal, for he did so without bursting into tears. "Miss, are you staying?"

"No, Dobby. I'll only be here for a few more days."

"Of course, Miss. Dobby was only wondering because Harry Potter seems more happy when people visit."

Hermione hated seeing anything so distraught, but this was more than she could take. Eyes filled with tears, she said, "I'll tell you what. I'll visit as much as I can. I'm living at the school now."

Dobby looked much happier.

Hermione paused on her way out. "By the way, did you happen to bring a big orange cat with you when you brought the things from my house?"

Dobby's eyes widened. "That was Miss's cat?"

"Yes." Hermione was worried. "What happened to him?"

Instead of answering, Dobby climbed onto the counter and opened the pantry door.

A great orange fuzz-ball came flying out. "Crookshanks!" Hermione cried blissfully.

The large half-kneazle landed on the table in front of Hermione, ignoring her and opting to lick her plate.

Hermione turned to Dobby. "Why was he in there?"

Dobby looked embarrassed. "Miss's cat is frightening Dobby. Dobby does not want to hurt cat, so Dobby is locking cat up."

Hermione nodded. "Understandable. I think Crooks even scares me sometimes." He was now head-butting her hand to get her to scratch him behind the ears. "Well, Dobby, I think I'm off to bed."

"Good night, Miss."

Again, Hermione paused. "You know, you may call me Hermione if you'd like," she said kindly.

Dobby's eyes welled up with tears. He nodded. "Good night, Miss Hermione."

"Night Dobby." She picked up Crookshanks and left the kitchen. She dumped the cat in her room before continuing down the hallway. She stopped at the doorway to Ron's room. He wasn't here; it wouldn't hurt to just peek.

She eased open the door and found it was almost exactly the same as it was three years ago. It was decorated garishly with Chudley Cannons and pictures of the three of them in school. The only things that were different were the pictures of him and Pansy. Amazingly, she had developed into a very pretty girl. The pictures captured how obviously happy Ron was.

As she left the room, closing the door quietly, she smiled to herself. Ron deserved to be happy.

Seeing Harry's door slightly ajar, Hermione decided to check if he was still awake. She walked to his door and knocked softly. When he didn't respond, she pushed the door. He had fallen asleep reading. 'He's turning into me.' She couldn't help grinning at that thought. She watched him for a moment before moving closer.

When she was next to his bed, she could se the frown on his face and his eyes twitching under the closed lids. He sounded almost like a whimpering animal. 'He must be having nightmares still.'

She put a hand to his forehead to smooth his hair and caught sight of his scar. It was still there, even if it had grown fainter after Voldemort's defeat.

He seemed to calm down while she was stroking his hair, so she continued. When she was sure he was sleeping soundly, she stood up. He rolled onto his side, knocking the book off his chest. She picked it up and stuck a bookmark she found on his desk in it. She glanced at the cover and had to stifle a laugh. It was one of the hated romance novels Ginny had written. Obviously, he was willing to do almost anything to impress this girl.

She set the book down, turned off the light, and was about to leave when she heard a soft, "Hermione?" from behind her.

"Yes?"

"Thank you." Then he was asleep again.

Hermione smiled. "It was no problem."

Hermione climbed into her bed and thought, for the first time that night, about James. She knew she'd miss him terribly, but some things had to be. As long as he didn't find out that she was in England for some time, everything would work out.

Her mind turned to her new job. It was an understatement to say she was excited, but it wasn't just about learning to teach. She was excited to see all her old teachers again. She missed Minerva, as she now called her in letters, very much and was overjoyed at the prospect of seeing everyone. Well, maybe not Sybill Trelawney, but that was to be expected. She was even looking forward to seeing Snape.

"I wonder if he still favors the Slytherins?" she said to Crookshanks, who was striving for attention. She absently scratched him under the chin while she thought.

She still couldn't wait until the next day. She was going to see her friends again after nearly three years!

She didn't believe that she'd ever fall asleep, with all the excitement of the day, but excitement has a way of wearing the body down. Soon, thoughts turned to dreams, as they almost always do, and Hermione was sleeping soundly with Crookshanks curled up on her chest. One of her hands was on his back and a smile was on her face.

A/N: The next few chapters are from Ginny's point of view. Hermione will be in them, but the story won't focus solely on her again until later.

As always, any comments or criticism would be nice.