Forget About Me
(Disclaimer: I have no business connection with HARRY POTTER. My only purpose in writing this story is to have fun and maybe share it)
(Author's note: this story is set shortly before the beginning of DEATHLY HALLOWS. It fleshes out the account Hermione told Harry and Ron about protecting her parents)
Hermione was sitting in her bedroom at her parents' house, getting jittery. She had always been able to grasp nearly all the implications of a given problem, and while this was a great help in school, it was a problem when faced with adversity. She always foresaw the worst possibilities before she even got started. And in the current situation there were a lot of awful possibilities.
Harry quoted Dumbledore as saying that the quest for Horcruxes must be done in absolute secrecy; even their friends mustn't know what they were doing or why. If word ever got back to Voldemort that his enemies knew about the talismans and were hunting them down, he would take immediate action to put them beyond reach. The trio may have to stay out of all contact with society for months, and that meant laying up supplies ahead of time. At the same time they couldn't let themselves be weighed down with luggage. Fortunately, Hermione was 17 now and could work magic without setting off alarms at the Ministry for Magic, which would definitely come in handy. Hermione had heard of charms that could hide away bulky goods and retrieve them when needed; if she could attach a charm like that to her handbag-?
"Minnie?" came her mother's voice from the hall.
"In here, Mum."
Her mother came in the room with a large carrying bag. "I did it, Minnie. Had them close out your Building Fund and give me all the proceeds in cash. The banker thought it very odd, but I was a signatory on the account and he couldn't refuse the request. It's all in this bag."
Yes, that was one of the first strategies Hermione had thought of, and she had gotten it out of some Muggle books. Always pay cash, don't leave a paper trail. It made sense, really, in both Muggle and Wizard worlds..
Hermione tried to make a joke of it. "At least you didn't have to deal with a goblin banker in Gringotts. They HATE it when people make withdrawals."
Mum didn't look amused. "I hope you understand how tight the financial situation will be, Minnie. As 'Granger and Granger' your father and I run a very good dental practice, but if we're using assumed names in Australia, we won't be able to prove we have licenses."
"At least we'll be safe."
Her mother shook her head in wonder. "When that nice Professor Dumbledore visited six years ago and explained about Hogwarts, I was fascinated with the Wizarding World. It was like learning that Narnia or Middle-Earth really existed, or Oz. But if we had known then what we know now, I don't know if we would have agreed to let you get involved. Dumbledore murdered! At least you'll be out of the danger now."
Hermione suppressed a qualm at that last sentence. Her parents had finally agreed to her idea of moving to Australia in disguise to evade Voldemort and his Death Eaters, but there was one element of the plan she had not revealed yet: she would not be with them.
"It's too bad you had a falling-out with that nice boy who was giving you computer lessons last summer," her mother continued. "You might have gotten more used to living as a 'Muggle'."
Another qualm, because she had given her mother a bowdlerized account of the "falling-out". She had gone riding with George, when something went wrong and she nearly fell off her horse at high gallop. One of the Weasleys had been on the spot and cast a spell that let her land on the ground gently, but unfortunately George had seen the magic. The Ministry had covered the indiscretion by using an "Obliviate" spell and erasing his memory of her, and after that it was impossible to keep up the courtship. She just told her mother that she and George had had a spat.
"We can't turn the clock back, Mum." Actually Hermione had, once, but it was no longer in her power. "Could we not talk about it?"
"I'm sorry I brought it up, Minnie. Well, I'll go down and start dinner."
I'm the one who ought to be sorry, thought Hermione as she sat alone. I hate lying to Mum and Dad; how did it get started? The very first year, when I sort of failed to mention confronting Cerberus, the guard dog from Hell, while trying to find the Philosopher's Stone. And it's just going to get worse.
She tried to distract herself from guilt by experimenting with magic. She took her beaded handbag, a birthday gift from Muggle friends, and tried to put the Extension Charm on it. In theory anything thrust into the handbag would go to – she wasn't entirely sure where – but could be retrieved by the "Accio" spell. At first she put in junk, stuff that she wouldn't miss if they did stay in limbo forever. When she was confident of the retrieval, she started putting in the cash that her mother had brought. She made a mental note to warn Harry, whose family had left him a lot of money in Gringotts, that he ought to cash out as well. Maybe Bill and Fleur, who worked at the bank and were thoroughly loyal to Harry, could help him do it quietly. People would be watching Harry.
