Somnium

Hermione slept all day and all night, and woke up the next morning feeling worse than she had ever done in her life. Her head was heavy and pounded as though a hammer were inside it; her limbs felt like lead and the inside of her mouth felt like carpet.

She yawned, rolled out of bed, and half-heartedly began to get dressed. She buttoned up her shirt all wrong, and when, after fifteen minutes, she still hadn't managed to fasten her tie, she threw it at the wall in annoyance.

It was then that she remembered that she had Potions first lesson again. She took her box of ingredients from under her bed and lifted the lid to check that everything was still there. She frowned as she noted the empty Somnium tube, and wondered what had happened to it before recalling the previous day's events. She groaned. How was she going to explain that to Snape? It wouldn't be so bad if all of the ingredients were gone, but a tube of Somnium wouldn't just go missing from the Head Girl's bedroom.

The only thing she could do, she decided, was to miss breakfast and go down to the dungeons now. With a bit of luck, the store cupboard would be open - if not, then she'd have to think up an excuse in the lesson, lose points from Gryffindor and gain a detention.

She managed to get dressed correctly, hurriedly packed her bag and walked just behind a group of third-years, who were on their way down to breakfast. Once she reached the Entrance Hall, she checked that nobody was watching and went down the staircase towards the dungeons. This was where she had to be careful. If any Slytherins saw her down here, that would lead to questions, and then she'd be in trouble.

It must have been her lucky day, though - she reached Snape's dungeon without seeing a single Slytherin. Hoping against hope that Snape was still at breakfast, she turned the door handle and pushed.

The door opened - but Snape was sitting at his desk. He hadn't seen her, so she quickly moved aside and flattened herself into the shadowy corner of the corridor. He came to the doorway, looking around suspiciously. Thinking quickly, Hermione cast a quick Voice-Throwing Charm to make it sound as though she was speaking from at least halfway down the corridor.

"Quick, Harry - this way!" she hissed. Snape's expression suddenly changed to a mask of bitter hatred.

"Potter," he muttered, and hurried away.

She had to be quick. Hermione slipped into the dungeon, and ran across the room to the store cupboard. Luckily, the door was unlocked; she opened it and went in.

There were two big glass jars of Somnium, each corked and clearly labelled. Hermione filled up the little tube, carefully sealed it and slipped it into her pocket. Then she stood chewing her lip, staring with longing at the jars. One was just over half-full; the other new and not even opened yet. Snape wouldn't miss it if she took a little bit more, surely? The effects of the Somnium had been wonderful; if she only used it when she felt exceptionally bad, then that would be OK.

There was a shelf full of empty jars. She carefully selected one from the back - about the size of a jam jar - and filled it about three-quarters full. She cast an Unbreakable Charm on the jar, sealed it and put it into her bag.

Knowing that she had only seconds left, Hermione left the store cupboard and closed the door behind her. She was halfway across the room when Snape returned.

Cursing under her breath, she ducked under a desk in the far corner of the room. He didn't even look in her direction, but went and sat at his desk, where he began to write something.

Hermione looked around frantically. Her eyes fell on a shelf directly opposite her hiding place, on which were several glass containers. She aimed her wand carefully and whispered, "Fractio!"

The spell hit a jar, shattering it and spilling its murky green contents everywhere. Snape jumped at the noise, and went over to the shelf, peering closely. Hermione took her chance and fled.

She went straight up to her bedroom, and locked the jar of Somnium in a drawer. The bell went just as she was doing so, so she ran from her room and down to Potions.

"You missed breakfast again," Ron said, a look of concern on his face. "Is something wrong? You're not on a diet again, are you?"

"No - nothing like that. It was just...er...women's stuff."

"Oh. Right. Are you coming to Hogsmeade with us tomorrow?"

"Who's 'us'?"

"Me, Harry, Ginny, a couple of Ginny's mates, probably Dean and Neville as well - and we're going to meet Fred and George in the Three Broomsticks - they managed to talk Lucy into working all of Saturday afternoon."

"I take it they haven't told her it's a Hogsmeade day?"

"'Course they haven't. She'll go mental when she finds out, but never mind."

Fred and George, Ron's twin brothers, ran a joke shop in the village called Zonko's, which a lucky twist of fate had led them to buy when the old owner retired. Lucy O'Brien was George's girlfriend, and worked part time in the shop, which was always swarming with Hogwarts students when they were allowed into Hogsmeade.

"So are you coming or not?" Ron pressed.

"I'll see. I might have too much to do, but I'll try."

"Good. You work too hard, that's your trouble. You should take some time off every now and then."

Hermione forced a half-smile as Snape arrived and ushered them all into the dungeon. As Hermione sat down in her usual seat, she noticed that Harry wasn't there.

"Where's Harry?" she whispered to Ron. He grinned.

"Visiting Elisa."

