Two months later Hermione was at the teachers table in the Great Hall flanked by Minerva, Poppy and Fleur. In the house tables were a variety of people. The last three people to enter were George, Charlie and Bill. They nodded and handed her a muggle newspaper. Opening it she saw the picture of a house on fire in Surrey with the owners sitting on the lawn with medical people giving them oxygen. She folded up the paper and put it in her beaded bag then began the task of reading Harry's will.
"Luna Lovegood." Hermione called her name, and the blond approached the table crying, "You have been a true friend and I will miss you. I leave you this gift in hopes that you may find something no one believes is real. My only request is that you don't share with any of the Ravenclaw bullies or those that stood by and watched. You are worth ten times what they think they are worth."
"Thank you." Luna took the note and the bag and went back to sit.
"Andromeda Tonks." The next name was called, "I name Theodore John Lupin as my heir to the Black family. The sum total of the Black Family vault and the title Lord Black will be bestowed on him when he is either emancipated or reaches the age of seventeen or eighteen, your choice. Andromeda, I assign you as regent until that time comes. Teach him well. If its ok with you I've asked Bill and George to share the Godfather duties for me."
"Thank you." Andromeda took the letter and bag then nodding at the two men, went back to her seat.
"Neville Longbottom." The names continued with public statements to each individual along with either a note, money or both. The next to last was, "Arthur Weasley. I am contributing the reason for the loss of the minds of Molly, Ron and Ginny to grief. I would like to think they wouldn't have acted as they did, had they not been overcome with grief for Fred. I want to thank you for the time before the battle when you all welcomed me as family. There are special instructions in your letter."
"Thank you." Arthur gave her a small bow even as Molly, Ron and Ginny glared at her.
"George Weasley." Hermione called ignoring the others.
"Me?" George asked from her side.
"In case you haven't told your mother yet." At this point Hermione turned to the woman, "I gave Fred and George the startup money for their shop. I always knew they'd do great!" she turned back to George, "I am giving you a small additional gift and I want you to use my ten percent to further your research. Make them laugh George."
"Hermione Granger." Bill did the last one, "You have your instructions, take the rest and do as I've asked." Hermione nodded and leaned her head on George's shoulder. Bill turned to the crowd, "That concludes today's reading."
Those at the head table got up and left through the back door. Hermione and George were helping each other along. A few minutes later Andromeda was let in.
"My letter said to follow you." She held it up.
"Harry was afraid for Teddy's safety." Hermione told her, "He wants you to sell your home and move to one he has purchased for you. With Remus now being a known werewolf and no one here to stop the stupid legislation that has already gone through we know it will only get worse."
"Where is it?" she asked.
"France but you have the option to sell it if you don't like it." Fleur explained, "He only asks that you don't return to Britain."
"I've already sold the house." She stated, "A very nice muggle couple bought it and will take it over tomorrow. I had planned on staying at the castle until he passed so he could spend more time with Teddy."
"Harry told me some of the brightest days at the end included visits with Teddy." Hermione sniffed.
"What are you going to do now?" she asked the young woman.
"I'm going to do what he asked." She gave a small smile, "Then I'm leaving."
"Feel free to stop by and visit." Andromeda pulled her into a hug before she left the room with a portkey to her new home.
Late that night George and Hermione arrived at Godric's Hollow. A quick spell pulled the grass back and dug a hole in the space between his parent's graves. The two of them lowered the coffin into the ground and covered it up. No marker was made, and they laid flowers on James and Lily's graves before they walked off into the dark. George returned to his shop and Hermione headed to the train station.
Once Hermione reached France, she apparated to the Spanish wizarding quarter before she made her way to the muggle airport. She boarded the plane to Australia and settled in. She had no idea how long she'd been asleep when the stewardess woke her for the provided meal.
"Sorry you look exhausted, but I think maybe some food will help." The woman offered.
"Thank you." Hermione sat straighter, "It's been a long couple of months."
"You seem a little young to be going so far from home." She observed.
