A/N: This will be a rather angsty tale containing some quite mature themes, hence the M rating, including infidelity and various kinks but also more difficult life events. HGRW and HGSS (rather more explicit). Sometimes not choosing is also a choice. What are the consequences, for everyone involved? I'm going to take some liberties with who survives the war and so on where it suits the story so it's AU from the last year of the war, basically, but we can assume most of canon to be unchanged otherwise. All of it is planned out in (currently) 13 chapters plus epilogue but sometimes characters throw curveballs into the plans…
Anyway, hope you enjoy the ride! First some setup...
/AA
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The Friends
Hermione sighed and reluctantly rolled out of bed when her alarm clock refused to shut up, leaving Crookshanks to settle in the warm spot she left behind. The old cat immediately stretched out to claim his space, denying his human the chance to return to bed. She'd gone to bed late as usual, staying up too long with her textbooks and research notes. After all, she only had a bit over a year left before she'd be defending her thesis to conclude her Apprenticeship at St Mungo's research department, aiming for a Mastery in Charms with supplementary work in Arithmancy and Potions. Almost four years had passed since the end of the war against Voldemort but some days Hermione still woke up with nightmares about the battle, the time on the run or of Malfoy Manor.
She pulled on her purple bath robe and went for a shower. Her flat still made her happy. It was tiny but sufficient for her needs, with one bathroom, a small kitchen area that opened into the living room, and then a tiny bedroom with enough space for a queen-sized bed and a small wardrobe for her clothes but not much else. She'd put up bookshelves on every available wall in the living room, and her small kitchen table and slightly larger writing desk were littered with books and parchment. The building was wizard-owned but located in a Muggle area not far from Diagon Alley, so she had both electricity and a Floo installed. She liked being able to live in both worlds, having a functional TV and electric lights but at the same time being able to Apparate to a safe spot in the building's foyer and that both the building and her flat were warded properly. Ron hadn't been too happy with her moving to her own flat, saying they should both move in together at Grimmauld, but Hermione had insisted on having her own space.
After a shower and a quick breakfast of tea and toast she was ready to face the day. She usually chose to walk to St Mungo's, appreciating the time to clear her mind and get some dubiously fresh air before immersing herself yet again in research. The January morning was cold and damp, the sun not quite making an impact through the heavy London clouds, and some Christmas lights were still up after the holidays. She joined the throng of London commuters weaving their way through the streets, happy that she didn't have to take the Tube to work. That was one of the main benefits of being a witch, she often thought; not getting stuck in traffic or being affected by train service disruptions.
When she neared the dilapidated department store that acted as a front for the magical entrance to the hospital she didn't use the main entrance, however, but instead turned around the corner of the building and walked up to a stone frieze blackened with dirt, depicting a goat reading a book. She put her St Mungo's badge on the book which then fluttered shut as it accepted her credentials, and the goat turned and butted a sculpted column next to it which caused a green door to materialise. Stepping through, she then found herself in the entry hall to the Magical Research annex.
The building, an annex to the main St Mungo's hospital building, was shaped roughly like an octagonal tower with spokes jutting out in various directions at different levels, housing the different departments and functions. Another annex building housed the administration, kitchens, laundry services and the like, as well as offices and staff rooms for the Healers. The two annexes lay on either side of the hospital park which was located behind St Mungo's when viewed from the main hospital entrance hall, where long-term patients could go for walks if they wanted some sunlight, but they were also accessible through various magical shortcuts throughout the hospital building, and also connected to the Ministry of Magic at various levels.
The building where Hermione worked in the Magical Research Department also housed the experimental Potions lab down in the basement, well warded against accidents; the regular brewing room for potions used at the hospital; an isolation ward for the worst cases or for research, and a library with a vast collection of books and journals on all kinds of subjects vaguely related to Healing. The building's interiors sometimes changed appearance but she hadn't managed to figure out what triggered the changes. Today, anyway, most of the walls were light blue with dark cherry half panelling. She waved to some of the portraits on her way up to the right floor, including that of Hogwarts former Headmistress Dilys Derwent who was always up for a chat or some gossip, having been introduced to Hermione by Headmistress McGonagall at the start of Hermione's Apprenticeship.
