"It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right,
I hope you had the time of your life."
-Good Riddance, Green Day (1997)
The day that would change Hermione's life forever had started unremarkably. It was the second week of her summer break and Hermione was home alone while her parents worked. She was enjoying the solitude to read, having received her high school curriculum books the week before. She only had one book left to read that she deliberately saved till last, a novel called Into The Wild.
Stretched out on a sun lounge in the back garden as she read, she was thoroughly engrossed in the book. As she was about to turn the page a shadow passed over the book, instinctually Hermione looked up and saw a bird flying overhead. Without giving the bird a second thought she went back to reading, it wasn't particularly unusual to have birds fly over the yard. It wasn't until she heard a rustling noise she was distracted from her book again. She looked up and into the large round eyes of a brown owl, sitting in an apple tree only a couple of meters away.
Although Hermione was no expert on birds, she was fairly certain owls were nocturnal. Sitting up and putting her book down she stared up at the bird again and noticed that the owl had something caught on its leg. Hermione decided the best way to help the bird would be to go inside and find the number of a local wildlife sanctuary from the phone book to call them for advice.
She had lost track of time while reading, so as she stood up from she felt a bit stiff. Pushing her arms up and out to stretch them she saw movement out of the corner of her eye before feeling a weight on her outstretched arm. Letting out a strangled whimper, she fought off the instinct to move her arm, which the owl was now perched on.
The owl was surprisingly heavy and although Hermione had initially been scared the bird would attack her it seemed calm. Looking down at her arm she noticed that the bird didn't have something caught on it's leg, someone had tied a letter to the poor owl. Frowning Hermione looked down at the back of the thick envelope, it was sealed with red wax. Reaching out tentatively so she wouldn't bother the owl she turned the envelope over. When she saw the front she audibly gasped, causing the owl to ruffle a little. Someone had written her name and address on the front of the envelope, the owl was carrying a letter for her.
That was when her heart started really racing and her hands started shaking. She tried to untie the envelope with her unsteady hands as the owl sat calmly. After a few minutes she had untied the letter. The owl just looked directly at her and flew off, heading back in the direction it had appeared from.
Sinking back onto the sun lounger Hermione grasped the envelope in both hands. She had no idea who could have possibly sent her a letter using an owl, it was the most bizarre thing she had ever encountered. She turned the thick envelope over and ran her fingers over the raised wax seal. The seal was a crest with an H in the middle, surrounded by a lion, a snake, a badger and an eagle. Underneath the crest it said 'Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus', and although Hermione didn't know what the words meant she suspected they were in Latin.
Holding the envelope in her hands and weighing up her options Hermione decided for once to act like the11 year old child she was. So it wasn't too long before she tore open the envelope excitedly, finding several pieces of thick, folded parchment inside. She slowly unfolded the paper and read the first page. And then she read it again, and again.
After reading the letter enough times she would be able to recite it by heart but she still didn't really understand why she had received it. The letter said she had been accepted into Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But she was going to the most elite academic school in her region, there is no way her parents sent away an application for a Wiccan school. They didn't even know a Wiccan person.
Sitting there and trying to think of a logical reason for the strange letter Hermione didn't even hear her mum arrive home. It wasn't until the back door opened and she saw her mum walk into yard with a tall, stern looking woman she realised she was no longer home alone.
"She did receive a letter," the stranger said quietly to her mother, frowning with concern.
"Hermione love, this is Professor McGonagall from Hogwarts. Come inside so we can have a chat." Her mum, Elizabeth Granger said.
They walked into the kitchen of the cool house. Hermione was watching the Professor closely as they sat down at the kitchen table. The older woman was looking around the house curiously and seemed fascinated with how the Grangers lived. Suddenly nervous that she was also being scrutinized, Hermione tried to press her thick mess of curls neatly behind her ears.
It wasn't long before curiosity got the better of her and she found herself saying timidly, "I'm sorry if this is improper to say Professor McGonagall, but you don't look like how I expected a Wiccan to look."
