A/N: Hey there… I have another account where I published this story… if you recognize it… don't be bothered… I moved it cause the e-mail address of my other account gets a lot of spam so I decided to leave just one story there.. I am finally going to continue this story so yeah… Enjoy… (I hope someone reads this…)

Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimers do apply…

Summer Escapades

by: Carla P.

Summary:
Hermione learns of her parent's deception and runs from home. In her stay in Diagon Alley, a lot of things happen to her like finding a job and meeting Draco Malfoy, who has parent problems of his own… Suddenly her No.1 enemy becomes someone else…HrD…. R & R people!

Prologue

There's a universal rule that a person must never eavesdrop on two persons talking, especially if those two persons are your parents and they are having an argument but Hermione forgot to live by this rule the moment she realized what her parents were arguing about. So she sat, with silent apprehension, hidden in the shadows as she witnessed the terrible nightmare unfolding before her.

"But Robert, we can't let this baby die, it's our son" said Emily Granger with a hint of desperation in her voice.

"That's just it Em, why did you go and break the promise we made the moment 'Mione was born?" Robert Granger responded, a trace of quiet anger in his voice.

"I know that we swore that we'd have only one child but …" she said choking back the tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"But what, Emily?" he said as he grasped his wife's supper arms, demanding an answer from her.

She turned away, and said in a voice broken with sorrow while struggling to break free of her husband's grasp "But I feel incredibly lonely… and dissatisfied, I mean I am proud that our daughter is at the top of her class and is a prefect and all that, we can't erase the fact that she is gone most of the year, even during summer she spends her time with her friends from that school, with this happening I feel that we don't even have a child." Now, the tears that had threatened to fall were streaming down her face, breaking the heart if the man she loved

"Oh, Em, I know exactly how you feel, but we can't run the risk of hurting ourselves again, I mean, what if that child you're carrying ends up to be one of… them, then what do we do? Go through the whole process of getting hurt all over again? I don't think so… I for one am not about to welcome that baby with open arms in this household… and we are never to tell Hermione about it either, we must keep this a secret, it's only been 3 months; the pregnancy won't be noticeable in a few more, and anyway she's leaving to spend the rest of the summer with those friends of hers. After she leaves and that baby is born, we do what we have to do with that baby …" he responded with a finality intoned in his voice as he ran his fingers through his hair in an act of intense discomfort and uneasiness.

"What will we decide to do with baby?" his wife said, the tears gone, the desperation vanished, only a sort of quiet defeat in the way she said those words.

"When the baby is born, we shall put it up for adoption, and 'Mione need never know what happened and how we feel" her husband said although there was a distinct sadness in his voice as he did.

As a response, Emily just stared at him with a glassy sort of stare that looked as if she were not really seeing her husband. As though she knew that there was no other thing for it but to concede her defeat for there was no other way for it.

Unknown to her parents, Hermione was hidden and had heard the exchange that her mother and father had. 'No way, I'm going to be a big sister, oh, but they don't want me to be, they want to give away my baby brother and they never wanted me to know. Oh, and it seems that they hate everything about me, my being a witch, having friends and they're afraid my brother will be just like me, oh god that is so unfair and wrong. I can't believe they've lied to me.. who would have thought?' Hermione just let the tears fall and watched with apprehension as they made the decision to give the baby away to a stranger. 'Well, Hermione, are you just going to let them do what they're planning to do? Or are you gonna stop them?' Hermione considered her thoughts a moment before coming to her decision. 'I'm gonna stop them!'

"Mom, Dad?" Hermione said coming out from her hiding place.

"Oh, hello, dear, your father and were just speaking about the patients we had today… what are you doing being up so late?" her mom said looking uncomfortable as though she hated having to lie, her face betraying her emotions as she hurried to wipe the tears from her face without drawing any attention that she was.

"Oh, really, mom, do you and dad think I'm that dense or stupid? I happen to be the smartest witch my age and, of course, I know what you're really talking about so no need to hide it, I heard all about your pregnancy and what your planning to do with my unborn baby brother, oh, that and the fact that all this years you've been lying to me. You really think my being a witch is nothing to be proud of, that in fact, you hate me having friends, a life!" her voice getting higher and louder as she spoke.

Her mom and dad both opened their mouths to speak but she cut them off, " No, stop, there are no words that could change how much you've hurt me by lying to me all these years and planning to lie to me about the fact that I'm going to have a younger brother. It hurts me so much that I just know that I'm going to die if I have to spend another night under the same roof as you, so I'm going away, and don't even try to stop me!" Having had her say, she stomped back up to her room and set about packing all her school stuff and to check if she had any money left, Wizard or Muggle. With a resigned shake of her head, she climbed down the stairs and walked out the door. On the street, she looked back at her house, yes, house, not home, for her, Hogwarts was home, and felt sad that she had to leave it under such unfortunate circumstances.

She stood there, looking at the deserted street and thought about what she had to do, she knew she couldn't go to The Burrow now, she couldn't explain why but pride stopped her from running to her friends for support and, anyway, she knew that it would hurt too much for her to see them, a big, happy family. So, instead she would go to Diagon Alley, get a room in the Leaky Cauldron and find a way to make money. She knew that there, her parents could not follow her and she looked behind her to see if they had followed her and was relieved that they had not.

So with that decision in mind in mind and the resolve in her heart and soul, Hermione stood at the edge of the street and held out her wand hand. She was startled at how fast the triple-decker bus appeared out of nowhere.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for a stranded witch or wizard, I'm Stan Shunpike and I shall be your conductor, just step in and we can take you where you want to go" said Stan, all the while reading it off a piece of paper.

"Hello to you too, I'm Hermione Granger, how much will it cost to bring me to Diagon Alley?"

"Eleven sickles but…" he responded

"Okay, here you go" she said handing him a galleon, "that's just about what I can afford."

"Okee, here, let me help you with that" he said, getting Hermione's trunk as she climbed aboard the bus, "this 'ere is Ernie, he's our driver and he doesn't speak much, did you hear Ern, Ms. Granger here needs to get to Diagon Alley… erm… where exactly in Diagon Alley, miss?"

"Uhh…The Leaky Cauldron, please, if you don't mind"

"Hear that, Ern? Off to The Leaky Cauldron we go." After that there was no room for speaking as the bus sped off and Hermione fell onto the bed nearest the driver.

In what seemed like a matter of minutes they arrived at their destination. When they stopped, Stan helped bring her trunk inside The Leaky Cauldron where she booked a room for her to sleep and stay in for the next couple of weeks or so.

After saying thank you very much and goodbye to the conductor, Tom the innkeeper took her up to Room 108 and left her to get settled, telling her to ring should she be in need of anything.

'Oh, well, might as well get used to this, as this is my home now' Hermione thought with a sigh, 'there's really no choice but to wait out the 6 weeks before I go to school and I need money, so early next morning I'm looking for a job.' feeling depressed but at the same time a new sort of confidence growing inside her. "Good night then" she said to no one in particular

"Good night, dear" said the mirror in her room.

A/N:
Yes, this was originally entitled Summer Job but I changed it and republished it hoping that it is better now.. So, yeah… if you like it please review even if you don't please still review and tell me why… thanks!