Laughter was heard for the first time in several weeks around the Weasley table that night as Ron and Hermione regaled the family with tales of scaring off the pushy reporter and chasing off gnome families. Hermione relished each moment of the evening, devouring every smile and chuckle like a starved man devours food. Her heart ached knowing that she would soon leave, but she craved the love of her own mum and dad, too - seeing their smiles and hearing their laughter again.
As Molly magicked the dinner plates into the kitchen and Ginny brought out a treacle tart for dessert, Ron looked at Hermione and nodded. Hermione knew what Ron was thinking… this was the moment to tell the family their plans. Both Ron and Hermione hoped the lighter mood in the house that night would lessen the blow of their impending departure. Ron squeezed Hermione's hand under the table and cleared his throat softly.
"We… er… Hermione and I have something to tell you all." Ron said, in a tone of false vibrato.
Silence fell around the table and all eyes turned to Ron and Hermione. Hermione noticed a rather knowing look in Molly's eyes.
"What's up?" Harry asked.
"Well… Hermione's parents are still in Australia and she's really missing them. So… er… we're gonna go and find them." Ron said.
A rather pregnant pause followed Ron's announcement before anyone finally spoke.
"'We're'? As in… you and Hermione? Alone?" Ginny asked quietly.
"Well, yeah." Ron replied. "… just me and Hermione."
"When?" Harry asked. Hermione was surprised to hear sadness in his voice.
"Um, well… we were planning on leaving next Friday." Ron replied.
"So soon?" Ginny cried. "But… but you just got back!" Hermione looked at Ginny and was surprised to see tears rimming her eyes. Ginny wasn't usually a crier.
"How long are you going to be gone?" Harry interjected. Distinct sorrow oozed from each word.
"Umm… I'm not sure." Hermione said quietly. "I don't really know where they are so I don't know how long it is going to take to find them." Harry's face was pinched and Ginny now had tears streaming from her eyes.
Ron looked at Hermione. This is not what they expected. They were expecting Molly and Arthur to be upset - had prepared themselves for that. But Harry and Ginny's reaction to the news was wholly unexpected.
Hermione had been determinedly avoiding Molly and Arthur's gaze, afraid to see the look on their faces when they broke the news. Now, Hermione found herself seeking out Molly's eyes – hoping for some support and guidance. Molly took notice of Hermione's desperate expression and smiled softly at her before turning her attention to Harry and Ginny.
"Ginny… Harry… I don't want Ron and Hermione to leave anymore then you two do. Probably even less. But Hermione has not seen her parents in over a year. She doesn't know where or how they are. That is exactly the position I was in this last year when you three were on your quest, so I know exactly how Hermione feels. And while it's going to be difficult to watch them go, I understand their need to do so." Molly said and she smiled warmly at Hermione and her son.
"I'll go with you!" Harry suddenly said.
"No!" Ginny cried, turning furious eyes on Harry. "You're not leaving me again! I couldn't stand not knowing where you were or if you were alive this past year! I can't go through that again!" Ginny's voice broke on the last word and Harry quickly put his arms around her.
"Thanks, Mate." Ron said, locking his sincere eyes on Harry's sad ones. "But I think it's best if you stay here. I want to know someone is looking out for my little sister - someone besides Mum and Dad I mean. They've got enough on their plates right now." Ron added, looking respectfully at Molly and Arthur.
"Thank you, son." Arthur said.
Ginny was sobbing in earnest now.
"I just… don't want you guys to go again." Ginny cried. "Not after we just got you back… Not after losing Fred!"
These last words felt like a knife twisting in Hermione's heart. This was exactly the reaction she feared; only it was coming from Ginny instead of Molly. It pained Hermione to be causing Ginny this much sadness when the family had been through so much.
"Ginny…" Hermione said, reaching across the table and grasping Ginny's hand. "We'll be back as soon as we can, I promise. And this won't be like before. We'll write every day and we're only a couple of apparitions away if we're needed. Please… please try to understand. I have to do this." Hermione's own eyes were now rimmed with tears.
"But… what if something happens to you?" Ginny continued, an edge to her tone now. "There are still Death Eaters out there, you know! How would we even…"
"Fred would want this."
Silence instantly dropped over the dining room at the sound of George's voice.
George looked up from his plate, which he had been determinedly staring at through most of the conversation, and around and his family. He looked at Ginny and smiled slightly.
"Fred would want this, Ginny. You know that." He said. "He wouldn't want anyone to be separated from their family on account of him." Hermione heard a sharp intake of breath from Molly and glanced over in time to see her put her hand over her mouth, obviously trying to stifle a sob.
