Chapter three

The following morning, Harry woke Ron so they could have breakfast before heading to Australia. The two young men made sure they had their bags packed then headed downstairs where Hermione was already sitting with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny.

'Eat up you two, you've got a big day,' Molly said as she quickly put plates full of food in front of Ron and Harry.

'Yeah, we have Mrs. Weasley, but I'm going to miss you're cooking. I've never eaten this well in my life, especially after the last year,' Harry smiled at Hermione and Ron, the three of them remembering some of the things they ate when they had been away, but they also remember how often they went without food.

'So how long do you think this might take Hermione?' Arthur asked.

'I wish I know Mr. Weasley, Australia is a large country.'

'We'll make sure we find a magical town and send you an owl though. We know you'll be worried, but we'll be fine.'

'We know you will Ron, but it will be nice to hear from you,' Molly smiled at her youngest son. 'Have you let Andromeda know Harry?'

'Yeah, I sent a letter with Pig yesterday. I'm going to miss Teddy though, I love spending time with him, he's so cute.'

Everyone around the table laughed, 'Yes he is adorable. I might get Andromeda and Teddy here, keep them updated on what Teddy's godfather is up too.'

'Hopefully not much Mrs. Weasley, a lot of rest apart from finding Hermione's parents.' Harry kept eating until he finished, not long after Ron finished. The three friends picked up their bags, then Harry pulled out the brush from his pocket.

'A couple of minutes, just please take care,' Molly said then hugged Ron, then Hermione then Harry.

'We will mum, you don't need to worry.'

'That's not possible Ron,' Arthur said then he also hugged the three friends, 'Just write occasionally so we know you're okay.'

'We will dad,' Ron said, 'Do you want us to write to you as well Ginny?'

'I'd like a letter now and then, see how you're going,' Ginny hugged her brother then Hermione before looking at Harry, then though why not, so she hugged him too, but also gave him a small kiss on the lips, 'Be careful.'

'We will,' Harry gave her a small smile then looked at his friends and the three of them held onto the brush, smiled at Ron's parents and sister, then felt the jerk behind their stomach's as they were transported away from the Burrow, and away from England. They arrived in another country on the other side of the world only moments later. One thing the three of them liked about international portkey's, they had charms on them so you would arrive at the same time as you left, no matter what country you came from and arrived at.

They arrived in a designated room inside the Australian ministry of magic. They spoke to the person in charge, asked them their names and why they were visiting. The moment Harry's name was mention, everyone in the room stared.

'Even here we've heard what you did Mr. Potter. I think every country around the world heard about what happened. So these are the two friends that were mentioned with you?'

'Yes, my best friends.'

'Then I hope you three have a wonderful time in our country. I will tell you this though. Even though we are in our winter, it's very different from your country. So you might find yourselves getting a little warm, and we don't have as much rain as your country does either. So I hope you've packed some lighter clothes.'

'We're going to buy some here, we thought it might be better to wait until we got here to see what the weather was like,' Hermione said.

'Very smart, well have fun then,' the man behind the desk said then put out his hand to Harry, 'I just want to thank you, all of you. We knew if you didn't do what you did, eventually he would have taken over everywhere.'

Harry shook his hand, then Ron and Hermione, 'Yeah, he would have and you're welcome,' Harry gave him a smile then the three friends gave everyone a wave before they left the Australia ministry of magic, found a hotel not far away but also in a muggle area. They got three rooms, then decided to have a stroll around, see what Australia was like.

Over the next few days, Hermione, Ron and Harry mainly spent time looking around this country and buying more clothes, lighter clothes because they realised how warm Australian winters were.

A week later they started to research dentists and Hermione being muggleborn, she was able to use a computer in an internet café, she was able to get a list of all dental clinics around Australia. Some had the names of every dentist, some didn't. So Harry, Hermione and Ron would take turns ringing up all the different dental clinics asking for Monica and Wendell Wilkins.

When they had rang every surgery in the city they were staying in and all the surrounding towns, they checked out of their hotel, found a deserted area, apparated to another state. They found a hotel, unpacked, had some lunch before just relaxing for the rest of the day. Then they started again, have fun for a few days, go sightseeing, swim in the ocean, go look at the strange and unusual animals, then they would start ringing every dental clinic again.

