This is my third HP fic. I finally decided to do this after MUCH
consideration (A little over 2 months!) and here I am, sitting in front of
my computer, right leg crossed over my left, squinting and frowning in
concentration (No, I don't stick my tongue out while I type.)
This story is about the HP crew, (Doesn't that sound so pro?) Hermione, Harry and Ron, after they leave Hogwarts. I can't guarantee you that you'll LOVE this fic, and I can't guarantee that you'll hate it, so just go ahead and read it! Be adventurous! What have you got to lose? :)
Chapter 1
"Adeline!" Laughed Hermione. "Tell me where you're whisking me off to!" Hermione reached up and started to fiddle with her silky blue blindfold.
"No!" Laughed Adeline, slapping Hermione's hand away playfully. "You keep that on until we get there!"
"Then get Kristin to drive faster!" Hermione cried, though she was still giggling.
"Okay, okay! You heard her, Kristin! Step on it!" Immediately, the engine let out a loud roar, and the small baby blue Volvo zoomed down the street, swerving just in time to avoid an alley cat and a metal dustbin by the road.
Kristin, and Adeline, Hermione's best friends, who used to be in the same class as her until she went to Hogwarts, were taking her out. Hermione, now eighteen, had just graduated from Hogwarts a few months ago, and now, after studying hard for years and years, she had come back to live with her parents and 'live a little' before going to work. Anyway, she needed to get away from her friends, as she needed time to think and sort herself out again.
"When we get to, er, where we're going, you're going to tell us just where you've disappeared to for seven years! You never wrote directly to us, you mysterious creature! Your parents always passed us our letters!"
'How could I send you owl post, and not freak you out?' With a small giggle, she replied, "That'll be my secret, then. You're not going to worm anything out of me!"
Before Kristin or Adeline could retort, a loud horn sounded behind their car. Kristin had subconsciously slowed down.
"Put a sock in it!" Kristin yelled out the window, which she had down, before stepping hard on the pedal.
Finally, Kristin slowed down. Without bothering to check for any spaces in the parking lot, Kristin parallel parked, and got out of the car. Carefully, they helped Hermione out of the car and got her to her feet. Then, they guided her towards a one-level building.
"You're SO going to love this place," said Adeline, as they ascended a short flight of steps.
At last, Hermione was allowed to remove her blindfold. As it slipped off over her head, she gasped. She remembered this place very well. When she was ten, her mother used to bring her and her friends for lunch here. It was an old restaurant called "Buck's Own."
Before Hermione could say anything, a deep voice whispered into her ear, "Hello, stranger."
Hermione turned around in surprise and gasped. "Mike! Alex! Oh, god... Chester, is that you? You bleached your hair?"
For a while, Hermione was caught in a tangle of embraces with her old friends. As they sat down at a table, Hermione felt herself tearing up.
"Did you plan this?" She asked Kristin.
"For ages! We wondered where to take you for our reunion, and then it hit us. Where else? Buck's, of course! We practically grew up here!" Kristin answered, picking up the menu that the waiter placed in front of her.
"Is everything here still the same?"
"Almost, but they've got a couple of new dishes," answered Alex.
"Where have you been?" Asked Mike, his brown eyes staring right into Hermione's own.
Hermione shivered, remembering her crush on him back then. Even as a kid, Mike looked, to put it simply, good. His eyes looked like he was going to smile any moment, and he was always ready to help. Hermione found him sincere.
"I've been away studying," answered Hermione truthfully, though she did not elaborate.
"You going back anytime soon?" Chester asked, as Hermione scanned the menu.
"Not in six month's time."
"Six months? So soon?"
"Yes, Alex," laughed Hermione. "But I may stay longer. I have to see how it goes..."
The conversation was interrupted as the six of them placed their orders.
"How's high school?" Asked Hermione, feeling a pang of something that felt like regret.
