Chapter 1- Decisions and Regrets

Hermione Granger was not a happy witch.  She had spent the last six hours tossing and turning on her bed, dreading the morning.  Oh get a grip thought Hermione as she rolled over yet again, exasperated.  She glanced at the clock and saw the early hour of the morning.  Groaning, she remembered that she had to be up in a few, very few actually, hours. 

Not that she was looking forward to the events of the next days, but getting sleep would make them more bearable.  It's just a party...  Not even a fancy one… Just a getting together of old friends… It's even at Hogwarts so I can see the old castle again… I hear that they are clearing out the castle so that we can sleep in our old dorms… Everyone will be excited to see each other… I'm sure that no one will notice if I just don't go...  NO!  I promised Ron and Harry that I would go… I just sent the owl back yesterday saying I would go… I can't back out now… As much as I want to… That would be childish and stupid to not go to the party… Good God, Hermione, RELAX! 

Much to Hermione's chagrin, in two days there would be a Hogwarts Reunion of the alumni of her class and six other classes.  It would be a chance to say hello to everyone that she had gone to school with, not only the people she graduated with.  In all actuality, it was, of course, a chance for everyone to show off how well they were doing, how much money they made, how happy they were, if they were married or engaged.  In a sense, it was a large bragging party. 

Hermione knew that she should go, but there were some people that she very much did NOT want to see.  In her years at Hogwarts, Hermione had been fairly nice to everyone, but some people simply could not stand her.  There was at least one person who would not be happy to see her.  No, I am not going to think about him… He can go and eat dung for all I care about that self-centered, wanna-be-womanizer, "pureblood" jerk…I don't want to see him either…

Sighing, Hermione rolled onto her back and looked up at her enchanted ceiling.  After seven years of watching the ceiling change with the weather in the Great Hall at Hogwarts, she had asked Headmaster Dumbledore for the charm.  Remembering the grin on the Headmaster's face, she could still recall his words, "So Hermione, looking to take a bit of school back home?" as though he were deeply amused by her odd request.  She, of course, had answered that Hogwarts was her home, and that she wanted to bring a piece of her home with her.  The memory of Dumbledore's grin brought a smile to her face.  Alright, Ron and Harry were right, I was a huge suck up during school…At the moment, the ceiling was a misty grey with the promise of the sun rising in a few hours.  She could just make out a lightened bit of "sky" on the very edge of her enchanted walls.

Hermione missed Hogwarts.  She had left two years ago, and went immediately to work for the Ministry of Magic in the International Magical Cooperation department.  Her job was satisfying; her department dealt with everything from setting trade and product standards to reasoning with foreign governments on controversial topics.  It was terribly interesting and Hermione looked forward to going to work everyday.  In the last few weeks, Hermione had become involved with the conferences of the International Confederation of Wizards.  Though she held a fairly low position, she never ran out of things to do.  Running errands, copying and editing books, sending owl posts, everything of at least some significance was put on Hermione's shoulders.  Not that I can't handle it thought Hermione.  She sighed again at the thought of the last time she went to work, two days ago.

As soon as Hermione had seen the look on her supervisor's face, she knew that she was in a lurch.  "Hermione," began her superior Austerita Halmaturus, "I hope that you know how much of a great help that you have been in our office."  At this Hermione had tried to break in to say that it was no trouble, but Halmaturus continued.  "However, in the two years that you have been working for us, for me really, you have not missed a single day.  Now, a pretty, young girl like yourself needs to get away sometimes.  In the two years, you have accumulated three weeks worth of vacation days.  Tomorrow, I am going out of town for three weeks, on a much needed vacation to Australia." Hermione scoffed slightly at the irony of a woman named Halmaturus going to Australia, not understanding the implications of her boss's upcoming travel. "I know that you are not going to be happy with this, but I must ask you to take these next three weeks off."  She paused for a moment and caught the look on Hermione's face.  Before Hermione could protest, Halmaturus quickly interjected, "You WILL take these days off."

Hermione had gasped at, so thought her supervisor, the horror of taking three entire weeks off.  More than this, however, Hermione was worried about the fact that she would not receive pay during the three weeks.  As much as she loved working for the Ministry, the lower-end workers there were notoriously underpaid.  Hermione was struggling with the little money she had, for she was used to living, though not in luxury, in comfort.  The meager wages she was earning were not enough to keep up her standard of living.  Unfortunately, Mrs. Halmaturus would not change her mind, which landed Hermione with no source of money for three weeks.  Three very long weeks.

It was perhaps a good thing that Hermione was taking the time off.  She had not planned to go to the reunion before and having the break from work was a perfect opportunity to catch up with old friends.  Yeah, if I can feed myself...  Gosh I'm glad that Ron offered to take me and Harry in for the next couple of days before the party… Mrs. Weasley- wait, Molly, I am supposed to call her Molly- always makes such good food… Better than what I am used to eating… It will be nice to eat properly again without worrying about the bill… And I laughed at Harry when he was hungry from his cousin's diet…The worst feeling in the entire world is being hungry…

Hermione sat up in her bed, her mind made up.  She was going to go to the Hogwarts Reunion and she was going to enjoy it, dammit.  She had earned the three weeks of vacations and she would do anything to make them fun.  Hermione lay back down on her comfortable bed, happy with her resolution, and fell immediately back to the once-elusive sleep.