Over the next month, nothing changed with the three friends. They would stay a few days in one city, have some fun, before ringing every dental clinic looking for the Wilkins, but so far nothing. They did go to a few magical towns, mainly to send letters to the Weasley's to keep them updated on how they were.

After another month of looking for the Grangers, Hermione was starting to worry because there was no sign of her parents. Harry and Ron tried everything to keep her fears away, but the two young men felt exactly the same thing. Maybe something happened to the Grangers, that's why they couldn't find them.

After four months and ringing every dental clinic in Australia with no luck in finding the Grangers, the three friends decided it was time to return home and try something else to find Hermione's parents. So they headed back to the Australian ministry of magic, got a port key, packed their stuff and headed home.

Harry let Ron take Hermione to the Burrow while he decided to look around Godric's Hollow for a home of his own. But he told his friends he would see them in a few hours. As Harry looked at what houses were for sale, he found one not far from his parent's house. It was a nice size, not big, but not small. It had a good size garden which had a lot of trees and the house was set right back from the street, so Harry thought at least he would have some privacy.

The woman that had been showing Harry around knew who he was but she just did her job and never asked Harry anything that didn't involve the house even if she did stared at him a lot. As Harry looked around the house, he felt this could really be a nice home. So he worked out with the woman to have the money transfer to pay for the house, then did all the paperwork making the house his. This was another one of those times when Harry said I love magic. Within seconds of signing the forms, the house was his, no waiting.

Harry left ready to head back to the Burrow when something occurred to him, so Harry apparated away. He arrived in a nice looking muggle area, looked around then started walking trying to find the right place.

Harry stared at the house then looked through the windows but couldn't see anything with the blinds pulled down. One thing Harry did notice was the grass was long and he could tell it hadn't been looked after in a long time.

Harry quickly made sure no one was around, then pulled his wand from his pocket, he unlocked the door. Harry quickly stepped inside, closing the door behind him. The first thing he noticed was even though the house was empty, there were a couple of bags sitting not far from the doors and it made Harry very uneasy. He looked into what he thought was a living room and saw two large suitcases with a coat on each one. He also saw a woman's handbag.

Harry didn't want to keep looking around because he was worried about what he would fine, but he knew he had no choice. He walked slowly through the house until he came to the kitchen when he saw them.

'Shit,' Harry sighed, 'Could I get Mr. Weasley here without her finding out? No, she might hear. Kingsley, I'll get Kingsley,' Harry thought about what he needed to say, then cast the patronus charm, prongs appeared instantly. He watched as his stag took off through the walls. Even though Harry felt terrible, he remembered when Dumbledore had told him how to make his patronus talk.

Harry went back into the living room to wait. He stood staring out the windows until he saw the tall black man with two aurors appear right in front of the door. Harry quickly opened it and the first thing he noticed was the three men were pointing their wands at Harry.

'It's me Kingsley, ask me anything.'

'Just back into the house then I will.'

Harry kept his hands up and moved back, 'This is Hermione's parent's house, I needed to show you something.'

'You're supposed to be in Australia with Hermione and Ron. So first tell me what I said to Remus when we arrived at the Burrow when we got you from your relatives place that last time?'

'Something about Dumbledore saying that I was the best chance everyone had and to trust me. I don't remember word for word what you said, I had a bit too much on my mind. If you want more, I can tell you what I told you at the ministry the day we went to apply for the port key, about a death eater and a goblin, then about Amycus Carrow and McGonagall. You, Hermione and Ron are the only ones that know about all of that.'

Kingsley sighed and lowered his wand, 'Blimey Harry, what's going on?'

'We never found the Grangers, so we came home this morning. I decided to head to Godric's Hollow to buy my own house. When I was about to leave something occurred to me. Maybe Hermione's parents never left. There in the kitchen Kingsley, looks like death eaters found them before they had a chance to leave. I haven't told Hermione yet, I wanted to see you first.'

'Show me,' Kingsley said then followed Harry with the two aurors following them. They instantly saw the Grangers. But they also could see what they had done to them and knew Hermione should never see this. One thing they all realised, the bodies of the Grangers had been preserved, like the death eaters and Voldemort wanted Hermione to see exactly what they did to her parents.