Chapter 1
CHAPTER 1
Friday 17th of december
''The emotional range of a teaspoon indeed”, Hermione spat as she shoved her clothes in her duffel bag. Tears were welling up in her eyes. Her whole world tilted on it axis. She should have seen it coming, but somehow it completely blindsided her.
Ronald Weasley in bed with Lavender Brown. Her husband of two years. The betrayal was too painful. She knew they were having relationship problems, but what couple didn’t? She had been trying to make more time for their marriage, but she was just promoted as an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries and she absolutely loved her job. It was everything she could have wanted for her career in the Wizarding World.
“Hermione please just hear me out!” yelled Ron as he desperately knocked on their closed bedroom door. “Just let me explain for Merlin sake”. The tremor in his voice apparent.
“Explain what Ronald?” she screamed as she finished cleaning out her closet. Only his clothes remaining behind.
“That it was an accident and your cock just slipped inside Lavender huh?”
‘That you broke our fucking vows and ruined our whole marriage just because you couldn’t keep it in your pants?”
Her hands were shaking as she ran them through her curly hair. Frustrating and adrenaline seeping through her whole body.
“What am I forgetting?” she muttered as she paced through their bedroom. She picked her mother’s jewellery box from her vanity. Inside were the only remaining pieces she had left from her parents. Tears welled in her eyes as she opened the box. Inside was her mothers cherishes sapphire heart necklace and her fathers old brown watch. As a child she had been fascinated by the way the necklace clung to her mothers neck. The way she would clutch it when she was but a young girl as her mother would carry her.
“One day my love this necklace will be yours”, Hermoine’s mother softly said when she tucked her in when she was five. “When you turn sixteen you shall have it”, she promised.
And she did, on Hermione’s sixteenth birthday, she gifted her the necklace. A small piece of joy in an eventful period of her life. A shudder went through her body as she thought about that time before Harry defeated Voldemort. The uncertainty and powerlessness that she felt during that bleak period. She never truly forgave herself for obliviating her parents. The disgust the felt for herself would never go away. She blinked the memory away, it wouldn’t do her well to start thinking about her parents. Especially now. She put the jewellery box in her bag as well as her most favoured and used little beaded bag that kept her, Ron and Harry alive during the Horcrux hunt and checked if her wand was still in her pocket.
She looked back at her bedroom, the memories flashing through her mind. Only his stuff remaining in the room. They were happy once. They truly were. After the war had settled and everybody tried to move on with their lives, Ron and Hermione clung to each other and gave a romantic relationship a true chance. She remembered the way it was so easy to fall in love with Ronald Weasley. The way he would nervously hold her hands, his eyes crinkling at the corners. The soft touches and kisses they would share.
After four years of dating he asked her to marry him during a picknick at the park. As she settled on the blanket on the grass after eating a delicious meal together, she opened her favourite book Pride and Prejudice. As she looked inside, she found that her usual bookmark was swapped with another. “Will you marry me?” she read as she turned to Ron and found him on one knee. She gasped as tears were streaming down her face. In that moment she truly felt that she couldn’t love him more. That whatever would come their way, they would overcome. Even though they bickered and fought regularly during their whole relationship, it was the usual. They would always make up, as they had done in their years at Hogwarts. The would go back to being a young couple in love and all would be well.
After being married for a year Hermione got promoted as an Unspeakable in the Space Room in the Department of Mysteries. She had never been more excited to learn all the secrets this job would show her. She had always been an erudite and learning and experimenting with magic pertaining to other planets was honestly a dream come true for her. It was a demanding job, but a fulfilling one.
At first he loved the way she was so passioned about her work. After knowing her for so long it was no surprise that she was so invested in it. She wasn’t called a swot her whole life for no reason. But as she moved up on the ladder in the ministry and as she spent less and less time at home with him, the endearing character trait became an irritating one. Pride for her accomplishments became contempt as he saw her living her dream. And after a while he started coming home late as well. Often the smell of firewhisky prominent on his breath.
“Oh so you’re the only one that can home late, but it’s a problem if it’s me?” his words would slur as he stumbled drunk in the living room. “You are such a hypocrite Hermione.”
Working with George at the shop wasn’t his dream. He often told her it felt like he just replaced Fred and that a career as a Quidditch player was what he wanted. To play for his favourite team, the Canons.
It also didn’t help that their physical relationship simmered down to an almost stop. She often was simply too tired and he stopped initiating after a while. And when it happened… it was the most passionless sex she could imagine. She never shared a bed with anyone else besides Ron, so she couldn’t really compare, but she knew deep inside that they were just going through the motions. Desire gave away to duty in the bedroom. Yet finding her husband balls deep in her former roommate in their marital bed was something she never expected.
