1
A normal life.
Hermione Jean Granger lived in Richmond upon Thames, one of the best and quietest neighborhoods in London. Her house was beautiful and very well cared for. It had a proper patio, with a short green lawn, which she never let become overgrown. And even in the backyard, she had a couple of plants, including a cherry tree that she never forgot to water. The white paint on the exterior of her house was not marred by a single stain and there were no cracks, so the place still looked new even after years of being inhabited. The roof was black and matched the window bars, also the same color. And the wooden window frames, the same type as the gate and the fence, maintained a similar harmony.
Her life was perfectly normal and respectable, as was her home. She had a high-paying office job in an important position. Her parents were proud of her and always came to visit her for the holidays. And not only did she shine at work, she also did so in her social life: she had several friends, whom she had kept since college, and with whom she would go out for drinks every so often.
The only thing that could improve, according to her friends, is that, already being twenty-eight years old, it should be time to find a partner with whom to plan a future: have children and grow old together. Hermione knew they were right, that it was the only thing missing from her normal, pleasant life. She was successful in everything except love. She had never been in love.
The routine she maintains never fails, so at seven in the morning she gets up to shower and then have breakfast. However, as she drank her morning coffee, she saw something out of the window that shouldn't be there: a moving truck. It was normal for the mail truck to cross the street at this hour, but not a moving truck. She walked to the window, looking toward the house on the left. It had been for sale for a year, but no one had bought it, until today. As she finished her drink, she considered whether she should go say hello to her new neighbors, since it would be the right thing to do to welcome them and establish a friendly relationship. She decided, after doing the dishes, that she would do it tomorrow, to give them time to settle in.
The next day the alarm clock rang at seven o'clock and Hermione got out of bed without question. Unlike yesterday, she ate breakfast more quickly, so that she had time to visit her neighbors.
From the outside, the houses on the street were identical. Only the different distribution of the floors of the patios and the number on the rectangle next to the doors changed. Hermione's house was number 158. Her new neighbors', on the other hand, was 159. She rang the bell and then looked down at her clothes. She was dressed formally, as she was ready to go to work after this. She smoothed her jacket with her hand so that it did not have any wrinkles. The door began to open and Hermione managed her best smile.
"Good day?"
A tall blond woman appeared. Her face was haughty, as if the interruption had bothered her.
"Good morning," she returned with more confidence. "I'm your neighbor, Hermione Granger. I wanted to stop by to say hello."
"Oh, nice to meet you." The woman relaxed, opening the door a little wider. "I am Narcissa Malfoy."
She extended his hand after introducing herself, and Hermione shook it.
"I'm at number 158. I saw you arrive yesterday and I just wanted to welcome you."
"That's very kind of you."
"It's nothing," she dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "I hope you are settling in well. Was the move easy?"
"Rather exhausting," she admitted. "But without difficulties. We are adjusting, and tomorrow my husband will be able to start his new job and my son will be in classes."
Hermione nodded, curious that they hadn't moved in before the school year started, since they had a child in the family. Anyway, it was not her problem and it would be rude to inquire.
"I'm glad to hear it. I hope they are still doing well, changing schools or jobs is always difficult."
Narcissa nodded now.
"Sure. But I doubt there will be any problems."
"Surely not," Hermione said, and then took a step back. "Anyway, I don't want to be a bother, or take up too much of your time."
"Not at all. It was very kind of you, I insist."
"Feel free to ring my doorbell if you need anything. When moving, the lighter usually gets lost or something goes wrong and stops working." She giggled, thinking more of her own experience. "Have a nice day, Mrs. Malfoy."
"The same to you, Miss."
Hermione's cheeks flushed a little, surprised that she had called her miss instead of ma'am. Nobody had addressed her like that for several years. She gave the woman one more smile and walked away, heading for her car to go to work.
. . .
Without a doubt, today was destined to be out of the ordinary, not only because of visiting her new neighbors, but also because several co-workers were absent and she had to stay working overtime to help, only getting home when the Moon was in the sky.
She snorted, outraged by the irresponsibility of her coworkers and went to her living room to turn on the television. She kicked off her shoes as she sat on the couch and unbuttoned the top of her shirt, too tired to go up to her room to change her clothes. She shifted her shoulders, trying to loosen up, as she listened without seeing the newscaster reporting who knows what. The noise of the doorbell startled her. Reluctantly, she walked to the door and opened it. Narcissa Malfoy was standing there, with a pained smile.
"You were right," she said in greeting. "When moving, the lighter is often lost."
Hermione took a few seconds to react, but ended up laughing. I'm so tired, she thought, I didn't even remember saying that.
"Let me go find it. You can come in, if you want. You don't have to wait outside in the cold."
"You are very kind, Miss Granger."
