It may be an overdone idea, but I put my own weird twist on things and it got me out of learning fluent Spanish (which I'm really behind on). You can like my facebook page (guitar-goddess16) for update notices and for possible upcoming stories.
Hermione stared at Harry who stood in front of her. His black hair was as disheveled as always and his face smooth since he just shaved. But she wasn't as composed as him. She was nervous, body shaking and thoughts racing, leaving her body miles back with Harry. "Are you sure you're ready to do this?" Harry asked. His green eyes softened but they still pierced Hermione's. How was it possible for someone to have eyes like that? And if his mother really did have eyes like his, how did James ever say no to her? How could he ever disagree or stand up for himself. Hell, who was she kidding? How could you even want to do either while looking into eyes like that?
"Yes," Hermione's shaking voice gave away her true feelings. She didn't know if she was ready to do this. Her mind and heart were telling her two different things. She felt torn into so many different pieces. It was the most painful experience, and yet, it was exhilarating. "We need to."
"A lot of things could go wrong," Harry reminded her. "What if you aren't ready? What happens then, Hermione?" His eyes bore deeper into hers, "You can't just forget about it." She shook her head. She knew very well that things like this couldn't be taken back. It was a fact. And being as smart as she was, she knew very well about facts.
"I have to be ready," She said more to herself than to him, "I've put this off for too long. I have to do this." They were talking about finding her parents of course. They were currently in Australia without any previous memories. Now that the war was won, she saw it fit to try to retrieve them. They would no longer be in danger and she desperately missed them.
"It's just going to be us," Harry reminded her. How could she forget? Ron decided to stay home with his family. They were having a hard time coping with their loss of their beloved Fred. That, and things had been very awkward for them. Between mourning, rebuilding, and everything else, their romance hadn't jumpstarted. She figured it never would now that it had been postponed for so long. So, needless to say, things would be better if they avoided each other for a little while, especially on difficult trips like these.
"I know," Hermione replied, "I'm okay with that as long as you are." In fact, she was more than okay with it. She and Harry had traveled alone for a while. They weren't under the best circumstances but nevertheless alone. She had started to really enjoy being alone with Harry. He was easier to be around than Ron. He was more level headed yet still had a temper, smart enough to challenge her but and not dense enough to annoy her, and just overall more pleasant.
"Brilliant," Harry half smiled. "I guess you already have everything planned out, knowing you." Hermione glared at him and he quickly corrected himself, "Not that it's a bad thing!" Hermione smiled. She knew he wasn't serious but it was still rather funny to see him stress about it.
"All is forgiven," Hermione grabbed her small beaded bag that already contained everything they could possibly need, and probably some things they would never need. Some habits would never die it seemed. "I in fact do have a plan. Remember that private investigator you hired for me?" Harry nodded his head. Hermione was still sore about this part. She told Harry straightforward that she could handle this herself but he insisted on helping. "Well, he got a hit in a small town. They visit a café every Saturday morning."
"It's Friday night," Harry raised his eyebrows. He knew where this was going. Hermione probably had this planned out for months and just now telling him. He couldn't really complain though, she did do all the hard work. "I'm assuming you want to go find them tomorrow."
Hermione's eyes were downcast. Of course she wanted to be there by tomorrow morning! She had put this off long enough and now she knew exactly where they were. How could he expect her to wait any longer? These were her parents after all. "Yes."
"And you have a way to correct their memory?" Harry asked skeptically. Hermione nodded as if it should be obvious. "And you feel safe doing it?"
"Harry, look who you're talking to," Hermione huffed, "I already had to wipe their memories. If I was brave enough to do that, I should be brave enough to restore them. I read a book about it. It should be perfectly safe if all goes well." In all actuality, she was more nervous about this part. She was desperate the last time she cast a spell upon them. She knew she had to in order to save them. Her instincts were there to guide her. This time, the urgency wasn't there. It was just her and her mind. She hoped that it would be enough for this.
"So you've made up your mind then?" Harry sighed. It was more of a statement than a question though. He knew Hermione would be persistent about the issue since she had put if off so long already. And what could he really do but back up his best friend?
