"What do you mean you can't find my purse?" Hermione asked as she stood in the doorway of Malfoy manor files and notebooks in her hand just waiting to be put away for the day if only her bag was still here.
"Kiki swears she was just washing it after the tea fell on it but somehow it became misplaced," the elf said innocently as Draco rubbed a paw over his face.
"Kiki did you hid it?" he asked, he knew Kiki was fond of the witch and she had a sly streak that made the Weasley twins seem like amateurs.
The mirror vibrating against her thigh stopped her in her track as Hermione was about to start in on the fact that her purse hadn't needed to be washed, the elf had insisted and Hermione swears she was the one who had knocked over the cup of tea in the first place. Reaching into her pocket she pulled it out looking at the screen.
"Do you care if I take this?" Hermione asked as Draco shook his head. Pressing the screen to unlock it she was assaulted by the loud shouts on the other end.
"Happy birthday!" The two children on the screen cheered as Hermione smiled brightly as each competed to be the one with the most screen space.
"Thank you... Hey isn't it your bedtime there?" she asked eyebrow raised in amusement as there were two giggles.
"Almost," the boy said as his sister nearly pushed him out of frame.
"Mum said we could stay up an extra half hour so we can call you," she said proudly as her brother poked her in the side causing her to squeal and nearly tip out of the frame.
"Well, that was nice, where are mum and dad?" Hermione asked ignoring their behavior as two sets of shoulders shrugged.
"Daddy had to go to the relators for some paperwork," the girl said as her brother finished the sentence. "And mum is letting Mopsy know where she wants everything,"
"Do you really live in a castle?!" the girl asked loudly causing Hermione to flinch in response.
"No but it's a huge house, like almost twenty bedrooms not including the huge library, three living rooms, and humongous kitchen," Hermione offered.
"Can I really fly on a broom there!" the boy asked as a loud shout filled the air.
"Jackson what did I tell you about flying!" an elder voice said in an irritated huff.
"Only on Tuesdays and bank holidays," the boy called out over his shoulder as another woman came into view.
"Oh, you two, I told you to wait for me to call your sister," the woman said as she sat down behind the twins.
"Hey, Mum!" Hermione said as her mom smiled at her.
"Happy birthday dear, are you still at work?" the elder woman asked not recognizing the background.
"Technically," Hermione laughed looking over at Draco as he was quietly arguing with Kiki, the little elf had her hands on her hips as she somehow appeared to be looking down her nose at her master who towered over her by at least three and a half feet.
"Well we won't keep you," the woman said as she whispered into the children's ears both groaning as they handed their mother to mirror before running off.
"Jackson and Emma seem excited," Hermione offered.
"They just want to be able to do more than basic spell pronunciation and memorization of potion ingredient facts," her mother sighed scratching her head.
"Well you know they still have to follow your rules even if I technically own the house," Hermione said with a smile.
"Your father's sense of humor. I swear you all have it. Well okay, you two say bye," the elder woman called out as two others shouted bye from wherever they were.
Hermione chuckled as she put her mirror away, finding Draco standing there her purse in one hand and Kiki had gone.
"I didn't know you had siblings," he said offering her the bag.
"I didn't at first either," Hermione said as she took her purse.
"What do you mean by that?" Draco asked.
"Well, after sixth year…. I was afraid of what would happen to my parents. So, I obliviated them and sent them away, a few months after the war I went back to restore their memories,"
Hermione looked at the yard of her parents' house in confusion. It looked rather ordinary. In fact, the only thing that confused her was the play set in the backyard. It had to be new, after all, half of it was still in the boxes scattered about the green grass. Shaking her head Hermione decided that she would just have to ask what was going on. Stepping up to the door she knocked, surprised at the sound of a dog barking coming from the other side, her parents had always hated dogs. Soon the door opened revealing her mother.
"Hello?" She said confused as she looked at the girl in front of her house.
"Hi," Hermione said as she struggled not to call the woman mum. "I have something very important to discuss with you and your husband would it be possible for me to come inside?" Hermione asked, her mother looking over her shoulder almost nervously.
"Now may not be a good time," she finally spoke.
"Mrs. Randle is everything alright?" An unfamiliar voice asked as Hermione watched as a woman walk up next to her mother. She knew this woman was a witch, after all, muggles didn't dress in robes.
"I'm not sure," her mother sighed as she stepped aside for the witch who had approached.
"Lady Granger?!" The woman nearly shouted as she almost bowed in shock.
"Who are you?" Hermione asked opening the screen door.
"I'm from the Australian ministry of magic," the woman answered quickly.
"Wait what... Please I need to come in it's important," Hermione insisted as she looked over at her mother almost pleading. And just like when she was small her mother couldn't say no, she moved aside allowing Hermione into the living room as a wizard nearly jumped off of the sofa.
"Lady Granger it's an honor," he said with a bow.
"What are you both doing here," Hermione growled and she heard her father come down the hall.
