A/N:

New fic, who dis?

Not sure how many of you will like this one. It's a muggle AU Harmony romcom fic. Why? I don't know.

Let me know if you like it, either way there will be more coming soon. And if you're a Robo fan, don't worry, this fic won't affect that one's update schedule.

Harry Potter looked up at the clock on his wall and sighed. As much as he'd have loved to stay up all night playing Wizard Quest 2 with his best friend, he had to be up early the next morning.

Clearing dungeons and beating bosses could wait, but his new law firm could not.

BoyWhoLived: Let's get back to town and log out. I should really call it here for tonight.

QueenOfSicilia: Ugh. But me too. Tomorrow's going to be a big day for both of us.

BoyWhoLived: Oh right, you're starting a new job as well, aren't you?

QueenOfSicilia: Yup! Good luck to both of us ^^

BoyWhoLived: Good luck and good night, Queen.

QueenOfSicilia: Good night, Boy.

QueenOfSicilia left the chat.

BoyWhoLived left the chat.

Hermione Granger smiled as she turned off her computer and got ready for bed.

Five years ago, she never would've believed that she'd be spending her Sunday nights playing online video games, but she also probably wouldn't have believed that her best friend would be a stranger on the internet who's real name she didn't even know. Alas, her little brother Archie had put her on to the game a few years ago, she had met 'BoyWhoLived' shortly after, and the rest was history.

Realistically, the game wouldn't have held her attention very long if it weren't for him. Hermione had never been a gamer as a kid, and even now didn't consider herself as such; chatting with Boy was her main draw to playing Wizard Quest 2. Pretending to be a wizard (or a witch, in her case) was quite fun as well, but the adventures they went on in-game were mostly just a backdrop to the conversations they had.

When they first met, they had planned on doing a few quests together, but eventually they got distracted and started talking about books, movies, and whatever other general minutiae crossed their minds instead. It was pleasant for Hermione, as having those conversations in real life had always been difficult for her, and there was something distinctly undaunting about the little textbox chat by comparison.

To be clear, she didn't lack confidence; Hermione had that in spades. Rather, a little over two decades of practical experience had taught her that most people didn't appreciate her company very much, and speaking to people that didn't want to speak to you was more than a bit demoralizing. In addition, most of the time she tried speaking to her peers, they made fun of her for one reason or another, and she'd (never) admit to being a bit wary around others because of that. One specific incident from her past came to mind, but she did her best to push that back down whenever it involuntarily resurfaced.

She didn't have any of those problems with Boy though. After a few months of surface-level discourse, they had gradually opened up to each other about school, their lives, and even their families. They kept details vague and names redacted (Hermione was adamant on maintaining privacy and anonymity), but nonetheless it was a positive outlet for both of them, and over time their friendship grew. He never insulted or mocked her, and having someone her age (she was pretty sure, at least) to talk to had made Hermione's life much more bearable when times were tougher.

Now, almost three years after first meeting him in the game's central town, she considered him her honest-to-goodness best friend. Not that he had very many people to compete with for that title, but still. She told him things she didn't want to tell anyone else, and he always patiently listened to her rant when she had something to get off her chest. And he really did listen, as well. He would comment and give advice where needed, and they had racked up countless deaths in-game due to typing while they were supposed to be playing. As with her, she had a feeling Boy cared more about talking to her than actually playing the game as well.

"Am I crazy, Crookshanks? Is it a travesty that a young woman in the prime of her life spends her weekends indoors, playing video games with a stranger that she considers her best friend?"

The orange cat looked up at her and made a strange face, as if the mere fact she was talking to a cat provided her with the answer she needed.

Hermione sighed. She had been talking to Crookshanks more and more ever since moving out, and it had become yet another troubling illustration of her (anti)social life.

Getting changed into her pajamas (she made it a point to get dressed in the morning even if she had no intention of leaving the house (she didn't want to become that kind of adult)), she laid out her clothes for the following day.

"I'm finally out of school, and with that starts a new chapter in the book of my life. Who knows, maybe I'll make friends, or even find love?"

Crookshanks meowed in reply, and Hermione went to sleep.

Harry's heart sank as he walked into the law firm's building and saw a pretty girl sitting stiffly on a chair in the lobby.

To be clear, he didn't mind the fact that there was a pretty girl in the lobby; far from it. The girl (a young woman, really) made the gray tailored pantsuit look positively alluring, and her face shone with a youthful excitement that betrayed the composure she was clearly trying to maintain.

The problem was that he recognized her.

Ugh, he thought, slumping his shoulders disappointedly. Of all the people that could've been hired by the same firm as me, it just had to be Hermione Granger.

At that moment, she turned her head, and their eyes locked. Her face fell in an instant, and he knew she was thinking the same thing as him.

