A/N: I feel this fanfic is all rushed up. Can't say. Hope you don't agree with but if you do just say it in the review ok? I'm getting a bit review-maniac. Blame it all on this fanfic. Anyway, I know my chapters are very short…. Forgive me. I don't have the art of writing long you see….. and I also apologise for the delay…. My schoolwork took my whole attention….

On another note this chapter will answer where Hermione was for a whole one year, away from the Weasleys and Harry. Also Harry makes an entrance in this chapter, with quite a lot to say in the next chapter. Okay, enough blah blah from me…. To the chapter… (I just got to know I didn't give any disclaimers in the earlier chapters. I am going to start now cause I find them really amusing!)

Disclaimer: Do I really have to say who owns Harry Potter? (I know mine isn't amusing :| ! )

Back amongst them

It was only when I was about to join the Weasleys for lunch did I see her for the first time in a whole year. She entered the room gracefully for a woman with a protruding stomach. Following her closely was Bill, who carried a year old baby boy in his arms. But before I could study the boy a bit more for he looked quite familiar, Fleur had already noticed my presence.

"Hermoiiineee!" she squealed as she looked ready to rush at me.

Bill at once urged forward to hold her back and Mrs. Weasley had stood up to stop her too. But fleur had had halfway reached me so I got up myself and rushed forward to hold her. As soon I reached her she hugged me warmly. It was hard for me to return back the warmth what with the pregnant tummy acting as a disturbance. But she seemed to have understood my situation for she released me apologetically.

"It eez so great to 'ave you back!" She declared looking absolutely radiant. "Trust me, I meessed you ze lot!"

I grinned. Unlike Ginny I had learned to accept Fleur as she is. I could never repay back to her for all the hospitability she bestowed us with during the War. She had been a lot like an elder sister to me most of time. Many a times she took my side in any kind of argument especially at the time when she supported me against the preposterous behaviour of wizards and witches towards elves, a topic which seemed to have been brought about when Bill had suggested of hiring an elf to the household work in the Shell Cottage, a year ago after the war had just ended. She had vehemently refused to accept that, voicing her disagreement in having a creature in the house to order about and do the entire chores, with her lying in the sofa or the bed having nothing to do.

"It vood affect my health if I do nothing ze whole day," she had affirmed. "Also, it vood make my body shape bad. I would turn into ze balloon in not many days!"

At once Bill dropped the idea. Not because she would become plump (he would still love her if she turned into a blonde-haired troll, Ginny had said) but because she now would be screaming the house down if he pestered her more about it.

I returned back to the present moment when I heard Fleur say something. She was scolding me sternly for not returning early. I laughed and gave her my apologies. She waved her hand as f I was forgiven while the other hand remained in her stomach, which reminded me to congratulate her on the coming of a new member to the Weasley family. At this point Bill moved forward towards me and I hugged him as he welcomed me. He still had the boy in his arms. Having a closer look at the boy, I could see some notable references in his features.

"Thanks Bill. Isn't that Ted Lupin?" I asked pointing towards the mousey-haired little boy.

"Bingo!" He said grinning as he offered Ted to me. The boy seemed to have taken certain interest in me for he agreed to let me hold him. I looked at him and tickled him. He at once went into a delighted fits of laughter. I cuddled him lovingly for a few moments and then returned him back to Bill. The look on the boy showed that he did not quite like the idea of parting from me. Everyone in the room laughed as he frowned and pouted his lips at Bill, as if his favourite teddy bear had been snatched away from him.

"He seems to have fallen for you, Hermione,"

I looked towards the source of the voice and witnessed the entrance of a smiling raven-haired bespectacled man I would obviously call him a man, rather than an eighteen year old boy, judging the way he was dressed. A mauve coloured shirt with the hand collars folded, a purple tie and grey pair trousers; that seemed like a ridiculous choice of colours for me. But on Harry, it looked well to go.

