Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the story plot, JKR owns all of this, and yes I am extremely jealous.


Summary: Hermione is given the advice to write a memoir. She reflects on her past telling us the story of what her life was like after the downfall of Voldemort. No longer a little girl, the woman of 24 tells us her story. How she hid from the world but at the same time found herself falling in love. Even if she denied it from the start. ~ A glimpse into the life of 24 year old Hermione Granger as she tackles the obstacles of friends, family, work, luck, mistakes, challenges, lessons and love. Prepare yourself, you have no idea what you have just gotten yourself into.


Note: Thank you in advance for taking the time out to read this. It's a work in progress, which basically means I have no idea how often I can post. But hopefully with your support I'll find the strength to get at least one chapter up per week. I hope you enjoy this story and please when you're done review. The beginning of the story is told in first person and then it changes when we get to the actual story. Sorry if its confusing but I think you will catch on.






Chapter 5 ~ The Curse of the Light Café


Hermione woke early the next morning. Her eyes were heavy and still filled with sleep but she knew even if she forced herself she would not be able to lay back down. The small clock on her wall read 9:30 and she decided to grab a drink at the Leaky Cauldron before heading over to see Fred and George. She jumped in the shower, dried her hair and applied some makeup all within a half an hour. Glancing into the mirror she blotted her lips and then grabbed her cloak. Opening her door she remained extra quiet as to not wake Ginny. The sitting room was bright with the morning sunlight and she felt her heart lighten a bit.


' Perhaps the day won't be so bad after all.'


Maneuvering through the room she hit her foot on the couch and silenced her yelp by clamping her hand over her mouth. She quickly ran to the door and once outside she yelled in pain.


The air was cool and comforting; the sure signs of autumn were in the air and this made Hermione smile. Autumn was her favorite season. The way the leaves changed into bright oranges and reds always brought a smile to her face. Walking briskly towards Diagon Alley a small tabby cat jumped down from a near by willow tree. It approached Hermione and rubbed its head against her leg. She bent down and scratched its head.


" You remind me of someone I know…" she whispered to the cat. It purred back to her in an amusing tone and she wondered if the cat knew what she was saying.


Standing back up she continued on, this time only stopping to swat a bee that was in her face. Diagon Alley was all ready full of shoppers and children when she finally arrived. Moving towards The Leaky Cauldron she bid good morning to some co-workers and stepped inside. It was very crowded and Hermione wasn't even sure if she would find a seat. Luckily enough a single table was free towards the back and she rushed over. Tom gave her a hand signal meaning he would be over in a minute, and she nodded.


" Morning Hermione, how are you doing today? " Tom smiled and took out a small piece of parchment.


" Fine, thanks Tom…how are you? "


" As well as well can be…what can I get for you today Hermione? The usual? " He took a quill from behind his ear.


" Yes Tom that would be great. " she clasped her hands together and placed them on the table.


" All right, one black coffee, two sugars, and a splash of lemon juice. " He winked, " It will be right out. "


Hermione smiled again and looked around the room. She recognized a few faces, most of them graduates of Hogwarts, either from her year or older. She waited patiently for her coffee wondering exactly how long her visit with Fred and George would be. The ministry had loaded her with a vast amount of paper work and she wanted to get a jump on it before tomorrow. A tubby waitress placed Hermiones coffee on the table. Lifting it to her mouth she could feel the steam rise from the cup. Her lips burned a bit as she sipped but it tasted magnificent. Casually sipping her coffee she thought about yesterday's party. Why was it that everyone had a perfect life but her? It wasn't fair. She deserved to be happy just as much as anyone else. For Merlin's sake she deserved some excitement! By now the clock read 11:30 and she quickly paid Tom for the expense of the coffee and headed out the door.


The wind had begun to pick up a bit and she wrapped her cloak tightly around her. The one thing she hated about Diagon Alley was how close it was to Knockturn Alley, and it didn't help that the twin's shop was directly next to it. Turning the corner she could see A giant W neatly hung above the door. It didn't say anything…it was just a giant W. Shrugging it off she continued to the door and stopped. An odd feeling came over her and she quickly snapped her head to her right. A small boy stood at the entrance of Knockturn Alley, tears wet his face…he was obviously lost. Hermiones heart went out to the little boy and she approached him cautiously.


