For those of you that have read this before you should know that I have the permission of the author to repost and edit as I see fit. This was one of my fav stories and I was so upset when it was pulled. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did :) Disclaimer - lol, I think we all know the characters don't belong to me!
Hermione Granger was sat rather uncomfortably in the over crowded section that was second class air travel, surrounded by screaming children, leering old men and a plethora of other annoyances, she had for the time being however managed to push her irritation aside in order to focus her thoughts on her life for the previous 12 months. It had been a hectic year, what with the defeat of the darkest wizard in all time, Voldemort, and trying (although not very well) to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of the final battle. Losing so many friends and loved ones had been inevitable, however she never would have thought that one of them would have been Ron, her dearest friend and the love of her life. She remembered fighting alongside him against Bellatrix Lestrange and Antonin Dolohov as they tried to provide a cover for Harry to inch ever closer to the enemy, all the flashes of red and green lights erupting from various wands aiming at them, weaving and dodging spells and then Harry screaming "NO…..", she had turned around and seen Ron on the floor not moving, it hadn't seemed real. There had been no sign other than the fact that he wouldn't wake up to show that anything untoward had happened, there had been no blood to make it seem as though it had actually happened. Her voice had become hoarse with screams as she had desperately begged him to wake up, pleaded with him to 'come back to her', and still he remained quiet and still. It was surprising that she had made it out alive with her inattention to the battle at that moment.
After Harry had defeated Voldemort nothing had made sense, she didn't remember Harry taking her to the infirmary, nor did she pay attention to the fact that others had gone and would never be coming back. She was numb, unable to think. It had been as though her mind was covered in a blanket of thick fog and only pain and emptiness had been allowed to penetrate it. Hermione had been known to utter sentences such as "I don't need to go to the library, I'm fine here" during these few early months after Ron's death, which had truly alerted Harry to the depths of despair she had sunk to . It had taken weeks before anyone had really gotten through to her. Harry had claimed that he needed her, he couldn't manage without her, a stupid ploy but one which had, in the end, helped as Hermione had never been able to turn down Harry when he needed help.
"I can't do this with out you 'Mione. I know it hurts, I lost him too. But Ron would not want to see you like this. It's time to start living again." Harry was so supportive and helpful that she began to feel like she was the one being helped and that had not sat well with her. She needed to help Harry and start to try to live again, although she had been finding it increasingly difficult living at Grimmauld Place as there were to many things that reminders of the past. She had managed to break out of her depression slightly in order to help Harry explain things to the new minister of magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, things that they had been doing over the previous year on the run that had helped with their victory.
After many such talks she realised that she was at a loss as to what to do next which was when Minerva McGonagall had offered her a chance to take her N.E.W.T.s. She had jumped at the chance, immersing herself in her studies in order to forget the many bad memories that kept running around her head, it also helped having Professor McGonagall personally tutor her in the art of becoming an animagi as this kept her extremely busy and perhaps to tired to think on having lost so much.
Having taken her exams a mere three months after studying she was pleased with her very high scores and was offered a job at the ministry. However she felt unable to do this until she had sorted through her more important jobs, such as the retrieval of her parents. Who were still under the impression that they had no daughter.
Harry had offered to come with her but as he had just started his training as an Auror she felt that she could well manage on her own.
"I'll be fine Harry. Honestly. You have to start looking after yourself for once. But don't worry I will keep in touch."
"You'd better else I will come looking for you!" he said giving her a bone crushing hug.
She travelled by port key to Melton in Australia on a very hot day in December where she quickly met with ministry officials in the hope that they would be able to help her locate her parents. As it happened they were very helpful and managed to put her in contact with a lovely witch (she was reminded very much of a slightly older Molly Weasley), who worked in immigration and was promptly able to locate them for her.
It was perhaps with some trepidation that Hermione removed the memory charms from her parents, who were very angry to begin with. It took a whole month before they felt able to talk properly, by which time they had decided to stay in Australia permanently with the hope that Hermione would visit often. This is perhaps where her most important decision to date was made, as her parents expressed their wish that their daughter would also gain a muggle education as well as a magical one.
Hermione felt that for them she could do this but explained that she did not want to go to school in England as there were too many bad memories there for her at the moment. And thus the decision was made that she would stay with her mother's brother, Charlie Swan, in the small town of Forks, in America. From vague memories of her past she remembered Forks as a very wet and cold area, but as she herself was used to this type of weather she was not much bothered by that, in fact sometimes she enjoyed walking in the rain, it helped her to think if she became too agitated. And after all a simple warming charm would help her if she was too cold.
Hermione glanced up and noticed that she had almost arrived. She began to mentally prepare herself for meeting her Uncle Charlie for the first time in over ten years. It had been a big decision to tell him that she was also a witch, however Kingsley had assured her that as she would be living with him for at least a year it would be necessary to explain the arrival of owls and other strange things that he might encounter, after all muggle born parents were aware of magic and were able to keep the secret and so an uncle should pose no problems.
She spotted him at the side of the road standing next to a police car and only then remembered that he was the police chief.
"Hello uncle Charlie," she whispered quietly, taking in his appearance and mentally comparing it to her memories. She decided that he had not changed much at all.
"Hermione!" he exclaimed, "Well! You've certainly grown up. I'm looking forward to having you here."
They walked round to their respective sides of the car and climbed in. It felt awkward for Hermione as she really knew very little of her uncle, but then he began to put her at ease.
"I've got your room ready for you and your mom said that you would like to finish a year at school even though you're older, so I have enrolled you at high school. Although why she thinks you need to do that when you got such high marks at your fancy boarding school, I don't know."
"Erm… about that. You see…. I didn't go to a normal school as such. But I will explain when we arrive."
