AN: As usual I don't own the canon characters, places or things in the world of Harry Potter all belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Bro's. I only own this story that they take place in, minus any canon events from the book or movies. This chapter has been edited from its original version by myself and my beta reader Mionellsparklockineco to fix any spelling, continuity and other errors.

Harry awoke with a start, staring out into the darkness of the dorm he shared with the other Gryffindor third year boys. He thought he had heard something in the darkness, but it had turned out only to be Scabbers, Ron's pet rat, squeaking in his sleep. Sighing, he sat up and fumbled on the side table for his glasses before glancing down at his watch.

It was only five in the morning, and classes and breakfast didn't begin until six thirty. Grabbing his bathrobe, he proceeded out into the hall and across the landing to the third year boys' bathroom. Slipping quietly inside so as not to awaken anyone else, he crossed over to the mirror and stared at his reflection.

Thus far this year had begun seemingly just like every other, the only difference was that this time someone physically alive was out to kill him right from the beginning of the summer. Not that he hadn't been in danger early on the last two years, but this time it was different. He had been fairly safe during the summers his first and second year, and had believed that it would be the same this year... until Mr. Weasley had informed him of Sirius Black's true reason for breaking out of Azkaban.

The fact that he surprisingly wasn't as afraid of Black as he knew he should be, made him wonder what others would say. The Dementors on the train and those surrounding the castle proved more of a bother to him that the deranged killer on the loose. Why had he been the only one to faint that day, was there something wrong with him? The more he continued to think on the matter, the more it disturbed him that he was so strongly affected by the haunting creatures.

Sighing again, he let his mind wander back to the dream he had been having just before Scabbers had awoken him. The details were fuzzy now, but he knew it was a good dream. He had felt safe and happy, he did know that much and if he was right about who the dream was about, then it was even better than just a good dream.

For nearly two years he had had a crush on her, though he had never been able to tell her. She was not only beautiful, she was also intelligent and his best friend. It wasn't like he loved her or anything, but he did like her as more than a friend. He wondered sometimes if she liked him back, but he was too afraid of her rejecting him, or even worse no longer wanting to be friends, to ask her out.

Hermione was an enigma to him, he knew she was easy to get along with. Smart, funny and fiercely loyal to her friends, but he was unsure just how she would react if she knew that he liked her as more than just a friend. He sighed and returned to his four poster, where he proceeded to dress for the day, knowing full well he would not be able to return to the comforting peace of sleep anytime soon.

A few minutes later he entered the common room, and was surprised to find Hermione already up and sitting before the fire. She looked up as he entered, smiling softly as she greeted him with her own gentle smile.

"You're up early." she said, as he settled onto the sofa beside her, sagging into the cushions.

"Yeah." he said with a shrug. "Couldn't sleep."

"Oh?" she asked, a slightly worried look in her eyes.

"I had a dream and then Scabbers woke me up." he said in explanation.

"Scabbers woke you up?" she asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Yeah, he was squeaking loudly in his sleep for some reason." he shrugged. "It's not the first time he has done that."

"Oh, well I hope he is alright." she said, referring to the fact that her cat, Crookshanks, had seemed to take a very fatal liking to the rat. "You said you had a dream, what was it about?"

"Nothing." he said, trying not to answer too quickly so as to hopefully throw her off the subject. "Just a dream, I don't remember much really."

He knew lying to her was not a polite thing to do, but he really didn't want her to know he had been dreaming about her. He figured that confessing the truth really would send her running away from him. It hurt him to lie to her though, and he always regretted it when he did so, but it was a necessary evil.

"I see." she said, turned her attention to the fire. "Well I hope it was a good dream."

"It was." he said, stopping so as not to reveal more. "how did you sleep?"

She was smiling again as she looked at him. "I slept well enough." she said with a sigh. "I would have liked to have slept longer though."

He nodded his understanding, knowing all too well that this early morning was going to affect them both today. He always felt sluggish as the day progressed when he woke up too early. It was like something made him slower and slower as the day progressed.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

At dinner he sat with Hermione and Ron who were both still barely talking with each other after Ron's accusations over Crookshanks. Several others around the Great Hall occasionally sneaked quick glances at Harry as they looked up from the evening edition of the Daily Prophet. It had been another week of worrying over reported sightings of Sirius Black.

"He's getting closer." Hermione said softly as she set aside her own copy of the paper. "This time he was nearer than the other day."

Harry shrugged, not really thinking much about the matter. He knew what Mr. Weasley had told him, but he had absolutely no intentions of hunting down someone who wanted to harm or kill him. He was not likely to succeed in catching Black even if he wanted to, especially if the entire Ministry of Magic with all of their resources couldn't.