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The next morning, however, Hermione was beginning to regret her decision to go to the reunion.  Staring into her closet, Hermione groaned and fell back onto her bed.  The theme of the party was Muggles in New York.  They were supposed to dress and speak like Muggles, extra points for the house you used to be in if you talked with a Muggle New York accent. 

Hermione wondered briefly where the idea of the theme had come from.  Dressing like a New York Muggle?  The theme was optional, of course, but everyone would dress in accordance anyway.  It was fun to dress up, even if it was to dress like a Muggle in an unknown American city.  Unfortunately, Hermione had not bought any new Muggle clothes in the two years after she left Hogwarts; she just did not have enough money to buy Muggle items when all she wore were wizard robes.  It was unpractical and frivolous, and Hermione prided herself in being, if nothing else, extremely reasonable and sensible. 

Hermione laughed while looking at the contents of her closet.  There were six sets of black robes, left over from her Hogwarts days.  She avoided wearing those to work because Hogwarts was tough of robes.  They had worn spots at the elbows and were now a good four inches too short.  Her shape had changed once she left Hogwarts.  Where she used to be lanky and short, Hermione had grown more curves and a couple of inches. The changes in her body had made it impossible for her to wear anything from Hogwarts without being extremely uncomfortable.  They pulled in the places were they used to hang loose and were loose where they used to be tight.

The other robes in Hermione's wardrobe were various dark, work-appropriate colors: deep purple; navy; forest green.  Very boring, the robes were perfect for a day at the Ministry of Magic.  Her favorite set stood out brightly against her dark everyday robes.  Her favorite was the turquoise dress robes that she had worn to her Hogwarts graduation.  They looked good on her, contrasting nicely with her long and wavy, ok-it was frizzy, hair.  But of course, she could not wear those to the party, everyone had seen her in them the last time they had all been together.  Even if she hadn't worn them, she still had the theme to think of.  Damn the theme. 

"Muggles.  What the hell do Muggles wear in New York?  Is that different than what they wear in Chicago?  Different than in Paris?  Or in London?  Somehow," she giggled, "I don't think that they would wear the newest design from Gladrags Wizardwear… Not like I could afford the newest design anyway…" Hermione's voice trailed off.  "Muggles in New York wear… They wear… Wait!  I remember… They wear evening gowns and fancy hats and high heels and diamonds!  Just like in that Muggle movie I saw…  Oh dear.  How I am going to manage that?  There is no way that I can…" Hermione lowered her head into her hands.  What the hell am I going to wear…  I can't let people know how low I am on money… That would be so incredibly embarrassing… Maybe Ginny will have some clothes that I can wear… She loves fashion… Plus, we are the same size now so all her clothes would fit…  And she'd know what Muggles in New York would wear… She loves stuff like that…Yeah…I'll ask her when I go to the Burrow… The Burrow… God I miss the Burrow and all the charms of that house… Wait!  The Burrow!  I have to go!

Hermione jumped off her bed and grabbed a bag.  Merlin's beard!  I have to get ready… I am supposed to be there in… Oh dear…Five minutes ago… This calls for drastic measures… With those thoughts, Hermione immediately cast a spell to pack all her clothes, though none of them appropriate, pull her unruly hair into a ponytail, make up her face, and change into her purple robes.  Dammit, I hate using magic like this…It makes me feel so guilty… All the Muggles can get ready in the morning without magic… My mum does it every morning… But thank God that I finally let Lavender and Pavarti teach me those spells to do my hair and makeup… At least I look presentable if nothing else…Magic makes the mornings so much easier when they could be so long… At times like this, I don't have enough time to work like a Muggle would… 

 The spells worked and in less than twenty seconds Hermione was ready to face her longtime friends at the Burrow.  Holding her bag in her right hand, she muttered a few well choosen words and disappeared from her apartment with a POP.  Hermione had Disapparated and was on her way to the Burrow.

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Author's Note: (Woohoo!)

Ok everyone, this is my first attempt at Harry Potter fan fiction (how lame does that sound???)  The general idea of the story is that Hermione is low on cash, without a source of money for three weeks, and Draco needs help to get rid of all the dark objects that he inherited from his father, who died.  Voldemort is gone, so there will be no reference to Harry getting into more trouble.  The Deatheaters are all in jail, never to be released again.  I would imagine that the story might have some scenes that are from the movie Pretty Woman, but I will credit that in the author's notes when the time comes.

The story will probably be anywhere from 12-20 chapter, I'll let you know as the story progresses.  The first couple of chapters are really character development, because I hate it when an author jumps right into the story.  And, just to let you know, any characters that are acting well, out of character, I am just going to say that they are all older.  They are different.  People change when they grow up.  Also, this story takes place a little less than two years after Hermione's graduation from Hogwarts.  She is 19.  The entire story will be from Hermione's perspective; you only know what she thinks, no one else's thoughts.  I thought about doing it from Draco's perspective also, but in all reality I know nothing about how 20 year old guys think, so it would be an insult for me to try and guess. 

BTW- Hermione's work supervisor's name translates to Strict Kangaroo- that's why it's funny that she is going down under :)

As a last note, I know that you guys get sick of hearing it, but please review!  I know that not everyone will like my story, but you guys light my fire to write (so to speak)  I would really appreciate any feedback at all J  You know they say, a happy writer is a fast writer!

So enjoy, you guys!  I hope that you like it!

-MOLLY