"What, in Bulgaria -?"

"Yeah. He's just passed his Apparition test, hasn't he? So he's spending all the time he can with her. I suppose the time difference must've confused him."

"I didn't know he was so keen on her."

"He's besotted. Introducing him to her was probably the best thing you've ever done for him."

"Yeah. Shame it didn't work out with me and Viktor, though," Hermione sighed. She, Harry and Ron had visited Bulgaria over the summer. Hermione's boyfriend at the time, Viktor Krum, lived there, and as soon as Harry and Viktor's fifteen-year-old sister, Elisa, had clapped eyes on each other, they'd hardly been out of each other's company.

"Yeah, well, it would have ended sooner or later anyway," Ron said philosophically. "You live in completely different worlds. He's a world-famous international Quidditch player, and you're - well, you're still at school."

"Don't remind me," Hermione muttered. "That was almost what Viktor said when he ended things. Well - he said that, but he was implying that I'm too young for him."

"Well, you are a bit -" Ron began, but an icy voice cut him off.

"Weasley, as intriguing as your little conversation is, I can't help thinking that perhaps you should keep it for outside my classroom. Fifteen points from Gryffindor."

Ron went beetroot, and began doodling a picture of Snape being eaten by a large Acromantula. Hermione stifled a giggle as she peered over his shoulder. Snape's head and arms were sticking out of the spider's mouth, with a large scream coming from his own mouth. She made a mental note to enchant it so that it really moved and pin it up in the Gryffindor common room. Ron looked up and caught sight of her amused face.

"What?"

"It's good. Can I borrow it?"

"What for?"

"So I can stick it up in the common room. It'll give everyone a laugh."

"No - what if McGonagall comes in and sees it? The little cartoon Snape will tell her that I drew him."

"McGonagall's only been in the common room a handful of times all the years that we've been at this school - I hardly think she's going to arrive unexpectedly, do you?"

"Well...I s'pose not," Ron said doubtfully. "Here."

"Thanks." Hermione rolled up the parchment and tucked it safely into her bag.

Snape stood at the front of the room, telling them all to get out their ingredients for the Dreamless Sleep Potion. Hermione carefully unpacked hers, set up her cauldron and poured some water in to boil. Ron did the same and they talked whilst the water began to bubble.

"How does Harry Disapparate, anyway? You can't do it from anywhere in the Hogwarts grounds."

"He goes through the Whomping Willow, and then Disapparates from the Shrieking Shack, and Apparates straight into Elisa's wardrobe."

"Her wardrobe?" Ron nodded as he tipped rose petals into the water.

"Just to make sure that her parents aren't around. They'd go mental if they found out that she's still seeing him."

"How come she's not at school?"

"Dunno. You tell me."

Hermione racked her brain as she carefully brewed her potion, trying to think whether Viktor had ever mentioned whether Elisa went to school or not. She didn't think he had, but then Viktor's accent had made it hard to understand what he was saying sometimes. Elisa's English was perfect, and she hardly had any accent at all, but Viktor's linguistic skills weren't as good.

Unlike some of his other skills, a little voice in the back of her brain said, and she half-blushed, half-smirked as she added the final ingredient - the Somnium - to her cauldron. The potion instantly turned the right colour and emitted golden sparks before settling down into a slightly shimmering, perfect Dreamless Sleep Potion.

"I don't understand this at all," Ron was muttering next to her. "I put the right amount of daisy roots in, but..."

"Let me have a look," Hermione said, peering into his cauldron. His potion was acid green. "Er...stick another half-ounce of salamander scales in."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Then just carry on from where you left off."

"OK - thanks."

"You're welcome."

Hermione sat down on her stool, turned the heat off underneath her cauldron, and looked around the class. Snape was snarling at Neville Longbottom, a round-faced Gryffindor boy with very forgetful tendencies. She sighed and looked away. At first she had felt some pity towards Neville, but now she felt nothing. He hadn't stuck up for himself once in a Potions class. She stared at the worn wood of the desk, absently tracing a pattern on it with her finger.

"Finished, Miss Granger?" came Snape's voice. She looked up to see him standing at the other side of her cauldron.

"Yes, actually," she replied icily. Snape's eyes narrowed in dislike, but he said nothing; instead, he just turned and walked away. He stopped at the front of the room, told them to fill a jar with their potion, label it, and then to bring it to the front of the room.

Hermione took a jar, which already had a white square label stuck on it, and filled it with her potion. She sealed it, touched her wand to the label and muttered, "Nomenus." Instantly her name was printed neatly in a perfectly straight line. Beside her, Ron was trying to scrawl his name on the label, his lettering barely legible, like a spider had fallen in ink and staggered across the label.

"Want me to take yours?" she offered, when Ron finally had his name written.

