Disclaimer: This author does not own Harry Potter.
Hermione woke up with a leisurely stretch, or an attempt at one anyways. Ron's arm was pinning her down and so was his leg. She wiggled out from under him and went to relieve herself. She came back to find the room suspiciously quiet and she was greeted with a vivid blue as Ron's eyes met hers from beneath half-open lids.
"What time is it?" He asked gravelly.
"Half past eleven."
"Ahh." He grunted happily, lying back down. She stood over him in impatience and he opened one eye and smirked at her. "Come back to bed."
"Absolutely not. It's almost noon! I'm hungry and we need to start looking for my parents. I don't want to sleep the day away."
"I wasn't suggesting sleep." He winked at her and she closed her eyes in consternation as her mouth formed a small smile of its own accord. He grabbed at her waist to pull her in but she was too fast for him and evaded him. "Hermiiione."
"Ronnnn." She mocked him. He frowned and then sighed.
"Fine. I'm up."
Hermione sat on the bed and tapped her foot impatiently, wanting to get started. She had pulled on casual shorts and a t-shirt. After they found them and turned them from Monica and Wendell to Richard and Jean, her and Ron would invite them out for dinner. Only then would they get dressed up and go to dinner and then Hermione would get the pleasure of taking Ron's suit off of him.
Finally he emerged; properly dressed and ready to go. She tossed him his wallet and he put on his shoes. She waited at the door, willing him to hurry up. They still had to eat brunch. Finally, they made their way to the complimentary buffet and he ate quickly and with as much gusto as usual. She couldn't stop herself from smiling fondly at him and recalling how he could eat no matter how tense the situation.
"So where are we going?" He asked. "I saw Kingsley give you an envelope at the party, did he tell you where they were?"
"He had an address from the first place I sent them, but that was all. So I figured that was where we would start."
He shrugged his assent and motioned for her to lead the way. She did, down to the lobby to find a mode of transportation. They hailed a hotel taxi and she gave the driver the address. They made small talk with him for the fifteen minutes it took them to get there.
The address turned out to be an old-style apartment building. Once upon a time it would have been magnificent looking, but now it looked slightly run-down. It was white with silver bulging balconies and two magnificent staircases that met at the front behind a large window that panned the entire lower front of the building. They met no one as they climbed the stairs to the very top floor, reaching unit 26.
She shared a look with Ron and lifted her knuckles to rap gently on the door. They drew their breath and were met with a wily youth who most certainly was not either of her parents. He told them his name was Trevor and that he had bought the flat from the Wilkins'.
"I got their mail for a couple of weeks until they fixed it so I can direct you to their new house." He offered, and they thanked him profusely. However, his directions had been slightly unorthodox, and they ended up horribly lost.
They went on foot as they didn't have a car and they couldn't apparate with no idea where they were going. Hermione cursed herself for bringing only her sandals which were making a blister form on the inside of her arch.
"Well this is fun." Ron commented. She gave him a look and he chuckled. "Thought it would be more glamorous?"
"I'd hoped." She replied.
It began to grow dark and Hermione became nervous. Apparently, her parents' house was much farther than Trevor had remembered it being. At least on foot, anyways.
"I think we should go back to the hotel and catch a ride out here." Ron said, finally.
"But we're so close." Hermione implored him. He sighed heavily and kept going.
"So. George and Angelina." He said after a time. Hermione understood the question in his statement despite him not voicing it.
"I think so." She agreed.
"But I thought she was dating Fred." Ron said thoughtfully. Hermione scanned his face for grief but she didn't think that was the reason why he had brought it up.
"She went to the Yule Ball with Fred." Hermione corrected. "I don't recall seeing them together at any other point."
He shrugged in agreement. "I guess that's true. Still awkward though."
"As awkward as you asking Fleur to the Yule Ball?" She grinned and he scowled.
"You all need to let that go. I was fourteen."
"They were sixteen." She pointed out.
"True." They continued in silence for a while more. She grabbed his hand on impulse and he clasped his fingers around hers. She marvelled at how amazing simply holding hands was and then banished the thought as it made her seem naïve.
"When do you think Harry will ask Ginny to marry him?" Hermione asked him and she saw surprise light on Ron's face.
"I don't know." He considered. "As soon as she's of age, probably. Did he say anything to you?" He made his expression unreadable but Hermione knew exactly what he was thinking anyways.
"No. I just wondered because they seem even cozier than we are, which is saying something." Ron winked at her and she felt her face heat. At least it was hot out so he probably didn't notice. The look on his face said otherwise, but she firmly ignored him. "And they're both the type to rush into things they feel are right." She continued.
"The papers will have a field day. If they get married." Ron mused.
"When." Hermione corrected and he nodded.
"When."
