Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing of note except for a very mischievous puppy and delicious coffee beverage that will be long gone by the time anyone reads this. I certainly do not own the Harry Potter franchise. All the rights, in addition to any characters recognizable belong to JK Rowling, Warner Bros. et al. The aforementioned denial of ownership is meant for this prologue as well as any and all subsequent chapters. The following work is for entertainment purposes only and is fueled by a love for the series, so I would not appreciate incarceration. Mmk?
February 14, 2007
If Hermione were asked to describe her love life in one word, she'd have to choose 'disappointing.' For a young girl who had experienced and accomplished so much in a very short period of time, her love life was certainly lacking. In fact, it had always been this way since the very beginning. First it was Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian quidditch star and all around heartthrob with an unfortunate drooling habit, in the fourth year. Kissing him had never ceased to remind Hermione of an overzealous St. Bernard licking away at her face as if he was trying to commit her features to his memory using only his tongue. It might not have been such a big deal if it wasn't all he wanted to do with her; after all he was a teenage boy. He had been so sweet in his pursuit of her that Hermione felt immensely guilty when she had no choice but to break things off with him, but it had to be done. Surprisingly enough, stimulating conversation was not to be had with the seeker whom she had suspected had taken one too many bludgers to the head. This combined with his lamentable intimacy technique and a grasp of the English language which was tenuous at best, meant that things between the pair could definitely not continue further. Of course Hermione's budding feelings for Ron played no small part in her breakup with Viktor. The enthusiasm from what had started out a promising new fling had quickly faded into disinterest. To this day, whenever anybody heard about her short-lived relationship with the Bulgarian seeker Hermione could only muster a weak, inelegant, "eh" in response.
Then there was Cormac McLaggen, scumbag extraordinaire. Just thinking about him and his omnipresent tongue darting out of his mouth to slowly lap at his own lips made Hermione desperately want a shower and maybe even some bleach for her brain. She had only dated him in the first place to make Ron jealous, what a mistake that had been. He was hardly the charming, well-connected, talented, handsome boy she had thought he'd be. Nothing was worth suffering through a date with Cormac McLaggen and his jumbo sized ego.
However, neither Krum nor McLaggen had been as disappointing as her relationship with Ronald Bilius Weasley. Hermione had wasted years of her life having feelings for him only to have their relationship end abruptly, though even she had to admit it was better that way. Even Hermione had to acknowledge the pattern and type that Rita Skeeter had so astutely written of. She begun to wonder if perhaps she should no longer date quidditch players, no good ever came from it, and she could hardly respect the stupid game anyway. All of her quidditch playing boyfriends had lacked certain essential qualities; maybe it wasn't such a coincidence.
After Ron, each of Hermione's relationships had been more disappointing than the last. This wasn't helped by her so-called 'friends' setting her up with random acquaintances. Ranging from tolerable to ghastly, her would-be suitors did little to move Hermione to anything more than tepid. So, yes, Hermione's love life was massively disappointing.
It wasn't as if Hermione was lonely per se, she had amazing friends and a great job doing what she loved, but she certainly wouldn't have minded having someone with which to share her life. Someone with a keen mind who shared her interests, someone who could challenge her but wouldn't try to change or control her, someone who could love her wholly and completely as she is. Her friends had that, why couldn't she? Though they would protest and declare otherwise, Hermione knew she could no longer rely solely on her friends for companionship. Nearly everyone in her circle from Hogwarts had gotten married, engaged, or had kids, and they didn't need their bushy haired spinster of a friend hanging around them all of the time, desperately hoping to be included. It was just her and Neville now; perhaps they were destined to be single forever, damned to a life of solitary scholarship. Like monks. Tired of thinking such negative thoughts, Hermione's mind wandered to her beloved kneazle, Crookshanks. At the seasoned age of fourteen, he was beginning to slow down, something Hermione wanted to avoid at all cost. She thought a kitten may be able to bring him out of his funk and made a mental note to look into purchasing another kneazle. She briefly thought that two kittens would be even better than the one, they could play together when Crooks wasn't feeling up to it. Plus, she thought it'd be nice to have some activity in her flat and the idea of coming home to a mini pride of cats seemed nice. Hermione mentally sputtered at her train of thought, perhaps she was lonely.
Just like that, Hermione's mind had suddenly brought her back to her surroundings and the reasons for said surroundings. She didn't want to be the clichéd single girl drowning her sorrows at a pub on Valentine's Day, but there she was, all by herself, on her third firewhiskey, contemplating her friend's recent engagement. She was happy for Ginny, she really was, but she couldn't help but be a little sad at the prospect of so much change. Losing another friend to marriage was a bittersweet pill for Hermione to swallow. Everyone was officially moving on with their lives, they had husbands and wives and kids, while Hermione had her cats, and Neville Longbottom as a backup plan. She sighed as she realized just how much their lives had changed after the war and just how much change was sure to come. Hermione mindlessly surveyed the pub, seeing nothing but happy couples and festive red and pink heart-shaped decorations, until she was suddenly ripped out of her reverie by a presence taking the seat to her left at the bar.
Hermione turned to meet the familiar grey eyes and ever-present smirk of Draco Malfoy. She knew that smirk; it told her that he had noticed her solitariness and that she would not escape his ridicule tonight. Hermione took a moment to consider that stupid, shifty grin in front of her, it was always there. If she didn't know any better, she would posit that perhaps that it's just his face's natural set, but she knew all too well that face's many expressions and the intricacies of his smirks. This one told her that she was in for a long evening if she didn't end whatever scheme he was cooking up in his snakelike mind. Thinking it wise to get whatever he was planning done and over with, Hermione nodded her head in acknowledgment toward the slimy git.
He greeted her with a drawling, "Granger, and how are you this lovely evening?"
"Malfoy." She responded curtly. When she saw the vaguely affronted look on Malfoy's pointy face, Hermione knew her response would do little to satisfy his seemingly sadistic need for a row.
"What are you doing here all alone?" He pressed further. "Would this have anything to do with a certain obnoxious best friend of yours getting engaged, thus leaving you a sad spinster on this most romantic of days? Can't say I blame them though, the sight of you knitting a sweater for your decrepit beast of a cat whilst serenading him must be a deeply unsettling image."
This, Hermione thought, is indeed going to be a very long evening.
A/N: Hello and thank you to all who have read this first bit! I hope you'll forgive the lack of action and dialogue but I can assure you it will not stay that way. I merely wanted to illustrate Hermione's headspace and set up several key events before anything important happened.
Quick word of warning; the next chapter will take a significant time jump (relapse?) to the events occurring immediately after the war.
One more warning; other pairings and characters will be prominently featured. This is first and foremost a Dramione fic, but I just couldn't help myself when it came to pairing everybody off! To the best of my knowledge, I've only let four canon couples (alive at the end of the war) stay together. So expect some new and interesting, hopefully, pairings and sorry if you were a fan of the originals.
Sorry for the long A/N, from here on out I'll probably use this space to discuss or clarify what I have written, so if you're not interested feel free to skip them.
Please don't hesitate to review; this is the first time I'm publishing any sort of creative writing so any and all feedback or constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated! Thanks again for reading!