This is an unfinished series of shorts which was intended as a backstory for another thing I was kind of thinking about writing a while ago. It is NOT compliant with the epilogue to Harry Potter, and though it does follow along with BBC's Sherlock Series 1-3, much of it takes place before that series begins.

This is a crossover with Sherlock which takes its starting point in 2002 in an AU wherein Hermione spends… about three times as long as she should have in her third year. The temptation to catch up on all the background wizarding culture she never knew (and occasionally get a good night's sleep) was just too much. This has a cascade-effect on her life, though not too much on the general timeline, because Dumbledore never did understand the balance between controlling the flow of information and the advantages of informed allies. Hermione spent a lot of time with the Weasley Twins (who of course recognized all the signs of Time Turner abuse – Percy did manage twelve OWLs and Prefect duties, after all).

By the summer of 1994, Hermione (and to a lesser extent, the twins) was (were) significantly OOC. She had a bit more perspective, less respect for the rules (and those who can't see that yes it is sometimes necessary to break the rules in order to (attempt to) fix something larger, like a basilisk on the loose, or saving mythical alchemical artifacts from possessed defense instructors), and the twins have managed to interest her in their favorite subject: human nature. She, in turn, graced them with several very long lectures on responsibility and duty, and convinced them to turn their talents toward more serious endeavors (like altering and duplicating the Marauders' Map), rather than pranks which sadly often cross the line into bullying helpless younger students (and slightly less helpless older ones as well). She came to see Harry and Ron as (varyingly irritating) younger brothers, and developed a casual pseudo-relationship with the twins, which lasted until they dropped out halfway through her fifth year. She never truly forgave them for leaving her alone with the idiots and that toad, and still brings it up on occasion when they're having a fight.

Nonetheless, the Main Plot proceeded apace. An extra year's worth of reading and spell-practice (more or less), and eighteen months' added maturity is only a slight edge, in the long run, and all the major events still happen as ever they would have. In the spring of 1996, Sirius died. In the spring of 1997, Dumbledore died. In the fall of 1997, Hermione and Ron accompanied Harry on his hunt for horcruxes. Hermione spent a significant amount of time in 1997 cursing Dumbledore's name for never telling them everything. In 1998, the Battle of Hogwarts happens, Voldemort was finally destroyed, Snape, Remus, and Tonks died, and Ron died, instead of Fred, in the final battle. Harry ended up with Ginny, but he blames himself for not saving everyone, including Ron.

Hermione, who made the choice, in the heat of battle, to save Fred from a collapsing wall, just as Ron was struck down, blames herself even more. She couldn't bring herself to leave her education unfinished, so she took her NEWTs independently (she honestly could have left with the twins and still gotten all O's, even in fifth-year, but she couldn't leave Harry and Ron to fend for themselves against Umbridge.) and published several spells she invented in her sixth year and a breakthrough in privacy wards she invented while on the run as the Thesis for an Arithmancy Mastery over the summer of 1998.

She turns down every Ministry post offered (and a teaching position), eventually taking a job as an editor for Pressgap, a major textbook publishing company. After four years, when the publicity of being one of the remaining two members of the Golden Trio begins to die down, after Harry is well-settled into being a moody, brooding, co-dependent auror (instead of a moody, brooding, co-dependent teenager), and he and Ginny are (mostly) happily married, and most of the Death Eaters are finally captured (or assassinated, and if she had anything to do with any of that, she'll never say) she finally breaks down and admits that she's not happy living in Magical Britain. The only person she really wants to keep in touch with is Harry, and even then, most of their shared memories are very painful, making interactions between them infrequent at best.

Standard fanfic disclaimer: I have not made and will not make any money as a result of this story.