Chapter 9: Reunion

"OK, there's the house, number 3. I'll wait back a bit. This is your reunion; you deserve your time alone," said Ron as he stuffed the invisibility cloak into a small navy blue backpack.

"No, Ron. Please come too. You're important to me."

His hand was immediately up caressing her face, letting Hermione know again without words how important she was to him too. "Yeah, but not to your parents," he paused, "yet," he added with a half smile. "When you're ready, just yell and I'll be there. I'll wait here at the gate. I'll be in earshot, I think." Something told him they should be alone as a family before he was introduced.

He looked over the huge house Wendel and Monica "Wilkins" had rented in Killarney Heights. It was a two story, contemporary structure of brown stucco, with double car garage inset on the main level. It was grand to him, something he could only dream of affording. The neighbourhood was quite upscale compared to anything he had ever visited, save for Malfoy Manor which had the look and feel of don't touch anything—not that he wanted to. He couldn't get out of that hell hole quick enough.

Hermione's parents were doctors, dentists in the Muggle world. They could afford a very comfortable house. They easily fit in here, he imagined. Hermione though, had never betrayed for an instant that she was uncomfortable at the Burrow. In fact, it was quite the opposite. She had always been eager to visit and stay whenever she had been invited, long before there was anything that was actually clicking between them, he thought. It would be a long time before he could contribute towards something like this for her, and that seemed to be okay somehow. However they chose to live, wherever, it would be something, perhaps a compromise that would make both feel comfortable, at ease, and not house poor.

Hermione leaned in for a hug and tilted her head up to Ron for a quick kiss, smiled and turned toward her parents' house. She could not think of it as their home, not under the circumstances of their being in Australia. One step toward them and she froze and turned back to Ron, a look on her face that he could not place for the life of him.

"What is it?" he asked concerned, his brow furrowing at the strange expression on her face.

"You. Me. Us. It's over."

"Whoa! Back the House Points up! Say again?"

"No, I mean, our time, just us, completely alone together, it's over."

"Oh," he smiled relieved.

"Ron, these have been the happiest four days of my life. I want you to know that."

"I know." It was a simple statement, not of arrogance but of complete agreement of feeling and thought on his side as well. Their eyes searched each other's for full comprehension and found it. He bent his head to her; she tilted hers up to him, their mouths opening to each other in expectation and fulfillment. One last moment where the world was shut out as their lips met, their bodies leaned into one another, arms encircling, taking and giving all that they required to be.

Feeling as though she had been enervated by the kiss and the warmth of his eyes as they took in her face, his fingers now tucking behind her ear an errant strand of hair that had caught in the light breeze, she took a step back from him and turned on her heel. She made her way to the door of her parents' home. As she walked through the open gate she thought of how Ron had been there for her when she had modified her parents' memories ten months earlier. It was all coming full circle. She looked back briefly at Ron and smiled when he gave her a thumbs up sign. She took a deep breath and rang the bell. She waited with baited breath, excitedly to see her parents for the first time in almost a year.

The door opened to reveal her father in front of her. Her mouth was suddenly dry.

"Yes?" he said wondering who this young woman was standing in front of him and what she wanted. She seemed a little confused, in a daze.

Hermione stared at him a moment and then recovered. She raised her wand to his puzzled look, removed the charm that made him and her mother forget they had a daughter and move to Australia under a new name.

"Reverso Amnesia Hermione Granger!" " Appello Wendel Granger!" " Domus England!"

Wendel Granger looked stunned for a moment and then staggered backwards briefly as the spells hit him and his conscious cleared of the original charms. He looked around at the home he rented with his wife in a confused manner. His eyes settled on Hermione and his mouth opened in shock to see her.

"Hermione!" He opened his arms to hug her and she moved forwards immediately and returned the embrace. Ron smiled from the side of the driveway, standing behind the pillar of the gate, feeling somewhat unneeded.

"Dad!" she said as she returned her father's hug and tears pressed her eyes.

There were times when she thought this day would never come—all those nights in the tent, lonely, depressed. When it rained she found no comfort in sitting at the tent's entrance the way she had always found when she and her parents would sit on their front porch bundled in blankets enjoying the magnificent display of a thunder shower. Wearing the locket Horcrux had made missing her parents worse, her shame at changing their lives without their permission that much more acute. She held on to her dad and so many feelings washed over her that she couldn't keep up with her own emotions. It was over, it was finally over. Voldemort was truly gone now for her.

Wendel Granger took a step back and looked at his daughter. Something was off. She looked different from the last time he had seen her. Wait a moment. That was… last year! He looked at his home and then at Hermione. He remembered this last year and wondered why it was so strange and not strange all at once. Here was Hermione, his daughter, whom he had not seen in so long and yet it was natural that he had not seen her. His eyes darted around as he tried to make sense of what was going on in his mind, seeing his daughter, but the surroundings did not match properly.

