A/N: Many of you, in reviews for Relationships Change II, were asking me to update that story soon, I am sorry if I did not make myself clear, but the Relationships Change series, including II is now finished. Chapter 40 was the last chapter in RC II. Sorry if many of you are disappointed about that. I am not going to make it a trilogy…maybe later on I'll make a one-shot about Cayden and Celeste, but not anytime soon. Thanks so much.
Also, I don't believe I am going to pull in any facts from Book 6 into this new story of mine. DON'T READ THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED "HALF-BLOOD PRINCE" Harry, Hermione and Ron graduated from Hogwarts, they did not go off and live with each other. Dumbledore is still Head Master. Professor Snape and Draco are not on the run. All the Weasleys are still perfectly safe and in one piece. Harry and Ginny never went out and broke up. SAFE TO READ. Well,
ON WITH THE STORY!
Chap. 2 Work and Life in General
Oh Merlin…why do I have so much work still to do…it seems to be never-ending.
Twenty year old Hermione Granger stared at the untouched pile of papers on her desk. She sighed and then looked up at the clock in her office at the Ministry of Magic, Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
Oh I get to go home in ten minutes! She thought herself excitedly.
'C'mon, Hermione…at least get one file done and then you can feel fulfilled and not guilty when you leave.' She said aloud.
Hermione then opened a folder about Ben Cohen, a small threat to the wizarding world. He was a stalker of Oliver Wood, professional Keeper for the Puddlemere United Quidditch team.
She laughed as she read the file.
'Oh poor Oliver…' She sighed to herself through a fit of giggles.
Hermione Granger was young, so she was not very high up in the Ministry. She finished out Hogwarts, top of her class…of course. She took a year off to travel with Harry, who is still her best friend, nothing more. Ron and Hermione went out during their entire seventh year but then decided their lives were moving separate ways. Ron moved to France for a year to study becoming an Auror, and then came back and worked as an Auror for the Ministry, so he and Hermione are still close friends.
Hermione actually, to both Harry and Ron's amazement, lightened up a bit about work and studying and things like that. She still held her job and was respected, but she also new life was supposed to be fun, too. So every Friday night she, Harry, and Ron would go out together, get dinner or a few drinks. Once in awhile, Harry and Ron would get a little tipsy but Hermione still had control 24/7 in that aspect.
The day was Friday, but for the first time in many, many months she was not planning on meeting Harry and Ron tonight at Harry's apartment. She was going back to muggle London to visit her parents. She took off the following week also to spend some time there. She was excited to see how muggle London has changed, if it had at all, since she was eighteen, which was the last time she was there. Her parents had always come to Hermione, in wizarding London, because they found it interesting, but Hermione decided to switch things up a bit this time.
Hermione wrote a few notes about the infamous Ben Cohen and his obsession with Oliver Wood, then she picked up the files and sent them flying through the air and into her cabinet.
Hermione stood up and stretched.
'Time to go pack!' She sighed happily.
She threw on her black blazer and swung her purse around her shoulder, then left her office.
'See you next week Hermione!' A blonde witch called from an opened-door office.
Hermione stopped in her tracks and peeked her head inside the door.
'Actually, I took the week off, Giselle! I'm off to visit my parents!' She said cheerfully.
The blonde witch got up from her desk and strolled over to Hermione, her beautiful golden hair swinging around her shoulders.
Giselle Sparrow was another witch working in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, one door down from Hermione. She was twenty-one and she was very beautiful. She was Hermione's best friend at work. She and Hermione gossiped and shopped together during lunch breaks. Hermione never really was into gossip and shopping during her Hogwarts years, but once she met Giselle and saw how happy and carefree she was, she decided it was not so bad.
Even though Giselle was Hermione's best friend at work, she and Hermione were still very different so Hermione made it a rule (for herself) not to hang out with her outside work hours. Giselle was very outgoing and liked to party. She was also somewhat of a tease and a bit too promiscuous for Hermione's taste.
One night while Hermione, Harry and Ron were out, they ran into Giselle at a bar. Giselle flirted with Harry and Harry flirted back, that is until Hermione pulled Harry aside and told her she had a boyfriend. So, Harry politely declined Giselle's offer to go back to her house, and thanked Hermione for the warning.
