That night, the group (minus Bill) decided to go out again. "Hair of the dragon," Charlie said. This time, Hermione and Harry decided to go along.
Not surprisingly, a lot of the conversation was about Fred – mostly the Weasley children telling stories about his antics. Some of the tales made Hermione laugh so hard, her belly hurt. But then the firewhiskey shots came out. They toasted their fallen brother again and again, although Hermione begged off after the second time. Two shots were enough to make her vision start to blur, so she nursed a butterbeer for the rest of the night.
After a few hours, the alcohol was making her sleepy, so she announced that she was going back to the Burrow. The guys were still going strong, but Ginny joined her.
When they arrived back at the Weasley home, the girls were surprised to see that the lights were still on. They opened the door and Molly Weasley came flying at them, waving a piece of parchment.
"You're home! I was just about to apparate to the pub to fetch you." Molly thrust the parchment toward Hermione. "An owl arrived from Kingsley!"
With shaking fingers, Hermione rolled the page out flat. She gasped.
"What is it, dear?" Arthur asked.
"They've found my parents," Hermione said hoarsely. Ginny grasped her arm. "They're okay. A healer removed the spell I cast and they're waiting for me."
Ginny read over her shoulder. "Minister Shacklebolt already made all the arrangements! With those portkeys and floos, you can be in Sydney in less than an hour!"
Hermione's trembling hand covered her mouth and her eyes filled with tears.
"Dear Merlin, that's wonderful!" Molly exclaimed, throwing her arms around Hermione. "Oh, we needed some good news around here!"
"I-I… I have to go," Hermione said. "It's still morning in Sydney. If I go now…"
"Go, get your things," Arthur said. "I'll send a message back to Kingsley and let him know."
"Let's go – I'll help," Ginny said, linking her arm through Hermione's and leading her upstairs.
In Ginny's room, Hermione rifled through her clothes, tossing shirts, sweaters, and other pieces to Ginny, who stuffed them in the beaded bag.
"I hope they're back before I have to leave," Hermione said.
"Hmm?" Ginny said. "Sorry, I'm still a little buzzed."
"Ron – a-and Harry," Hermione said. "I hope they're home soon so I can say goodbye."
Ginny shrugged. "If they're not, they'll understand. You have to do this. You won't be gone that long. And you can send owls."
"That's true." Maybe writing would be a better way to communicate anyway.
"So do we have everything?" Ginny asked, holding up the bag. Hermione peeked inside.
"You pack like your brother," Hermione said with a wry grin.
"Do you want tidy, or do you want fast? Let's go!" Ginny pushed Hermione ahead of her out the bedroom door.
Downstairs, Molly hugged Hermione again and made her promise to write and let them know how everything was going. Arthur tried to give her some pocket money before she reminded him that she'd need Muggle money where she was going, so instead he asked her to bring back some Aussie dollars for his Muggle artifacts collection.
She glanced out through the kitchen window one last time, but saw no sign of anyone returning home.
"I guess I'm ready to go then," she said.
"Good luck, Hermione dear!" Molly squealed. It was so nice to see her smile again.
"I'm so happy for you!" Ginny clapped.
Hermione took out her wand. "See you soon." And with a pop, she apparated to Kingsley's first portkey.
The trip to Sydney was quick but exhausting. Traveling via floo and portkey for nearly 60 minutes made her head spin more than the two shots of firewhiskey had. Plus, it was about 1 am, according to her body clock. But when she clambered out of the last floo and looked up at the "Ministry of Magic: Australian Division" sign, she felt a surge of excitement. She dusted herself off and smoothed her hair down in anticipation of seeing her parents.
"Is that her?" she heard someone whisper behind her. She spun around and saw that many of the witches and wizards in the lobby were looking at her.
"That is her!" Another voice said. She looked behind her again. "She's really here!"
The staring made Hermione uncomfortable so she strode to the information desk as quickly as she could without attracting more attention.
"Ms. Granger!" the ruddy-faced clerk crowed. "We're so honored to have you visit us!"
"I'm here to see Minister Moru?" she replied.
"Of course, of course," the cheery older man said. "Anything for you, miss."
Hermione glanced over her shoulder at the crowd, which was growing larger, as the clerk came out from around the desk. "Come with me, please. Happy to help."
She followed him to the lift and got in, waiting until the door closed. Her hand was under her cloak, holding her wand.
"What's going on here? How do you know my name? And what was with all the staring?" she demanded.
He laughed. "Oh, you're just as I imagined. Lovely on the outside and fierce on the inside!"
She tightened her grip on her wand. "Answer me."
"Sorry, miss, didn't mean to upset you. We're all just chuffed that you're here. One of the Golden Trio!"
"Excuse me?"
"You and your friends. You defeated He Who – Lord Voldemort. Everyone in the wizarding world knows about you three. Haven't you heard?"
Hermione pulled her hand out of her cloak and smoothed her hair back again. "No, I suppose not. We haven't really been out…"
"Oh, of course, I should have realized." The clerk's smile faded. "So sorry for all of your losses. A lot of good wizards went down that day."
Hermione nodded firmly, afraid her voice would crack if she spoke.
"We're just glad to have been able to ease your burden by helping you find your mum and dad. Everyone at the Ministry knew you'd be here today."
"Oh." Hermione's head felt like it was spinning again. The lift jolted to a stop and the clerk held the door open for her.
When they arrived at Minister Moru's office, Hermione stood outside the door, not sure what she would say when she saw her parents. But she didn't have to worry about that, after her mum flung the door open and both of them enveloped her in a hug so tight she could barely breathe.
After the emotional reunion, Minister Moru explained how they'd been able to track the Grangers down using the information Hermione had given them about the spell. He had planned to let Hermione tell her parents the whole story, but they'd had so many questions that he'd given them some of the answers. (Her parents weren't happy about not knowing how much danger she'd been in, but they'd talk about that later.) He also described how his staff were prepared to help the Grangers sell their Sydney home and return to London as soon as they wished. Hermione liked how the elderly Minister's kind demeanor contrasted with his Maori warrior tattoos. She suspected that he was pretty fierce in his younger days as well.
That night, she included all of those details in the letter she wrote to Ron.
…And did you know that we're sort of famous? Everyone here knows about what happened at Hogwarts. It's strange, but they're all so nice. Well, I need to sleep – I've been awake for almost 36 hours! I'll see you soon.
She gave it to the owl that Minister Moru lent her and sent him on his way.
Within a week, the Grangers were ready to return home. The house hadn't been sold yet, but their friends in the Ministry assured them that it would be taken care of shortly.
…We're flying home on an airplane. It's going to take a lot longer than magic travel, but don't worry. It's safer than you think. If you've written me in Sydney, hopefully I'll get it before we leave tomorrow. If not, you can write me at my parents' address at home.
It took so long even for magic owls to fly between London and Sydney, any letters from him may not have arrived yet. Although she did get one from Molly already…