Parental Advisory
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter; I leave that to author, J.K. Rowling. Sometimes though I wished I owned Gred and Forge.
It had been a couple of days after the Second Battle of Hogwarts, but Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley found themselves on a plane.
"I don't see why we couldn't have apparated to Australia," Ron told Hermione.
Hermione looked over at him. "It's easier this way, Ron," Hermione said not wanting to go over the same ground again. "Trust me." She knew that he wouldn't ever completely understand it because he hadn't been raised in a Muggle would, but he tried his best for her and tried his very best not to argue the point.
Ron looked over at Hermione. "Are you worried that we won't find them?" he asked her.
Hermione started to deny it, but then nodded instead. It was no use hiding or covering up her feelings especially to someone who knew so well like Ron did.
Ron took her hand, and in some simple loving motions that she seen from him before, he lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles. "We'll find them," he said confidently for her sake. "If not, I think Kingsley has some connections to help us find them," he said.
"But hopefully it won't come to that," Hermione told them.
Ron nodded in understanding. He knew Hermione was determined to find her parents herself. "Do you have any ideas where we might find them?" Ron asked. "Sidney perhaps?"
Hermione nodded.
"Do you know exactly what the spell you cast?" Ron asked.
Hermione looked at him. "Ron," she said carefully trying not to loose her temper. "It was a memory modification charm. I know how to lift a charm."
"Oh, right," he said grinning knowing what her problem was. Ron sighed and tried to comfort her the best he could. "Hermione, it's okay to be scared and upset, but all I ask is to lean on me when you need it most. I'll be here when you need it."
Hermione looked at him and smiled. "Thank you," she said. "What about your family? Would they need help?"
Ron grinned at her. "Mom made practically pushed me out of the house," he told Hermione. "If Mom did that, she has everything under control plus I think she knew that I wanted to go with to go help find them."
"Are you sure with Fred's death and everything?" Hermione asked.
"Dad's there when she's ready," Ron said. "He seconded me coming with you. Everything will be okay, Hermione. Trust me. Both told me that you shouldn't be left alone."
Hermione nodded. "Okay," he said.
"I don't suppose you could tell my father how airplanes stay up in the sky," Ron told her thoughtfully as he thought about what Harry had told him a little while ago.
Hermione looked at Ron for a moment flabbergasted and then started laughing. "When we get back, I will," Hermione said. "Do you think since after the defeat of Voldemort that your sister and Harry will get back together?"
Ron hesitated for a moment. "Maybe," he said. "But that'd be up to them."
Hermione looked over at Ron. "You know there are only two people I can think of that can pull Harry out of the stage he is in," Hermione said. "It'll be interesting to see who it is."
Ron looked over at her. "Who?" he asked.
Hermione shook her head. "You know who they are, Ron," she said. "They are, after all, part of your family."
"Ginny and George," Ron said instantly.
Hermione nodded. "But my bet is on Ginny," she said.
Ron nodded. "How long does it take to get to Australia?" Ron asked her.
"We're about to find out," Hermione replied.
(Many Hours Later…)
"That was interesting flight," Ron said amazed how long they flew in the air.
Hermione grinned at him. "Much different than apparating, isn't it?" she asked him as they walked out of the airport in Sydney.
"Yeah, it is," Ron said. "So whenever you go flying do they always put on movies?"
Hermione nodded. "Mostly," she said.
"Huh," Ron said. "So how are we going to find your parents?"
Hermione looked at Ron thoughtfully. "Phone book," she said.
"What's that?" Ron asked.
Hermione sighed. "You're getting a lesson on Muggles," she told Ron as she walked to a cab. "Granger?"
The cabbie nodded. "Yes," the cabbie said and got out to attend to their luggage.
Hermione sighed and got in.
Ron looked at the cabbie and then at Hermione. He thought all this was fascinating and certainly would have a tale to tell his father, but he trusted Hermione enough to know what was going on. "So we're going to the hotel?" Ron asked her.
Hermione nodded. "It's not exactly going to be the Leaky Cauldron," she said. "You'll see."
"Then after we-" he paused to remember the word he gave her earlier "-check-in, we're going to go looking for your parents?" Ron asked.