Maybe she would have been happier if she had stayed on and went to a muggle -. 'No,' she reminded herself. 'Don't think of magic! No magical terms!' But Hermione couldn't help wishing she had gone to high school along with her friends.
"Fun!" Answered Adeline immediately. "Parties at every other person's house on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and clubbing on Tuesdays. It's been our ritual!"
"It must have been fun," Hermione murmured wistfully.
"It was," admitted Alex. "But it felt empty without you, though."
"Yeah, Herm! We're really glad you're back!"
For the rest of dinner, the six exchanged stories and caught up on what anyone might have missed, and Hermione began to feel like she was whole again. Soon, she began to forget what happened to her before she left Hogwarts. And Hermione became the fun-loving person she was once again.
***
Hermione was smiling as she waved good-bye to her girl friends. After Kristin's car had disappeared from view, Hermione turned and walked up the concrete path to her front door. The house was dark, as her parents had flown to Wales to visit a sick relative. They would be back the next week.
As she flicked on the light, a fat creature rubbed itself against her legs.
"Hi, Crookshanks," she cooed, scooping up her cat and stroking it affectionately.
Carrying her pet to the kitchen, she poured it a saucer of milk. While watching the orange animal contentedly lap up it's milk, Hermione sipped a chilled can of Coke, holding it occasionally to her face to cool down. All that dancing made her feel warm.
Before she could take off her denim jacket, the phone rang. Hermione put her drink down on the kitchen counter and hurried to answer the phone.
"Hello?" She said, breathlessly.
"Hermione?"
"Mike? Hi," breathed Hermione, a warm blush spreading from her neck to her forehead.
"No one's home, isn't there?" He asked.
"How do you know?" Asked Hermione in surprise.
Mike laughed. "In case you've forgotten, I live next to the house opposite yours. Only your kitchen light is on. Looks eerie."
"Yeah, it is. My cat's with me, though."
"Yeah, well..."
Hermione's heart began to race. "Mike?"
"Well - can I... Can I come over? My parents are arguing upstairs. I hate to be around when they row."
'Mike's parents were fighting?' Hermione thought in surprise. 'That's new.' To Mike, she said, "No problem. Come on over, then."
Hanging up, Hermione sighed and shrugged her jacket off.
In less than five minutes, the doorbell rang.
"Hey," she said, as she let Mike in. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. They've been doing this every night since last month. Something's up, but neither of them are spilling anything to me."
"Hey, why don't you go watch TV or something? I'm going to shower. I'll be right back."
"No problem," Mike answered, as he sat on the plush grey sofa. Idly, he ran his hand back and forth over the velvety material.
***
"Mike?" Hermione whispered tentatively, as she crept down the stairs. Then she caught herself. 'What the hell?'
"Mike?" She called.
No answer.
She realized he wasn't on the sofa anymore. "MIKE?"
Then, she heard someone moving about in the kitchen. "Hey!" She sighed in relief, as he appeared with two cans of soft drinks in his hand. "Didn't you hear me call you?"
"Sorry," he apologized, as he looked at what she was wearing. Hermione blushed. 'Stop it!' She ordered herself. "Didn't hear you."
As they settled down opposite each other in the living room on the carpeted floor, Hermione began to relax. As she let the cool drink trickle down her throat, she played with the hem of her thin green tank top. 'I'm home,' thought Hermione, as wave after wave of content washed over her. 'I made it through seven years.'
Mike's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Hermione? I'll leave at one thirty, okay? Sorry to keep you up so late, but I better stay away from there before I go nuts."
Hermione found her heart melting. 'You don't need another heart break, Hermione,' she reminded herself. But she didn't care. Sitting so close to Mike made her skin prickle.
"That's okay, Mike," she heard herself say reassuringly to her friend. "You can stay overnight if you want to."
"Thanks, Herm!" Mike said, as he broke into a smile. "I'll just kip on the sofa."
"I'll get you a blanket and some spare pillows," she said, getting up, and straightening her shorts.
