Ten minutes later, when they all left the conference room, Padraig had with him a son and two brothers, two nephews and his son's godmother.
Disembarking from their plane in Brisbane, the Grimm family, plus Hermione, made their way towards the customs and security.
"Miss Granger?" A young man approached Hermione.
"Yes?" She replied, cautiously.
"Oh, good, I got the right person. Miss Granger, if you and your party would come this way, we'll get you sorted." He moved his hand against his opposite wrist drawing Hermione's attention to the wand-tip just peeking out of a disillusioned holster.
"Oh, yes, yes, of course." Hermione hitched a sleeping Teddy up in her arms and tried to swing her shoulder tote around enough to allow her to grab at her suitcase handle.
"Here, Mione, let me take him. Kannan? Would you grab my bag?" George offered.
"Oh, thank you, George."
With that the group followed the security wizard through a door and into a surprising large and airy room.
"Welcome to Australia." The security wizard tapped his badge and his uniform changed slightly, from a long-sleeved pale blue shirt to a long-sleeved shirt, that was striped light and dark blue, an embroidered crest declared that he was an Australian MoM employee and that his name was Tim. "Let's get you sorted, huh? British MoM sent us a copy of your paperwork, first time we've had a trainee Auror do the delivery, though. Usually, it's just sent through the floo. Let's start with… Miss Granger? Are you aware of the restricted items?" Hermione nodded. "Good stuff. And do you have any of those restricted items?" Hermione shook her head. "Excellent. I'm going to do a quick scan charm of your luggage and assuming nothing shows up, you're good to go. Alright?" Hermione nodded. "Great. Prohibitus revelare." He waved his wand over Hermione's bag and suitcase. "That fine. I'll need to scan you, now just to make sure you've nothing in pockets or shrunken trunks and the like."
"That's fine." Hermione agreed, but that didn't stop her from tensing as Tim pointed his wand and cast the charm over her.
"No worries there. Who's next?"
"Teddy, please." Hermione held out her hands to George and he gently placed the sleeping infant back into her arms.
"Sure." Tim scanned Teddy and the bag that had a purple stuffed monkey shoved through the handles. "All good. Miss Granger, if you'd like to have a seat, I'll see to the gentlemen, now." He gestured to a row of seats, just a few feet away.
"Thank you." Hermione said. "But I think I need to get my feet back under me, twenty-two hours sitting is long enough."
"Fair enough, but please stay within this section." Tim requested and turned back to the men. "Now, you lot are different, I understand. Two of you were recently adopted into the family by the head of House?"
"Yes, George and I were born brothers, but a week ago, assault charges were brought against a member of our previous family by his ex-fiancé, that saw a disagreement arise and as a result, four of us were disowned." Bill answered.
"Four? I've only got paperwork on two. Where are the other two?"
"Charlie's in New Zealand, he's 2IC of the dragon reserve's rescue centre. And Fred… Fred died at Hogwarts." Bill whispered.
"Whoa, hold up. Let me get this straight… Your previous family disowned a son that has been deceased for four months, because of assault charges? Was he the one charged?"
"No, sir. The family sided with Ron, he was the one charged." George said.
"Then why…?"
"So that George, who's Fred's twin, would have no claim to their family, in any way." Bill replied.
"Oh, man, that's messed up. This Ron, he assaults his fiancé, the family argues, those that disagree are disowned, including a deceased member of the family, who was disowned specifically to remove any connection for a living member. Have I got that right?" Tim was hastily writing as he spoke.
"Yeah…" Bill sighed. "That's about right."
"And how did the adoptions come about?"
"Ah. Well, Hermione asked Charlie, George and I to collect her things from the family home, she didn't want to go back there. That-"
"Stop." Tim held up a hand. "What's Miss Granger got to do with this?"
"Hermione was the one Ron hit." George told Tim.
"Ah, right, hold on." Tim made a few more notes, before waving. "Go on."
"We went to get her stuff and that was when the family… when…" Bill took a deep breath, knowing that the family that he'd been born into, had deliberately acted to hurt he and his brothers, was still painful. "That was when they disowned us, our mo- our ex-mother started it, her two children and husband backed her up. We collected Hermione's things, we had to threaten to get the Aurors in, before they backed down, though. Then we went to the MoM, as we knew that Hermione was meeting with the Minister about her trip here. We-"
"Why was she meeting with the Minister? Is that common in England?"
"No, it had more to do with her parents. Hermione was one of the top three targets for the Dark faction in the war, so the Minister, before he was the Minister he was the head of the DMLE, gave permission for her parents to be obliviated and confundused into thinking they had a different name and wanted to emigrate to Australia." Bill answered.
