After the war, Hermione finds that she had drifted apart from Harry and Ron, as their lives head in different directions. As new opportunities come to her and she makes new friends, will the Golden Trio ever reconnect? Cedric lives. HG/CD.

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Disclaimer: Not mine, don't own it – I wish! Unfortunately, Harry Potter belongs to JKR and not to me; I'm just playing in her sandbox.

Author's Notes:

» Thank you to my beta, the wonderful StrongHermione, for all her help and support.

» This story is complete and in the process of being betaed; I'm hoping to update approximately every two weeks or so.

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Chapter 1

Clutching her faithful beaded bag, Hermione walked away from the Burrow in the morning sunlight towards the apparition point. It was ten days since the Battle of Hogwarts had ended the recent war. Hermione had wanted leave immediately to try and find her parents in Australia but Ron, mourning the loss of his brother, had begged her to come back to the Burrow with him and in the face of his grief, she had not been able to refuse him this small comfort. However, since their return to the Burrow, neither Ron nor Harry had said so much as one word to her. In fact, they spent most of their time flying around the Weasleys' Quidditch field and the rest of the time they seemed completely unaware of her very presence. Even when she tried to speak to them, they stared blankly through her, as though she simply did not exist for them.

After years of fighting, the last year spent on the run with little food and no time to recuperate after having been badly tortured, Hermione was bone-weary and desperately needed a break from the wizarding world. Her entire time in Hogwarts seemed to have been spent supporting Harry and, to a lesser extent Ron, with very little reciprocal support in return from either of her best friends. She knew how much Harry had suffered from being The-Boy-Who-Lived and she would never have dreamt of abandoning Harry when he needed her the most. Not only had he needed her help and emotional support over the past year but, as a muggleborn witch, this war was as much hers to fight as it was Harry's.

Now, though, the war was finally over and she longed for some peace and respite. Molly Weasley had never particularly liked Hermione, merely tolerating her for Ron and Harry's sakes and, never the most subtle of people, she had been hinting more and more strongly with each passing day that Hermione was intruding upon the family's mourning. Hermione did not blame Mrs Weasley as she, too, felt that she had outstayed her welcome at the Burrow. She did not even blame the boys for their seeming indifference to her, realising that they were both shellshocked and likely suffering from PTSD. The problem was that Hermione was also suffering in the aftermath of the war, and she was tired of putting everyone else's well-being ahead of her own.

Hermione ached to see her parents again but knew it would take a few days for her to make the arrangements to travel to Australia. Despite no longer feeling comfortable at the Burrow, she had considered staying there for a few more days while she made her travel plans. However, that morning, when serving Hermione an early breakfast while the rest of the family slept, Mrs Weasley had obviously tired of hinting and had asked outright when Hermione would be leaving. So without any fuss, Hermione had simply packed her things into her beaded bag and had left The Burrow without looking back.

Unfortunately, Hermione had nowhere else to stay in Britain. Her parents' house had been sold when they went to Australia, Harry's home at Grimmauld Place had been trashed by Death Eaters after Hermione had inadvertently brought one in through the wards, Hogwarts had been badly damaged during the final battle and was currently undergoing repairs, and she did not feel safe staying on her own at the Leaky Cauldron, knowing that there were still Death Eaters and Voldemort supporters out there who had not yet been caught.

Hermione was not stupid. In fact, she was commonly regarded as the brightest witch of her age. She had realised that the war may go badly and that she might need to disappear into the muggle world or even leave Britain. She had made sure that she had sufficient funds, held in a muggle bank account in a false name, to allow her to hide out for a while and to pay for a ticket to Australia when she would need it. She had also made a list of youth hostels around the UK and in Australia, where she would be as anonymous and unmemorable as any other transient youth needing somewhere cheap and temporary to stay. Feeling that this would be a safer option than the Leaky Cauldron, she had decided to check into a youth hostel in London until she could leave for Australia.

First though, she had to replace her wand. She had lost hers when taken captive during the horcrux hunt and, unwilling to be without a wand at all, she had been using Bellatrix Lestrange's wand since her escape from Malfoy Manor. Just being in the presence of that wand was enough to give her nightmares, as she could feel the evil emanating from it, therefore, her first stop had to be the newly reopened Ollivander's Wand Shop in Diagon Alley.

