Chapter 1: Beached and Broken

"In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines
Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines
In two straight lines, they broke their bread
And brushed their teeth and went to bed.
They left the house at half past nine
In two straight lines in rain or shine-
The smallest one was Madeline."

― Ludwig Bemelmans, Madeline

Hermione Granger sat distractedly with a book resting on her knees, her sunglasses shielding her eyes from the July sun. It should have been the perfect day to run out into the water and splash about. At 82℉ (28C) degrees it was hot enough that she wanted to rush into the cool blue waters but her mood was so far from the other happy teenagers frolicking on the beach she felt compelled to stay at the small cafe on the boardwalk. She was currently hidden under a large umbrella at a table she had purchased for the day.

If she was going to be miserable she was at least going to be miserable at one of the nicest beaches in Bulgaria. The Asparukavo Beach was most noted for its clean and tranquil beaches. She had spent the second half of her fourth year at Hogwarts begging her parents to take her to Bulgaria for the summer. They had only conceded once they found out there was a boy involved and she wasn't on another magical museum trip. They had been equally excited when they found out there was a dentist conference for a new product line that was simply revolutionary to the field of Dental X-Rays. Her family was an odd sort.

She had barely seen them at all the first day they got to Bulgaria. They had begged her to come to see the new X-ray machine and it's keynote speakers but Hermione was to busy gluing her face to her boyfriend, Victor. Victor was… he was complicated. While Victor was certainly an enlightened fellow, his parents were not. His mother hated Hermione and his father pretended she didn't exist. Victor did have a ten-year-old sister who adored Hermione and Hermione she. Elena was a sweet thing that was obsessed with everything pink.

While the two girls couldn't be any more different, they were in fact very much the same. Elena was a lover of books and animal rights. She fought with her parents constantly on blood status laws in their country and Elena had secretly confided in Hermione that she hoped one day to find a muggle to settle down with just to stick it to her parents. Hermione laughed and gave her directions to her parent's conference. She was a spitfire, much like Hermione but she was also obsessed with pink and boys and anything to do with pop culture. Hermione wished she could be as normal as little Elena Rosa Krum.

Victor spent his late afternoons and evenings training for Quidditch and the entire mornings and early afternoons with Hermione. The two had barely more than a couple of kisses but Hermione spent all day pining for him when he wasn't with her. She felt like one of her roommates at Hogwarts. She obsessed with what she wore and how she wore it. It had gotten so bad that her Mum had taken her shopping the day before they left for Bulgaria to purchase a more 'relaxed' look.

All in all the first week of July was coming to a brilliant close when Elena innocently suggested inviting her family to their home for dinner. Hermione and Victor had been saying their farewells to his family as they were leaving for lunch. The room that had been bustling with movement and chatter had gone silent in the second the suggestion had left Elena's glossed lips.

"Who is Dr. Granger, Elena?"

Mr. Krum looked livid and Mrs. Krum looked mortified. She was having a luncheon of sorts with several of her friends who were now all giving her disgusted looks.

"Hermione's father of course," Elena responded with as much chipper and enthusiasm as she would talk about the latest music from muggle America. Hermione had learned way more than she ever planned to about Aerosmith and Madonna from Elena in the past week and during her visit to Hogwarts to watch the tasks. "Her parents are both successful Doctors in England. Did you not know that? You really should have asked. They're fascinating people, Father."

Mr. Krum's face took on an odd reddish hue and Mrs. Krum looked as if she was struggling to breathe air in the temperature charmed controlled room. After her friend, a woman with an atrocious looking hat finished fanning the woman, she stuttered as she tried to produce a sentence of coherent thought. "Elena… dear… you have… spoken to these-"

"They are her parents, mother." interrupted Victor. "I do not see the problem with Elena seeing her parents. We are set to have lunch with them tomorrow." Hermione smiled shyly at Victor, his English had greatly improved over the year.

Her parents were thrilled to have lunch with Victor. Victor enjoyed their lack of magical sports knowledge and had made it his responsibility to educate them. Her mother had predictably, shown no interest in Quidditch but her father was obsessed. The two had even come up with new plays for the game while Hermione and her mother talked about her schooling and different random things.

"They are muggles!" his father spat.

"They are kind and compassionate Healers that you haven't bothered to get to know."

"Dr. Granger even got rid of my toothache that the Healer couldn't!" piped up Elena.

Mrs. Krum put her dainty wrist to her forehead and dropped dramatically to a nearby chaise. She was wailing about muggles and diseases and her poor daughter.

