The Unexpected

summory: It has been fifteen years since Voldemort was defeated and Hermione Granger finds herself happily married. Why then can't "the brightest witch of her age" sleep? Why is she looking into her past to find answers for her future? Could it be due to what the morning holds in store for her? Could it be the man sleeping next to her? Will she never know?

Chapter 1: The Loss

This could either go well, or this could go really badly. She looked at the clock on the table next to her. Why can't I sleep? I have such a busy day tomorrow. The following day was September 1st, the day her and her husband would take their son to King's Cross station to board the Hogwarts Express for the first time.

She heard him snore behind her, and felt his arm tighten around her waist. She never would have thought that he would be the one she would marry, let alone that it would be a happy marriage. Her mind drifted away as she stared out the window, back to when she had never thought she would be happy again.

Hermione Granger had always been happy when she was around Harry Potter and Ron Weasley-- that was, until after the War.

"I can't believe it's already been two years since we defeated Voldemort!" she told Harry and Ron one day. Hermione and Ron had been a couple for the past two and a half years, and everything looked like it was going well.

After the war had ended, the Golden Trio had become more involved in the Order. Harry had become an Auror, just like everyone had thought he would. He had helped the Ministry hunt down the remaining Death Eaters, and had every one of them locked up in Azkaban within a year of their Master's downfall. While Harry had been off finding Death Eaters, Ron had joined the English Quidditch team. He had also tried to help the Order out any way he could whenever they needed him. Both boys enjoyed their jobs and their work with the Order; Hermione, on the other hand, hadn't been so lucky.

Hermione wasn't given any assignments from the Order, and wasn't sure what she wanted to do once she left Hogwarts. Spending a year finding Horcruxes and moving around every few days had left little time to think about what she would do after the War. I am a very powerful witch, for Merlin's sake. I'm not going to sit around the house while the others are out doing something with their lives.

With that, Hermione Granger had gone out in search of a job. It hadn't taken her very long. She had gotten a job as a Healer as St. Mungo's, she had wanted a job where she would be helping people and her job allowed her exactly that. She had been there two years, and had enjoyed every minute of it.

What she didn't enjoy was coming back to the Burrow every night to a fight with Ron. They had been fighting every night for almost a month and she was getting tired of it.

One night, after fighting for almost two hours, Ron said, "I think we should break up." There was a long silence during which they both just stared at each other. Finally, Ron broke the tension. "I can see that you're not happy with our relationship anymore, and I'm not either." She isn't going to like the next part, but I have to say it, right? She'll kill me, though, but then if I don't tell her and she finds out, I'm as good as dead anyway. Okay, I'll tell her. "I've been thinking about it a lot lately and I think it's the best thing for us."

She looked at him for what seemed like hours, tears slowly sliding down her cheeks. How could he do this to me? "Why? Why do you want to break up with me? We fought while we were at…"

"This isn't the same as the fights we had while at Hogwarts," he told her. He didn't know how to explain it to her, but he had to try. "While we were at Hogwarts, we fought because of our jealousy and stupidity. We also didn't know how we felt about each other, or at least didn't allow ourselves to admit it to ourselves and each other." After a long moment of silence, he said, "I hate seeing you unhappy, and I can't live knowing I'm the cause of your unhappiness. I'm sorry."

Hermione couldn't stand to look at him anymore. She ran up the stairs to the room that she shared with Ginny. I can't stay here anymore. I can't stand to be around him. I'll leave in the morning. I'll say good bye to everyone, and just leave. But where will I go? "I'll go to my parents' house. They shouldn't be back from their tour of the world for at least two or three months," she said to herself out loud. "I'll pack up all my stuff in the morning, then leave. I should probably get some sleep."

Hermione woke up early the next morning. She hadn't slept well, but knew that it was probably due to everything that had happened the night before, as well as the thought of moving.

It shouldn't take too long for me to get my stuff together. I don't have a lot, and most of it is in this room. I just need to try and do it without waking Ginny. The less people I have to talk to, the better.

It took her less than an hour to get everything and pack it away in her trunk. She hadn't woken up Ginny, and she didn't hear anyone else moving around the house. I guess I should write them a letter, so they at least know what happened. After all, they are like a second family to me.

She wrote a short letter detailing what had happened between her and Ron, where she was going, and that she would not be coming back to the Burrow. With the letter and Crookshanks in one hand, and her trunk in the other, she headed downstairs, hoping no one was down there. Luckily for her, there was no one to be seen in the kitchen. She placed the letter on the table, knowing someone would definitely find it there, and walked out the door.

The following day, Hermione had unpacked everything from her trunk and was settled down. The refrigerator and pantry were now fully stocked with everything she needed.

She was making lunch when she heard a tapping on the window. Hedwig was sitting on the window sill with a letter attached to her leg. Hermione opened the window to allow the owl inside and retrieve the letter from Harry.

Hermione,

We all know that what Ron did was wrong and that he shouldn't have treated you that way. We don't think you needed to leave the Burrow just because of what he did though. Would you please come back? We all miss you and want you to be close to us.

Please just think about it.

Your friend,

Harry

"What part of 'I am not coming back' did they not understand? I can't stand to be around that prat." She gave Hedwig a cookie and sent her back to the Burrow with a letter that read:

Dear Harry,

I'm sorry but I can't come back to the Burrow. I need to be alone for a while and think things through. Please do not ask me to come back again, because I just cannot do it.

Please tell Ginny and the Weasleys for me.

Your friend,

Hermione


It had been a week since Hermione had left the Weasleys and moved back into her parents' house. In that time she had received multiple letters from members of the Order, including Harry, Ginny, Mrs. Weasley, Remus, and Tonks. Why can't they just leave me alone? I can't handle this anymore. I think I need a drink. Yeah, that's what I need. I'll just go to The Leaky Cauldron and grab a drink to calm me down. I hope I don't run into anyone while I'm there.