She knew there were cracks in their marriage. And after she finally felt a little settled at work she started to put in more effort at home. She’d come home on time again. Cooked his favourite meals and made an effort in her appearance to ignite that spark in the bedroom again. She did that for months. And when she felt that her efforts weren’t appreciated, she tried to talk to him, but it all fell on deaf ears. The hurt and frustration she felt drove her back to work with a vengeance. It was the only source of joy she had, besides the times she would visit Harry and the children. She was the first one in the office and the last one out. And the cracks in the relationship became a chasm of loneliness, betrayal and hurt.
She pulled the door open as she rushed through the hallway looking for Crookshanks. Ron hot on his heels behind her.
“Please Mione just listen to me, I’m trying to explain here”, his voice cracking as he tried to grab her arm.
“Don’t you dare touch me Ronald Weasley”, she snarled as she yanked her arm away. “You don’t ever get to touch me again”. “ I don’t want an explanation, I don’t want to hear excuses, I don’t want anything from you”, she yelled as she frantically searched for her cat in the house.
“Do you actually think I would just forgive this?” She spat in disbelieve. The audacity this man had. “ I have been trying these past months to mend our relationship. I know I’m at work a lot, I know. But YOU have also been pulling away. Coming home after midnight doing God knows what. Spending money in bars getting rounds for every stranger you meet in there. “
“I’ve tried to talk with you before and now I’m done talking!” She was proud that her voice didn’t shake as she finally found Crookshanks and scooped him up. The orange cat, aware of the emotional state his mistress was in, hissed at Ron when he came closer to her.
“Baby please I don’t want to lose you. It was just once, I swear, I’ll stop drinking, I’ll do better but Mione please you have to stay, just let me show you I promise you.” Tears were now also streaming down his cheeks. His hand shaking, the fear and realisation that he was losing not only his wife but also one of his best friends.
But Hermione just turned around making her way to the door where her coat was hanging on the rack. Finding her coat she felt her anger disappearing and only sadness remaining.
“I want a divorce Ron”, she said softly as she put Crookshanks on the floor and pulled on her black rain coat and turned to him. The silence in the house was deafening. Only the ticking grandfather clock and de breaking of their hearts could be heard in the room.
“I don’t like the people we have become. We used to be happy together and we haven’t been in a long time. I know it and you know it.” She put her bag over her shoulder and picked Crookshanks back up in her arms. “ We can’t go longer this way. I’ve tried, I truly did, but some things are beyond saving. And I for one can’t forgive nor forget infidelity. “
“Baby please”…Rons voice shook as came closer to her. “One chance I –“
“I’ll be staying at Harrys for a while” she cut him off, “please don’t come after me.
“Mione “ Ron gasped.
“Goodbye Ron” she whispered as she apparated away, not knowing this was the last time she would lay eyes on Ronald Weasley.
Hermione apparated in the foyer at 12 Grimmauld Place with a heavy bag and heavier heart. With a deep sigh she put Crookshanks on the floor as he made his way in the house.
“Crooks!” she heard James squeal in the living room. “Look mummy Crooks is here!”
“Crookshanks?” she heard Ginny’s surprised voice. “What?” she could hear Harry’s confusion.
Harry’s footsteps came closer until he made his way in the foyer. “Hermione, what a surprise, we were just having dinner. Is Ron with…you?” his voice trailed off as he took a good look at her.
“Hermione what’s wrong”? But seeing her longtime friend looking at her with worry and confusion in his green eyes broke the last remaining piece of strength she had left. Gasping for breath she fell to the floor, tears blurring her vision.
Hearing her breakdown, Ginny had immediately picked up James and rushed him upstairs. Fortunately their newborn son Albus was already asleep in bed. “Time for bed Jamie, she said, trying hard to not let the shock of hearing her friend breakdown seep into her voice.
“But auntie Mione – he started, “Auntie Mione is fine and will be here tomorrow, but now is bedtime sweetie”. Thankful for her child easy going nature she didn’t have to wait long before he was sound asleep and she made her way back down to where Harry and Hermione were.
Hermione was thankful for Ginny’s quick thinking, she didn’t want to upset James and she knew that seeing her in this state would distress him.
“Mione please tell us what happened”, Harry’s desperately asked her. His eyes imploring her to make sense of what was happening in front of him. She didn’t know how she was able to put the words out, be somehow she did.
“That prick of a brother of mine is dead when I see him”, Ginny growled as she pulled Hermione in for a hug. “I’m so sorry Mione, I don’t understand what he was thinking”.
“Thanks Gin, Hermione murmured in her hair, completely drained from her emotional outburst.
‘I just want to sleep really’, she said softly as she picked her things of the floor.
“You’re always welcome in our home Mione, you know that”, Harry told her, the sincerity apparent in his gentle voice.
She could see the anger in his expression though. The disbelief that their friend would do something like this. In that moment she was just grateful that he knew her well enough to not get her to talk more. She didn’t do well with emotions. She was a more rational type of woman and relied on facts and statistics to get her through life. So whenever there was something that demanded to be felt, she always needed her own time to process everything. Otherwise the emotions would choke her and the formidable Hermione Granger, the Brightest Witch of her Age, would crumble. As she had done on Harry Potters floor.
