Chapter Four: When the Sandman Comes

Something's wrong, shut the light

Heavy thoughts tonight

And they aren't of Snow White

Dreams of war, dreams of liars

Dreams of dragon's fire

And of things that will bite…

-Enter Sandman by Metallica

"Hermione!" Ginny called. "Hermione, wake up!" she said shoving the curtains back. Hermione awoke to someone shaking her, gasping for breath as she came out of her dream. Ginny didn't seem to notice as she opened the curtains even further.

"Come on Hermione, you can't sleep your birthday away." She said with a grin. "Come on, its dinner time now."

"I'll be down in a minute." Hermione said swinging her legs over the side of her bed. "I promise." She said seeing the skeptical look on Ginny's face. "I just want to change first." She said gesturing to her wrinkled uniform. "I'll meet you downstairs."

"Okay." Ginny said, "Just make sure you don't go back to sleep." She flashed Ginny a smile before turning towards her wardrobe to find something else to wear. She found her favorite sweater and a pair of jeans and threw them onto the bed. She took a deep breath as she leaned against the bed post, she hadn't slept at all last night but she still had drug herself to classes, cursing herself for not having the courage to go to Madame Pomfrey and ask for a sleeping potion. When she was finally done with her classes she had immediately come upstairs for a nap. Even she couldn't make it without sleep for two days.

Over the last month her dreams had gotten much worse. What had started out as unidentified images and darkness had slowly become more realistic. It was as if she when she slept she was transported to a different place, and never really got any sleep at all. Sometimes she was just too scared to sleep.

She quickly changed out of her wrinkled uniform and into her jeans and sweater, going downstairs to find Ginny. Instead she found an empty common room, without even the normal group of first years that were normally there. "Thanks for waiting Gin." She muttered to herself.

"SURPRISE!" The dark common-room instantly transformed. There were streamers and balloons in her favorite colors. And it seemed like all of Gryffindor was standing there smiling at her, Harry and Ron right in front.

"I can't believe you did this." She said looking around.

"Well you only turn seventeen once." Harry said coming closer to her, "We just wanted to make sure it was a good birthday."

"Or at least a memorable one." Ron said.

"Thank you." Hermione said wrapping her arms around Harry. She had missed them recently, with her full schedule and their own busy ones she felt like she had barely seen them. And for them to do this, such a sweet thing, surprised her to no end.

"Well you were so nice to me for my birthday I had to do something special for yours." Harry said as he pulled away. He was smiling down at her and she couldn't have felt happier. She had helped make him happy and that seemed like a much better gift then a party.

"And thank you Ron." She said moving over to give him a hug; he too had a big goofy grin on his face.

"No problem, Mione." He said his ears red as he pulled away. She went down along the line of friends and stopped before Fred who gave her a quick hug and a peck on the cheek, and then on to George, who was grinning down at her.

"And what's got you so happy?" she asked.

"Nothing." He said sweeping her up in a hug. "I have a surprise for you later." He whispered in her ear.

"What kind of surprise?" she asked as she pulled away.

"You'll see." He told her.

"Come on." Ginny said grabbing her arm, "The two of you will have plenty of time for that later. Right now its time for presents."

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The next hour was spent as Hermione opened presents as the other Gryffindors ooed

and ahhed over everything that she got. Harry and Ron had gone in together and bought her a set of rare books on magical creatures, while Ginny had gotten her a small music box that was charmed to play whatever song she was thinking about when she opened it.

Charlie and Bill had sent her a beautiful photo-album with pictures from the beach already secured inside. Luna had given her some homemade earrings and necklace, which Hermione smiled at but mentally decided to never wear. Seamus and Dean, who said they weren't sure what to get her, gave her a large bag of sugar quills and Neville had shyly given her a beautiful red flower that was enchanted so that it never died. He had carefully avoided looking at George as he handed it to her, but she just laughed and gave him a hug knowing that George wasn't the jealous type, or at least that was what she thought until she opened her next present.

"Oh Hermione, that's beautiful." Parvarti said as she pulled the delicate charm bracelet out of the box. "Who's it from?"

"I'm not sure." She said quietly as she looked it over. It really was beautiful, it was gold with only three charms on it, a quill, a book and owl. There really weren't any charms more perfect for her.

"It really is quite lovely." Ginny said softly from over Hermione's shoulder. "George did you get it for her?"

