Story: And She Ran

Chapter one: To Flight

Disclaimer: I wish.

With the war over there was only one plausible reaction from Hermione Granger: run away. She had bravely and unflinchingly fought against the forces of evil. Hermione had fought against them being acutely aware that she was the symbol of everything they were trying to rid the world of. She faced these events head on. Never once did she waver or run. Even under the influence and taint of evil she stayed for the fight. An action that her fellow sidekick had failed at. Because Ron Weasley, a Gryffindor born and bred had fled in the mists of war. He who had been an absolute Gryffindor had lost his bravery. She, who had always secretly wondered about her placement in the house of Gryffindor, had outdone him in the bravery department. Sometimes she believed that this was slightly funny because she was never meant to be in Gryffindor. Well, no. That was a lie. She did belong in the house of lions but she had been made to choose between three houses and Hermione was no Hufflepuff. But, this rant is getting a bit too much off the initial point. With the end of the war Hermione acted on a plan she had developed in her fourth year.

When Hermione had been helping Harry prepare for the Triwizard Tournament she learned something about herself that was very interesting. She loves dragons. Now, Hermione is smart and she loves a great many things but the fact that she developed a deep and true love for these creatures knowing that her best friend was about to face them seemed odd. Why would she like the creature that might soon kill her best friend? Had this - well lets call it what it is, an obsession. Had this obsession developed at any other time it would not be peculiar. But, this didn't matter at the time. Keeping Harry alive mattered and the whole issue was pushed out of her mind.

Later that same year when Hermione processed the fact that Lord Voldemort was back, she realized quite a few things were going to change. Her love of dragons seemed unimportant and she started to prepare for a war that no one seemed to acknowledge was coming. A great few things changed about her habits following this acknowledgement. For one, the types of magic she was learning about and perfecting "just for fun" changed into the type of magic she would need to know. The odd ball spells that she thrived on knowing but might never use turned into healing spells. The transfiguration wand movements that she wouldn't need to know unless she pursued an apprenticeship morphed into wand movements for the strongest protection shields. Her memorizations of the properties of various potion ingredients that were now obsolete became the memorization plants native to different countries that would be useful if stranded in the area. Her time spent reading muggle books that her parents would send her turned into her physically preparing herself, although she sometimes did both. Hermione's workout grew in intensity as time went by but she did everything she could think of. She ran, lifted weights, push ups, sit ups, took defense classes such as kickboxing and at school the room of requirements became her best friend. Or rather, the access to a treadmill was her best friend as she was able to read and run at the same time - fabulous invention.

Hermione went into the fight as prepared as she could be. She went in brave, ready to give up her life if need be to get rid of Voldemort and his minions. She went in smart, prepared enough to protect herself and others and to handle the situation without getting herself killed. And she went in deviously. The Death Eaters would never expect some of the things she had up her sleeves which made her an asset to her side and also increased her chances of making it out alive. While Hermione was wiling to die, she certainly did not want to.

Then the war ended and she was alive. She mourned for those who did lose their lives but she was proud and happy for the lives she was able to protect. However, with the war literally over, she was able to look at what she had done for what she had wanted it to be and not for what it had been. For years Hermione prepared herself for war because she needed to. But the same things she was learning could be applied to what she wanted to do and now she was free to do just that.

She wanted to work with dragons. She wanted to be next to the magnificent creatures and bask in their pure, unbiased power. She wanted to be herself and apply and savor her magic. The same defensive shields she had learned to block dangerous curses and hexes were the same used by dragon tamers. Hermione had always known this but she refused to allow herself to hope that she might be around long enough to use the spells in such a way. The spells for healing could be used if she got injured while handling the dragons or if the other workers got hurt. Knowing the plant life in the areas of the reserves could also come in handy. Dragons were resilient beasts and were barely affected by the enchantments of the wand. For care and health only the oldest and most basic of magic would work and all of that brand magic is based of the land herself. But most importantly she was in very good physical shape. To be a dragon keeper one had to be intelligent and physically capable. A combination which was a rarity in a society that has only one sport, based on riding a broom.

Now that the war was over, she had the freedom to dream on the possibility of putting all of her hard work to use where she wanted to. She could claim her new freedom and pursue the widely broadcasted claim that Hermione Granger could have any job she wanted.

