Author's Notes: I'm so so sorry I've been away for so long! I've been terribly terribly busy but now I have almost all of the time in the world! I do not own Harry Potter or Twilight, sigh. R&R Loves, you know the drill. Mwah!

Chapter One

Hermione Granger made her way through the halls of the Ministry of Magic with a purpose, her pace was brisk and her appearance slightly disheveled. Her caramel curls fell wildly about her shoulders seemingly alive and crackling with magic, her expression was neutral but her chocolate gaze burned with fury. She sent glares at everyone who dared even look at her, she was fed up with trying to be nice to people, it wasn't getting her anywhere anyways. If anything the nicer she was the more people walked all over her and she'd finally had it. Whispers followed her but she ignored them, she was used to whispers being best friends with Harry Potter and having helped save the wizarding world from a certain and terrible fate, not to mention the lies the vile Rite Skeeter woman once spread about her. No, the whispers didn't bother her but the occasional looks of pity that accompanied them, that is what bothered her. She didn't want their faux pity, nor did she want genuine pity. Especially over the paricularly nasty break up with Ronald Billius Weasley she had experienced that morning. Their relationship had lasted only a little over a year. Thirteen months. Thirteen very long and very tiring months. They were supposed to get married, live happily ever after but no, he had to go and ruin it all because he couldn't think with his brain!

" 'Mione, slow down!" A familiar male voice cut through her thoughts and she pulled to an abrupt stop and whirled around, prepared to see Ronald with the owner of that voice, and she was prepared to let him have it but instead she only saw her raven haired, green eyed best friend practically running to catch up with her. Her annoyance was obvious but she couldn't bring herself to yell at or even scold the boy, it wasn't his fault that his best friend was a git after all. So, she waited for him to get to her and was highly surprised when he pulled her into a tight hug in the middle of the hall. She wrapped her arms around him in return and they stood like that for a whole minute before he pulled away and held her by her shoulders an arm's length away to look at her face. His eyes didn't hold any pity and for that she was grateful but those emerald depths were swimming with worry.

"Harry, I'm kind of in a hurry here," she rolled her eyes and tried to pull away but, the effort was futile.

"Where are you going in such a rush?" His voice was filled with curiosity and worry as his gaze scanned the girl in front of him from head to toe. Finding no injuries, just a slightly disheveled appearance he allowed his gaze to rest back on her face. She shifted nervously on her feet, something he took notice of and he raised his eyebrows in question. She was absolutely positive that he knew about the break up but did he knows the grounds of it? Did he know what had caused it? She wasn't sure what Ronald had told him, she was sure of the fact that Ronald wouldn't tell Harry that she had left him because she'd caught him with the dirty tramp Lavender Brown. Again.

"Well, you see. I'm going to see the minister about that assignment in the States. I need to get away for a while, and I don't want to take time off work. So, what better way to do it than when I'm still doing my job? Plus, Ronald can no longer tell me that I can not do it. In fact the pompous git can kiss my arse!" She replied, shrugging her shoulders. Harry's curiosity only heightened with her explanation. What had Ron done? Ron had told them that Hermione and he had split but he hadn't really come clean about the cause, of course. And was this the same assignment she'd turned down just the day before? With a soft sigh he draped his arm over the petite frame of his best friend and they started once more on the trek to Kingsley Shacklebolt's office.

"What did Ron do?" he questioned, thinking back on the past thirteen months since the beginning of their relationship in the halls of Hogwarts during the battle and of all the times that Ron had nearly destroyed it. Ron had been caught cheating on her with Lavender Brown four times and he just couldn't seem to move past the stupid bint but every time he was caught he'd apologize over and over. Hermione, bless her soul, being the kind hearted individual she is had taken him back each time, despite the protests of everyone around her telling her not to. Harry could only hope that this wouldn't be the case again, if Ron had indeed cheated on her for a fifth time.

"I walked in on him and 'Lavlav' again!" She spat Ron's stupid nickname for the girl out with such malice that Harry feared slightly for her safety, granted she'd deserve anything and everything that she got.

"Oh, I'm so sorry 'Mione. He rea-" Harry started but was cut off immediately by the fiery girl.

"I'm not. She can have the stupid unfaithful prat. I'm through with him, I should have been a long time ago and I should have never taken him back. I cannot wait until Ginny gets her hands on him," Harry couldn't help but laugh along with the curly haired girl as they entered the room leading into the minister's office. The blonde receptionist looked up from her paperwork as they entered and smiled brightly at the duo.

"Miss Granger, he's expecting you. Go on in!" She nodded toward the door and Hermione thanked the woman softly before tuning to Harry, smiling softly.

"I'm going to get this job. I will see you at the Burrow for dinner tonight as it's Wednesday." She then turned on her heel and walked into the office, smiling at the minister and closing the door behind her.

"Good afternoon Hermione," the deep baritone voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt did wonders for her frazzled nerves as she settled herself into a chair across from her dark skinned friend.

"I would like to take that position in Forks and I will leave tomorrow as previously discussed." Her tone was confident and slightly demanding, causing the man before her to chuckle, the sound filling the air around them as he nodded and shuffled through his desk.

