A\N I know I haven't written one of these yet. Welcome to my newest story. I promise to try and keep up with the posts, as well as still post for Harry Potter and the Elemental Mage. I love reviews, it's like my crack, I need them to keep going. So please don't forget to review.

This story is about Harry leaving the Magical World, and starting new somewhere far away from his past, and how he decides to create a new future for himself. I know it's different then most stories people have read so far, he lives on a ranch and whatnot, I liked the idea, hope you guys do too...xoxo love you guys.

Changing Pasts, New Futures

Chapter 3

I was standing in the kitchen, flipping the omelets over when I heard the telltale sign of the other 3 guys stumbling into the house. I turned around to look and had to bite back a smile. They were all seriously hung over, and they had collapsed at the table, head in their hands. I smiled as I turned back around to flip the omelet off the pan, and begin another one. I placed the plate with 4 omelets already cooked on it, onto the table. I heard the groans from the men. I couldn't hold back my laughter anymore, and burst out into loud chuckles. They were all glaring at me as Randy walked in to see the state of his men.

"What did you guys do last night?" He asked with a huge grin. I knew what he had done, and had to shake my head. Usually when he knew we were all going into town, he and Annabelle had the night to themselves and decided to repeat their honeymoon. I found that out by accident one night, when I had opted out last minute cause I was coming down with something and had come to the house to see if they had anything I could take, and I could hear them going at it. I booked it out of there so fast, covering my ears the whole way. That was when I had only been here for 4 months by then. Now I didn't care, it was common for them to do that. They were desperate to have a baby, and only the three of us knew why it was so difficult for them to get pregnant. She had told Randy everything she had told me, of course he knew before I did. She had told him before they got married 3 years ago.

While the guys grumbled I finished cooking up breakfast, adding the bacon to the table and the last omelet that I had made. I wrapped up a little of each on a plate and stuck it in the fridge for Annabelle. Randy always gave me a smile when I did that, he always appreciated how I thought of everyone. We all sat down at the table and while Randy and I chowed down on the food, the other guys grumbled and moved their foot around on their plate. Taking pity on them, I got up and went to the cupboard and pulled out a couple bottles of hangover cure. It wasn't anything magical, though it was filled with herbs and other things that I was sure the guys wouldn't appreciate knowing about. I poured them into 3 separate mugs and then stuck them in the microwave for a minute. Once the microwave beeped letting me know it was done, I pulled out the hot mugs and placed them in front of the 3 suffering men. "There you go, you big babies" They attacked the mugs with gesto, as they drank it down as fast as they could. After a few minutes the cure started to work, and they looked chipper and began to eat at their food. Randy gave me a look and rolled his eyes tilting his head towards the three stooges, as he and I use to joke about calling them.

I chuckled, nodded and finished up my breakfast. I began to clean up as one by one the guys added their dishes to the sink and I began to wash them. They always offered to help, but I always waved them away. They headed off to their respective living quarters to get dressed for the day. I was already dressed since I'd been up for a while. Just as I finished putting the last dried dish away, Annabelle walked into the kitchen, we smiled at each other and she went to the fridge to pull out the plate of breakfast I had left her. "Mmmm, this looks good James" She took the plastic wrap off the top and stuck the plate into the microwave. Then she leaned against the counter while she waited for it to heat up, I was leaning against it beside her. "How was your night" She asked softly. I shrugged, and she raised her eyebrow when she looked over at me. I grinned.

"It was ok I suppose. Met Brett's sister, something about a family accident brought her down searching for him. Then took a walk to the park, stopped some prick from raping an unconscious girl" I explained succinctly. She let out a slight chuckle and I raised a questioning brow to her.

"You never do anything by half do you" She grinned at me as the microwave beeped. She grabbed her plate and some utensils and sat down at the table to eat her breakfast. I just shook my head and left her to her meal and went out to the stables.

XXXX

I was miserable. There was no other way to word it. I was in hell. It hasn't been just recently either, ever since the end of the war, Ever since he disappeared. No one's heard or seen him for 2 years. It broke my heart when he left. I started dating Ron the week after he disappeared, and not because I wanted to, but because I didn't feel I had another choice, he didn't want me. If he had he wouldn't have left.