She had just shrugged out of her coat and opened the first few lime green aeroplane memos when her boss and mentor, Healer Trout, popped his head in through the door of the tiny office she shared with another Apprentice.
"Hello there, Hermione, how are you? By the way, could you come by my office later today, I have something to discuss with you. Did you see the latest article in Hippocratic Corpus about a potion for improved healing of cursed scars? Very interesting, very interesting indeed. I've a meeting with the directors, see you, bye!"
She smiled and waved at him as he ran off somewhere else, his dark blue robes flapping behind him as if they were hurrying to catch up. It had taken her a few months to get accustomed to Healer Desmond Trout's style of management, but after nearly two and a half years working for him she'd grown rather fond of his somewhat erratic ways. He was a keen researcher with a solid list of publications in various journals, had a good eye for ideas worth pursuing and was surprisingly good at securing funding for even the oddest research project, so she gladly overlooked the fact that he couldn't organise his way out of a paper bag and that he sometimes assumed she knew everything he knew already, meaning that he usually thought everything could be solved in half an hour no matter the task.
Just as Healer Trout vanished around the corner her office mate entered bearing two cups of strong tea. Lucinda Wellington was the other Apprentice in the department, a former Ravenclaw two years younger than Hermione, who had started her Apprenticeship only a few months ago. She was interested in spell damage injuries while Hermione had been working on integrating potions and charms to improve mind healing after Obliviations or other magic-induced memory loss. Hermione had quickly become friends with the dark-haired younger witch who also knew Ginny and Luna a little since they had been only a year apart at Hogwarts.
"Thanks, Lucy," Hermione said and accepted her tea. The other witch smiled and sat down at her own desk, shuffling a stack of parchment to the side to make room for her cup.
"It's way too early in the morning, I only got back from holidays late last night," Lucy groaned. "How's things been in my absence, miss me much?"
The tea was hot and just the right colour with a dash of milk. They'd quickly learned each other's tea preferences. "I got the article accepted for publication, it will be out in the next issue of Magical Healing."
"Really? The one on your suggestions for new charms to improve memory retrieval? Congratulations, that's great! You'll be famous!"
Hermione blushed but couldn't help but to smile. "Doubt it but I'm glad it's over, I spent nearly the whole Christmas break writing it and had to come in to the office twice. How was skiing?"
Lucinda regaled her with tales of skiing in the Austrian Alps with her family and wizard boyfriend while they drank their tea and sorted out the latest stash of office memos. Her father was Muggleborn and she had spent a lot of time with her Muggle grandparents during holidays, including going on ski trips.
She didn't spot Healer Trout until after her lunch break when he was actually seated at his desk for once, half buried behind a small mountain of paper memos. He looked relieved when he saw who was knocking on his door and Banished the mess with a flourish of his wand. Half of them landed in the fireplace and burst into flames, apparently not by accident if his smirk was anything to go by.
"You wanted to see me?" She stepped inside and shuffled a stack of parchment, books and half-eaten muffins off his visitor's chair.
"Yes yes, come in, come in," he said. "Tea?"
"Em, sure, should I get some?"
"No no, I've got it." With a wave of his wand soon two cups of tea were floating in through the door from the small office kitchenette. She very much appreciated his no-nonsense general attitude, he wasn't one to flaunt titles or status over others, and wasn't above serving his staff tea instead of insisting on the other way around.
After some small talk over the status of her research he finally started to get to the point. "You know the Huge International Conference on Charms, Unusual magic and Potions conference is next month? It's held in Prague this year."
She nodded. It was the biggest gathering of magical research in those fields, held annually in different cities each year. Several hundreds of researchers attended and there would be lectures on all kinds of interesting topics, with a fancy gala dinner one of the evenings. Ever since she first heard of it she'd wanted to go but she hadn't expected to get the chance until she was done with the Apprenticeship.