As Hermione went up to the storeroom, she felt a tinge of anticipation. But... Anticipation? Of what? Then, grinning, she jogged the rest of the way to the storeroom.
This story is about the HP crew, (Doesn't that sound so pro?) Hermione, Harry and Ron, after they leave Hogwarts. I can't guarantee you that you'll LOVE this fic, and I can't guarantee that you'll hate it, so just go ahead and read it! Be adventurous! What have you got to lose? :)
Chapter 1
"Adeline!" Laughed Hermione. "Tell me where you're whisking me off to!" Hermione reached up and started to fiddle with her silky blue blindfold.
"No!" Laughed Adeline, slapping Hermione's hand away playfully. "You keep that on until we get there!"
"Then get Kristin to drive faster!" Hermione cried, though she was still giggling.
"Okay, okay! You heard her, Kristin! Step on it!" Immediately, the engine let out a loud roar, and the small baby blue Volvo zoomed down the street, swerving just in time to avoid an alley cat and a metal dustbin by the road.
Kristin, and Adeline, Hermione's best friends, who used to be in the same class as her until she went to Hogwarts, were taking her out. Hermione, now eighteen, had just graduated from Hogwarts a few months ago, and now, after studying hard for years and years, she had come back to live with her parents and 'live a little' before going to work. Anyway, she needed to get away from her friends, as she needed time to think and sort herself out again.
"When we get to, er, where we're going, you're going to tell us just where you've disappeared to for seven years! You never wrote directly to us, you mysterious creature! Your parents always passed us our letters!"
'How could I send you owl post, and not freak you out?' With a small giggle, she replied, "That'll be my secret, then. You're not going to worm anything out of me!"
Before Kristin or Adeline could retort, a loud horn sounded behind their car. Kristin had subconsciously slowed down.
"Put a sock in it!" Kristin yelled out the window, which she had down, before stepping hard on the pedal.
Finally, Kristin slowed down. Without bothering to check for any spaces in the parking lot, Kristin parallel parked, and got out of the car. Carefully, they helped Hermione out of the car and got her to her feet. Then, they guided her towards a one-level building.
"You're SO going to love this place," said Adeline, as they ascended a short flight of steps.
At last, Hermione was allowed to remove her blindfold. As it slipped off over her head, she gasped. She remembered this place very well. When she was ten, her mother used to bring her and her friends for lunch here. It was an old restaurant called "Buck's Own."
Before Hermione could say anything, a deep voice whispered into her ear, "Hello, stranger."
Hermione turned around in surprise and gasped. "Mike! Alex! Oh, god... Chester, is that you? You bleached your hair?"
For a while, Hermione was caught in a tangle of embraces with her old friends. As they sat down at a table, Hermione felt herself tearing up.
"Did you plan this?" She asked Kristin.
"For ages! We wondered where to take you for our reunion, and then it hit us. Where else? Buck's, of course! We practically grew up here!" Kristin answered, picking up the menu that the waiter placed in front of her.
"Is everything here still the same?"
"Almost, but they've got a couple of new dishes," answered Alex.
"Where have you been?" Asked Mike, his brown eyes staring right into Hermione's own.
Hermione shivered, remembering her crush on him back then. Even as a kid, Mike looked, to put it simply, good. His eyes looked like he was going to smile any moment, and he was always ready to help. Hermione found him sincere.
"I've been away studying," answered Hermione truthfully, though she did not elaborate.
"You going back anytime soon?" Chester asked, as Hermione scanned the menu.
"Not in six month's time."
"Six months? So soon?"
"Yes, Alex," laughed Hermione. "But I may stay longer. I have to see how it goes..."
The conversation was interrupted as the six of them placed their orders.
"How's high school?" Asked Hermione, feeling a pang of something that felt like regret.
Maybe she would have been happier if she had stayed on and went to a muggle -. 'No,' she reminded herself. 'Don't think of magic! No magical terms!' But Hermione couldn't help wishing she had gone to high school along with her friends.
