The Land Down Under

The day of their departure finally arrived. During the past two days they had gone over all the details so many times that Harry felt like he'd made the trip already and was, frankly, becoming annoyed. Hermione wasn't sure of the exact location of her parents. She had altered their memories so they believed they had always wanted to move to Australia but hadn't given them a specific town to live in. This had been intentional on her part to make tracking them down that much harder and she was once again discussing it with the others.

"Unfortunately it now makes them, well, that much harder to track down."

Ron rolled his eyes at Harry, "We know Hermione. But it's not totally hopeless. You mentioned to them that they liked the southwest, so we at least have a target zone. If we start at Perth and work our way out it shouldn't be too bad. Should it? I mean, I'm more worried about traveling across the country. The portkey network is fine and all, but if we miss a connection it could delay us by hours and the thought of apparating to a place I've never been before doesn't thrill me."

"Oh come off it Ron" said Harry, his annoyance rising. "We've spent the last several months apparating to places we've never been before. The only reason we're even using the portkey network is because you don't like apparating and Hermione doesn't like flying. Not to mention that flying would take to long."

"Flying wouldn't take that long and if Hermione doesn't want to do it that's fine by me. Why don't you admit that you only want to be as fast as possible so you can get back here and see my baby sister off to school?" said Ron, standing up and looking down at Harry.

"Fine, I'll admit I want to come back to see my GIRL FRIEND off to school!" replied Harry standing to face Ron.

"Stop it!" shouted Hermione crossing the room and standing between them. "Come one Ron, let's take a walk."

Harry watched after them as she led Ron from the room. He continued to stare at the vacant door leading from the sitting room until he heard the kitchen door close, the sound of it clearing the haze of emotions that had clouded his mind. Looking around the empty room he muttered "Stupid Ron" and decided to apologize the first chance he got. Walking into the kitchen he offered to help Mrs. Weasley and Ginny prepare dinner.

After dinner Ginny joined Harry in his room as he double checked his packing. It seemed only minutes before Hermione shouted up the stairs that it was time to go. They walked down stairs and joined the others in the kitchen. Ron hugged his Mom, Dad and Ginny good bye followed by Hermione who thanked them all for their hospitality. Harry also thanked Mr. and Mrs. Weasley for allowing him to stay before turning to Ginny. He was no longer embarrassed about kissing her in front of her mom but her father was another story. Mustering all his courage he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her good bye.

"I'll see you in two days."

"You better."

Harry stepped out of the fireplace, and joined Ron and Hermione in the Ministry of Magic. Together they crossed the atrium and boarded the lift to Level Six. They soon found themselves in The Portkey Office and the wizard on duty checked their names against his list of authorized travelers. Satisfied he called to a witch who was working at a nearby desk.

"Klementyna will you please show these three to room C."

"Certainly, follow me please."

Following her to room C they entered and found it empty except for large clock hanging on the wall and a boomerang lying in the middle of the floor. She glanced at the clock before addressing them.

"Right, I'm sure you all know how this works but are there any questions?" When they all answered no she continued. "Good, you're scheduled to leave in fourteen minutes. Please make sure you're touching the portkey at that time and have a good trip."

As soon as she left the room Hermione, who had been grinning since entering, started to laugh. "A boomerang, just a little cliché don't you think."

"Ya, maybe a little, but it'll get us there" answered Harry picking it up and holding it in the middle.

Ron and Hermione each took one end and at precisely ten o'clock it began to glow. Soon they felt themselves spinning through the air only to land with a thud in what appeared to be the same room. They got to their feet just as a very blond, very tan witch opened the door.

"G'day, welcome to Australia. I'm Xanthe please follow me and we'll get you taken care of."

"Looks like a nice country" said Ron. Only to be punched in the shoulder by Hermione who leaned over and whispered to Harry.

"Don't enjoy the view too much or I'll have to tell Ginny."

"I have no idea what you're talking about" he replied with a grin.

In short order all paperwork was completed. Harry had made arrangements to travel back to London in two days and all three of them had been scheduled on the portkey network. They only had one stop over and if everything went to plan they would be in Perth before noon.

There was over an hour before their departure and they all agreed that some coffee or tea wasn't a bad idea. Xanthe was kind enough to provide them with directions to a small cafe. Leaving the Australian Ministry of Magic they walked the short distance and slid into a booth. Harry and Hermione ordered coffee, but Ron found himself in the mood for bacon and eggs.

He met their combined stare with "What, its morning here isn't it?"

Soon they were back in the small room holding a tissue box and feeling themselves spinning through the air. They were better prepared this time and, upon reaching their destination, landed neatly on their feet. They were greeted by a tall blond wizard wearing faded dungarees and a vest made of crocodile hide. A leather bush hat sat tilted on his head and around his neck was a chain of crocodile teeth.

"G'day, welcome to Mulga Bore. I'm Mick Dundee the station keeper. Let's take a look at your schedules and see how long you'll be here. They handed him their itineraries and he looked them over. "Not much of a stopbye. Still time enough to look around the place. Follow me."