"I, I'm sorry Hermione. I'm a little confused right now and I don't know why." He leaned against the doorframe a moment, his hand coming up to his forehead, rubbing it as if the action would bring reason forward.

"Dad, I can explain. You know where you are, right?" She waited for his confirmation before she continued. "Last year Harry, Ron and I had to do a mission for Professor Dumbledore. It was a dangerous mission Dad, not only to us but to our families."

"Dumbledore? Dumbledore is dead isn't he?" he asked.

"Yes. At the time we believed Lord Voldemort had had him killed. But before it happened, Professor Dumbledore gave Harry enough training to be able to complete the mission he had begun. But it was dangerous, too dangerous for Harry to do by himself without help. Ron and I chose to help him. But to do so, we had to make sure our families were safe from Lord Voldemort."

She checked to make sure he had followed her so far. He seemed to be taking everything in okay for now, so she continued.

"I spread the rumour that I was going abroad with you and leaving Hogwarts. But, to make sure the rumour would work, I had you move here to Australia and that way you would be safe from him and his Death Eaters, his personal group of thugs, if you will."

"Move to Australia?"

"Yes."

"But, I wouldn't leave you. You're too young for us to leave."

"I know." She took a moment before she continued the hard part. "I put a spell on you. I made you forget that I existed. I had you convinced that your last name was Wilkins, and that your life's ambition was to move to Australia and that you wanted to fulfill that goal. You've been here almost a year."

Wendel Granger's mind was racing. All sorts of possibilities came to his mind as he looked at her and then far away in the distance. He saw Ron loitering at his gate. Anger began to seep through him.

"He put you up to this!" he said, shaking a pointing finger in Ron's direction. You would never have hurt us like that if he hadn't had you do it. Wizards! I knew we should never have let you go to that school! A year ! Of my life? Our life?"

"Hurt you? Dad, it was for your protection! Please understand!"

Just then Monika came to the front hall of the house and saw that her husband was agitated and a young girl was causing it.

"Is everything alright? Can I help you?" Monica Wilkins questioned her husband and the girl in front of her.

Anger rose in her father as he looked at his wife's unwitting face. She showed no recognition of her own daughter. It infuriated him more. "Change her back, Hermione! Change her back now!" he yelled.

Ron looked over to the raised voices with concern. Things were not going the way they had envisioned.

Hermione's mouth arched downwards as she flourished her wand, repeating the reverse chants and aimed them at her mother to remember that she was Monica Granger again and of the daughter standing in front of her.

As the spell took effect, Monica became cognisant of her daughter and reached for her to hug and hold on to, for some reason feeling it had been a long time since she had seen her. Then she released Hermione and looked confused.

Del Granger was furious. His daughter had used magic against them without their knowledge or consent. She had violated their trust. His mind searched further the implications of this act.

"Hermione, just what gives you the right to do what you did? We had lives in England! We had dental practices! We had employees who depended on us! We had patients, family, and friends! What the hell to do they all think happened to us? Did we just drop off the face of the earth as far as they are concerned? What?"

"I…" Hermione began, but could not finish.

"I don't understand," said Monica. "What has happened?"

"Our daughter, the witch, cast a spell on us to forget who we are and drop everything and move to Australia so she could…what? Drop out of school and go on some adventure with your friends without us interfering? Is that it?" The venom that spat from his mouth assaulted her.

Hermione visibly balked at the way her father said witch. To hear that kind of tone—it felt like Bellatrix Lestrange calling her Mudblood. The disdain in his voice bordered on the Death Eater's hatred without the lunatic fringe. Out of the corner of her eye she could see movement coming immediately toward her from the front of the property.

Her mother looked at her in shock and disappointment; her father's look of rage was insufferable.

"Hermione, is that true? Why would you do that to us? We trusted you," her mother said dejectedly.

"I tried to explain to Dad, Lord Voldemort would target you. He would have killed you. I had to keep you safe," she pleaded, her voice hiccupping.

Ron had heard the yelling at Hermione and had made his way to the doorway to defend her from her parents. He saw she was faltering and in shock. Then her father took one look at Ron and rounded on him.

"You! I remember you!" he spat. "The red hair, you're Ron! Are you responsible for this? Did you make her do this to us? We should never have let her go to that school!"

Ron had moved forward and taken Hermione's hand. Then he placed himself between Hermione and her father attempting to deflect the verbal barrage she was undergoing.

"Stop!" he said forcefully, his hand slicing through the air, cutting the man off. He continued calmly. "You know your daughter. She would never do anything to hurt you. What she did was to save your lives. Now she's here to make things right again. You're her family, she had to protect you. Is that part not sinking in? She didn't do anything to purposely hurt you."

"Ron," whispered Hermione, "I deserve this."

The look of defeat and submission on her face tore at him. "No, you don't. They are alive because of you," he reminded her.

