Summary: Hermione has left her old life behind her. She graduated top of her class in her eighth year of Hogwarts and she's traveled to Australia to piece together her life once more. But a sudden meeting with a certain blonde haired Slytherin, will throw everything out of whack. She's determined to forget everything about the war, move on and be happy with her new job and her parents memories back. He's determined to make up for everything he ever did to her. EWE DHR. Set Post-Hogwarts.

Disclaimer: I am not JKR I do not own the characters or the plot even really, but y'know, don't steal.

Some say that 90% of people are no longer associated with the people they used to call best friends. After reading up on it, most of the time these people become strangers after school, and the same could be said for Hermione Granger.

After the war, Hermione went back to Hogwarts to begin what they called "eighth year", leaving behind Harry, Ron and Ginny. Ron's argument was that Hermione was too focused on bettering herself; and her knowledge, than improving their withering relationship.

Hermione's argument was, how else was she supposed to get herself somewhere in life when she felt like there was living for someone else. She loved him, don't get her wrong, she adored Ronald Weasley. She had since she was 13 years old. But he didn't provide the stimulation that she needed. She would try to start arguments to get the feelings flowing, but in the end he would concede to her and grab a fire whiskey to drown out his sorrows. Hermione, on the other hand, would go back and cook dinner or make their beds. They hadn't slept in the same bed for months.

Harry on the other hand was busy planning a wedding, dealing with a slightly jealous fiancee, and getting used to the fact that he was the wizarding world's saviour. Hermione couldn't blame him for being preoccupied, but she needed her best friend and he couldn't be there for her, further fuelling her desire to go back to Hogwarts and graduate properly. It would be something to distract her from her loneliness.

And while Ginny was still Hermione's best female friend, the younger redhead did let her jealousy control her sharp tongue quite often. Neither Harry nor Hermione wanted to disclose what had happened during the war, due to the fact that it was too much for them to bear, and by telling someone they would be passing off that stressful experience to everyone else. Apparently this was a sore spot for Ginny, as she hissed hateful things to Hermione on occasion. Unfortunately, even though Hermione was used to being taunted and teased, it didn't mean that it didn't hurt her infinitely. There were days when Hermione would go back to her and Ron's apartment, cook dinner for the both of them and just crawl into bed crying.

She felt domesticated and lost. As a child, Hermione was certain that she'd one day become someone incredibly important to the wizarding world, and if not she'd have a big role in improving it. She often told her parents that she would never give up on her dreams for anything. Not for a boy, not for her friends (important as they were at the time, even they could not put a hold on her dreams), not for anything.

But somehow, she very nearly had. She nearly gave it all up to follow Harry and Ron. It took a very heated argument with Ginny, coming home to a drunk Ron expecting dinner, and a placid Harry who told her to just "deal with it", to make up her mind. A week after she made up her mind, two days before the summer ended, she packed her bags and left for the Leaky Cauldron.

She'd left a note for Ron on the table and had owled Harry and Ginny, letting them know where she was, that she was safe and that she needed to do this, for her. She needed to get away, maybe indefinitely, maybe not.

Shortly after arriving at the Leaky Cauldron she'd received two owls. One was an apology from Ginny. The tears marring the ink showed how clearly she was sorry, but it wasn't good enough. The other contained a picture. A wizarding picture of Ron ramming himself into some unrecognisable witch. Hermione felt a pang in her heart, for she had been in love with Ron for years, but she didn't feel the indescribable sadness she thought she would. The burning that signified tears never showed, and though she was sad, it really didn't bother her.

And that was the start of Hermione's new life. Two days later she left for Hogwarts to begin her eighth year.

During that year, Hermione really found herself. She found a different lot of friends, but didn't let them get too close. She kept them at an arms length so she could stay focused. She discovered that her passion for the care of magical creatures was still strong, but that her passion for the welfare of mistreated witches and wizards - particularly squibs - was stronger. She decided that she wanted to become a lawyer. Maybe a judge, but the word lawyer was prevalent in her mind.

Hermione aced her NEWTS with the highest score since Lily Potter, and graduated from Hogwarts with honours. She said goodbye to her temporary Hogwarts friends and jumped on a plane… to Australia. First she was going to find her parents and restore their memories. Then her life would truly begin.
Little did she know however, a sneaky little snake was already based in Australia. He'd seen the error of his ways and had heard that Hermione's parents had been obliviated. He wanted to fix something that he felt that he had partly caused. He wanted to do something good to make up for not doing anything while she was being tortured. But he was stalling, he didn't want to ruin things and all it took was one little encounter to shake his entire life up.

A/N: So I posted this ages and ages ago and I finally got the inspiration to edit and update it. I hope that you guys find this easier to read and I truly, truly hope you enjoy it because I'm a terrible writer and I desperately need an ego boost, yo. So R&R peeps!