Freedom.

She took a deep breath and stepped outside the Bond Breaking office at the Ministry of Magic with a smile on her face. A warm breeze blew her hair out of her face as she danced down the stone steps. "I haven't felt this good since I was back at Hogwarts with Harry and Ginny!" She said, to no one in particular.

Her marriage to Ron Weasley was less than stellar to begin with. They had decided to marry more out of pressure from his family, especially Molly, and from Harry, than out of true love, but they had fallen in to what Hermione had thought to be a comfortable pattern.

Hermione as a well known potions mistress and Ron testing out the newest racing brooms for the Nimbus Company. They had dinner together, slept in the same bed, and went to movies and out to dinner and parties together.

Apparently that wasn't enough for Ron.

One month ago she came home to find a very pregnant and very smug looking Lavender Brown sitting on her sofa with her husband.

/Flashback/

"Hey Mione," Ron said softly.

"Hi Ron. Hello Lavender."

"Hermione." Lavender said, looking as if she smelled the bad end of a hippogriff.

"Ron, why is Lavender here?" Hermione asked, her voice quivering.

"I need to talk to you alone for a bit, Mione. Please."

"Ronald Bilius Weasley, you will tell me exactly what's going on right this minute!" She demanded.

"Fine, Mione!" He huffed, his ears turning red. "I wanted to do this in private, but since you won't give me the chance to, here it goes. Lavender is pregnant. The baby is mine. I want a divorce from you, so that I can marry her. I want a REAL family, with a REAL wife, who stays home with our CHILDREN."

She knew he tossed in that last bit to hurt her, and it worked. After growing up as an only child, Hermione had always wanted a big family, but after the final battle, with all of the injuries she received, all the curses she was subjected to, she feared she would never conceive. After many visits to many healers and medi-witches, her worst fears were confirmed.

Too many Cruciatus curses had left her body too damaged to ever have children.

Hermione turned and went to the bedroom that she used to share with Ronald, with him on her heels, demanding that she stop and talk to him. She slammed the door in his face with a bang, and with a flick of her wand, warded it so that he couldn't follow her in.

She went to the floo and called the one person that she knew she could trust to help her pack her things without asking too many questions just yet. She could barely admit to herself what was happening, it would be too much to have to admit to another person that her husband didn't even love her.

"Number 12, Grimmauld Place," She said, as she tossed the floo powder into the fireplace.

She stuck her head into the green flames and called, "Remus," into the dark parlor of the home that Remus Lupin, her closes friend, shared with Sirius Black. "Remus?" She said again.

His faded black robs and scuffed shoes barely came into view before she heard him, "Hermione, what's wrong?" He asked, as he walked into the room, concern written all over his face.

"I need your help, Remus," she said, "I need to pack all my things and get out of here as quickly as possible, but my books will take all day if I have to do it alone, and you know I can't leave them here."

"What happened?" He asked, looking confused.

"Please just help me, I'll explain later." She looked up at him, pleading with tears in her eyes.

He nodded and she stepped back toward the bed, allowing him to come through the floo.

"I don't know what's going on, and you can tell me whenever you're ready, but you are coming back to Grimmauld with me, when we're done here." He told her.

"But…" she started.

He held up a hand to silence her.

"Harry would kill me if I just let you go off alone, especially as upset as I can see that you are."

She nodded and he went through the door to the library, and began to carefully pack her books, while she stayed in the bedroom to pack her clothes, photo albums and other personal items.

/End Flashback./

As Hermione Jane Granger, formerly Weasley, stood outside the Ministry of Magic, she felt as if a ton of bricks had been lifted off of her shoulders. She hadn't realized just how miserable she had been in her marriage, until she wasn't married any longer.

She wondered for a moment what she would do with her life. A book worm since the age of 4, she had always lived up to the expectations of others, good grades, prefect, head girl, graduated with honors, married young. Now she was nothing but a divorced potions mistress.

"That's it, no more frumpy, boring Hermione Granger. No more keeping my nose stuck in a book. No more spending every night at home alone while everyone else goes to parties and pubs. No more pretending to be happy to keep everyone else happy. I'm going to do whatever makes me happy and DAMN the rest of the world."

With a wicked grin, and a loud pop, she vanished from the steps of the Ministry.