"No." He said through clenched teeth. It was obvious he was not as fond of the present as the girls around them.

"It was probably my parents." Hermione said quickly, noticing George's abrupt change in moods. She had originally thought that it came from him. "I'll just check the card to be sure….oh."

"Oh what?" Harry asked.

"It's not from my parents."

"Well who's it from?" Ron asked.

"Viktor." She said quietly.

"Viktor? As in Viktor Krum?" Lavender asked, her voice rising at the prospect of gossip.

"I thought you two broke up ages ago." Parvarti said.

"We did." Hermione said quickly, looking at George carefully. He had a forced smile on his face and was trying his best not to look angry or upset. She hadn't expected Viktor to get her anything. They had grown a lot closer over the summer but she had imagined that once they went there separate ways things would go back to how they were the year before. Just the occasional letter, nothing more.

She carefully put it back in the box, knowing that she probably wouldn't wear it, before reaching for her next gift. She sent George a smile, noticing that he seem happier now that she had put the bracelet away.

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"Having fun?" George asked wrapping his arms around Hermione's waist. She had been watching the crowd as the talked and laughed together. Ron was laughing with Fred and Angelina and even Harry was in the corner talking with Neville and Seamus. Everyone was having fun and she was content just to stand there watching them.

"Very much so." Hermione said leaning back, so her head was on his chest. "It's a lot of people though…"

"Yeah, it is." He said, "Everyone wanted to celebrate your birthday."

"I think it might have something to do with the fact that you and Fred smuggled in two cases of butterbeer." She told him with a laugh.

"Well then no one will mind when we sneak away."

"What are you talking about?" she asked turning around in his arms.

"You remember that surprise I was talking about?" he asked.

"Yes…" she said cautiously.

"Do you want to go see what it is?" he asked her. She smile and nodded up at him, knowing that she wouldn't be able to fight her curiosity if she had him wait until later.

"Then come on." He said taking her hand and leading her towards the portrait hole.

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"Where are we going?" she asked as he continued to lead her down the hallways. She could have sworn that she had seen that portrait before.

"You'll see." He said from in front of her.

"Well are we almost there?" she asked, "Because if we're not I'm going to need to take a break in few minutes."

"We're almost there." He said, "I promise." A few moments later he stopped in front of a door. "Here we are." He said.

"Here?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, here." He said.

"George this is nothing more then an old classroom that no one uses anymore." She said raising an eyebrow at him.

"No, no. This is much more then any empty classroom." He said, "You'll see. Now close your eyes."

"Do I have too?" she asked reluctantly closing her eyes.

"Yes." He said coming behind her to help lead her. "Now come along…a couple more steps, just a couple more. Okay stay there while I close the door. Don't open your eyes yet…"

"Okay." He said moving so he was in front of her, "Open your eyes."

"What did you do?" Hermione said breathlessly as she looked around. He had cleared the room, vanishing the desks and in there place was a deep red picnic blanket. There were candles and a large cake and other food spread out.

"I just thought that it would be nice to have a quiet place to eat." George said, "After all you never did get that dinner that Ginny woke you up for."

"This is amazing." She said setting down across from him, "I couldn't have asked for a better gift."

"Actually, this is only part of your gift." He told her.

"Really?" she asked her smile widening. "Then what's the other part?"

"This." He said taking a small box out from behind him.

"Oh it's beautiful." She said as she pulled the small silver bracelet from the box.

"It matches your necklace." He told her quietly, "The one that your father bought for you."

"It's wonderful, thank you." She said giving him a quick kiss before trying to put it on.

"It's not as expensive as Viktor's and its not real silver…

"I love it," She told him. "Really. And like you said it matches my necklace, which I love. Really this couldn't be better."

"Your sure you like it?" he asked her. He hadn't expected Viktor to send a present and he had been even more surprised when he saw that it was so close to his own gift.

"Of course I'm sure." She said with a small laugh, "Trust me, you'd know if I didn't like it. I'm not that good of a liar."

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"Hermione you have a bit of icing there." George said.

"Where?" Hermione asked wiping her mouth.

"Right here." He said putting a bit of icing on the tip of her nose.

"George!"

"What?" he asked trying to appear innocent. "Oh look you still have a bit of icing there." he said.

"Really, I wonder how it got there?" she asked him.