I slowly walked towards him not knowing how to react. He had not been there when I had left a year ago (not that he had reasons and did not make up for it) neither when I had arrived today. Although I was bubbling with excitement, wanting to go and hug him tight and forgive him, yet my pride held me back demanding to know his excuse. And now with this formal dress style (he rarely favoured anything over casual) I could feel my curiosity level rising as I wondered what exactly had he been up to. I stopped when I was only a metre away from him and folded my hands as I looked at him with an eyebrow raised and a foot tapping the floor below.

Harry's smile faded at once. He looked at me sheepishly and shrugged.

For a moment no one said anything. The only sound which can be heard was the tapping of my foot. Even the Weasleys seemed to be watching us, not daring to make a single sound. Harry seemed to have sensed this. He looked around the room uncomfortably as if seeking for help. From the corner of my eye, I saw Ginny giving him a helpless smile. Ron too gave him a thumps up as if saying, "All the best, mate. See that you join us for lunch in one piece."

By this time I was definitely getting impatient. I cleared my throat causing Harry to jump and look at me as if I would now throw a volley of bullets at him. I rolled my eyes to heaven. Do I earn that much of fear?

"I suppose you owe me something?" I said sternly, breaking the silence.

Harry let out a sigh of relief and gave me an apologetic smile.

"I am really sorry, Hermione! I know I am a great prat who did not spare enough time out of his busy schedule to welcome his best friend back home but I am not that heartless not to miss her terribly in her absence." Saying thus, he extended his arm expecting a hug.

"And what was this busy prat up to that he not only had to miss his Best friend's arrival but also appear for lunch as if he just attended a very important meeting with the Muggle Prime Minister?" Apparently, I was not finished yet.

Harry surveyed himself than let out exasperated sigh. He brought his hands down to his tummy.

"I don't know about you but I am dead hungry. And if you let me proceed to the table I promise I will tell you how I spent every single minute of your absence till today."

"Oh please," I said with a grimace, "Spare me the details. And what kind of a friend are you who think more of his appetite and less of how to welcome a friend?"

"Excuse me," he said looking at me unbelievably, "I offered you a hug and if you remember, you ignored it."

"Well I accept now." And before letting him reply I rushed forward and hugged him tight.

"I missed you" I whispered on his ears.

"Me too." He replied smiling.

"And now if you are done with that can we start our lunch?" came George Weasley's voice. "Audiences of a rather melodramatic cinema are to be given an interval please."

Both of us scowled at him as we moved towards the table. He grinned back at us shamelessly.

"That was more like the climax of a horror movie actually." Said Ron, as he helped himself with chicken and ham pie, boiled potatoes, and salad.

"Thanks Ron" I answered sarcastically. "So Harry, what's going on?"

Harry shook his head. "Not until you tell me how things went for you these twelve months. You are not the only one upset with your friend, you know. You did miss my birthday party last year."

I groaned. Now that was utter blackmail. I know I missed his birthday and I still regret that. But he knew how busy I was with the task I had taken up. Anyway, I did send him a letter. And the more I wanted of the topic as to how well I did my task not to be discussed, the more it was brought up. Mrs. Weasley asked me the same question when she welcomed me in the hallway of Grimmauld Place, 12. Percy imitated the same, when I encountered him in the staircase while coming down for lunch after freshening up, But he was rudely interrupted by George who seemed surprisingly delighted to see me and gave Percy no chance of interrogating further. Without doubt, Percy scowled and left hurriedly. It seemed George was still doing well without Fred there to act as a catalyst. But now, coming to the present situation, I debated whether to say everything now or narrate it later to Harry, Ron and Ginny privately. I decided to go with the former option, hoping to end it up all once and not be questioned again and again.

I noticed Harry still waiting for a reply.

"Well," I said, not knowing how to begin. At once, everyone, as if on cue, turned their whole attention towards me. I gulped nervously.

"As you all know, after the War when peace was restored, everyone returned to the company of their loved ones and mourned the death of their friends and family members together. I did so too, with you guys of course, but at the same time I missed being amongst my own family. When I saw relieved parents happily hugging their children happily who had survived throughout the War, I felt a longing to go back to my parents at once. It so happened that before joining Harry on his mission to kill Voldemort I had modified my parents' memory as a safety measure." At this both Mrs. Weasley and Fleur let out an audible gasp. They did not know of this. Ignoring the interruption I proceeded with my narration. "If Voldemort ever found out about my parents, he may hunt them down to get hold of me, subsequently getting a clue of where Harry might be since it was obvious that I would be along with him. So I had to do that." I looked at both the women. They nodded understandingly.

