A.N Now I have to admit I had an idea... and I wanted to know what you thought of it. This is the first chapter of my new story... If I decide to write it. I have two questions for you.

1) Is it worth continuing?

2) Who should be paired with Hermione for this story, Fred Weasley, Charlie Weasley or Dean Thomas?

Hermione Granger's Unexpected Life After school

Chapter one

A huff of exertion left her mouth and was lost amongst the song of the wild that surrounded her at every point. Birds chirped, sheep barred, cows mooed, horses whinnied and every animal in range had something to trump the others before them. Hermione rose slightly from her hunched position, using the back of her hand to push her sweat laced hair from her eyes, unknowingly streaking her forehead with mud. The merciless sun beat down on her reddened shoulders, revealed by a sweat-soaked tank top. And everywhere there was mud, it was in her boots, on her hands, splattered over her legs and shirt and she had to wonder, how had her life ended up here?

Brightest which of her age, they had said, she was going to go place's, they reckoned. Well she had been places all right, she had gone all around the globe, managed to see almost fifty different countries in the two years she had been out of school. Yea she had gone places alright, but she hadn't stayed, and she doubted this was what people had meant when they had said all those things. What would the Wizarding world think if they could see their War Heroin now? Up to her knee's in mud and toiling alongside a group of hardened labourers. What would everyone think of the Gryffindor princess now?

"You alright Mi?" Asked a gruff voice on her left, a leathery hand coming to rest on her sunburned shoulder.

"Never better." Hermione grinned back at her co-worker, eyes shining like new honey in the bright sun of New Zealand.

'Never better, indeed.' She thought to herself as she dug once more into the muddy ground with her shovel, throwing it into her already heaped wheelbarrow. She had planned a very different life when she had started at Hogwarts. She was going to get a job in the Ministry, rise through the ranks and do her bit to help make the Wizarding world a better place. But that had all changed when she was offered a job in The Beast division of The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical creatures. Not as a paper pusher, as she had first assumed, but as an active worker, who travelled the world helping care for magical creatures in need. She had been wary at first, signing on her a six month trial, more to get herself away from everything that had happened after that war and her last year of Hogwarts. She hadn't expected to find she loved the work more than anything she could have ever imagined.

So that was why she was now here, digging out an enclosure for a newly discovered magical creature which prowled the hill side of a tiny country at the bottom of the world. Never in her life had she expected to come to New Zealand, after all, it had had nothing to offer the book loving, essay writing Hermione Granger. But this new and improved Hermione "Mi" Granger, well she kinda liked it.

"Mi!" Your shift is up!" The voice, pitched to carry over great distances, met her ears as a bellow.

A hand reached forward to take the shovel from her callous laden hands and she grinned at the man that that was taking her place in the line. Breathing a faint sigh of relief Hermione trudged through the mud to the side of the pit she worked in. Hauling her boots from the mud with loud squelching sounds she started to climb that ladder making her way to the top. She was met with an outstretched hand and she clasped it gratefully. Strong arms lifted her onto the firm ground and she grinned up at her helper, hand raised to bloke the sun that pierced her eyes. Dark brown eyes met her own honey orbs and a smile rose on chapped lips to match hers.

"Dallas." Hermione acknowledged, dropping his hand and shoving her messy hair from her eyes.

"Well, well." Dallas grunted roughly. "Looks like we get to have our break together today, Princess."

Hermione laughed at the man, whom was her closest confident and friend at the camp she was currently living at. She had been working with Dallas since day one and he had taken her under his wing within her first few steps. He had shown her the ropes of the job and taught her handy spells and charms to help make things easier. He had even shown her how to lift heavy things and bend in the right ways so she wouldn't strain her back. He was the strong, affectionate father figure she had lost during the war and she was the smart eager child her had always wanted.

"Seems so." She answered easily, making her way toward the rows of tents that held all their essentials. "Come on, let's get cleaned up so we can eat."

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Food. Hermione had never appreciated just how amazing food really was until she was on the run with Harry and Ron. Food was precious, food was to be savoured, food was life. And right at that moment Hermione was taking care to savour every moment of her proclaimed, precious, life giving substance. Who knew Baked Beans and bacon on toast could taste so wonderful? Before she had come to New Zealand Hermione certainly hadn't, but it was currently on her list top ten best meals.

"Hey Mi."

Hermione glanced up to wave her fork in greeting as another person joined the table that already held her and Dallas. The new comer was one of the five females currently at camp, a tall, muscular woman by the name of Rose. She was also one of the two females Hermione actually talked to. She was followed, as always, by a thin, balding man called Noah. Rose's sweetheart, he was a man who should be sitting in a room writing poetry rather than slogging through mud to build a home for the newly named Pandu, a gentler cousin to Europe's Nundu.

