Author's notes:

Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to the wonderful J.K. Rowling

This is obviously fanfiction which means that there will be things in there that are AU and characters might act OOC in your opinion, so beware ;)

This first chapter is a prologue, the actual story will start with the next chapter.

I wish you a pleasant reading


Prologue – past lovers

Part one: Hermione

David Ford, was the name of Hermione's childhood sweetheart. They had known each other since they were toddlers and played in the sandbox. They went to kindergarten together and later to elementary school. David was Hermione's only friend back then and he always protected her when the other children made fun of her.

He was her polar opposite and it was thanks to him that Hermione didn't spent the first 11 years of her life locked up in her room with a book under her nose.

He loved to explore and armed with his blooming imagination they went on treasure hunts in the small forest not far away from their houses or they walked through hostile territory (the garden of Mrs Snyder an elderly neighbour who hated children) in order to rescue Mr. Snuggles (a cat that roamed the neighbourhood and also disliked children) who had been held hostage there.

One day they were pirates, the next explorers and on the third the rulers of the world.

It was with a heavy heart that they parted when Hermione left for Hogwarts, they promised each other to write daily (they kept it going for almost 6 months after all) and to never forget each other. Hermione bravely kissed him goodbye on the cheek.

He was imaginative, sweet, clever and her first friend.

When she came back for the summer holidays they realized with regret that they had already estranged themselves from each other.

-O-O-O-

Gilderoy Lockhart was Hermione's second crush. He was charming, handsome and at least seemed to be brave and clever.

His enthusiasm and charming smile had been her undoing. He was everything she was looking for in a man intelligent, strong, brave and handsome.

If you asked her today she would deny to ever have fallen for him. From this experience however she learned that words and a handsome face can be deceiving sometimes.

-O-O-O-

She shared her first proper kiss with Victor. He was the first one who made her feel desired. Deep down inside, it made her proud that a boy who was a famous Quidditch star and three years her senior was in love with her. She enjoyed how he made her feel.

He was courteous, tender and he simply adored her. It broke her heart when she had to tell him that she didn't feel as strongly about him as he did about her.

-O-O-O-

Soon after that it became clear that Ron liked her more than just a friend. Over time the idea of her and Ron together seemed like a good one and she had talked herself into a crush.

He was her rock when they were on the run that is why she felt as if the rug had been pulled out from under her when he abandoned them.

After the battle and a kiss that was born from desperation and hope they both realized they were better of as friends. He was brave, funny, honest, at times inconsiderate and completely daft – and being with him felt completely wrong.

-O-O-O-

As soon as possible Hermione went to Australia, to find her parents but also to get away from everything. Harry, Ginny, Ron and George came with her.

Her parents were not happy when they found out what happened, but little by little they learned to forgive her, it took them long, however, to trust her again. It helped though, that Hermione spent more time now with them.

And still they had seen what their daughter was capable of and how defenceless they were in comparison. The magic world was one that fascinated them but one they would never truly understand and one that, if they were honest with themselves had estranged them already a long time ago from their only daughter.

-O-O-O-

She went back to Hogwarts to finish her NEWTS. But after that she wasn't quite sure what to do with her life. There were so many interesting and tempting careers.

After several career counselling sessions with Professor McGonagall and Mr Weasley, and after writing several pro and con lists, drawing up hierarchies about what was most important to her, and after studying each and every career that was available, she decided to study magical law.

This way, she could help those who were suppressed by society (especially the house elves whether they wanted her help or not).

-O-O-O-

During her first semester at university she met Brian White. He was just as idealistic and passionate about making the world a little more just as she was herself.

So from study partners they went on and became lovers. Brian was Hermione's first lover and their romance last until her fifth semester. That's when they had to realize that besides a great sense of justice they didn't have much in common.

He was charismatic, outgoing, ambitious, arrogant – and she felt a strange mixture of sadness and relief when they broke up.

-O-O-O-

Towards the end of her studies she decided to spend a semester in Spain. She expected people to be more temperamental than what she was used to, what she didn't expect was the attention she got from the Spanish males. It was new, exciting and flattering.

She fell head over heels for Antonio, her young tutor in Spanish. She had never felt such passion and she had never dared to be this uninhibited before.

Their affair was intense, passionate and short. After she went back to England they tried a long distance relationship but soon they were both caught up in their daily routine and had to realize that without the physical aspects there was not much left in their relationship.

-O-O-O-

Her first job after she finished her studies was at the Ministry's Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. She started working there full of idealistic ideas and enthusiasm.

At the side she worked on her pet project the welfare of the house elves (an issue that divided her co-workers, some thought it was useless and that they enjoyed their enslavement, other's thought she wanted too much in too little time, some thought she was simply eccentric and very few agreed with her on the issue).

Part of her job was also research. She had a lot to learn about magical creatures and often she felt appalled when reading about previous sentences and treatment of them.

It was during one of those research sessions that she met the Unspeakable Alexander Bishop who did research for his top secret mission.

Soon she was enthralled by his intelligence and maturity. He was 25 years older than her and introduced her to expensive red wine and French cuisine. They went to the theatre and to readings together and she absorbed every word he said like a sponge.

After the first phase of infatuation and novelty was over they realized that due to their age difference they were in totally different stages of their life and had different ambitions, dreams and needs.

So after a year they broke up in mutual agreement.

-O-O-O-

Hermione was 27 years old now. Most of her friends were married some even had children already. She couldn't help but feel the sting of jealousy sometimes when she saw the happy couples.

She was still young and she was in no hurry, but she felt that she was more than ready for Mr. Right.