Giselle was a girl many guys prayed to go out with, or at least have a one-night stand with, she wasn't exactly "girlfriend" material. She was tall, leggy, blonde, blue eyed, and had a great smile. But she and Hermione got along fabulously when no guys were involved.
'Visiting the parental units, eh?' Giselle smiled. 'In muggle London, right? Isn't that where your parents live?'
'Yeah, I am going to go home and back and get there for dinner.'
'Oh, should be fun! Do you have friends there?'
'I had friends when I was younger, before Hogwarts, but I haven't seen them in like nine years so I think I am just going to explore my hometown while I am there. I haven't seen it in years.'
'Well, have tons of fun!' Giselle cried, pulling Hermione into a hug, 'And make sure you owl me and tell me how everything is going and I'll reply telling you how jealous I am that you do not have to work.'
'And how boring your lunch shifts are?' Hermione added.
'Yes! I'll probably spend my hour with Shaun…but you know how clingy he is, so maybe I'll just floo home during my lunch breaks and spend time with Harold.'
'Harold?' Hermione questioned.
'Harold Dubois…my new beau.' Giselle said with a wink.
'What happened to Ryan?' Hermione asked.
Giselle cleared her throat and grinned.
'I kicked him out on Monday…'
'Why?'
'I found him trying on my bra…I am never bringing home a guy from the Museum again.'
Hermione laughed hard.
'Oh wow! See why I don't go out and pick up guys with you, Giselle?'
'Yes, because you have two cuties that keep you occupied every Friday!'
'Harry and Ron are my best friends, they aren't my playthings!'
'I thought you and the red headed one went out?'
'My seventh year of school, but now we're just friends.' Hermione said, 'We aren't "playthings" anymore!'
'Yes, yes, so you keep telling me.' Giselle joked, 'Anyway, you better get going! Have fun! I'll see you in a week or so!'
Hermione waved goodbye and left the magical building. Once outside, she apparated to her apartment flat about ten miles away.
She appeared in her decorative foyer and kicked off her shoes. She ran into her bedroom and began to pack quickly.
Hermione's apartment flat was small, but not too small…perfect for a single young woman. She decorated it with blue and white paint, and lots of museum looking art work. She had white furniture and a modern, magical kitchen. Her bedroom was teal green and light pink. Her queen-sized bed was wooden and painted white. The biggest thing in her room was her closet, she had a lot of clothes from shopping with Giselle so much, even though Hermione was not vain about how she looked, she still wanted to try a little more than she did at Hogwarts. Giselle was rubbing off on her a bit, but she was still innocent looking Hermione.
After about twenty minutes of accio'ing all the items she wanted into her trunks, she shrunk them and called a muggle taxi to come pick her up and take her to muggle London.
-
'Hey mum! Hi dad!' Hermione cried with a smile.
Hermione paid the taxi driver, grabbed her small luggage, and strolled up the short walkway to her parents.
They both hugged her and said how glad they were that she could get the week off to spend some time in her home town.
They invited her inside, let her set up in her old room, and then they ate dinner as a family as they talked about life.
'So how do you like work?' Hermione's dad, Richard, asked.
'I like it alright, sometimes it gets a little monotonous, but if I keep at it I'll move up and start working with more interesting cases. I have a friend at work who keeps me smiling and she's a lot of fun and makes the day goes by a bit quicker.' Hermione said.
'Oh, that's good! What's her name?' Hermione's mother, Anne, asked.
'Her name is Giselle Sparrow and she's fun, a little crazy, but I only hang out with her during work hours anyway.' Hermione replied after she swallowed some of her spaghetti.
'How are your friends Harry and Ron?' Richard asked.
'They're good. They were a bit sad that we couldn't hang out tonight, but they understand.' Hermione said with a smile.
'What are you going to do while here for a week?' Richard asked his daughter.
'I thought that tomorrow we should spend the day on Moments Street going through all the shops that we used to go to when I was younger.'
'That sounds like a wonderful plan! Shall we head out around noon?' Anne asked.
'I'm up for that!'
Hermione and her parents chatted some more throughout dinner, then they finished out the night with an old movie.
