Chapter 8

They spend a couple of hours just talking. Hermione tells Fleur all about her exams and the blonde gives commentary with memories about her own experience.

"I feel like I had something to prove in my Defence Against the Dark Arts exam." Hermione recognizes.

"What? Why?"

"It was the lowest mark I got on my O.W.L.s." She explains with a huff, crossing her arms over her chest. She even pouts at one point, which Fleur finds both funny and adorable.

Fleur considers the other woman. She is famous for being brilliant and always getting top marks, so the blonde can't believe that she did less than satisfactory in her exams, much less in her Defence Against the Dark Arts exam. Do they know she has faced against the Dark Lord and her Death Eaters more than once?

"What did you get, then?"

"An Exceeds Expectations." She spits like it's shameful.

The blonde laughs and Hermione looks a little wary. "It is not that awful, but still, what kind of potions were they brewing before your exam that the fumes affected them that much? You have been Outstanding in Defence Against the Dark Arts since your first year at Hogwarts!" The brunette laughs.

"I think the easiest one for me was actually History of Magic." Fleur gives her such a look that she is compelled to explain herself. "Seriously. I just love to read and the subject is like an old tale. Also, just by reading I retain most of the material. You don't have to think that much in History, just write down the part of the tale they ask you for." She shrugs. "My only problem usually is the limit in the length of the parchment."

Fleur chuckles. "History of Magic was the most difficult for me. What the wizards did, when, how it all reflected on the muggle's World Wars... Don't get me wrong, I did find it interesting, but sometimes all that information just mixed all up in my head." She shakes it, to make a point. "At the end I was able to pull it off, so all went well."

"For me, the easiest exam was Care of Magical Creatures." Hermione gives her an impressed look and the blonde bites her lip before explaining. "On my year, they decided to ask about Veela customs." Hermione starts laughing and Fleur sips her tea, trying to hide her smirk. "Piece of cake."

"That wasn't very fair to the rest of the students, but of course you aced it." She sighs when her laugh subsides. "This is fun. I haven't have a conversation like this in years."

"How so?"

"This is the boring stuff." She shrugs. "Ronald doesn't care about any of it and Harry simply prefers not to hear it. My parents didn't understand these magical exams. And so on..."

"You can talk to me about anything you want and I will do my best to keep a conversation." She simply says. "But, if it is about Quidditch, I might be seriously lost." She laughs.

Fleur looks at her watch and finally, it is late enought here not arrive there at the crack of dawn. Hermione follows the movement and takes a deep breath, she nods and tries to give a brave smile.

"I think it will be best for me to go first." She nods. "Give me a couple of minutes to step out of the fireplace in the other end and I will stand there to wait for you."

Fleur steps first into the fireplace and grabs a fist full of Floo powder. She enunciates clearly, aware of the slight accent still in her English and the green flames swallow her.

The travel through the international Floo network obviously takes longer than through the national network, so they have to endure the uncomfortable pressure and keep their elbows tucked for a longer time. Finally, Fleur sees the familiar living room and she steps outside.

"Hello?" She exclaims, although she is sure they already have heard her arrive. "Tante?"

Soon enough she is coming into the living room. "Fleur?" She smiles happily, but the blonde gestures for her to wait. She turns around and through the flames in the fireplace she sees Hermione's not-that-bushy-anymore hair.

She sticks her hand in the green flames and helps getting her out of them. She looks eyes with her to make sure she is fine and the, she turns back to her aunt, walking into her open arms.

"Oh my dear, it has been too long." She avoids mentioning that the last time they saw each other was at her wedding. She kisses her niece's hair and finally lets her go, giving her a not-subtle-at-all onceover. "You look well." She decides. Once finished with her, she turns to Hermione.

"Tante, this is my good friend Hermione Granger." She turns to the brunette. "Hermione, this is my aunt, Elise Robinson."

They greet each other. "It is nice to meet you, Mrs. Robinson."

"Oh, please, call me Elise." Hermione nods. "So what are you girls doing here so soon? We didn't expect you for a few days. We send our letter just yesterday."

"You found the Wilkins too? We got their address from a private investigator." Fleur says surprised.

"Yes. We aren't professionals and didn't know where to start looking, they could be anywhere in the country. But your uncle talked to his brother, who lives in Perth, and turns out muggles have this thing called White Pages, and he just checked there and, as you dear would say, voilĂ !"

Tante Elise makes a gesture with her hand, inviting them in, and they follow her into the kitchen, where she had been preparing breakfast. "Where is Oncle?" Fleur asks, noticing he has mentioned him but he hasn't seen him yet.

"He is getting ready for work. He'll be down in a minute and he'll be so happy to see you." She waves her wand and pots move of their own accord. "Do you want some breakfast?" She looks at us. "Some coffee, maybe?"

Hermione looks lost, biting her limp, and Fleur bumps to her side. "A coffee would be great." She says.

"Yes, tante, two coffees, please." Fleur adds.

"Do you need any help, Elise?" She asks.

The woman shakes her head. "Don't worry. Just a little more magic and it'll be ready." Sure enough, two cups of coffee levitate in their direction. "So, who are Wendell and Monika Wilkins? Why are you searching for them, honey?" She looks at her niece.

Fleur looks at Hermione and she shrugs, leaving it up to the blonde. "They are her parents." Tante Elise looks a little puzzled. "They came to live to Australia to hopefully be safe from the war back home."

