Somnium

Hermione Granger held her hair back from her face as best she could as she retched again and vomited in the toilet bowl. Once sure that the worst was over, she got groggily to her feet, leaned on the sink and stared at her face in the mirror.

Dark shadows hung under her eyes, and her hair needed a good wash. She splashed her face with cold water, left the girls' bathroom and made her way to the Prefects' bathroom. A nice long soak in the swimming pool-sized bath was just what she needed.

She trudged along the corridor and spoke the password without even looking up.

"Jellied eels," she muttered dully. The door did not open, which meant that someone was in there. Sighing miserably, she leaned against the wall opposite and sank down to the floor.

Finally, the door opened, and out walked Draco Malfoy, swathed in a black towelling dressing gown. Only Malfoy would be arrogant enough to walk through the school in just a dressing gown, Hermione thought.

"God, you look rough," he commented as she stood up.

"Piss off," Hermione snapped, and pushed past him through the open bathroom door, which shut behind her with a soft click.

She filled the bath with warm water and her favourite foam - one that smelt like strawberries - and then took off her robes and got in, instantly feeling much better.

An hour later, she emerged from the bathroom fully dressed, her hair still damp. She would dry it in her bedroom, same as always - there was no point in keeping the bathroom occupied for longer than she had to.

On her way back to Gryffindor Tower, she took thirty-five points from Ravenclaw and forty from Slytherin. Two fourth-year boys had been planning a duel, and it was her duty as Head Girl to prevent it from happening. By the time she got back, her bad mood was back with full force.

"What's up with you?" Ron Weasley inquired as she stomped through the portrait hole.

"Nothing," she snapped, and went through the common room to her bedroom. As Head Girl, she had the privilege of her own bedroom, something that she was extremely glad of now.

She locked the door, changed into her pyjamas, and sat cross-legged on her bed to dry her hair. Once she had done that, she reached under her bed and pulled out her schoolbooks. She had a three-foot-long Arithmancy essay to do, and six inches to finish on her Potions homework. It looked like a long night.

Being a very organised person, and bearing in mind that it was due in the next day, she decided to finish her Potions first. She heaved a very heavy book from the box under her bed and flipped to the pages on the Dreamless Sleep Potion.

The main ingredient, she wrote, is Somnium, a narcotic-inducing drug. It is not usually addictive, but is extremely useful for stress relief, and is a favourite amongst many high-profile wizards and witches. Somnium comes in either liquid or powder form; as liquid, it is injected, usually into the crook of the arm. As powder, it is dissolved into a drink (it must be something alcoholic), and consumed in that way. Alternatively, it can be mixed with food, although the results which follow are not as strong.

She read what she had just written and rubbed her itching eyes. It was getting late, and she was tired, but she had to get this finished.

I could do with some of this stuff, she thought grimly as she perused her textbook for more information on Somnium.

Eventually, she finished her Potions essay. She was far too tired to even think about starting her Arithmancy essay, so she rolled up her Potions homework and tucked it safely into her bag, and then shoved her schoolbooks back under her bed and settled down to sleep.

***

The next morning, Hermione awoke too late for breakfast. She cursed as she saw the time, panicked that there was no time to do her hair properly, and scooped it back into a messy ponytail. She grabbed a Chocolate Frog from the box on her dressing table, and munched on that as she threw a quill and a couple of bottles of ink into her bag.

She practically ran through the school to get to Potions, and came skidding next to a halt besides Ron and her other best friend, Harry Potter.

"What's up with you?" Harry enquired, his green eyes concerned behind his little round glasses.

"Nothing - overslept, that's all," Hermione gulped, trying to get her breath back. Running did not suit her - she had always been too busy with schoolwork to worry about being unfit, and so did not get much exercise.

"You missed breakfast. Want a biscuit?" Ron asked, holding out a folded-up serviette. Food was always his number one priority. "In fact, you can have them all. I saved them for you."

"Thanks, Ron," Hermione said gratefully, unwrapping the little package to find several oat biscuits. She had just bitten into the first one when a voice behind her made her jump.