"Well, I just got word that we have funding to send an additional person there this year, and since your research just got accepted for publication I thought you should speak about it. We have a slot open for a presentation. What do you think?"
Some time later, a shell-shocked Hermione was spotted by Lucy as she exited Healer Trout's office, and she found herself swiftly whisked away for another cup of tea and gossip. His offer had made her astonished, elated, nervous and terrified, in that order. Although she had travelled a fair bit with her parents, she had never travelled alone before and had never been to Prague. What if she got lost? She didn't know anyone else who would go, would she be alone for all of the four days? And oh gods she'd have to speak in public! What if someone listened? What if no one did?
~o~o~o~o~o~
She spent the rest of the day in a daze before calling it quits early and Flooing to Grimmauld Place to share the news with Harry and Ginny. It turned out that Ron was there too, having followed Harry back after their Auror shift. Ron didn't exactly live there, officially speaking, as he still stayed with his parents in the Burrow, but whenever Hermione met up with him they usually ended up spending the night at Grimmauld Place as Hermione didn't really feel comfortable staying with him under Molly Weasley's eye.
"Hermione? Hi, I didn't know you were coming, but come in of course," Harry said and asked Kreacher to fetch her a bottle of beer.
The wizened house-elf nodded and flapped his ears in acquiescence. Kreacher tolerated her much better now that he didn't have a Horcrux in his nest. He still called her Miss Mudblood but it didn't feel malicious, so Hermione chose to assume he simply meant it as a descriptor.
Harry had become rather fond of Muggle beer since he joined the Aurors and now had all kinds of odd varieties to test at home. He seemed to enjoy being an Auror, having graduated from the three-year programme last June along with Ron who had struggled a bit more but also managed to pull through in the end. Harry had flourished after Voldemort's demise. It was as if he could finally breathe now that he was free of the threat of the arguably darkest wizard of the century, and perhaps being liberated of the Horcrux in his scar had improved his mood more than they'd expected. Of course media attention was worse than ever but he seemed to have learned to manage it, thanks in part to Ginny's coaching and the fact that his home was Unplottable.
They sat down in the kitchen but then she couldn't wait any longer.
"I'm going to HICCUP!" she squeaked.
"Err… bless you?" Harry said.
Ginny started giggling.
"No, it's the Huge International Conference on Charms, Unusual magic and Potions, in Prague! I've been invited to speak!"
"You have? That's great!" Harry exclaimed. "Glad it's you, not me! When's that, not this week I hope?"
She thanked Kreacher for the beer, glad it wasn't one of the odder ones, like the Belgian ones he'd bought some time that autumn. Who put fruit and old socks in beer, anyway?
"No, but it's only a few weeks away. Oh my god, Prague! I've never been, I don't know a word of Czech! What if I get lost?"
Ginny pounced on her for a hug. "Congratulations! Oh we'll have to go robe shopping! You're speaking? Gods, Hermione! I'd be soooo nervous!"
"I know! Me too! Oh would you really go robe shopping with me? That would be great, I don't know what to wear and I hate shopping for clothes."
Kreacher showed up with some snack food. He was apparently experimenting in the kitchen again, and so they were served mini pizzas with chocolate toppings, ham and melon, avocado with peanut butter and chips with several dip sauces, including honey, something hot looking, and sour cream with chives. They all tucked in while Hermione told them all about the conference.
Ron had been oddly quiet throughout their exchange until Hermione finally looked at him.
"You're going, then?" Ron asked. He didn't look pleased at all, actually.
"Of course! This is a great opportunity for me to learn more about what's going on in other areas of research and maybe even meet a few of the influential people in the field."
Ron shook his head and took a large swig of his beer. Hermione frowned, why shouldn't she be happy about going? It was a great opportunity for her to further her research. Luckily, Harry saved the situation by telling them about his latest raid as an Auror on a gang of smugglers that were trying to import counterfeit brooms, fake precious artefacts and faulty gadgets.
Some time later, after more beer and a very nice lamb stew, she reluctantly said goodbye to her friends and walked over to the Floo. Ron followed her out to the drawing room.