"Well I think I can help you get rid of it." He said moving closer to her, a large smile on his face, perfectly content to remove the icing with his lips. He was only a few inches away from her when she moved her hand suddenly distracting him. The next thing he knew his face was covered chocolate frosting.

"There, much better." She said licking the frosting off her fingers, "Now we match."

"Match?" he asked, "I don't think we match." He said gesturing to the small amount of frosting still on her nose. "However I can fix that." He said quickly swiping his hand over the cake, coating it in frosting.

"George….Now you don't really want to do that, now do you?" Hermione asked slowly backing away from him.

"Oh, that's where you're wrong, I most certainly do." He said continuing to back her into the stone wall. He almost had her trapped in a corner when she ducked under his arm and ran to the other side of the room, laughing loudly.

"So it's like that is it?" he asked turning around. He found her with cake in her hand ready to attack if necessary.

"That's exactly how it is." She said with a smile. George came towards her, moving quickly. Hermione let out a small squeak of surprise before trying to run to the right. But George was faster; he put an arm around her waist pulling him towards him. She let out a giggle as he turned her around.

"You look absolutely beautiful." He told her, running the hand covered in frosting down the side of her face. "And tasty too." He said.

She blushed under the frosting but moved closer to him instead of farther away. "Is that so?" she asked.

"Yes, it most certainly is." He said before his lips captured hers. He tasted of chocolate cake and butterbeer. She pulled back grabbing his hand and leading him over to the blanket, pulling him down to the ground with her.

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

"Having fun." She said brushing her lips against her own, "Would you like me to stop?" she asked pulling away, a smile on her lips.

"No." he said quickly, "I mean not in less—"

"I don't know about you, but I don't want to stop." She said pulling him down for another kiss.

"But—"

"George, aren't I suppose to be the one to over analyze everything?" she asked with a smile.

"Well usually…" he agreed.

"Then stop worrying." She told him. She brushed her lips against his, gentle and loving. She pulled back, staring into his bright eyes. "I won't do anything I don't want. You know that." He smiled back at her before pulling her in for a kiss, this one much harder then before. She pulled herself closer to him, as close as she could without breaking the kiss. She hadn't felt this happy in a long time. She had felt this much emotion in a long time. She didn't want to think about it, she just knew that she didn't want it to end. She just wanted to be with him for as long as she could. She didn't want to go back to an empty dorm room, to an empty bed. She just wanted someone there, someone who could make her feel just a little less alone.

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"Hello Harry." Remus said as he came into his office.

"Professor Lupin." He said.

"I think it's alright if you call me Remus when we're not in class." He told him.

"Well then, hello Remus." Harry said with a small smile.

"What can I do for you today?" Remus asked as Harry took the seat across from him.

"I was just hoping we could…you know, talk." Harry said.

"Of course Harry." Remus said, "Would you like some tea? Or maybe some biscuits?"

"No thanks." Harry said looking down at his hands. He wanted to talk; he just wasn't sure what to say.

"Anything particular that you wanted to talk about?" Remus asked him, "Or did you just come for the company?"

"Both I guess…" Harry said, "I just…Has Hermione been acting odd to you?"

"You came here to talk about Hermione?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well no…and yes." He said standing up and going over to the window. He didn't know where to even start. "I still have nightmares." He blurted out. "Not like last year, not like that. But about what happened…Sometimes there about Sirius, sometimes there about Hermione or Ron, or even Ginny. They could have died Remus and it would have been all my fault. Sirius did die…"

"Sirius' death was not your fault." Remus told him. "Bellatrix killed him, not you. She's the one that has to live with that, you have nothing to feel guilty for."

"But if I just listened to Hermione then none of it would have happened. If I had just done what she had said, if I had worked harder on my Occlumency training, if I had went to someone else instead of trying to handle it myself…"

"What happened there was not your fault Harry, and neither is this thing with Hermione." Remus told him. Harry looked up at him, the guilt obvious in his eyes. It was what he had been thinking; he just didn't think Remus would have been able to pick up on it.

"Harry people choose to be with you because they love you. Sirius died the way he would have wanted to, in battle trying to protect you. He loved you, Hermione loves you."

"I know that." Harry said, "I just don't want Hermione to end up where Sirius did."