Reaching the apparition point outside the Burrow's wards, Hermione twisted and apparated to the Leaky Cauldron. Before leaving the Burrow, she had quietly borrowed Ron's owl, Pigwidgeon, and sent him with a message to Bill Weasley at Gringotts Bank, asking if Bill could meet her at the Leaky Cauldron that morning. Standing in the alley running along the side of the pub in muggle London, Hermione sent her patronus to Bill, letting him know that she had arrived.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione pushed open the door and walked into the dimly lit, public bar of the Leaky Cauldron. As soon as she opened the door, the patrons, all wary after their experiences during the last year of war, looked up to see who was coming in through the muggle entrance. Hermione did not doubt that they all recognised her as Harry Potter's best friend, however, her contribution to the defeat of Voldemort was not as well known as Harry's and so they mostly ignored her.

"Hello, Tom," she said as the owner came bustling over to her. "I'm meeting Bill Weasley here soon. Is there a reasonably private table where we can sit? Somewhere we can be seen but not heard?" Hermione smiled wryly. "I don't want to sound like a reincarnation of Mad-Eye Moody but I'd rather not risk being blind-sided or taken by surprise. Neither do I want everyone hearing my business, though."

Tom nodded understandingly and led Hermione to a table situated away from the mid-morning crowd. Hermione sipped at a cup of tea as she thought about what she would say to Bill. It was not long before he arrived and joined her at the table.

"Is everything all right, Hermione?" he asked as he sat down. "What's the emergency?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to panic you, Bill," she replied, "but I need to make some urgent purchases and I need your help. Do you think you could get some muggle money converted into galleons for me, as I don't think I'll be very welcome in Gringotts right now?"

"How much do you need?" he asked, taking out his money bag.

"Enough for a new wand and to send a message at the Owl Post Office," she replied.

Bill looked at Hermione in surprise. "Where's your wand?" he asked.

"It was taken from me when we were captured by Snatchers," she shrugged. "I've been using a Death Eater's wand that we grabbed before we left Malfoy Manor but I really want to get rid of it as soon as possible. I'll get a new one from Mr Ollivander and then turn this one in to the Ministry."

"You know you could have used Pig to send your message after he delivered mine, don't you?"

"I know but I need to contact Kingsley and your Dad says they're still a bit jumpy at the Ministry. I don't really think that they'd appreciate a hyperactive owl causing mayhem in the Minister's office right now."

Bill laughed and took some money out of his money bag. "This ought to be plenty for what you need," he said, "but send me a patronus if you need more." Hermione thanked him and gave him some muggle money in return. Tucking the galleons safely into her beaded bag, Hermione looked up to see Bill looking curiously at her.

"Yes?" she asked, smiling at the tall man she had come to regard as an older brother, ever since he and his wife had tended to her after her torture and escape from Malfoy Manor during the war.

"Just out of curiosity… it's waited this long, so why the urgency? I could have brought the money to the Burrow on my way home tonight and you could have come to Diagon Alley tomorrow with the boys."

Hermione winced. "I just needed to get out the house and this was a good excuse."

"Nice try, Hermione, but I have six younger siblings and I've learned to recognise prevarication."

"I'm not prevaricating!"

"Hermione…"

"All right," she huffed. "I won't be at the Burrow tonight." Bill raised an eyebrow and she continued, "I'm in the way there, Bill. Your family is mourning, the boys are barely functioning and it's too much to ask your Mum to host a guest on top of all that."

"You're hardly a guest, Hermione."

"Yes, I am. Your Mum doesn't regard me as another child of hers, the way she does Harry. It's all right," she reassured him hastily, as she saw Bill was about to protest. "I don't mind. I have parents, I don't need another set, but I'm not comfortable staying at the Burrow any longer. Your Mum needs me to move out."

"I noticed that something was off between you," he said slowly, "but I'm sure you don't need to leave so urgently."