"What about us then? You spent all Christmas locked away with your books already, I've barely seen you."
She blushed and turned to kiss him. He was right, she guessed. She'd barely noticed that she'd been too busy writing her article to see him much. "It's only for a few days, Ron."
"Stay the night? I've missed you, 'Mione," he murmured against her neck.
She squirmed. His touch tickled, and she could already feel his insistence against her hip. "I don't have any clothes for tomorrow…"
"You can always go back and change before Flooing to work."
She sighed and followed him up the stairs, feeling guilty about being annoyed with her boyfriend for wanting to see her.
They'd been together since the end of the War. It had seemed right then, somehow, in that hectic chaos as the world shattered and was reformed around them. Somehow everyone else assumed they were a couple already, including both Ron and his mother, which made it easiest to just acquiesce and go along with it.
She lay awake for too long afterwards, listening to Ron's light snores. The narrow bed felt cramped when shared with someone as tall as Ron. As usual their lovemaking had been quick, messy and slightly uncomfortable, but perhaps the lack of passion was to be expected after a couple of years? Or maybe she was just not meant for that sort of intimacy? She hadn't come, she rarely managed to, but maybe she just wasn't into the whole sex thing that much? He'd fallen asleep quickly while she snuck off to the shower to wash the sticky residue off her thighs.
~o~o~o~o~o~
The rest of the week went by quickly as she started to prepare for the conference, trying to find a good structure for the presentation. Ginny and Luna popped in for an impromptu lunch a few days later, and invited Lucy to come along as well. Ginny was playing Quidditch with the Holyhead Harpies but in the off-season she also helped Luna a bit with the Quibbler which they were gradually turning into a more respectable publication. Xenophilius Lovegood hadn't been himself after the War and had retired more and more from the publication, preferring to tend to his garden instead. Luna had set up an office in Hogsmeade since taking over the main responsibility from her father. She was dating Neville who was doing an Apprenticeship in Herbology under Professor Sprout at Hogwarts.
"We need to take Hermione robe shopping this weekend," Ginny announced as they were all seated with their lunch soups and sandwiches at a café not far from the St Mungo's entrance.
Lucy immediately lit up in a smile and even Luna looked vaguely interested. Although Hermione sometimes complained about Ginny's bossiness, Hermione was still secretly relieved to have three friends who were happy to spend time helping her. Soon they had arranged to meet up as soon as stores opened the following Saturday.
The end of the War had seen several new businesses opening, and London's Wizarding quarters were livelier than ever with people busy shopping or doing errands. Hermione was glad to see the change in atmosphere from the almost oppressive tension that had reigned after Voldemort's return, but at the same time crowds of magical people still made her slightly nervous. She took a deep breath to clear her mind as she entered Diagon Alley from the Apparition point.
"There you are!" Ginny said as soon as Hermione showed up outside Flourish and Blotts where she and Lucy were already waiting. "Luna will be here soon, Lucy and I have made a plan."
Hermione smiled. "Of course you have, Ginny. Alright, where are we off to? Do we have time to step into the bookstore first?"
"Noooo, not this time, missy!" Ginny admonished, laughing. She spotted someone in the crowd. "Here's Luna! Let's head to Madam Malkin's first, then Twilfit and Tattings and then that new store on Horizont Alley."
Luna rounded the corner, hugged them all in greeting and soon they were off to the stores, with Ginny in the lead.
Hermione's feet were aching when they finally entered a nearby pub for a belated lunch. They settled in a booth, giving their orders to the waitress.
"I'm glad to have magic today," she remarked to Lucy as they waited for their food to arrive. "Otherwise I'd never be able to carry all of this!"
Lucy giggled and agreed. Hermione had been coaxed into buying several new sets of robes, dress robes, shoes, underwear and other things to help her look respectable at the conference. Ginny's suggestions were usually been a bit too bold for her but the redhead had made her buy some new sets of lingerie and a few sets of nice robes for dinner and mingling, while Lucy and to Hermione's surprise also Luna had found her several sets of professional-looking robes for attending the sessions. The others had also bought some new clothes, of course, and most of their purchases were shrunk to a more manageable size with a few items to be delivered by owl later.
