One Year Later
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, but I wouldn't mind having them over for tea…
Note: I got some really nice feedback for "Six Years Later." Thanks. I know this seems like some sort of stand alone. But I think eventually it's going to all come under a series of stories about the missing 19 years told from different perspectives. Was tons o'fun to write. I hope you enjoy it!!
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King's Cross was bursting with activity. Muggles everywhere, rushing on and off trains, trying to get from place to place in the shortest time possible. Controlled chaos. Everything was just as Hermione remembered, and yet everything felt foreign. She felt as if she was beginning her journey to Hogwarts for the first time. The knots in her stomach, the slight tremble in her hands, the cold sweat running down her back.
As she stepped on to Platform Nine and Three Quarters, she could hear the excited chatter of Hogwarts students and their parents. She could easily tell which ones were incoming first years, mainly by their size, but also the looks on their faces that mirrored her own. Hogwarts, going back to Hogwarts, she thought.
Behind her, she could hear Ron grunting as he pushed an overburdened trolley, sagging under the weight of two large trunks, assorted small boxes, an overly energetic caged owl, and a broomstick. His face was red from the effort of trying to keep everything just properly balanced. Slow and steady, slow and steady, she heard him mutter under his breath.
Now, Hermione considered herself a very independent young woman. She was more than capable of handling her own belongings. But when Ron had insisted on pushing her trunk for her ("Look, this is what boyfriends do. 'Kay?") she had been momentarily gob smacked by the show of chivalry that she'd agreed.
Behind Ron came an equally red-faced, grunting Harry, with his own suffering trolley, and a step behind him was Ginny, trying her hardest to keep from laughing. "Oh c'mon Hermione," Ginny had said on the way over to the station. "Those boys are a form of entertainment in their own right. Let them be."
"What's in this thing? It's, it's…" Ron was unable to finish his sentence due to the lack of oxygen caused by heavy lifting.
"You do realize, we have this funny thing called magic right?" Hermione reminded him, to the amusement of not only Harry and Ginny, but also a handful of eavesdropping first years.
"Right right," Ron said, as he took out his wand. He continued, "Still what's in it? The Sydney Opera House?" At which point, Harry broke out laughing, accidentally dropping Ginny's levitating trunk on his foot.
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After two months of rest and recuperation at the Weasleys', Hermione finally felt emotionally prepared to face her parents in Australia. She was terrified of what she would find. Worried that after almost a year, they might actually, truly have forgotten about her existence. How in the world do you tell complete strangers that they were in fact your parents?
She did not want to go alone, but was too afraid to ask anyone else to accompany her. Too guilty. As much as she wanted Ron by her side, she knew that he needed time to heal with his family. He had barely spent any time with them over the last year, and to ask him to travel half way around the world, even if it were for a few days, just seemed too… too much to ask. And well, Harry would want to be with Ginny after months of separation.
So when she had announced her plans at dinnertime that night, everyone's enthusiasm came as a surprise.
"I'm coming with you," Ron stated.
"Us too," Harry and Ginny replied simultaneously.
"Geez, you lot have been spending too much time together," Ron laughed.
Hermione almost jumped for joy at the support. And to her, and everyone else's, surprise, Mr. Weasley spoke up.
"You know, maybe we should come too. I mean we could do with a bit of…" he paused, looking embarrassed. "Distraction."
Hermione half suspected he had intended to say 'fun,' but had stopped himself. Sometimes, she felt that way too. That as she was starting to laugh, to let loose a little, the guilt would set in. They had only buried those closest to them a mere two months ago. Having fun just seemed illegal. And as she observed the distracted looks on everyone's faces, she knew they felt the same way too.
"We, we could go," Mrs. Weasley whispered. "I mean no one else will be here, Bill's back at Shell Cottage and Charlie's in Romania. Percy's in London… and George…" She stopped. And George refuses to leave the shop no matter what anyone else says.
"That settles it then," Ron exclaimed, a little too animatedly, a little too loudly, breaking the heavy silence. "We'll pack tonight, head down to Simply Magical Tours tomorrow and get ourselves a connection to Australia."
When they got to Sydney, Australia, Hermione was in for a greater surprise. What she imagined as the hardest part of the trip had turned out to be much easier than expected. In fact, the biggest problem they had encountered was trying to stop Mr. Weasley from taking a part of the Sydney Opera House as a souvenir. ("Just a slab, Molly. No one will miss it.") And coming in at a close second was when they had caught Mr. Weasley trying to hide a kangaroo in his trunk. ("But such interesting creatures!" "And what would you do with it Arthur? KEEP IT AS A PET IN YOUR SHED?")
Relocating and giving her parents their memories back, Hermione marveled, was so easy. Upon arrival at the Granger's house, they were not only greeted with open, and very understanding arms, but also a few interesting stories.
Apparently, the Grangers had played a part in the war against Voldemort, despite Hermione's attempts to keep them out. The Weasleys, Harry and Hermione learned that the Grangers had befriended a few Muggleborns who were trying to get as far away from Voldemort as possible. That when told about the wizarding world and Voldemort and Harry Potter, the Grangers had simply remarked at how familiar it all seemed. Later, their house became a safe haven for many other escaping Muggleborns.
"Déjà vu," Mr. Granger said. "I was surprised at how I wasn't surprised. If you know what I mean."
And when Hermione introduced herself to her parents, Mrs. Granger had simply hugged her and said, "I don't know you. But I feel complete now that you are here."
Later when Hermione broached the subject of bringing them back to England, Mr. Granger further shocked them all by saying, "Well, we've actually been thinking about that. Dunno why, but we've been feeling the urge to move to England lately, so we bought a house."
That night, after a long day of catching up, Ron and Hermione decided to take a stroll down Sydney Harbor. They had walked quietly, shoulder to shoulder, holding hands. Suddenly, Ron broke the silence.
"Today was ridiculous wasn't it?"
"I know. It's kind of… amazing," Hermione replied, still slightly in shock.
"You know what? Dumbledore would probably have some crackpot theory about love. 'In that what he keeps telling Harry? Power of love and all that," Ron continued. Hermione simply smiled and nodded her approval.
"You know what else I reckon?" This time Ron had stopped walking. He had turned to face Hermione, his eyes looking straight down into hers. At that moment, she felt as if he completely understood her. At that moment she felt completely protected. Shrouded in the warmth of his arms. Home, she thought, I'm feeling home.
"I reckon I love you," Ron finished.
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