After an hour drive making small talk they arrived at a small two up two down house surrounded by forests. To Hermione it was very pretty and she was looking forward to trying to move on with her life. "So Mione, what's this you wanted to tell me about school?" Her Uncle Charlie began as soon as they had arrived in the kitchen.
"Well, you see the school I went to is a school of magic. It's called Hogwarts actually and I was accepted in at the age of eleven, when it was known that I was a witch."
"Right…" Charlie was looking extremely sceptical with one eyebrow raised and a slight twitch playing about his mouth, no doubt wondering what he had got himself into. "Perhaps you had more of a breakdown than I suspected, I know a nice doctor that you can see so don't worry we'll get you sorted."
"I'm not crazy, here look." Hermione pulled out her wand and pointed it at the trunk she had just pulled out of her pocket. "Engorgio," she said and Charlie was looking in astonishment at the now very large trunk sitting in his kitchen.
"Here Uncle, let me explain more." And so saying she pulled out a photo album and proceeded to explain to him all the about the wizarding world. He appeared fascinated with the moving pictures of herself and friends who were waving merrily up at him. When it came to talking about the war she just skipped over the areas that she thought would perhaps be too hard to explain. Finally she stopped talking and looked at her uncle.
"You're not mad are you?" she asked.
"No, it's just a lot to take in right now. So you're a witch, huh?"
"I know it's not what you're used to but I promise to only use it when necessary, and also it could make your life a bit easier. For example.." she pointed her wand to the kitchen and said "Scorgify." And Charlie was again astonished to find that his kitchen was extremely clean.
"Well that will certainly come in handy," he replied. "Come on, let's get you settled. You're sleeping in Bella's room, but of course she hasn't stayed here for years now. You know I think she'll be sixteen soon."
Bella being Hermione's cousin whom she hadn't seen since she was very young so only remembered her being a very clumsy little girl with dark hair and large brown eyes that were very similar to her own. She was shown to a small room with a single bed, desk and wardrobe, with an old rocking chair in the corner. After seeing the room Hermione was made aware that her Uncle Charlie had never really given up hope that his wife and daughter would return. It made her feel slightly out of place and she hoped that her presence would be good for him. Perhaps it would make him move on a bit with his life. Perhaps it was time for her to move on as well.
"Would you mind if I changed it a bit Uncle Charlie?"
"Nope, but if you are going to use magic I would like to watch."
"Sure."
Hermione pointed her wand and began muttering incantations. Soon the room was three times the size it had been with crimson and gold decorations, the bed had been made slightly larger with crimson coverings and silk golden curtains hung at the windows, which felt much better to Hermione, what with being a Gryffindor and all. She had left plenty of space to set up her potions equipment, for of course she would not neglect any area of study and she had plans to work on a new potion, and of course plenty of book shelves were added, which she immediately filled with her enormous collection. For the final touch she added the magical photos of herself and friends who were still waving merrily up at her. Once she had finished she looked at her uncle and asked what he thought about the room.
"Well, it's great, I wish I could do that."
"You know, you can't tell the muggles about me, don't you uncle?"
"Muggles?"
"Non-magical people."
"Sure, who would believe me anyway?" And with that Charlie left her to settle in.
She spent the rest of the week settling in and writing to her friends whom she had neglected long enough.
Dear Harry, I hope this finds you well. I found my parents and they have decided to stay in Australia. Don't worry they are happy and we parted on good terms. I say parted because I am no longer in Australia, but America with my uncle Charlie. I am fine I assure you. However I decided that I needed some time to myself to help me recover from everything and while I am here I am going to finish a muggle education. Yes, I know! But it wouldn't be me if I couldn't study something. How are things with Ginny and the Weasley's ? I do miss everyone. But I also think that this will be good for me. Which reminds me could you ask Kingsley if he knows of any magical areas in America? I am actually in a small town called Forks in Washington State, so if there is anywhere remotely magical near here ,I would appreciate it if you could let me know.
Love,
Hermione
Dear Ginny,
If you have talked to Harry then you probably know that I won't be coming home for a while, but don't worry I am going to keep in constant contact with you! I miss you but this is something that I need to do and I hope you won't hate me for it. I am glad that you are going to finish your education before moving in with Harry, it's very important that you have qualifications that will set you up for life. I will write when I have more news (no there's nothing happening to me at the moment, probably because I am not in close proximity to my worthwhile friends!).
Love,
Hermione
After writing to Harry and Ginny Hermione set about making dinner for herself and Charlie. He was actually pretty easy to live with as he was always at work, or out fishing with his friend Billy Black. Whilst she was cooking she reflected that tomorrow would be her first day of muggle school. She admitted to feeling apprehensive as it had been a long time since she had spent a serious amount of time around muggles. To all accounts and purposes, the school was fairly small with just under four hundred pupils, so it was going to be extremely different, comparing it to Hogwarts.
Charlie had managed to procure her most of the books that were on the syllabus and being who she was, she had already read them all and was very sure that she now knew them all by heart. She had also explained to Charlie about most of the war that she had been through and found that he was very easy to talk to. He didn't dismiss her feelings about her friends death, and he was practical about how to begin her life again. To Hermione his practical mind was a great asset, she respected his work ethic as she had her own sense of what was right, however she did feel he worked maybe a little bit too hard, then realizing that this was extremely hypocritical of her, she promptly decided that each person had their own ways of coping.
After a quiet dinner with Charlie she went to her room to study but found her mind full of the past, and wishing desperately that Ron and Harry were with her. She spent considerable time sorting through her feelings about starting a new school, moving to a new town and with the myriad of emotions that she was going through, it was no wonder that she ended up crying into her pillow before she fell asleep. She did not notice Charlie come later to tuck her in and sigh heavily, while thinking that life maybe a lot more interesting in the future and wondering whether he was ready for it, before he went to bed.