A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who favorited, followed or reviewed last chapter! It seems like so many of you are stretching out of your comfort zone to read a Lumione, and it means a lot to me that you are giving it a shot! This chapter starts the back story, and occurs approximately one year before last chapter.

Please let me know what you think of chapter two and be on the lookout for chapter three soon!

June, 1999

The biggest thing that had gotten Hermione through her time alone at Hogwarts was remembering that she'd get to be with her friends again when she was through. True, Ginny had gone back too, but Hermione just never had the same camaraderie with Ginny that she did with Harry and Ron.

Hermione had needed to go back to Hogwarts, to sit her NEWTs and prove her intelligence once and for all. Harry and Ron were happy to take the honorary degrees and enter into Auror training. Hermione knew that was going to be difficult enough for them, so she didn't begrudge them for taking the opportunity. It just wasn't what was right for her.

She hadn't expected that going back to Hogwarts was going to feel so hollow, so empty. She was one of only three "eighth" years to come back, and she wasn't really friends with any of them, always being a bit too abrasive of a person to make friends easily, despite being a war heroine. So she looked forward to Hogsmeade weekends when Harry and Ron could come visit or their sparse letters. Hermione didn't think that anything could make her heart beat faster than getting a letter from her boyfriend, always expecting some great long missive that would perfectly express his feelings for her.

It never came.

And really, in her heart, Hermione knew it never would. Ron was never much for the written word, and she was lucky if he remembered what she was working on while at Hogwarts.

When graduation finally came, she was excited, sure that this meant that she would have more to spend with her boyfriend. Well, of course, she'd find a job and that would probably be pretty busy, and he had auror training that would keep him busy as well, but she would be staying at Grimmauld Place together, and he would be just down the hallway.

Hermione smiled to herself, getting ready for her graduation party, that they might even be able to take their physical relationship to the next level. She was a girl like any other, and she was intensely curious about what sex with Ronald Weasley might be like. Would he be a sweet lover?

Ron hadn't been back to Grimmauld Place since she returned, so the last time she'd seen him, she was wearing her Hogwarts graduation robes as she walked across the stage to receive her diploma. Though she didn't dress up often, she wanted all eyes on her, seeing as it was her graduation party.

She could already hear the other guests downstairs, probably milling about waiting for the guest of honor, while she was up in her room putting the finishing touches on her outfit, wanting Ron to be totally gobsmacked when he saw her. She wanted him to wrap her up in his arms and kiss her in front of everyone.

Once her hair was arranged artfully in sleek curls, her makeup perfect (though, Hermione thought it made her look like another person...at least, it made her look more adult), and her strapless, tight, red dress in place, she looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't think she'd ever been more self conscious and excited at the same time.

A steadying charm ensured that she didn't wobble at all in her sky high pumps when she walked down the narrow stairs towards the parlor in Grimmauld Place, where her friends were waiting. She pushed the door open, more confident than she'd been in months...

...only to have the confidence ripped from her when she saw Ron's arm slung around Romilda Vane's shoulder, trying to hide the fact that he was touching her breast by playing with her long, black hair.

He noticed her immediately, and if he saw her falter in her movements, he didn't mention it. "Hey 'Mione!" He greeted, huge smile plastered on his face. Hermione hated that insipid nickname. "You know my girlfriend, Romilda."

For a moment, she felt as if she were in a bizarre dream. But then, that stupid goofy grin never came off his face and she realized this was really happening. Hermione wanted to shout at him, wanted to say she knew very well who Romilda was, as she'd just spent the last school year with her. She wasn't sure what she was feeling, but it was solidly between burning rage and overwhelming sadness. She wasn't sure if she was going to break down and cry or hex Ronald Weasley to bits.

She plastered a fake smile on her face. "Oh yes, we've certainly run into each other in the Gryffindor common room before." Hermione cringed, seeing Ron's eyes sweep up and down her body, appraising her looks. It was made worse by the fact that she had specifically dressed up for him. "May I speak with you, privately?"

Turning on her heal, Hermione didn't wait for his response before she sauntered off in the direction of the library. She was pleased when she heard his footsteps hastening behind her, knowing that she was pissed off about something. "What's the matter 'Mione?" He asked once they were in the relative sanctuary of the library.

"What the fuck are you playing at, Ron?" She demanded, feeling her fingers tighten around her wand. Her previously perfectly coiffed hair was going wild from the excess magic she could feel buzzing on her skin, begging to be unleashed. "What do you mean the Romilda is your girlfriend?"

Ron looked puzzled, to his credit. "Romilda is my girlfriend. We've been dating for two weeks." He insisted, as though it was something everyone knew.

"Really? Because I was under the impression that I was your girlfriend." Hermione countered, her jaw set. Really, the nerve of him bringing that little attention seeker to her graduation party. It was as if he'd done it to hurt her intentionally. "And that I had been since after the Final Battle."

She watched as his face was transformed by a patronizing smile, as if she were just so stupid that it was precious. "Oh, 'Mione." He said, as if he cared. "You didn't honestly think that, did you? I thought I was clear that we were just having a bit of fun."

Hermione could feel her nostrils flare and her voice went a bit shrill. "Oh, and I suppose that months of Hogsmeade visits and sucking your cock was just a bit of fun, then, was it?" She'd done so much for him, with little favor in return, but she'd rationalized it, that they'd make up for lost time once she'd graduated.

"Come on, you're not serious?" He asked, before a bit of glee flashed on his face. "Oh, you are! Come on, Hermione, you knew we were just friends with benefits. I can't be too serious right now...I'm a war hero."

Hermione wanted to throttle Ronald Weasley, but he was saved by the arrival of Harry and Ginny. "Hey, what are you guys doing in her? Ro is going nuts out there that you left her alone, Ron." Harry said, clapping the redhead on the shoulder.