"Oh, right, yes, there's a note about that, someone from the MoM Administrations is waiting to meet Miss Granger about that." Tim made another note. "So, you headed to the MoM to meeting with Miss Granger?"
"We did. We were taken to the conference room by the last of our ex-brothers who was quite disgusted with us for not siding with the family. He made it clear on introducing us that we'd been disowned. Padraig claimed the position of head of House and then offered to adopt us. As either brothers, sons, or nephews. George decided he'd like to be Kannan's brother, they've been friends for years. Charlie and I became Padraig's brothers, we'd only met Kannan a few times and I'd known Padraig for a few years."
"And when was that?"
"Wednesday last week." Bill replied.
"And the documentation has already been completed?" Tim blinked in surprise.
"Hermione was meeting with the Minister and the adoptions happened in front of him. He saw no reason to delay, especially as Hermione wanted to find her parents. That was what got Ron in such a rage, he saw it as Hermione choosing her parents over him." Bill explained.
"Ah, that makes sense." Tim nodded. "Alright, so you heard the process. Any restricted items?"
"No. Hermione made sure of it." George answered.
"Good. I'll scan you and your luggage and assuming nothing shows up, I'll escort you to a conference area where the British MoM rep and an Aussie MoM rep are waiting for your party."
"Go for it." George tried to smile.
Tim did his thing and one-by-one the four were cleared. Kannan was glad that he'd declared his staff, as that would have been the only issue, but with declaration, he was waved aside.
"This way, if you please?" Tim gave a cheeky and overly formal bow. Kannan and George snorted, while Bill and Padraig laughed, and Hermione huffed silently. But the five, and Teddy in Hermione's arms, followed Tim across the room, through a door and down a short corridor. "Here we are." He knocked on a door and waited for a response.
"Enter." A voice called.
Inside the room the group were confronted with a familiar face.
"Neville?" Hermione and George spoke together.
"Hey, George. Hello Hermione. Fancy seeing you here." The young Gryffindor gave them a familiar grin.
"Please, if everyone would have a seat?" The other occupant of the room asked before turning to Tim. "Thank you, Mr Lucas, I can take them from here. If you would leave their clearances with reception, please?"
"Yes, sir." Tim nodded and gave each of the group a smile. "Have fun and enjoy Oz, alright?"
Each of them thanked the young wizard and he quickly left.
"Let's get down to business, I'm sure you want to get out of here and get some rest." When they nodded the, as yet, unnamed wizard nodded. "I thought so. I am Liaison Merran. My job is to help foreign magicals, during their stay in Australia. I been through the notes and read the letter that Mr Longbottom brought with him, so we don't need to hash over the details, again. Miss Granger? I've been able to track the Wilkins' from their arrival in Melbourne, through to Sydney, but the issue we're having is that there were three sets of people with the same names, having the same occupations, that arrived in Australia, all from Britain, within a three-day period and were all staying in Sydney, at the same hotel over the same time. From there it gets confusing. All three couples have gone travelling. One set went north, one west and one south. I've managed to rule out the couple that went south. They bought into a business in a small village in Tasmania, called Triabunna. The reason I've ruled them out is that the male is of African descent."
"No, that's not my father." Hermione shook her head.
"I thought not. The other two couples both hired motorhomes, so tracking them has been a little more hit-and-miss. The couple that went north have been tracked, up through New South Wales, the last place we have a confirmed location is the small seaside town of Brunswick Heads, approximately 150km or ninety miles from where we are now, that is as far as we have gotten, so far. The third couple went west. We lost track of them somewhere between Dubbo and Cobar, that's not to say anything happened to them, more that… while it's only 260km or there abouts, between the two towns, most travellers use Cobar as a travel stop and we haven't found anywhere that the Wilkins' purchased anything. That and our researcher on that lead, became ill, after having been bitten by a wasp. We suggest that you take a few days, hire a vehicle and allow us to keep trying. My lead Researcher has only had the parameters for a week now and has managed to eliminate one couple and has tracked a second couple almost eight-hundred kilometres or… hmm… about five-hundred miles. Give her a some more time and I'm sure she'll narrow it down even further."
"Thank you." Hermione sighed in relief.
"Now, as for the rest of you?" Merran said. "The only concern we have is… Can any of drive a muggle vehicle?"
Bill held up a hand. "I was a curse-breaker for Gringotts, prior to the Hogwarts battle. I can drive a car, a bus or a truck. Manual or automatic."
"I can drive a car and ride a bike." Padraig added.
"Not me." Hermione sighed. "I never got the chance.
George nodded. "Da- Arthur taught both Fred and me to drive his Anglia."
"I can ride a bike." Kannan offered. "Moony taught me… The summer I turned sixteen."
