*Hermione's Dream* (Hermione's POV)

I could feel the pain course through my body as Bellatrix pointed her wand at me yelling, 'CRUCIO!' She laughed hysterically as she watched me writhing around on the cold stone floor of Malfoy Manor. It felt like a thousand white-hot knives were piercing through every inch of my skin causing me excruciating pain. I couldn't hold it in any more so I began to scream as Bellatrix cast the Cruciatus Curse at me again. It felt like my head was going to burst due to the intense pain she was inflicting on me. At least it was me and not Harry or Ron, who were like my brothers... I'd rather be in this pain for the rest of my life than let them go through this. I opened my eyes as Bellatrix lifted the spell as smiled wickedly at me as I glared up at her.

"It's time for you to get what you deserve, you filthy little MUDBLOOD!" Bellatrix screeched as she grabbed a handful of my hair and pulled at it making me wince.

"Do what you want to me! I won't tell you anything!" I yelled.

"Are you sure about that?" She asked as she pointed to the door that opened revealing Greyback who dragged a man and a women in behind him before dropping them on the floor. No!

"MUM?! DAD?!" I screamed as I saw who the people were. "LET THEM GO!"

"No. I think we can have some fun here." Said Bellatrix as she pointed her wand at my mother. "AVADA KADAVRA!"

*End of Dream*

(Hermione's POV)

"MUM!!" I screamed as I shot up in my bed. I was shaking violently from the nightmare and I was gasping for air. I could feel my pajamas sticking to my skin as I was covered in sweat. I looked at the clock and saw that it was 10 o'clock in the morning. I shakily pulled back my covers and walked over to my bathroom before showering. After I was clean, I wrapped my red fluffy towel around myself before I left the bathroom. I dried myself quickly and got changed into a clean green bra and matching pants before I began to rummage around in my wardrobe for something decent to wear. I pulled out a pair of black leggings, a purple checkered button-up shirt and my purple sneakers and got changed. I dried my hair with a flick of my wand and kept it down in its natural curls before pocketing my wand. I quickly fed Oreo before I grabbed my broom and left my room.

I walked down the numerous corridors and instead of walking into the Great Hall I walked straight outside. As soon as I stepped outside I stopped walking and mounted my broom before I kicked off from the ground. I began to fly around the school grounds. This was the only way I could relax after a nightmare. I loved the way the cool morning breeze made my hair blow out behind me and made me feel free.

I glanced at my watch and was shocked to see that it was already 12 o'clock! I had been riding on my broom for over an hour and a half!! I missed riding a broom. I made a mental note to make sure that I'd try out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team this year. I used to be terrible on a broom in my first year so I decided to teach myself to ride a broom over the summer with the help of Fred and George Weasley, two of my close friends. So after two years of practice, by my third year I was really good on a broom and took part in a lot of Quidditch games with the Weasleys and Harry at the Burrow.

Instead of flying down to the ground I navigated my broom in the direction of my private dormitory. I hovered in front of my bedroom window and pushed it open before I carefully climbed inside. I closed the window behind me and put my broom away before I walked down into the common room. I didn't realise how hungry I was until I felt my stomach rumble loudly. Knowing that dinner was probably already finished I began to walk in the direction of the Hogwarts kitchens. Once I made it down the numerous corridors I snuck towards the familiar portrait of the bowl of fruit. I looked around to make sure that there was no one else around before I reached out and tickled the pear in the portrait and watched as the pear giggled before it transformed into a brass door knob. I turned the door knob and opened the portrait before I quickly walked in closing the portrait door behind me.

Numerous house elves approached me as soon as I walked in and began asking me what I wanted excitedly.

"Um, could I please have some lunch, I missed lunch and breakfast." I asked.

"Of course, we'd be happy to help! What would miss like?" Asked one of the elves.

"A chicken and bacon sandwich would be perfect." I replied smiling.

"Of course, miss. Please take a seat and we'll be with you in a moment." Said the elf.

I nodded and sat down at the table and a moment later an elf placed a plate in front of me. I thanked the elf and immediately began to eat my sandwich. The elf came back a few seconds later and placed a cup of pumpkin juice on the table for me as well.

Once I finished my food and drink, I said goodbye to the house elves before I left the kitchens. I decided to walk towards the library and grab a book to read and then I'd go and find Ginny and Luna.

