Short Stories and Oneshots

Taking Chances

Author: starrnobella

Platform: Fanfiction.net

Type: Harry Potter x OUAT

Taking a chance with a man she met on a plane while traveling for work, Hermione Granger finds herself looking forward to spending the holidays in Maine rather than dreading it because of work.

~

Hermione glanced down at the folder in her hands as she waited for the plane to take off. Storybrooke, Maine. It had to be a made up place after all, and the Minister just so happened to be off his rocker asking her to take up a case there. Not to mention the fact that he had asked her to take on this case, just days before Christmas/ What if she had already made arrangements to spend the holidays somewhere else other than London and now she was forced to be in a strange city all alone?

There was a piece of her that was certain that as soon as she landed in America, she'd receive an owl telling her it had all been a big mistake and she could return home on the next flight. Or at least that's what she was going to keep telling herself anyways.

She didn't mind flying on muggle planes, but at the same time, she wasn't keen on flying in general. However, at the moment it appeared that the seat beside her was empty, so maybe she'd be able to get a few winks of sleep before she had to start off to work. Something she knew would be difficult on a plane so close to Christmas. It appeared that everyone in London was planning to travel somewhere today based on the crowd in the airport.

Just as she was about to place her carry-on bag in the seat beside her to get ready for takeoff, a gentleman with a hook for a hand appeared beside her.

"Sorry, love, but I believe that seat is meant for me," he said, nodding at her bag in the empty seat.

Hermione just stared at him for a moment, caught entirely off guard by the lack of a hand. It was something she had never seen before, and that was certainly saying something. She was, after all, Hermione Granger, war hero.

"Did you hear me?" he asked, a dashing smile appearing on his lips.

"Oh, right," she mumbled, grabbing the straps of her bag and pulling it off the seat until it dropped on the ground. She kicked it under her seat and stood up to step out of the row, allowing the hook-handed man to take his seat. "Sorry about that. I was distracted by your hook."

He smiled and nodded his head as he moved past her into the row. "Most people are until they get used to it being there and then they don't seem to notice. I'm Killian Jones," he said, extending his hand. "And you are?"

Hermione looked at him for a moment and decided to take a chance, taking the hand offered to her and giving it a firm shake. "Hermione Granger. It's nice to meet you, Killian Jones."

"The pleasure is all mine, love," he replied, leaning back in his seat as the pilot came over the intercom to announce take off. Glancing over at her out of the corner of his eye, he smiled and crossed his arms over his chest.

Hermione leaned back in her seat and quirked her brow as she snuck a peek at him out of the corner of her eye. There was something about him that intrigued her, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what exactly it was. Maybe by the time they arrived in Maine, she would have figured it out.

Soon they were in the air, and the seatbelt light had been switched off. Taking a deep breath, Hermione leaned her head back in her seat and stretched her arms out to the side. Without meaning to, she bumped her hand into Killian's shoulder. She cursed under her breath as she watched him push his headphones off his ears and turned to look at her.

"Sorry about that," she mumbled, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I didn't mean to hit you."

"That's alright," he replied, smirking at her sheepish nature. "I thought you were just trying to get my attention for some odd reason."