The came very close to discussing the possibility of their own wedding then, and Hermione looked pointedly away from him. He seemed to get the hint or didn't want to talk about it yet himself. She had meant what she said about them going the right pace for them, but just like the topic of children, she found the idea of marriage to be going much too fast. They'd been together a month, for Merlin's sake. The most wonderful month of her life, her inner romantic voice sighed coquettishly. Hermione almost laughed aloud at her own thoughts.
Finally, they found the house with the bright blue door, the one Trevor had described to them. She checked the street marker and found that the name on it almost matched what Trevor had recalled.
Ron knocked this time. The door opened slowly to reveal a middle-aged woman and Hermione almost couldn't breathe with the excitement. The woman came into the light and she realized that not only was the woman much older than her mi-forties, but she was also definitely not her mother. But how couldn't it be? She had sent them here for only a year, why had they moved houses so many times? It just didn't make sense.
"We're looking for the Wilkins." Ron was telling her when Hermione zoned back into the conversation.
"Oh yes. Of course. Wendell and Monica. Nice couple, but they thought someone was after them so they moved around from place to place."
Hermione and Ron exchanged alarmed looks. "Someone was hunting them?" Hermione asked.
"That's what they said. In fact, I saw some scary woman staking out my place, only she left when she realized I lived there. They gave me their new address in case any of the people looking for them came looking for me." She handed it to Ron and patted his arm. "You know," she said suddenly, "you look quite like Monica."
Hermione nodded tersely. "Thank you very much." Was all she replied before she pulled Ron from the front porch and back down the street. They hastily made their way to the next address. Several times Ron had to clutch her arm to make her slow down to avoid suspicion when there were too many pedestrians around.
Finally, at nearly dusk, they reached the address. Hermione raised her arm to knock on the door but Ron suddenly pulled her bodily to the side, away from the tiny window in the door.
"What?" She demanded.
He put a finger over his lips and stealthily moved around to the right side of the house. She followed him carefully, with no idea what he was doing. She peered into the window and her heart stopped. For there was Travers and Alecto Carrow. She pulled out her wand and rapped both her and Ron on the head, making them invisible. It was just in the nick of time too, as Alecto turned to look out the window at that precise moment.
Hermione dared not even breathe. Alecto had to have been the 'scary woman' the old lady had mentioned to them. But how on earth had Alecto escaped capture after the battle when she had been tied up? Were they using Polyjuice? And, most chilling of all, why were they in Australia in a house her parents were known to have stayed in? She was almost certain that was not Alecto Carrow as the woman had been at Hogwarts for the entirety of the war, and if the old lady had seen her that meant it was someone disguised as her. But who? And, more importantly, why?
She was Harry's best friend, but to her knowledge the Death Eaters had left the Weasleys relatively alone until they discovered Ron was with Harry, despite knowing how close of friends Ron and Harry were. But how could they have found her parents? Kingsley, Harry, and Ron were the only people she had told, and Kingsley had been the only one who had known their precise location.
"Think we can take them?" Ron whispered in her ear. She whispered a quick homenum revelio and let out a breath of relief that those two were the only ones in the house.
"With the element of surprise? Maybe." She answered.
He nodded. "Can you vanish the window quietly?"
She considered it for a second. "Yes." She aimed her wand and vanished the glass inside of it. He shot two spells through the now open window and quickly petrified both wizards. She breathed a sigh of relief. "Tie them up and I'll send a patronus to Kingsley."
Ron nodded and grasped the top window ledge to pull himself up, arms contracting as his torso lengthened and he swung his legs through. He landed on his feet and quickly bound both Death Eaters with thick ropes.
"Kingsley. It's Hermione." She said into her Patronus. "Ron and I found two Death Eaters in Australia and took them out. Please send a team as quickly as you can to 45 Oldwing road." Her otter disappeared. A great silver lynx took its place.
"Sending myself and Auror Potter, standby." His calm voice reported. She nodded to no one and pulled herself through the window much less gracefully than Ron had, stumbling on the landing.
"Aurors are on their way." She told Ron, not bothering to lower her voice. The Death Eaters glared at her and she trained her wand on one of them. Ron shifted his position, still pointing his wand at Travers, so that he could hex him if need be and see the front door.
Slowly Alecto's hair began to turn blonde, her features becoming less harsh. Ron startled but Hermione's face remained set in a grim smile. The woman she transformed into was unrecognizable. There had been a second where Hermione had seen the black hair and had become near paralyzed with fear, thinking her Bellatrix. But Bellatrix was dead. Molly killed her and she couldn't hurt anyone anymore.
"Who might you be?" She asked the woman. She got no response but hadn't expected any since this imposter had been petrified. "No matter. We'll find out soon enough."
It ended up being many hours later. Her and Ron had played a ridiculously dull game of eye spy and then person, place, or thing as they waited. They alternated casting body binds on their captives, not trusting them to have control over their limbs.