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After going upstairs and trying unsuccessfully to sleep for hours, Hermione had finally just given up. Walking around seemed like a much better idea then just laying there, staring at the ceiling. She hoped that it would tire her out, so when she returned she could sleep, and it would give her some time to think by herself. It seemed like lately there was always someone around her. Harry and Ron, George, Neville wanting help with homework, Parvarti and Lavender always asking questions about George…there was always someone there and there was always something to do. She had made sure that there was always something to do.

If she got caught she could just claim that she was on the way to the hospital wing because she didn't feel well. It wouldn't be that big of a lie. She might not feel sick but she didn't feel right exactly either. She didn't think that she felt completely right since last term. She wasn't so sure she had felt alright then.

She turned another corner only to realize she wasn't anywhere near she had intended to be, in fact she didn't recognize this part of the castle at all. The hallway was completely dark, as the moon went under a cloud and the only light was coming from the bottom of a closed door further down the hall. She almost turned around, but she couldn't bring herself to break her gaze. There was something important in that room, she was sure of it.

Suddenly there was a chill and Hermione quickly made her way over to the door. She could sense the danger without having to look behind her. If she could just make it to the room she was sure that everything would be okay. That she would be okay. She wasn't sure why and she wasn't sure how, she just knew that it would be.

She was suddenly scared as she placed her hand on the doorknob. What would happen if she couldn't open it? What if it was locked? She had to find out what was in there. Whatever it was, it was important and she had to see what it was.

As if on command the door suddenly opened and she cautiously made her way in the room, looking around. It appeared to be completely empty except for one thing. She instantly recognized it as the Mirror of Erised. After Harry had told her about it in first year she had read as much about it as possible. The mirror was to reflect your heart's deepest desire. Harry's desire had been to been to have his parents here with him. Ron's desire had been to be equal to his brothers. She had often wondered what her desire would be. She slowly walked over to the mirror with her eyes closed bracing herself for whatever she was about to see. Whatever it was it wasn't real, she reminded herself. Or at least it wasn't yet.

She slowly opened her eyes to see herself face to face with herself and no one else. She looked exactly the same, from the confused expression on her face right down to the school robes that she was still wearing. This can't be right, she told herself, maybe she was wrong and this wasn't the mirror of Erised. Maybe it was just a mirror. Suddenly the girl in the mirror moved, watching Hermione closely, as if summing her up. She saw herself raise her right arm, smiling condescendingly at Hermione, and began to roll up the sleeve.

Hermione stumbled back as she saw what was on her arm. She had only seen it a few times before, but she had never been able to forget it. No one could forget something like that, something that represented so much evil. But this was wrong, so wrong. This wasn't supposed to be what she saw. She was supposed to be seeing herself being the top of her class or getting the highest N.E.W.T scores ever rewarded. Not this. Not her with the Dark Mark on her arm. Not her standing there, looking like Christmas had come early because she had joined the ranks of a mad man. This wasn't what she wanted. It couldn't be.

"Oh but it is." Her reflection said with a laugh all too familiar to her ears. "You can't deny what's right in front of your face."

"No…no, this isn't right. Something must be wrong." She said, shaking her head. "This must not be the Mirror of Erised; it must be some other mirror…"

"This is what you really want." Her reflection repeated, "This is what you have always wanted, you just never realized it. This is your deepest desire."

Suddenly Hermione was jerked back in the common room. Her head was spinning as she focused on Harry and Ron looking down at her concerned, George still shaking her, making sure she was fully awake.

"What…what's going on?" she asked.

"You fell asleep." George told her. "You were having some sort of a nightmare."

"You kept mumbling about how somebody was wrong. That everything was wrong." Harry said, "What were you dreaming about?"

"Oh, umm…To be honest," she started but then stopped. Could she tell them the truth? What would they think about her if they told her about it? She wasn't even sure what to think about it. "To be honest I really don't remember. Um, I think it was something about heights or something." She smiled up at them, seeing Harry and Ron's relieved faces and George's skeptical one. He had talked to Charlie and Ginny; he knew this wasn't just some bad dream. He had seen the haunted looks in the morning. Something was eating away at her and it was about time she let someone help.

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"George I told you, it was nothing!" Both Harry and Ron's head snapped up as Hermione's voice rang through the common-room.

"Its not nothing and you know that." George's voice came. Harry looked around and noticed they weren't the only ones listening in. You could hear Hermione and George arguing throughout the entire common-room.