"Ah, excellent. I'll get you registered for the appropriate vehicles here. Bill, was it?" Bill nodded in answer to Merran's question. "If you don't mind me saying, I feel you're the one with the most experience in the muggle world. Am I correct?"
"Not the most experience but probably the most varied experience. Kannan lived in the muggle world, he's not a fan of the British wizarding world's attitude towards some people. And Hermione's a muggleborn." Bill corrected.
"Ah. Right. My notes do say that. My apologies, Miss Granger, I wasn't thinking. I'm going to give you the contact details of a few wizard-run vehicle hire companies. Of the four, three have large motorhomes or campervans, whichever you wish to call them, for hire. Personally, I would suggest 'Around the Bend' hires, as all their vehicles are modified magically. But of course, the choice is yours." Merran held his hand out in a gesture of openness. "Now, I understand Mr Longbottom wishes to speak to you. I'll leave you to it and will meet you outside, just call whenever you're done. Mr Longbottom?"
"Thank you, sir." Neville nodded and waited until Merran had left the room. "Hey guys." He grinned at them. "The Minister sent me with your documents and asked if I'd be your… security… I suppose. You can refuse if you like, but he'd prefer you didn't."
"Why does he think we need security?" Bill asked.
"Not sure that he does, but Hermione was assaulted recently, three of you are heroes of Hogwarts and the other two were involved in the war, one of which is still convalescing. Plus, if you accept and Auror guard, the Ministry can cover any transport costs. After all, one of the main reasons you're here, is to locate Hermione's family. Family she was forced to alter the memories of, just to keep them safe. Oh and he backdated an approval for that, otherwise it could be touchy with the Australian authorities. With me here as your security, I also have the British MoM's authority to restore those memories, which will appease the Australians. Have to do things the right way. It also means that depending on what Hermione's parents want, I can order new documents for them or order existing ones to be changed."
"I don't follow." Hermione frowned.
"Let's say… I give your parents back their memories, but they've bought a house or a business? I can authorise the alteration of the names on those purchases. But on the other hand, if they decide that they want to retain their new names, or part thereof, I can authorise their existing documentation, here and in the UK, be changed to reflect that." Neville explained.
"Oh… I see…" Hermione hummed. "Yes, that's helpful."
"It is." Neville nodded.
"Mione?"
"Yes, Kannan?"
"I want to tell Neville."
"Are you sure?" Hermione gaped.
"I'm sure. Neville was always true, both he and Luna."
"Luna's over at 'Around the Bend'. She's seeing to a bus for us." Neville said.
"A bus?" Padraig asked.
"Yes. 'Around the Bend' have magical buses, they're basically homes on wheels." Neville answered. "Not like the muggle motorhome things, but like proper houses. Kitchen, loungeroom, bedrooms, bathrooms and even laundries. They just look like a bus from the outside."
"Oh, okay."
"Nev, is that a… smart idea? Letting Luna choose our transport and accommodation?" Hermione grimaced.
"It's not so much a case of her choosing it but telling them which one you will want." Neville corrected.
"Oh, leave it be, Mione. At least there'll be no nargles." Kannan laughed.
"Nargles? Do you know Luna, then? Kannan, was it?" Neville asked.
Kannan studied Neville and nodded to Bill, who with a sigh, pulled out a wand cast the strongest privacy ward he knew off, one specific to curse-breakers.
"Thanks, Bill." Kannan gave the redhead a quick smile. "Alright, Neville. This is how is goes, I am not going to say my name, you're not going to say my name, but you will know who I was, Kingsley gave me a new name and then later new family members. Hermione is Hermione, she's the same as she always has been. Bill and George, as you know started off as members of a different family, until Padraig adopted them into the House of Grimm. But… neither Padraig nor I were born into that Family."
Neville frowned. "Then… who are you?"
"It's not a case of who am I, but a case of who was I?" Kannan said.
"Who were you…?" Neville asked cautiously. "If you're not going to say the name, how am I supposed to know?"
"Oh, you'll know." Hermione started to laugh.
"How can you be so sure?" Neville tilted his head.
"Because we know who he was." George added.
"Alright. Cast away." Neville huffed.
"She called me the youngest seeker in a century." Kannan raised a brow as Neville's jaw fell open. "Now, just to make sure, ask me something that only that person would know."
Neville looked at Kannan, thinking carefully. "I told him that I was proud to be my parent's son. What did I say next?"
"But… you're not quite ready for everyone to know, just yet." Kannan answered.
"And what did you- he say in reply?"
"We're gonna make them proud, Neville. That's a promise." Kannan repeated his own words.
"I asked a question, before opening a painting. What did I ask?"
"Let's have a bit o' fun, shall we?" Kannan grinned.
Neville stared at him, before sighing. "Oh, bugger me… Luna already knows."