"You knew?" Hermione accused, wondering if everyone had been laughing at her behind her back, too stupid to realize that she was being led on by Ron Weasley.

"What are you talking about, Hermione?" Harry asked, his face tipping to the side.

Ron could barely keep the self satisfied look of his face. "Hermione was just...well, she thought that she and I were dating, and she got a bit upset when I introduced her to Ro." Ron said, the three others in the room all in on some secret joke.

"Oh, Hermione." Ginny whined, pity for the curly haired witch evident on her face. Hermione wanted to snarl at her. They'd gone to Hogwarts together. Couldn't Ginny have told her what a fool she was making of herself.

"Don't!" Hermione said, taking a step back like a cornered animal. "You saw when he gave me a locket for Christmas. It says 'Forever Mine' in it! Why didn't you tell me if you knew? Why would you ever think I would be okay with this?" She really felt like she didn't even know them any more.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I just figured you guys would have had it sorted. I didn't think it was my business." It was one of Harry's flaws. He never wanted to get in the middle of Ron and Hermione, he never wanted to pick a side. So sometimes, doing nothing was just easier for him.

Hermione ripped the necklace from around her neck, the clasp breaking open. She threw it on the ground at Ron Weasley's feet. "Here. Maybe you can give this too Romilda." She spat at him, before pushing past her friends and making her way to the stairs, back up to her room.

"But what about your graduation party?" Harry called at her retreating form.

She shook her head. "This whole thing was a mistake. Moving into Grimmauld Place was a mistake. I am going to pack my things, and I will be out tomorrow morning." She knew it was probably an overreaction, but she just felt so betrayed by her three friends. Didn't anyone of them have the niggling feeling that she didn't know?

Someone began following her up the stairs, but then she heard Ron's low voice. "Just leave it, mate. She'll calm down in the morning, and then change her mind. Come on, let's go back to the party."

Feeling completely cast aside, Hermione finally let the hot tears in her eyes spill down her cheeks, before furiously wiping them away. She wasn't going to change her mind.

Hermione was up and out of Grimmauld Place, all of her belongings neatly packed in her little beaded bag, before the other three residents had even stirred. After a long night of partying, she was sure that they all had raging hangovers.

She did feel a bit of malicious joy at knowing none of them would be able to brew the hangover potion she was sure they were counting on her to take care of, and she'd dumped the rest of what she could find in the bathroom potions cabinet. They'd taken her for granted one too many times.

She set out from the London townhouse with the intent of purchasing a small flat. She'd been given a sizeable monetary reward with her Order of Merlin, First Class, and seeing as the goblins still weren't allowing her to reopen her vault at Gringotts, she carried it with her everywhere she went.

Seeing that she was willing to pay cash up front, she was able to procure a one bedroom flat in Diagon Alley before lunch time. It probably didn't hurt that she was the Hermione Granger, either. The flat had a sizeable master bathroom and even a powder room off of her living room, ensuring that her guests wouldn't have to go tramping through her bedroom to use the loo.

By dinner time, Hermione had completely unpacked, having even purchased enough furniture to make it looked lived in. She was working on reorganizing her books for the third time, trying to do anything to keep her mind of the betrayal of her friends. She just knew in her heart that Ron had always known that she thought that they were dating, and took advantage of the situation anyway. How could he not?

What really hurt, though, was Harry and Ginny's reaction. It seemed to her that they somehow thought she was overreacting, when really, it was as if she'd been cheated on the whole year! How was it possible that they wouldn't take her side?

Thinking about this was making her stomach hurt, and Hermione decided that she needed something to keep her mind off it. A copy of the Daily Prophet sat open on the newly purchased kitchen table.

Hermione padded over to the paper, thumbing through to the classifieds. She had thought she'd give herself a little time to get settled before she looked for a job, but now the idea of having something to keep her mind off of Ron seemed like the perfect idea.

She found about fifteen jobs that she was well qualified for - having received eleven NEWTs, all Os - and that would suit her needs, and pay her a good salary. She sat at the kitchen table, then, writing fifteen cover letters for the jobs, each tailored specifically to the job requirements, unique and personal and professional.

It was times like this that Hermione wished the wizarding world used a word processor. Even after taking all of those exams, her hand ached from the effort of writing all those tiny words. Once she was done, she felt satisfied, knowing that she'd made the right decision.

While she surely hurt now, she was making good changes for her life. Things were looking up, and she would be better with Ron behind her. She had a great new flat, and she just knew that she would get a great house. Standing, she went down to the post office to send off all of her cover letters.

As she watched the owls fly away, she felt hope.

Even though Hermione had felt hopeful, she certainly hadn't expected to get a response the very next morning for a job. It was an enthusiastic note of her accomplishments and an offer of a job, beginning the following Monday.

Hermione never thought that the International Magical Trading Standards Board at the Ministry would offer her a job, and without even giving her an interview. She was excited, as she was quite curious about the economics about it. Everyone expected that she would do something with Magical Law, but she wanted to be nowhere near the Auror Department...

The Trading Board would be exciting, fast paced, and she was sure that it would afford her a lot of opportunity to travel as well. She knew that they did a lot of business in Paris, but she knew that they did business with loads of countries as well. Hermione loved to travel, even going so far as Bulgaria to visit Viktor back in school.

She was so excited about the prospects of the job, she had a quill and parchment in hand, accepting the job offer before she knew it. She knew that even though she was feeling glad now, if she had too much time to think on her own, she would start feeling depressed again about her friends actions.

No, it was better to throw herself head first in a new job as quickly as possible. Who knew, maybe she could even try to make some new friends in her department! Watching the bird fly away, she was excited at what the future was going to hold.