Hermione sighed. "She asked me to, Bill," she said gently. "It's all right," she repeated. "The boys aren't the only ones feeling the after-effects of the war, you know. I am, too, but I just don't feel I can give into it while at the Burrow. It feels like too much of an imposition when everyone else there is suffering. I need to do this for my own sanity. Besides, I hope it'll only be a few days before I can leave for Australia. I need to find my parents. I need to know they're all right. It's been nearly a year and I need to see them again. I miss them."

"Where will you stay until you leave?" he asked resignedly.

"I'll check into a cheap hotel or youth hostel in muggle London."

"No, you're not staying on your own. It's not safe. I'll go with you to Ollivander's and then to Ministry – I don't want you wandering round Diagon Alley or the Ministry on your own either, not while things are still so chaotic. Then I'm going to take you to Shell Cottage. You'll stay with Fleur and me at Shell Cottage until you go to Australia. No arguments," he said emphatically. Hermione bowed her head in acquiescence; she realised it would be futile to argue and she was grateful that there was someone who recognised that she needed support.

The pair of them made their way out to the back of the Leaky Cauldron and entered Diagon Alley. "Owl Office or Ollivander's first?" Bill asked.

"Owl Office," Hermione answered decisively. "I only need to owl Kingsley to ask if he can see me today. I suppose I could hand over that wand to anyone in the DMLE but I'd rather deal with someone I know. I trust Kingsley but I'm not so sure I trust anyone else in the Ministry except your Dad, and he's the wrong department for this. We can go to Ollivander's while I wait for a reply."

Bill nodded and escorted Hermione to the Owl Office, where she quickly scribbled a message and sent it off to Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Acting Minister, before heading off to Ollivander's to replace her wand. By the time a new wand had chosen Hermione, an owl had come from Kingsley inviting her to stop by and see him whenever she wanted, and so with her business in Diagon Alley complete, she and Bill headed off to the Ministry.

Once in Kingsley's office, Hermione explained how she came to be in possession of Bellatrix Lestrange's wand and then gave it to Kingsley, glad to be rid of it. "I don't know what you're planning to do with the wands of the Death Eaters who were killed but this wand is absolutely malevolent. You know how Ollivander always says that the wand chooses the wizard? Well, this wand chooses the magic; it resists anything other than dark magic. I'd recommend destroying it completely rather than merely snapping it in two," she said soberly.

Kingsley gingerly took the wand from Hermione and screwed up his face with distaste as he felt the darkness within it. The three of them chatted amiably for a few minutes, until Bill changed the subject and mentioned Hermione's plans to go to Australia to find her parents. "Can you arrange a portkey for her, Kings?" he asked.

"I'm afraid not," Kingsley sighed. "Not only has outgoing magical travel been restricted by our Ministry to prevent Death Eaters leaving the country, but no other country is willing to accept incoming magical travel from Britain either, as they don't want to risk fugitives setting up shop there. Besides, I'm not sure it's safe for Hermione. Even now, we still haven't managed to identify all the Voldemort supporters in the Ministry and if there's a record of her taking an international portkey, they could easily find out where she is."

"It's all right, Kingsley," Hermione interjected. "I had already planned to travel muggle and I'll be travelling under a false identity. My father used to be in the army and he has friends who were in the Special Forces. They arranged the identities for my parents and a separate one for me."

"You had help hiding your parents?" Bill asked in surprise. "I thought you did it alone."

"I didn't get help from anyone magical, that's for sure," Hermione snorted. "Do you know that the Order arranged protection for Harry's despicable muggle relatives who abused him all his life but they wouldn't help mine? I begged Professor Dumbledore during sixth year to help me protect my parents and he refused. He said there weren't enough resources to help every muggle. It shouldn't even have required extra resources, as they could have been kept in the same safe house as the Dursleys. How he could think that the parents of Harry Potter's mudblood wouldn't be targets, I don't know, but he just didn't care. I tried telling him that if they were used against me, then that would affect my ability to help Harry, but he didn't want to hear it. So I asked Professors McGonagall, Snape and Lupin as well. I thought one of them might manage to persuade Dumbledore but none of them were even willing to try. My parents just weren't important enough. I was seventeen years old and I was left to take care of my parents on my own against a threat they couldn't counter and I didn't know what to do to protect them.