"I guess the parents of the Golden Trio would have been targeted during the war. More so when you disappeared on your secret quest. Good thinking." Elise ponders and Hermione looks kind of surprised. "News also travel down here." She just says.

A big tall man comes down the staircase and comes into the kitchen. "Oh my God, Fleur?!" He exclaims. The blonde laughs and runs to the open arms of the man. "How is my favourite niece?"

"I'm fine, Oncle. How are you doing?"

"Same old, same old." He steps back. "And who is this fine lady?"

"Hermione Granger, sir." She greets him smiling. His energy is contagious.

"Ethan Robinson. It's a pleasure to meet you." He takes her hand and instead of shaking it, he kisses its back. Hermione laughs.

He walks to his wife, kisses her cheek and pours himself a cup of coffee. "So, girls, what are you going to do? Are you going to find those Wilkins?"

"Yes, that was the plan, Oncle."

"Will you need a place to stay? How long will you stay anyway?" Elise asks.

Hermione and Fleur look at each other, neither of them has a clue. "We don't know yet, Tante. It depends how things go."

"I don't think I need to say this, but you can stay here for as long as you want. We've got room." She says. "And even if you don't need a place to stay, I hope you can spend some time with us. We would love to have you too."

Oncle checks his watch and groans. Elise looks at the clock on the wall too. "Girls, we have to go to work, but we can apparate you to Perth first."

A few minutes later, Fleur takes her Tante's hand while Hermione takes her Oncle's arm and they are squeezed into nothingness, appearing in between the bushes of a park many miles away from the house.

"Around the corner, there is a fantastic restaurant." Oncle comments. "We haven't actually ever been to that particular street, but my brother says that it is only two blocks from here."

Fleur nods. "Thank you for everything. Now, you apparate to work. We'll find our way around here."

They promise to make some time to spend with them and say their goodbyes. Oncle kisses her and then, hugs Hermione like she is part of the family. Elise shakes her hand and squeezes her arm, and then hugs Fleur. With a pop, they apparate away.

"They are very nice people." She comments as they start walking in the pointed direction. "So... your aunt is... your father's sister?" She nods. "And what is they do? They had to go to work very early on a Saturday morning..."

"They study and take care of magical creatures around Australia and New Zealand." The blonde explains. "They say these lands offer an incredible variety of creatures and they are fascinated. Oncle is originally from here and he has always liked animals, but until he was eleven, being from a muggle family, he didn't have a clue magical creatures even existed. Tante moved from France. They met chasing some weird creature, which turned out wasn't magical at all, and they fell in love." She smiles at the nice story, but her reality doesn't let the smile stick for long.

A couple of blocks further, sure enough, is the street where their house is supposed to be. Hermione sighs nervously and takes the blonde's hand. She squeezes, offering her support, and keep walking, reading the numbers on the doors. They finally stop in front of the house and Fleur turns to Hermione.

"What I did was wrong." The brunette says guiltily.

"It was not right, but it wasn't wrong either." Fleur corrects her. "Remember why you did it. You were afraid they would be killed by the Death Eaters. Not only that..." She wonders if this is the best thing to say, but keeps pushing on. "They would have been tortured to death for information, like you almost were, and without reason, because they did not know about your plan." Her eyes flash back to those days when she suffered Bellatrix's torture and the blonde winces at the memory too. Hermione was so close to death that time...

"It might not have been right, but you had a pretty powerful reason." Fleur finishes. Hermione nods and her resolution seems to come back. "Are you ready?"

"No. But I have to do it." She sighs.

"Do you want me to stay here?" Fleur tries to withdraw her hand and let them have a family moment, but Hermione grabs a strong hold of her hand and doesn't let her go.

Fleur waits then by her side, until Hermione takes the first step and then she follows, hands still joined. In front of the door, she takes a deep breath and rings the doorbell. The younger woman looks nervously around while waiting and gives a little jump when it finally opens.

"Good morning." Monica Wilkins. Patricia Granger, really, stands there. Her hair is darker that her daughter's, but her features are pretty similar otherwise. "How can I help you?" She looks from Fleur to Hermione and she doesn't even recognize her own daughter.

Hermione is totally lost for words. "Good morning, Mrs. Wilkins. My name is Fleur Weasley. You don't really know me, but I need to talk to you and Mr. Wilkins. It is really important." She furrows her brow, analyzing the situation.

"Wendell, darling." She shouts inside. "Could you come for a minute?"

"It is kind of sensitive too. If we maybe speak inside, I promise you we won't take much of your time." She stares at them, trying to understand what they are doing in her porch and why they want to go inside her house with the short information they have given her.

She seems to find the both of them harmless, or maybe is something in her subconscious, because she opens the door the whole way and grants them access. She guides them to the living room and they sit in the sofa. She takes one of the armchairs.

"So what is this about?" She starts asking, but Mr. Wilkins comes in, his reading glasses in one hand and a book in the other.

"What do you want, honey? Oh..." He stops when he sees the two woman.

"They want to talk to us, darling, they say it's important." She says, without looking at him, still too busy analyzing the two witches.

"Oh." He says as he sits in the other armchair. "You look really familiar. You kind of resemble my wife..." He muses. "What do you want to talk about?" He asks curiously.

"I'm sorry." Hermione says as she takes out her wand and casts the spell.

A white smoke flows out of the end and goes through their mouths. Their stares are blank until the smoke stops floating. Then, Thomas Granger's hands go to his head and start rubbing his temples and Patricia Granger shakes her head trying to make everything fall into place.

"Mom? Dad?" Hermione asks, her voice shaking.