" Are you lost? " she asked bending over to see if he was all right.


The boy just stood there with a confused expression on his face. Hermione held out her hand and smiled.


" Come on…you don't want to go in there…" she nodded in the direction of Knockturn Alley. Giving the boys arm a slight tug he pulled back. " What? Do you want to say something? "


" Let him go! " A disheveled old woman staggered up to her and to make matters worse she was from Knockturn Alley. She pulled out her wand and Hermione jumped back in fear.


" Im terribly sorry madam…he was crying so I tried to help him. " she pleaded


" Help him? Timothy did you need any help? " The woman looked at the boy who was shaking his head no. " Try and harass my grandson will you…all you from this wholesome side think you can do anything…well we will see Miss, we will see. " the woman raised her arm and Hermione screamed. Frantically she reached for her own wand but her hands were trembling tremendously.


" Hermione! " a call from behind her broke her and the woman's concentration and they both stopped what they were doing. " Hermione what is going on? " George Weasley ran up to her and glared at the woman. " What are you doing woman? Are you mad…get out of here…leave us. " He yelled at her and reached for his wand as well.


The woman sneered and grabbed the boys hand. Turning away Hermione and George were still in a reasonably good earshot, " You see Timothy, those people are crazy…they would have hurt poor old Grandmother…that's why you must never leave Knockturn Alley again…" the rest of her words trailed off and the two gave each other questioning looks. George laughed a bit and the escorted Hermione into the new shop.


" Well what do you think? " he asked as she looked around at the bare walls. The shop was completely empty. There were a few scattered boxes that read " Fred & George's lab stuff " but there was nothing else in the store.


" George…where is everything? " She scratched her head in confusion.


" Well we haven't exactly brought everything here yet…and we still need to make more of a supply to sell." He gestured for her to take a seat at a small table in the corner of the room.


Hermione smiled politely and sat in the empty chair. " Where is Fred? " she asked, pushing herself closer to the table.


" He won't be coming, today was Angelina's birthday and he forgot…she wasn't very pleased…" he laughed and so did Hermione. " So here…take a look at this paper…if we wanted to double the amount of canary creams and triple the effects, how much money would it cost us to do this?" he handed Hermione the paper and she rubbed her forehead.


" Well are you willing to spend more? " she browsed the paper and looked up at George.


" We are willing but if there is someway around it, we would take that path without hesitation. " he smiled.


Hermione laughed and shook her head, " When did you become so intelligent George? "


" Are you implying that I was once stupid? " he threw his hand to his chest and gasped. " Im insulted Miss Granger! "


" Im not insulting you, its just odd to see you taking something so seriously. " she giggled and put her head down on the table.


A loud crash came in from behind them, and both stood to see exactly what had happened. A large rock had been thrown through the front window of the shop. Hermione ran towards the shattered glass and looked out the window. There standing on the edge of Knockturn Alley was the same elderly lady from before. She smiled mischievously at Hermione and then headed back into the alley. George ran up to her side and yelled something vulgar and Hermione shuttered.


" Watch your language George! " she sternly yelled.


" Sorry… " He sighed and picked up the rock behind him, " Do you know how much this is going to cost us now? Everything is falling behind…nothing is running on time…" he huffed and began cleaning up the mess.


" Well if you would like George, I can still help you get organized…I mean that is kind of my specialty…neat, orderly…timely…" Hermione brushed some glass away with her foot.


" Really? Hermione that would be wonderful…although I really don't feel safe discussing this here…How about we meet later? Are you free? " He gave her a pleading look that she couldn't try to resist.


" Well I have things to do this afternoon but I could meet you tonight. " she suggested hoping that it would work out all right.


" That would be great, how about I meet you at the Light Café at 7:30? Is that all right with you?"


" Perfect…Hey George? " she stopped in the doorway, " This isn't a date right, I mean we are just going out to dinner as friends discussing business right? " she gave him a questioning look.