Conversation flowed around her and before she knew it she was whisked away from the table and back to the work site. The next five hours consisted of back breaking work that made Hermione feel more alive than she ever had during her last year at Hogwarts. She shovelled dirt, pushed wheel barrows, mixed concrete and helped lay basic foundations for the habitat that would soon house New Zealand's Magical Wildlife Reserves newest members.

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Hermione stumbled tiredly into her tent later that night, smiling slightly at the comfort her little home gave her. The tent, thought small from the outside, held three rooms, a bedroom, a kitchen and a lounge/dining area where she spent most of her time. It was warm, cosy and best of all it was hers. No matter which country she went to, what people she worked with, she was able to bring her little home with her. She loved magic.

A quick charm rid her boots of the worst of the mud and she kicked them off to land near the flap of the tent. Her mud stained socks were thrown into the laundry basket nearby and her sweet soaked shorts and t-shirt followed. Clad only in her underwear she made her way to the bedroom and grabbed a black silk dressing gown from the wardrobe. She wrapped it securely around her body before gathering her bath bag and leaving her tent, heading towards the shower tents. She waved to a few people that called greeting and giggled with slight embarrassment when a group of younger works made catcalls at her appearance.

"Mongrels." Came a deep voice from her right and she turned to grin at her new companion.

"Not that you wouldn't do that." She scolded the muscle bound redhead.

"Well, I'm different." He denied easily, his husky voice making Hermione shiver slightly in the humid air.

"How so?" She teased, leading the way towards the shower tents as the red-head man fell into step. "You seem just the same as all the muscle bound men around here. All brawn and not much else."

"Well." The man chuckled, winking at her with those dark blue eyes. "I'm a Weasley. We are brawn, brain and beauty all rolled into one."

A contemplating look graced the handsome face of Charlie Weasley. "Well, except maybe Ron, he's not much of a looker and he isn't that smart. But the rest of us, well what more could you want."

Hermione shock her head as she made her way into one of the open tents. "Your arrogance never cesses to amaze me, Charlie."

"Oh come on, 'Mione." Charlie teased as he stepped into the shower tent next to hers. "Surely you've gotten use to my vanity by now, you have to admit, I'm a huge step up from Ron."

"Well." Hermione laughed. "You've got me there."

She slipped her robe and underwear off, placing them in a protective bubble so they wouldn't get wet and laid her wand on the shelf before turning on the water and stepping under the warm spray. As the water washed away the mud and sweat from the day's work, her mind turned inevitably to Ron, Charlie's younger brother and one of her best friends. It was hard to believe she hadn't seen him in two years now. They had once been inseparable, Her, Ron and Harry, she still saw Harry often, every time she visited home. But Ron was following his carrier as the Keeper for the Chuddly Cannons and was never around when she was. She often wondered if he was avoiding her, but she didn't think Ron was capable of holding a grudge for so long and his constant flow of letters, updating her on his life kept her happy.

"So Hermione." Charlie's voice broke into her revive and almost made her jump to cover herself before she remembered he couldn't see her through the tents. "We've only got three weeks to go before we finish this thing and then we're off home. Do you think you're ready for it?"

"I'm not sure." Hermione said with a sigh, scrubbing at her hair with shampoo. "It's been almost a year since my last break and I saw Harry and Ginny. I haven't seen Ron in two. It's going to be an interesting Christmas anyway."

"Oh." Charlie's surprise was almost tangible and was followed by a sheepish laugh. "I forgot it was almost Christmas, it's so confusing, it being summer here. Yet to think it's probably snowing back home. Still it will be good to see everyone. It will be the first proper break for me in almost 4 years."

Hermione hummed in agreement. "I don't even know why you joined this crazy crusade." She admitted. "I assumed you were perfectly happy with your dragons, I didn't expect you to actually accept when they offered the job to you."

"Well, there were a few reasons." Charlie's usually laid back voice took on a thoughtful quality. "One was that I wanted a challenge again. I mean don't get me wrong, Dragon's are always challenging and I love it when we work with them for this job too. But I wanted more of a mental challenge. I wanted.."

He trailed off and Hermione smiled, she understood exactly what he meant.

"You wanted the chance to learn again." She offered, rinsing her hair free of shampoo. "To try your hand at something different."

"Yea, exactly." Charlie agreed with a laugh. "Well something like that anyway. Another reason was mum worried about me a lot, she never wanted me to have such a dangerous job. I don't like causing her stress, not after everything."