The library looked exactly the same as it did in the future except some of the books looked a lot newer than they did. The furniture was a bit different as was the layout of the library. I walked straight towards the magical creatures section and pulled out an old dusty book called, 'Wolfkind ~ The mythical, the magical and the dangerous' I opened the cover and looked at the contents. There was things about the origin of wolves, different breeds, werewolves, wolf's mates and a lot more. I took the book over to the front desk and smiled at the younger version of Madam Prince.

"So you must be one of the new students, Professor Dumbledore has told the whole staff about you and your friends." Said Madam Prince as she looked at me curiously.

"Yes, I'm Hermione Granger." I said.

"It's nice to meet you, Miss Granger. Welcome to Hogwarts." She said.

"Thank you." I replied as I handed the book over so she could note that it was being taken out of the library.

"Here you go, have a good day." Said Madam Prince as she handed me the book.

"I will, you too." I said before I walked out of the library.

I stopped outside the library doors and tried to think where Ginny and Luna would be. I decided to try the Ravenclaw common room first. I travelled to the west of the castle and up the spiral staircase until I reached a door without a doorknob or keyhole, but a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle. I remembered that in order to enter the room, a person must answer a riddle asked by the eagle knocker. I reached out and knocked on the door using the eagle knocker.

"Which came first, the Phoenix or the flame?" Asked the eagle knocker.

I stood for a moment trying to think. The life cycle of the Phoenix... wait! A cycle or chain or circle! "A circle has no beginning." I answered.

I smiled when the door opened allowing me to enter. I walked in and looked around the room. I've been in here a lot in the future and it still looks the same. It's a wide, circular room with a midnight blue carpet, arched windows hung with blue and bronze silks, and a domed ceiling painted with stars. During the day, Ravenclaw students have an excellent view of the school grounds, including the lake, Forbidden Forest, Quidditch pitch, Herbology gardens and the surrounding mountains. The room is furnished with tables, chairs, and bookcases; and by the door leading up to the dormitories stands a tall statue of Rowena Ravenclaw made of white marble. I walked through the common room and up the dormitory stairs.

I could hear muffled voices from behind one of the girls dormitory doors and I immediately recognised the voices as Luna's and Ginny's. I knocked on the door and poked my head in.

"Heys guys!" I said smiling.

"Hey! Where were you at breakfast?" Asked Ginny.

"And at lunch?" Added Luna.

"Well, I may have slept in and I also had a nightmare so I went on a morning broom ride to clear my head and ended up missing lunch but I did get some food from the kitchens." I replied after I sat down on Luna's bed with Ginny and Luna.

"What was the nightmare about?" Asked Ginny worriedly.

"The usual. My Parents' deaths and Bellatrix." I replied.

"Are you okay?" Asked Luna who looked at me with a concerned look.

"Yeah I'm fine, don't worry about it." I said giving them a forced smile.

"No. Everything's not okay. I can see there's something bothering you, 'Mione." Said Ginny as she turned to look at me properly whilst Luna did the same. I sighed out loud and tried to avoid eye contact with them.

"It's just... I don't know how I'm going to cope seeing Bellatrix and all the other younger death eaters here every day." I said.

"Oh I didn't think about that. I guess you're right." Said Ginny.

"Yeah. But if we think about it Bellatrix and the other soon-to-be death eaters haven't actually done all the bad stuff that they've done it our time yet. So there's always a chance of them changing to the good side." Said Luna.

"Yes, but I highly doubt that they would change. I mean they've been raised to hate muggleborns and to support Voldemort all their lives." I said.

"I guess you have a point there, 'Mione." Replied Ginny.

"Are you sure you'll be alright seeing Bellatrix and the other death eaters?" Asked Luna.

"Yeah I'll be fine. And if they harass me then I'll go all animagus wolf-form on them." I replied grinning wickedly.

"Of course! You get really scary when you go wolf-form on people." Said Ginny.

"Yeah, your eyes turn bright silver, your skin goes really pale, your veins turn black, you start to breath heavily and you also growl exactly like a wolf." Said Luna.

"Yeah and that's whilst you're still in your human form, you're truly terrifying when you're actually in your wolf form." Replied Ginny.

"I'm not that scary! I only scare those I want to scare." I said.

"Well the first time that I saw you go wolf-form on someone it scared the crap out of me!" Said Ginny which caused me to giggle along with Luna.

