Hermione Goes to Russia
Disclaimer: I own nothing. It's all J.K. Rowling's. The Russian sights, experiences, and culture are taken directly from my very recent vacation to Russia and Austria. Please stick with it, because it is going to get very exciting. Mystery, romance, snark fest, and a whole lot of beautiful romantic HG/SS tension!
Chapter 1: Vacation Location
It had been far too long since Hermione Granger took a vacation. She needed it badly. Even with her level of mental stamina, being an in depth research journalist for St. Mungo's as well as a part time consultant for the Ministry's Restoration Foundation takes a lot out of a person, especially a young with such as herself. The war matured beyond her years enough. Hermione was starting to think her responsibilities and jobs would soon drive her straight to menopause at the age of 25.
She should have been content with her medical job which gave her the freedom to experiment with all mediums of magic, but no, she had to be an over-achieving crazy woman. When the Ministry began action for reconstruction after the war with the Restoration Foundation, Hermione was appalled at their organization. Once the Ministry announced the possibility of closing off Hogwarts as a museum, she knew she had to interfere. Turning a blind eye was never her strong point, but thanks to her bloody Gryffindor bleeding heart, she found herself having fruitless daily arguments with the endless line of dunderhead politicians at the Foundation.
Ha, I almost sound as cynical as Snape! She thought as she grumbled "dunderheads" a few more times. The man sleeping next to her on the plane stirred, accidentally wafting fresh waves of his foreign, undeoderized odor towards her. To distract from the smell, Hermione squirmed to face the window and slipped back into her novel before slowly drifting into a cramped sleep…
Russia…Here she was, all the way in Moscow, Russia! Lame as it seemed, Hermione felt like bursting into "Once Upon a December" from the Anastasia movie down the chilly streets. Hermione couldn't be happier. In full contrast to her gleeful satisfaction, the Russian civilians sped by her on the street in chic business wear and cripplingly high heels.
Wow, they walk fast here, Hermione thought. It was her first day and she already felt her body shrugging off the slight jet lag in favor of the excitement of new adventures. Why Russia? All her friends and colleagues had wondered.
Hermione chuckled to herself at her own reasons for vacationing to Russia. She had told inquirers that it was purely for academic reasons. She wanted to investigate the Russian magical history for herself. Little was known about it, other than Rasputin, and Hermione was thoroughly intrigued by all of it. However, in all honesty these were only partial reasons for the location of her vacation. She had come across some articles on Russian magical history but that only sparked the idea. Her main points were that in Russia it was cool, new, different, exciting, and FAR. Hermione needed some distance from the greater part of the magical world. Especially England where people in every street seemed to know who she was and had their own ideas about her personal life and history. Hermione had split up with Ron, the cheating blighter, over a year ago and still it plagued her both in her conscience and on the faces of passersby in London's magical society.
Here she was free amidst the fast-paced style of Russian culture. For the first full day, Hermione planned on visiting the large cathedral in the middle of the city with shining gold domes on each turret in true Russian orthodox style (as she would soon learn). But first, she had to face the metro system. The bright red M and quick swarm of people diving down the staircase under it invited her in. She had to keep moving anyways because her slight halt caused confusion to several Russians around her. Jumping back in the organized stream of people, she scrambled down the stairs to the main terminal area and gaped.
Where she had been expecting a dark sketchy cave of filth, she instead found herself in an underground Palace ballroom. The walls were purely white but the floors marble. Mosaics and paintings were part of the décor on walls and in unexpected corners. Two large ornate chandeliers with a bronze tint hung from the ceilings. Despite the crowd bustling about her, Hermione stood in place dumbstruck.
Who would build a subway station like this? The further into the metro she went, it only got better. In her shock and awe, she must have been having delusions because she thought she saw the familiar billow of black wool disappearing into one of the metro cars.
Whew, this altitude is making me lose my mind already. I am thankfully FAR away from everyone wizard and witch I know. I'm free for two whole weeks. And I'm glad about it. Glad glad glad glad GLAD.
A/N: Thank you for reading. Please keep with the story, it's going to be longer than I usually do with more plot than I'm used to but I've got it all mapped out and it will be quite the ride! Snape enters in the next chapter!