"What do you think their yelling about?" Ron asked. It looked to Harry as if he was trying to suppress a smile.

"Not sure." Harry said as Ginny came up next to them, moving closer so she could hear what was going on.

"I can handle this myself George." Hermione's voice came again, "I don't need you thinking that you need to play knight in shining armor. I was dealing perfectly fine with it before we started dating and I'll continue to now, without your help."

A moment later Hermione stalked into the common-room, glaring at everyone who looked in her direction.

"Hermione, this isn't some essay you need to work out, this is your life." George said following her into the room.

"Do you not know how to take a hint?" Hermione said spinning back around.

"I know how to take a hint." He said, "You however don't know how to accept help."

"That's because I don't need it." She yelled back, "If you could just get that through that thick head of yours, then we wouldn't be having this problem."

"Oh I have a thick head do I?" he asked, "Well I guess that's better then having yours. Is fun being the teachers pet in all your classes? Having all the teachers like you so much?"

It was unclear to the rest of the room but Harry and Ron knew what he was talking about. Who he was talking about. It was a low blow; one they both knew would upset Hermione.

"At least I can pass all of my classes." Hermione said, "I got eleven O.W.L.'s. How many did you get?"

"That's what I thought." She continued when all she received was a dirty look.

"The amount of O.W.L.s you got doesn't make you smarter then me." He told her.

"No there are plenty of other things that do." She said defensively. She instantly wanted to take it back at the look of hurt on his face but it was almost instantly replaced with a look of anger.

"There are more important things the how intelligent you are." He said, "Like friends and family."

"Don't throw your family in my face George." Hermione said.

"Why? We all know how fond of it you are." He said looking towards Ron.

"Just grow up, George." She said fighting back the sudden onset of tears. He was throwing everything that she had trusted him with right back into her face. She turned and headed out of the common-room. Not knowing where she was going, but knowing that she didn't want to go back.

Ginny quickly followed after her, telling Harry and Ron to wait there. "Hermione probably won't want to see you guys right now." She told them.

George quickly made his way back to the boy's dormitory, Fred following slowly after. He didn't look forward to what would happen when he got up there. "I wonder what they were arguing about." Ron said, "I mean its takes a lot for Hermione to get that angry."

"I know." Harry said, "I can't believe she called him out on his O.W.L. scores."

"I can believe he mentioned Snape." Ron said quietly. He could hear the people around him discussing the fight around them. "I mean I know he didn't actually mention him by name but—"

"It was pretty clear who he was talking about." Harry said. "He never has liked her going to Professor Snape's classroom alone for her teacher's aid duties. He always walks her down or makes sure that one of us does."

"You can't really blame him for that." Ron said. "I'm not happy with her going down there either."

"I know, but Hermione's already told us all to stop bringing it up." He said.

"True. I certainly wouldn't want to be to be in George's shoes right now." Ron said, this time he wasn't able to suppress his smile. "I told you that they wouldn't last very long."

"They didn't break up Ron." He told him, "They just got into a fight."

"Like Hermione's going to get back together with him now." Ron said, "They may not have said the actual words, but I think we both know what's going to happen."

Harry was still skeptical, but decided not to push it. He didn't think that they were breaking up, but he didn't want Ron angry with him right now. "I guess will just see what happens." he said.

The portrait hole opened up and Harry and Ron turned to see Ginny coming back in alone. She made her way over to them, ignoring the curious looks of the others in the room who had seen her go after Hermione.

"Where's Hermione?" Ron asked as she sat down beside him.

"She said she was going to take a walk and try to calm down." Ginny said.

"Did she tell you what happened?" Harry asked.

"Not really." She said, "She just said he was being stupid and making a big deal out of nothing. She didn't really give me a lot of details but…"

"But?" Harry asked.

"I don't think that it was just about George." Ginny said, "I think she was more upset over what they were arguing about."

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Hermione was unusually quiet the next day. She sat as far away from George at the table as possible and buried herself in the library whenever she didn't have a class. And even in class she didn't raise her hand or answer a question unless she was called upon. She barely even seemed phased when Snape took ten points for not paying attention and she stayed quiet, instead of reminding Harry and Ron when to put in their ingredients. Harry had intended to ask her about what had happened after class but Professor Snape kept her after class and he didn't see her again until dinner. She was unusually quiet then too.