"Of course I have," Hermione said. "I'm going. You can either stay here with Ronald or go with me to Australia. It's quite simple." She was hoping he wouldn't agree to stay with Ron. Hermione didn't want to admit it, but she didn't want to go on this trip alone. Honestly, after the war, she didn't want to have to do anything alone. There was just something about being alone that didn't appeal to Hermione like it did before Hogwarts.
"Of course I'm going with you," Harry snorted as if any other option was ridiculous. "I need to pack…"
Hermione nodded, "I was going to pack for you but you were still asleep this morning and I didn't want to intrude." She blushed for some odd reason. "Here," She handed him her beaded bag, "Just put what you need in there. It won't be a long trip. Only a day or two if things go bad."
Harry nodded and took the bag. Harry had been staying in a flat while cleaning out Sirius's house. Hermione had been helping him but stayed in a flat next to him. All they needed was the prophet to have a new scandal.
Hermione thought better of her choice and took her bag back so Harry began to throw his belongings to Hermione who organized them into her bag perfectly. "When do you plan to leave?" Harry asked as he handed her his toiletry bag.
"We can leave right now, after you pack, then we have an hour to find the café, which shouldn't be hard, and get them." She paused, "Make sure you account for the weather change."
"You do realize it's quite late," Harry interrupted her rant, "That doesn't make sense, Hermione."
"Time change," Hermione shook her head, "Honestly, Harry, it wouldn't kill you to think a little. There's a ten hour difference. With all that accounted for, we will make it there in perfect time."
"And you're sure you have the correct town?" Harry checked again. All he needed was faulty information to make Hermione's head go through the roof. And upset Hermione wasn't exactly a good one. Hermione nodded in agreement.
"Then what are we packing for if what?" Harry asked.
"Just in case; things do go wrong quite often for us," Hermione put her bag around her neck and continued to ramble like she does when she gets nervous, "I have a portkey set up, it's safer than apparating with them. Besides, it might take a while to get them alone to fix their memory. We very well can't pull our wands out in the middle of a café. I'm not sure that would look good for any of us." Harry stopped her ramblings with a raised hand.
"Just lead the way, All-Knowing-One."
...
"This is the place," Hermione said staring at the cafe across the road from them. It wasn't anything extravagant. There was a section where you could sit outside and glass windows framed the inside. It looked rustic and out of date. There were already people sitting outside and eating.
"It's…quaint," Harry commented. That wasn't to say it as bad. It was just different from what he was used to. "They should be here soon, right?" Harry was skeptical at the least. Hermione seemed over prepared. They had clothes, supplies and money to last at least a week. Hermione already booked them a hotel room and mapped out the entire area. Harry assumed she was just nervous and had to get her mind off things. And planning was her outlet.
"Yes, quite," Hermione agreed as they moved into the café to be seated. Harry could tell she was distracted. Her eyes were analyzing and scanning the room. He could see her fingering her wand that was in her sleeve. Again, some habits would never die after all they went through.
Harry ordered them both a coffee and they waited for her parents to make their appearance. He didn't understand why they came to this café every Saturday morning. He would never want to do something so repetitious. He would feel trapped by doing something like this. It wasn't as if the place was amazing or attractive. From what he could see, the food didn't look any more appetizing than the food he is accustomed to seeing.
"You can't figure out why they come here either?" Hermione asked after the waiter brought them their coffee.
"No," Harry shook his head after taking sip of the strong drink, "It doesn't make much since. Did they do things like this before?"
Hermione shook her head. "It's strange. We were pretty well off since my parents were dentists. To my knowledge, they never even visited places like this back home. I could understand if they did something they used to, even if they couldn't remember anything. But this…"
Harry nodded. This couldn't be right, could it? He sighed and concluded that he was letting his old habits of paranoia get the better of him. Things were different now. They sacrificed more than enough to make that happen. Couldn't he at least reap the benefits of that? A sound mind would be lovely right about now.
Twenty minutes passed with no sign of the Grangers. Then another twenty minutes. Hermione and Harry both sighed as they paid for their coffee. This turned out to be a fluke and they both knew it though neither would admit it. Together, they walked out the shop and began making their way to the hotel they would be staying at.
"I'm sorry for wasting your time, Harry," Hermione said. Even though she had on what Harry would describe as a brave face, her voice couldn't hide her disappointment. Harry knew Hermione well enough to know that she didn't want comforting words. He just took her hand as they continued walking. Harry wasn't one for the sort of thing, especially in public, but he was sure he could make an exception for Hermione.
