Harry Potter was tired. He'd spent the better part of the last two years and a sizeable chunk of his fortune searching for his best friend. She'd gone missing shortly after they'd graduated from Hogwarts. Hermione Granger rarely did anything without reason, and no one could figure out what reason she would have for leaving the Wizarding world behind.
After the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry and his friends spent some time resting. While the school was being rebuilt, they traveled to France and the United States. Anything to keep their minds off the last year of their lives. Harry, Hermione and Ron Weasley finally began to relax and let everything sink in. The Wizarding world of Britain was tattered. The Statute of Secrecy had been pushed to its limits and many muggles had reported seeing people using magic.
By the time the school was ready to re-open, Hermione was back in her old form. She was chomping at the bit to get back into her study mode. Harry and Ron knew better than to try and keep her from her books for too long. September 1st saw the trio climbing aboard the Express and headed North to Hogsmede.
Things returned to normal quickly when Harry and Ginny Weasley decided to break up and Ron became livid. Adding to his anger was Hermione's driven study schedule. She frequently blew off meeting the boys for meals and flat out refused to visit Hogsmede for dates with Ron. By Christmas, Ron had finally had enough and very loudly broken up with Hermione just as they were preparing for the last dinner before the break. Ron returned home for the holiday with Ginny and Harry remained at the school with Hermione.
Hermione disappeared into the library and was found on Christmas Eve by Madam Pince. She'd been skipping meals so often that she'd lost a lot of weight and had become so frail she couldn't keep herself awake. In the infirmary, Nurse Pomfrey said that Hermione had been hiding her emaciation behind glamor spells.
Harry was livid and afraid. Hermione was all he had left, and he was so scared that he would lose her. "Why," he asked.
"You know why," she replied. "I have to be better. Even with the changes at the Ministry, my chances of getting apposition there are low. What else am I going to do?"
"You can teach. Open a school for kids to learn basics before they get to Hogwarts. You can do independent research. You could go on and get your Muggle degree and work in that world. Or you could do nothing at all and travel with me."
Hermione laughed. "And how would that work?"
"I love you Hermione. I always have. I didn't know it then, but looking back… When you were petrified, I figured it out. I didn't try and date you because I was scared to lose you. And then I lost you to Ron." He ran his hand down his face and sighed. "I've been there trying to get you to spend time with people. Trying to get you to slow down. You're just so intense. God, Hermione. Just stop for a while."
Hermione looked at him with a sour expression. "Why are you telling me this now?"
"Why? Because I almost lost you, that's why! Ron is off on his little pity party and Ginny and I have been done for a long while. She knew it. She saw it and it was her choice to break off our relationship. It was wrong. You and Ron were wrong for each other. But I loved you and I thought he was my brother. I wanted you both to be happy."
"I am miserable," said Hermione. "I can't get my parents back until I am out of Hogwarts. I need to be able to survive out there on my own when I leave. I must fix things. When I get back, I'll have to get work and somewhere to live…"
Harry put his hands on hers. "I can go with you. We'll get them back together. When we get back, you can live with me. If you don't want to live in Grimmauld, we can buy a new place. Then you can rest and decide what you want to do. Damnit Hermione. Why can't you just see?"
Hermione was crying. "I don't want to you to fix things. I don't want you to be the one who always must be the hero. You can't fix me or my life."
"Then I'll die trying. You cannot push me away." He hugged her as she fought feebly with him. Her sobs shaking her body and she seemed to finally give in.
The next few months were better. Hermione had put back on some of the weight she'd lost. She stopped using spells to hide her appearance and had even allowed Harry to restrict her study time. Ron had returned with a vengeance. He'd the entire holiday to stew and stoke his own fire. He refused to speak with Harry or Hermione unless he had to for a class. Ginny had warned them that he had been fuming the entire holiday.
Still, Easter passed, and Hermione was getting better. Harry was watching her but was careful to not hover. Ron had been seen with various witches ranging from 4th year to 7th and from every house, except of course Slytherin. When Romilda Vane came up pregnant, Ron was forced by Molly to leave the school to find a job. Lucky for him, George needed help at the store.
The rest of the year was quiet, and Harry and Hermione managed to get through their N.E.W.T.s without breaking down again. They moved into Grimmauld Place and began to prepare to travel to find her parents.
"Do we have everything we need," asked Hermione.
"Why are you asking me? You packed everything by yourself," said Harry.
Hermione smiled. "I know."
Just then there was a tapping at the window. "Looks like we've gotten some post from the Ministry," said Harry. He opened the window and took the scroll from the owl. Unrolling it, he began to laugh.
"What," asked Hermione.
"Your parents. They arrived back in England yesterday. I had asked Kingsley to have Aurors watching for them. Just in case. You did say you planted the thought that they wanted to visit Australia, not move there."
Hermione hugged him tightly. "Where are they? Does it say?"
"Yep. They are at home. Are you ready to face the music?"
The reunion was a little tense as her parents were more than a little upset at waking up one morning to find they had been in Australia for six months. Not to mention that they had been using the wrong names for the entire trip. Strangely, no one ever asked them why their documents didn't match the names they used. Just as strangely, the Grangers never questioned this either.
After several hours, the family calmed, and Harry excused himself. "You need this time. Come see me when you are done. I'll help you move your things back home." He'd apparated away before he could see the hurt in Hermione's eyes.
The next day, Hermione had arrived and removed her things without speaking to Harry. When he hadn't heard from her for a few days, he went to her parent's house. They told him that while she'd spent the night that first night, she'd left saying she had some things to take care of and would be back in a day or two.
A week turned into two. Harry had gotten the remains of Dumbledore's Army together to help search for her. Seamus was the first to bow out after three weeks. Followed by Dean and the Patils. Soon it was just Harry, Ginny and Neville. After a year, only Harry was still searching. He'd asked Kingsley for help and had been granted some trainees to help, but they were recalled after a couple of months.
Harry had gone and made amends with the goblins so that he could access his money. It cost him half of the Black fortune to get back to his vault. Luckily, since he was now legally an adult, his school vault was rolled into the family vault. There wasn't a lot left there either. Apparently, Minister Fudge had used a little-known law to take half the Potter gold and all the land before he'd been removed. Harry didn't really care. He just wanted Hermione back.
Most nights, he sat with Crookshanks on the couch in Grimmauld. Simply staring at the fireplace, as if that act alone would bring Hermione spinning out of the flames. He stopped talking to everyone. He blocked all his old friends from visiting and had set new wards on the house to keep it hidden. When he wasn't spending the days searching, he was on an abandoned moor practicing spells or at a gym in Surrey exercising. He knew that he had to stay in good health for Hermione. He was certain she would need him.