Part two: Bill

Annie Cavanagh was a little muggle girl that Bill and Charlie used to play with before they went to Hogwarts. She came from the village close by the Burrow. She taught them how to ride a bike and play with other peculiar muggle toys.

Back then Bill thought that she was the sweetest girl he had ever seen, with her long blonde hair, her freckles and the dimples in her cheeks when she smiled. She was wild, daring, always good humoured and Bill thought he would marry her one day.

When he had to say goodbye to leave for Hogwarts he gave her a short peck on the cheek. She caught him by surprise when she pressed her lips firmly against his. The moment was ruined, however, when Charlie fell out of a nearby bush making sounds of utter disgust.

When he came back from Hogwarts after his first year he found out that she had moved away with her parents. Even today Bill asks himself from time to time where she lived now and what she was doing and if she still remembered him.

-O-O-O-

During his first four years at Hogwarts Bill was not very popular with the Ladies, only when it came to help them out with schoolwork. He was too serious, too studious, too lanky, simply too uncool. Unlike him his brother Charlie who was easygoing and played Quidditch… successfully, hence he was the epitome of coolness. He had girls following him around in packs giggling and blushing whenever he would just look in their general direction.

During the summer holidays after his fourth year Bill's father seemed to sense his distress. One evening while he was up in his room reading, he came to him with a book in his hand.

"This helped me out a lot when I was your age," his father said handing him the book.

He read the title How to successfully woo witches. He looked up at his Dad with a surprised expression on his face.

His Dad just chuckled and said: "Maybe you should spend more time outside with your siblings and play Quidditch and things like that, you used to enjoy the outdoors a lot."

He took his father's advice to heart and started to spend more time outside with his siblings. All the activity had the good side effect that he started to build up some muscles. In the evenings he studied the book his Dad had given to him. It helped him to understand the female species a lot better.

So feeling better in his own skin and armed with valuable knowledge about girls and a prefect badge pinned to his chest he started his fifth year full of confidence.

It didn't take the girls long to notice the differences in him and soon he was dating Lisa Roberts a fellow Gryffindor in his year.

She was daring, cheeky, fun loving and downright beautiful - and she knew it. Together they had their first, slightly awkward but nevertheless exciting physical contacts with the opposite sex.

Soon her temper started to grate on his nerves and he was glad when she told him that she thought they should break up to go out with other people.

His next girlfriend was Catherine Thompson, she was a Hufflepuff and even a year older than he was.

She was sweet, caring and also remarkably pretty. They dated for several months and soon Bill got bored of her. She was just too sweet and too submissive for his taste. It seemed that he had gone for the total opposite of Lisa.

He desperately tried to think of a way to break up with her in a nice way, if something like that is even possible. Of course Catherine felt that something was wrong and confronted him about it. After awkward stutters and lame explanations and excuses from his side and many tears from hers, they went separate ways. Even weeks after the breakup, he still felt like a jerk.

-O-O-O-

He was very proud when he was made head boy and decided to make the best out of his last year at Hogwarts.

He studied and partied hard. And he found a new girlfriend. Miranda Jackman. A 6th year Ravenclaw prefect. She was intelligent, witty, calm and also very beautiful.

He lost his virginity to her in an empty classroom when they were supposed to be doing rounds. They were considered the perfect couple, but after Bill left Hogwarts their relationship ended more or less naturally.

He had given a lot of thought to what he wanted to do for a living. He carefully studied the different brochures they had received and made priority lists about what was important to him.

Finally he decided that curse breaker would be something he might enjoy. He would be able to travel, it was adventurous and he could use his brain but at the same time it was also quite physical work, yes this job should suit his strengths. And the payment was also considerable.

Soon after he started the apprenticeship, he knew that he had made the right decisions. Also his colleagues had to admit, some more some less envious that he was born for this job.

The next few years were filled with adventure, travel and beautiful women. He'd been with sweet and vivacious girls from Mexico, exotic and graceful women from China and mysterious and passionate women from Egypt.

He lived freely from one day to the next, never committing himself to anyone. That was until he decided to get a desk job in London to be with his family and fight in the war. It was there that he met her.

-O-O-O-

Fleur. Yes she was the most beautiful and delicate flower. He fell for her the first time he saw her and he couldn't believe how lucky he was when she agreed to go on a date with him.

From there everything progressed fast, they spent passionate nights their bodies entangled making oaths of love. Soon they talked about a future together and he proposed.

He had cooked dinner for her and after they had moved from the dining area to the couch he went down on his knee in front of her embracing her slender form with his strong arms and asked her to be his wife. She answered by throwing her arms around him and kissing him long and hard. They spent the rest of the night making love.

Fleur stood by him even though his family, or to be more exact the women of his family refused to accept her, she stood by him after he got attacked by Greyback and was scarred for life, he really thought they would last.

She was strong-willed, proud, loving, capricious and breathtakingly beautiful. He still couldn't believe his luck.

That was until two nights before the wedding she told him that she couldn't go through with it. She loved him but she was too scared to bind herself to someone for the rest of her live. She found she wasn't ready yet to be a wife and mother.

Rationally he knew it was better that she came to this conclusion before and not after the wedding but his insides felt as if his heart had shuttered into a thousand pieces that got stuck inside his skin and organs.

He doubted that he could ever open his heart again and love a woman the way he had loved Fleur.

-O-O-O-

The war kept his mind off of his pain. But after the war was won, grief about the loss of Fleur and all those people who had lost their live fighting, including his own brother, overcame him.

He fled, he couldn't stay. He busied himself with work and after a while he started dating beautiful and sensual women again, he never gave his heart to one of them.