"Fair enough." Hermione answered quickly, letting him know he didn't have to say a thing about Percy.

"The thing that really sealed the deal was Harry." He paused to consider his statement.

"Harry?" She questioned, lathering her body in soap and starting to scrub off all the mud with her luffa. "What did Harry do?"

"He asked me to watch over you." Charlie confessed quietly. "He was worried about you, so was I for that matter. You left in pretty bad shape.'

"Yea." Hermione sighed quietly, letting the water wash over her as she thought about the day she left. "That sounds like Harry. Well I hope you didn't do this for me Charlie. I was fine on my own."

"Oh I know that." He said easily. "Hell your Hermione Granger, there's nothing that can stop you from moving up and onwards. But it helped the others to know someone was there watching over you. If anything, I did it for their piece of mind."

Hermione laughed, shutting off the water and grabbing her towel. She made quick work of drying herself before tying herself back up in her robe and wrapping her hair in the towel. Next to her she heard Charlie's water shut off too and his door open. Gathering her things together she packed them away neatly, pondering on their coming return to England.

"Where are you staying when you get home?" She questioned Charlie. "At the barrow?"

Somehow she doubted it, the place was bound to be over crowded like usual. Hermione herself was contemplating a different offer for accommodation. She swung open the door, revealing Charlie leaning against a tree waiting for her. He was completely bear, save the towel slung around his waist and Hermione resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow at his scantily clad body.

"Na." Charlie answered easily. "That would be suicide. I'm going to kip with Fred and George for a while."

"You're kidding?" Hermione laughed. "They offered me a room too. I wasn't sure if they had ulterior motives or what."

"You're staying with the twins?" He questioned pushing himself off the tree to start walking towards their tents. "That's unexpected."

She laughed, falling into step with him. "Well I'm not sure I will, but now that you're staying there I might considerate. At least I know I'll have an alley in the house."

Hermione rolled her eyes at the whistles, cat calls and inappropriate comments that followed them through the camp. They had both gotten use to the crude humour that existed between labourers, Charlie had lived with it well at the Dragon reserve too. She was sure he also to part in the general jokes when she wasn't around, he was male after all.

"Well, even with four of us there it's going to be less crowded than the barrow." Charlie observed easily. "I'd defiantly take up the offer if I was you."

"I might just do that." She smiled as they came to her tent and she reached to open the flap. "I'll see you at dinner."

Charlie nodded easily, giving her a slight wave as he kept walking to his own tent. "See you soon."

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A few minutes later Hermione was sitting on her sofa, sipping at a cup of tea, dressed in cut off denim shorts and a small tank top and reading her mail. She got letter every week, from friend's family and people she had met on her travels. She had become a well practised pen pal and she loved getting updates on how thing at home were going. Unfortunately, over the last few weeks, she got the feeling that people had been keeping things from her. They were all sending overly happy letters about how they couldn't wait to see her and that everything was going well. She was starting to wonder just what had happened now that they thought they couldn't tell her.

Another letter from Fred and George once again mentioned their offer of a room to stay in and she found herself writing a quick reply to the two thank them for their offer and accepting it too. She felt a bit better about it now that she knew Charlie would be staying as well. The twins would be less likely to mess with her if their big brother was around. And who knows, maybe they had grown up a bit in the last two years, but she doubted it.

She spent the next half hour reading and replying to her letters before she finally had to get off the couch. Dinner would be almost ready and she should get to the feed tent before all the seats at the tables were taken. She slipped a light jacket over her shoulders, knowing it would get colder now that the sun was going down and pulled on a pair of light boots before grabbing her wand and exiting the tent.

A short stroll through the approaching dusk was all it took to reach the crowded tent and she sliped in quietly, scanning the rowdy workers for her group of friends. Charlie's bright red hair caught her eye from across the tent, just as he raised his hand to wave her over. She smiled and waved back before she wound her way through the tables and chairs until she reached his side. She slipped gratefully into the seat next to him, grinning at Dallas on her other side.

"Hey guys." She greeted, glancing around their table as food magically appeared on their plates.

"Hey Mi." The other's mumbled back, most already stuffing their faces with food.

Rose rolled her eyes and winked at Hermione from her across from her and a small, feisty looking woman, whose face and arms bore heavy scaring sighed in exasperation at the males lake of manners. Hermione just chuckled softly at her friends. This was how they always were, it was familiar, it was nice. She looked around her, eyes shining, this was her home, her family. She loved her life.

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And that's all for now. Please tell me what you think. I'm sorry about the lack of dialogue and interaction but it was more of a chapter to seat the story than to tell it.