"Yeah I remember that day, Malfoy was insulting the Weasleys and Hermione over here got incredibly angry and tackled Malfoy to the floor and growled at him. Ginny got so scared that she screamed and fell over in shock." Said Luna who began laughing at the memory along with Ginny and I.

"That was a good day. Although both Harry, Ron, Fred and George had to pull me off of Malfoy." I said.

"Yeah. You're seriously strong!" Replied Ginny.

"That's true, during the war, you tackled Finir Greyback to the ground when he was approaching Fred, George and Charlie from behind. And then you fought him on your own." Said Luna.

"Yeah you saved three of my brothers that day and snapped Greyback's neck with one swift movement." Replied Ginny.

"You're the only person that was able to kill him. No one lasts more than a minute fighting Greyback but you were able to kill him." Said Luna.

I smiled at the both of them and we sat in silence for the next few minutes before Ginny finally spoke up. "So, can you believe that school starts tomorrow and we'll get to see James and the others." Said Ginny.

"Well I've already met them but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing them again and getting to know them better." I said.

"Yeah, personally I can't wait to meet Remus. You know because he's also a werewolf like me." Said Luna blushing slightly.

"Sure." Said Ginny who was smirking at Luna.

"What?!" Asked Luna as she blushed a darker red.

"Oh nothing." I said as Ginny and I shared a knowing look.

"No what is it?" Asked Luna.

"Oh you'll realise eventually." I replied.

"Realise what?!" Said Luna.

"So 'Mione, what do you want to do today?" Asked Ginny turning to face me and ignoring Luna's question.

"Well, we could always hang out by the lake and go swimming? I mean it's actually really warm outside." I suggested.

"Brilliant! We'll all go and get changed into our swimming costumes and we'll meet down at the lake in ten minutes?" Said Ginny.

"Sounds good." Replied Luna.

"Okay! Let's go!" I said as I climbed off of Luna's bed and walked to the door with Ginny following close behind me.

Once Ginny and I had left Ravenclaw tower we ran in opposite directions to our respective common rooms. As soon as I arrived in my common room, I ran upstairs to my dormitory and began rummaging around in my wardrobe for one of my swimming costumes. I pulled out my red bikini and got changed so that I was wearing my red bikini under a pair of denim shorts and a large purple shirt. I grabbed a towel and left the room.

It only took a few minutes to walk down to the lake and when I got there I couldn't see Luna or Ginny anywhere so I guessed that they weren't down here yet. I walked near the edge of the lake and laid my towel down on the ground before I removed my shoes, shorts and my shirt which left me in just my bikini. I looked up and waved Luna over to where I was standing when I saw her walking towards the lake.

"Hey! You got down here fast!" Said Luna as she walked over to me.

"Yeah well, I basically ran all the way to my common room." I replied grinning at her as she laid her towel down beside mine on the ground.

"Well that explains it. Oh look, Ginny's coming." Said Luna as she pointed towards the castle where Ginny was jogging towards us.

"Oh hi Ginny!" I yelled as I waved at her.

"Hey guys!" She replied when she got closer to us.

"Shall we go into the lake?" Asked Luna who was now stood in her white bikini.

"Yeah let's go!" Said Ginny who was wearing a navy blue bikini.

I grabbed Luna's left hand and Ginny's right hand and pulled them to the edge of the lake.

"On three! One, two, three!" I yelled as we jumped straight into the cold water.

As soon as my head was above the water I started laughing along with Ginny and Luna. Ginny turned to Luna and I and splashed us. We all laughed as we splashed each other like crazy.

We messed around in the water for a while longer before we laid on our towels and sunbathed which effectively dried us. After an hour and a half it was already three o'clock which meant we only had two hours before the other students would be arriving and two hours before the start of term feast.

"Guys we should really be going and getting ready for the start of term feast." Said Luna.

"Yeah you're right." I said as I stood up and began to pull my shirt and shorts on over my swimming costume.

"Come on let's go." Said Ginny. We grabbed our towels and walked back up to the castle where we walked in opposite directions to our respective common rooms.

As soon as I arrived at my private dormitory I stripped off my dirty clothes and my swimsuit and climbed into the shower.

After I washed my hair and washed the dirt off of my body I climbed out of the shower and got dressed into my white school shirt, my grey skirt (that reached my mid thigh), my knee high socks, my Gryffindor tie, my black sneakers and my black Gryffindor robes with the Gryffindor crest on them. I magically straightened my hair and then pocketed my wand before I left my room.