Hermione nodded. "Yes," she said as the cabbie got back in. "I have some ideas about that."
The cabbie turned and looked at Hermione for a moment. "Do I know you?" the cabbie asked.
Hermione looked at the cabbie and shook her head. "I don't suppose you know a Wendell and Monica Wilkes?" she asked.
"Wendell and Monica Wilkes?" the cabbie asked. "Why do you want to know?"
Hermione bite her lower lip wondering if she should lie. "They are relatives of mine," Hermione finally said giving him partially the truth.
"Hermi-" Ron started and then gushed out a whoosh of wind when she elbowed him sharply, and then gave him a look that told him to stay quiet.
"I should've known you were relatives of Wendell and Monica," the cabbie said. "I picked them up at this very spot nearly a year ago. You have the look of Monica."
Hermione smiled at the thought of her mother. "Thank you," she said. "I don't suppose you could tell me where I can find them?"
"When they first came, they said that they're greatest ambition was to visit Australia," the cabbie said.
Ron saw that Hermione was on the verge of losing his temper and lifted his hand. "Cut with the chatter; we have news for Wendell and Monica," Ron told the cabbie. "It is very important that we find them. Now do you know where to find them or not?"
The cabbie turned his gaze to the unmistakable anger written all over Ron's face. "Uh…" the cabbie said. "They own their own inn. Actually, it's quite funny. You've got reservations at their inn."
"I don't see why you can't quit with the chatter and just drive us there," Ron said demandingly. "That is in your job description, isn't it?"
The cabbie turned in his seat, turned on the car, and drove off.
(Twenty minutes later…)
They arrived at the inn the cabbie was talking about. As Ron grabbed their luggage, Hermione paid the cabbie.
As they walked away from the taxi cab, Ron asked, "I don't suppose most cabbies are that annoying are they?"
Hermione shook her head. "He's just topped my list of the most annoying," she said. "We're still checking in, and then finding my parents." Hermione grinned and shook her head trying not to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Ron wanted to know.
"Innkeepers," Hermione said. "Out of any occupation my parents could've picked, it had to be innkeepers."
"Well, at least it wasn't that difficult to find them," Ron said. "But there's another question, are we going to modify all the muggles' memories who know your parents?"
Hermione shook her head. "No," she said as they walked up the check-in desk. "I have reservation under the name Granger."
The woman turned around. "Granger, you say?" the woman said.
When Hermione got a good look at the woman, she tried really hard not to gap at her own mother. "Uh," Hermione said. "Yes, Granger."
"Odd," Mrs. Granger said. "That name sounds vaguely familiar. Likely I've checked them in before."
You should, Hermione thought. It's been your name since you married Dad twenty years before. Hermione gave her a polite smile, and said, "Maybe you have."
"Wendell!" Mrs. Granger called. "We have guests."
Hermione and Ron looked at each other both trying not to laugh.
"Coming, dear!" Mr. Granger said from a far away room.
Mrs. Granger shook her head knowing what her husband was up to. "Forgive my husband," Mrs. Granger said. "He's a little scatterbrained. He thinks he messes with teeth, and not an inn."
Little does he know, Hermione thought, he does mess with teeth as you put it, Mum. "It's okay," Hermione said.
"Ah, guests," Mr. Granger replied. "What room am I taking them to?"
"Room one, dear," Mrs. Granger answered.
"And their name is?" Mr. Granger asked.
"Granger," Mrs. Granger said.
Mr. Granger turned to Hermione and Ron. "On your honeymoon?" Mr. Granger asked.
"I wish," Ron muttered under his breath.
"No," Hermione answered. "I'm looking for my parents."
"Hermione-" Ron said and then whooshed out a gust when Hermione elbowed his gut.
"Hermione Granger?" Mr. Granger said as he looked at Hermione with intense interest. "I'm not Wendell Wilkes. Oh, no, I'm not, and I'm not an innkeeper. I'm a dentist just like your beautiful mother." Mr. Granger looked over at Mrs. Granger.
Mrs. Granger put her hand over her mouth and the other on her heart. "Oh, Hermione Jean Granger," she said.
When Hermione smiled at her parents, Ron already knew that Mr. and Mrs. Grangers' memories were coming back to them without lifting the memory charm. Ron stepped a few feet away knowing that this was a private moment between father, daughter, and mother.