As he led them from the room Harry whispered to Hermione. "Careful, this time I think you might be in danger of enjoying the scenery to much."

She didn't answer him as her cheeks turned light pink.

The one undeniable thing about Mulga Bore was that it was hot. Harry was sure that when Mick got around to cooking his dinner any nearby rock would suffice for a stove. The station appeared to be nothing more than an old miners hut in the middle of nowhere. Still he had to admit there was a certain beauty to the place. The general impression was that the land ran flat for hundreds of miles in every direction, but here and there rocky outcroppings dotted the horizon breaking the eye's line just enough to hold the mind's interest. To be sure, no one would ever confuse it with an English garden, but it wasn't devoid of life. The scrub brush that covered the ground was in bloom this time of year and its varying shades of green stood out in stark contrast to the rock strewn orange soil. All and all they had a pleasant visit before continuing their journey.

They arrived in Perth on schedule, exactly eight minutes before noon, and booked a room at the portkey station. Hermione wanted to start looking for her parents straight away but Harry, whose body was telling him it was now four in the morning back home, begged off requesting a short nap. He didn't know how long he'd been asleep when he was jolted awake by Ron and Hermione bursting into the room.

"Harry I think we found them!" she shouted.

He sat up and glanced at his watch noting it was almost five. "That's great! How'd you do it so quickly?"

It wasn't hard answered Ron. "We just went to the library and started going thru all the local phone books looking for Wendell or Monica Wilkins."

"It was just that easy then?"

"Not quite" said Hermione. "It's a petty large area; Perth alone has over a million and a half people, so we found several Wendells and Monicas. Not to mention all the W. Wilkins and M. Wilkins, there was even a couple of listing for a W. and M. Wilkins. I was ready to track them all down, but then Ron came up with a brilliant idea.

"Come on Hermione, it wasn't that great" Ron started. "I just figured they are dentists right. So why not cross reference the business listings for dentists against all the Wilkins we'd found and there was only one match. In a town just east of here called Mundaring, there is a listing for a W. Wilkins and a Wilkins Family Dentistry."

Harry smiled at his friends. "That really was pretty good thinking Ron." Turning to Hermione he continued "Are you ready to take off right now then?"

Hermione sat down and started twisting her hair around her fingers. "I really thought I would be, but now I'm so nervous. How am I going to explain this to them and what if they don't want to come home? Should I stay here with them or go back myself?" She was now biting her lower lip as a tear trickled down her cheek.

Ron sat down beside her, putting his arm around her shoulders. He took her chin in his hand and turned her face to his. "Don't worry about that, once you remove the memory charm they'll be thrilled to see you and if they decided they like their new life here it doesn't really matter if you stay or go. The trip isn't that bad, we'll still be able to see each other."

She threw her arms around him and sobbed "thank you Ron."

He looked over her shoulder at Harry who stood up moved towards the door. "Look, you two have been awake for over twenty four hours now, why don't you at least get cleaned up. There has to be a takeaway place near here, I'll go and find us some dinner and then we can be on our way."

Harry took his time exploring the streets of Perth. A gentle breeze was blowing off the Indian Ocean and, as rush hour was ending, he soon had them pretty much to himself. To him it wasn't really that different from London. Most of the buildings were newer of course, but they contained the same assortment of shops and offices. Finally he stopped at a Vietnamese takeaway on the banks of the Swan River and bought some Bun cha to take back to their room.

He returned to the room to find Ron and Hermione sleeping. He considered just letting them rest but decided against it. He would be returning to England soon and knew that she really wanted him along for moral support, and to be honest, he was feeling a little guilty about not helping while they did all the research.

He shook them each by the shoulder. "Hey wake up you two, dinner's here."

"How long have we been asleep" asked Hermione?

"Not long, maybe a couple of hours."

Together they ate their pork with noodles and discussed how to travel to Mundaring. It was agreed that because their destination was well populated, and they didn't know it at all, apparating was not the best option. Ron apologized to Hermione before suggesting they rent brooms. Harry admitted he liked the idea of flying, but pointed out that for the same reasons as not apparating, it might not be that good an idea. They finally settled on taking muggle transport and found themselves on the 332 Mundaring circular route bus heading to the eastern suburbs. Arriving in the center of town shortly before nine they gathered under the bus stop. Hermione had thought to purchase a local map and once they had their bearings they set off.

It was a short walk to their destination and soon they found themselves on Coolgardie Street, following the house numbers to what they hoped was the right place. They came to a stop in front of a single story white house with a red tile roof situated in the center of a large well treed lot. The house was dark and it appeared nobody was home. They hadn't come this far not to try however, and a nervous Hermione drew her wand as she joined Harry and Ron at the front door. They were about to knock when a car pulled into the drive. As the middle age couple got out and approached them Wendell Wilkins spoke.

"Can I help you young people with anything?"

Hermione drew a deep breath and with her wand held out stepped forward.

"Obliviate Revertere."