" Of course Hermione…I mean me…date you, that's absurd…" Hermione gave him a dirty look. " But it has nothing to do with your ultimate beauty…we are just friends. " he smiled


" Just friends…" she repeated before leaving George in the shop.



The feeling inside of me was intense and I wasn't sure why. I had absolutely no reason to be excited. After all it was only George Weasley, but then why did my stomach feel as though it might explode? Was this normal? I never really experienced lust or love or anything of that sort. When Harry and I dated for those three months I can say I cared deeply for him. I loved him as a friend but it was nothing more than that…I waited and waited to feel that emotion that Ive heard Emily speak about, but it never came. That's why we called it off, I wasn't ready for love…maybe I wasn't meant to fall in love. Maybe I was supposed to remain brainy Miss Hermione Granger my whole life. Yes I did date other guys, I do have some sort of experience: IM not a complete loser…I just choose to remain alone, living for myself. I know you are all thinking " Ah Poor Hermione, all she needs to do is find the right guy, one that will change her view on love."
Yes, that's what I thought as well, but I was wrong, all I really needed to do was see what was right in front of me.



" Good evening fair lady. " he reached down to Hermiones hand and kissed it gently. " You look lovely. " the words barely escaped his mouth. She really had tried to look nice. She was wearing a long black skirt and white blouse. The neckline was low and square and she wore a small silver chain around her neck. Her hair was perfectly straight which accentuated her face perfectly. George had also dressed nice, wearing a brand new black dress robe. His hair was tousled a bit which allowed it to fall gently over his eyes.


" You look nice as well George. " she followed him to their table and sat.


" I spoke to Fred and he apologized for not being here. He is still trying to make it up to Angelina." He placed his napkin on his lap and grimaced. It was obvious that the thought of Fred and Angelina 'making up' bothered him so Hermione decided to steer away from that topic.


" So did you bring the papers? " Hermione asked, " I would like to start looking at these right aw-"


" Can I get you two anything? " the same waitress stood at the table (the one who had served her the drinks), and didn't seem to notice that she had blatantly cut Hermione off.


" We will take a bottle of your best wine please. "


" Oh I don't know George, alcohol and I do not mix well together. " the waitress eyed Hermione and nodded but turned to retrieve the bottle of wine.


" Oh don't spoil a good time Hermione, a few glasses of wine wont do anything to you. " he thanked the waitress whom had brought the bottle and two lovely wine glasses.


George popped the top and poured some into his glass and then Hermione's. " Here is to a wonderful person " They clinked their glasses together and sipped. Hermione eyed the room nervously.


" Hermione calm down, nothing is going to happen to you. Learn to live a little bit, learn to have a little fun. " He gulped down another drink and began to pour another.


' Perhaps George is right, a few glasses of wine didn't kill anyone. ' She gulped down the rest of her drink as well. " Pour me another glass George. "


" Now you're getting it Mione!" they clinked glasses again and laughed.


The night was long, and Hermione tossed and turned. Finally after realizing she was not going to get comfortable she opened her eyes. Her room was blurry and her head hurt again.


' A few glasses won't kill you Hermione ' her voice mocked in her head.


Adjusting herself in her bed she tried to remember what had happened. She did have a good time, something she wasn't used to having while out with a man. George had brought out a side to her that she never knew existed. It was fun, she didn't know what time it was when she finally got home but it was all right, so what if she was tired for work. Hermione Granger deserved to have fun! Sighing a bit she rolled over onto her other side and gasped. George Weasley lay asleep next to her.




Special Thanks:


Faith McKay: Thank you for your kind words. I love Hermione paired with George; it's such a unique couple. Im glad you felt bad for Hermione…that's what I was aiming for.


AngelGurl: Great, In was hoping that you would get to read it. Thanks for reviewing again…I got teary while writing it.


Hollie: Im so glad you like this story, Ive been working on this concept for so long and it makes me feel so good to know someone appreciates it.


JAMTillDawn: I know I also felt like that when I was younger…my friends ditched me too :) Im glad you got all emotional, like I said, that is what I was hoping for.


Cinnamon: THANK YOU :)



Please be ever so kind and review! Go ahead and flame if you want to…I have plenty of weenies to roast :)