…..
After they got to the hotel, Hermione spent two hours in the bathroom. Thirty of those minutes were spent sitting under the water of the shower. To say she was upset was a vast understatement. She spent so long preparing for this trip, planning every word she would say to them, and determining every single way things could possibly go.
But she didn't prepare for this.
She never assumed they wouldn't show. Even though it could be a number of things, Hermione only say it as one thing: her parents, even subconsciously, didn't want to see her, much less forgive her. The idea was preposterous, yes, but she didn't know how else to look at it. Even though her parents had no memory of her, they knew deep down they were ashamed of her and should stay the hell away from that café they loved so much.
Hermione eventually coped with this idea, as well as many others, and made her way out of what was her safe haven. She didn't want Harry to know this but she rented the room because she was afraid she wouldn't be able to go back home where people she knew would be if things went wrong.
"Hermione?" Harry asked quietly. He had been sitting on one of the beds the entire time waiting for her to come out of the bathroom. And seeing her with bloodshot eyes and pale skin, he wasn't sure he was prepared to face her. Girls were hard enough for Harry to handle and tears crossed every line. Even if it was Hermione, nothing made him more uncomfortable than a crying girl. But he swore he would try for Hermione if it came to that.
"I'm sorry, Harry," She sat down next to him and took in a long, labored breath. She didn't know what to say. All of her thoughts were ridiculous. Who in their right mind would get upset about this? Yes, that had to be what he was thinking. She was an idiot.
In reality, somewhere Hermione was actually having trouble reaching for once, Harry was thinking of a way to handle this situation without setting her off into a manic depression. He didn't want to see her retreat back into the bathroom again. This was a sensitive subject after all. "We can always try next week. They may have been busy or been under the weather."
She sighed. Why couldn't she see it that way? She jumped to the worst possible conclusion…a very illogical one at that. "Next week?" Hermione asked hopefully.
"Yes, and the week after that if we have to," Harry put his hand on top of hers and give it a gentle squeeze, "Or we can find them ourselves. They have to live close by. And if we do find their house, it would create less of a scene for other muggles and make whatever you have to do easier."
Hermione's eyes got misty again and Harry held his breath. Oh, now he's done it. He said something wrong and now she's going to cry! "Oh Harry!" Hermione threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder.
Harry had no idea what was going on. He thought he was helping the situation and apparently he was only making it worse. "What's wrong?" Harry asked hoping she didn't hear the tenseness in his voice.
"I'm just so glad you came along, I would be a sure mess if you didn't," Harry took that in for a moment. Hermione Granger, the person who should be called She-Who-Knows-All and She-Who-Needs-No-Help, just admitted she needed Harry here. Maybe a crying girl wasn't so bad at all… "And I think finding their home would be a great idea. We can pretend we're a part of some religion and we'll be invited in. Mom has a soft spot for people pursuing a cause."
Harry couldn't help but think of the family he was stuck with all those years and how they would shun away anyone imposing on them. They had no time to listen to radicals trying to brainwash them. "You always have a plan," Harry laughed quietly. He knew all was well if Hermione could think her way through a problem.
And after one night of planning and rest, Hermione and Harry made their way to the Granger's residence. Finding it was easy, Hermione just had to Google their name and the city and she found their address. It was a very good thing that Death Eaters thought they were above "muggle contraptions".
"Okay, just remember the plan," Hermione muttered to herself, "This can't go wrong. These are you parents on the line. Don't mess things up…"
Harry let her go up the steps first and let her knock on the door. She said she would do most of the talking and Harry couldn't be finer with that. He hadn't attended church a day in his life and had no idea what people like this would say. "You've got this Hermione," Harry whispered from behind her.
She nodded and raised her hand to knock on the door. She could see her hand shake but brushed off her fears and knocked twice on the door before her. Harry and Hermione tensed as they waited for someone to open the door but no one came. Hermione was beginning to worry again and felt for her wand.
Harry was doing the same behind her, waiting for something to happen. But once again, nothing came. "Maybe we should go inside and check things out," Harry suggested. He saw Hermione take in a deep breath and open the door. It was unlocked.
She stepped inside with her wand at the ready.
