Hermione had known where her parents were when she had went with Harry to defeat the Dark Lord. She hadn't wanted to know, but she did. In the back of her mind, she had worried that if she was found and interrogated, it might come up. The chances had been slim, but she had definitely overthought it. When Ron brought her to Australia to find her parents, she found it difficult. She walked up the front steps of her parents' rental house. There was a stone path that Hermione had to admit she found touching. She knocked on the door while Ron waited at the end of the drive. She had told him that she thought it might be best if she did it alone, but wanted him to be close by. She had considered not even knocking and just casting the spell to reverse their modified memories when they walked out of their home, but for some reason, a gut feeling stopped her. She waited patiently on the door step and tugged nervously at her sleeve. She looked over at Ron and he gave her a reassuring smile when she heard the door open. Hermione flicked her head back so quickly that she was surprised that she didn't crick her neck.

Hermione's mother stood there with green eyes pleasant. She smiled, but the look in her eye made it evident that she didn't recognize her daughter at all.

"Hello," she said with a friendly voice.

Despite the fact that her mother was being friendly, Hermione still felt immensely hurt by the look on her mother's face. When she originally modified their memories, she had managed to steal away quickly enough to not have to see this look. She suddenly had the intense desire to have done her original plan. As Hermione opened her mouth to say something, perhaps make her mother distracted enough to look away, a cry broke the near-silence from deep within the house. It was a cry of a baby.

Hermione smiled. "Do you have friends over?"

Mrs. Granger looked perplexed. "Oh no, that's our daughter. My husband and I – we waited until we were able to move here before having kids. We wanted to raise children here … it's always been our dream."

Hermione felt like a brick got dropped into her stomach. She managed to fake a smile, however. "Oh, that's lovely," she said.

"Would you mind holding on for a minute?" her mother asked. When Hermione nodded, her mother shut the door most of the way and disappeared into the house. Hermione heard her mother start talking to presumably her father.

When the door closed, Ron rushed up to Hermione.

"What's going on?" he asked, looking concerned.

"My mum and dad… they had a baby," Hermione said. She didn't meet Ron's eyes for several moments, and when she did, her eyes were glistening with tears. "What am I supposed to do? They have a daughter. Will they remember her when I fix their memories? Maybe I should…" she trailed off and wiped her eyes. "Maybe I should leave them with the life I gave them…"

"No, you have to fix it," Ron said an abruptly in a harsh tone.

Hermione was bothered by Ron not seeming to register the fact that Hermione just announced that her parents had another child while they were away. She wanted to argue, but knew her mother would be back soon.

"I… you're right," she admitted defeat rather quickly.

"Do you need me to do it?" he asked.

She shook her head. She didn't want to admit it to Ron, but she didn't want to put that sort of responsibility on him. She wasn't even sure if he had ever done this sort of magic before. Besides, if something went wrong, she would rather be the one whose fault it was rather than his. She couldn't put that sort of thing on him. It didn't take long before she heard footsteps, and when she did, Hermione pulled out her wand and pointed it. When the door re-opened, Hermione automatically said the spell, not giving herself room to hesitate. She felt so immensely guilty. The moment she lowered her wand, however, arms were being wrapped around her neck.

"Hermione!" her mother cried. Hermione hugged her mother back tightly. She didn't want to let go, she had missed her so much. However, when her mother did finally pull away, she looked at Hermione and then whispered, "Perdita."