Chapter Text
The scribble of a frantic pencil echoed through the quiet study hall. The type of scribble that could only belong to the infamous Hermione Granger. One of the three saviors of the wizarding world. But she left that title behind when she decided to pursue literature at Princeton University, one of the most prestigious colleges in the United States.
It hadn’t been difficult for Hermione to get accepted to the college, mostly because of how much she studied for the entry exam. Muggle education wasn’t unknown to her because of her childhood.
The frantic scribbling came to a halt as the lead snapped off the pencil, it was followed by an involuntary groan which produced some annoyed glances in her direction. She didn’t give them much thought although part of her was embarrassed.
“Blasted pencil,” she scowls, grabbing her bag from off the ground.
She started to rummage through the messy bag. It was unlike her to be so disorganized but finals had taken a big toll on her mental well-being.
But with a turn of unfortunate events, the pencil sharpener was nowhere to be found. She huffed, a pounding headache already starting to form.
“You know what? Fine, I’ll finish it tomorrow.”
She neatly put the papers in her already stuffed folder and shoved it into her backpack. She would have to worry about that later, for now, she needed a coffee.
She dragged herself out of the study hall and took the well-worn path to the cafe. It seemed that almost every student made a habit to stop there at least once a day.
On the way, she made note of the nasty storm that was already starting to come through. She had heard that Princeton was supposed to be hit but she wasn’t sure of the severity. The unknown made her queasy as she opened the cafe door.
The pleasant aroma of fresh coffee hit her as she stepped inside. She took a deep breath, pushing down her anxiety and stress as she strode over to the counter.She already knew what she was going to get, her usual iced coffee.
When she first came to America she found the thought of cold coffee to be atrocious. How could someone drink such a concoction? But once she took a sip she fell in love. It had become her lifeline, especially on nights like this.
“Hello, just the usual iced coffee please,” she smiled pleasantly at the worker.
She had seen him almost every day for the whole year but didn’t even know his name. It was a shame, he was pretty cute.
“You got it,” he nodded, ringing it up. Once she paid and waited ever so patiently for it to be made, she all but sprinted back to her apartment. It started to sprinkle lightly as she opened her door.
“Thank Merlin I didn’t get caught in the rain,” she mumbled to herself.
She had been doing that a lot more recently than in the past. It might be from the lack of sleep or how isolated she was. It was most likely a combination of both.
As she walked past the mirror she couldn’t help but notice how miserable she looked. Her once curly and voluminous hair sat flat on her head, not even the frizz made it better. Her cheekbones looked sunken in and she had dark eye bags.
She sighed, not even bothering to do anything about it. All she wanted to do was sit down and watch some Television.
She walked around her couch and snuggled deeply into her pile of pillows and blankets. She was finally able to relax.
Shouldn’t have jinxed it.
As soon as she felt the tension in her body relax, something happened that would haunt her for years to come.
A man appeared from thin air right in front of her.
There was no noise or any sign of how he came to be in front of her. Time slowed as Hermione’s eyes widened, her reflexes had dulled and she wasn’t able to catch the man as he collapsed to the ground. Hermione snapped out of her daze.
“Bloody Hell,” she screamed, jumping up.
She knelt at the side of the man, checking his pulse. It was weak but was still there.
She breathed a sigh of relief, it would have been hard to explain how a dead man got into her apartment.
With the possibility of death out of the way she did a once-over of the unconscious man, he was on his stomach.
“Well that’s probably not comfortable,” she grunted, pushing him onto his back. What she saw chilled her blood.
It was Draco Malfoy.