A/N: The idea popped in to my head and I couldn't stop writing and here it is! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter One: Perfection

"All my life I've been good but now

Ohhh

I'm thinking 'What the hell?'"

What the Hell - Avril Lavigne

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the songs. I'm just fond of them.

Hermione Granger's life was absolutely perfect.

At the tender age of twenty, she could definitely say she has it all.

She held an admirable position at the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures despite her age and experience. She helped save the world when she was 18. Her parents were back from Australia and she managed to visit them every Saturday for brunch. And she had her own flat, complete with Crookshanks and her wonderful boyfriend, Ron Weasley.

Many people would say that Hermione was an ideal model for young witches in the wizarding world and that just made her glow.

Which she was currently doing at the annual Christmas Ball the Ministry held every single year. She wore a dark red strapless ball gown dress that sparkled with silver every time she moved. Her hair was pinned up in curls and she decided to let go a little and wear red lipstick.

At her arm, Ron wore black robes and followed her along as she greeted everyone. After an hour or so of them being there, Ron pulled her off to the side and she asked him what was wrong.

"Nothing is wrong, Hermione. I just want to know if you want champagne or something? Maybe dance? You don't have to greet everyone like it's your duty, you know." He stated. She could tell that he was starting to get agitated and that maybe she should please him for a bit.

But, lately it seemed as though she and Ron wanted different things… Hermione felt that he was getting fed up with her and she found it frustrating since she didn't have any clue what was wrong with her.

"You know I don't drink," she told him, but he just rolled his eyes. "I will dance with you, though." She gave him a small smile. He looked into her eyes before smiling back at her and pulling her on the dance floor.

If only someone didn't interrupt her about three minutes in to their dance to greet her.

"I'm sorry, Ron. This person is a liason from America and I don't want to treat them badly. It's bad for business, you understand, right? I'll dance with you later?" she asked, feeling horribly guilty. Ron just clenched his jaw and walked towards Harry and Ginny.

Hermione felt lonely for a spare moment as she looked at the three of them. She didn't remember the last time she hung out with her own friends. They used to ask her, but she just remembered turning them down because of work she had to do. Which was never finished, now that she thought about it.

Hermione spent the next couple of hours socializing with everyone. After awhile of small talk, she felt the urge to go to the restroom and excused herself from someone the Minister had just introduced her to.

While she was there she had decided to spend the rest of the night with Ron, especially since she wasn't doing a good job of paying attention to him.

He's so understanding, she thought to herself with a smile as she washed her hands. She looked in the mirror to make sure her lipstick looked good for Ron and she decided she was ready to go and find him.

While she was making her way back to the ballroom to look for him she heard a distinct voice that made her stop.

"She's such a prude." Her breathing stopped in her chest. She knew that voice.

"Ron, she's just being herself." Harry said, his words a bit slurred.

"Yeah, she's being her usual selfish self by putting her self and her work before me. In school it was easier to get her attention, but now she's walking around with the Ministry stuck up her arse. It's all she talks about, Harry. It's getting annoying especially when I come home and I want to get away from work, not talk about it." Ron groaned. His words were definitely coming out in a slurred mess.

"Hermione loves what she does, Ron, get over it. Why can't you just tell her all of this yourself?" Ginny told him in her clear and commanding voice. Hermione had to smile at that; at least someone was defending her.

But, she couldn't stop her heart from breaking at all of these confessions. It hurt even more because it was… well, true.

"I would have to make an appointment to talk to her. And it's not just work, but it's also the relationship part that is so fucked up. I want to snog her in our own flat and you know what she says? 'Stop Ron, that's improper.'"

"Really?" Harry said sounding surprised.

"Yes, really. I don't even know if I can be with her after tonight. She just… She doesn't match my standards anymore, you know? It used to be fun, but now its just work. Work, work, WORK. I don't want to be with some girl who doesn't know how to let go and have fun. She doesn't even drink, for Merlin's sake. She just wants to read her books and doesn't even want to cuddle after we've… you know. It's too proper. Everything. I wouldn't mind going out and finding some blonde slag and just shagging her, you know? At least she would want to have some fucking fun." Hermione could barely hear Ginny reprimanding Ron. Tears were falling down her face and fast.

She wasn't sure what she felt.

Betrayed?

Upset?

Heartbroken?

Ron didn't love her as much as she thought. He wouldn't be saying all of these things in a drunken haze if he did. Right?

Suddenly, Hermione felt she was questioning everything about her so-called perfect life.

Who was she? When did work become her top priority in life? She couldn't even remember the last time she did something fun.

She looked around the room at all the witches and wizards with plastered fake smiles on their faces. Was this going to be her life? Political nonsense and office inside jokes?

Hermione then asked herself the most important question she could think of:

Who is Hermione Granger?

"Granger?" a voice brought her back to reality. Through the tears stuck on her eyelashes, she stared back at the concerned face of Draco Malfoy.

"Are you okay?" he hesitantly asked.

She was about to nod, but couldn't find it in her to do so.

"No," her voice cracked. "I'm not okay. I'm suddenly having a midlife crisis, I think…" Was it a midlife crisis? A mid midlife crisis?