"And he wouldn't want Hermione to go alone. He loved Hermione like another sister… a bratty, tattletale, know-it-all sister maybe…" George winked at Hermione, "…but a sister none-the-less. And he wouldn't just expect Ron to go with her, he would demand it. And so do I."
Hermione smiled appreciatively at George, afraid to speak lest she burst out a sob. Ron nodded at his brother.
"Thanks." He said in a gruff, choked voice.
Preparations for Ron and Hermione's departure began in earnest after that dinner. With the help of Molly and Arthur, Ron and Hermione formulated an agenda. They poured over maps of Australia, looking for the most densely populated areas where two dentists were likely to find plenty of work. It was also decided that they would travel in a strictly "Muggle" way, taking an airplane to the Australian mainland and traveling by taxi, bus or train while on the ground. Hermione believed she could more easily trace her parent's footsteps if she thought like they did… without the luxury of magic helping them get from point A to point B.
Arthur was ecstatic about this plan demanding that Hermione take photographs and send him brochures from every airport and public transportation station they stopped at. Ron, however, was less than excited about the prospect of flying in a "big, metal can" as he called airplanes.
"Don't those things fall out of the sky sometimes?" He asked, looking slightly green.
Hermione smiled kindly. "Very, very, very rarely, Ron. I've flown many times with my parents and we have never experienced anything even remotely dangerous. Honestly, there is no safer Muggle form of travel."
After much coaxing from both Arthur and Hermione, Ron finally agreed to fly via airplane with the provision that if anything seemed to be going wrong with the flight, they would disapparate without hesitation. Hermione made a mental note to thoroughly explain the feeling of turbulence to Ron before they boarded the plane.
The day before the date of departure, Ginny came up to Hermione who was packing some books on Australia in her beaded bag (which had somehow survived the final battle).
"Hermione… can we go out to Diagon Alley tonight, just the two of us? I want some one-on-one girl time before you go and leave me with a house full of boys again." Ginny said.
Hermione laughed. "Of course. There are a few things I want to pick up for the trip anyway. I definitely need to get some parchment and a new quill what with all the letters I'll be sending to you lot everyday." Hermione joked.
So, that evening, Ginny and Hermione bid the other Weasley's farewell and Apparated to the door of the Leaky Cauldron. They said hello to Tom the Innkeeper and were (to Hermione's great embarrassment but delight) treated to a full supper on the house and all the butterbeer they could drink. Tom's only request was that Hermione sign the table she sat at with Ginny in everlasting ink.
"Well, that was unexpected." Hermione said, once she and Ginny took their leave.
"Not really." Replied Ginny, who was smiling and distractedly looking up and down at the storefronts along Diagon Alley. What shop Ginny was looking for, Hermione did not know.
"You and my brother are just as much of celebrities as Harry. Especially now that that adorable photograph of you two snuggling in the Garden ended up on the front page of the Daily Prophet."
Hermione flushed a delicate shade of pink. Despite emphatically refusing an interview, the intrusive reporter whom Ron chased away from the Burrow still published a picture of the two that he had managed to snap before they woke. Ron was furious; Hermione – embarrassed, but the rest of the Weasleys got a big laugh out of it. Molly even went so far as to cut the photo out of newspaper and hang it on the Weasley's refrigerator.
Ginny laughed at Hermione's obvious embarrassment and grabbed her hand.
"Come on… I want to take you to a special shop. One that sells items I think you can use when you and Ron are out wandering the wilds of Australia alone."
Ginny pulled Hermione down the street - past the newly reopened Olivander's; past Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes (which bore a sign in the window that read, Closed due to family tragedy. Will reopen soon); and past a tea shop where they were surprised to see none other then Neville and Hannah Abbot of Hufflepuff holding hands and sharing a slice of pie. Neville caught Hermione's eye through the shop window as she and Ginny passed and smiled shyly. Hannah, Hermione noticed, was positively beaming.
"When did Hannah and Neville start seeing each other?" Hermione asked, waving at Neville and Hannah from across the street.
Ginny grinned. "I have no idea! But when we were in hiding in the Room of Requirement, Hannah really took a liking to Neville. It was obvious to most of us that she really had a thing for him. But he was so focused on defeating the Carrows and antagonizing the other dark wizards, it seemed like he hardly took any notice of her. I guess now that the fight is over, he finally did."
Hermione smiled, very happy to see Neville getting the love and admiration he so greatly deserved. Hannah was lovely and sweet, and Hermione could not imagine anyone better for brave, wonderful Neville.
Hermione and Ginny continued down Diagon Alley and Hermione realized with a start they were headed toward Knockturn Alley.
"Ginny, I don't think we should be heading down there." Hermione said, nodding her head toward the dark street that turned toward Knockturn.