"Harry!?" she said furiously, all pretense of calm forgotten. "What are you doing here?"

He sighed. "The same as you, I imagine."

"You got hired!?"

Harry frowned at her. "Why do you sound so surprised?"

Her face contorted into several different expressions before settling on dissatisfied, but otherwise she didn't answer. This was one of the many things he didn't like about Hermione Granger. He looked around the lobby to see if there was anywhere else he could wait for their contact to welcome them, but seeing none he reluctantly took a seat next to her.

Three years of schooling (they had both fast-tracked in and out of law school together) had taught Harry that trying to start a conversation with Hermione was pointless. She hardly spoke unless it was to answer a question in class, and the few interactions he'd seen her have with their peers were short, snarky, and uncomfortable. At first he thought she was just shy, but after spending the better part of a weekend working on a group project with her for a criminal justice class, he realized how wrong he was. Suffice to say, the project was a disaster.

They had gotten perfect grades for it, but they had also come away with a strong dislike for each other, and a handful of new adjectives with which to describe one another. Bossy, stubborn, impatient, and dismissive jumped out to Harry in particular.

Lazy, irresponsible, selfish, and unreliable jumped out to Hermione in particular.

The fact that Harry Potter had managed to get accepted to the same school as her, at the same age as her, and finish at the same time as her, left Hermione totally speechless. He had even somehow gotten hired at the same law firm as her!

Him, who was clearly a slacker, had (so far) achieved exactly all of the same things in life as her.

She stewed angrily in the seat next to him as she waited for her new employer to welcome her and show her around. With any luck, she'd part ways with Harry there, and they'd never have to interact with each other again. Three years of school with him had been more than enough for her.

If she were being honest with herself, Harry wasn't the worst of the boys that she went to school with. And if she were being even more honest with herself, that was exactly why she hated him. Unlike the boys who outwardly mocked or demeaned her, Harry always pretended to be nice. It was that false front that bothered her so much; that phoniness. He tried to play peacemaker between everyone, and would never lose his temper no matter how much he was pushed.

In fact, they had once worked on a group project together, and Hermione had pushed him around so much that even she thought she was being unpalatable. And yet, he didn't tell her off once the entire time. She had seen how frustrated he was, and had seen the moment he gave up on working with her, but he kept his mouth shut. If he had just exploded and yelled at her, they might have been able to come to a resolution, but he seemed to insist on a passive approach to everything in life.

Simply put, he would probably make a terrible lawyer, and Hermione would celebrate on the day the firm found that out and fired him.

"Good morning!" a voice called from beside them, causing them both to turn their heads. "I hope you haven't been waiting too long."

Harry and Hermione pulled themselves up and shook the man's hand. He was short, unassuming, and balding, but his eyes were bright and intelligent. He radiated competence and experience, and both new hires felt their palms get sweaty in his presence.

"Let's see here," he said, pulling out a tablet and quickly tapping in a password. "Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, right? I'm Aaron, the managing partner of this firm. The two of you are our only new hires this year, and if I remember your resumes correctly, you both came from the same school?"

"That's right," Hermione replied immediately, so quick to the punch that Harry didn't even get the chance to speak. "We, well…know each other."

"Good! As I'm sure the two of you know, we rarely hire anyone right out of school, but we made an exception when we saw your applications. Two exceptions, as it were," he laughed.

Hermione glanced at Harry out of the side of her eye. Her resume was stacked with debate championship wins, volunteer work, and even a couple summers of experience (doing grunt work) at a firm. In what way was Harry Potter as desirable as her?

Desirable as far as employers are concerned, that is. In terms of general desirability, Hermione had to admit Harry was an incredibly attractive (you didn't hear it from her) and affable guy, while she was unremarkable (self-diagnosed) and disagreeable.

Not that she cared about those kinds of things, anyway. All she needed in life was her career, her family, Crookshanks, and Boy.

Thinking about Boy brought a little smile to Hermione's face. It brought her some solace to know that no matter what happened today, she'd be able to log in to Wizard Quest 2 tonight and tell Boy all about it. And when she was done, she could listen attentively as he told her all about his own day in turn.

"Hermione," Harry whispered, nudging her.

She was about to tell him off for making physical contact with her when she realized that Aaron (her new boss) was looking at her expectantly. Clearly, he had asked her a question and she had spaced out.

Precisely the kind of thing you didn't want to do on your first day of work.

"Hermione's definitely familiar with the firm's culture and values, sir," Harry provided. "We went over the mission statement extensively when we applied together."

It took all of her willpower not to raise her eyebrows in surprise and shout some form of protest. She was very familiar with the firm's culture, values, and mission statement, but she certainly did not go through them with Harry, and they did not 'apply together'.

