The next day, the two witches sat in the waiting room of the small dentistry, Hermione being able to get an appointment after complaining to one of the receptionists about "her fiancée" being in unbearable pain.
As of right now, Hermione was busy with sneaking glances at the older woman sitting next to her. It was obvious to everyone with eyes that the blonde felt uncomfortable. After all, Narcissa was fidgeting with her hands, moving around on the plastic chair, her eyes flitting from a poster about tooth hygiene to the magazines on the table. The other people in the waiting room were mustering her with amused pity, thinking she was afraid of the dentist.
Hermione knew that it wasn't going to the dentist that scared her but the whole concept of moving around the Muggle world. It had taken her half an hour the evening before, just trying to explain the workings of a simple phone to the woman.
"Ms. Granger," one of the doctors' assistants, a young woman with short black hair, called her name, waving her to a room on the right. "Room 3. You can go inside with your fiancée. Dr. Wilkins will be with you in a minute."
Hermione nodded, reaching for Narcissa's hand and pulling her into the aforementioned room with her. Not before shooting the assistant a glare though. Really? Did people have no manners anymore? Narcissa wasn't her real girlfriend but to that woman, she was. So why the obvious ogling?
"You don't really want me to sit in that chair?" Narcissa asked at seeing the examination chair, her eyes showing a hint of horror, her nose scrunching up in disgust. "It looks just like the ones my grandfather Pollux used to have in his cellar.."
"Why would your grandfather have…. – oh…" Hermione trailed off, blushing under Narcissa's incredulous stare.
"Not for the kind of entertainment you seem to have in mind, Ms. Granger..." the blonde raised a brow before turning serious again. "He used them for his victims. Pollux Black was one of the first wizards to do a detailed study of the Cruciatus Curse and its effects on the human body. He wanted to find out who would break faster: Purebloods, Half-Bloods, Muggleborns, or Muggles. He also did longterm research using a few Squib children… I uhm…the book with his findings was forbidden before it could ever be published but the original script still lies somewhere in the attic of Castle Black. As well as those chairs. As a child, Bella always kept me away from the cellar and the screams coming from there. I used to believe it was because of the monsters. I learned only later that there ever really was only one monster in the house."
She shuddered. "And to think that I actually liked him the most. He always used to read to me-" she trailed off, her gaze finding Hermione's. "I apologize. I am certain you didn't need to hear-"
The blonde was interrupted as a middle-aged man in a white coat entered the room. Mr. Granger, as she knew from the photos on the wall of their former home.
Mr. Granger was a tall, lanky man, his stature reminding her somewhat of Severus, and had sandy brown hair and a pair of glasses perched on his nose. It was easy to see the resemblance between him and his daughter, their eyes and hair color nearly the same. And she also knew from said photos that Hermione had her beautiful curls as well as her facial structure from her mother.
She wondered if people would one day be able to see both her sister and You-Know-Who in Delphi. She really hoped that wouldn't be the case. Especially with the latter. Sure, Tom Riddle had been a handsome young man once. But still, it wouldn't do anyone any good if someone recognized features of the Dark Lord in her niece. Nor her sister, really.
Delphi was supposed to be hers.
Luckily enough, the three sisters had always looked somewhat alike. She could explain Delphi's beautiful dark eyes by referring to her family inheritance.. both Cygnus and Pollux had had those eyes. But-
"Darling, are you quite all right? You look ready to faint," Mrs. Granger – or rather Monika Wilkins – was staring at her, a worried expression on her face. Narcissa had been so lost in thought that she hadn't even noticed her entering the room after her husband.
"Your fiancée seems a little uncomfortable," Mr. Granger stated with a look at Hermione, a small grin moving into place. "She afraid of the dentist?"
"Uhm, yeah… something of the sort," Hermione replied, still trying to get her own bearings. She hadn't seen her parents in over a year and here they were. It somewhat hurt that they didn't recognize her even though Hermione knew that was her own fault… "I uhm…"
Narcissa saw how the girl struggled with her words and decided to help her out. Even though she'd just called her 'afraid'.
Frowning, Narcissa slipped onto one of the examination chairs, wondering briefly how many unwashed hands had touched the handles before or how much sweat had disappeared in the leather upholstery. Grimacing, she looked at Hermione, motioning towards the door with a nod.
Apparently, the girl understood, because a moment later, Narcissa heard the silent click of the locking door and saw the wand clutched tightly in the girl's fingers.
"I uhm… Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins?" Hermione was nervous, even more so as three pairs of eyes landed upon her. There really was no easy way to do this.
But she was glad Narcissa was with her. The woman may be more or less a stranger but right now, Hermione couldn't come up with the name of a single person she'd rather have with her for this.
"Can you do it?" she asked, her voice uncertain. The obliviated couple was looking at the young woman with confusion.
"Well, if you two tell us where your fiancée's pain is coming-"
"Are you sure, Hermione?" Narcissa felt a lump in her throat that wasn't there before. Would the girl really be trusting her with this? Her parents – as well as her wand?