Mr. Granger ran toward his daughter and scooped her up into his arms. "I knew the moment we bought this wretched place, we weren't innkeepers," he said. "One time we had dentists come here, and for reasons already known, I thought that sounded familiar. It wasn't until that that boy said your name that my memory came flying back to me."
"I love you, Dad," Hermione told him as he set her down again, "and I'm sorry that I had to modify yours and Mum's memories. I made you do something that you didn't want to do."
Mrs. Granger walked over to her daughter and gave Hermione a hug. "We know why, honey," she said. "It's just that your father thinks it's his God given right to protect you." Mrs. Granger looked over at Ron. "I think that nice young man did a fine job of it this past year. Aren't you going to introduce us?"
"Yes, Mum," Hermione said as she walked over to Ron and wrapped her arms around him. "This is Ronald Bilius Weasley."
Ron, under the watchful eye of Hermione's parents, wrapped his own arms around him. "Nice to meet you again, Mr. and Mrs. Granger," he said.
"He's the one you told us about, right?" Mrs. Granger asked trying to keep her husband in check.
"Yes, Mum," Hermione said. "He's one of the two I talked about."
Mr. Granger sized up Ron as he kept his hands on his daughter, and that his daughter didn't seem to object. "Barbara, take our daughter in the sitting room while I talk to her boyfriend."
"Jack," Mrs. Granger warned.
"Barbara, I just want to talk to the young man," Mr. Granger told his wife. "You understand."
"Jack, just remember," Mrs. Granger said. "Come on, Hermione."
Ron looked at Mr. Granger curiously. "Go ahead, Hermione," he said and then whispered in her ear. "I can hold my own whether it's with a wand or not."
Hermione let go of Ron and went with her mother, but not without a backwards glance at Ron and her father. When mother and daughter got to the sitting room, Hermione crossed her arms. "What is Dad doing?" she asked.
"A father's right," Mrs. Granger said. "In fact, Grandpa made your father go through that."
"Then why is Dad making Ron go through that?" Hermione asked her mother furiously.
"I'm going to tell you what my mother told me, and I expect you to tell your daughter when she brings her boyfriend home," Mrs. Granger said. "Your father sees that Ron is taking you away from him."
"But that's ridiculous," Hermione said. "I have enough room in my heart for both of them."
Mrs. Granger smiled at her daughter's outburst. "That's the very same thing I told Grandma," she said. "You know what Grandma told me?"
"What did Grandma tell you?" Hermione asked.
"She told me that deep down that Grandpa knew that your father wasn't taking you away from him, but the fear crops up from every father who has a daughter in existence," Mrs. Granger said, "and no matter how hard the female species tries to will it away, it'll never stop."
"The male curse?" Hermione asked.
Mrs. Granger smiled. "If you want to call that," she said. "Your father won't hurt him. He saw how happy your Ron made you. Now tell me why you modified mine and your father's memories."
(Ron's P.O.V.)
The two men watched the ladies leave. "Mr. Granger," Ron began. "Before you hammer at me, like I know you will, let me just tell you that I'm in love with your daughter, and I intend to marry her when the time is right that is if she'll have me."
Mr. Granger looked at Ron intensely and then arched his eye. "Yes, you do," Mr. Granger said. "I can see that. You do know that's what I wanted to know, but how are you going to support her."
"I plan on getting a job at the Ministry of Magic as an Auror in the Auror Office," Ron said. "Hermione tells me that it is something like a police officer in the muggle world."
Mr. Granger nodded understanding. He knew some of the terms that Ron was telling him because Hermione seemed fit to explain what it is what just as Hermione would've explained vice versa for Ron.
"I may not have all the answers," Ron said, "but I will love, honor, and cherish as long as Hermione will love me. There's nothing I won't do for her."
Mr. Granger smiled at him. "You passed the test," Mr. Granger said. "I expect you do the same thing for your daughter."
To be honest, Mr. Granger," Ron said. "Hermione and I still have another at school because we were on the run all of this past year; we're not ready to get married let alone have children. Maybe five or six years down the road, but not now."
Mr. Granger nodded. "Good answer," he said.