Hermione stayed the whole weekend in the guestroom. Only coming out to use the bathroom and eat a little breakfast to appease Harry and Ginny. Dinner she skipped as she wasn’t able to leave the bed after crying her eyes out. And even though they made the effort to keep her company, Hermione had never felt more alone. No husband, no house, no parents. At least no parents that remembered they were her parents. And all of this just before the holidays. The only silver lining was that tomorrow she would be back at work. Her happy place, she thought bitterly. How utterly pathetic.
She was in an emotional turmoil.
Part of her was relieved that her marriage to Ron was over. Relieved even that she didn’t have to have The talk with him. So much for that Gryffindor spirit she thought miserably. To feel relieved because she got cheated on instead of having an adult conversation about their failing marriage.
She was also so very angry. Angry and hurt. Hurt because even though she loved to learn and valued knowledge, Hermione Granger was a hopeless romantic at heart. She dreamed about a love so passionate and fierce that would leave her breathless. To irrevocably love, honour and cherish that one person. And more importantly to be so fiercely loved in return. She had never felt like she was anybody’s number one. Even in the early days in her relationship with Ron. She always felt like a outsider. It was no secret that Harry and Ron preferred each other’s company over hers. She always had a difficult time making friends.
It shamed and pained her to even think it, but she knew that there was no way their friendship would have survived for so long if Hermione wasn’t so brilliant. She studied so hard, not only to be the best in class, but because she measured het worth with her cleverness. If she didn’t know the answer to a question, after a while they would stop asking questions. And she would again be utterly alone again.
Monday 20th of december
The Department of Mysteries was on the 9th floor in the British Ministry of Magic. Being the first one in, as per usual, gave Hermione enough time to try to get her day started as she would have normally. With a cup of mint tea in her hand she made her way through the dark room full with models of planets that were floating in the mid-air. She still was in awe of the room after two years of working there. She could never get used to it. The planets were miniature versions of the real deal, but the details were extraordinary.
As she settled in her own office, she immediately started with the files on her desk. She had at least an hour before the other Unspeakables would enter the floor, so she knew she had a little time before she had to pretend that everything was fine.
“Accio Project Paradise Portal, she said as the file with her latest experiment flew to her outstretched hand. Project Paradise Portal or P3 was an experiment that only she and the minister of Magic, Kinsley Shacklebolt, knew about. She was trying to find out if there was a way to make a portal that would allow them to enter other viable planets.
It started as just a theory. Could such a magic exist? What kind of spell would it be or perhaps something in the form of a portkey? Would there even be a witch of wizard strong enough to make such a journey? What if you couldn’t get back?
But the morality aspect was the one where she had the most scruples with. Who would be allowed to make the journey in the event that something catastrophic would happen to Earth? How would they select the people that were worthy to enter ‘Paradise’? Only witches and wizard or would muggles also be allowed? Was there a quota? What would they bring with them and what would happen if they found out that there were other living beings on the planet?
It was something that left a bitter taste in her mouth. Hermione was mostly excited about the theory of it, because a huge part of her didn’t actually believe it was possible. Even for her. She read enough sci-fi to know that.
Across her research she had found numerous books that speculated about the possibility of opening portals to other dimensions. But it was al speculation. Nobody ever accomplished it. So when Hermione tried to pick up her tea and accidentally dropped the book Dimensio et Portal from her desk, she was dumbfounded when the book opened up to a chapter she had never seen before. She could have sworn she had read the book in its entirety twice.
Sipping her tea and reading, the passage spoke about wyrmholes and the theory of relativity, things she already researched in the wizarding books as well as muggle. But this passage introduced a spell she had never seen before. It spoke about portals opening for people in times of extreme need. In moments where fate intervened and allowed souls to transcend to other realities to heal and restore the balance in that realm. The magic to open such a portal would only be accessible to the one worthy, able and strong of character. It would reveal itself to the one ready to take the journey. The spell would work the best during solstices and equinoxes, as the magic would be the most potent and strongest during that time of the year.
“Fascinating” Hermione breathed as she read the chapter in awe. She opened her beaded bag, that she always had on her person, and took another book that spoke about magic during solstices and equinoxes out of her bag. She checked a few things and put it back.
Apparently the spell didn’t had to happen on the solstice itself, but there was a window of time a few days before and after. If she wanted to try to see what would happen, this would be the perfect time, as the winter solstice would be tomorrow, she thought.
Something reckless came over her, almost as if she was no longer in charge of her own mind.
“Say the words my daughter”, a soft beautiful voice appeared in her mind. “Seek what you didn’t know, seek what others covet. You have been destined for another life my child, its time to make the journey and follow the string of fate”.
Something sparked in her chest, she had never felt that sensation in her life.
“Aperi porta ad compar meum spatium” she whispered and then everything went black.
And life as Hermione Granger would know it would never be the same.