"Oh, Hermione," her mum interjected on seeing the Professor's puzzled look. "Just let Professor McGonagall explain things to you before you go bombarding her with questions."
Hermione nodded to acknowledge the instruction. She felt a small knot of guilt in her stomach, she hated messing up and worried she had offended this Professor.
With a kind smile the older lady started, "Well Hermione, I can see that you received the letter from one of our school owls. That isn't normally the way we break the news to children from non-magical families, the letter was supposed to be hand delivered by one of our staff members. There was something of an administration oversight…"
The Professor trailed off, possibly due to Hermione's puzzled look. An awkward expression crossed the woman's face. She turned to Hermione's mother, "I'm sorry, I'm not normally the one who does this. It'll probably be easier if I just show her, like I showed you and your husband at your workplace."
She pulled a wooden stick out of her pocket and pointed it at the tissue box, causing a tissue to fly out and land on the table. Mumbling something under her breath she pointed the stick at the tissue on the table. Hermione gasped as the tissue turned into two white butterflies, flying up from the table.
She watched, dumbfounded, as the Professor pointed her wooden stick back at the butterflies one by one. As she pointed at each butterfly she muttered something and they turned back to tissue and fell to the table.
"I've just demonstrated a transfiguration charm. The ability to perform magic, like transfiguration, is something you were born with Hermione. Hogwarts is a school especially for children like you, children who are witches or wizards. At Hogwarts you'll learn how to control and use the magic you were born with. Did you have any questions?"
Hermione shook her head, completely lost for words. She was having trouble believing what she had just seen. Her mum shot her a worried look as she walked Professor McGonagall out, knowing how uncharacteristic the lack of questions was for her inquisitive daughter.
She remained sitting at the kitchen table, her mind racing in an impossible number of directions. The moment only became more surreal when she realised the radio was playing her primary school graduation song. A few weeks ago she had been signing the same lyrics at a farewell assembly, thinking at the time the lyrics didn't apply to her. Her life had been planned since she was little, qualify for a prestigious academic girls school, go to the same university her parents had attended and while she studied law she would meet her future partner.
Only now, that wouldn't be Hermione's future. The life plan she had counted on and had focused on when the other children made fun of her or when she was lonely, had disappeared in the space of an afternoon. For the first time in Hermione's young life she was about to truly enter unknown territory and it terrified her.
The sound of an owl hooting reverberated around the small conference room.
Until the avian interruption the head of the Counter Terrorism Command had been addressing the room, and he was not pleased to be thrown off mid speech. The large and imposing man glanced around the room, his brow furrowed into a very serious frown as he looked for the source of the sound. Although he did not spot an owl, because really, how would an owl get into a conference room at New Scotland Yard, he did notice one of his department heads had flushed a very interesting shade of crimson.
"Granger! That better be a national emergency or you will have one very pissed off boss…" he said as he nodded towards the door, indicating that she needed to leave the room and deal with the call.
To say that Hermione was deeply embarrassed was an understatement. Her unit was already the laughing stock of the Counter Terrorism Command. The larger units like Religious Motive Terrorism and Political Motive Terrorism, had been quite vocal in expressing that 'Miscellaneous Motive Terrorism' was the most ridiculous unit that had ever stepped foot into New Scotland Yard. The seemingly eccentric staff and the vague reports produced did nothing to help the bizarre reputation of Miscellaneous Motive Terrorism. Hermione's boss was the only one aware of what Miscellaneous Motive Terrorism truly meant. Although from the distaste he dealt with Miscellaneous Motive Terrorism cases she suspected he would have preferred to remain ignorant.
The next time Hermione saw Ginny she was going to hex her. Ginny found it especially hilarious that muggle born Hermione struggled with modern technology and knew that she usually forgot to switch her phone to silent. So her favourite prank was to change Hermione's ringtone to embarrassing sounds, like an owl.
She answered her phone and had to hold it out from her ear slightly as her second in command, Arthur Weasley, still shouted a little down the phone. "Hermione, there has been an incident. You'll need to have your equipment and we'll meet ASAP in St James' s Park."