Hermione had a decent amount of money from her parents but the Order of Merlin, First Class that she had received after the War also came with a generous stipend which was lucky as the Apprenticeship barely paid enough to cover her most important monthly bills.
"How's Neville?" Hermione asked Luna over her fish 'n' chips. She hadn't seen her former classmate since last summer.
"Oh, Neville is fine, I haven't seen him much lately. By the way, Hermione, remember, sometimes not choosing is also a choice."
Hermione felt flustered by the direct gaze her blonde friend levelled at her, as if Luna knew something she didn't.
~o~o~o~o~o~
With less than a week to go until the conference Hermione was basically all set, which didn't stop her fretting. She'd prepared her presentation and all her notes, and her bags were mostly packed already. Lucy had threatened to throw her out of her office if she didn't stop practising her presentation out loud so she'd retreated to the lab instead for most of the past week.
She woke up late by her standards, at almost nine o'clock on Sunday morning.
"Morning, Crooks," she said to her cat who purred in return and flicked an ear towards his food bowl. He had his human well trained, after all. "I'm heading to the Burrow today, I promised Harry and Ginny that I'd go." She scratched his neck and went to serve him breakfast.
Molly was preparing a Sunday roast for the whole Weasley clan and was already busy in the kitchen when Hermione arrived just before three o'clock. After a quick greeting, she was summarily dismissed to the living room with cup of tea and a sandwich. Molly preferred to be alone in the kitchen when cooking with the exception of Ginny occasionally. Hermione sometimes wondered if it was just for the older witch to get some time for herself, or if she really did want her sons to be hopeless in the kitchen. Still, she knew that Bill knew his way around a household, and even the twins managed to stay alive on their own without a housekeeper, so perhaps something had rubbed off on them.
To her delight, Bill and Fleur were already there with their daughter. She enjoyed talking to both of them, as they were actually interested in magical theories and had lots of interesting stories from Bill's Curse-breaking adventures and Fleur's part-time job as an Arithmancer at Gringotts. The three of them settled down at the dining room table with Victoire who was already nearly two years old. The lively toddler was happily chatting about her favourite stuffed Wabbit while Fleur tried to get her to eat her snack.
"I heard you're going to HICCUP?" Bill said with a smile.
"Yes, I'm leaving Wednesday already. I still can't believe I'm going!"
"I heard it's in Prague this year? I went when it was in Amsterdam," Bill commented. "It was very interesting, I'm sure you'll have fun. Didn't you go one year too, Fleur?"
Fleur nodded as she handed her daughter a biscuit. "Yes, in Moscow," she said. "I especially liked the Unusual Magic sessions."
Bill smiled. "Yes, same here. I think the talks on Egyptian and Ancient Mayan charms were what drew me to become a Curse-breaker."
"How lucky for me, then," Fleur said with a smile. She looked at her husband with a gaze that made Hermione slightly envious, but she was glad the two of them were so obviously happy with each other.
"I hiccup too, maman!" Victoire interjected, waving her biscuit around.
The noise level rose dramatically as the others entered, apparently fresh from another impromptu Quidditch game. Not for the first time she wondered what the collective noun for Weasleys were. She'd tentatively settled for a confusion of Weasleys but the jury was still out. Fred and George walked over to greet them, catching her in a dual hug and pressing twin kisses on her cheeks simultaneously. At least now they were easier to tell apart, Fred was missing half a leg after the Battle of Hogwarts and George was short an ear, but that hadn't stopped either the bad jokes or their keen business sense.
"How's our favourite honorary sister?" Fred asked.
"I heard she's leaving us! She's going to Prague!" George said dramatically, a hand on his forehead.
Fred started sobbing into his brother's shoulder. "Oh no! She's getting away! Quick, tie her down before she realises she can do much better than Ickle Ronniekins!"
"Stop it, both of you!" Hermione giggled.
