A New Start

Chapter 1

"Harry! Harry! I think I found her!" Ron yelled as he burst into Harry's office. Harry looked up in surprise and then let out a deep sigh. 

"Ron, we talked about this. Hermione is fine, she still sends us letters a few times a year." 

"Yes but she just left! It's been 8 years and no one has seen her once! I still think she was kidnapped and is being forced to write those to throw off suspicion," Ron huffed resolutely. "You can't tell me that her disappearing is normal." 

Harry slouched back in his chair. He has had this argument with Ron since Hermione left, but Ron is convinced that something bad happened and she didn't leave of her own free will. Harry and his wife Ginny know otherwise. Hermione still writes them a few times a year to check in, and although she doesn't give them any details, he can tell that she is happy. She explained to all of them in a letter when she left that she was tired of being in the spotlight all the time and her job at the ministry was leaving her stressed and unsatisfied, so she needed a drastic change. 

Ron was shocked beyond reason, but Harry and Ginny were both anticipating something like this, although not her leaving for good. Harry could see his friend becoming more and more restless and unhappy in the years after the war. She ended her relationship with Ron after the first year, a major reason being he sought out the fame that being a war hero granted him and she wished to have a normal life away from all that. Harry was surprised of their break up at first. He had always thought that they would get married and be together forever, just like him and Ginny. Ginny, however, was not surprised at all. If anything, she thought Hermione stuck with Ron for too long. Apparently, she always knew they wouldn't work out. She claimed that they were just to different and even went so far to say that her brother wasn't good enough for their best friend. 

Ginny explained that Hermione has always needed someone who could challenge her intellectually, and Ron would never be able to do that. Ron was also quick to anger and very unreasonable most of the time, which is evident in him not letting go of Hermione leaving. Given further thought, Harry had to agree with his wife that Ron was simply not the right guy for her. Ron, however, believed that Hermione just needed a break for a little but they would eventually restart their relationship. He was under the impression, and still is to this day, that he and Hermione are meant for each other and will one day get married. This belief is one of the reasons that Ron will not accept the fact that Hermione left and is happy without him. 

"I'll admit that I never expected her to leave for good--," Harry started, trying to delicately broach the subject to not hurt his friend unnecessarily. 

"Exactly! It's completely bonkers! I'm glad you finally agree." 

"Actually, I was going to say--"

"Now on to how I found her. It was completely brilliant, if I do say so myself, although I am a little upset that I didn't think of it earlier," Ron boasted. "I put a tracker on your owl right before Ginny sent off her last reply letter."

"You did what?!" Harry sat up in his chair, angry at his friend for violating his privacy like that. To be honest, Harry thought of putting a tracker on his owl right after Hermione left, but talked himself out of it. He knew she wouldn't forgive him for ignoring her wishes to stay hidden and he respected her request for privacy. He knew she was safe and that was all he needed. 

"Oh calm down Harry. It's okay that you didn't think of it first." 

"You do know that that's illegal Ron? You can't just put trackers on other peoples property." Harry glared at his friend. Ron just waved him off and shrugged his shoulders.