Hermione sat up with a start and rolled off her bed quickly, a stack of books that she had pushed to the foot of her bed the night before tumbled to the ground. The noise made her stop; she hadn't overslept, she wasn't late for exams, she was home and Hogwarts had finished giving exams almost two weeks ago.
With a frustrated groan, Hermione collapsed back onto the bed. She had been waking up like this every day since her parents had collected her from Hogwarts. Hermione just couldn't convince herself that she didn't need to get up so early to make it to breakfast in the dining hall or to rush off to the library for a few more desperate minutes of study.
She was still adjusting to being home for the summer. Even though school was officially finished, Hermione still felt that she should be there completing her exams or taking her OWLs.
She had hated leaving, but her parents had been adamant when they had finally arrived at Hogwarts. Dumbledore had then brought up from Hogsmeade where they had taken the train from London.
One look at her mother's determined face had left no hope for argument when the Grangers had swooped into the hospital wing. Her mother had glared at Hermione as if blaming her for getting into trouble and then had broken down into tears. Hermione wasn't use to seeing her mother so emotionally distraught. Both of her parents lived calm, sedate lives in London suburbia. The most exciting thing to have ever happened to either of them was Hermione's being a witch and they had accepted that with open arms. Neither of the Grangers were known for emotional outbursts, but there was Hermione's mother, hysterically clutching her only child and asking in a very shaky voice, just what had she been thinking?
There was a light sound against Hermione's bedroom door and she sat up again. Crookshanks butted his way into the room, a slice of fat bacon clamped tightly in his jaws. He jumped lightly onto the bed and dropped the bacon onto Hermione's pillow while he paused to straighten down a rosette of his orange hair that was sticking up before he returned his attention back to his meal.
"Breakfast already Crookshanks?" Hermione purred and ruffled her cat's fur, nonplussed about the bacon grease staining her blue pillowcase.
The cat made no reply and Hermione slid off her bed once again and pulled a sweater over her head. She always thought that her father liked to keep the house a bit too cold, even in the summer. She headed down the stairs deeply in thought.
She hadn't gotten to see much of Harry and Ron before leaving Hogwarts. Her parents had wanted to take her home right away; her friends had only just managed to catch them in the Entrance Hall on their way out. She hadn't seen Draco since he had left the hospital wing only moments before her parents had arrived. Not that Hermione had expected him to meet her parents. She had a hard time picturing Draco politely nodding while her father explained the mechanics of proper dental surgery, but she had felt terribly abandoned when he had given her hand a squeeze and then disappeared behind the white linen curtain. He had seemed almost afraid to touch her, afraid that she might break. Hermione had almost grabbed his retreating arm and pulled him back down onto the bed with her to show him just how far from fragile she really was. But in the few moments where such a bold act might have been accomplished, Hermione's sense propriety had reared its head. And Draco had left with things feeling horribly unfinished.
Hermione reached the bottom of the stairs and passed the large parlor on the right and headed towards the kitchen where the aroma of breakfast was already slinking down the hallway to greet her. Not surprisingly, the Granger's household was as neat and efficient as their daughter. Breakfast was put out at seven sharp every morning except for Saturday when her parents would go together for a late morning stroll, thus postponing breakfast until ten. It had been this way for as long as Hermione could remember and the schedule was refreshing after half a year away at Hogwarts where her eating plans depended on her study schedule and the wishes of Harry and Ron.
