Scars That Heal (Dramione Fanfiction) [COMPLETE]

19 - Flooded

The day after taking the sleeping potion, Hermione woke up feeling well. There were no side effects, and she was in good health after the lack of dreams. But she felt empty. There was a hollow in her brain, where something clearly should have been. It only took her a few moments to realise that she had missed Malfoy. Because she'd taken the potion she had had no need to go and see him, and now she was aware of the dangers of going out at night. Although it allowed her to recover, there wasn't the same feeling of satisfaction she normally got from sneaking out to comfort and be comforted by Malfoy. Hermione ached.

The holidays dried up pretty rapidly once Christmas had ended, and soon Hermione was thrust back into classes again. Her brain was slow, though, and it took a long time for her to get back into the rhythm of normal life at Hogwarts. Hermione was struggling to do her homework, and was plagued by a feeling she'd never really had; stupidity. Her mind seemed to be working against her in every subject - what was the formula for a Buzzing Potion? Where does one find a Bezoar? How did her Charms homework fall out of her bag? Had she even done it in the first place? It didn't matter what she was doing, but she started to fall behind. Even Neville had been surprised when she hadn't given the correct answer to one of her questions.

Hermione kept running the Support Groups, desperate to offer something of value so she didn't feel so utterly useless. It was a comfort to her to see these younger students coming to her for help, and for them to inform her that their problems were easing. Knowing that there was something worth her while made up for the disappointment she felt when another piece of homework was handed back with only average marks.

On one day in early January, McGonagall summoned Hermione to her office. Hermione was nervous; the only other times she had been in there were after one of Harry and Ron's daft escapades. The one time it had been something good was the Time Turner, and that hadn't ended so happily either.

"Do sit down, Miss Granger." Professor McGonagall said, flicking a chair towards her with her wand. Hermione sat down, fiddling with her sleeve cuffs. McGonagall drew her own chair closer to the desk, and straightened up in her seat.

"Now, this isn't going to be a pleasant conversation," she stated, looking at Hermione with unrelenting eyes. "But I need to talk to you about this as it is becoming a concern. Your grades are slipping. In my classes you have gone from an O, down to an A in the last assessed wand work, and the piece of homework you handed in yesterday was a P." The professor handed the offending page to Hermione.

"Your other teachers have noticed changes, too. They have noticed that your general quality of work has gone down, but also little things. Silly grammar errors, lack of attention in some areas of classwork - although I have reason to doubt this one - and so many A's. Has anything changed recently, Miss Granger? Anything I should be aware of with regards to your schoolwork?"

Hermione was stumped. It was a surprise to hear this from a teacher so bluntly, but also to hear that it was actually a very obvious change so suddenly. What could she say? Her sleeping potion couldn't be that much of a change, could it? Hermione blushed, and tried not to cry as she read back through her Transfiguration homework. Professor McGonagall was right - there were too many daft mistakes in it to be ignored.

"I-I've started taking sleep medication," she stammered, gauging her teacher's reaction. Nothing changed. "I've been suffering with nightmares, regarding the Battle... And I'd been taking walks during the night to help relax me. But now I'm taking this potion they've stopped. Which is a good thing, of course, but I can't shake this feeling of somerthing being off. My brain's not as sharp, I'm more easily distracted... I don't know why, but something's changed, and I think it's just a side-effect of the potion. I'm very sorry, Professor, I'll be happy to redo the homework for you, it's absolutely shocking..."