Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or anything else from Harry Potter, this all belongs to JK Rowling.

A/N: So this obviously going to be AU and HG/RL like it said on the tin. Hopefully it'll turn into a half decent bit of writing :P


Your Pages

Chapter 1

Since the war things had changed and Hermione had never liked change. Perhaps that was why she had sought such comfort in books because the words never changed once they were printed. A book never stopped feeling like a book and the sound of a page turning had no hidden meanings. But now she knew that no matter how many pages she turned, no matter how much she learnt, when she looked up the world would be different.

What use was knowledge once the world was irrevocably changed? Libraries and the scent of dusty pages held no explanations to the late Voldemort's cruelty. Books didn't tell her how to put her life back together after the war; they didn't prepare her for life after Hogwarts and the trio. Despite all of her learning it was Hermione Granger who got left behind by her classmates and friends. Well, those that hadn't perished in that dark time.

She wished that she could spend some time on a comfy sofa with Harry and Ron, watching them goof about but they had families now. For all that she was filled with joy when Harry had announced that his wife Ginny was pregnant, or when Ron and Luna got engaged, there was a tinge of melancholic jealousy. She cherished the meetings they had when the trio's lives didn't interrupt plans but she was very aware that Hermione Granger, supposedly the brightest witch of her age, was alone in world that moved too fast.

A voice and a hand gesturing in front of her face brought her out of her reverie. "That'll be six pounds, miss," The bartender said over the top of the thudding bass. Hermione dug in her bag and handed over the money before smiling politely. She smoothed her short black dress that exposed the leanness of her long tanned legs. With a grim smile Hermione brushed her curly brown hair from her face and knocked back the three shots of vodka on the bar in front of her.

Hermione sucked in a breath as the familiar burn of alcohol flared in her mouth and throat. Her friends might be settling down and keeping up with the world's pace but she was a twenty year old witch, at ease in the muggle world, and she was damn well going to enjoy it.

She spun around and sauntered out onto the dance floor of the club that pulsed and writhed with the sweat slickened bodies of hundreds of dancers. Hermione could almost forget the war and the expectations placed on her in the wizarding world while she was out dancing in muggle clubs. Back in the world where she belonged there were endless requests for one of 'golden trio' to consent to interviews with journalists and writers. There she was Hermione Granger and everyone from her friends to her ex-teachers, to strangers expected her to create some miracle potion, discover some breakthrough in healing, work high up in the Ministry, or become the champion of disenfranchised magical creatures.

The vodka sent a rush to her head and the beat of the music commanded her to move her hips. Hermione delighted in the way that her swaying hips enticed men to dance with her, men who had no idea who she was and didn't really care as long as they had a chance of getting laid at the end of the night. If she found one she liked the look of she might even give him what he wanted.

Faceless figures danced with her, bodies grinding close. Hermione shut her silver makeup-covered eyes and let her head fall back in the mindless ecstasy of drunkenness.

After half an hour she staggered out into the smoking area, laughing, with a man in tow. Hermione guessed that he was around her own age, maybe a little older, but he was moderately attractive with light brown hair and grey eyes. What was more important was he seemed quite eager without being too sleazy. "What's your name?" He asked her and passed her a bottle of beer.

"Hermione. Yours?" She swigged the lager. It tasted bitter on her tongue.

"Hermione," He said testing out her name before lighting a cigarette and offering one to her. Hermione smiled and accepted the roll of tobacco. "Cool name. I'm Dan."

"Well Dan," She said taking drag on the cigarette. "Shall we go in and get some more drinks?"

"You haven't drunk your beer yet," the guy replied with slurred amusement. She flashed him a grin and lazily emptied the bottle before wiggling it flirtatiously between her slim fingers.

She followed the grinning man back into the club and over to the bar. Somewhere inside her mind a frizzy haired, buck toothed girl began a lecture about all the useful roles she could have fulfilled back in the wizarding world.

But things had changed. And here Hermione was just another girl looking for a good time.


A/N: So thanks for reading, guys. Hopefully it's not too OOC for you... Any suggestions or anything you'd like to see happen in the story just let me know :)

Scribbles xx