"Yes," Hermione said without hesitancy. "I want the best for this and right now, you're far more qualified to do this than I am." She walked to Narcissa's side – briefly allowing herself a smirk at the disgusted look on her face as she climbed out of the chair, rubbing her hands on her pants – and pushed her wand into the witch's hand with a trust that even surprised herself. "I want you to do it."
Narcissa nodded, clasping the wand more firmly and getting acquainted with its different power and feeling. She knew it wouldn't work as well as her own, but it didn't feel as wrong as most strange wands usually did. Hermione's would do well enough.
"Would you please explain to me what is going on here?" Mr. Granger was suspiciously eying the 'stick' the younger woman had just passed to the other one.
"Yes, and what-" Mrs. Granger broke off and her eyes widened in shock and terrified wonder at the blue wisps that were now emanating from the stick, wafting towards her and her husband.
A short moment later, both doctors were in some kind of a trance.
Hermione looked at the older witch questioningly.
"It wouldn't do any of us any good if they started screaming, now would it?" Narcissa smiled before concentrating on the task at hand. She'd never been in a muggle's mind before and she wondered if it would be completely different from a witch or wizard's mind.
Taking a deep breath, she entered Mrs. Granger's mind with a whispered "Legilimens". For the spell to properly work, she'd need to find the barrier first, the place where her real memories were blocked by the new, artificial ones.
As she went through the memories – Diane Granger's mind resembled an old looking apothecary, thousands of small drawers all around her – Narcissa realized that there really wasn't that much of a difference between muggles and wizarding folk, making her feel a pang of guilt as she thought of her family's beliefs as well as motto 'Toujours Pur' – always pure.
Where a witch would've 'stored' the proper wand movements and ingredients for pasta with champagne sauce, a muggle woman kept the information about the ingredients, cooking times, or the right ways to chop the vegetables. It really wasn't that much different.
Finally, Narcissa found a drawer that looked older than the rest. When she tried to pull it open and it didn't budge one centimetre, she knew she'd found the block.
Feeling a slight headache coming on – it wasn't intelligent to spend too long in other people's minds and not only because of the great amount of concentration required – she ignored it and started the spell that would turn Monica Wilkins back into Diane Granger. She was thankful that Hermione had mostly only taken herself out of the memories and that she hadn't set up her parents with a new occupation. This way, this would be easier and was less likely to fail.
"Heri Mnemosynum," she said the words clearly, chanting them again and again until there was not a single other thought on her mind. 'The souvenirs of yesterday' – the name of the spell seemed quite fitting to her.
It didn't take too long for the drawer to burst open, the colors of the drawers around her changing from the clinical white to a warm mahogany. It was beautiful to see and Narcissa was amazed how much impact the existence – or absence – of one person could have on another.
Hermione waited with baited breath as she watched Narcissa quite literally work her magic. It was a beautiful, a breathtaking display and she was thankful for the fact that the blonde couldn't see her admiring gaze.
She watched as finally, after minutes of silence, Narcissa began to move her wand in intricate patterns, chanting the incantation over and over again until Hermione noticed her voice turn a little raspy, her forehead glistening under the light sheen of sweat. Then, she broke off and simultaneously, both the blonde and her mother opened her eyes.
And as the former stranger looked around the room, her eyes falling onto the young brunette, a sob escaped her lips as her eyes lit up with recognition.
A second later, Hermione found herself in her mother's arm, both Granger women now crying of happiness and endless relief.
Narcissa allowed herself to revel in the emotional reunion for a moment before she delved into Mr. Granger's mind. It was time for him to meet his family.
They sat outside of a small café an hour later, the "Wilkins'" having closed their practice for the day, stating that there'd been a personal emergency they needed to take care of. In reality though, the doctors had already faxed their resignations to the town's mayor and were intent on leaving the country with Hermione.
As of right now, their daughter was trying to explain that she was NOT engaged to Narcissa. Luckily enough, her parents had been too happy to have her back to be angry at her long for obliviating them.
"So you didn't get engaged?" Hermione's father asked for what seemed like the hundredth time, his eyes moving from Narcissa to his daughter and back again.
"No. Nor are we dating. As I said, this is kind of complicated to explain but I will try my best to do so once we're back in London," Hermione said with emphasis. This wasn't the time nor the place to discuss the subject of Narcissa and her punishment. Nor their strange relationship. Also, she could see just how exhausted the other witch was after restoring her parents' memories. They'd book a flight - Hermione had only arranged for a one-way portkey because she hadn't known how long this would take - and then they'd head to the "Wilkins'" home to stay the night.
Hermione glanced at Narcissa, a smile on her face as she studied her. She didn't know why or how, but nowadays, whenever she looked at the blonde, she couldn't help the upward movement of her lips.
AN/ Took me some time but I hope you like the update. Next: Fun with Narcissa on a plane ;) and we'll see Delphi and Draco again.