Chapter 1

We got along, until you did that. Now all I want is just my stuff back. Do you get that? Let me repeat that, I want my stuff back.

Hermione Granger was many things, but a fool was not one of them. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, wondering how things had come to this? Whiskey colored eyes stared back from a heart-shaped face, a spattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. Her brown hair streaked with blonde highlights fell in loose waves past her shoulders. Scars were visible where her bath towel refused to hide them, the most prominent being the scar across her neck where Bellatrix had held her at knife point. Her skin was pale, in desperate need of sunlight. Her nose and eyes were red from the crying she had allowed, but her lips were set in a determined lined. She refused to cry for him anymore.

She turned from the small, sparsely decorated bathroom and entered the bedroom of her flat. Everywhere was reminders of their life together. His clothes, as usual, were scattered across the floor. He could never be bothered to even use a simple cleaning charm. The bed was mussed by her fitful sleep the previous night. Flicking her wand she conjured a box, collecting all of his things in it. She had no room for him in her life anymore, not after….

She breathed in, continuing to the living room and the kitchen. She had been here two months, and in that time he had managed to leave his mark everywhere. The kitchen held nothing save a couple of photos of them adhered to the refrigerator. She added those to his box, and finished filling his box with the blanket his mother had made that was laid across the sofa. Having satisfactorily packed anything that belonged to him, she sealed the box and set it beside the door outside of her flat.

She knew the media would go into a frenzy once the news broke. Everyone expected that they would be the couple that made it, two of the Golden Trio, meant to be together forever. They made it, alright, two months past the Battle of Hogwarts. Before she modified her parents' memories, they had told her that Ron was not someone she should settle for. They pleaded with her to inspect her feelings, and see if it was love or complacency. Her parents were certain that their temperaments would never mesh, and that Ron would not be satisfied with her ambition to be a woman in the workforce.

Hermione wished she had listened to her parents. She wished that her parents were here to say, "I told you so." Fate was cruel. She had sent them to Australia to protect them from certain death at the hands of the Death Eaters, but they had died in a car accident three months after arriving in Australia. It seemed that in England or Australia, their days were numbered. At least she could be comforted by the fact that they hadn't been tortured. She still grieved that they died not knowing they had a daughter. It was a guilt she had to live with, something she felt she would never find absolution for.

Staring at the ceiling of her apartment from her sofa, Hermione contemplated her next move. Currently, she was working for the Department of Regulation for Magical Creatures. She had sat for her NEWTs the previous month at the ministry, and had been employed since the results had been released. Unlike Ron, she refused to live off of the reward she had been given for her role in the defeat of Voldemort. She could have done it. It was an obscene amount of money, part of the reparations demanded from the Purebloods that had gone to trial for their Death Eater affiliations. Most Pureblood estates had been seized by the Ministry if there was no direct heir and liquidated to pay for damages. Hermione was set for the rest of her life, she never had to work, but she had a passion for helping the downtrodden.

That passion flickered and wavered after yesterday's events. She had no idea whether she even wanted to stay in England now. She felt that the magical world had nothing left for her. She had her friends, but how could she make them choose between her and Ron? The Weasleys may be her second family, but they were Ron's family first. Harry, her brother in everything but blood, was Ron's best friend. She couldn't ask him to spurn Ron in light of her feelings. Thinking things through, Hermione made a rash decision. She was going to leave the Wizarding World. She would move away from England, and make a new life for herself. She could go to muggle high school and pursue a degree from a University like her parents had always dreamed. Magic would always be a part of her, but her bones and soul were weary. She was tired of fighting the prejudice.

Decision made, Hermione flicked her wand and transfigured random everyday items into more boxes. She packed her life in the small apartment away into the boxes and sealed them with magic. One last glance showed the flat had been cleared, and she sat down to compose a letter to Harry.

Dear Harry,

By the time you are reading this, I will be gone. Please know that this decision was not made lightly, and that you are and always will be the brother of my heart. I could not make you or the Weasleys choose between Ron and me, it is not in my nature to be that selfish. I could not face being in the same room as him anymore, either. I know that everyone would want us to talk and try to fix things, but there is nothing that can fix this, Harry. Ron has never been faithful to me in the two months that we were together. I understand that he was grieving his brother, and we all grieve in different ways. I have been grieving my parents, but this grief is no excuse for the hurt he has inflicted on me. I love you all, and when I have found where I am going, I will contact you. This is not good-bye, but more of a see you soon. I will see you again, Harry. I wish all of you happiness, love, and healing. Please do not try to find me.

Love, Hermione

Sealing the letter, Hermione placed it in her pocket to send it once she had all her affairs in order. She apparated to the Leaky Cauldron and had all the money in her Gringotts vault transferred to Muggle currency. Her next stop was her parents' solicitor. She arranged to have their house and business sold, and all proceeds would be deposited into her bank account when the sales closed. When that was completed, she made arrangements for travel the Muggle way. Her passport was updated and she purchased a plane ticket at random to the first available flight out of London. She sent her resignation letter, along with Harry's letter to Kingsley Shacklebolt. She boarded the flight, not knowing what was next. She only knew her next destination was Seattle, Washington.