The Song of a Nightingale

Summary: After throwing herself in front of Harry, two curses collide and changes time itself. Twenty three year old, Hermione Granger, finds herself lost in practically a different world, centuries after her own time. Starts in Season 2 of Ghost Whisperer

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Ghost Whisperer, or anything mentioned in this fic. Nothing in this belongs to me. Enjoy please. Starts in Season 2 Episode 15. Warning, Hermione won't immediately be a big part of the plot for Mean Ghost. She'll just be a background character at first really.

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Chapter 1: Grandview

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PROTEGO!

AVADA KADEVRA!

Her eyes snapped open as she bolted upright. Her battle instincts kicked in and she reached for the wand she always kept somewhere close; in this case, it was under her pillow. Her fingers grasped her wand, reveling at the familiar feeling of the smooth wood. Her heartbeat sounded like a drum in her mind as her loud scream, full of desperation and despair, and a deeper, snake-like voice, full of fury and outrage, echoing with her own, rang in her ears. Bright flashes of green, red, and a million different other colors flowed through her mind, the echoes of curses being flung.

''It's alright…. You're alright. No one's here to hurt you,'' Hermione Granger sighed shakily, lowering her wand after her eyes scanned the room briefly but thoroughly, finding nothing in the room with the exception of a few card board boxes, holding her packed things inside.

Lifting a hand, the twenty three year old sighed, running a hand through her messy, thick brown hair. She grimaced in disgust, drawing her hand back when she felt a wetness in her hair from sweat. The rest of her was probably covered in it as well. With another sigh, this one a bit lighter, she slipped off the thin white mattress, gathering a quick outfit and stepping into the bathroom. She knew from experience that she wouldn't feel any better until after a nice, cold shower.

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''This looks peaceful,'' Hermione mumbled, raising her eyebrows as she drove into the town in her cute little punch bug car, painted a light silver color.

Grandview was a beautiful place, even she had to admit. It had an air of peace that was rarely seen by Hermione. However, there was one problem with it, a single teensy, tiny problem. Actually, it really wasn't a small problem at all; it was huge. The problem? Well, there wasn't just the living there. A good number of ghosts, the undead, were also present. They were milling about, mixing with the living crowds, each attached to a specific place or person in the crowd.

After parking her car, Hermione slipped out and popped the back open. A smile lit up her face as her eyes landed on the various boxes neatly stacked in the back of her car, each one taped closed carefully with a stamp of her initials, H. J. G, on the top. Remembering exactly which boxes held what items, she reached inside and picked up two of them, stacking them up in her arms. She paused as she turned studying her new shop. It was sort of small but it was nice. There was no sign above it, the wood bare and unnamed.

Hermione crossed the sidewalk and opened the door, balancing the two boxes in one arm. There was a light twinkling sound as the door slid open and she glanced up as she walked inside to see an old fashioned bronze colored bell hanging above the door, swaying lightly. She paused, taking in her new shop and thinking over all the things she could do with it.

There were five separate bookshelves, each pressed to one of the walls. However, on the far side, furthest from the door, there was a dark redwood desk that was placed a good distance away from the wall. On either side of it, two smaller bookshelves rested against the wall, followed by three larger ones, one placed against each wall. There was also a separate door behind the desk, the opening to another room, which she would be staying in until her house was ready.

Hermione looked around before nodding to herself, knowing she had a lot of work ahead of her. However, she relished it, being able to keep her mind off things she didn't want to think about for the moment.

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The next morning, Hermione woke up extremely early, as she always did. She quickly changed into one of her running outfits, a pair of black knee length shorts and a dark blue t-shirt with plain sneakers. Running in the mornings was one of the habits she had taken up in an attempt to relieve some of her stress and adrenaline. It was easy for Hermione because of the amount of time she spent running with Harry and Ron. As a plus, it kept her fit and healthy.

