CHAPTER 12 : Come Away With Me
"It's time," said Hermione to Ron, one morning the following week.
They were sitting at the breakfast table. Everybody else had disappeared; Harry and Ginny had taken Teddy and one-year-old Victoire to the zoo; Mr and Mrs Weasley were out shopping in Diagon Alley; and George was once again visiting his girlfriend, Katie Bell.
"Time for what?" said Ron, through a mouthful of bacon. "I didn't think you were going anywhere today."
"Time to go back to Australia, I mean," she said, matter-of-factly.
Ron nearly choked on his bacon. "Today?" he cried.
"As good a day as any," she said.
"Oh, well," he said sarcastically. "Thanks for the warning. I'll just run upstairs and fetch my suitcase!"
Hermione sniffed with disapproval. "Don't be like that. You don't have to come if you don't want to."
Ron sighed. He couldn't see the sense in pursuing a fantasy; but he also knew that Hermione, being the stubborn and infuriating creature that she was, wouldn't rest until she'd exhausted every magical possibility. "Of course I'm coming. I just…think you could be wasting your time. It's not going to work any more this time than it did last time."
Hermione bristled. "Don't say that. Every time I go it gets more and more likely that it will work. I just have to keep trying."
"No, every time you go it means one more chance that you've possibly made it worse."
"Ron, are you coming, or not? If you are, then I'm leaving in half an hour. If not, then have a lovely breakfast, and I'll see you soon."
"When'll we be coming back?" he asked. "In time for tea?"
"Ready?" she asked nervously, clutching his hand. "I hate this Side-Along Apparition. Especially between continents. I was never any good at it." She checked her watch. "It should, theoretically, be 5:37pm, Adelaide time."
"Right," said Ron. "Let's get this over and done with, then."
They landed, face-down, with a rather nasty thump, in the middle of a stunning white beach that curved farther than their eyes could contemplate. The beach was all but empty; the wind whistled along the shore and whipped clouds of sand against their bare ankles. They pulled themselves upward, spitting sand as they went.
"Fancy a dip?" asked Ron, grinning. For a brief moment, the idea of parading in the water at an Australian beach, with Hermione and in their bathers, made his skin tingle. But the look on Hermione's face brought him back down to earth.
"I think the bus leaves from across the road in a few minutes," she said. "We should get there in time."
"Why don't we ask your parents if they could –" Ron began, but he cut himself short when he realised. "Oh. Right. Let's go to the bus, then."
They were waiting by the kerb for the bus when Ron spoke. "Did you bring the Australian money?" he asked.
Hermione went pale.
"I thought you were supposed to be the organised one!"
At that moment, the bus pulled to the kerb and hissed to a stop. The doors swung open and Hermione nervously stepped inside.
"Student or regular, love?" asked the middle-aged bus driver.
"Erm, regular, thank you," squeaked Hermione.
"That'll be three dollars twenty, thanks, love."
Hermione pretended to rummage through her pockets, and feigned surprise when she couldn't find any money. "Oh, Ron?" she asked loudly. "Did I give that change to you?"
Ron shook his head and pulled together his sweetest couple voice. "No, darling. You had it in your pocket all morning."
"Well, it's not there anymore!"
"Just hop on, you two, and you can sort it out later. I'll let you through this time, but make sure you get yourselves sorted for your next bus ride. You on holiday from the UK?"
"Yes," they both said, at the same time.
"Which part? I was born in Dorset."
"London," they said again, together.
"Well, you two have a good holiday. And get yourselves some money. Not all the bus drivers are so forgiving!"
"I can't believe I just did that, I can't believe I just did that," Hermione muttered to Ron after they'd clambered into the back seat of the bus. "I couldn't even Confund him, with all these Muggles watching us."
Ron shrugged. "Hey, you're doing this for the greater good. Deal with it."
"I'm doing this for my greater good. On a technicality, I wasn't justified to steal a bus fare from a nice man."
Ron rolled his eyes. "You're such a goody-two-shoes."
"You expected anything different? You've had nine years to get used to the idea!"
"Nah," said Ron. "That's why I love you."
Fortunately, Hermione's parents lived within a five minute walking distance of one of the bus' stops.
"Which street was it again?" asked Ron. "I'm tired, by the way. This Apparating thing is really starting to exhaust me. Hey –" He stopped. "Hermione, we could've just Apparated to your parents' house from the ruddy beach."
"No, we couldn't," said Hermione. "I forgot the name of the street but I knew I'd recognise it once we got on the bus and saw the signs."
"Oh. Right."
They walked silently the few hundred metres toward Francis Avenue, Hallett Cove. It was a nippy winter's day, but not nearly as cold as those to which Hermione and Ron were accustomed back home in London.
"Forgot to bring my jacket," Ron mumbled.
They stood before the Grangers' new home. Hermione took a deep breath, and knocked.
After a few moments, the door swung open. "Hello?" asked Mr Granger politely.
"Hi," said Hermione. "I'm Hermione. Hermione…Weasley. The girl who came to visit you about a month ago."
"Oh, hello, love! Come in, come in." Her father held the front door open for her, and they both stepped inside. Ron took Hermione's hand in his own and gave it a squeeze.
"Hermione Weasley?" he muttered as Mr Granger went ahead into the living room.
"I might scare them off if I say Granger," she muttered back. "This is safer. For now." She stopped and turned to Ron. "When I excuse myself, I need you to keep them talking for as long as I'm gone. I need time to work on the spell. If I take awhile, you need to make up some kind of excuse. That I'm getting over a cold, or that I had a rough plane trip, or something." She gave him a quick kiss. "Thanks for coming with me."
No sooner had they sat down that Hermione stood. "Excuse me, Mrs Granger," she asked, "but I could I please use your bathroom?"
"Of course you can," said her mother. "You remember where it is?"
They were arrived back at The Burrow the following evening. Ron and Hermione Apparated, with a loud clatter, beside the dinner table.
"Hermione! Ron!" said Mr Weasley brightly. "How did it go? Fancy a potato?"
Hermione shook her head. "Thanks, Arthur," she said, "but I'm not very hungry. And I'm tired." She gave Mr and Mrs Weasley a quick hug. "I think I'll go to bed now."
"It didn't work, did it?" said Mr Weasley to Ron, after Hermione had disappeared from view.
Ron shook his head.
Mr Weasley sighed. "I've asked everybody at the Ministry. Everybody. Nobody can understand why. It's times like this when we need Dumbledore!"
"Yeah," said Ron glumly, stabbing a small potato violently with his fork. "You're not wrong."