"So eventually I went to my parents and told them everything. All the things I'd been keeping from them ever since first year so they wouldn't take me out of Hogwarts. They wanted me to come with them to Australia but they understood that I couldn't run away from this fight. They weren't happy about it but they understood. My Dad and I came up with the plan together. He got the false identities from one of his friends and then he and Mum recorded a message to themselves – that's like a muggle version of a pensieve memory – just in case I needed it when I went to find them, before I obliviated them of all memories of me and of magic. I have the recording in a safe box in a muggle bank and I'll take it with me when I go to restore their memories."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that on your own," Kingsley said sadly. "If I'd known, I would have tried to help you, Hermione." Bill nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, Kingsley. I appreciate that but I don't think Dumbledore and the Order would have let you. All they cared about was Harry. A mudblood's muggle parents just aren't important enough."

"Stop calling yourself that!"

"Why? It's what everyone thinks of me. Even without Bellatrix Lestrange having carved that in my arm so I'll never forget it, can you honestly say that anyone in the British magical community feels differently? They may not all use the word mudblood but as a muggleborn, I'm regarded as not much better than a house elf and my parents are regarded as less than that! Hell, I spent seven years helping Harry and Ron and now that they don't need me any more, it's like I don't even exist. I know they're traumatised but what about me? When do I get to stop being strong for everyone else and get a little support in return? I can't begin to tell you how fed up I am with the wizarding world right now. Bill, your Mum asked me to move out this morning and I don't blame her, I truly don't, but she didn't even ask me if I had anywhere else to go. I'm trying not to be selfish here but I'm at breaking point and no one cares!" Hermione burst into tears and Kingsley looked over at Bill.

"Molly threw her out?" he asked quietly.

"Apparently so." Bill knelt beside the petite witch and put his arms around her, rubbing her back and comforting her, like he used to do for his little sister when she was young and upset. "I've already told Hermione that she should stay with Fleur and me until she leaves for Australia. She's welcome for as long as she needs but I think that even more importantly, she needs to get away. Away from the war, away from the prejudiced British magical world, away from all the people who keep taking and never give back. She allowed herself to be tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange to save Harry and then the boys expected her to pick herself up and carry on as though nothing had happened. They didn't even ask if she was all right afterwards, they were only concerned about their mission as they needed her help to carry on with it. Hermione single-handedly had the onus of getting Harry to the stage of being in a position to be able to kill Voldemort – Ron abandoned them for weeks – and no one has taken into account the toll that's taken on her. No one has even said thank you to her. She's right that all everyone cares about is Harry. Even Minerva – she came to The Burrow the other day and took the time to ask Harry how he is but she didn't even have the courtesy to ask Hermione, supposedly her favourite pupil, the same question before she started listing tasks she wanted Hermione to help her with.

"Well, that ends here and now! I'm not letting anyone make any more demands of her, so please don't tell anyone that Hermione will be at Shell Cottage. To be honest, I doubt anyone will even bother asking where she is as I'm not sure they'll actually notice she's gone unless they have something they want her to do for them, but while she's with us, Fleur and I will do our best to give her the care she needs. I just wish there was someone who could go with her to Australia and help her. I don't like the idea of her going alone. Not only for her physical safety but also for her emotional well-being."

At this Kingsley looked pensive. "What about Cedric Diggory? He's at a bit of a loose end right now." Cedric had been badly injured while fighting with Harry against the newly resurrected Voldemort and his Death Eaters in the graveyard at Little Hangleton at the end of the Triwizard Tournament. Once he had recovered and sat his NEWTs, he wanted to become an Auror so that he could join the fight against the Dark, but the Ministry had been in full-on denial mode about Voldemort's return and would not employ him, branding both Cedric and Harry as delusional, attention-seeking, trouble-makers for daring to speak the truth. Unable to find a decent job after the Ministry had declared him unemployable, he had been marking time during the war by joining the Order of the Phoenix and by writing anti-Voldemort articles for The Quibbler.