She ran around her new neighborhood for a few hours, working up a sweat, before returning to the shop. Crookshanks, her familiar, was seated on her small portable bed, watching her curiously as she moved through her closet, trying to decide on what to wear. The Grandview high school principal had called her the night before, asking if she would pay the school a visit the next day, explain her career to them.

Hermione was nervous for a few different reasons. One of them was that she had never gone to a normal Muggle high school before. When she was younger, before she had gotten her Hogwarts letter, Hermione had attended the public elementary school. She positively despised it. Every day, she was relentlessly teased about her slightly larger than normal teeth and her tendency of always having her head in some sort of book. Hermione had hated those days, hated the way the other children had made her feel like a freak or some anomaly.

It still hadn't stopped when she began to attend Hogwarts; in fact, it had become worse than before. However, she had tapped into parts of herself that she had never realized before. Harry and Ron were two of the people who had grown with her but Draco was also a major factor, surprisingly. At the thought of her friends, Hermione paused before pushing away those thoughts, not wanting to delve into them until later, when she could curl up in her bed and scream into her pillow.

''What do you think?''

She turned to look at Crookshanks, doing a small twirl so that he could see her whole outfit. She had gone for professional but still approachable. The entire outfit consisted of a pair of black jeans that hugged her legs, a sleeveless red shirt with a high collar and a modest v cut in the front, classic black velvet heels on her feet, and a light grey pin striped blazer. The blazer was a slightly bold touch, along with the deep red beaded bracelet, ruby red teardrop necklace, and matching ruby red earrings. Her hair had decided to be cooperative this time, falling down her back in gentle waves, framing her face.

Crookshanks glanced over her with critical yellow eyes before starting to purr quietly, his bushy tail waving back and forth lazily. Taking it as a sign of approval, Hermione smiled as she grabbed the black leather purse sitting on her bed and took a moment to stroke her cat's head before leaving her shop, intent on making a good impression.

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''I can't really tell you a lot about my job. There's not much that would interest you at this age,'' Hermione smiled at the full classroom of teenagers seated in front of her.

''I mean, I just moved here recently so I don't know much about it. However, is there anyone here that likes to read? It doesn't have to be something specific. Any genre would be fine, romance, adventure, any of that. Personally, I prefer to curl up in bed with a good book about the supernatural. But not everyone likes that sort of thing and that's okay.''

Hermione scanned the room for anyone interested in her speech, noting the reactions. What she didn't surprise nor impress her any. It was what she had expected. Almost every person in the room, excluding her, was preoccupied with other things, such as texting their friends, or just staring out the window, bored out of their minds. There was only one that was actually paying attention to her words. It was a young girl. She had been listening absently but immediately perked up when Hermione mentioned the supernatural.

''I actually have quite a large selection of the supernatural in my store. Check it out if you have the time,'' Hermione smiled at them all, casting a glance at the big clock hanging behind her.

As soon as she did, the bell rang and the reaction was instantaneous. Hermione let out a sigh of relief as the teenagers scattered from the room like cockroaches, her shoulders easing their stiff posture. She was immensely relieved that her parents had never sent her to a public high school like this one; she would have been considered an even bigger outcast than she had been when she was a child.

Holding onto her bag, Hermione left the classroom, heading outside. It was a short walk down the hallways to the courtyard, which she was grateful for. The hallways were packed with bodies of eager, loud teenagers. Luckily, her petite and thin frame allowed her to weave through the crowd easily. In no time at all, Hermione was outside, searching for a place to sit. She spotted a small spot between two trees, shaded and out of the bright sun, a perfect place to rest for a few moments, and hurried over.

Dropping her bag down to her feet, she stood there for a moment, raising her arms over her head and stretching out like a cat, relaxed and calm. Her honey brown eyes scanned the courtyard, musing over it all. This is what would have happened to her if she hadn't gotten her Hogwarts letter at eleven years old. She would have continued her life as a normal teenager, going through four years of high school. Those four years would have been spent blending into the background, being the bookworm, known for being in the library all hours of the day, even during lunch.