Ginny laughed. "Of course not, silly. We're here." She said, stopping in front of an unassuming shop with heavily tinted windows. Hermione's eyes drifted up to the small sign above the shop door.
Noreen Nightgale's Naughty Negligees
(Now also offering Love Potions and Seduction Spells)
"Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed, realizing Ginny's intention in bringing her all the way down to this little shop. She blushed a deep shade of scarlet and looked around to see if anyone had noticed them.
"Oh come on, Hermione! You're going away with my brother… alone!" Ginny exclaimed.
"I realize that, Ginny, but we're going to Australia to find my parents… not for a lover's holiday." Hermione scoffed.
"I know, but you're not going to be looking for them twenty-four hours a day are you? You and Ron are going to need to sleep sometimes! Which means you're going to most likely be somewhere with a nice, comfy bed. Do you really think the only thing you're going to be doing in that bed is sleeping?" Ginny asked.
Hermione blushed again. Ginny shook her head and crossed her arms.
"You can't tell me your first time was all it was cracked up to be… it never is. Then there was that horrible scene the morning after. And you told me you haven't had a chance to be together since. Don't you want the next time you and Ron make love to be more special than the first? Don't you want it to be what the first time should have been?" Ginny said softly.
Hermione nodded her head subtly.
"Alright… then let's just have a look around Noreen Nightgale's shop and see what they have." Ginny said, pulling the door open. Hermione hesitated a moment before stepping inside.
The shop was nothing like Hermione had expected or feared. When she had seen the name above the shop window, she expected scantily clad assistants, the smell of cheap perfume, and a wide array of "adult novelties" displayed garishly in the center of the store. What she instead found was a small, simply decorated shop that had lovely negligees of all colors and fabrics hung tastefully from ornate wrought iron racks around the shop. Instead of cheap perfume, she smelled the alluring scents of freshly mown grass, and Parchment, and Ron's skin. It took her a moment to realize there was a small cauldron of Amortentia potion bubbling behind the counter next to a smiling, motherly looking witch who reminded her a great deal of her grandmother.
"Good evening, dears. Can I help you find anything?" The witch said in a sing-song voice.
"We're just looking around for now, but thank you." Ginny answered confidently. Hermione suspected she'd been to this shop before.
"Take your time. Let me know if you need any assistance. And feel free to try on anything you like." The kindly witch said.
For the next hour and a half, Ginny and Hermione perused the lovely nighties and negligees that were on display in the shop. With both Ginny and Madam Nightingale's encouragement, Hermione tried on a great deal of the items. She tried on a silky red nightgown with a neckline which plummeted nearly to her belly button; a barely-there teddy that was so revealing, Hermione figured she'd be better off saving the money and just going naked; a black leather corset with matching underwear that made Hermione feel like she should be posing on the back of a motorcycle like the women in the posters she had seen in Sirius's old bedroom back at Grimmauld place. Hermione tried on some silly things as well… a Muggle school girl's uniform and a "sexy nurse" outfit. They were fun to try on and made her and Ginny laugh, but were definitely not at all right for the occasion.
Despite her earlier misgivings and hesitation, Hermione found herself having loads of fun and drawing on Ginny's advice as much as possible – modeling the less revealing items she tried on and describing in detail the ones that were so revealing she couldn't leave the dressing room.
After trying on nearly every negligee in the shop, Hermione finally found one that suited her perfectly. It was a silky black nightgown – very low cut and trimmed in a fine pastel-pink lace along the plunging neckline and hem. The nightgown was short in length and fell to her upper thigh with slits along either side making their way up almost to her waist. The cut of the negligee accentuated Hermione's feminine features – her breasts appeared fuller, her buttocks rounder. A lacy black thong with a pink bow in the front came with the negligee to wear underneath.
By the time she and Ginny left the shop, Hermione was quite excited about the prospect of revealing her new nightwear to Ron, but she knew she would have to wait just a few more days. Hermione's head swam with fantasies about Ron's reaction for the rest of that evening.
Fortunately, Hermione was so busy with last minute packing and planning, she was able to stave off the yearnings her fantasies were arousing in her. Ron and Hermione were to depart the following day at eleven a.m. and it seemed there was still so much to do. By the time all the packing was finished, it was nearly two a.m. and Ron and Hermione collapsed into bed, absolutely exhausted. When Molly came in to rouse them at eight o'clock the next morning, it felt as though they had only been asleep a few minutes.
A/N: I know this chapter ended abruptly, but I think Australia is going to be a chapter unto itself and I didn't want this one to get too long. Stay tuned. The muse has struck and I will continue writing as soon as my real life responsibilities (i.e. work) slow down a little.