Hey guys!

Yay! Bluer than Blue is back :))) I've had a hard time doing the editing since I have a lot of schoolwork, but I managed. Yay. I hope this is TONS better than the first. There were several plot problems and grammar errors that made me cringe a bit and I had to edit everything.

Also, I should warn you that the first few chapters are a bit AU, since I have to introduce a new character rather than just suddenly making him pop out without any relevant point.

Warning: This fic mentions situations and events that happened in the first two of the trilogy. So I recommend that you read Jaded Emerald and Rustic Amber first in order to understand the situation.

Without further ado, Please Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Everything except the plot belongs to JK Rowling. No money was made from the production of this fanfiction.

Bluer Than Blue

a Harry-Hermione Fanfiction by mspolapotter

Part 3 of the Jaded Emerald Trilogy

Chapter 1: Touchdown

Hermione arose from her sleep to hear the stewardess's announcement that they were touching down on New York. She looked outside her window and saw the towering skyscrapers. Everything looked modern, even from a bird's eye view. Everything looked new. Everything looked so foreign…and yet so familiar. She thought fleetingly about her luggage, where she had buried her wand, and thinking whether she should have put it in her hand. She shook her head, determined to forget her second life.

The plane touched down on the tarmac and when she left the airplane, she breathed the air, which smelled faintly of the smoke from the cars on the streets ahead. She introduced the new air to her lungs who clearly protested by tickling her throat. Hermione gave a small cough to clear it.

As she walked through the bustling airport, she realized how familiar everything was: the businessman with his Blackberry almost permanently attached to their ear; the tourist, looking desperately for someone with the same features as him, eager to ask if he could guide him; the annoyed artist, with his earbuds in place, head lightly banging to the beat of his own drum; and the celebrity, being flocked by paparazzi and notorious tabloid reporters, clearly demanding to update them this very second. Yes, all this was very familiar, even as she waited for her luggage at the carousel she felt no different. She'd been no stranger to travelling, as she and her parents almost always traveled to France. She pulled out her luggage from the carousel (two suitcases and a duffel) and wondered how Crookshanks was doing. As tempting as it was to have someone be with her in this new journey, she was afraid of his magic mixing with her own and risking exposure. All the thoughts of never using magic again flitted through her mind one by one, but a certain thought linked to everything didn't budge.

Harry.

Even though this new life was all because she wanted to forget about him, she simply couldn't. She chastised herself; it wasn't easy to forget someone when you saw him only a few days ago, with an unspoken promise of always being available when he needed her.

In a daze, she walked to the taxi bay and waited. In about half an hour she was able to finally reach the end of the line. She was about to tell the driver where to take her when suddenly, a man about her age, dressed in a hoodie and jeans walked up and basically stole the taxi.

"Excuse me?" she called to the man, who was already inside. "That's my taxi.

"Doesn't have your name on it," he said sarcastically, looking around the passenger seat in mock search for her name."

"I got here first, you bloody arse!"

"Yep, I think I'm going to pretend that I understood that," the guy replied. "Look, Miss, I know you're new here and all, but you can't expect everyone to give you special treatment just because you're the new kid. Thousands of people go through this airport everyday, so how different can you be? So, if you think you're going to be treated like a perfect lady here in New York, well you're in for a rude awakening."

The guy raised the tinted window with a mock salute, smirking at Hermione. She was stunned. She then realized that what he said could be true. He'd lived the fairy tale part of her life. Was it time for reality?

"The nerve!" she screamed, stomping her foot down indignantly. Luckily, another taxi stopped in front of her.

"Where to, miss?" he asked with a smile. Hermione instantly felt some of her anger ebb away. She gave the address to the driver and loaded her luggage in the trunk. "We'll be there in a jiff," the driver said as Hermione climbed in the backseat.

While the driver was winding through the traffic, her phone beeped.

"Hello?"

"Got there okay?" Ginny asked from the other line. "No problem at the immigration?"

"I'm good," Hermione replied. "It's really lovely over here. If not for the bloke that stole my taxi, everything would have been perfect."

"Come on, it's not like there's a taxi shortage in New York, is it?" Ginny scoffed. "Some people are just arses, Hermione."

"Yes, but it was still awfully rude of him though."

"Mione," Ginny said reproachfully. "You're in the Muggle world now. In New York, no less. No one knows you, or what you've accomplished, so you can't expect them to treat you the way you're treated here. New York's more artsy and business-y that London. London still has that sort of regal touch to it."

"You know what's funny? It's foreign and yet familiar."

"You chose that anyway," Ginny said. "Listen, I have to go. Ron doesn't exactly know that you're talking to me, so if he finds out he might hex me into next week."

"Okay then," she breathed.

"I love you, dear," Ginny said.

"You too." She pressed the end button and sighed again.

"British eh?" the taxi driver asked. "Can't help but overhear your conversation about that guy stealing your taxi. It happens a lot in New York, so I say you better be careful. Learn to be aggressive. Here for school?"

"Yes, NYU," Hermione replied.

"The dormitory you found was a good one," he replied. "Hard to get empty studios there. The place is relatively close to campus and it ain't as dingy as the ones near the pubs."

"Thanks," Hermione said with a smile.

"Are you from London?" the driver asked. "I have a niece who lives there. Her accent sounds just like yours."