"Here they are," her father called out as he carried two toddlers one on each hip. "This is Jackson," he said motioning to the twin on his right. "And this is Hermione Emma," he said smiling down at the little girl as Hermione's world collapsed as she did. Tears streaked down her face as she looked at her brother and sister for the first time.
"Lady Granger are you alright," the witch asked as Hermione shook her head.
"No," she cried as she looked at her siblings. "Could you both sit there is something I need to do," Hermione said as all the adults sat. Her father placing the twins down as she remained standing. "Please don't freak out," she said whipping out her wand. "Restituere," she said as a soft glow surrounded her parents' heads as the two officials from the Australian ministry gaped in shock.
Her mother blinked as everything was brought back into her mind. Soon she turned her eyes to her eldest daughter before shouting. "Hemione Jean Granger. What the hell did you do!" She growled as Hermione collapsed on the couch again as her father almost outright glared at her.
"I had to protect you!" She wailed not being able to hold back her tears anymore.
"Protect us? When Professor McGonagall came and told us you were a witch you promised us that you would never raise your wand against us!" Her father growled.
"You don't understand, the death eaters were getting bolder and bolder. I couldn't just leave Harry by himself to face Voldemort. We had to go on the run, I wouldn't be able to protect you!" Hermione argued as she finally sat back up straight not bothering to wipe the tears off of her face.
"What did you do Lady Granger?" The man asked his voice icy as his eyes narrowed accusingly.
"No! I have been given diplomatic immunity for any and everything I had to do to defeat Voldemort the ICW and the dverger Horde signed off on it!" Hermione shouted as both Australian wizards flinched at her ferociousness.
"You, young Lady, you will answer their questions," her mother hissed as the two toddlers began wailing feeling the tension in the room.
"I had to obliviate you," she said in a small voice.
The air between the three eldest Grangers was thick. She knew her parents had been reading all of the books they could on the wizarding world and had even subscribed to not only the Daily Profit but both the Quibbler and the International Wizarding times as well. Even her textbooks had been devoured by her parents as they tried to understand the world their daughter was a part of.
"You what!" Her father growled breaking the silence and the tension that had filled the room after Hermione had spoken.
"I had no choice; you and Mum would never have left the country without me and there was no way you wouldn't start searching if I disappeared for a year or more. So, I obliviated you adding in a command spell spoken with your blood would reverse it," she said watching as her mother slid to the floor calming the toddlers as both of her parents' minds whirled.
Her mother would fixate on problems for months, turning over every stone before making up her mind. But her father was more like a dagger piercing through the problem quickly and efficiently.
"That's ingenious," the Australian witch said quietly.
"You had babies," Hermione said in a small voice.
"Well we'd forgotten we'd had one already," her mother nearly glared.
"We always wanted more babies but when you started having bouts of accidental magic... We decided to wait until after you started Hogwarts to try again. But then with how much adversity you faced, we wondered if it was right to bring another child into the world if they were going to be dealing with what you did." Her father offered absent-mindedly. "And you know your mum always wants the best deals so two for the price of one," her father joked as Hermione cried in relief, her father still looked hurt but there was a look of understanding in his eyes.
"Come here puff ball," he said as Hermione lunged into her father's lap and sobbed. "I'm still angry with you..." He said stroking her hair like he used to do when she was little. "But I will always love you,"
"It was quite a surprise, but when I took that year off, we were able to mend fences," she said happily sipping the tea that Kiki had brought when she realized how long her story was going to be and they had moved to the library.
"So, your siblings are magical?" Draco asked setting down his own large cup of tea.
"Yes, Australia has nannies for muggle-borns so that when they enter school, they're at the same level as the other students," Hermione said, looking down at her watch and realizing that she had stayed there a few hours longer than she planned. Quickly she placed the cup back down and grabbed her purse and notebooks before she stood up and made her way towards the door. Draco quickly did the same as she finished her thought, "But they are getting ready to move back here, they're going to stay in the manor so that they can go to Hogwarts when they're eleven."
She stood there awkwardly in the doorway as they both tried to figure out what to say.
"Well I better get going," Hermione chuckled motioning towards the door before turning.
"Yes… um, wait!" Draco nearly shouted.
"Yes?" she asked looking over her shoulder.
"Um… next week would…. would you have dinner with me?" Draco stuttered.
"Yes,"
The old haggard-looking woman panted lightly as she glared down at the body on the floor. Too much. It took far too much of her power to deal with her. She tried just implanting the actions in the woman's head but her love of her son kept her from acting against him. So, she had to subdue the woman, but she had once spent time in such terrible company and wasn't one to simply give up without fighting.
Sneering she stepped over the body as her own form changed to take on her target's looks. Wiry grey hair became sleek blonde locks and a face full of wrinkles became smooth skin one again. Blinking she summoned the woman's wand a placed her under a spell that would last until the story was finished. Gazing around the cottage she found a stack of letters. Scanning over the contents a feral smile crept onto her face before she apparated away.