Hermione heard her father's car arriving outside. She knew that he had been working at the dentists' office for part of the day, but also had an errand of his own. It was almost time for dinner. Hermione picked up her wand from the dresser, in case she needed to disguise any of the weird stuff her parents were bringing in.
At first they simply sat and ate dinner, and tried to act like a normal family. Then her father got out his briefcase.
"I met that man from Downing Street, Mr. Shacklebolt. I don't know how he did it, but he gave me some very convincing documents. They identify me as Mr. Wendell Wilkins, and your mother as 'Monica'".
Hermione nodded. Kingsley Shacklebolt was one of the few wizards who lived regularly in the Muggle World; his job was to protect Britain's Prime Minister from magical attack. He understood all about Muggle documents, and had the wizardry to create them.
"There's one odd thing," Dad went on. "I had told them that you were going to go under the name 'Joanne', Minnie. But he only gave me these two papers, for your mother and me."
It was time to be open. "Mum – Dad – I'm afraid I won't be going with you."
"WHAT?" both parents exclaimed, sounding a little angry.
"I'm not going to Australia. I'm staying in the UK. Harry needs me."
"But you told us it was dangerous to stay in the country – even for us, your parents!"
"It's a risk I've got to take."
"Is Mr. Shacklebolt going to be protecting you?"
"Um, no." Kingsley had understood the importance of getting her parents out of the country, but they had told him nothing of the Horcrux angle.
"Somebody else to guard you? Not the girl with the punk hair, is it?"
"No, Tonks has other tasks."
"Who is going to protect you, then?"
It occurred to Hermione later that she should have made up a name, an imaginary bodyguard to reassure her parents. But at the moment she was on a truth-telling spree.
"We'll protect ourselves."
"We?"
"Harry, Ron, and me."
Her parents gasped. "You can't be serious, Minnie. Three teenagers alone, two of them boys! Just wandering around the country alone will be dangerous enough. To do it with those demons searching for you - no, we can't allow it."
"Mum – Dad – forget about me. Keep yourselves safe."
"We cannot just 'forget about' you! We have an obligation to stand by our daughter when she's in danger!"
"But you can't recognize magical dangers the way I can. It's best for you to be away."
"No. It's best for the family to stand together," said Dad. "We're not going to be Mr. and Mrs. Wilkie, hiding in Australia. We'll be the Grangers, standing together." He picked up the faked documents from Kingsley. "I'm going to tear these up."
"No!" Hermione didn't know if Kingsley could replace them.
"Yes! Do it!" shouted Mom.
Things had gotten thoroughly out of hand, and Hermione could think of only way to stop it. Snatching her wand out of her jeans, she cried "Obliviate!"
. . . . . . . . .
An hour later, as the sun set, Hermione was still standing on the pavement outside her house. All of her worldly possessions were in her Bottomless Handbag. She loathed herself. What sort of child would put a curse on her parents?
There was a place to go – the Weasleys would always give her refuge at the Burrow. (At the back of her mind she remembered a melancholy quote – "Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in") But she could not draw herself away from the Granger residence, even though she no longer had a place there.
She had thought first of simply redoing the conversation, being more careful what she told her Mum and Dad. But the revelation would have to come out at some point or other. It was better to keep the amnesia spell working and supply a few false memories. He parents were already prepared to impersonate a Mr. and Mrs. Wilkie, going to Australia. The difference now was that they believed the story, with one new modification. The Wilkies had no daughter.
Hermione saw her mother walk out the front door on some errand. She stared at Hermione. "Hello, Miss? Can I help you?"
Hermione realized she looked suspicious, just standing there, given that this wasn't supposed to be her house. "Ah, I was out for a stroll, ma'am, and ran out of breath. Had to stop a minute."
"Well, you had better get home before dark, miss. Even this town isn't too safe at night. A lot of odd goings-on, these days."
"Thank, you, Mu- Ma'am."
Mum nodded and went back into the house, having given the stranger the proper advice. Hermione dashed away, and not only in response to Mrs. Granger's advice. She didn't want anybody to see her crying.
THE END
(Author's Note: The episode with the horse is from a prior story I wrote, called HERMIONE ON HOLIDAY)
(Author's Note: The "Home is the place" quote is by Robert Frost)
(Author's Note: Although Rowling never says so explicitly, the description of "Fluffy" in THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE matches the ancient myth of Cerberus, the watchdog of Hell. I had Hermione make the connection)