She wanted to run the minute that she was released from the hospital wing and she would have if the guilt hadn't been so heavy. But there were so many funerals of people she loved and cared about. People who had been there at her own parents' funeral. And there were all of the press conferences, dinners, speeches and events that people never asked but assumed she would be at. She almost stayed if just for that but then she talked to George, the brother that had lost a twin.

They talked in the early hours of the morning when the sun was just making its way above the tree line. They sat on the porch swing that Bill had put up as one of his last projects living under the Burrow's roof. The conversation hadn't really started with a topic and they floated between many unimportant topics that they craved. The pair hung on to each other, pretending that the last few years of their lives hadn't come with so much destruction. Hermione talked about how her NEWT scores came in, even though she only took them two days ago. She told him her results, the top in centuries but she didn't broach the fact that the results had only come in so fast because she was one third of the golden trio and a new celebrity. The celebrity status that she only became aware of the previous night at a social gathering of the Ministry's making, was something she would much rather do with out. George pretended not to notice the oddity either and congratulated her. The Weasley brother then continued to talk about the new line that was coming out later in the week for the store. Neither spoke of the fact that Fred had helped create the line but wouldn't be around for the release.

George and Hermione continued to talk until finally they broached a real topic: Did Hermione know what she planned to do? While this might seem like an unimportant topic to anyone else, and therefore should have been incorporated with the previous topics, the pair knew better. For all of his goofiness George Weasley was actually a really smart bloke; Fred had been too. Therefore, it had never escaped their notice that Hermione had never once talked about what she wanted to do with her life with any sort of conviction. Sure, she talked about working on S.P.E.W but even in school that was a side project. Did people actually expect her to make a career out of it? She answered his question with honesty. She told him about the dreams that she had not revealed to anyone and she told him about how when she had first gotten released she even packed her bags. He told her to go, and she left that night.

Her first thought was where she had wanted to go, because during the time she spent on that treadmill she had read up on the different reserves. She had narrowed it down to either the reserve in Morocco or the one in Romania. The decision was rather simple seeing as her late Grandfather's property in Romania was hers to stay in when she settled or as she saw fit. She traveled the muggle way, hoping to get lost in the normalcy and to not be recognized as Hermione Granger. She was decently plain and getting lost in a crowd was something that she had perfected over the years.

Hermione had reached her Grandfather's estate in the middle of the night, but after spending the last year abroad in less than favorable conditions, the slightly unkempt property was nothing that would bother Hermione. The opposite really. This place was paradise. This place was freedom. Hermione spent a few days cleaning up the property and making a few acquaintances in the marketplace she remembered from her childhood. Some of the older members of the community remembered her a bit or were just familiar with her Grandfather before his death and nicely tried to make her feel welcome. She really did feel welcome and she was happy for the first time in a while. What was better was that even though the community was mixed and included both muggle and magical people, being so far from England and not being Harry Potter himself, she was just normal Hermione Granger again.

Finally, after time she hadn't thought she needed, time which only amounted to a few days, Hermione set off to the reserve. She had talked to a lot of the people in the market about the reserve and while it was very connected to the market, there were a lot of precaution in place for the safety of the people and the dragons. One of these precautions stopped her from being able to floo in unannounced. Therefore she found herself happily setting off to the reserve on a well appreciated half day hike. With a stroke of luck, the first person she found in the seemingly deserted camps was the head keeper and with a fleeting thought to her flight from England, Hermione realized that this was the start to the rest of her life.

A/N: So that was that. I haven't decided if this should be a two part story or if I should continue it into a full length story. Let me know what you think.

On to the fun stuff, this story is dedicated as a Birthday present to the fabulous RavenclawGenius. She is wonderful and was even willing to edit her own present! Which is saying something because my spelling and grammar has taken I dive for the worse recently. Also, when I have your attention my dear readers I would like to take the time to tell you all that you really need to go take a look at her stories. Especially Gone For To Long. It is a great story like none other that I have ever read and the review count does it no justice.

So be the wonderful people that you are and tell me how long you want me to make this story. Take a minute to wish RavenclawGenius a happy birthday and then do something nice for yourself and go take the time to read her fan fictions!

Much Love.