A little fanfic i wrote about hermone getting kicked out of the wizarding world. This is proabaly one of my best fanfics.







It had always been the three of them: Harry, Ron, and Hermione, the Golden Trio. But what the general public or even the close friends of the Trio's didn't realize what was happening before their eyes.
The Golden Trio, slowly but surely became the Dynamic Duo: Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley, the two greatest Aurors since the days of Mad-Eye Moody.

It didn't matter that Ron's older brother Percy secured a spot for him in Auror Training, or that he was one of the clumsiest Aurors around. The fact was that the three best friends disintegrated into only two.

Life had dealt Hermione Granger a cruel hand as it was that it didn't matter that she was supposedly 'the smartest witch of her age' or that she spent countless hours in Hogwarts Library pouring over books trying to be the be she could. Likewise, it definitely did not matter that it was her that researched the spell, pulled all nighters to finally bring down the wizarding world's most feared man - Lord Voldemort. No, it didn't matter at al.

Harry and Ron had eagerly taken all the praise for defeating Voldemort, which Hermione didn't really care for. She hated being in the spotlight and was all too happy to let them revel in their glory. It did, however, slightly irritate her that Ron had taken credit for all of her analysis on the particular spell they had used. She let it go though, preferring to stay behind the scenes, but as their fame started to grow exponentially Hermione was increasingly left out of almost everything that had to do with their lives. Unbeknownst to her, thinking that it would all calm down - which it didn't - riding it out didn't work so well.

Just shy of one year after graduating Hogwarts, the brains of the Trio left the wizarding world. Albeit, it wasn't permanent, nothing in life, Hermione had harshly realized, was. She never imagined that three years later, working in a small diner across the street from her flat, that her life would come full circle; by the means of Sirius Black.

She still studied magic, bought books concerning ancient spells that any normal witch or wizard wouldn't bother themselves with and used her wand on a daily basis, despite the fact that she was living in a rural Muggle town.

The only person that perhaps had given an inkling of thought to her was Ginny Weasley or rather Ginny Malfoy now. From the short letter that she had received - most likely as an afterthought - it was apparent that the rest of the Weasley clan was none to pleased with the choice that young Ginerva had made. The letter was dated exactly one week after the infamous Weasley/Malfoy union; Hermione suspected that they were on their honeymoon when it was written.

Till this day, Hermione still felt the sting of not being invited to the wedding. The fact that the letter was written so late suggested that she could have possibly not even known about them being together in the first place.

That was an absolute lie. Hermione had known though. She still read the Daily Prophet over her morning cup of tea. Ginny and Draco's relationship proved to be very interesting to the public and was featured in almost every issue.

There inanely open relationship only served to remind Hermione how lonely she really was. Sadly, she hadn't been with another man since Viktor Krum. Solitude was something that she reveled in up until the last few months.

For some completely incomprehensible reason the usual silence of her flat was becoming deafening. She craved human contact, to be loved and cherished.

Hermione was by no means devoid of all contact, she had managed to make at least one friend, her co-worker Betty.

Betty was 24, happily married and pregnant as a cow. She had everything Hermione lacked, which made her insanely jealous of the woman.

The days of Hermione’s life blended together so well that she was blissfully unaware that one Wednesday in the middle of October would change her life, at least, for a little while.

"Would you look at that one," Betty whispered conspiringly to Hermione. Betty had made it her personal mission to find someone, anyone for Hermione. She figured after all the hard work her girl had put in for their little diner it was the least she could do. That, and Hermione really needed to get out and have some fun, she was far too closed off to the world.

"What?" Hermione was momentarily pulled away from her crossword puzzle as her attention shifted to the woman standing next to her.

"The booth underneath the cracked window. The dark haired fellow. What I wouldn't give to have a man like that."

"You're married." Hermione conveniently reminded her. Not bothering to glance at the aforementioned man, Hermione returned to her puzzle.

"Yeah, and look where it go me. I look and feel like a whale." Betty nudged Hermione playfully, "Go over there and take his order."

"Hmm? What's a seven letter word for weariness?"

Betty huffed and grabbed her pen and pad calling over her shoulder as she heading toward the mystery man, "Dipshit."

Not a minute later Betty came waddling back up to the counter, "Tall, dark and oh-so-handsome would like a cup of tea."

"Then get it yourself." A glare that Betty had perfected in the eight months that she had been pregnant got her what she wanted. Hermione poured the steaming liquid into a cup and handed it off to the now smiling Betty. "Would you at least look at him?"

Hermione let just a hint of a smile shine through and casually glanced at the man now seated with a chattering woman across from him. "He's quite obviously taken."

Betty caught sight of the other woman and scoffed. "She can be taken care of."

"Betty, don't."

"Hermione, you need to get out."