Hermione felt the cold rush of adrenaline sweeping through her body. The unit had set up communication procedures in case they were overheard by muggles, using innocuous words as codes. The coded message from Arthur indicated something really serious had happened and she knew she had to leave her meeting.
She ducked back into the conference room and felt all eyes on her.
"Well?" Her boss demanded, his nostrils flaring slightly. Clearly he was still angry at the strange interruption.
"I'm sorry Commander, we have a priority situation. I'll keep you informed as things develop." She said rapidly, ducking back out the door before the Commander could question her further. A tactic she knew the Commander would make her pay for later.
As she rushed towards the basement of the building she glimpsed her reflection in a window and sighed. She had dressed for the important meeting she had just been in, stiletto heels, tailored navy skirt suit, white silk blouse with her hair and make up immaculate. So although the attire was completely appropriate for a boardroom, she was wearing the least practical attire for any kind of magical situation.
On site at New Scotland Yard Hermione had to store her wand in a specialised gun safe in the basement. Knowing she would need it thanks to Arthur's message, she quickly punched in the combination of the lock and grabbed her wand. Used to concealing the object while working amongst muggles, she had a specially made forearm holster for the wand.
Due to the unusually observant employees at New Scotland Yard, they had established special rules for the muggle headquarters. Unit staff were only permitted to apparate in the most desperate of circumstances and had to use a specially designated maintenance room near a side exit of the building. The combination of a lack of CCTV and plausible explanation to where staff disappeared to with the exit nearby making the room suitable.
As Hermione stood in the room she pictured the green park, open air and even a specific tree before she felt ready. Twisting on the spot she kept her eyes closed a moment as she felt a slight breeze indicating she had successfully made it to the St James's Park rendezvous point.
Trying not to swear at her useless shoes, as her stiletto heel sunk into the soft turf Hermione made her way out of the wooded alcove and towards the path. She spotted Arthur swiftly walking towards her. She smiled as she realised he had taken her critical locations apparition location plan seriously and had memorised the location she would arrive.
As they headed towards their destination Arthur started to give her a rundown of the situation.
"Around 20 minutes ago a cleaner at 10 Downing Street found half a body in the Prime Minister's locked office. His screams altered the Prime Minister's security detail and as you know we have Terry Boot as an inside man on the security detail. He instantly recognised the scene as one of ours and ensured we got a call."
Turning into her serious boss mode immediately at the grim news Hermione focused on the most important points, "How did, Terry know it was one of ours?"
"I only had a brief conversation with him but he said when the cleaner entered the locked room the body was in the fireplace. When Boot walked in, he saw the body was wearing robes and ordered everyone out."
"Has the Floo network been shut down?" Hermione asked urgently, realising the risk to other critical locations if someone had been able to hack into the Prime Minister's office.
"Being actioned by staff at the Ministry as we speak." Arthur replied. Again Hermione felt a rush of gratitude for the extremely capable older man. They walked on in silence for a minute as a group of tourists passed by them from the opposite direction.
When they were relatively safe from being overheard Hermione started questioning Arthur again, "Top half?"
Arthur nodded in conformation.
"Identification?"
"None confirmed, Boot said he looked familiar but couldn't place him." Arthur replied just as quickly. They had moved from the park now and were walking along a residential street.
"Ok, how much of this has leaked?" Hermione asked, looking around for other media or Police presence as they arrived at their location.
Arthur visibly winced as he said, "Too much to close it down completely. Although we got the call from Boot right away another staff member called the Major Crime unit. Major Crime were first responders, until the French arrived and forced them to stand down."
Looking around Hermione could see that Arthur's information accounted for several unmarked Police cars at the end of the street. She couldn't see any media present yet, but given the amount of people aware of the situation it was only a matter of time now.
She walked up to the door of 10 Downing Street and nodded at the uniformed officer standing next to the door, flashing her New Scotland Yard ID.
Once they were in the relative privacy of the building, without the potential of being overheard she asked Arthur urgently, "The French? Which agency? And what on do the French have to do with it?"
