A/N: Brand new story! It's been a plot bunny for quite a while before I finally decided to write it. Expect practically everything except the classical 'Draco Head Boy/ Hermione Head Girl' cliché and I mean it; heck! I've made our favorite Malfoy a vampire to avoid this!

Curious? Read on!

Prologue

Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.

-Marie Curie, attributed

To Whom It May Concern:

My name is Hermione Granger. I am twenty-seven years old and I live in the middle of London. Have you recognized me? Yes? Then skip the next page or so. No? Continue reading.

Everything, yes, everything, in my life was as normal as can be expected until the summer before my twelfth birthday. Then everything changed. I started a new life, in all the aspects. Since then on, I've been a witch. "A what?" you may ask. A witch, you read correctly. But do not make the mistake of thinking I am the only one. There is an entire community of us all round the world. We have all sorts of things, from wizarding schools to shops, banks, train stations, even a Ministry - don't worry about this one, though; we're not in Parliament.

As I was saying, that summer changed the course of my life completely. I started going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Soon after that, I became friends with two very special boys. One of them, Harry Potter, was already as famous as someone can get by the age of eleven. The other, Ron Weasley, didn't know at the time how special he would become one day.

With them, time flew unnoticed. The days turned into years, each filled with adventures as big as one's imagination, from fighting with trolls to fighting against the Dark Lord himself. We did it all but most importantly, we didn't sense time passing until it had already passed and then there was no way to rethink our actions and their consequences or to go back. There we were at a mere seventeen, forced to fight in a war that decided the fate of our kind. And so we did, and so we won. Still, I can not help myself from thinking that it was not worth it. Victory came at a too-high stake. It scared the world in a way so that it will not be healed for a long time, not to mention those who fought in it. We were left with wounds that even time can not heal.

Yes. I'm that Hermione Granger. Unexpected, isn't it? The events you all think you know by now led to my exile from the Wizarding World. You think you know so much, don't you? You judge me so cruelly, look at me with such disapprovment… I sometimes watch you, know that? I see the way you judge events and my role in them. For you, everything seems like a sick sort of joke. For me, it was nothing of the kind. I would almost prefer fighting in the war again than going through the last few months, no questions about it. Almost.

Pretty sad, isn't it? The funny part is that I knew things were not going to end up well from the beginning; they just couldn't. Then why did I do it? I couldn't help myself but not to do so. And now, I forever have to live with the consequences of my deeds. I wonder sometimes why things so wrong feel so right. The saddest part is that I will perhaps never find an answer. Don't get me wrong, I do not regret that it happened. I only regret not being able to accept things in time. It would have been so much better… Excuse the sadness, but I can not help it. Going through life with a hurt soul is not an easy thing, nor will it ever be.

That is why I am writing this, after all. I want you to know the truth behind all the lies and all the 'Confidential' files.

Because that is what I am going to tell you: my story, nothing left out. I will be blamed for it, but I do not care. If this is what I have to do, I will do it. I will do anything; I already did everything. And if you will still judge me, you will do it knowing it all.

So what do you say? Have I piqued your interest enough to make you want to read on? Or perhaps you are not interested in reading a mere witch's story?

Well, this is the catch. The fact that I am a witch is not vital for the tale. What I am going to tell you may happen to anyone. It happened in the past and it will surely happen again. Who knows? It may even happen to you. You will see that my powers only did so much; you can say that they came with the package. You will also see that I have my own faults in the tale, and having a complex and tough character surely did not help. But that is another story, is it not?

So, in the end, if you read this, read it for that reason that Hermione has decided to talk; that she is frightened; that she is searching desperately for the lesson and for the song and for the reason to live; that she wants to understand her own story and she wants you to understand it as well. Why? Because it just may be the most beautiful story she has ever told. And if that is not enough, read something else.

So what do you say? Is it enough? Then listen to me. Join me.

Don't leave me alone.

A/N: So is it enough to make you want to read Hermione's story? Review me the answer! Thanks for reading!