"I am perfectly fine."

"Sitting her doing your crossword puzzle?" She questioned.

"I -” Hermione didn't get to finish her sentence as she caught sight of the man they were debating. She ducked behind the counter praying he hadn’t seen her face.

"Hermione, what are you doing? Get up." Betty hissed. Hermione shook her head silently, heart pounding wildly in her chest. What was she going to do? Sirius Black was sitting not 25 feet from her.

"Go, just give him his order. I - I think I’m going to go on my break."

"It's only 9 a.m."

"Yes, break sound like a brilliant idea."

Quickly and efficiently Hermione rid herself of her name tag and apron and stealthily made her way to the door and across the street to her flat.

Only when Sirius and his companion exited the diner did she return to work.

"Someone knows him. Spill." Betty demanded.

"He's just someone I knew from a previous life. I would rather not talk about it." With that being said Hermione went to go take the order of a patron sitting with his wife.

Hermione was just as unprepared the next week when he showed up again, this time with a different girl. As nonchalantly as she could, Hermione snuck glances toward him. She watched as he placed his hand over hers, just like he had done with the blonde the previous week, his bark-like laughter filling their small diner.

Once gain Hermione fought with Betty about placing his order in the end Hermione won, using her break as an excuse. When she got back, he was gone.

The rest of the week dragged on endlessly as she contemplated all of the reasons as to why he was even in her town. Was he looking for her? Had the Death Eaters risen to such power forcing the Order to have an all out search for her? Most likely not. He probably didn't even know he was in the same town as her.

This would surely pass. It however didn’t, as he came in that very Wednesday with yet another girl on his arm.

"Well, they're not all perfect." Betty muttered to herself as she served the two their tea.

By now Betty had stopped pestering Hermione and let her go on her break, no questions asked. Curious as she was, she wasn't that nosy to go against Hermione's wishes.

Hermione had successfully dodged him for another week but her luck would run out the very next.

As (bad or good, depending on how she looked at it) luck would have it Betty went into labor late Tuesday night. That Wednesday afternoon the world was blessed with yet another living soul. A healthy baby boy.

Hermione was now stuck with the task of taking his and yet another woman's order. She was seriously pondering not going over there when the stern voice of Betty's rang through her mind, "Don't you dare." How many times had Betty said that to her when she informed her friend that she was spending Friday night reading again?

To conceal herself even further in hopes that he wouldn't recognize her, Hermione took off her name tag. Sucking up what little Gryffindor courage she had left she started toward his booth.

"What can I get you two?" Keep it simple.

"I'll have a cup of tea, but don't make it too hot. I wouldn't want to burn myself." The decidedly annoying woman laughed.

"Yes, I'll have the same but make mine hot. You know that's how I like it." He winked at the girl sitting across from him and smiled up at Hermione while handing her the menus.

Upon looking at her, their eyes met. Sirius' widened while Hermione looked away, trying desperately to cover her face with her hair - which had become difficult since graduation as it had lost most, if not all, of its bushiness.

"Two cups of tea coming right up." Quickly she spun on her heel and walked to the safety of the counter, glad to be out of the awkward situation.

Admittedly, she took a little too much time in getting their orders filled but she finally did it without incident.

Hermione watched anxiously as they left, without a glance back at her. Sighing she went to go clean their table. Her hand hovered over the more than generous tip when her eye caught the familiar shape and color of a sickle. Yeah, he definitely knew it was her.

She pocketed the wizarding currency and set about her day, all but forgetting about Sirius.

Rudely reminded was hardly the term she would use to describe the feelings that he stirred up when she showed up the next day.

Her brain was in overdrive, it was Thursday, not Wednesday, what in bloody hell was he doing here?

As calmly as she could, she brought out his tea.

"What time do you get off?"

"Why?" Nervousness made her voice quiver, much to her dismay.

"Would you like to go get a drink?"

"I'm sorry; I can't” A curious expression prompted her to explain further, "What with the baby and all. Well, not my baby but Betty's baby. You see she just had a boy yesterday." She knew she was rambling but it couldn't be helped.

When he received his explanation, was it disappointment she saw flash through his features? No, it couldn't have been, the only thing he probably remembered about her was her name. No, this was for the best.

Friday yielded the same results. A did Saturday and Sunday with Sirius asking the same question, and Hermione stumbling her way through an answer.

Finally on Monday, she caved. They were to meet at 9:30 at night at a café down the street for a cup of tea. It was going to be as awkward as hell, she knew that much. It didn't disappoint.

The first half hour consisted of each of them stealing furtive glances at the other until Sirius broke the tension. He hadn't changed one bit. "Everyone misses you." He stated quietly.

