Despite time spent in the infirmary with a mild concussion, thanks to intergalactic con-artist Vala Mal Doran, Hermione Granger still packed her tiny room up in time to board the Deadalus once her clearance became official.
The other personnel joining the Atlantis expedition consisted of an equal number of military personnel, scientists, and doctors, totaling thirty people in all. During orientation, General Landry had encouraged everyone to mingle outside of their own groups. He thought that inter-office relationships formed before hand would strengthen bonds and trust once the sojourners were stuck in the vastness of space fighting off life sucking space vampires.
Unfortunately, the scientists kept to themselves, as did the doctors and the members of the varying military branches. To Hermione, it seemed as though the country of origin did not act as a barrier nearly so much as the person's occupation.
She sighed wistfully. It reminded her of House rivalry at times. Yet again, she say on the outside of those rivalries. Back then, in what seemed a lifetime ago, she was too smart for most of the Gryffendors, certainly of those her own age, and too brave for Ravenclaw. Had she not made friends with Harry and Ron over a troll in the loo, she would have remained quite friendless through school. Here though, she had no Harry, no Ron. She didn't even have Snape looming over her, pushing her to think harder, work smarter. She had less medical training than the doctors, but more than the scientists. She didn't think only in the greater good. Rather, she tended to think about the individual in relation to the greater good. At the same time, she used to plan battles and guerilla warfare against a cloistered section of the Earth's government once it had been compromised by followers of a deranged psychopath hell bent on genocide. That was before she decided on studying anything in particular, still n the cusp on adulthood at seventeen. Her battle experience more closely resembled the special operations soldiers than any of the academics surrounding her.
Hm, she thought, the Deadalus is like taking the boats across the lake to Hogwarts for the first time. It certainly feels like the beginning of a new adventure.
She shook her head and chuckled. She had no reason to reminisce as though her friends were dead. She could always take leave and visit. The general himself told her so.
Speakng of the general, she tuned in just in time to hear him begin to speak.
The older man who had treated her so candidly since her first appearance stepped up to the podium and said, "Today, you will join a groundbreaking expedition into the stars. Don't cause too much trouble, and do your countries proud."
He just jinxed us as well as an hex, Hermione thought with an internal giggle. Crookshanks meowed from his carrier. Hermione wasn't supposed to bring him, but just like on the plane, she cast a disillusionment charms as well as the "notice-me-not" for good measure. She had three years worth of cat supplies shrunken down and tucked away in her bottomless bag, too.
She went nowhere without Crookshanks. Crookshanks was all she had on this side of the continent; everyone else was… in England. She wondered if Severus had fallen to her nagging and opened and email account at Spinner's End. The magical interference was quite less than that of Hogwarts or any of the central Wizarding Hubs, being in a muggle neighborhood as it was, so theoretically, a computer would work. She hoped desperately that he caved. She needed to pick his brain about some of her latest theories, things she'd expanded upon since she's submitted her dissertations with her applications for Mastery in Potions and Arithmancy.
Somone bumped her shoulder, jolting her out of whatever funk she was in, and she realized she ignored most of the speech. She would have been embarrassed, but she spent all her focus on not getting run over. She shuffled with the throng of people and luggage to the designated "pickup" area, and waited for the beam that would take her up to the space ship hovering in Earth's orbit. The Deadalus. She was really doing this. She was really leaving Earth.
The beam, bright, but without temperature change, pulled her up to the hull of the ship with the twenty-nine other people shipping out. Her insides felt, momentarily, like they had been rearranged to suit some other purpose. It left her slightly nauseous.
The nauseousness abated as she and her fellows rematerialized in the hull of the iDeadalus/i. She pivoted, taking in her new surroundings with an attention to detail that rivaled an art expert authenticating a priceless work.
The walls were very... gray. So was everything else, for that matter. Hermione took a deep breath. This whole "no color" thing would take some getting used to. Apparently, she'd even have a uniform to wear on the expedition. That had never been a requirement while on base at the SGC.
Despite her excitement in joining this expedition, she had her misgivings about her lack of identity in this system.
Something tapped her shoulder, and she whipped around, reaching for a wand holster she hadn't worn. Her assailant had his hands raised in the universal symbol of surrender.
"Sorry about that, Doctor. I'm in charge of all the academics on this ship, Lieutenant Andrew Martin."
Hermione let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. "Oh," she said, "sorry, I was lost in thought. It happens from time to time," she finished, smiling apologetically.
"No harm done, Ma'am. I'm just taking you to your quarters, and then we'll get a full tour of the ship," the Lieutenant replied.
She motioned for him to lead on, and she turned and grabbed her things. Then, she followed him through the corridors of the alien ship.
Once in the guest quarters, Hermione unpacked her toiletries and a few changes of clothes, and then let Crookshanks out and set up a small area for him, magically sealed so he wouldn't be able to escape and terrorize the crew. She ran her hand through her hair. She had not been so secluded from the world since her Seventh Year.
The difference was that this time, she wasn't really running from anything. Well, she was, but no one had a price on her head in this situation. She didn't trust her team in this situation either. Before, she knew Harry and Ron. She knew their habits and their world views. She knew how they'd react and how to talk to them in different situations. The had all understood each other's codes.
Here though, she had no idea how her new teams would react to her style of discourse. She couldn't count on them to understand why she did some of the things she was bound to do. They hadn't been stuck, paralyzed, turned into part cat, at just twelve. They hadn't been there when the Death Eaters attacked them, overthrew the government, and issued a warrant for her death just as she'd reached the age of majority because she had less pure blood than those in power.
In all honesty, Hermione was shocked she'd passed the psychological evaluations required to get a position in Atlantis. Granted, most of her school days had been sealed by the Unspeakables, but that certainly never abated the trauma and suffering.
She only hoped that this new adventure would help her step away from the situation, and maybe, just maybe, begin to heal.