The house was nothing special but what stuck out was the stale smell. No one had been here in a while. Harry pressed his hand into her back as they made their way through the house. They had been in so many dangerous situations but nothing compared to this. Her parents were on the line. This changed everything.
Hermione, followed by Harry, made her way into the dusty kitchen. It was perfectly clean. There were no dishes sitting out, no food rotting on the counter, and no signs of struggle anywhere. Either they left for a vacation or someone cleaned up a mess behind them.
Hermione glanced at the one object out of place: a simple teacup. It couldn't be a coincidence. She reached out to grab it… "Are you sure that's a good idea?" Harry asked. His hand moved to her shoulder and was a warning.
Hermione brushed off any reasoning Harry could've given. Her parents were at stake. Nothing was a bad idea anymore. And as soon as her fingers brushed the cup, they were both torn away from the kitchen.
…..
As soon as the world stopped spinning, Harry had his wand pointed and his body angled in front of Hermione's. His eyes scanned the room for anyone and anything that could be a danger. He knew she shouldn't have picked up that cup! It screamed obvious! But now that they were here, Harry was determined to get them both out alive and destroy the person behind this.
The room around them was small and had a table in the middle. A single light bulb lit up the dingy room. Harry saw only one door and there were no windows. And there was no one in sight.
"I was wondering when you'd come for your dear parents," A voice almost laughed. Harry was sure if he could see a face, it would be smirking. "They were so worried about you."
Just as Harry was about to demand for this coward to show himself until they pulled off their invisibility cloak. Harry may have vaguely recognized him but he couldn't place his face. "What did you do with my parents?" Hermione demanded.
The man smirked and pulled his wand out, "It's a delightful story really. You know we aren't that stupid, Mudblood." Harry was shaking with rage but Hermione gripped his arm, a warning that said 'shut up until I figure something out'. He moved closer to the two but made no attempt to disarm them or curse them. He was playing a game.
"You see, I worked for the Dark Lord, you know, the man you killed?" The man said darkly. His steely eyes narrowed at Harry, "We were going to take out your precious mudblood and her family but we seemed to be too late. But we did find them." His smirked widened and his eyes darkened, "And that was a nice little trick you pulled there, wiping their memories. It didn't take long to reverse that with the Dark Lord."
"The war's over, give me my parents back," Hermione said. Her eyes were trained on the man in front of her, the kidnapper of her parents. "You have nothing to fight for now. It's over."
"Quite the contrary," He snapped, "I have plenty to fight for. I do need to avenge my Lord. I'm not alone either."
Hermione's grip on Harry's arm tightened. He flinched. She was holding on to his wand arm and if it came down to a fight, he didn't have time to waste prying her hand from him. He didn't want to jerk away but he tried to be subtle until…
He felt five taps on his arm, then four, then three…
She was counting down! He gripped his wand tighter. She had a plan after all! And at the last tap of her finger, she let him go and they both stunned the man in front of him. Three more men ripped off their cloaks but Harry pushed Hermione behind the table and gave themselves a few seconds.
Two of the masked men tried to surround them but Harry pushed the table at them as Hermione stunned the other. Two more stuns later and they were sprinting out the door through the house. "Do you have a plan?" Harry asked hopefully.
"I'm just winging it," Hermione admitted as they tried to figure out where they were. They saw a set of stairs and figured it was a good of an idea as any. Together they ran up and rounded a corner. "It's too quite. You'd think they'd have some sort of alarm after we left the room we arrived in."
"Hopefully they're just stupid," Harry said. Down this hallway, there were only two doors. "One is probably Death Eaters and the other your parents, knowing our luck."
"Let's hope we choose the right one," Hermione said as she reached for the door on the left. Harry held his breath as the door swung open silently.
Inside sat two pale, dirty, graying adults.
"Mum! Dad!" Hermione whispered/yelled as she ran towards them. Harry stood behind her waiting for some trap to spring. "I can't believe we found you! We have to get you out of here. These people are insane!" she tried to help her mother up.
"Insane are we?" Her dad laughed. But was it her dad? He was removing a necklace and then…his entire appearance changed. Where her parents just sat were two of them.