"No eating in the corridors, Miss Granger." It was Professor Snape, Head of Slytherin and teacher of Potions. "Twenty-five points from Gryffindor. Don't let me see those around here again or I'll make it fifty."

Draco Malfoy shot Hermione a gloating look as he sauntered past her into the dungeon classroom, and she glared at his back as she slid into her usual seat between Harry and Ron.

"Has he been giving you trouble again?" Harry asked. "'Cos if he has, I swear I'll -"

"No, it's fine," Hermione said quickly. The last thing she wanted was to provoke trouble between Harry and Malfoy - they were notorious enemies, and had been since their first year at Hogwarts. Although they were of more or less equal ability as wizards, Malfoy was the taller and stronger of the two - Harry was still small, something he had apparently inherited from his mother. Hermione often fretted that if physical violence broke out between them, then Harry would end up in the hospital wing with more than just a few injuries.

She looked at Ron, who grinned as if he could tell what she was thinking. She smiled back, and was about to speak to him when Snape began his usual lecture on the shoddiness of their homework. He walked around the classroom, handing back the rolls of parchment that they had handed in the previous week.

"As usual, most of the work" - here he shot a nasty glare at the Gryffindor students - "was abysmal. However, some" - he almost smiled at the Slytherins - "was outstanding. Mr. Malfoy, you gained top marks - 160%, I believe."

Ron glanced at Hermione to see how she was taking the news. Hermione noticed and looked away from him. She didn't want Ron's pity, but she was quite annoyed that she hadn't received top marks. It had taken her three full evenings to complete that essay.

Snape dropped Hermione's essay in front of her. She eagerly uncurled the parchment to see her mark, and her heart dropped.

"Fifty-four percent?" Harry read in disbelief over Hermione's shoulder.

Dismayed, Hermione began to re-read her essay. It was only when she was a couple of inches down the page that she realised something.

This was the wrong homework. She had handed her Charms homework in instead of her Potions essay.

Hermione's error preyed on her mind all through the lesson, and it showed. She completely bungled her Insomnia Potion, turning it pink instead of blue and making it fizz incessantly. Snape stopped by her cauldron to make a few sneered comments, and then swept away. Hermione felt as though she was going to cry, such was her feeling of failure.

Twenty-five minutes before the end of the lesson, Snape told them all to clear away their work and settle back at their desks. Hermione quickly tipped her potion down the sink, cleaned her equipment and sat with her head in her hands.

"Next lesson, we will be immediately beginning work on the Dreamless Sleep Potion. I trust that you have all remembered your homework?"

A few people nodded fervently; others looked worried as they quickly thought up excuses for not doing their homework.

"I will now hand out the required ingredients. Keep them safe; you will need them next lesson, and I will not be issuing replacements. Leave your homework on my desk on the way out."

Hermione gathered up her ingredients, put them in the little wooden box in which she kept all of her other Potions ingredients, and began to leave the classroom with the other seventh-years, dropping her homework onto Snape's desk as she passed. However, Snape called her back. She went over and stood in front of his desk, feeling miserable.

"I would have thought that even you, Miss Granger, would have been able to distinguish the difference between Charms and Potions by now," he said, with a small, sardonic smile. "If I was a Charms teacher, I would have considered giving you full marks for your essay - but as I am a Potions teacher, I think that your mark was self-explanatory."

Hermione fidgeted under Snape's black-eyed stare. She hated his eyes; they were so cold and dark and lonely.

"Well...is that it? Can I go now?" she asked. Normally she wouldn't have dared to even think about asking such a question, but considering how she felt now, she didn't think her day could get any worse.

"Yes. Be on your way."

Relieved, Hermione hurried from the dungeon and up into the warmth of the Entrance Hall. She had an hour before her next lesson - as a seventh-year student, she had three gaps in her timetable per week. She usually used them to catch up on her homework, and she planned to do so today, but first she had to take her bag back up to her bedroom.

