Fic: Cold Hearts and Muddy Understandings
Pairings: Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger/Severus Snape
Rating: a cautious R
Timeline: Set in the aftermath of the Battle of Hogwarts. AU, in that Snape lives.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling.
Summary:
When the dust has settled; when the spent curses in the air have faded to a prickle; when the sounds of pain and terror whimper their way to silence-
When the battle is over, what happens next?
Hermione Granger has been active in the fight against evil since she was twelve years old. With victory comes the opportunity to take stock of the more ordinary aspects to her life. She can finally consider the choices that most young women get to make: lifestyle, career, romance.
But the trauma she has known has left its mark. And even before her life took a turn towards constant life-or-death, Hermione was far from ordinary. Her friends are looking to their own futures. Her parents don't remember her. Her surrogate family is in mourning. The Wizarding World has always viewed her as an outsider. Hermione realises she is, in many ways, alone.
It does not take long before she finds herself wishing fervently for the welcome distraction of another dark wizard. Life was so much simpler when priority number one was keeping Harry Potter alive...
Read the story on AO3:
Cold Hearts and Muddy Understandings