"Yeah, thanks." He handed his jar over and Hermione began to walk to the front of the room. She glanced at Ron's label. Snape would take marks off for the fact that he couldn't tell whose it was. Glancing around to make sure that nobody was looking, she took her wand, whispered "Nomenus," and replaced Ron's straggly writing with neat block lettering. She placed them both carefully in the tray at the front of the classroom and went back to her seat.

***

The rest of the day passed without much incident, unless you counted Neville being stung by a Billywig in Care of Magical Creatures. He hovered and held onto a tree and wouldn't let go for thirty-five minutes before Hagrid could get him down.

That evening, Hermione was sitting in the common room with Ron and Harry, doing her Arithmancy homework. Every now and then, Ron would declare a triumphant "Checkmate!" and Harry would groan and say, "Just one more game, I'll beat you this time..."

At that moment, Ginny Weasley, Ron's little sister, caused a diversion by coming over to their table wearing a school jumper around her hair, like a headscarf. She looked very worried about something.

"Ginny - what's wrong?" Ron asked worriedly. Ginny shook her head and turned to Hermione.

"Can I talk to you - in private?"

"Er...yeah, OK," Hermione replied, bewildered. Usually Ginny just said whatever she wanted to say, no matter who was there. "Come to my room, it's closer."

She picked up her homework, led the way to her bedroom, unlocked the door, and they went in and sat on the bed. Ginny stared down at the coverlet in silence.

"Well?" Hermione said, half-impatiently. "What is it?"

Ginny looked up, her brown eyes wide. Slowly, she unwrapped the jumper from her head and let it fall.

"Oh my - Ginny - what have you done?"

Ginny's eyes filled with tears.

"I tried to cut it myself - I found a spell in a book in the library - only it didn't work."

"And have you tried to colour it, too?" Ginny nodded, looking more like six than sixteen. "Well, the first thing I can tell you is that you should never try and go from ginger to blonde without bleaching it - even with magic, it still goes a weird colour or doesn't make a difference at all."

"I thought it was something like that, but I couldn't remember, so I just...did it." Hermione nodded sympathetically. Ginny wasn't the sharpest tool in the box, so no wonder she had ended up with violet hair.

"What sort of style were you aiming for?"

"I dunno...sort of short, and spiky, I think."

"Right." Hermione rolled up her sleeves. "What colour? I don't think blonde would suit you - your freckles will clash with it."

"Can't you get rid of my freckles?"

"Not if I want to be alive by the end of the week - your mum'd kill me. Maybe you could have it not as ginger-red, but more copper-red?"

"Yeah, OK."

After a couple of minutes, Ginny's harsh, bright purple mop of hair had been replaced with soft, copper-coloured spikes. She practically glowed as she looked in the mirror.

"Oh - it's - it's - "

"You like it, then?"

"It's great," Ginny sighed happily.

"Ginny..."

"What?" She turned from the mirror. Hermione sighed.

"This isn't anything to do with Harry, is it? I know you were really upset after - well, you know..."

"After he dumped me, you mean? Well...I suppose it is maybe a bit to do with Harry, but there is someone else I've got my eye on..."

"Really? Who?"

"Well..." Ginny hesitated a moment, and then ploughed on regardless. "Y'know that Ravenclaw in your year, Terry Boot?" Hermione nodded.

"He's in my Arithmancy class - he is nice, now you mention it."

"We keep bumping into each other in the library, and the other day I was really stuck on my Charms homework and he just happened to be passing and he actually took the time to sit down and go through it with me, bit by bit until I understood it all. Do you think that means he likes me, or was he just being typically Ravenclaw?"

"I don't know, it could be either. The fact that he explained it bit by bit instead of the usual impatient, I-don't-understand-why-you-don't-understand-this Ravenclaw way says that he likes you, but he might explain things like that to everyone. It wouldn't be fair to stereotype the Ravenclaws, not really. Just because most of them get impatient quickly, it doesn't mean all of them do."

"I know. There was just this moment when I caught his eye and he sort of blushed and looked away...it was like I'd been enchanted or something, I'd never felt anything like it before."

"Maybe you have been enchanted. Maybe he's been slipping something into your drink at mealtimes."

"Shut up. Do you think I should ask him to come to Hogsmeade with us tomorrow?"

"No. He hardly knows the rest of us, does he? Well - apart from me, but I wouldn't exactly say that we're friends. Go find him now - he'll probably be in the library, won't he, even though it's so late - and take some homework with you. Pretend that you don't understand it, and whilst he's helping you, casually enquire what he's doing tomorrow. Then if he says nothing, ask him if he wants to go with you."

"Thanks - you're a star. See you later!" Ginny gabbled, and dashed out of the room.

Smiling to herself, Hermione put her homework on her desk and opened a drawer to put her quill away. She was about to shut the door when her eyes fell on the jar of Somnium.

Without really knowing what she was doing, she unscrewed the jar and spooned some into a glass of Irish whisky.