Her father was pacing back and forth inside the entry, the double doors wide open, but Hermione was still outside. Her eyes followed him like a tennis match. She knew that pace. He was building up his argument where he was right and no one else would be heard until he calmed down. It was a side of him that did not come out often, but when it did, there seemed to be nothing he would ever listen to.

"There's no point in arguing right now. I'll come back tomorrow. He won't listen to reason." Hermione responded, holding on to Ron's arm.

Del Granger looked at his daughter in fury. Monica was obviously angry, but was also trying to figure out how to calm the situation.

"Del…" his wife said pleadingly.

"Don't Del me! She was wrong to do this, to interfere and take over our lives like that! She had no right," he spat.

Ron had had enough. "She had every right! A family protects each other! Hermione did what she felt was necessary to keep you alive! And when that sinks in, we'll be back to talk calmly about this. Come on." Ron grabbed hold of Hermione's hand and she turned to walk away with him, her eyes brimming with unshed tears.

At the end of the driveway, Ron pulled out the invisibility cloak and manoeuvred Hermione towards a large tree for cover. He placed the cloak over them and then turned on the spot and Disapparated with Hermione in tow to her parents' shock. They Apparated on to the Sydney Harbour Bridge where they had visited four days before. He brought her there because she enjoyed the view so much and he hoped it would be distracting to her.

Hermione looked around in a daze and then to Ron questioningly for a second and then decided she didn't care. He was protecting her from a verbal barrage from people who did not understand the full story. She collapsed into him and cried, her face buried in his chest. The arms she admired so much came around her, holding, protecting, supporting, and loving her until she was ready to talk. Soon she turned her head sideways and took in the view that felt so wonderful the other day and slowly calm returned to her. When no one was looking, he removed the cloak.

"They don't understand," she sniffled into his shoulder. The disparity between their worlds was becoming so clear to her. It had been happening ever since she went to Hogwarts. Her life was increasingly that of the Wizarding World where she could be who she was without hiding, up until Voldemort had taken power. Now that he was gone, she was free again. But prisons had different forms. Her parents trust and pride in her had always been a foundation of her upbringing, their love an unconditional mortar. Now the hurt, pain and anger in their eyes were like a wrecking ball smashing apart her heart.

"No, they don't understand. You're going to have to let them think about it a bit and calm down before anything more is said that can't be taken back."

They walked along the bridge silently, arms around each other and then Ron took her hand and Apparated back to their hotel room once they were behind a support beam and hidden from other sight seers briefly.

Hermione seemed to be in a confused daze. She looked around their little sanctuary, baffled. Seeing Ron brought the only light to her eyes. He helped her removed her jacket and guided her to the bed. He removed her shoes and crawled on the bed next to her and gathered her to him. She snuggled into him, his arms around her giving her the haven she needed. Hermione fell asleep, drained emotionally.

Ron's lips pursed, his teeth gritted as he replayed the conversation in his mind. He felt his stomach tense up and after thinking on it a while longer, decided his own anger added to the pot would not help right now, but he really did want to give them a piece of his mind. His gaze traveled to the girl asleep in his arms. His priority was here. How would he help her deal with this? He remembered when Percy had hurt them all so much when he disowned the family. Their mother had taken it especially hard. His father tried consoling her, despite his own disappointment. Arthur had prepared a bath for Molly to try and get her to relax. Maybe it would work for Hermione.

Later, when she woke up, Ron ordered her room service though she barely touched it. Then he prepared the bath for her, using the supplies provided by the hotel. She walked like a ghost, her face void of expression, to the bathroom and began to undress.

"It's not like I imagined. I imagined a wonderful reunion, not all this anger. I guess I'm a bit naïve."

"It'll happen. They've just got to have time to adjust," he said sympathetically. "Look, I'm going to give you some time alone, and take a walk around the hotel grounds for a bit. I'll be back soon. In the meantime, if I know you, your brain is going to go into high gear. So, do your thinking without feeling any pressure from me out in the other room waiting for you. I prefer to do my thinking outside, pace a bit or something, you know?"

She nodded. "Ron," she called him from the tub, reaching out to him.

"Yeah," he replied. Seeing her extended hand he moved forward to take hold of it and she squeezed his.

"Thank you. You've been just wonderful to me throughout all of this."

He gave her a funny look. "Well, what good would the alternative be?" he said trying to lighten her mood. He winked at her and then bent down to kiss her forehead.

"Love you. I'll be back in a bit."

She nodded her agreement, actually glad to be alone for a little while. For a second she thought of Ron as the door closed. He was really changing, becoming so much more considerate of her than she ever thought. His sarcasm had decreased while they were there, especially that directed at her. I guess love can change people after all. Then her thoughts turned to her parents and a shadow crossed her features. She began planning how she would explain everything in detail to them, hoping it would mend their relationship. Explanation would be one thing. How would she fix it?

Meanwhile, Ron made his way to the empty terrace again and Disapparated to her parents house. Despite his effort to the contrary, anger rose in his chest as he vanished.

oOo