"I need to get to Hagrid's." Hermione said quietly standing up from the table. "I'm supposed to help him with his lesson plans for tomorrow."

"I'll come with you." Harry said standing up quickly. This would give him the chance to talk to her that he had been waiting for her.

"You don't have to." Hermione told him quickly.

"I want to." He said, "I haven't seen Hagrid for a while. I'm sure he wouldn't mind me stopping from for a couple of minutes."

"Alright…" she said. "You coming too Ron?"

"No, you two go." He said, "I have to finish my essay for Potions. I forgot to do it." He had actually done it earlier that day but Harry and he had both agreed that they should talk to Hermione alone when one of them got the chance. It was probably better that it was Harry anyway. He wouldn't be sure what to do if she started crying and Harry had already made him promise that he wouldn't gloat in front of her about the fight. No matter how much he wanted too.

"I need to stop by my room first." Hermione said, "I forgot to get the books that I'll need."

"No problem." Harry said following her out of the hall. He could feel George's eyes on them as they left.

They made their way silently through the halls as Harry tried to find away to broach the subject of Hermione's fight with George without her blowing up at him.

"So, Hermione…" he started.

"I'm fine." She said sending him a tired smile. "It was just a stupid fight."

"It wasn't stupid if it got you this upset Hermione." Harry said.

"It was my fault." She said shaking her head. "I pushed him and I knew I shouldn't have. He has a temper just like Ron's…I was just upset and he wouldn't leave it alone and the next thing I knew, we were hurling insults at each other...I guess its better then hexing each other though."

"Hermione, what did he mean when he said that something's were more important, like family?"

"It's nothing."

"It got you even more upset." He said, "I could tell."

"I mentioned once that I was jealous of him having such a large family. Of him having a magical family….I just didn't expect him to throw back in my face." She told him. "But its not like I didn't deserve it, I practically called him stupid in a room full of people. We both said things we didn't mean."

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Harry asked as they stopped in front of the Fat Lady.

"I'm fine Harry." She told him. "I promise." She said quickly turning to face the portrait. She didn't want to lie to his face, and truth was she wasn't fine. She was far from fine. Everything was crashing down on her and the fight with George was just making it worse. She kept telling herself that she could handle this herself, but she only managed to believe it half the time. She didn't know how she could make anyone else believe it.

"I'll be right back." She said muttering the password. She came back a few minutes later, her backpack slung on her shoulder and two more books in her hands.

"Here I'll take those." He said taking them out of her hands before she could protest. They made there way down the halls talking about nothing in particular, nothing of importance but Harry didn't mind. He felt like he was getting his friend back. Hermione felt the drain in every word she said. She felt the hurt in every thing that she didn't say.

"Everyone should be in the Great Hall or their dormitories." A voice came from behind them. The spun around to see Cho Chang standing there, her Head Girl badge glimmering in the light.

"Oh, hi Cho." Harry said awkwardly. He had only seen her from a distance so far this year, but each time had felt incredibly uncomfortable. He wasn't sure how to handle this type of a situation, he never was.

"Harry, Hermione." She said Hermione's name with such venom that Hermione felt the urge to step back.

"Hello Cho." Hermione said in her friendliest tone, "Congratulations on making Head Girl. You've been doing a great job, meetings haven't lasted half as long as they did last year, which is appreciated by everyone."

"Thanks…I guess." Cho told her. "So where are you going Harry?" she asked turning towards him, "Your really not supposed to be out here right now. The Headmaster says we're supposed to be stricter about students wandering the halls."

"I was just walking Hermione down to Hagrid's." He explained, "She's supposed to help him with tomorrow's lessons."

"Oh but I thought…well I guess it doesn't surprise me." She said her tone changing as she looked Hermione over.

"What doesn't surprise you?" Hermione asked. She had been acting civil until Harry had said that.

"That you're dating George and Harry at the same time." She told her, "I mean you did it with Harry and Krum in your fourth year."

"Hermione would never—" Harry began angrily.

"Don't worry about it Harry." Hermione said putting a hand on his elbow, "She's going to believe what she wants too."

"I don't hear you denying it." Cho told her.

"And here I was thinking Ravenclaws were supposed to be smart." Hermione told her.

"I am smart!"