"Right to business as always. You're entirely sure this won't be a problem? It is a whole year after all," he looked up from the drawer with raised eyebrows and smiled as the girl nodded her head, her curls bouncing.

"It will not be a problem what so ever. Should any problems arise that I can not handle I will not hesitate to owl or floo you immediately. I will be staying with the Cullen coven, correct?" She inquired, curiosity blazing in her mocha gaze. She'd heard of this family from Dumbledore when he was still alive. They were nothing like other vampires, they chose to survive off of animal blood and she found this most intriguing and wanted to study them and see if this method was just as sufficient as human blood, and she wanted to see how they interacted with humans. She was trying to pass laws to get equal right for these creatures anyways, why not take the opportunity since it arose?

"Yes Ma'am. They are expecting you tomorrow, though no specific time has been set. You can leave whenever you wish, seeing as they don't sleep." He chuckled softly as he pulled a necklace and a file out of the drawer he was rifling through. He handed her both and she took a moment to inspect the necklace, the charm on it was beautiful, it was a silver 'H' with a jaguar curling itself around it, the detail of the giant feline was marvelous. She raised her chocolate gaze to the male in front of her and smile.

"Thank you, this is exquisite!"

"It's nothing, it's just your port key. Your activation word and any information we have on the Cullen's that you might need is in the file, along with your assumed relationship and identity. Do feel free to contact me with any questions you might have." Hermione nodded and clasped the necklace around her neck before rising from her seat.

"I'll be sure to do that. Thank you again Kingsley. I shall speak with you soon. Have a good day," she gave one last sharp nod before walking out of the office with a smile turning her lips upward.

Hermione stepped out of the kitchen fireplace at the Burrow and dusted herself off. Her eyebrows furrowed together and she glanced around, the lack of noise worried her to no end. The Burrow was usually loud and rowdy, filled with the Weasley family and their significant others yet, here it was quiet enough to hear a pin drop and not a person in sight. She drew her wand and held her trusty beaded bag close. Hexes and jinxes ran through her mind as she slowly made her way through the kitchen and toward the sitting room, her senses alert.

"SURPRISE!" Several people jumped out of hiding places and shouted in unison, causing Hermione to shriek and run back to the kitchen her face beet red. Everyone erupted into laughter, causing her face to only go more red, she quietly berated herself for getting so scared of a surprise party. The war was over after all, nothing left to be afraid of. She made her way back to the sitting room, a smile on her lips and shaking her head.

"Guys, you didn't have to do this," she said as she was passed from person to person, each embracing her tightly. She came to Molly Weasley last and the matriarch hugged her hard before releasing her and smiling.

"Nonsense Hermione! We wanted to do this as you'll be away for a year! Now where is Ronald Dear?" she asked the younger witch with her hands on her hips. Ginny, Harry and herself stiffened being the only three that knew of the youngest Weasley male's latest screw up.

"Actually, Molly.." Hermione began but was cut short as Ginny's famous Weasley temper flared up, her face flushed.

"That good for nothing git of a brother cheated on her with that bloody bint Lavender, AGAIN!" The red headed girl raged and the house went into uproar. Molly was so upset she couldn't even speak, much less scold her daughter for her offensive and unlady like language. The twins started discussing ways of getting back at him and Charlie came over and wrapped his arms around Hermione and pulled her close to whisper in her ear.

"I could always feed him to Norberta if you want?" Hermione laughed and shook her head with a roll of her eyes. She adored this family, they were her only family now and she was thankful she could still be apart of it even without being with Ronald. She honestly wouldn't know what to do without them

"C'mon. This is my last night with you lot for a year! Let's just have fun!" Her chocolate gaze was dancing with amusement as everyone sat around the table to eat dinner. The rest of the evening passed by easily, filled with laughs, games of exploding snap, embarrassing stories, memories of those that had been lost in the war and promises to write and floo all the time. The evening started to wind down after a few hours had passed, Bill and Fleur were the first to leave as the pregnancy was making her tired, the next was Percy and his fiance Penelope, Molly and Arthur then turned in, leaving Fred, George, Harry, Ginny and Charlie.

"We're working on these journals that are kind of like that galleons you made for the DA, they convey messages and only the owner of the twin book can read the messages otherwise it looks like notes for whatever you wish," Fred said, his blue eyes lit up with excitement.

"Yeah! We're making eight for the first ones! One for me, Fred, Lee, you, you, you, and you, we were going to give the other one to Ron but"

"He's being a right git! So, we'll give it to Luna and Nev since they're together, ya know?"

"Oh, you can also make the messages go just between you and one other person or two other people depending on the name you write when you first open it for that day."

"You can also save or erase pages, depending on whether you think it's important or not."

"They aren't done yet but they will be soon so, we will have you owl you one when they're done 'Mione." The twins volleyed back and forth, while the three others listened and nodded.

"That's brilliant boys! That's not easy magic! I'm impressed! If you need any help, let me know, all right?" The twins nodded and hugged everyone saying good night before flooing out of the house, then Charlie bid them good night and left. Harry went up to his room, and Ginny and Hermione went to Ginny's room, both half asleep by the time they made it upstairs. Hermione climbed in bed and smiled. This next year would be good, yes, she'd miss her friends but it's not like she wouldn't be able to talk to them or see them every now and then, and with that she drifted off to sleep.