.:*Hearts In Atlantis*:.
Chapter 1
Arriving At Atlantis
Hermione Granger was tired.
That really was the only way to put it, all other feelings seemed, well, like an overreaction. She wasn't sad, she told herself, much less depressed. She wasn't angry, or outraged, or about to lose control. She didn't feel hatred , revulsion, loathing or even dislike towards him. Of course she didn't feel happy, pleased or even content. So what did that leave? Tired. That's what she was. Because tired sounded much more acceptable than empty.
.:*******:.
September 26th, 2001
Wednesday
11:19 P.M.
The plane landed on the runway with a thud that made her body suddenly realize that it was back on solid ground. Startled, she sat up in her seat and looked out the window at the night glow of the city. As they taxied along the intertwined runways, she couldn't help but feel her anxiousness take a tight grip on her heart. It suddenly felt as if she couldn't breathe properly, and she unconsciously brought up one of her now slightly sweating hands to her mouth, even though she had stopped chewing on her nails years ago.
The pilot's voice came over the speakers, "Welcome to Lynden Pindling International Airport, in the beautiful city of Nassau. There are clear skies tonight, and the current temperature is twenty-two degrees Celsius, seventy-three degrees Fahrenheit. If you have any luggage to claim, please proceed to band C. Thank you for flying with us, and enjoy your stay in the Bahamas."
She nervously got off the plane and, once she had retrieved her luggage, began to look for whoever was sent to pick her up. After a few seconds of scanning the crowd, she saw a man holding a tiny sign which read, simply, "GRANGER". He was a dark-skinned man, around 6'11, with a perfectly shaved head, the physique of a professional body-builder and dressed in a black chalk-striped Armani suit. She made her way over to him hoping he wasn't nearly half as mean as he looked. When she was still a few feet away, he seemed to recognize her and his face broke into a smile that looked entirely to sweet and kind for a man like him. Not that she actually knew what kind of man he was, of course.
"Miss Granger!" the man exclaimed in a deep voice, as he took two giant steps forward and extended his enormous hand, "My name is Mikol Aalif."
"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Aalif." she said as she shook his hand, her anxiety slowly dissipating.
"Please Miss Granger, call me Mikol."
"Only if you call me Hermione!" she said with a grin, and blushed slightly.
A deep, rumbling chuckle came from his chest, as he bent to pick up her bags and led the way outside to the limousine idling at the curb. "I can already tell. You and I will get along magnificently."
Hermione beamed as she sat across from her new bodyguard.
.:*******:.
September 27th, 2001
Thursday
12:22 A.M.
She looked around at her room, and snorted. Room? No. This was a penthouse, at the very top of the island's most prestigious resort, Atlantis, and it was ridiculously luxurious. At least it was for her taste, but hey, if they wanted to lavish her with luxury, well so be it. Who was she to refuse the attention? She had always had a beautiful, angelical singing voice that immediately mesmerized and enchanted all who heard it. She had been a part of her church's choir, and took singing classes every Saturday up until the day she got her Hogwarts letter. After that, she might as well have forgotten she had a voice. There was always so much going on when your two best friends were Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Mysteries needed to be solved, Quidditch games needed to be cheered on, homework essays had to be written, Harry and Ron's asses' needed to be constantly saved, and oh, yeah, the world needed to be rescued from Voldermort. In between all of that, she hadn't really missed her singing too much. In fact, the only time she could remember thinking about it while at Hogwarts had been during the Yule Ball, when she had seen the Weird Sisters playing and had affectionately remembered her childhood dream to one day be a famous singer. Now here she was, just recently turned 22 years old, and about to make her dream come true. She had been approached by a Mr. Robinson just two weeks ago, the day after her birthday, and had asked her if she might be interested in singing at a new wizarding nightclub that would be unveiled within a month. The nightclub was to be inside of the world famous Atlantis Resort and Casino, in the Bahamas.
Hermione was no fool. It's not like someone had heard her singing in the shower one day and realized her potential. No, she knew that she was being offered this position only because the entire wizarding world knew who she was, and that was sure to make the island's (and therefore the resort's) tourism shoot through the roof. Why not though? It's not like her career in the Ministry was anything but a dead end. Apparently, people still thought she was too bossy and nerdy for her own good, so she hadn't had any promotions in the three years she'd been there. And her relationship with Ron had ended a year earlier, when they both realized that even though they loved each other, it didn't mean they were in love with each other. So yeah, why not? She wanted, no, needed, to find out who she might have been if she hadn't been so wrapped up trying to end a war. And so, she had quit her job, said good-bye to everyone, and left for the Bahamas.
She was feeling extremely drained, and was not in any mood to explore her new home, much less start unpacking her belongings. Therefore, she simply got her outfit ready for the next day, changed into her pajamas, and decided the shower could wait 'till morning. A loud "oomph" escaped her as she collapsed unto her new queen-sized bed. It had been quite an exhausting day, and all she wanted was to sleep. She would have to meet a tremendous amount of people tomorrow, and she knew the next two weeks would be grueling; she had a lot of hard work ahead of her. As sleep came and almost immediately claimed her, her last thought was that she was finally free. Free to be whoever Hermione Granger actually might be.
.:*******:.
A/N: Ok. So this is my first fan fic. Ever. I've written all kinds of other stuff before, but dealing with characters that everyone already knows (and therefore they already have a preconcieved notion of what these characters should or should not act like) is slightly unnerving. I am writing this first and foremost for myself, but of course I would love it if you guys liked it too. Even though the first chapter is all about Hermione, this is going to be a Dramione so be patient. I'm planning on having him make his first appearance next chapter. Well, please review and let me know if you like it so far, (or not) and especially if you have any tips for my on my writing. Thank All! XD