"Yes," she replied. "I used to go to boarding school in Scotland, though."

"There are some great schools in the UK," the driver said. "Oxford…Cambridge…Watcha doing in dingy ol' USA?"

"Oh, it was a dream of mine," she lied easily.

"Ah," the driver replied. He stopped the cab. "We're here. I'll help you load your things."

Well, I guess not all New Yorkers are bad after all, she thought.

The driver unloaded her suitcases and even wanted to carry it up her room.

"You sure you don't need help loading this in the elevator?"

"I'll be fine thanks," she replied with a smile. She then paid the man and gave him a very generous tip. He tipped his hat and stepped inside the cab.

"By the way, Miss, welcome to New York," he said before driving away singing "I wanna be a part of it, New York, New Yoooork!"

Hermione just chuckled and looked around.

"Welcome home, Mines," she said to herself. She flung her travel bag over her shoulder and started lifting her suitcase up the steps.

After lugging her things upstairs, she went to the landlady to pay her downpayment and get her keys. She looked around her furnished third-floor apartment. It smelled good, like someone moved out of it only the previous week. She looked around to see if everything was just as it should be and then begun to make her apartment look like home.

She started with wiping away dust, sweeping dust bunnies and searching for cobwebs. Then she cleaned the kitchen sink, the countertops, then the shower and the toilet. When everything was in order, she began putting on her favorite lavender colored (and scented) curtains on every window. She wiped the couch clean and sprayed disinfectant under the sink, on the mattress, on the cushions and in the closet. She opened the fridge and then started cleaning it as well to get rid of the musty smell. She turned it on and put a magnetized blackboard on the fridge's door. She dragged the furniture and arranged it to her liking. She set up her study area near a window, far from the temptation of the bed. She filled up the bookcase and pushed it near her study area. She arranged her school supplies on the desk and put up a corkboard. She arranged her clothes inside the closet which was built in next to the Murphy bed. Finally, she put on lavender colored and scented bedsheets on the mattress of her Murphy bed. She tacked Gryffindor and Hogwarts banners on the inside wall and even risked tacking a moving photo of the DA and the Golden Trio. When she was satisfied, she went out to exchange her currency in order to buy groceries.

It was already nighttime when she got back home and she couldn't wait to plop down on her bed and sleep. Her body clock was barely adjusted and she needed rest. Just as she was unwrapping a Chocolate Frog from her secret stash, someone knocked on her door. She opened it a crack and a blonde girl around her age smile back at her.

"Hello," she said. "Hermione right? Hermione Granger? The girl from London?"

"Um, yes?"

"I'm Joanna Anderson," the girl said, offering her hand. "I used to live here."

"Oh," Hermione replied, opening the door wider in order to shake her hand. "Pleasure to meet you. Do come in, I hope I did okay with your flat."

"Um, flat?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Hermione apologized sheepishly. "I meant apartment."

"Oh," Joanna said, looking around. "Wow, you did amazing! Looks better than when I lived here! Hey, I'm starving and I sorta really wanna hang out with you. Let's go out to dinner. My treat. "

"Um, you go on ahead, I don't think—"

"Come on, I'm not taking no for an answer," she replied. Grabbing her wrist and smiling. "Please?"

Hermione looked at the hand holding her wrist and marveled at how easily this girl accepted her. She smiled and grabbed her keys.

"Okay, if you insist."

"Great!"

In her opinion, New York was amazing. At night, it simply came alive. Joanna knew just what places to take her to. They first ate out at a nearby Pizzeria and then started to wander off Times Square. Hermione looked at the bright lights, fascinated. She'd seen London at night, but New York made her feel like the morning was extended and the sun was too tired to keep up.

Before going home, they entered a coffee shop called Starbucks.

"What'll you have?" Joanna asked.

Hermione was bewildered. "Tea?"

Joanna smiled. "You're cute," she said with a laugh. Then she turned to the barista at the counter. "Two grande Caramel Macchiatos please. Extra skim and an espresso shot each."

Hermione found herself enjoying whatever Joanna told her to do. Eventually, they became close friends. Joanna would come over to her old apartment to share things with Hermione about the New York way. She became her sort-of personal tour guide and campus guide. They were in the same year, except Joanna knows so much about NYU because it was her second time to shift courses.

She finished registration and Joanna was nowhere to be found. She decided to just stay put and wait for her. If she didn't come in five minutes, she would call her on her mobile.

She thought it would be difficult to get her Hogwarts transcript and diploma to pass through, but it had been easy peasy. Maybe Muggles saw something different when they looked at it? Absentmindedly, she began arranging her papers. She collided with someone and everything fell to the floor.

"Oh no" she sighed, bending down and hoping no one would see what was actually written on the Hogwarts papers. She silently Crucio'd whomever bumped into her for running away. But apparently, whoever it was didn't. A second figure bent down and helped.

"Sorry, miss, let me get that," a male voice said. Hermione was so busy getting her papers away from anyone else's sight that she didn't notice who the man was until he handed her the papers. Bot their mouths fell open in shock.

"You!"

There! I hope you guys liked it!

Please do post your reviews. They are a big factor for the story's improvement.

For Filipino readers, I have a non-fanfiction story with around the same plot as this on Wattpad which is under the same penname I have here. I'm also now on Portkey and Dramione . Org

Yay! thank you :3