"Fun!" Answered Adeline immediately. "Parties at every other person's house on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and clubbing on Tuesdays. It's been our ritual!"
"It must have been fun," Hermione murmured wistfully.
"It was," admitted Alex. "But it felt empty without you, though."
"Yeah, Herm! We're really glad you're back!"
For the rest of dinner, the six exchanged stories and caught up on what anyone might have missed, and Hermione began to feel like she was whole again. Soon, she began to forget what happened to her before she left Hogwarts. And Hermione became the fun-loving person she was once again.
***
Hermione was smiling as she waved good-bye to her girl friends. After Kristin's car had disappeared from view, Hermione turned and walked up the concrete path to her front door. The house was dark, as her parents had flown to Wales to visit a sick relative. They would be back the next week.
As she flicked on the light, a fat creature rubbed itself against her legs.
"Hi, Crookshanks," she cooed, scooping up her cat and stroking it affectionately.
Carrying her pet to the kitchen, she poured it a saucer of milk. While watching the orange animal contentedly lap up it's milk, Hermione sipped a chilled can of Coke, holding it occasionally to her face to cool down. All that dancing made her feel warm.
Before she could take off her denim jacket, the phone rang. Hermione put her drink down on the kitchen counter and hurried to answer the phone.
"Hello?" She said, breathlessly.
"Hermione?"
"Mike? Hi," breathed Hermione, a warm blush spreading from her neck to her forehead.
"No one's home, isn't there?" He asked.
"How do you know?" Asked Hermione in surprise.
Mike laughed. "In case you've forgotten, I live next to the house opposite yours. Only your kitchen light is on. Looks eerie."
"Yeah, it is. My cat's with me, though."
"Yeah, well..."
Hermione's heart began to race. "Mike?"
"Well - can I... Can I come over? My parents are arguing upstairs. I hate to be around when they row."
'Mike's parents were fighting?' Hermione thought in surprise. 'That's new.' To Mike, she said, "No problem. Come on over, then."
Hanging up, Hermione sighed and shrugged her jacket off.
In less than five minutes, the doorbell rang.
"Hey," she said, as she let Mike in. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. They've been doing this every night since last month. Something's up, but neither of them are spilling anything to me."
"Hey, why don't you go watch TV or something? I'm going to shower. I'll be right back."
"No problem," Mike answered, as he sat on the plush grey sofa. Idly, he ran his hand back and forth over the velvety material.
***
"Mike?" Hermione whispered tentatively, as she crept down the stairs. Then she caught herself. 'What the hell?'
"Mike?" She called.
No answer.
She realized he wasn't on the sofa anymore. "MIKE?"
Then, she heard someone moving about in the kitchen. "Hey!" She sighed in relief, as he appeared with two cans of soft drinks in his hand. "Didn't you hear me call you?"
"Sorry," he apologized, as he looked at what she was wearing. Hermione blushed. 'Stop it!' She ordered herself. "Didn't hear you."
As they settled down opposite each other in the living room on the carpeted floor, Hermione began to relax. As she let the cool drink trickle down her throat, she played with the hem of her thin green tank top. 'I'm home,' thought Hermione, as wave after wave of content washed over her. 'I made it through seven years.'
Mike's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Hermione? I'll leave at one thirty, okay? Sorry to keep you up so late, but I better stay away from there before I go nuts."
Hermione found her heart melting. 'You don't need another heart break, Hermione,' she reminded herself. But she didn't care. Sitting so close to Mike made her skin prickle.
"That's okay, Mike," she heard herself say reassuringly to her friend. "You can stay overnight if you want to."
"Thanks, Herm!" Mike said, as he broke into a smile. "I'll just kip on the sofa."
"I'll get you a blanket and some spare pillows," she said, getting up, and straightening her shorts.
As Hermione went up to the storeroom, she felt a tinge of anticipation. But... Anticipation? Of what? Then, grinning, she jogged the rest of the way to the storeroom.