"What is taking them so long? You gave them an address, right?" Ron asked in annoyance.
"Yes." Hermione responded testily. This was the fifth time he'd asked her that. "Probably paperwork is why it's taking so long. It's difficult to get an international portkey and they can't just take one directly here so they'll have even more paperwork and portkeys to go through." She answered swiftly, giving him a look. As if she would forget the address.
Finally, the front door swung open to reveal Harry in a new set of auror robes, accompanied by the Minister of Magic himself. Their wands pointed at Ron and Hermione.
"In our fifth year you told Ron he had the emotional range of what?" Harry questioned coldly.
"A teaspoon." She responded softly. "What tattoo did Ginny tell Romilda Vane you had?"
"Hungarian Horntail." He responded with a grin. Kingsley chuckled lowly.
"The day I met you, you tried to turn Scabbers what colour?" He asked Ron, voice fumbling slightly on Scabbers. Everyone ignored that and watched Ron patiently. They should know that if one of them was who they said they were, then so was the other. But Hermione knew they had a protocol they needed to follow.
"I was trying to turn the stupid fat rat yellow." He re-laid the appropriate answer with a fond smile and Harry sighed in relief.
"Travers." Kingsley declared as he rounded on the Death Eaters. "And who are you?" He asked the woman tied up next to him. She glared at him.
"She was pretending to be Alecto Carrow." Hermione informed them. "We have no idea why. We also found out this was the third address that my parents stayed at here in Australia. They were being hunted by them, and I want to know why."
"Well?" Kingsley asked them, reversing the bodybind.
"We wanted information on Potter, and we wanted Granger for the registration. The Dark Lord knew how intelligent she was and figured hurting her would hurt him a great deal. So we tried to find her parents. We tracked them just after she modified their memories and knew they had travelled to Australia. But we were always one step behind. They were pretty competent for muggles who had no idea what magic was or why they were being chased." Travers reported.
"But why not harm the Weasley's when they were still working and going to school?" Hermione asked.
"The Ministry had just fallen but Voldemort had ordered we follow protocol and we couldn't link Weasley with Potter at that point. By the time we could it was too late. His family had already gone into hiding." The woman spat. She was Australian. "My name is Selene. I was sympathetic to the Dark Lord's cause and they needed assistance from someone inside the Australian government to help them find your parents."
"Well, you're both going to prison." Kingsley informed them. "Thank you," he said to Ron and Hermione, "Harry and I can take it from here."
"Even without me you managed to get into trouble." Harry smirked at them. "Hopefully you brought some aloe vera or something for that burn." He pointed at Ron who swore. Every inch of skin that had been exposed to the sun was bright red. Hermione checked her own arms but they had only tanned slightly.
"Stupid sun." Ron grumbled and Hermione giggled. "I'm sure we can find some. Say hi to everyone." She told Harry. He nodded and bodily escorted Selene out of the house.
"I think we should stop for today. We can ward the house and come back to look for a clue to where they might have gone tomorrow." She told Ron. Especially since it was completely dark outside.
"Can we apparate back?" He asked her wearily and she barely even considered the alternative before nodding.
"I'm not walking all that way in the dark."
Luckily, no one saw them suddenly materialize next to the hotel building. Hermione grabbed some aloe vera from the lobby on their wat to their room while Ron grumbled at his luck. Once there, she plunged her hand elbow-deep into her bag and pulled out some magical vinegar.
Ron looked at the vinegar dubiously, especially when she poured it onto the aloe vera and he saw that it sparkled with magic. "What on earth?" He began.
"Magical vinegar." She responded. "It doesn't even stink!"
He continued to stare at her and she grinned. "You never did pay attention in Herbology, did you?"
He muttered some response but didn't complain as she spread it on his burns. She muttered a quick scourgify afterwards, with an appalled look from Ron. In general, that spell shouldn't be used on humans because it could rip off skin. However, if there was something covering their skin and the spellcaster aimed well, it could be used. The salve separated completely from his skin and flew off of him towards Hermione, who directed it to the trash.
"You never cease to amaze me." He commented and her eyes met his delightedly.
"That's the plan." She winked, and he snorted.
"How did you not burn?" He complained.
"Because I," she began pompously, "am not a ginger."
"Oh you're going to get it for that." He growled at her but she was already out the door and into the hall. He was shirtless and had green goo all over his face as she hadn't dare used anything dangerous on it lest it damage it. He emerged enraged, but saw other people and darted back inside quickly. She chuckled and leaned casually against the door, nodding at them. She let out a squeak of surprise as his arms encircled her waist and dragged her back through the door.
The onlookers watched all this with amusement and paid them no more heed. To them, they were just another young couple on vacation having the time of their lives.