Fred and George's business at the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes was booming, they had hired several new staff members and expanded their main location as well as their Hogsmeade branch. She was happy for their success. Sometimes they'd asked her opinion about new product lines and spells, and she had a lot of respect for their skills even if the implementations sometimes left a lot to be desired. She'd even helped with calculations for a few recipes and charms which led to them insisting to pay her royalties for each sale, and her pile of Galleons in Gringotts was growing surprisingly quickly.
Soon the chaos died down and finally the table was set, everyone was clean and warm, and the food was ready. Hermione sat between Harry and Bill opposite Ron. She usually tried to sit far from the Twins although they generally respected her enough not to try to sneak anything onto her plate.
"What's that about you leaving, Hermione?" Arthur asked after everyone had been served some roast chicken, potatoes, gravy and sides. Molly looked up at her with a frown and Ron stared at his plate.
"Oh no I'm not leaving, I'm going to a conference this week," she answered, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.
"All by yourself?" Molly interjected. "With no supervision?"
Ginny glared at her mother while Harry mainly looked embarrassed.
Hermione felt confused. "Supervision? Why… Yes, it's just me, why does it matter?"
"You'll be all by yourself, a young woman among so many wizards, is that really appropriate?" Molly asked.
George sighed dramatically. "Oh, Hermione! You know if a wizard approaches you, you must look the other way! Your virtue is in danger! Never talk to a stranger!"
Fred grinned. "Yes! And remember if you do end up alone with a wizard, don't let him show you his wand, alright? You might find yourself … impaled!" He stabbed a potato with his knife at the end of his speech for impact.
Molly glared at her sons. "Fred, George, that's enough!"
Ginny snickered but Hermione felt rather embarrassed. Why was it even a question? At a professional conference?
Luckily, Bill cut in and firmly diverted the talk to something unrelated, and the rest of the meal passed rather more peacefully. Harry shared some stories from their Auror work, Arthur talked about how the cleanup at the Ministry was going and Ginny got everyone excited over Quidditch as the warmer season was approaching. Still, Hermione couldn't quite shake it from her mind. Why on Earth would Molly think she'd need supervision to attend a professional conference? Was that really how they saw her? No one had stood up for Hermione against the Weasley matriarch even though Bill clearly thought his mother was out of line.
Finally the dinner was at an end. Hermione thanked Molly for everything which was waved off as usual. Bill and Fleur were among the first to leave with Victoire, but Hermione was for once eager to get away from the Weasley household. Ron pulled her aside as she was preparing to leave.
"I don't think you should go to Prague," he said. "Why do you have to?"
She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "And why in the world not? Why shouldn't I? It's a great professional opportunity for me to learn a lot and meet lots of interesting people."
"I have a job now, you don't have to keep up with all of that!" he insisted. "I can take care of you now! You don't need to keep spending all your time at that place anymore."
Hermione felt as if she'd had the wind knocked out of her. "I can't believe it, Ron! Why aren't you happy for me? I want to go!"
"I barely even manage to get you to hang out with me and the blokes on Fridays anymore, I miss you!" he continued. "We should move in together, you know, I can support us now."
She merely looked at him and shook her head. Why would she want to spend her Fridays in dingy pubs with Ron's Auror mates? Crookshanks and a book was better company. Luckily, or not, Ginny came barrelling in with her twin brothers in tow.
"Have fun, Hermione! You'll look great in those new robes!" Ginny hugged her tight.
"Ooooooh!" went the twins.
"What new robes?" Ron asked, arms crossed in front of him.
"Wouldn't you want to know?" his sister asked and poked him in the ribs. "She'll look stunning!"
"Thanks, Ginny, I have to leave now, bye everyone!" Hermione said hurriedly, and finally managed to leave after another round of hugs.
Crookshanks looked up from where he lay sprawled on the coach when she arrived back in her flat. She kicked her shoes off and heaved a sigh of relief at being alone again, finally.
"Why does it have to be so complicated, Crooks?"
The half-Kneazle purred and twitched his tail in reply.