Hermione climbed the stairs to the Head Girl dormitory and pushed the heavy door open. Throwing her school bag onto the floor next to her desk, she shrugged out of her robes (making sure to hang them up ready for tomorrow) and loosened her school tie before flopping down onto the four-poster bed. She stretched and let out a loud yawn.
It was only 5 weeks into the school term, but already the workload was crazy. Hermione's homework planner had started to fill up and although she was keeping up with the demands of studying for seven NEWTs; she often found she had to sacrifice sleep or eating to do so. She had just been kicked out of the school library for the fourth night in a row.
Letting out a sigh, she rubbed her eyes before reaching over to her bedside table for her phone. She pressed the dial button, hoping that hearing her boyfriend's voice would cheer her up.
"Evening beautiful!" Hermione found that Ron's chirpy tone annoyed her slightly and she resisted the urge to sigh into the mouthpiece. They only spoke about once a week nowadays, both of them had hectic schedules and it was tricky to find a common time to talk. Ron always made the effort to sound excited to speak to her, no matter how tough a week he'd had and Hermione didn't want to ruin his mood, despite her exhaustion.
"Good evening handsome, how are you doing?" At least it didn't take too much effort to fall into their usual conversation as they caught up with the week's activities. Hermione found herself starting to drift off to sleep as she listened to Ron, so she made a conscious effort to sit up more so she wouldn't be too comfortable.
"So you'll never guess what happened..." Ron's tone turned even more excitable if that was possible. "We had our first assessment yesterday on Trace Tracking and I actually came top of the class! I even beat Harry!"
Hermione felt a rush of pride for Ron and it gave her a much-needed boost. "Oh that's amazing Ron! I can't wait to tell people my boyfriend is a top Auror! I'm so proud of you!" She grinned down the phone.
"It was really easy, actually. Once I tuned in to my surroundings, the evidence was easy to see - even the more difficult ones. It just feels so good, you know? I've never come top of my class before..."
"Well you've been studying so hard; I knew you could do it!" Hermione laughed, thinking back on the times she used to have to monitor the boys while they did their homework and now Ron was willingly studying. "Talking of study; Professor Babbling has run out of things to teach me in Ancient Runes. She's going to arrange for me to take the NEWT exam soon so I can get it over and done with but in the meantime, she's given me an assignment to try and challenge me. She wants me to translate a piece of text and I thought maybe I could try and translate 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard'?"
Ron let out a huge breath. "That's a big job Hermione... are you sure you have time?"
Hermione sighed. "Not really. But I think it's something I'd really like to do. I think it would be a good thing to honour Professor Dumbledore with. There's no time limit on the project..."
"Then give it a go, I have faith in you..." Ron smiled down the phone. "Just please be careful. There are no more time turners left in the Ministry and I don't want you to make yourself ill!"
Hermione started to argue with him, but a wave of nausea ran over her body. She took a few deep breaths, not wanting Ron to have reason to believe he was right. Eventually the feeling passed and she turned her attention back to Ron, who was describing in detail just how ill and moody she had been during their 3rd year of school.
"Okay Ron, I know.. I'm sorry!" She tried to suppress a yawn and she could almost hear Ron's eyebrows raising. "I've been so tired recently; I've started sleeping in the Head Girl's dormitory again so I can study as soon as I wake up."
"That's not good Hermione, what about the nightmares?"
"Well I'm usually so tired I pass out. But I promise I'll try to slow down, and I'll only look at the translation when I have time to." Carefully, she put the phone on speakerphone before pushing herself out of bed so she could get changed. "Are you coming up for Ginny's game next week?" She carried her phone through to the bathroom so she could wash her face and brush her teeth.
"Of course I am, I wouldn't miss it for the world. Did you know the scouts are starting to turn up? I reckon she could play for any of the top 10 teams next season..."
"Mmmm she's getting pretty excited about it. It's been hard work trying to keep her calm..." Hermione climbed into bed and started to settled down. "You'll be glad to know that I am in bed; and I'm going to say goodnight to you and try and get a decent night's sleep." She yawned once more before turning on her side. "You know the next time I speak to you it will probably be in person..."
"That's exciting..." Ron dropped his voice to a whisper. "Please look after yourself so we can have a nice day together..."
"Okay.." Hermione whispered back. "Good night Ron, I love you..."
"I love you too..." He hung up with a smile and settled down to sleep.