"I don't think you're going to die at forty." Draco smirked at her. She sniffled at this, which resulted in her being handed a handkerchief.

"Trouble in paradise?" He asked her, remembering that he saw the Weasels and Potter just around the corner while he walked towards the restroom.

"I may have heard some things I wasn't supposed to. Which is making me question everything. I feel like I'm wasting my life away. I'm only twenty years old and yet I've settled down into a comfortable routine. Merlin knows I haven't done any type of traveling or adventuring besides when I was looking for horcruxes in seventh year. And I was sort of forced to do that, you know?" Draco nodded, furrowing his eyebrows with concern. "I don't even drink! What is wrong with me?" she asked him before blowing her nose into his handkerchief. Draco had to chuckle at that.

"It sounds like you really are having a midlife crisis. You sound like you're living my mum's dream life."

Hermione stared at him with horror in her eyes.

"All I need to do is have kids and I'm done with everything. I won't be able to be young and have fun or anything close to that." She gave a heavy sigh. Draco looked at her stomach and frowned.

"You're not knocked up with Weasley's spawn, are you?" Hermione laughed at that making him smile in return.

"No, not even close. Actually, he's probably going to break up with me after tonight. I-I heard him talking about how much of a prude I am." She bitterly said, looking at the embroidered initials on Draco's handkerchief.

"Hmm, so the both of you are still together?" Draco asked.

"Yes, obviously. I just said that." Hermione bit her bottom lip, trying to not cry some more.

"Why give him the pleasure? Couldn't you break up with him first? You know, control your own destiny type of shit?"

Hermione opened her mouth to tell Draco how ridiculous he was being, but then she realized he wasn't that ridiculous at all.

She could break up with Ron and not only that, but she could go enjoy her twenties and not have to stay at the same job and become a mindless robot like everyone else in the room.

Hermione could control her own destiny and what better time to start than the present.

"You're brilliant, you are." Hermione breathed before standing up straight and fixing her dress. "How do I look?" she asked him.

Draco looked at Hermione and realized that even though she was crying, she looked stunning. Her prim and proper mask had cracked and she actually looked her age; that made him smile.

"Honestly, Hermione, you're beautiful." He told her making her blush as she got a weird feeling in her stomach.

"Th-thank you. Now, I'm going to go make a fool of myself in front of the entire wizarding world. Excuse me." She announced before taking a deep breath in and rounding the corner, walking towards the middle of the room. Draco stared at her, confused at what she was doing. He noticed that she spotted Ron and pulled him along with her.

Oh no.

Before Draco knew it, he was sprinting towards a suddenly determined Hermione. He wasn't sure what she was about to do, but he had a faint idea…

Hermione stopped in the dead center of the room before pulling out her wand.

"Sonorus," she muttered as she pointed her wand at her throat. Suddenly, Draco was able to hear Hermione loud and clear across the large and open room.

Which unfortunately meant that everyone could hear her as well.

"Hermione," He pulled at her arm. "What are you doing?" he whispered frantically at her. Ron glared at Draco, but he was more puzzled by Hermione's actions to really care about the Slytherin. Hermione just shrugged Draco off before beginning to speak to her newfound audience.

"Most of you should know who I am. I'm only one third of the Golden Trio that stopped an evil wizard just a couple years ago," a few people chuckled at that. She smiled and felt the adrenaline rushing through her veins. Her heart thumped strongly against her chest. Not even Ron has made her feel this way, she smiled.

"I now have a fantastic job and a fantastic boyfriend. Most would call my life perfect. Others would say I'm so lucky to have this much so young in life. But, then I looked around the room and I realized I was the only person my age to settle down and I have developed my life into this routine that probably would have continued until I was 152.

"That is until the person next to me made me realize that my life is what you would call boring," The entire room looked at a very uncomfortable Draco. "No, the other person. The ginger one," Their heads turned towards Ron who was beginning to look uncomfortable.

"Hermione, you have to stop now." Draco told her through gritted teeth but she simply ignored him.

"I'm what you call a prude, according to him. I'm boring. I don't know how to have fun. My work isn't fun either if I'm being completely honest. I haven't been anywhere unless it was looking for horcruxes or my parents. I don't drink and I much prefer reading a book than hanging out with a friend," Hermione's voice was getting stronger with each word. Draco couldn't help but think how admirable she was being. Or how idiotic this all was.

"I'm young," she laughed out loud, mainly at herself. "I don't need to tie myself down and I realized that tonight thanks to Ron."

She turned to face the confused redhead and slapped him hard across the face. Everyone gasped, except Draco who had to hold back a laugh.

"That's for calling me a prude and saying you would rather shag a blonde slag," The murmurs began across the room. She turned towards Kingsley – who was looking quite amused. "I quit my job starting now, I'm sorry."

And then finally she looked at Draco and grinned at him with her dazzling teeth and bright red lips.

"Thank you." She said, before grabbing his collar and pulling him towards her into a kiss. Draco opened his eyes in shock before closing them and kissed her back. She pulled away with flushed cheeks and gave him a wink.

"Oh, what the hell, I think I'm going to enjoy being young now!" She told the shocked ballroom before apparating away.