Pull Up
Hermione propped her feet on a nearby table in her home. She closed her heavy-lidded eyes as she flicked her wrist to wandlessly close the curtains, the bright sunlight disappearing in a matter of five seconds. She sighed to herself. It was time for afternoon sleeping- which meant she had to work later.
Hermione groaned in frustration.
Granted, she didn't have anything else to do. If only she could finally settle down. Ron was her childhood sweetheart, but apparently, his eyes kept on undressing Daphne Greengrass.
So Hermione retreated to the muggle world.
Turns out that the muggle world wasn't behind- it was the wizarding world that was. Hermione was grateful she lived in both. She loved the magic- sure, but muggles were full of creativity.
Hermione soon traveled to Japan, after all, her favorite composer Joe Hisaishi lived there. Not to mention, the films she watched made her rethink her life.
Her favorite was 'Spirited Away'. If only she too could believe that Voldemort was a dream- if only she could retrieve her parents safely like Chihiro.
After picking up a magical newspaper, called 'The Urban Information', she immediately portkeyed to China the next day.
She thought she cut all ties to the wizarding world- well, she guessed that what you were born with cannot be removed easily. When she read it though, she decided it wouldn't be that bad to move to a different country- again.
A spiritual dragon! The first one in a millennium! Curse her inquisitive nature, she thought. Too late.
And now, she was in China, Zhejiang, Hunan. It was pretty hot so she wore a straw hat, just like the locals. Though she wasn't very athletic, she soon learned from the other villagers about the traditional sports that survived. The first that spiked her interest was Jianzi. She was horrible, but she was always driven by a greed to surpass others.
When she found other scholars with a competitive streak in knowledge, Hermione went to file for new citizenship there as fast as a cat catching the canary.
Of course, when Harry and Ron found out, they weren't too happy. They stopped contacting her for three weeks. And unfortunately for them, she couldn't care less. Hermione did care for them at one point, but she was tired of taking care of them. The war did a lot to them, and she was finally able to renew her life.
So Hermione embraced her new life. She made a few friends and cherished them all equally. Hermione settled there, in a friendly concrete house like the others. Every day, she got into a debate with the younger students before helping the elders farm their crops. Finally, Hermione would challenge others to badminton matches or Jianzi. And so she knew everyone in the village. Almost everyone.
Every summer though, a teenager would jog along the road. She didn't know who he was. So she asked her friends.
They all giggled and blushed and-
"He's Cai Xukun of course! Do you not know? He comes here to visit his grandparents once the semester ends!" They would say.
Hermione should've known that they wouldn't give an inquisitive answer. She accepted it anyways.
She rolled off of the couch. One thing she didn't know for sure was how everyone could sleep in the afternoon. Hermione snorted to herself quietly before sliding open the curtains and the window and sticking her head out to breathe.
Fresh air, she mused thoughtfully.
Abruptly, footsteps walking at a quick pace blurred the comforting sounds of birds twittering happily. Hermione craned her head to see the sudden intrusion.
Of course- it was Kun, she thought. Subtly groaning, she braced herself for her first meeting as she concentrated on her Gryffindor courage to protect her from her social awkwardness.
Cai Xukun turned around. He smiled at Hermione.
Damn, she prayed to Merlin that she wouldn't muck this up.
She felt a curve appearing on her lips.