As she was taking her wooden Potions box from her bag, the lid slid off and she had her first proper look at the Dreamless Sleep ingredients. The Somnium intrigued her. It was in a narrow glass tube about the length of a pencil, a light blue powder as fine as gold dust.

Recollections of what she had written in her essay came flooding back to her as she looked at it. It is not usually addictive... extremely useful for stress relief...

Before she knew what she was doing, she poured out a glass of water from the jug on the windowsill, and paused just before she tipped the drug in. Hadn't the book said that alcohol was required? She didn't have any alcohol...but she knew someone who did.

She left her bedroom, carefully locked the door behind her, and went back down into the common room and up the boys' staircase. She stopped outside the dormitory that was shared by Harry, Ron, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Neville Longbottom, and knocked sharply on the door.

Neville answered, looking surprised to see her.

"Hermione - what -"

"Is Seamus here?"

"Er...yeah, why?"

"Great." Hermione didn't answer his question, she just pushed past him into the dormitory. She approached Seamus, who was sprawled on his bed, and looked up as she drew nearer. "I need a favour."

"Yeah? What kind of favour?"

"Got any alcohol?"

"Er...hang on a minute..." Seamus delved under his bed and brought out a half-bottle of Irish whisky. "Me dad sends me some every month." He put on a deeper voice, mimicking his father. "Put hairs on your chest, that will!"

"Er...great. Can I have some?"

"You can have it all. I'd be grateful to you for it. How he expects me to drink all that in a month, I don't know..."

"Thanks," Hermione said, grinning broadly.

"What do you want it for, anyway?" Seamus inquired. "Planning on getting rat-arsed by afternoon lessons?"

"Oh - something like that. Bye!"

With that, she dashed from the dormitory, leaving Seamus and Neville bewildered.

***

Hermione's hands shook with anticipation as she poured out what she guessed was a shot of whisky into a glass, added the Somnium, and stirred it until the tiny blue crystals had dissolved. She shivered involuntarily as she lifted the cold glass to her lips, and downed the whisky in one.

She felt as though she was being torn in half. Obviously, her idea of a single shot of whisky was very off target - the alcohol burned her throat on the way down, and made her retch. On the other hand, the Somnium was taking hold instantly, and it soon won the battle.

She felt wonderful. Her head was empty, her mind blissfully thought-free, her body light; weightless, almost. She did a happy little skip around her bedroom and giggled, wanting to share her new-found friend with someone. She bounced down into the common room, where Harry and Ron were sitting by the fire, poring over their Divination homework.

"Ronald, Ronald, my friend Ronald!" she sang. Ron and Harry exchanged a bemused glance. "Happy, happy, I am happy!" Hermione giggled to the same tune. She hooked an arm around Ron's neck and planted a kiss on his lips, and then did the same to Harry.

"Er...are you feeling all right, Hermione?" Harry said uncertainly, his glasses knocked askew by Hermione's sudden show of emotions.

"Never better!" Hermione twittered. She jumped from her seat and began to twirl around the common room. "Lalalala, I am so happy! Happy happy happy!"

She dashed towards the portrait hole and scrambled out. Harry and Ron looked at each other. They could still hear her distant singing as she danced along the corridor.

"D'you think she's been drinking?" Harry wondered aloud.

"Dunno, but we'd better go after her," Ron said uneasily, and he and Harry got from their seats to run after their friend.

***

They soon found her. She was at the end of the corridor, arguing with a painting of a well-dressed woman.

"No, no, that's where you're wrong," Hermione was saying loudly. "Dragon's blood isn't -"

"Come on, Hermione - let's get you back to the common room," Ron interrupted. She pushed him away.

"Don't interrupt me whilst I'm arguing, Ronald," she said crossly, turning her attention back to the painting to find that the woman had fled. "Well, that's typical - knew she couldn't win, so she -"

"Ron's right - you should go back to your room," Harry told her. He took her left arm, Ron took her right, and between them they managed to get her back to her bedroom. They felt guilty about locking her in, but it had to be done. She'd be torn to pieces if she went around school like that.