They both knew that statement was a blatant lie. Giving him a look that clearly said that she knew it wasn’t true, Sirius looked away, for once in his life not sure of where to go with a member of the opposite sex.

When it neared 10:15, Hermione started to pack up.

"Same time tomorrow?" His sudden question startled her.

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea."

He pulled his infamous (though not to Hermione) puppy dog face. She gave in.

So for the next two weeks they chatted quietly over a cup of tea after her shift was over. He wowed her with tales of his Marauder days making sure to steer clear of the past 4 years of her life.

"Hermione?" He asked on the latest tea outing knowing that it was going to be one of that hardest things he would ask her to do.

"Yes?" Blowing on her tea she tentatively took a sip, glad that it had cooled down a bit.

"Would you consider going back to Grimmauld Place with me in a few days?"

"Sirius, I don't know..." And in a repeat of their first night having tea togther he pulled the puppy dog look. Again, she caved.

Those few days before leaving proved to be valuable as she talked with Betty about closing the diner for a short while, while she went on a mini-vacation of sorts. Betty was all too happy to grant her the time off.

The day finally arrived when Sirius and Hermione were to leave. Hermione had packed and shrunk her already tiny bag to even smaller to fit into her pocket easily.

"You do remember how to Apparate?" A 'pop' was his answer.

Arriving at Grimmauld Sirius sighed when he noticed she hadn’t splinched herself. "Ready?" He asked after he made the house magically appear.

Hermione swallowed hard but nevertheless gave a weak nod. Sirius smiled encouragingly and turned the door knob.

"Sirius!" Came the chorus of at least a dozen people. "So glad to see your back from your vacation."

"How was it mate?"

"Meet any hot girls?"

Through all of this Hermione was pushed near the stairs, forcing her to climb them for fear of being trampled. Not one of them took the slightest notice of her. She gave a teary smile at the scene wishing that was how her greeting could have gone before she climbed the stairs, knowing nothing had changed. Forgotten was what she had been, forgotten, it seemed was destined for what she was to always be. Despite Sirius' attempts at righting that wrong.

Like it was yesterday Hermione navigated her way toward her old bedroom that she’d shared with Ginny. It was with great sadness, though not unexpected; she found the room to now occupy Ginny, Draco and what seemed to be their daughter.

Hermione continued down the hall to one of the unused rooms and set her now back to normal knapsack on the dusty bed. Apparently this room had been forgotten as well.

Sirius was no doubt looking for her (at least, she secretly hoped) but as she took a seat on the bed, she could really care less as the exhaustion of the past couple of months, no make that the past four years finally caught up with her. Was she finally home?

The sound of small feet running down the stairs and a loud thud followed by crying woke Hermione a few hours later.

"Mummy's coming! Go eat dinner." She heard what presumably was Ginny yelling.

The word ‘dinner’ had her stomach growling and she set off to go to the kitchen. She only got halfway down the steps when she froze.

Laughter permeated the full house (save for her bedroom) and carefreeness, something she hadn’t been apart of since before the threat of Voldemort.

She watched bemused as Sirius craned his neck, searching around the table for her while attempted to carry on an avid conversation with his godson. As quietly as she could Hermione went back upstairs to her room. Yes, this definitely wasn’t the best idea. She should just leave, get it over with, they hadn't missed her then, they most definitely wouldn't miss her now. Maybe she would go to France. She'd always wanted to visit the fascinating country and it wasn't as if it was an impossible feat.

But apart from a small portion of her wanting to stay, what if they did remember her? What then? Would she get her friends back? Possibly be happy again? Deciding to stick it out at least one more day, she lay back in bed after begrudgingly performing a cleaning spell on the entire room.

A knock at the door sometime later startled her. It was Sirius, laden with food and drinks. Wisely he decided not to comment on her absence (to him anyway) at dinner. She smiled gratefully and gave a soft, "Thank you."

"How long are you staying?" He ventured.

"Maybe a few more days." He just nodded, not sure what to make of it.

"Goodnight Hermione." Merlin, she hadn't heard that phrase said by anyone but herself in a long time. After the first few days of being on her lonesome while everyone else was dealing with the Ministry or the Prophet she had gotten into the habit of saying that to herself before bed, wishing that just for once it was someone else saying it. That phrase was the only connection excluding the magic that she held on to.

"Goodnight Sirius."

The next morning she was woken with a bear-like dog jumping on her mattress. "I'm up." She exclaimed laughing for the first time in months.

She shooed him out of her room to change and run a brush through her hair before meeting him outside of her door.

Sirius bounded down the steps waiting impatiently for her more relaxed pace to make it to the bottom.

He took her by the hand and lead her to the entrance of the kitchen but was faced with a most disturbing dilemma.

Normally there would be at least two or three seats open at the gargantuan table but it was not to be.