"Then use that pretty little brain of yours to figure out that there isn't now nor has there ever been anything going on between me and Harry." Hermione said.

"She's right Cho." Harry told her, "Come on Hermione, we don't want to be late." As he turned back, he didn't miss the look on Cho's face.

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"Miss Granger, please stay after class." Remus said as she stood up collecting her books.

"Yes Professor." She said as she continued to pack her bag.

"Do you want us to wait for you?" Ron asked.

"No, you guys have Quidditch Practice." She said, "I'll be fine. It's just Remus."

"You sure?" Harry asked.

"Of course Harry." She said with a smile. She didn't know what had gotten into him lately, but he seemed like he felt the need to walk her everywhere. She figured that he was just being protective because of the fight. It was sweet, but incredibly annoying at the same time.

She finished packing her bag, as Ron and Harry left and made her way up to Remus' desk. "You wanted to see me, Professor."

"Yes, I did." He said, "Let's go upstairs to my office. I for one would like some tea."

"George didn't tell you to talk to me, did he?" she asked as she sat down across from him.

"No." he said pouring them each a cup of conjured tea.

"And Harry didn't either?"

"No." he said, "Should they have?"

"No, I just thought they might have told you about the…" she said not quite meeting his eyes.

"Fight?"

"You know about that?"

"Harry mentioned it." He said, "He said both of you said some not so nice things."

"Yes, well the Weasley's have never been known for their mild tempers and neither have the Grangers. We're more the take the defensive and worry about the repercussions later type in my family. But I doubt you asked me in here to talk about my relationship with George, or lack of one at the moment."

"Your right." He said, "I was hoping to speak with you about Harry."

"Harry?" she asked, "Has he done something wrong?"

"No, not that I know of." He said with a laugh, "Anything you'd like to confess to?"

"No." she said smiling.

"Good." He said setting his cup down, "I did want to talk about Harry though. I was wondering if you had noticed anything…different about him lately."

"You mean since Sirius…died?" It was still hard to bring herself to say it.

"Yes." He said.

"Different is a way to put it I guess." She said, "He's much quieter then he usually is, much more withdrawn. He spends most of his time with Ron, and sometimes Neville but he doesn't hang around with the other boys as much as he used to. Only at Quidditch really….And, and he's dealing with it differently too."

"What do you mean?"

"After Cedric died, he didn't like to talk about but he still dealt with it. He let his emotions out other ways. They weren't always healthy ways, especially for me and Ron who normally received the grunt of it, but he still was working through it. He had accepted it. It seems like now…he's just avoiding it completely."

"I see." Remus said.

"And I've tried to help." She continued, "And so has Ron. I've told him I'm here. I told him its okay to be upset, that it's okay to be angry but he just nods his head and it doesn't change anything. He gets this horribly blank look in his eyes, like he doesn't even care…"

Hermione didn't even realize that she was crying until Remus handed her his handkerchief. "I'm sorry." She said wiping at her eyes, "You wanted to talk about Harry, not hear me blubbering."

"It's quite alright Hermione." He told her, "You have every right to be worried about Harry. Just keep doing what your doing, be his friend, let him know your there for him. That's all we can do. Eventually everything will be okay, I promise."

"Okay." She said.

------------------------------

Hermione stayed in Remus' office a little while longer, just talking and trying to calm herself down. She didn't want to go back to the common room looking like she had just cried. The last thing she needed was anymore rumors going around then there already were.

"I should get going." She said looking at the clock, "I wanted to stop at the library to work on an essay before dinner and I have to be at Professor McGonagall's office by seven."

"Are you sure you'll have time for all that?" He asked, "That seems like a lot."

"Oh, yes." Hermione said, "I like to keep busy, and the essay's not due for two weeks, I just want to get a head start on it."

"Just make sure you don't over work yourself." He told her, "I know you have a lot going on this year."

"Don't worry, I won't." she said with a smile. She grabbed her bag off the floor and gave a little wave before hurrying out of his office and down the stairs. She had stayed longer then she should have to get as much of a head start as she had wanted on her essay, but she wasn't going to tell him that. In fact it was nice to just set and talk. She would have to make some time in her schedule so that she and Harry and Ron could just to talk and have fun. It seemed like forever since she had just sat and played a game of chess with Ron. She would have to try to make more time from them, even if sometimes it hurt to be around them. She hated lying to them, and that's how she felt every time she remembered that she was keeping things from them, even if she was doing it for their own good.