"I'm going home actually." Hermione gave a halfhearted grin, "My parents moved to Australia, but I was at boarding school and needed to finish."
"I see." The stewardess went on to serve the next person.
Hermione ate what was given to her without tasting it and fell back to sleep after they had picked up the trash. She was woken again just in time to land. The first order of business when she landed was to find the wizarding section and then a place to stay. The wizarding section was easy. She found a doorway near the airport's entrance and exit that had a large sign welcoming her to magical Australia. She entered to find a whole wing that held quite a bit. There were stores and portkey stations all over the place, but the customs office was by the door, right next to where she entered.
"Hello." She approached the desk.
"Outgoing?" the woman asked.
"No arrived by muggle aircraft." She stated, "Do I need to do anything here to register with the magical government."
"I'll need to register your wand." The woman took it for a moment and handed it back after a quick test, "Are you staying magical or muggle?"
"A little of both most likely." Hermione answered, "I think I may be staying here to live."
"You'll need to present your NEWTs to the Ministry if you want to work." The woman handed her several pamplets.
"I've not taken them yet." Hermione cringed.
"Muggleborn from Britain?" when Hermione nodded the woman gave her two more pamphlets, "Not a problem dear, we've had a fair few over the years. That pamphlet will tell you how to reach the education ministry and they'll help with whatever you need. This other one is for a reunion group of sorts. Once a month all the British magical immigrants gather here to catch up with each other.
"Thank you." She sighed vowing to stay away from that meeting, "Can I catch a portkey to the Ministry from here?"
"Right side is domestic travel, third one is the ministry." She pointed out, "Have a nice day."
"You too." Hermione picked up her luggage for a moment before she grimaced and sat it back down and shrunk it. She picked it up and added it to her beaded bag and headed across to the area the woman had pointed out.
She was able to catch an outgoing port key and landed at the ministry a few moments later. Taking the time to look around, she moved off to find where she needed to be next. A coffee booth caught her eye and she crossed to it and sat down with a cup as she looked at the pamphlets she'd received.
"Are you new?" a voice had her jump, "Sorry didn't mean to scare you."
"That's ok, I'm just a bit jumpy." Hermione turned to the man, "Yes I'm new here."
"Thought so, your pamphlets gave you away." He smiled, "I thought the British invasion would slow down after that war you had."
"We won the battle, but I think we lost the war." She sighed.
"But didn't that man get rid of the dark guy?" he asked.
"That's the part we won." She shook her head, "Before I left the government voted to revamp the Muggleborn Registration Act. They're no longer accusing us of stealing magic but since Voldemort was proven to be a half-blood they want to track all Muggleborns and Half-bloods just in case. I decided to leave while I could."
"Sounds like an intelligent course of action." He nodded, "Do you have your NEWT's then."
"No, I was on the run all last year, which should have been my seventh." She sighed, "But that's just part of it, I've got to find my parents."
Suddenly everything hit her, and she burst into tears shocking both the coffee vendor and the man beside her. Before either could respond to her hysterics she passed out and hit her head on the counter.
"I think I'll take her to St. Bart's." the man said to the coffee vendor, "If anyone looks for me send them there."
"Yes sir, Minister." The man agreed, "I can send a note if you wish."
"That's probably a good idea." The man gave him a slight grin before he drank the rest of his coffee and turned the cup into a portkey.
He gathered her pamphlets and stuck them in his pocket before he lifted the young woman in his arms. The coffee shop vendor reached out and tapped the cup to send them off. They arrived in the section of the hospital set aside for Aurors and walked to the desk.
"Minister Phillips, what do you have there?" a healer approached, "I dare say she isn't an auror."
"No, new immigrant from Britain." He laid the girl on the gurney the healer brought with him, "Came straight to the ministry and I think she may be exhausted. She went into a crying fit and then passed out. We'd been talking for several minutes before the incident."
"Who do we have then?" the healer asked as he filled out paperwork as the gurney steered them to an empty room.
"I hadn't had the chance to ask yet." Minister Phillips answered, "Can you tell me?"