Hermione dropped her mother and stumbled back into Harry. They were under glamour! They must have been the ones who went to the café. They were just baiting them after they found out about a private investigator watching them. All four had wands drawn before the door burst open revealing more Death Eaters. Maybe they had underestimated their numbers before. Maybe ol' Voldemort would make sure he didn't go out without a few fights. But there was more…wasn't there always? Not only were they surrounded by people who wanted them dead, but they just threw two people into the room that looked much worse than the glamour version of them: the Grangers.
Hermione tried to tear her eyes away from them but she only found tears forming. She couldn't look away. From the looks of it, they had been tortured for weeks and only given the bare minimum to survive.
The only logically way to deal with this was to go out with a big bang. Hermione could count and the odds weren't good. It was twelve to two with two innocent people sitting in the crossfire. The odds of landing a shot without harming her parents was low. There was only so much they could do.
Harry could also see this. And he knew what he had to do. He had cheated death so many times and survived a killing curse twice. He was ready to die once but was given another chance. Maybe this was why… "You can kill me but you have to let them go," Harry told them.
Many of them snorted as this was expected behavior of the Boy-Who-Lived. "I was the one who killed Voldemort. It's a fair trade."
The former servants of the Dark Lord looked pretty pleased with this notion. But Hermione wouldn't stand for it. Words may have failed her but she conveyed enough with one stare at Harry. He had such a hero complex. He had to save everyone! But didn't he know that this was something he couldn't fix with dying?
"We reject your offer, Potter," One of them actually laughed. Hermione and Harry were disarmed and found themselves hit by a body binding curse. "But we will take the both of you. The Dark Lord would be disappointed if we only killed one of you."
"You're lord is dead!" Hermione yelled.
This was too much for two of them to take. Harry heard "Crucio," yelled simultaneously. He prepared himself for the torture to come but he never received it. They were only going to punish Hermione for the outburst. At the same time.
Hermione's scream flashed Harry back to the night they were captured in the forest… "No!" he protested. But his body bind stopped him from helping Hermione and killing the two who were torturing her. He struggled until he saw red and felt his stomach drop. This was the end. They survived seven years of total chaos to be killed during reconstruction.
Harry put out on last attempt and heard something along the lines of "You will not hurt my masters!" Harry could make out a shape almost like Dobby before blackness fell on him. At least he died with the hope for Hermione and her parents. Even if it was just a vision.
But if Harry would have known it wasn't all a vision and that a certain little elf had come with help, he would have stayed awake for the show.
….
Harry knew that the Grangers had a long way to go before fully recovering, mentally and physically. But despite the torture the Grangers had to endure for information on their daughter and Harry Potter, Hermione would probably be the last to recover. Winky was doing great. She was happy to service the "Great Harry Potter" so she said. Harry and Hermione both got over the fact that she could have died when she said she also did it because Dobby would have been very upset if she let his favorite person die…again. Harry was so moved by the gesture that he got over his anger and didn't even get mad when he found out Winky had been following them out of concern. Even though Hermione was still a bit upset about Winky risking her life, she gritted her teeth and fought back the urge to reprimand the elf. Harry knew Hermione was just upset. Harry knew what it was like to take the blame for something that was ultimately out of his control. It was worse than any curse. It hurt worse than any hex. Love was a curious thing. And it made people do even more curious things. And when those curious things backfired, it all hit the fan.
Hermione wasn't taking things as well as her parents and they were all grateful Harry was there to help her along. It was a good thing Harry had learned to deal with girls or he'd have a very angry Mr. Granger to deal with since Hermione would only confide in Harry. He wanted nothing but the best for his daughter who sacrificed so much for them, even if the results weren't those expected and looked to Harry to help his daughter become herself again. And Hermione was getting better despite Harry's nervousness with Mr. Granger. Harry was convinced her father would barge in one day and demand to know how sharing a bed and a flat contributed to any part of Hermione's "healing process".
When Harry voiced his fears to Hermione she would only laugh (a great sign for her) and pull Harry into a hug. And she would always say the same, most un-Hermione-ish thing ever, "What's life without taking some chances?"
During this whole trip, if Harry learned one thing at all (and he knew he better because Hermione probably expected a foot of parchment explaining what he learned after she was herself again after she was herself again after she was herself again) it was one thing:
Sometimes, we all need to take a chance.
I believe this is my longest one shot yet. And my last one of the year. Thanks for reading! Happy New Years everyone! Reviews are welcome!