It's been tough, living this life. We never agree on anything, and the night always ends in bad tempers and tears, at least on my part. I'm getting fed up with him, yet I know if I ever tried to leave him, he'd get furious. Ron's become so uncontrollable ever since he left, Ron blames him for everything. The reason our relationship is in the shithole, why I never respond to his kisses or touches. Why sex has been an utter mess. I try to do what I can to please him, but it doesn't matter, he's always angry now. I'm scared for my life. He's been coming home late these last few months, completely shit faced drunk.

So far I've been able to stay out of his way, but it's only going to be a matter of time before he comes to me, and when things don't go right, he'll be furious and attack me, I know it'll lead up to that, I don't know what else to do. I'm so lost without him. Merlin help me.

XXXX

Ron was sitting in the living room watching TV. It was the one muggle concession he had agreed to when we moved in together. Of course, he was the only one allowed to watch the TV, unless he invited me to sit with him. I wanted to fight the injustice, but his temper was unpredictable. There were days when he was great. He was considerate and sweet. He brings me home flowers after we had a bad fight, and offer to make dinner, and give me a back rub. Those were becoming so far in between the petty fights and the blowups.

"Hey Hermy, Can you grab me a butterbeer" Ron called. I winced at the nickname he gave me, it was horrid. I went to the kitchen and pulled a butterbeer out of the fridge; I brought it back into the living room and handed it to him. He didn't even look up at me or thank me as he twisted the cap off and took a long swallow.

It amazed me sometimes the person he had become. I knew he was never a completely nice person. First year came to mind, but I thought he grew out of this petty childishness, apparently not. He was so finicky. I had to make him happy, only his concerns mattered, only his problems. I wasn't allowed to work because he didn't like the place looking trashed. He worked in the Ministry in the games and sports section. He helped plan the Quidditch games. It made him decent money, but nothing extravagant. My parents sent me a little money every month; I never got to see a dime of it. Ron would snatch it up and stuff it in his pocket, smirking at me "What are you going to do with it? Your home all day" Then he'd turn around and walk out the door heading to work.

So I have no money, and no way to leave. I'm stuck in this hell of a prison with no way out. And no white knight to save me.

XXXX

It was a few weeks later, and Ron was in the shower. I got another letter from my mom, with more money in it. I quickly pocketed it, and tossed the letter in the trash. I need to save up as much as I could to get out of here. I heard the water shut off and I quickly went about preparing breakfast for him. He usually liked a big breakfast, the way his mom use to make it. So I did my best, cooking up a package of bacon, and some eggs and lots of toast. Once I had it all on the table, Ron walked into the room, dressed for work. He sat down and quickly piled his plate high with the food and started stuffing it in to his mouth, making my stomach queasy as he barely stopped to chew before he stuffed more in his mouth.

After a few minutes he was finished eating, stood up and gave me a wet kiss on the check before he left the flat and went off to work. I looked at the mess and sighed. I began to clean it by hand, I had no choice, Ron had taken my wand away in the beginning of the relationship, mostly to protect his ass, since I knew more spells then he did, and could have kicked his ass any day of the week, though wandless I was as weak and docile as a baby kitten. His treatment of me was infuriating, and humiliating. If her friends could see her now, people from Hogwarts who believed her to be bossy and strong willed, would never believe, I was the same Hermione Granger they knew from school. If it was any consolation, I wasn't happy with the Hermione I had become either.

XXXX

The rain was pouring down heavy, and we were all struggling to get the horses back in the barn before the wind picked up. The weather was crazy down here, but I loved every minute of it. I did a quick head count of the horses satisfied we hadn't lost any one, and then made sure all the stalls were locked up and all the horses had fresh hay, food and water. Mentally checking off my list, I smiled as I opened the door located in the back of the barn that led to a tunnel to get to the men's living quarters. The land use to house an old army barracks with underground tunnels to get from building to building to avoid snipers, and also in case of bombing.

I could hear music trailing down the tunnel, and I knew the guys were starting their party early. Since the weather was too dangerous to drive in, the guys had decided to open the liquor cabinet and start their own little party. When I arrived, I could already see a few discarded beer bottles, and shot glasses lined up on the coffee table.

The guys were sprawled out on the couches and chairs that littered the sitting room. Dustin saw me enter, and I could tell he was pretty buzzed from the amount of alcohol he'd already consumed, "James" He slurred. He stood up on shaky legs and hobbled his way over to me. He slung his arms across my shoulders, he had thrown his considerable weight behind it, and I had to lock my knees before I collapsed. I had to wrap my arm around his waist to support him, otherwise he would have toppled us both over.

