Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, that privilege belongs to J.K. Rowling . Anything you recognize does not belong to me!
Twenty-five. I turned twenty-five today thought a lone figure sipping whiskey at her local London bar, The Black Lion. Will life get any easier this year pondered Hermione Granger? With a sigh she decided the answer was most likely a no. Hermione had long since realized that there was not a place for her to belong in the world.
Hermione Granger always had a lonely life. She was an only child, a daughter to two very successful (and therefore rarely home) dentists and an outcast throughout her school career because she was highly intelligent and considered too studious to befriend. Hermione Granger was also a witch. You may ask why this young, bright witch did not belong in the magical world? The simple answer would be that she was never given the opportunity to enter the one world where she had any hope of finding a purpose for her life.
September 19th 1990 was the day when Hermione began to lose all hope of finding contentment in life. On her eleventh birthday, she received a strange letter. A letter about magic. While Hermione realized that magic explained all of the sometimes strange and bizarre occurrences surrounding her childhood, Jean and Michael Granger would not accepted that their perfect daughter could be a freak. Mr. and Mrs. Granger refused to allow Hermione to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, opting instead to continue her down their prearranged path towards a career in the upper echelons of political society. They expected their only daughter to one day rise to the level of Prime Minister, and having magic was simply not acceptable to the straitlaced Grangers.
So, Hermione attended muggle schools, gaining recognition for her brilliant mind along the way, and effectively ending any chances for true friendship due to the jealousy inspired in her classmates by her near perfect test scores. By the time Hermione was seventeen, the only two people in the world who ever showed her even a smidgeon of affection were her parents. However, even that bit of love did not last long.
Jean and Michael were killed in a freak gas explosion, just two weeks shy of Hermione's eighteenth birthday. As an adult, she was now truly on her own in the world. Reflecting back on her eighteenth birthday, the birthday girl admits that the weeks surrounding that birthday were both the worst and best times of her life. Although she grieved deeply for her parent's death and the loss of her only support in the world, Hermione could not help but feel that finally she was out from under the heavy pressure her parents put on her to be perfect and fit into their ideal future. With her life laid out in front her as a blank slate, Hermione dug through her childhood mementos till she emerged with the long cherished Hogwarts letter. A trip to Diagon Alley was first on her agenda.
The long desired admittance into the wizarding world, however, did not go according to plan. Herrmione could not have chosen a worse time to turn to magic. Diagon Alley was deserted, but for a few beggars lining the walkway, and one glance at a discarded newspaper was enough to dampen any desire Hermione had to belong to the magical world. The paper proclaimed that some guy named Lord Voldemort was in control of the government and that anyone with muggle parentage was to be forcibly removed from magic. Hermione's last hope for belonging in the magical world had been dashed, but she did pick up enough books to become a self-taught witch and maintain a connection to the magic residing within her.
The ability to teach herself magic was the only thing that kept Hermione going in the next seven years. She continued her parents career track during the day. She became a successful lawyer, winning every case, but never enjoying her work or making any friends in the profession. By night, however, she found enjoyment in learning how to levitate and transfigure. The double life, however, had taken a toll on Hermione. She did not have any friends at work due to her co-worker's jealousy, and she did not have an active social life due to late night magical studying.
So, on her twenty-fifth birthday, Hermione decided to take action. She quit her job at the law firm and wandered into the first pub she saw to find courage in a glass and plan out her new future.
As she continues to reminiscence about the past few years of her life, Hermione notices a tall, dark, and mysterious stranger walk into the bar and sit down at a table in the back corner. As the man continues to brood in the shadows, Hermione cannot help but notice how often her gaze drifts towards him, and making a quick decision to embrace life (and with the help of her new found whiskey courage) she signals for the bartender and orders the stranger a drink. Watching closely as the bartender takes a scotch over to the table, Hermione cannot help but catch the sheer shock that crosses briefly over the stranger's face when he looks towards her.
Thinking that this man might be just as lonely as she is, Hermione takes a deep breath and calmly walks over to the corner, praying that her first leap into her new future will be successful.
AN: So, this is my first attempt at writing fanfiction...please revew! I would really appreciate any constructive criticism you can give me. Feel free to tell me if you hate it too, although I would ask that you tell me what you hate so I can make my next attempt better. Thanks so much for taking the time to read/review!