He frowned as he replied, "Apparently that's need to know and I'm not authorised for that. Or to access the scene."
Frustrated Hermione flung open the study door they were now standing outside. She was annoyed someone had questioned the authority of her staff and was ready to confront 'the French' that had taken over her crime scene. Yet the sight she saw inside the room struck her mute for a moment. A figure in a boiler suit was crouched close over the body, so close their face was almost laying on the corpse. Around the outskirts of the room two or three others watched the figure, matching looks of distaste on their faces.
Reading the room Hermione could see it was clear the figure in the boiler suit thought they were in charge here. Sighing in frustration Hermione took a couple of steps towards the figure. As she got closer she could hear tinny music and noticed the dark ear buds the sound was emitting from. Faltering momentarily at the lack of professionalism from the woman, listening to music over a body, she took a moment to observe her. She seemed oddly familiar, although all she could see from this angle was ivory skin of her slender neck, her flaxen hair tied up in a bun and an athletic figure inside a surprisingly flattering boiler suit.
"Are you done staring?" asked the girl without turning around. She had a low voice with only a faint trace of a French accent. On hearing the voice Hermione was again struck with a stirring of recognition.
Overwhelmingly annoyed at the rude manner of this French official, she felt her face slightly flush with anger. She decided not to dignify the insolent question with an answer and walked towards the body. As she walked across the hard wood floor her heels clicked and she internally winced, she hated being so overdressed at a crime scene.
When she was almost at body the French woman stood up and turned around. Hermione's eyes connected with familiar blue ones and she felt a definite jolt when she recognised Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons Triwizard Champion. It felt like a lifetime ago she had last seen the other witch, during the Triwizard Tournament. Something about meeting Fleur again, someone she had idolised as a teen, rattled Hermione momentarily.
Fleur's eyebrows rose as she looked Hermione up and down. "Oh, I thought the English were sending the head of the Magical Police, not a Chanel model"
The comment wasn't anything that Hermione hadn't heard before. She was used to people doubting her, during her Hogwarts years for being muggle born. And again when she had rapidly risen through the ranks at the Ministry for Magic she was 'too young' for the various roles. Perhaps the worst was in her role with the muggle Police, where being young, a civilian and a female had people openly betting how long it would take her unit to screw up.
Although the people who doubted her and criticised her made her feel a certain kind of rage, she was just obstinate enough to channel that into proving them wrong.
As casually as she could Hermione replied, "Well in England if you're talented enough you can be head of Miscellaneous Motive Terrorism with New Scotland Yard, Deputy Head of Magical Law Enforcement and a Chanel model."
Without waiting for a reply she stepped forward past Fleur, silently challenging her to tell Hermione she wasn't authorised to examine the body. She crouched over the body for several minutes, studying the corpse carefully and was pleased when the French official didn't object.
"Good riddance" she muttered to herself over the corpse when she recognised the body of Albert Runcorn.
Satisfied she had seen all she needed to she stood turned away from the body. Fleur was standing there watching her, so she approached the witch directly before saying "Fleur Delacour right? I remember you from the Triwizard Tournament. Is this your first time back in the UK?"
The French witch simply replied, "Yes."
Hermione waited for Fleur to elaborate, but it became clear after a few seconds of silence Fleur was done answering the questions. Feeling unsure of how to proceed she decided to introduce herself in case the other witch hadn't remembered her, "I'm Hermione Granger…"
"I know who you are." Fleur replied, cutting her off mid sentence. As she watched the French witch she saw an expression briefly flicker across her face, quicker than she could have possibly deciphered it, before her expression went back to neutrality.
"Well now those formalities have been dealt with if you'd like to explain to me why you are here, at my crime scene and in my jurisdiction, before I have you escorted out of here that would be just great." Hermione said tersely.
Author's Note: Thanks so much for all the support so far!
The memories of major events for characters in this story are pretty important to the narrative, so you'll find lots of the chapters start with flashbacks. For anyone who is curious, the flash-back year co-responds with the song used for the chapter, this will be ongoing throughout the fic.