"You can have my seat." He graciously offered.

"No, maybe I'll go back to my room." This was getting a bit too depressing for her.

"No, you will sit." Sirius gently pushed her into his seat and stood back. He watched with growing pity and guilt as no one took notice of her, her eyes wide as everyone grabbed their breakfast from the center. Hermione went for a roll; her hand hadn't even touched it before it was snatched up by George. Again, she tried for the roll, but was too slow as Fred took it instead.

Closing her fingers slightly she hesitated a bit too long as all but one was taken. Hermione saw her chance and took it. Her hand clasped it just as another hand did. Tentatively she looked at the owner of the appendage: Remus Lupin stared back at her with a mixture of surprise and compassion at her small frame.

Hermione adverted her eyes and retracted her hand leaving the roll for his taking. Remus did the same, too stunned to care about the bread anymore. It was promptly take by Charlie.

Hermione squirmed in her seat under his intense gaze, and glancing from left to right she slipped from the crowd of people unnoticed by all but Remus.

Remus let the bowl refill itself before he grabbed two rolls and went after her.

"Remus, where you going ol' pal?" Ron called from the far end of the table.

"To the loo." Ron nodded and resumed his conversation with Mad-Eye Moody. "Hermione! Hermione."

Halfway up the stairs she didn't turn around at her name being called. Figuring it was Sirius she replied, "I ate, I think I'm going to go lie down for a bit."

"No you didn't." Remus countered. "Here." He held out he two rolls neatly wrapped in a napkin he'd snitched before leaving.

"Oh, no, I couldn't..." Looking anywhere but him, she seemed even smaller than he remembered.

"Eat it Hermione." He insisted thrusting the rolls into her hands.

"No, I really think this would go to someone better, possibly Ginny's daughter."

"Molly you mean?" Hermione nodded catching sight of the small redheaded girl. "No..." Hermione's brow furrowed at this, "They're self-refilling Hermione." He reminded her gently.

"Oh. Umm...thank you."

It was his turn to nod. He watched as she fidgeted nervously and shifted her weight from one foot to the next. Where had the confident young woman he knew so well gone? Who was this person that had gone unnoticed in a crowd of her friends?

"Sirius brought me here." Hermione answered his unspoken question that he was dying to ask ever since he laid eyes on her.

"Well, then let's get you back in there." He turned to face the kitchen, "Oi! Her-" Remus turned back around to find the spot where she had just been vacated.

Hermione was glad for all those nights Mad-Eye made the DA do stealth recon finally paying itself off. She was back in her room without a sound.

The rolls were good but she could only finish half of one before she full.

Packing was an easy task but was interrupted three-quarters of the way through by a knock and Sirius coming through the door angry.

"Where were you?"

"I ate." It wasn't a lie.

"In here?" He'd caught her by spotting the napkin and remaining food. He of course, had been to busy inhaling his bacon to notice her departure.

"A little." She admitted fear lacing her voice.

"Hermione," Sirius sat on the edge of the bed and sighed, "I brought you here for a reason: to reconnect with your family and friends. You can't do that by hidin- “He was cut off by a gruff sounding Mad-Eye Moody, "Black get your a** down here, the meeting's going to start."

"Come on." He pulled her up and ushered her out of the room toward the drawing room where the Order held their meetings.

"Wotcher there, you can't go in." Tonks held out her arm in front of Hermione, preventing her from proceeding.

"Come on Nymphadora. Let her in." Sirius tried coaxing her, his hand still tightly intertwined with Hermione’s.

"No can do. She's not part of the Order, she can't go in."

Hermione smiled sadly and motioned for Sirius to go on. She headed on back up to her room, Sirius' eyes sadly following her, wishing he could ease the pain.

The meeting lasted all day, leaving Hermione to contemplate what she had just witnessed. She'd taken down Voldemort through tedious hours of researching for the Order and now she wasn't even allowed to attend one of their meetings. What was happening?

Making a split second decision she finished packing, and grabbed an old piece of parchment she'd found in the desk located in the corner of the room. A pen she found stuffed in her pocket would have to do as she scribbled down a message for Sirius:

Sometimes it's better to fade away rather than burn out.

- H

Hermione placed it on the kitchen table securing it with a simple spell to make sure it wouldn't be blown away. She took one last look around the house, ignoring the lump in her throat at that came about at all the memories that resurfaced unexpectedly. Her wand was set next to the note.

"Miss Granger,” Albus Dumbledore greeted from the doorway, "Leaving so soon?"

She looked up at him, wishing he could fix this situation, but knowing he couldn't, she started for the door.

"Goodbye Professor." Without another word she saw herself out, leaving more alone than when she had come.

Hailing a taxi, her last thought was maybe she would go to France.

Finis