Unforeseen Outcomes

Chapter 6- Hermione

Hermione sat between Ginny and Luna at dinner in the Great Hall, sipping on the herbal tea Madame Pomfrey had given her after her breakdown in DADA. It was cold now, and tasted like liquid cinnamon, but was doing it's job to calm her nerves.

"Are you feeling better Hermione?" Luna asks her. "Can I get you anything?"

"I'm alright Luna, thank you for asking."

She forces a smile on to her face as Luna turns her attention back to Rolf on the other side of her. They make such a cute couple, both having such gentle personalities. They were all seated at the Gryffindor table this evening, though usually most people stick to the tables of their own houses, but it's never been a technical rule. Even though Luna is a Ravenclaw, she's been sitting with them for years so they didn't really mind when she started bringing her Hufflepuff boyfriend with her.

He seems nice enough too, although Hermione hasn't really had enough time to get to know him yet. He and Luna had met over the summer when her garden had an infestation of flobberworms and he helped to remove them. He has a strong passion for animals, and from what Ginny tells her Hagrid's pretty fond of him. In a way he reminds her of her friend Neville Longbottom, who has a strong passion for herbology and plants in general.

"You know," Rolf says to her, "if the tea doesn't work I'm sure you could ask Slughorn to whip up some Calming Drought for you, it's main ingredient is crocodile heart which has been proven to have healing benefits."

"Thank you, I'll definitely keep that in mind." she promised.

She was still shaky from facing the boggart, the image of Ron and Harry lying dead at her feet still burned into her mind. It was a 180 turn from the last time she faced the creature, when her biggest fear was receiving a failing grade from Professor McGonagall.

Not that she didn't understand  what the boggart showed her, certainly the idea of her loved ones dying is something anyone would be terrified of, but it was more complex than that. Hermione has always been afraid of failure and she believed that even this was an extension of that. She wasn't exclusively scared of her best friends dying, she was scared of failing them and thus becoming the cause of their deaths.

"If you guys excuse me, I think I'm going to go finish up my homework."

She dismissed herself from the rest of dinner and spent the next few hours cuddled up on her bed with Crookshanks, staring up at the ceiling replaying that afternoon in her head. Eventually she sits up, searches for some parchment and ink, and drafts a short letter to a certain redhead.

Dear Ronald,

I miss you. Both of you, of course. Hogwarts just isn't the same without you guys here. Is there any chance you could take some time off and come visit? I would love to see you, and I'm sure Ginny and the gang would be thrilled to see you both. Write me when you can.

All my love,

Hermione

She puts on her cloak and leaves Gryffindor tower to go to the owlery and deliver the letter. She borrows the Weasley owl, Errol, knowing they won't mind. After that she decides to follow Rolf's advice and stop by Slughorn's office for Calming Drought.

She lightly knocks on the door and sees shadow move under the door as opens it.

"Hello Ms. Granger, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Slughorn asks when she shows up at his office.

The room is warm, and has a faint scent of butterbeer and pumpkin pie to it, similar to what she imagines Christmas to smell like if it were a candle. Slughorn kind of reminds her of Santa Claus actually, what with the little belly and jolly smile.

"Hello Professor, I apologize for visiting so late," she begins. "But I was wondering if you could help me with a few things."

"Why of course, what can I do for you child?"

"Well firstly, do you happen to have any Calming Drought on hand? I've had a bit of an anxiety inducing day and would greatly appreciate it as Poppy's tea did not help me much."

"Yes, I think I have some in the cupboard."

He hands her a small vial labelled 'Calming Drought: Medium Strength' and hands it to her.

"Professor Morrell informed me of today's incident, so anything I could do to help," he smiles. "Was there something else you needed?"

"Yes, Professor. Lately I've been having some very vivid nightmares and I haven't been able to get much sleep. Would it be possible to also get some Potion for Dreamless Sleep?" she implores.

"Dreamless Sleep potion, hmm," he ponders her request. "I don't believe I have any on hand at the moment, but if you stop by tomorrow after dinner I can have a freshly brewed cauldron ready for you."

"Thank you, sir."

"Oh think nothing of it my dear, I'll see you tomorrow."

Hermione dismisses herself and returns to her dorm to get some sleep, the calming drought should be enough to ensure her dreams don't get out of hand for tonight.

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The next morning she's eating breakfast at the Gryffindor table when she feels a tap on her shoulder from behind. Turning around she comes face to face with Astoria, muffin in one hand and parchment in the other.

"Hey Hermione," Astoria greeted her sheepishly. "Are you having a pleasant morning?"

She's dressed in her green Slytherin robes, hair pinned half up, face traced with apprehension.

"Hello Astoria, " she says taken aback. "I'm well, thank you. Is there something wrong?"

"Yes actually," Astoria hesitates. "I appear to have misplaced my potions book and was unable to finish the homework. I was hoping you'd be willing to lend me your book? I'll return it as soon as I'm done, I just need to purchase a new one but Slughorn's all out and I need to wait for him to order extras."

"Of course," Hermione reaches into her bag, pulling out her copy. "It's no problem."

"You're a saint. I've looked everywhere for my copy but it's like it fell off the face of the Earth."

"I'll keep an eye out for it. The homework wasn't very hard, you should be able to finish it soon. If you'd like you can join me during study hour and share my book until you get yours replaced." she offers.

"That would be brilliant!" exclaimed Astoria, face lighting up. "Why don't we walk to Potions together now, we'll get first pick of the cauldrons."

"Let's go." Hermione giggled as the two girls walk to class.