Title: Hope & Happiness
Summary: Her mother had always told her that she was an inspiration to each person she met, a bright ray of happiness that lit up a person's day. AU, Crossover, HG/CC, T+.
Pairing: Hermione Granger / Carlisle Cullen
Rating: T+ (for hints of bullying and depression).
Word-count: 2,043 words.
Author: Ilska

Disclaimer: All ownership rights of anything within the Harry Potter or Twilight "fandom" are owed to J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer; however anything that is original and not part of the canon story lines of both authors are of my creation, other than that I own nothing but my words.

Her mother had always told her that she was an inspiration to each person she met, a bright ray of happiness that lit up a person's day. From the day she was born to the age of four years old she had been this shining light to everybody around her, but her beacon had been dampened from the moment she had stepped onto school grounds. She had been glaringly different from the children around her, and they had all noticed the very second she had started to speak in class. Each and every child she spoke to reacted in a cruel and insensitive manner; they would talk about her to their peers, about how weird she was, how odd her name was and how her hair looked like she had been struck by lightning.

At first she hadn't been affected by the whispered gossip of young children, to her it simply meant that they could not see through the differences enough to see the similarities. But eventually the whispered gossip turned into stealing her lunches, pushing her into the mud and pulling on her hair; yet, by this stage, she still was not bothered. She knew that they were too young, too juvenile, to understand that underneath her mane of hair and behind her advanced intellect that she too was a child, just like them. But, by the age of eight years old she had lost all but one sliver of hope she'd had in her peers. By now they had advanced from pushing her into the mud into kicking, biting, punching and slurs that were tossed at her carelessly.

Even on the days when she would come home crying a fountain of tears she would still remember her tiny slice of hope that was reserved for her future, a future that was sure to be bright and wonderful – a place where she might be a beacon of happiness to those around her once again.

But as the years passed and the bullying grew worse that slice of hope grew smaller and smaller, until the eve of her eleventh birthday she received most peculiar letter, delivered by an uncharacteriscally well behaved owl.

The letter was addressed to a 'Ms. Hermione Granger, The Bedroom at the Top of the Stairs, 8 Heathgate, Hampstead Garden Suburb, LONDON.' and the words contained within it, as odd as they seemed at the time, made the tiny sliver of hope flare and grow into a bright beacon of happiness and joy. From that day and the months that followed until the day of her departure she, Hermione Jean Granger, was not seen without a smile upon her face.

She had arrived at her new school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, with a smile on her face and trunk full of books. However the moment she stepped out of the small boat that had held her, and three other children, for the last half hour and onto the dock, the hope and excitement that had welled up inside her from the prospect of gaining new knowledge and new friends was immediately crushed as a young boy with pale blonde hair pushed her to the ground. He hadn't looked back to help her, so she knew almost immediately that what he had done was no mistake. It was then she realised that this magical world, full of secrets and knowledge that was just waiting to be found, was no different from the normal one – people here were just the same.

It became more evident to her as she grew, and she used her best friends as a prime example. Though they were now the people who were closest to her, they had at first shunned her like almost everyone else had; Ronald Weasley, a boy with bright red hair, had at first called her 'mental' simply because of her intelligence and Harry Potter, a boy with eyes as green as an emerald, had not said a word against him. Throughout their whole time of knowing each other she had never told them that she wouldn't ever forget the slight against her, in fact she was reminded of it daily. At first it was them asking for help with their homework, gently teasing and coaxing her until she agreed, and then it was outright asking to copy her homework, and when she refused to do that they would sulk and would not speak to her for indeterminable amounts of time. It reminded her sorely of the 'friends' she'd had in primary school, as they too had done the exact same thing.

However it hit her hard when they were on the Horcrux hunt, when she was the only one looking through the advanced texts and history books all night long, forgoing sleep, just to make sure her friends would live another day. She tried to reassure herself many times that what they had said under the influence of a Horcrux wasn't true, that they didn't actually think of her as a walking, talking encyclopedia that was only good for information and not for anything fun. Though her doubts and fears were made worse when she herself wore a Horcrux; everything was intensified, every sliver of self-doubt, everything that she had ever hated about herself and anything even slightly negative that had been said about her came to the fore-front of her mind. Even after her friends had forced her to take off the Horcrux, these thoughts were left to poison her mind and her heart – for the years that would follow after the war had finished, she would remain bitter, and eventually she would distance herself from her friends and her family.