From there, she would have graduated high school with flying colors, much to her parents' happiness, and gone on to college to major in marine biology or something of the sort. When she was younger, she had a fascination for all animals, especially the ones that lived in all sorts of water, salt or fresh didn't matter which. Hermione still loved to sit at the zoo and watch the sea turtles and multicolored fish swim around for hours, lost in her thoughts. It was an odd habit of hers that she couldn't quite get rid of.

In her second year of college, she would have met some man and settled down with him in some small town. He would have to be working in the academic field because Hermione honestly could not see herself settling down with anyone aspiring to be a game designer or a sports fanatic. It just wasn't her cup of tea. Looking back to what her life could have been if she hadn't discovered that she had magic, Hermione was immensely grateful that she had gotten her Hogwarts letter when she did. If not for that, she wouldn't have met any of the great people she had or experienced any of the interesting things she had in those school corridors.

Lost in her thoughts, Hermione absently watched a pretty blonde girl and a few other girls dressed in cheerleading outfits stand there, gossiping about this and that.

''Um, excuse me, Miss? I'm Maddy Strom.''

Turning her head, Hermione blinked before smiling as she met the eyes of the dark haired girl who had been in the class she had been lecturing, the only person interested in her speech.

''Hello, Maddy, I'm Hermione Granger. What can I do for you? ,'' she asked, raising an eyebrow at the young girl, who fidgeted nervously.

''You said you had a couple of books on the supernatural right?'' She asked before continuing as Hermione nodded, waiting. ''Well… I was wondering if you had anything on magic.''

''What kind of magic? ,'' Hermione tilted her head, her eyebrows furrowing slightly. ''Like voodoo magic or witches and wizards?''

''The second one,'' Maddy answered, her eyes lighting up as she waited eagerly for the older woman's answer.

''I have a few of those,'' Hermione smiled, a sly twinkle in her eyes. ''I also have a few volumes on different types of mythology, like the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians, as well as a few books on numerology.''

''What's that? ,'' Maddy asked, curious at the mention of something she didn't know about.

''It's the significance of numbers, the power they hold and what they mean,'' Hermione explained, smiling as the young girl looked thoughtful, a look she had seen on her own face many times.

''I think I'll have to come and check out your store sometime.''

''You're welcome anytime,'' Hermione smiled wider, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a simple card, which held her store's name, number, and a few other things. ''Here's my card, if you happen to drop by or just have a few questions about some things. I'll do my best to answer any you have.''

''Thanks,'' Maddy took the card, smiling a shy smile as she turned, going to join her friends. ''Bye, Miss Granger.''

''Bye, Maddy,'' Hermione watched as the girl joined her group of friends, chattering excitedly with them.

Hearing the revving of a car engine, Hermione turned to see a dark red convertible, the hood folded down, drive up, stopping in front of the group of cheerleaders standing on the sidewalk. The pretty blonde and a dark haired girl climbed up to sit down on the top of it, smiling and laughing. As the car started driving off, they barely made it a small distance away before the dark haired girl was shoved off the car. Hermione watched, her eyes widening, as the girl hit the dark paved road, crying out as she rolled upon impact.

The blonde girl cried out in surprise as the car stopped abruptly with a sharp squeal of its breaks. Immediately, the dark haired girl was surrounded by other teenagers and a few teachers. Hermione tilted her head slightly, going over all of it in her mind, replaying the picture again. There had been a clear distance between the two cheerleaders so it hadn't been the blonde girl that had pushed her. It had been done by someone else.

As if summoned by her thoughts, a dark haired girl wearing a cheerleading uniform with dark eyes and a burn on the right side of her face appeared a few feet away from the injured girl, her eyes hard with hatred as she glared at the cheerleaders. A dark haired woman stared back at her from beside the injured girl, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Hermione's eyebrows raised as she looked at the other woman, who looked to be older than her. It seemed the woman had a touch of magic in her blood, to see the ghost as she did. The ghost girl stared for a few more moments before disappearing, causing the woman to look away, back to the injured girl. It seemed Hermione was not the only one in this town with magic in her blood.