Disclaimer: Were it mine, t'would be rather stupid to write fanfiction on it. And so we realize that it belongs to J.K. Rowling. And other people...
Wow I am so sorry about the long wait...and the fact that this is not a complete chapter. *Author winces and ducks flying objects from whatever readers are actually still at this fic.* Heh...heh... Okay: to explain. Firstly, I do have two stories going at once, so I have to divide my time between the two. Secondly, after exam week, which was really rushed, the teachers were all eager to give massive amounts of work in order to make up for pre-test leniency. Evil. And thirdly, and this is the biggest reason the next full chapter will take me so long to get it out (although it oughtn't to be too much after this) is that I have had to rewrite it twice already. The story keeps making weird little twists, and then I have to argue with it until it gets back on some sort of track. So my writing has definitely been impeded. Sorry about the wait, hope someone reads (and reviews, please) and my replies are always at the bottom.
***
"I don't need an entire day to come to a decision on this, you asshole." Hermione literally spat on Gavin's desk as she barged straight into his office. He soon realized that he had just crossed a very powerful witch and he looked up, fright oozing out of every pore in the form of sweat. Hermione almost smiled. "No. Do what you want, but the answer is no. Fuck you- oops! That's what you wanted me to do, wasn't it? Too bad, I'm out of here." Hermione swept out of the office, not needing to stop at her desk to get anything at all. She heard Gavin's thin, powerless voice wafting out of the office.
"Don't think this little charade will cause me to not go ahead with my plan, Granger. By this time tomorrow,
your mudblood name will be the mud of the wizarding world. You'll never be able to find a job!!" Hermione left
that fluorescent lit basement laughing loudly. She laughed as the quasi-elevator brought her up from the subterranean
depths and was still laughing as she took one last bitter look at the posh muggle foyer. Her laughter didn't end when
she walked out onto the street and it didn't end as she walked back to her pathetic little flat.
***
Hermione awoke the next morning with a massive pounding headache. It was so fierce that it took her some
time to realize that part of the noise in her head was coming from her door. She sighed and kicked aside a
few bottles of beer that she had bought from the corner liquor store on her way back to the apartment. Looking
down, she blearily counted several bottles, not even wondering how she had fallen asleep with her glasses still
on. She wrinkled her forehead trying to remember where the other bottles were. She vaguely remembered drinking
them. How did one make such a large number of bottles disappear? "Magick..." she said aloud to her empty flat.
"Magick!" she said again and giggled. The laughter soon faded as she winced at the loud noise it created. Then she
remembered the door. She should get that. She was still standing, looking at the door with a none too focused
expression when Harry and Ron blasted it in. Ron wrinkled his nose at the smell; he had never gotten a taste for
muggle alcohol, but Harry closed his eyes remembering when Mr. Dursley came home late with it heavy on his breath.
Hermione didn't really notice either of their reactions; she was too busy trying to figure out who the hell had just
broken her door down.
"Who the hell just broke my door down? Do I know you?" Ron looked at her as though she had grown another head, then whipped out his wand and performed the charm that would sober her up and reduce her hangover. He kindly, being her best friend and all, made sure that her headache and such was still there, just not enough to deter her thought process. Hermione glared at him then skimmed the room in search of her own wand to take the rest of them away. The boys, knowing what she was looking for helped her. None of them really wanted to know why it was stuck inside her toaster.
"Go get dressed. Ron and I will make you some coffee." Hermione was very ashamed that they had seen her like this,
but there was nothing for it. She nodded and disappeared into her bedroom, shutting the door firmly behind her.
Ron sat at the small table with the employment section of the Daily Prophet opened before him. He pulled out a quill
and some red ink and began looking for any job at all that Hermione could do. Harry looked for coffee, finding a small
canister of relatively fresh stuff in a cupboard. He performed a freshening spell on some moldy bread he stumbled upon
and set about making toast as the smell of coffee filled the air. Both men worked silently as they heard the slamming
of drawers, the flush of a toilet and then the sound of the shower. At the last, both gave a small sigh and relaxed a
bit. The tension in the room dispersed itself. After a few minutes, the shower stopped, and the sound of tooth brushing
could be heard audibly. The result of having dentists for parents; Hermione was religious about her teeth. Ron nodded
at Harry when he poured him a cup of coffee and gave him a piece of toast. The other man sat down with his own,
Hermione's between them. For a few moments, the only sound in the flat was the quiet munching of toast and sipping
of coffee. Then Hermione slipped quietly into the room, properly dressed in fresh clothing. Upon observing Ron and
the paper, her mouth straightened into a flat line.