"You're the government Bruce." The healer scoffed, "I'd have to tell you anyway."
"Dean you're a life saver." Bruce Phillips grinned at his old friend, "I know she is a muggleborn and was on the run all last year. I believe she may have fought during their Battle at Hogwarts."
Healer Dean located her wand, tapped the end and read the paper that was spit out, "Bloody hell!"
"What is it?" the Minister looked alarmed.
"Not just any muggleborn, Bruce. We've got Hermione Granger here." Dean turned to the man, "She's a main player over there. She was running with Harry bleeding Potter!"
"News from Britain says he finally succumbed to the curse that was killing him." Bruce sighed, "I'm guessing it may be the reason for the hysterics. We were talking about NEWTs and her parents though."
"Probably just all caught up." Dean offered, "I'll give her dreamless sleep, come back tomorrow."
"Great, I like getting out of the office on occasion." Bruce grinned but stood to leave, "Let me know if anything comes up."
"Will do." Dean nodded and went back to running diagnostics on the girl in the bed.
Hermione woke and found herself in a hospital. She covered her face with both hands when she recalled having a breakdown in the middle of the Australian Ministry for Magic. She could only hope no one important saw her.
"Trying to smother yourself won't work." A healer entered trying to gage her state of mind.
"I can't believe I broke down like that." She muttered.
"I'm not a bit surprised. You were exhausted." He healer came forward, "Healer Dean Watkins at your service."
"Hermione Granger." She shook his hand, "I slept most of the flight over I can't believe I was still exhausted."
"Well, you spent two and half months dealing with a sick friend." Dean took a seat in the chair by the bed, "You searched for a cure more than you actually slept."
"He wouldn't let me search when he was awake." Hermione huffed, "If he would have just…"
"There was no cure." Dean put a hand on hers, "You weren't the only one looking. St. Mungo's put out a plea to all magical healers for information. We had a team here working on it. I know we sent at least one vial of potion to test."
"I didn't know where they were from." Hermione grinned, "He had seventeen vials sent and one of them slowed it for about an hour then it took off again."
"She's awake!" Bruce Phillips entered the room, "How are you feeling?"
"Better, thank you." She grimaced, "I'm sorry about yesterday."
"Think nothing of it, Ms. Granger." Bruce took another seat, "Do you feel up to talking?"
"That depends, who are you exactly?" Hermione questioned.
"Ah, yes sorry, Bruce Phillips, Minister of Magic for Australia." Bruce grinned when she covered her red face with her hands.
"Merlin's pants!" Hermione was ready to die of embarrassment, "I've somehow inherited Harry's propensity to get into stupid situations."
"What can you tell us?" Bruce asked.
"First off I need to plead guilty to using magic on muggles." She sighed, "I obliviated my parents and sent them here to live. I'm hoping I can get their memory back but if not… I don't know what I'll do."
"Why did you see the need to do that?" Dean asked his concern coming out in his tone.
"Ron's family pretended he had Spattergroit and no one in the ministry wanted to get near enough to see if it was true so his family was safe." Hermione rubbed her eyes, "Harry was an orphan, but he broke up with his girlfriend to keep her safe. My parents were defenseless against wizards, and they wouldn't have left if I'd told them I was headed to war, so I took their memories of me and planted the suggestion that it was their life's dream to live in Australia. So many people died… I'm glad they were safe."
"And then you went on the run?" Bruce asked.
"Voldemort made… anchors." Hermione explained, "We had to destroy his anchors and then we could stop him."
"Bloody hell, the maniac made a Horcrux?" Bruce and Dean both yelled in their shock.
"Seven." Hermione corrected, "We had to find and destroy five of them. Two had already been destroyed a few years ago."
"What did your ministry say about them?" Bruce asked numbly.
"They don't know about anything." She shook her head, "Only three of us knew, Ron, Harry and I. We found them, destroyed them and then Harry stopped Voldemort. No one in Britain asked us what we did. If I'd known you knew what they were I wouldn't have said."
"We had a dark wizard about fifty years ago that made one." Bruce gathered himself up, "How did you destroy them? We used Fiend Fire."
