"Hey Herm, how was the library?" Harry called as she walked into the common room. She smiled bright to him but didn't say a word as she head to the stairs that lead to her dorm. "Hey wait a second!" he called after her. He only stopped at the bottom stair after she turned around looking at him quizzically. "Ron and I are sneaking out to Hogsmeade for a few butterbeers. Luna and Draco are coming, you in?"

She didn't know that he saw it, but he watched as the saddened look creased her brow. It was there for just a moment before she smiled to him again. "I'd love to, but I don't want to be the odd woman out. Two couples and an extra wheel, you all wouldn't have much fun with me hanging around."

"Oh come now, you know that isn't true! We love you Herm and we always have a great time. Specially after we get a few butterbeers in you." He chuckled loudly. "Besides Luna wants you to come. She doesn't want to be the only girl. And if you really want to get away from us… you… you could go shopping. As Ron would say, you could go see another friend, Mr. Weidner, in the book shop."

He was trying to bribe her. He would have said anything to get her to come.

A light dawned in her mind.

"Well I suppose I could go shopping. I'm almost out of thornswood and brummelmill. And we do need those for our potions final. So I guess I'll go."

"That's the ticket! We're leaving in twenty." He turned to go to the entrance door. As he walked away he called over his shoulder, "Herm, remember final aren't for quite a few months." Laughing he pushed the Fat Lady to the side and was gone.

Quickly she walked up the stairs to her room. Entering she threw her bag to her bed and pulled out the paper she had written the potion on. Scanning it, she made a mental note of how much money she would need. There weren't many items she needed, some she actually had for class. "Thank goodness for advanced potions." she murmured as she walked to her bureau and pulled out her moneybag. The money clinked in her hands as she counted out what she needed and deposited it into her pocket. Taking out a few extra galleons she put them in her back pocket just in case she needed more. She thought about leaving a message for her roommates but thought better of it. If she told them she was somewhere specific they might actually come looking for her. While the chances were slim to none, she'd best just not take the chance.

Leaving her room, she smiled to those she passed. Then hoping she wouldn't be seen or kept by a teacher she headed to the group, wondering which passage they were going to take today.

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That night, Hermione laid in bed listening to her roommate's snores. 'I wonder how many people know that Pavarti snores.' she thought to herself as the other girl inhaled loudly. 'It's just like the Hogwarts Express is running through.' Rolling over, she turned to look out the window.

Why did she have such a desperate urge to get away? All summer long she wanted to get back to school. It was her home. But not even home didn't provide the comfort she craved. Now she just wanted to get as far away as possible. But what surged this wanting to go back in time? She had learned enough to know the dangers of going back an hour let alone a day or decade. With what happened with Harry, she knew that even the smallest action could have the greatest consequence.

'But if I go far enough into the past, there won't be a risk of running into myself.'

And just where or rather to when would she go? She hadn't really thought of how far she wanted to go. But after reading the potions guidelines she understood fully that the more skwahaes oil she added the more time would pass. And about one drop equaled a decade. Thinking it wouldn't be much fun to go back just one decade she bought a tablespoons worth of oil.

'I'll just put it all in and see what happens. I copied the counter potion and bought the supplies for that as well so there shouldn't be much of a problem.' She knew she was being careless but didn't care. A little risk would make it more interesting.

It had taken her more then an hour to get all of the supplies gathered and paid for. And it had taken a bit of persuasion on her part to convince the shopkeeper to shrink her bag so she could put it in her pocket. It would have been far too difficult to lug a huge bag back to the school and then to the dorm without getting caught. And once she was sure it was safely tucked away she had headed back to the teahouse in Hogsmeade to see if Harry, Draco, Luna, and Ron were ready to go.

They had been laughing and joking around when she waltzed into the teahouse. Seeing them immediately made her feel like an oddball. Why couldn't she have someone to love her and smile when they saw her? She was truly envious of her friends.

And of course they wouldn't hear of leaving until Hermione had at least one butterbeer. "It's what we came here for in the first place, remember?" Harry had said as he ordered another round.

Wanting to get started on the potion as soon as possible, she chocked the drink down as fast as she could. But still she couldn't leave until they were all done. Noticing her agitation on having to wait, the others hurried to finish. And that was how her day had ended.

She hadn't gotten to start the potion at all. She hadn't even been able to ready the ingredients and set up her cauldron.

By the time she had gotten back to school, she regretted having the drink at all. Not being able to hold any of the special wizarding drinks well, her head spun slightly as she walked. So after carefully hiding her package (after enlarging it first) she laid to rest her aching head. Which led to her not being able to sleep now. For she had fallen asleep just moments after her head reached the pillow. She even slept right through dinner. Her friends hadn't wanted to wake her so they had sneaked up some bread, cheese and fruit to give to her. It waited to be eaten on the table next to her bed.

Smiling at her friends' benevolence she rolled back onto her back trying to remember the dream she had woken from.