Hermione was at wits end as she sat in the living room of her small home. How had the wizarding world not have pre-Hogwarts childcare available? Surely there were parents who couldn't stay home and teach their children and needed someone to watch their children? But there was none no matter how much she looked. There was no option of letting little Ryalta stay with friends. After the war was won by the side of the light Harry had left England, Ron hated everything about Hermione after she realized a month later that they were not relationship material. Everyone else was going about busy lives and above all her parents had been found and killed by death eaters. She and Ryalta were well and truly alone.

She watched as her little three year old played with blocks that floated in front of her haphazardly. She enjoyed the laughter of her daughter. Ryalta had come unexpectedly after a drunken night out and a one-night stand. She did not know the wizard who impregnated her. No matter how much Hermione tried she couldn't even recall the color of the wizard's hair. But Ryalta was a pleasant surprise and Hermione decided to keep her. At the time it was a feasible thing to do. She had a job and still had a considerable amount of money in the bank from her reward after war and from her parent's inheritance. But a child was expensive and living without a job after being let go once her employer found out about the fact that she was pregnant and unmarried was also taking a toll.

Hermione heard a click at the window. It was the Daily Prophet being delivered by owl as usual. Quickly she took the paper and placed a galleon in the purse attached to its ankle. The news was boring so she passed through that and went to the classifieds. A lot of the ads were the same from the day before. But one caught her attention. It was an ad for a lab assistant position. This she could do, she did have her mastery in potions and arithmacy after all. She found the address and followed the instructions. Quickly Hermione wrote up a detailed resume of herself. She then coaxed Ryalta away from her toys and they left the house for the day as Hermione went to send her resume by owl post. They stayed out a while to enjoy the summer sun only to return home suddenly when a freak rain storm appeared.