a/n: Many thanks to Time Keeper and poka for the reviews. I'm glad these glimpses into Harry and Hermione's early friendship are hitting the right notes with you. Many more to come!

Prompt: First Bad Grade

Chapter 3: Dreamless

Friday afternoon in the common room was always barely controlled chaos. Everyone was ready for a break from classes. Two days to get caught up on homework or spend some time unwinding. Harry knew there was one person who needed a relaxing weekend more than anyone else. Hermione. Something was up with her and he couldn't put his finger on it. She was short tempered and terribly serious. Anytime he mentioned it she'd make an excuse about her electives. He understood Arithmancy and Ancient Runes were intense and didn't question it.

Just as Ron was standing to join a game of exploding snap, the common room door opened, revealing a haggard Hermione. Her hair was exceptionally frizzy and her eyes were wide with an emotion Harry couldn't quite place. A cross between anger and fear. It was enough to have Harry standing. Had Sirius Black attacked? He was genuinely worried for his friend. "Hermione? What happened? Are you okay?"

Her eyes filled with tears and she collapsed in the chair Ron had just vacated. "No!" she said with a sob and held out a roll of parchment. "I got a zero on an assignment."

If she hadn't been so legitimately distraught he would have laughed. Proud of himself for keeping himself in check, he took the scroll from her and watched her bury her face in her arms. It was a shocking development. On her worst day she only lost a few points. He wasn't even sure Ron had ever gotten a zero on an assignment, not on any that got turned in. Unrolling it, he read the class information. It was her divination dream journal, part of a brief survey of all divination methods. In a flash of concern for her privacy, he slowly unrolled it so only he could see what she had written. "Hermione. This is blank," he said after completely unrolling it to see if he was missing her work.

She looked up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I know. I didn't have any dreams."

Now he did let out a small laugh. "Well, how did you think you'd pass the assignment if you didn't do the assignment?"

Swiping at her cheeks she looked offended. "I did! The assignment was to write down any and all dreams I had this week and I didn't have one. What was I supposed to do? Make something up?"

"Well… yeah. We've all been making stuff up for that class. What did you think would happen if you turned in a blank roll of parchment?" He was walking a fine line of seeing the humor in the situation and making fun of her. In her current state, he didn't want to cross the line.

"I would expect her to honor the instructions of her assignment. If art of divination was a legitimate subject you'd lose points for pretending to interpret made up dreams," she used an overdone impersonation of Trelawney when she said the subject. Harry was aware that she was starting to get the attention of others around her.

"Let's take a walk," he offered, standing and motioning toward the exit.

Hermione looked around the room for the first time and realized some people were staring. She stood, adjusted something around her neck. It was becoming a new tick he'd noticed recently. Once out of the portrait exit, he took a sharp turn upward and led her to a small observation room at the top of the tower. It was too early in the day to run into any couples trying to find a private spot. In the back of his head he worried someone might think they were trying to find some privacy. His stomach did a weird flip at the thought. He pushed the thought from his mind, wondering where it had even come from. She was his friend, she seemed to be on the edge of some nervous breakdown, and he was worried someone might think they were snogging? Get a grip Potter.

Hermione followed him into the open space. She cast a shield charm absently to block the wind. "I'm sorry for the outburst," she started, having used the short walk to get her own grip on things. "I'm just—"

"—tired?" he finished for her. In the setting sun, the circles under her eyes were even more pronounced.

"Yeah."

"When you do sleep, you're too exhausted to dream and that's why you couldn't complete the assignment?"

She turned away from him, feeling like she was exposed and he was seeing right through. She needed to get better at using the time turner strategically. She was permitted to use it to study and attend class. That could be stretched to mean she could use it to take a nap or two to make up for the extra waking hours every week. She couldn't tell Harry about that. When she turned back, she was surprised to find he stepped closer. She adjusted the chain of the time turner to make sure it was hidden under her collar. "Maybe I've been taking this term a bit too seriously. I'll plan better."

His eyes narrowed. She wasn't really assuaging his concern for her mental state. This wasn't her normal anxiety over studying. "Hermione, I think you should go see the healer."

The suggestion had her stepping back. "Why? I'm not sick. I'm just not sleeping like I should."

He stepped forward. He wasn't going to let her brush this off. The less concerned she was about her state the more concerned he was. "You're distracted, you forget what day it is, you think you have classes when they're not scheduled, you're carrying around books you don't need for the day, it does take much to fluster you… something is wrong. Maybe someone is giving you a potion as a prank. Or maybe there's something really wrong. Madam Pomfrey needs to check you over."

As he listed all her quirks that he'd been noticing she was surprised. She didn't think he paid that much attention. His concern was touching. Madam Pomfrey knew she had a time turner. All the staff did to keep an eye on her. To make sure she wasn't using incorrectly and to monitor her for these exact effects. It wasn't just that she was managing an excessive course load or that she was meant to keep track of time when time was malleable in her hands. There was always a concern that someone might react badly to the magic. The very last thing she was going to do was go see Madam Pomfrey. She put on her best understanding look and stepped toward Harry instead of away. "You're right to be concerned. I haven't slept for a few days. I got behind studying and thought I could manage with wideye potion. It all caught up to me. I promise I'll stop taking the potion and will make sure to get enough sleep every night."

"How much? How much is enough?"

"At least six hours. Harry I promise. More if I can. More on the weekends." He looked to be relaxing. "I don't know why I cared so much about that assignment either. It's just part of the intro to divination. We're not even meant to do real dream interpretation until our fifth year."

He knew she was minimizing the situation. She seemed to genuinely understand she'd overreacted and why. He'd trust her to sort it out but if he didn't seen an improvement he'd revisit the topic. "We should probably head back down before someone thinks we're snogging up here."

Her ears turned red at the suggestion. "Is that what people do up here? I thought it was just a quiet place to study and get some fresh air. I guess that's why people look at me so strangely when I'm up here alone." She put her face in her hands and then said, "I always tell them they can join me."

That earned her a hardy laugh from him. "Well that explains the rumor I heard about you."

She punched him in the arm recognizing the teasing. "Thank you for being concerned."

He held the door open for her and promised himself to keep an eye on her.