Disillusioned with the actions of the Ministry over the past couple of years, Cedric had already stated that he no longer wanted to work for the Ministry, even a Ministry led by Kingsley Shacklebolt. Since this had always been his planned career path, he was now at a loss as to what to do next. He had been helping the Lovegoods rebuild The Quibbler's premises over the past couple of weeks but a career as a journalist did not appeal to him either. The Daily Prophet was nothing more than a Ministry mouthpiece and its reporters had no concept of telling the truth, while The Quibbler was able to report honestly only by burying its more candid and forthright stories in amongst the plethora of eccentric and whimsical articles that it was best known for.

"I'd like that," said Hermione, sitting up and wiping her eyes. "We became friends while he was at Grimmauld Place recovering from his injuries after the Triwizard Tournament and it was his articles in The Quibbler that helped me convince my parents to let me modify their memories and send them into hiding. Do you think he'd be willing to come with me?"

"Oh, I think he'd be as happy as you to get away from the British magical world. We'll need to get him a muggle identity though."

"I can get the ID papers from the same person who created my parents' and my identities. Can you let me know if Cedric agrees so I can book the tickets, Kingsley? I'm planning to travel in disguise because it'll be safer, in case any of the remaining Death Eaters are looking for me, and I think Cedric should do the same. We'll need to choose a name for Cedric and he'll need an official muggle identity photograph. We can't take it with just any camera, it has to be from a photo booth, but you can find one of those in just about any train or bus station in the country. If you can get him to Shell Cottage in the next day or two, I'll take him to a muggle hairdresser to have his hair cut and dyed so we can take the ID photos, and then we can meet my Dad's friend and finish off the paperwork."

"Wouldn't Polyjuice be the best means of disguise?"

"No, we'd have to take a dose every hour. The journey takes a full day and that's just the flight time; it doesn't include the additional time we'll need to spend hanging around in airports. If we fall asleep and miss a dose, it could be disastrous. Something a little bit more long-lasting would be better."

"That's risky, though," said Bill. "A simple Finite can cancel any glamours."

"That's why I'm doing it muggle-style. When I created my false identity, I dyed my hair black with blue highlights, put it in micro braids and wore a ton of makeup. I told the hairdresser it was for a party and she used temporary hair dyes that had already washed out before I arrived at the Burrow last summer so no one knew about it. If things had gone badly in the war, I'd have used long-term dyes so I could keep up the disguise. Add to that clothes that are vastly different to those I usually wear, and I figured my look was so far from my normal appearance that no one from the wizarding world would recognise me."

Seeing the confusion on Bill and Kingsley's faces, Hermione shook her head. "Never mind. Just know that there are effective but simple muggle means to change ones appearance that can't be cancelled with a Finite. Don't worry, it's not permanent – unless you want it to be! Now, what name shall we give Cedric?" She riffled through her mental encyclopedic knowledge bank and came up with an alias that might suit him. "How about Nigel Brock?"

"Why Nigel Brock?" Kingsley inquired, amused.

"Nigel means champion and Cedric was the joint Hogwarts champion for the Triwizard Tournament. Plus, Phinneus Nigellus and I became friends during the horcrux hunt, not that the cantankerous old Slytherin would ever admit it, so I'd like to use his name. Brock means badger and Cedric is a Hufflepuff. Nigel Brock just seems right for him."

"What name did you choose for yourself?" Bill asked curiously.

"Lorna Gale. One of the meanings of the man's name, Lorn, is forsaken and one of the meanings of Gale is stranger. Dorothy Gale is a character in a very well-known muggle story about a girl who gets lost and ends up alone in a magical land. Somehow it seemed appropriate."

"Forsaken, lost, alone and a stranger? Is that really how you see yourself, Hermione?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I was hurt and angry when I chose the name, because I felt abandoned by everyone who refused to help my parents, but it's right for me. I no longer belong to the muggle world and I'm not really accepted in the magical world either. It's a big problem for muggleborns, that we end up not truly belonging to either world. I haven't spent much time with my parents since the end of third year as I became more immersed the wizarding world but, right now, I really need a break from it, so when I get to Australia and restore my parents' memories, I think it'll be a good time to try and reconnect with them and with my muggle heritage. It might help me decide where I really belong."