"So you already know." The two men gave each other looks, neither wanting to be the one to break the news. Finally,
Ron bit the bullet and flipped the paper so that the front page was face up, then silently handed it to Hermione.
She took it, read the article and nodded slowly. She hadn't really expected anything else. It was not the main
headline, but the slanderous article, written by none other than Rita Skeeter, was nonetheless in a prime position
for everyone to see. It was simply a gossip bit about her dismissal from the company and the reasons why. It
contained every bit of defamation that Gavin had threatened, from the allegations of her sleeping with her teachers
to her poor work ethic, her constant infractions and her proposition to her boss. She flipped the paper open, ripping
the front page not so accidentally as she did so and turned to the employment section that Ron had been marking. She
absently sat between her two best friends as she read through the things that he had marked, accepting the cup of
coffee Harry pressed into her hand still in silence. Ron wasn't good with silence.
"Jesus, 'Mione! Yell, throw things, scream at us, even. Just talk," he blurted out, discomfited by her emotionless
state. Hermione looked up from the paper, the same cold mask settling on her face as after her night with the Death
Eaters. Both men recognized it immediately, and Harry gave an unconscious shudder. Hermione noticed.
"What is there to say? Ranting, throwing things? Perhaps that is sufficient for you, Ron, but I'm sorry to tell
you that I shan't be doing that. I am going to find a job and continue living my life." Ron remembered the last
time she had said those words, when they awoke from the Infirmary and discussed what they were going to do with
their futures. Neither of them dared remind her what had happened last time. Instead they backed off, feeling
useless. Hermione looked up as they walked to the door, having cleaned up the kitchen. "Thanks for coming.
Perhaps we'll see each other again some time, but right now I think I need to...get my life together. Please
don't try to contact me." She went back to her paper before either of them could reply to her cold words. There
was nothing for it but to leave. They both turned for a last look at the disturbingly calm girl at her kitchen
table before they repaired and then closed the door softly.
***
Hermione felt the soft click of that door was rather prophetic. One door closes...another was supposed to open, right?
Right?
***
Okay, I have just finished chapter five, which is going to be a little, but not horribly, shorter than the rest, and I
need y'all to tell me something. You really would mention if this story was blatantly ridiculous, or if I had utterly
stupid plot lines, or if my grammar and punctuation and word choice sucked, right? Right? Because in lazing about
during mid-term week, I read an enormous number of stories with plots that I would dearly love to have, all written by
people that I don't think should be let within ten feet of a keyboard. And I'm not placing myself out of this category;
so I am asking you to please, please tell me if I fall into this category and then I will force myself from the keyboard
(well, from writing horrible stuff and posting it, I can hardly stop writing). But I need to know if I am as trashy and
surreal as some of the authors I have been reading. Quite honestly, I know that I myself have been tempted to leave the
review: you suck as a writer. Please don't ever try this again, for fear of permanently damaging some hapless reader's
brain. But I don't because that wouldn't be nice at all. However, if you feel this way (and I am going to put this in
every chapter, especially my first) please don't hesitate so to do. Unless its grammatically incorrect, which will make
me feel like it is invalid, I would love to know that I suck, rather than keep on writing drivel. Thanks so much.
To:
Morcades: your words made me blush)
Rose of the Ravens: any more reallys and my head would explode because it got so big
Dawn: Glad you want more
Starlight: Thanks, and I hope you enjoy it.
Stellar Snape: Hm, perhaps we will find a way to castrate him sometime, but for now, Hermione needs to basically re-do her
life since she got out of Hogwarts. Revenge will have to come later. I am so excited that you like this:D
Jessicat1982: Er...*author slinks off looking sheepish for her disgustingly late update. Wonders whether reader is still
reading* Sorry? She does quit, as you see, but she just might run into some more unsavory characters in her new life.
The next chapter coming soon to a computer near you...a few days anyhow, as this weekend is so busy for me!.
Claribel: Glad you like it, and while it will take Hermione some time to get her **** (feel free to not censor yourself on
my account, btw), she is at least away from Gavin. Snape is going to vascillate between horridness and niceness, and I am
trying not to make him a sap. Succeeding?
Deritine: The muses listened. Damn you, those bruises will take a while to go away. They take things rather literally.
But in all seriousness, I am really psyched that you enjoy this, and think it is believable.
MadAboutHarry: Her boss really is, but I wanted Hermione to make this decision on her own, and to begin taking control of her
own life. She will begin to do so, but she has been so ill-used for so long that it will take a while.
Madeleine Jete: Thanks so much for your wishes of luck, my lowest grade was a B+. so I'm pretty happy. I hope the production
ran well, I know unexpected things INVARIABLY occur, but I hope nothing too out there did.