"The Ministry will catch him soon enough." Ron said with a shrug of his own as he took a bite of his steak and kidney pie.

"Really?" Hermione asked, giving him a look of disgust. "Ronald, surely if the dementors couldn't stop him and they haven't even had a proven sighting, then he is more dangerous than everyone originally thought." she continued with a frown. "And don't speak with your mouth full."

Harry sighed and turned away as the two of them began to argue again. "Enough!" He said as his head began to throb. "If you two can't get along then I am going to leave." he continued as he massaged his temples.

"Harry!" she shrieked, looking as if he had slapped her, while Ron looked simply confused.

"I mean it, I am tired of the two of you constantly at each other's throats. If you can't be friendly then don't be near each other until you can."

Ron gaped at him as Hermione stood, throwing her fork onto the plate she had just been eating from. She glared at both him and Ron as she yanked her bag up from the floor.

"Fine, if you want to be that way then I am going to bed!" she hissed, and strode furiously from the hall toward the Gryffindor Tower.

Harry felt a pang of regret as he watched her go, wondering if he had gone too far. Deciding it best to go and apologize, he quickly caught up his own belongings and left a shell-shocked Ron at the table behind him.

He caught up to her near the third floor, calling out as she turned to see who was following her. She frowned as he approached, and crossed her arms as she waited to see what he had to say.

"Hermione." he said softly, clearing his throat as he felt the anger radiating from her. "I-I'm sorry." he continued with a sigh.

He watched as her anger seemed to deflate, and she looked down with a frown, her brown eyes darkening with her emotions. He could tell she was hurt as well as sad and not just because he had been so rude to his friends.

"I-It's ok Harry." she said quietly, her eyes slowly moving back up to look at him. Tears brimming on the edges as she tried to swallow her emotions. "It's not your fault and I am sorry too."

He smiled softly and moved to pull her into a gentle hug. Despite the fact that she and Ron were nearly always fighting, he was sorry he had yelled at them, especially her. She gently clung to him as he held her, her tears falling silently as she buried her face in his shoulder.

"It's ok." he said softly, gently patting her back though he was unsure if that would help or not.

Not having too much experience in the field of comforting anyone, especially a girl, he was slightly embarrassed and out of his comfort zone. She cried quietly for several minutes, before finally pulling back a little to stare into his eyes.

"I'm sorry." she said, hastily reaching up a hand to wipe away her tears. "I am just so tired of him constantly blaming me for all of his problems."

He nodded softly as he continued to hold her, still a little unsure about what to do aside from to listen. He was good at listening, especially when it came to her.

"I know," he said softly, he knew it wasn't her fault. "I am tired of it too. He has no reason to take anything out on you." he continued with a sigh. "If he can't control his own pets or emotions, then he needs to take responsibility for his own actions. Besides, you can't control the basic instincts of a cat to chase and try to catch, or eat, a rat."

She nodded and sighed, stepping back out of his arms as she continued to look at him. "I know." she said softly, looking away toward one of the portraits. "It's not just about this though, anytime Ronald is having a hard time with anything he takes his frustrations out on me."

He nodded again, this was very true. Even since first year, whenever Ron was having an issue, especially one in which he seemed to be on the losing end of the situation, he would take it out on Hermione. He was getting tired of it; it was not fair to her or to anyone else.

"Hopefully he will stop and grow out of his fits," he said with a groan.

"I doubt it," she said with a frown. "You have to realize Harry, he feels like he is always in second place." she continued with a sigh.

"What do you mean?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Well think about it Harry, " she said, looking at him again. "He's the youngest brother, always feeling like he has to live up to or out do his older brothers." She said, raising a finger and counting off. "Alongside this he is best friends with you, who always comes in first."

"I don't always come in first." he said defensively.

"Not because you want to Harry, " she said with a soft smile. "It's not that, it's because of who you are, " she continued. "You always get attention, even when you do something as simple as win a Quidditch match, "

He nodded, realizing that he did indeed garner far more attention with very little effort than most others. "Yes, but I don't ask for any of it."

"I know Harry," she said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. "But it happens, because you are who you are, because of your past more than anything else."

He nodded, knowing she was right, but still not feeling any better for it. He sighed as she hugged him again, and then turned to head on up the stairs.

"We better go and get started on homework, we have an essay due for Professor Binns tomorrow."

He agreed and they headed on up to the Common Room, where they were soon joined by the rest of Gryffindor House. Ron joined them, though he didn't speak with either of them, seemingly still unsure what to do with the current situation after Harry's outburst at dinner. Harry didn't bother trying to point out how to solve the problem though, because he still had Hermione's insights to ponder on how to solve Ron's attention problems.