Mr. Krum looked, if possible, even more furious. Hermione was revolted by their ignorance and intolerance but kept her face expressionless, she knew full and well that everything she did was going to be repeated and she didn't want to give anyone a reason to say anything bad about her. Bulgarian reporters were no less pushy than British reporters but they did tell the truth. Hermione tried to avoid them as much as possible, which was hard when she spent most of her free time with Victor.

"I want her out, Victor! She is poisoning your dear sestra!" the old man shouted. The argument quickly shifted into infuriated Bulgarian. Hermione, who spoke a little Russian, was able to pick up every seventh or eighth word. Even if she had not been able to understand bits of the language the volume and hand motions made it clear Hermione and her blood status was no longer welcome in the Krum household.

Hermione's mobile buzzed in her pocket. Her parents had splurged and gotten her one for the summer, a good choice as it turned out. She flipped open her Motorola StarTEC and answered when she saw it was her mum.

"Hermione?"

"Yes."

"You're late. Your father and I were beginning to worry. Is everything alright?"

No, Mum. I finally found a boy that liked me back and his bigotted family is ruining everything, including the lunch I am currently late for. Hermione noticed the room had gone quiet as she began to formulate a response to her mother.

"Mum, everything is fine. I'm just running a bit late. I'll see you soon."

"You have the address, right? I don't want you to get lost, sweetheart."

"I won't."

"Say hello to Victor and his parents. Oh, and also that darling sister of his. Your father and I sense a fellow DDS in the making!" Her mum was chuckling as Hermione hung up their short call. She gently put her mobile back in her pocket and looked up to see the entire room staring at her. Victor was smiling, however, the rest of the room with the exception of Elena was awestruck.

"What… What is that contraption?" Mr. Krum jabbed a finger at her pocket. Hermione held back a smile. Funny, wizards treated Muggle technology the way muggles treated magic, with fear and trepidation.

"It's called a mobile." There was a short silence as the room stared at her warily.

"What does it do?" whispered one of the guests. She was eyeing Hermione's pocket as if it might suddenly explode.

"It's much like Floo, without the mess and hassle. Every mobile has a number and the mobile keeps a record of all the numbers I use. When someone wants to reach me, they just find the person's name and mobile will call them. If they are busy I can leave a message and the person can pick it up later and call me back." The room was stunned into silence.

"You know how to work one of these… things?" asked Mr. Krum. He was clearly impressed by Hermione's rudimentary knowledge of her mobile phone.

"The basics. They come with instruction manuals. Most people don't read them as everything is pretty much self-explanatory, but I do. I like reading."

"How much do-" Mr. Krum was cut off by his irate wife.

"I will not have that child or her talking abomination in my home a moment longer. Victor escort her out!" Mrs. Krum turned and stalked out of the room.

Hermione felt her cheeks redden and had to use all of her willpower not to stare at her shoes in embarrassment. There was nothing wrong with her. She was just as magical as any other Witch or Wizard. They had no more right to magic than she.

She repeated this mantra in her head several times until she was calm. She leaned on her toes and kissed Victor on his cheek.

"Victor, it seems you have a family matter to attend to. I'm going to meet my parents for supper. We'll meet again, tomorrow?" Victor nodded and escorted her out, apologizing profusely as they walked. Hermione waved him off with his promises to make it up to her the next day.

Hermione took a sip of her drink. That had been two days ago. Victor had since owled back her sweater that she left in his home. There was no note and there was no explanation as to his sudden absence. She wasn't stupid, she knew what the sweater meant. She had sobbed enough tears into the sweater for it to mean anything else. The Daily Prophets headline following him to tryouts out of the country only made it worse. Only made hundreds of questions swirl around her head.

That had been the first day, on the second her parents had taken the day off of the conference to spend the day with their daughter. Her mother took her to the movies and they ate as much ice cream as they could before they felt like they would puke. His father had repeatedly offered to give Victor crooked dentures as well as a false cavity. She hugged her parents content that she would always have her slice of happiness with her Granger family. She wrote to Ron and Harry telling them of her fun time in Bulgaria not mentioning Victor. Ginny picked up on it right away and sent back a book called, '101 Hexes for the Exes in Your Life.' Hermione had already read it from front to back with her giggling mother.

Her mother had finally convinced her to put down the 'magical genitalia decapitation book,' and read some good old trashy romance novels. Hermione looked out longingly to the beach she and Victor were supposed to be enjoying. Instead, she was forcing herself to be content reading 'Katherine's Midnight Visitor' on the boardwalk while nursing a very freshly broken heart.