She walked out of the door to see George leaning against the stone wall, his backpack on the floor beside him. "Hey." He said stepping forward.

"Hi." She said quietly.

"Stayed behind to talk to Professor Lupin again?" he asked.

"Yeah, he had a couple questions for me." She said, "And you know me, as resident teacher's pet I couldn't really tell him no."

"Hermione…"

"I'm sorry." She said quickly, "I didn't mean to bring that up." She hadn't meant to be so defensive, but what he had said had really upset her. She knew that a lot of people thought of her that way, thinking that she was nothing more then a suck-up, but she was always confident that the people she cared about knew that she worked hard for her grades, that she deserved them. For him to say that, made her question how everyone looked at her.

"Yeah, well that's what I came to talk to you about." He said, "I shouldn't have done what I did and I'm sorry Hermione. I finally got you trust me, to tell me about your dreams, about everything and then I go and ruin it. And to top it all of I insulted you in front of the entire common-room—"

"I did my fair share of insulting too." Hermione said. "There were two of us fighting George; I wasn't just standing there letting you yell at me. I was egging you on."

"Still, I was the one who started the argument. I was the one who wouldn't just let you go when you tried to leave the first time." He said, "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too." She told him.

"So…does this mean you'll go down to dinner with me?" he asked a hopeful look upon his face.

"Yeah, I think I can manage that." She said.

"That's an answer a man always likes to hear." He said with a grin.

--------------------------

Harry and Ron followed the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team into the Great Hall. Practice had taken longer then Harry had thought it would and they were all tired and hungry. But there first match was with Slytherin and Harry wanted to make sure that nothing stood in there way to victory. He had even enlisted Fred and George to help train the new beaters. Only Fred had shown up this time though, he had said that George had something to take care of and nothing more. Ron figured that they were working on some sort of a prank but Harry had his own ideas of to what he was doing. They were confirmed when he saw him setting next to Hermione, his arm around her waist.

"Hey guys." Ginny said setting down across from them.

"Hello." Hermione said, "How was practice?"

"Brilliant." Fred said setting down on the other side of George, "Ginny here is a beater to be proud of. Takes after us this one does, George."

"Well she couldn't have chosen a better role model." George said causing Hermione to giggle into her drink, "I mean she could be taking after Percy."

"I shutter at the thought." Ginny said with a smile.

"How's the rest of the team shaping up?" George asked.

"Pretty good." Harry said, "We still need to work a few things out. The new Chaser still need a little work but Angelina and Katie promised to help her out and we're scheduled to practice again Friday. I think we'll have a pretty good chance of winning the game."

"I'm sure you guys will win." Hermione said with an encouraging smile. Quidditch really wasn't important to her, but she had learned a long time ago not to complain about it in front of this many fans, it only ended with them trying to convert her. So far it hadn't worked.

"So where were you, George?" Ron asked finally speaking up. Harry didn't like the look on his face. "Weren't you supposed to be with Fred, helping with Ginny and the other beater?"

"The other beater has a name you know." Ginny interjected. Just because she was dating him, didn't mean that he could completely ignore him. Ron had actually liked him before she had started dating him; of course he had liked a lot of guys before she had started dating them.

"Yeah, whatever." Ron said, "He still wasn't there."

"I was going to." George said, "But finding Hermione took longer then I thought it would. It was a half in hour before I found someone who told me more then to look in the library…really, as if I hadn't already looked there."

"So you two are back together?" Ginny asked.

"I'd like to think we just had a temporary disagreement." Hermione said.

"Sounds right to me." George said with a smile. Harry and Hermione both tried not to notice the upset look on Ron's face.

A\N: Hey everyone! I'm not particularly fond of this chapter and I think I ended it at a kind of weird place, but I'm going out of town and I wanted to get it posted before I left, so hopefully you all like it. And hopefully it gives you all a better understanding about the dreams and what's going on in Hermione and a little bit of Harry's minds. I'm not great at the whole fluff and romance thing, so I don't know how well I did that, so I'm sorry if that part was horrible. I'll work on it and try to get better.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! You're all so nice and I always love getting them. I'll try to post the next chapter soon but I don't know when I'll have the chance between school ending and vacation. The same goes for my other two stories.

Please Please Review!!!