"Basilisk venom." Hermione answered, "Harry killed a huge basilisk with a goblin made sword. We used the sword or teeth that were still with the corpse to kill them off. Except one that was destroyed by Fiend Fire, we didn't set it."
"I think we can give you just cause for the magic on your parents." Bruce sighed, "Can you leave the rest of the muggles alone."
"Not a problem." Hermione gave him a wry grin, "Thank you."
"What are your plans now?" Bruce asked.
"Finding my parents and fixing their memories if I can." She began, "Studying for and taking my NEWT's. The rest I'll decide later."
"I can begin the process of finding your parents." Bruce suggested, "What are their real names and what are the aliases?"
"Dan and Jean Granger are their true names." Hermione answered, "Wendell and Monica Wilkins are their aliases. If I can't fix them, I don't know what I'll do."
"We'll do what we can to help." Bruce patted her arm, "But I've not seen an obliviate successfully reversed."
"I found the spell, memoria transuerso, in one of the pureblood's libraries." She admitted, "But I need to find more on the spell before I use it on anyone. The Blacks were notoriously dark, and I don't want to use a dark spell."
"I've not heard of that spell." Bruce shrugged, "I'll have some people test it out."
"I've got the book in my bag." Hermione reached for the side table where her beaded bag sat. She stuck her arm in up to her armpit and began to feel around. A crashing sound had her mumbling before she pulled out a book and looked at the title. She frowned and stuffed it back in before feeling around again.
"Did you buy that bag with the extension charm on it?" Bruce asked.
"No, it was my grandmother's bag." Hermione pulled out another book and put it back when it still wasn't the right book, "One of the only things I was able to take from home. I put the charm on it to hold all our belongings while we were on the run. I still have the wizarding tent in here as well." The third book she pulled out she grinned and handed it over, "This is the book, and the yellow bookmark has the spell."
"That's pretty impressive." Bruce took the book, "Is that a spell they teach at Hogwarts?"
"No, I looked up wizard space in my fourth year after my first experience with a wizard tent." She offered, "Took a couple months to get it right. When I combined it with a feather light charm, I could carry all my books to class, so I was never without a book I needed."
"Do you mind if I borrow this book?" Bruce asked, "I'll get it back to you in one piece."
"Sure." Hermione gave in after a few moments, "It was actually one of Harry's books and I probably should have left it with his godson but…"
"I promise it will be just like this when I return it." Bruce patted her hand, "You can always send it to him when we're finished with it and apologize for keeping it from him."
"He's one year old." Hermione giggled, "I doubt he cares at the moment."
"Most likely not." Bruce agreed, "Dean how long will I be able to find Ms. Granger here?"
"At least another day or two." The healer stated, "I want to make sure the exhaustion is fully cleared. I'd hate for her to collapse on the sidewalk walking away from the hospital."
"I feel fine." She argued, "I could just go to a close by hotel."
"If you're worrying about the cost, don't." Bruce put a hand on her shoulder, "This is being paid for by the Ministry."
"And the hospital is only charging for the cost of meds." Dean added, "I've only given you a dreamless sleep so there isn't much cost yet. I can give you a pepper up potion and you could leave in the morning, or you can stay a few days for rest on the house."
"We'll be locating your parents, which won't take but a few days at the most." Bruce added, "By the time they're found we should have an answer on the spell. So, sit back and relax and let someone take care of you."
"Alright." Hermione gave in, "I guess rest wouldn't hurt."
"It certainly won't." Dean agreed.
The next day the minister was back with the book. He handed it over with a shake of his head, "This spell takes all the memories from one person and gives them to another. They intended it for the head of house to give his memories to the next in line before they died. Good news though, we have located them."
"How are they?" she asked desperate to know.
"Fine, they have opened a practice here and it's doing really well." Bruce added, "I sent a man to interview them, said he was doing a study on immigrant businesses. They told him this practice was doing much better than the one in London. They've hired a third dentist and a receptionist."
"That's great." She breathed a sigh of relief.