I shook my head at them, then I guided Dustin back to his seat were I unceremoniously dumped him, not caring one wit of he got himself hurt in the process. "I swear you guys are a bunch of drunks" I grumbled, making my way through the mess that was our flat.

It was more guest housing then a flat, but it was all one floor, and it was beside the barn. It held 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, a small kitchenette and a sitting area. The decor was pure country, with dark browns and lots of wood paneling. It was a man cave.

The guys hated cleaning up, so the place was a pigsty. I usually kept my space neat and clean, after affects from having lived with the relatives from hell. At first I use to clean up the place, but it started to wear on me. The guys seemed to like it better this way, so I would just shrug and head to my room.

Tonight didn't seem to be any different. They were set on getting plastered, and I was determined to not get involved. So I grabbed a Pepsi can from the fridge, popped the cap open and took a quick gulp. Turning I hunted around in the cupboards and found a box of Fudgeeo's, which I took down and shuffled off to my room.

Closing the door I sighed in relief. The music was dulled to a low hum through the thick walls of my room. I looked around. There wasn't much to it. A queen-sized bed that was as comfy as a cloud, with dark green satin sheets and a black and green comforter folded at the end of it. The room held on dresser in the corner, dark mahogany wood. Above my dresser held a 25' Plasma screen TV, and below that laying on my dresser was my Xbox 360 and a pile of different games. The walls were painted a forest green. I had a small shelving unit in the corner of my room beside the large bayside windows, which held some books I had collected the last 2 years. The windows were covered with black curtains, and there was a small window seat tucked against the windows which I didn't take advantage of often. Beside my bed was a small beside table that held a small iPod dock. I even had my iPod plugged in. Besides those few furnishings there was a closet near the door of the room which held all my clothes.

I put the can of pop onto my dresser as I picked up my controller and turned the TV screen on. While I waited for the game system to boot up, I opened the package of cookies and took a big bite of one. I could faintly hear the guys laughing, and probably making damn fools of themselves. I chuckled knowing they were going to have huge hangovers again tomorrow, and once again will be begging him for the hangover cure. That reminded me, I needed to start making up some more. The stores were getting low. Maybe Annabelle needs to go into town tomorrow. I'll go with her to pick up the stuff I need and help her get anything she needs to stock up on for the kitchen.

The game system had reached the starting screen; I started clicking buttons to get my game started, sneaking bites of my cookies between slow scenes. I stood up to grab my pop and took a long gulp. It was going to be a long evening. We couldn't even step outside to get to the main house, and unfortunately there weren't any tunnels leading out there, just around the barn and guest house and there was one I believed that led out to the old outhouse.

After a few hours of playing my video games, and half a box of cookies later, I decided to do something a little more productive. Closing up the cookie box I tossed it onto the empty part of my dresser, finished off my pop and put the empty can beside the cookie box. I went to my closet and began to pull out a few items of clothing. A pair of shorts and a t-shirt with cut off sleeves. I quickly changed, and then taking the cookies and empty pop can out into the kitchen I disposed of the can and put the cookies back into the cupboard before rummaging into the fridge for a bottle of water. When I found one, tucked behind the case of Budweiser beer, I turned to glance in at the sitting room. The guys were passed out, the music still blaring on. I rolled by eyes and quickly turned the music down to a healthier decimal level before leaving them. They'll have sore necks in the morning but that wasn't my problem, they shouldn't drink themselves into stupors.

I got back to my room and quietly shut the door. I walked over to my beside table and turned the speakers on so my iPod could play some music. Then I dropped to the floor and began my stretches. With so little furnishing in my room, it allowed me ample space to work out in. Once I was stretched out, I began to do push-ups. I felt my body move to the beat of the country music coming out of my speakers. I couldn't help but smile. Once I finished all my reps, I stopped to take a breath and gulped a little water. Then I turned around and started my first set of reps for my crunches.

About an hour later I finished up the last of my stretches. I could feel the soreness in my muscles you get after a good workout. I grabbed a towel and left my room to grab a shower. Once clean and refreshed I grabbed a quick look at the digitally illuminated clock on the microwave. It was 10 pm. A good time if any to grab some shut eye, the day started early on the ranch.