'I hate international portkeys.' Grindelwald complained as the lift doors opened in front of them with a pleasant chime.
'You're the one who organised this.' Hermione reminded him as they entered, pressing the button for level six. At the last minute a family barrelled in, two children dragged behind their rushed parents as they scrambled to catch the lift.
'Sixth floor, excellent!' The father huffed as they caught their breath. His garish, Hawaiian patterned robes clashed spectacularly with the light, floral summer dress his wife wore.
'I do hope we haven't missed it.' The woman fretted as she double checked the paperwork in her purse. She looked down at her young son with a great measure of irritation as he tugged on her dress again. 'What is it Ben?'
'Mum, look who it is.' The boy pointed wildly in their direction and the woman followed his finger, seemingly noticing them for the first time.
'Merlin, is that Hermione Granger and Grindelwald?' The older of the two young boys whispered and the father quickly turned his two children away to stop them gawking, his face going red with embarrassment.
'Sorry about that.' He apologised as the lift changed direction sharply, rocketing diagonally past the second floor. 'Thank you, of course, for saving us.'
Hermione went pink and Gellert managed to say something smooth and winning which completely passed over Hermione's head as she suddenly found the new travel documents that Gellert had been issued very interesting.
She was relieved when a cool voice announced that they were at the department of magical transportation and she could hurry out. Gellert followed close behind her as she followed the blue and white signs to "departures".
They were ushered to the head of the queue, skipping past the disgruntled rows of other passengers and through customs. The formalities were barely observed and the official that took down their details seemed more interested in their social lives than the authenticity of the paperwork. With no delay they were ushered into their booth and given a five minute warning for the departure of their portkey. A cool female voice began the countdown and they both placed a finger on the smooth black stone that sat on a table in the middle of the room. Hermione adjusted her grip on her beaded bag as the countdown reached two.
The tug behind her navel was agonising, almost as if she'd swallowed a fishing hook and was being reeled in. The air was squeezed out of her and she almost blacked out as she was spun around so fast all the blood rushed to her feet. Then she connected with something soft and the movement stopped. The air rushed back into her lungs and she rolled over to gasp it in. Someone sat her up, and suddenly a bucket had been conveniently provided as she emptied her stomach.
'There you go Ma'am, I'll just help you up now, we're expecting a big group through any minute.' The witch who'd provided the bucket informed her, helping her stand and make her way off the blue mattress they'd landed on. Gellert was already waiting, looking very pale but otherwise healthy as he handed their paperwork to a tanned man in a smart blue uniform.
He gave her his one sided smile as she wobbled over to him and she subtly leant against the wall as the officer checked the documentation.
'Name and purpose of visit?' The man drawled as he entered a document number into a large ledger.
'Gellert Grindelwald and Hermione Granger, we're here to find her parents.' Gellert answered for her and the man looked up with sudden interest.
'Grindelwald and Hermione Granger?' He peered at them closely. 'I'm glad they let you go, it's not right what the ICW did to you. I'm Geoff Baiter, if you need anything whilst you're here, just send me an owl.'
Geoff smiled at them genuinely as he stamped one of the documents and handed the stack back to them. He waved them off with a friendly smile as a large family arrived with a sound like a gunshot and several cries of pain.
They were let out of the arrivals room and directed the ferry that would take them off the island that served as the Australian Ministry of Magic. They wandered leisurely along the sand-dusted path that meandered between the different department buildings. One wizard that passed them by was complaining to another about how the coconut tree outside his department had started dropping fruit. A witch emerged onto the veranda of the department of law enforcement and shed her robes, wandering down to the water in a bikini. Two wizards banged through the door after her, hollering for her attention and jostling one another out of the way.
Right beside the ferry seemed to be a restaurant of some sort, overlooking the beach. A whole crowd of witches and wizards sat enjoying the evening with cold glasses of beer and watching some water based game that seemed to involve riding a giant seahorse-dragon animal for as long as possible.
The ferry rang a bell and lines untwined from the pier like snakes, coiling themselves neatly on the decks as a large sail was hoisted up the mast. With a sound like old parchment, a second sail unrolled at the front and the bow peeled away from the dock. They picked up speed quickly, the sleek vessel cutting through the azure water with barely a sound.
'Where to?' The skipper asked from his spot at the massive circular wheel. He seemed to be the only crew member on board, despite the huge size of the vessel.
'Melbourne please.' Hermione answered, just as they plunged into thick grey mist. It swept across the deck, startlingly cold after the ambient heat of the island. A wind howled through the rigging, the skipper hauled on one of the ropes and the boat leaned over. Hermione squeaked and quickly sat down on one of the benches near the back, bracing herself against a convenient footrest as the wind continued to build.
Then as quickly as it had come the wind died, the boat flattened again and the mist cleared. They were sailing past a massive green container ship up a wide river mouth. A marina passed on the left and a row of massive white cranes on the right, over the industrial shipyard, she could see the many skyscrapers of Melbourne glinting in the sunlight. Gellert opened his briefcase and reached inside, eventually pulling out the slip of paper that held her parent's address.