With a shy smile, she opened the door wider and invited her in, then left her to go to the kitchen. She returned shortly after, her hand raised, showing off the lighter.
"Here it is."
"Thank you very much really. I'll give it back to you right away."
"That's not necessary, I have several."
"I didn't imagine everything would close here so early," Narcissa commented, as she seemed to want to return the kindness somehow. "When I couldn't find the lighter, I thought of going to a shop ... But all the ones I looked at were already closed!"
"Did you live in the city?" She deduced.
"Yes, it was rare to see places close so early there."
"Peace of mind comes at a cost," she said with a laugh, which Narcissa mimicked.
"Well, I'll go now, I don't want to bother you, you must be tired."
Hermione remembered her appearance and was embarrassed, she didn't even have her shoes on.
"I just got here five minutes ago and…" Her hands twitched, pointing to herself and her state of dress.
"Do you always work so late?"
"It was an unusual day."
"I figured. You left very early today, arriving only after dark," she pointed out. "The lights on your car caught my attention, which reminded me of your offer in the morning."
"It's a pleasure to help Mrs. Malfoy," she soothed her. "Feel free to come back for any other problems. I'm generally better dressed."
With a chuckle, followed by a shake of her head, she dismissed her statement:
"Don't say that, you looked great in the morning and you still look flawless. You look tired, but you still look good."
Again she gave her a shy smile and guided her to the door to say goodbye. When she was alone again, she made an amused face to herself. Mrs. Malfoy was very nice, saying she looked good… but the only one who looked attractive at the moment was her, not Hermione.
"Attractive?" she was surprised. Was Mrs. Malfoy attractive to her? She didn't usually describe women like that. Other words, like saying that she was beautiful or that she dressed very well, were a more appropriate reaction.
Narcissa was tall with long blond hair, a slim build, very pale skin and blue eyes, with fine features and graceful gestures. Without a doubt, she looked like a very pretty person. She was the perfect example of what she always aspired to be as a child. Even her clear, confident voice was attractive to her, though a bit cold and distant even when she said nice things. She had an addictive presence, and Hermione had only experienced it twice. Detailing the memory of Mrs. Malfoy's physique, she shuddered. She was beautiful. Damn beautiful, now that she thought about it.
No.
What was she thinking? Narcissa was her new neighbor, she was just being nice to her. And Hermione Jean Granger was a normal, honest woman with a good job and a promising future. That was her, not someone who was interested in her neighbor, a married woman who also had a child. Tomorrow her routine would restart and everything would go back to the way it always was.
TL Note: Narcissa addresses Herimione here, and from now on, as señorita Granger which (among other things) generally denotes a younger woman rather than señora Granger as she is used to and which denotes an older woman (among other things). I have attempted to maintain the general meaning of this exchange with Miss/Ma'am but it is a somewhat awkward substitution due to ma'am not being used as a prefix.
EKR173 Notes:
This is a story translated from Spanish. The translation was done by "majere616" (I really appreciate the work you did).
I am the original author of the story and the cover image (you can see my story also published in Spanish in this same account). This message you are reading is written with the help of the Google translator (hopefully everything is understood hahaha). I'm Argentinian and I only know how to speak Spanish, but don't be shy in the comments! I know some basic English from school (let's say), and the translator takes care of the rest.
I hope they give history a chance. Please know how to forgive any mistakes, the languages are complicated (and if you want to correct something, you can, but with kindness, that I am a person with feelings, and who translated this as well).
Thanks for reading me. And again, thanks to majere616 for translating.
Exactly the same as I said above, but in Spanish:
Esta es una historia traducida del español. La traducción fue realizada por "majere616" (realmente aprecio el trabajo que hiciste 3)
Soy el autor original de la historia y la imagen de portada (puedes ver mi historia también publicada en español en esta misma cuenta). Este mensaje que estás leyendo está escrito con la ayuda del traductor de Google (ojalá todo se entienda jajaja). Soy argentino y solo sé hablar español, ¡pero no seas tímido en los comentarios! Sé algo de inglés básico de la escuela (supongamos), y el traductor se encarga del resto.
Espero que le den una oportunidad a la historia. Por favor, sepa perdonar los errores, los idiomas son complicados (y si quieres corregir algo puedes, pero con amabilidad, que soy una persona con sentimientos, y quien tradujo esto también).
Gracias por leerme. Y nuevamente, gracias a majere616 por traducir.
STORY CLARIFICATION:
You don't need to know anything about Harry Potter to read it. It is an Alternate Universe of Harry Potter, without magic. The universe and even to a large extent the characters are AU. It is a "fanfic" with many freedoms in which I have been experimenting with my writing.
Just in case: the plot revolves around sexuality.
If you are interested you can follow me on Twitter: EKR173
This story is also published on Wattpad and AO3 under the same username as here (EKR173).