Summery: Being that he was supposed to have graduated years ago, and of course him and Hermione both had missed out on what would have been several years as normal muggle teens, the two had opted to taking a once in a life-time potion of knocking seven years off their lives. Aging couldn't be stalled off forever, but now that Harry and Hermione both looked like their 16 instead of 20+ year old selves, fitting in as ninth graders shouldn't have been too much of a challenge, even if they were magical, in school that was supposed to be entirely muggle.

Chapter 1: The Present Problem

Monday January 09, 2006

Harry gave a playful resistance as Hermione dragged him towards the office that the two of them were to report to. Hermione, the brains of the operation had come up with the plan to put as much distance between them and Great Britain, as far as the Wizarding World was concerned, Harry James Potter was dead. And for the most part, they were right.

"Oh come on Evan, it can't be THAT bad," she giggled, tugging on the boy behind her, who by no means she would have been able to pull along if he was really going against her.

"Right, as if starting off in the middle of the semester, in a small town, WON'T mean I'm talk of the school again," He laughed, but knew that his words would ring true, thankfully, gossip wouldn't revolve around him being "the boy who lived," "the chosen one," or the supposed, "next dark lord." He still had to laugh at the last one, because in all honesty, he had carried a piece of soul from the "bastard who should not be mentioned" in his head for over a decade and a half. It would have been enough to screw with even the lightest of the light wizards on a good day.

She gave him a light slap on the arm, "As if you'll be the ONLY thing to gossip about, Mr. Highhorse, because in case you're forgetting, I'm new here too, and will be just as prone to the speculation as you!" With that, she turned and stuck her tongue out in a childish manner, acting like their teenaged selves should.

"Great, just what the two of us need, more gossip. At least it's only one small town and not an entire country, right?" Thankfully, his bright green eyes were alit with a playful mirth that she hadn't seen in what seemed like years. Sure, they still seemed haunted, but being able to escape their recent adventures seemed like a dream too true, one that he was more than happy to exploit.

Harry's laugh was infectious in nature as he threw his arms around the girl and they strolled off to gather their schedules and other instructions.

It would only be a coincidence that a boy who looked like an identical twin of the Boy Who Had Been Sacrificed, Evan P. Jameson was being enrolled with his cousin, Mia J. Wilkins in a muggle high school half way around the world.

Thankfully, Hermione's parents who had been retrieved from Australia and had their memories returned, agreed to pose as parental figures for the two teens in the small town. A family of four wasn't too much to make waves, now as the residents of Forks would no longer be required to travel to Port Angeles for decent dental care and the more advanced orthodontic work as the new comers who had previously resided in London were certified for both practices.

After the danger of the Wizarding World had been explained, they believed that it was smart for their daughter, along with her friend who had been the center point of the entire war, wish to escape their ties to the past. Harry had another reason for doing so, but knew that Hermione wished to keep that point a secret until a few things could blow over. Her finding the small, rainy town, that sunshine nearly always eluded seemed the perfect spot to start over. Harry loved the fresh greens of the forest, and the surrounding wilderness, the place just seemed to call to his soul.

Hermione had pretty much buried any paper trails that would be able to trace them back to their previous lives, but had been able to make sure they were all properly authenticated with their new identities, including being able to insure her parent's credentials for their careers with their new names. Not to hard with a bit of magic, thankfully.

Evan Jameson frowned at his lunch tray. Most of the students seemed to go along with the popular consensus, as Mike Newton head jock had first pointed out that he sounded too much like an arrogant Brit, had mocked his accent, and made fun of him for not knowing any of the music artists the teen had mentioned when asked about his opinion on the subject. He gave off the general excuse of being exposed only to classical music which of course had lead to further mockery. Hermione slammed her tray down across from him, harping on about idiotic teens. He gave a snot of frustrated amusement. Of COURSE they could pull off acting like the teenagers they now were, they just forgot that they'd have to put of with another whole round of immature, hormonal, judgmental teens and their clique associations.

Hermione sighed, "I really thought it would be better than this," she admitted to Harry, thinking perhaps it hadn't been such a great idea.

"Oh come on," he gave her an amused smile, "it can only go up from here." Harry looked over and saw that there seemed to be another outcast much like themselves, who sat eating alone. Harry nodded in the general direction of the girl, pointing her out to Hermione, "Why don't we go make friends, she looks like she's one smart enough to avoid the hype."

The two of them picked up their lunch trays, Harry's which looked picked at, and Hermione who had knicked his apple and ate that long with her own, as well as a few bites of the plastic looking pizza that had been served.

Hermione stood in front of the girl, who barely seemed to acknowledge the two of them. "Hello, we were wondering if we could sit with you?" Harry was glad that Hermione's social skills always seemed to outshine his own, as he nodded along with her question.

He frowned a bit when the girl merely shrugged, and mumbled out, "Free country, isn't it?" Hermione gave a tight smile, yet sat down across from the teen pulling Harry down next to her.

"I'm Mia, and this is Evan," Hermione gave Harry a sharp nudge at that point.

"Hello." The forced greeting made the girl turn her eyes on him and seem to appraise his looks, but still remained frosty to the two of them.

"Bella Swan."

Harry looked at Hermione and nearly chuckled at her pinched face. If this was as friendly as people were going to get, perhaps they should already start to review other options.