At the age of twenty-four years old Hermione Granger had accomplished many things in her life, she had been recognized as a war-heroine, a Mistress of many subjects and an accomplished fighter – she had also been recognized as a completely unapproachable person unless you had scheduled an appointment through the correct means, and even then the appointment would only been listed on her calendar if it were strictly business. In her busy life there was no room for social interactions, she was work-orientated and proud of it – it meant that she got what needed to be done finished in record time, with highly-praised results. It was what, in her mind, made her the best candidate for the next Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. But as of yet, she had not received the promotion, even as the previous department Head had been leaving his retirement party no one had come up to her to congratulate her, rather they had all headed to an obscure, no name man who would rather lock up any foreign creatures for study rather than fight for their equality.

She had even asked why she had not received the promotion, as she was the absolute best candidate for it, and she had been told that she was not sociable and approachable enough for the position. She understood immediately that they thought more work and funding would come through the department if the press portrayed them in a favourable light, and she was apparently not favourable enough.

It was at that exact moment, as she left the retirement party full of her drunken colleges, that she decided the Wizarding World was stagnant, and she wanted no part of it. That night she packed her handbag that was bigger on the inside full of each and every book, potion, scrap of clothing and anything she could find that was worth taking with her. She was leaving, and she didn't ever intend to come back.

She applied for a job at an obscure research facility in America, finally putting her Muggle science degrees to use. It was here where her intelligence was finally fully recognized as she climbed through the ranks fairly quickly, gaining both admiration and jealously for her work. At twenty-five years of age she finally felt as if she were being recognized for her work, though no amount of praise would bring a smile to her a face, the only time she ever made someone's day brighter now was when she made a breakthrough in a case that involved some obscure illness.

For the first in a time in a long time a smile, however small it was, graced the face of Hermione Granger. The little twitch of her lips could be attributed to man she had met at a medical conference in Seattle; his name was Carlisle Cullen, and though she recognized his features to be that of a vampires she knew he was more man than beast because of his eyes alone. The deep honey-gold colour could only be attributed to his strict diet of animal blood, and it was what had made her first take notice of him. She had approached him and commended him for such a good deed, for being able to withstand the trials of his newborn years and to then go on to help treat humans, thus forgoing his natural food source. To say that he'd been shocked when a young woman had randomly approached him and congratulated him on his will-power would've been an understatement, she was sure of that – in fact she was sure that Carlisle Cullen was not an easy man to surprise, and he definitely was not an easy man to intrigue.

But upon their first meeting she had intrigued him so much that it lit an extremely intense and profound feeling of hope within him, and she had been so surprised by his civil and kind manner towards herself that she too found herself smiling, however small that smile was.

After the conference they had kept contact with each other, and she found that couldn't bear to leave the Seattle area – strangely enough every time she thought of furthering herself from him she would feel like a piece of sharp ice was stabbing her through her heart. It was a strange feeling, and she wasn't accustomed to feeling so strongly, but she didn't deny that if she left Seattle, and left him, that it would only grow worse. So she decided that she would live there, much closer to him, to at least dampen the pain she felt whenever there was distance between them. When he'd heard that she was moving to be closer he felt ecstatic, and when she confirmed the news a smile could not be wiped from his face – she was a woman he yearned to know heart and soul, and this would be his chance.

The first time he had asked her out on a date she had been sceptical, she was sure that she had been the only one over the course of their year long friendship to have any romantic feelings whatsoever. He had told her that it was ridiculous that she should think that, as she was an amazing woman who lit up every day of his with even the sound of her voice. When he had said that she had smiled, not a small quirk of her lips but an actual smile that showed the happiness she felt inside.

And throughout the first date she wouldn't stop smiling, she couldn't, because once again, for the first time in a very long time, she felt as if she were brightening someone else's day, and they were brightening hers.

At twenty-six years of age Hermione Granger felt truly happy, and as clichéd as it sounded her happiness was due to a man, the love of her life and eternity. He had told her on their fifth date that she was his mate, the one that was destined to be with him forever, the one that would forever make his day brighter. She couldn't say that at first she didn't believe him, rather that she was shocked and then accepting – she knew at that stage that she was meant for him, and he for her. So it was on her twenty-sixth birthday that her heart had stopped beating forever, her magic was gone, but her happiness and hope that she lived without for so long had been renewed in the strongest possible way, through their love that would undoubtedly last forever.

FIN.

Read and review!
Please tell me what you thought of this one-shot, because honestly I'm quite proud of it. And I'll state it now, this will not be continued but I may write it from Carlisle's view – I may also write a sequel, but that all depends on many factors dear readers.

And just as a note, if you have any suggestions or request for pairings that include Hermione then please review or PM your suggestions, as I will take all of them into consideration.