'Have you been here before?' asked the Captain, seeing the map drawn underneath the address.
'A long time ago; the city had changed a lot. Is the entrance to the wizarding city still in the church?' He asked and the skipper looked baffled for a moment.
'Not since 1960! You need to ask for room nine at the main reception in the crown hotel.'
'Thank you. I'm older than I look.' Gellert explained and the skipper nodded, concentrating as the sails furled themselves neatly and he slipped the boat alongside the jetty so that they could disembark. It was a tricky climb, especially because the mist had left a fine residue of water over the decks that made them slippery. She had to hang onto the wires that held the mast up for dear life as she clambered over the railings.
The dark wizard helped her down before climbing agilely over himself and jumping onto the dock. The lady at the muggle marina reception was kind enough to direct them onto the right tram and soon they were rattling their way to St Kilda.
Gellert used a subtle location charm behind one of the chairs to tell them when to get off, disembarking at the roadside after only a few stops. Across from them was a small park, a woodchip and sand path winding across the grass and between flowerbeds.
The short walk seemed to take both hours and seconds, knowing that her parents were living just across the street. Gellert led her up to number 34, opening the white picket fence without hesitation. Hermione froze half way up the pebble path.
'What if this doesn't work Gellert?' She asked nervously, terror coursing through her. Of course she'd trusted Gellert completely when he'd told her to brew the Mnemosyne Mixture; it was after all named after the goddess of memories. Of course, she could have brewed it wrong, or somehow messed up the original spell.
'It will.' He said shortly and she smiled uncertainly. He seemed uncertain was to do for several seconds, then finally held out his hand for her to take. It was a sweet gesture, so she took it and allowed him to lead her up to the white painted doorway. He allowed her to press the door bell when she was ready, then allowed her to take up the centre of the doorway, his reassuring warmth behind her.
She heard her mother's confused voice call out to her father, who hollered back from upstairs. Then someone hurried down the stairs with loud feet and the door opened. Her father looked through the security screen at them. Vague recollection flickered across this face, but he otherwise just stood and waited for an introduction.
'Hi. Erm, I'm Hermione G... er, Hermione, and this is Gellert.' She stumbled, looking to the older wizard for support.
'Good afternoon, Er Hermione and Gellert. What can we do for you?' Her father asked and Hermione felt a slight blush tinge her cheeks as her father cracked the familiar joke at her expense.
'We're new to the neighbourhood, we just moved in down the road and wanted to meet everyone. You weren't in when we called in at the weekend.' Gellert said smoothly.
'Oh, nice to meet you then! We're pretty new here too, why don't you come in and Jean will make us all a cuppa. Where are you both from then, you don't sound Australian.' Richard asked as he unlocked the screen and led them into the little house. White painted walls and light pine floors bore a striking resemblance to their old home, family photos were displayed around the mirror. Hermione was painfully absent in all of them but the space where she once stood was still there.
'You have a beautiful home.' Gellert complimented smoothly. 'and you must be the beautiful Jean.' He kissed her mother's hand smoothly as they arrived in the brightly lit kitchen area. Jean giggled and turned to the kettle to make tea.
'So where are you from then?' Her father prompted and Hermione managed to find her voice enough to answer the question that had been obviously directed at her.
'I'm from England. Gellert is originally from Germany but he's been abroad for a while now.' She managed to answer, surprised by how difficult it was to speak with him as if they were strangers. Gellert meanwhile was barely managing to keep his eyes off the toaster as Jean sliced up hot cross buns and heated them.
'We're from England too, left just before all that nasty business with the terrorist attacks began.' Her father said as he cleaned the opened patient files off the table and stacked them neatly next to the TV. Hermione took a seat whilst Gellert offered to help carry the teas to the table. She almost missed the flash of green as he poured the potion into two of the cups, disguised by the simple motion of adjusting their position on the tray.
He placed the cups in front of the two Grangers, taking the two unspiked drinks for them. He sat reassuringly next to her, guiding the conversation to the Granger's lives in England. They recounted painfully familiar stories, twisted slightly to remove her from the events.
'Actually, come to think of it Jean, there was someone else there.' Richard finally said as he had been recounting a holiday in France where they'd visited the Louvre.
'I think you might be right, were we babysitting for someone?' Jean murmured, her eyes becoming unfocused as she concentrated on the memory.
'Mr Granger, Mrs Granger. I think we should tell you the real reason that we are here.' Gellert finally began, and Hermione's lip trembled. 'You might be beginning to remember but there is a parallel world to your own, one of magic.'
It was a credit to their returning memories that the two Grangers took this without protest.
'You're right, I remember now. We had a daughter. Richard, we had a daughter!' Jean realised, tears filling her eyes. 'What happened to her? What happened to our lovely daughter? Oh Richard, there was a war, I remember now; there was a war and our Hermione was part of it. Do you know what happened to her?' Jean asked, turning to Gellert and Hermione desperately.
'Mum, Dad. I'm your daughter.' Hermione finally managed to whisper, tears of happiness falling down her cheeks.