Aaron's expectant expression gave way to a smile though, confirming Hermione's suspicion that silence was the correct play in that position.

"Terrific! So the two of you already have experience working together then? We were planning on setting you up in the same office. You'll have a team leader who will be in charge of assigning most of your projects, but we were hoping your prior connection would assist the group's harmony."

On second thought, maybe Hermione should have yelled as loudly as possible, or done whatever else was necessary to get herself fired with all due haste.

Harry smiled, but Hermione could tell it was one of the fake, forced ones she hated so much.

"It definitely will," he said pleasantly.

BoyWhoLived: Hi Queen. How was your first day at work?

QueenOfSicilia: Hi Boy. Bad. Bad. Bad.

BoyWhoLived: Uh oh. Want to talk about it?

QueenOfSicilia: Yes. Brace yourself.

Harry smiled fondly at his computer screen as Queen went on a text-based rampage, venting about everything that happened on her first day of work. He wasn't smiling because her day had gone poorly, but rather because these little interactions with her were the highlights of his week.

Her day had many parallels to his own; apparently, she had recognized someone at her new workplace, and it wasn't someone she was particularly happy to see. She said she had nearly made a fool out of herself just ten minutes into the day, and spent the rest of it berating herself for her idiocy.

This was one of the things Harry liked about Queen. She was clearly a very intelligent girl, but she still had the ability to admit to her own faults and insecurities.

Unlike some other people I know, Harry thought, thinking back to Hermione Granger.

After he bailed her out for getting distracted during a conversation with their boss, he wasn't expecting a thanks from the girl. But for her to ignore him for the entire day, even when he tried speaking to her, was astounding. Eventually he had given up on trying to start fresh with the girl and moved towards his other new coworkers (who turned out to be surprisingly nice), but Hermione had continued to glare at him for the rest of the day as if he was doing something wrong just by being friendly.

QueenOfSicilia: So in conclusion, I wasn't able to talk to anyone, my boss probably thinks I'm incompetent, and my least favorite person has probably already turned everyone else in the office against me.

BoyWhoLived: I'm sure it's not like that…work isn't like school, you know?

QueenOfSicilia: Well, in my eight hours of experience, it kind of is.

BoyWhoLived: Oh Queen.

QueenOfSicilia: Oh Boy.

With her vent session over, Harry told Queen how his own day went. His shift hadn't been bad overall, but he didn't pull his punches with her when it came to the parts that annoyed him. Normally, Harry tried to keep things positive and neutral, never complaining about anything to anyone, but he didn't feel the need to be that way with Queen. It was one of the reasons their online friendship had become increasingly important to him over the past few years, to the point where he now considered her his best friend.

BoyWhoLived: So basically, I really shouldn't complain. My day was great compared to how yours sounded.

QueenOfSicilia: We've been over this, Boy. Don't say things like that. Even if my day was worse, that doesn't mean your own complaints aren't valid. That kind of mentality is what allows governments and corporations in the first world to propagate inequality, making people think that they have to be below a certain threshold of unfairness before they're allowed to voice their grievances.

BoyWhoLived: I know what you mean, but you should probably avoid saying things like that at your workplace if you want to make friends XD

QueenOfSicilia: Well maybe I don't want to make friends with people who are afraid of the truth.

Queen's character turned around and made a 'hmph' noise in-game, and Harry burst out laughing. He had a sneaking suspicion that the people who knew the girl in real life didn't ever see this playful side of her; if they did, they'd probably find her a lot more approachable.

He had built up a pretty strong mental image of Queen by now, despite never having met her in person, and (as much as he liked her) he could see why she had trouble making friends. She came off a bit strong sometimes, and if you didn't know the context behind it, she probably seemed very…Hermione-ish (for a lack of better descriptor).

That thought startled Harry a bit. Was Hermione a girl just like Queen? A girl with a stern and dogmatic exterior, using her intelligence as a front to protect herself from others?

No, that's sacrilege, Harry corrected himself silently. Queen is tough, but she's also funny, empathetic, and deeply emotional. Hermione is just…Hermione.

But still…

As Harry said goodbye to Queen and turned off his computer for the night, the thought of Hermione stuck with him. She might be a complete…nuisance (other words came to mind, but Harry didn't like to swear), but she was still a human, and he resolved to work harder to understand her in the future.

After all, they weren't just classmates anymore; they were coworkers. And he'd be seeing a whole lot more of her from now on, provided one of them didn't get fired.

Well, tomorrow's a new day, Harry thought as he drifted off to sleep. Maybe Hermione will start to mellow out a bit with time...

Next time, on Side Quest:

-Hermione doesn't start to mellow out a bit with time!