"So, just after the Mass Funeral, I decided to go and find them. They were in Australia I presumed for I modified their memory to make them confirmed that they are Wendell and Monica Wilkins and that they have an ambition to move to Australia. So, after bidding you all farewell I set out for Australia but before that I visited my place one last time. It so happened that a very close friend and neighbour of mine had decided to visit my place at the precise time when I reached home. Although all my neighbours were informed about our vacancy beforehand, he was not around the place back then. So he knew nothing of our absence and no one had informed him either. So, in the course of investigating as to why I had not met him even at the time I was supposed to be having my holidays, both of us encountered each other at my house and I notified him everything." At this Harry and Ron glanced at me puzzled. Understanding their confusion I replied, "Ryan had long known about my truth of being a witch. To tell the truth, he did help me a lot in my schoolwork and although he was muggle, he had brains sharper than me." I smiled when I saw both Ron and Harry raise their eyebrows at me and heard Ginny remarking, "Ah! At last you met someone above your level."

"After I had confided him with the truth, he decided to accompany me to Australia. I wouldn't let him at first but he insisted, so I had to let him"

"Er, Hermione," said Ron looking a bit unsure. "This guy, Ryan… um ….. is he…. Like..um.. you know-"

"He's just a friend." I emphasized on the last word. Nearly everyone around the table rolled their eyes at Ron's tactlessness but Ron seemed to have not noticed that as he sighed in relief.

"So both of us took a flight to Australia. We got down in Sydney airport in Kingsford Smith. I had no idea where to go first but I remember when I last went to Australia I had gone to Lilyfield, where Dad had a good friend of his staying there so that's where we first headed to. On reaching there we got to know that the person concerned was out of town but his housekeeper suggested that she call him and let him talk with us. We did so. Unfortunately he had nothing to inform us about the whereabouts of my parents. But he did offer us his house for a day to be hospitable to until we find a proper place to live. We accepted it gratefully. After we had our lunch, we decided that the first way to look for my parents was to confront every hotel to find out if they had taken a reservation. But the biggest odd against this idea was that Australia wasn't a small town or city. It was a country so obviously, there would be more than millions of hotels. That is when Ryan had a brainwave. He suggested why don't we go to the Minister of Magic for Australia and seek his help."

But of course," Interrupted Mr. Weasley looking at me with wide eyes. "Being a part of the Golden Trio, he definitely might have helped you. After all, you three hold a very respectable position amongst most wizards all over the world."

I blushed at this fact. "We do, judging from the behaviour of the Ministry officials as both us entered the Ministry. They looked honoured with my presence and I have to say I was flattered. The Minister agreed to help me of course and he at once sent out a word to look for any person matching the identity of my parents that I supplied to him.

"So after a week I received news from them that they had found a muggle who not only had seen them but had also got acquainted with the couple. Coincidently, both my parents had been in his neighbour's house for at least nine months. With making any delay I rushed to the house only to find that my parents along with the owner of the house had vacated the house a month ago to go for a holiday to India. Devastated, we returned back to the hotel, where we had made our reservation. That is when it struck me odd as to why my parents would go on a holiday with someone whom they barely knew. After I had interrogated the muggle, I got to know that my parents' host was none other than Mrs. Margaret Daykin, my father's younger sister."

At this point I paused to regain my composure. Tears had welled up my eyes as I named my aunt. Aunt Daisy had never been a topic that we ever discussed with my parents.

"Hermione?" asked Ron, tentatively.

"Aunt Daisy's reaction to my truth had never been favourable." I said in a much stronger voice. "Her daughter, Amelia, was like my soul mate and her brother, Justin, like my pal. Amy and I were more than close with each other; we were inseparable. Until Aunt Daisy voiced her disapproval of having a witch in the family and one fine day both my mom and her had a terrible fight. It was only when Uncle Pip, her husband, supported her in her perspective of the situation that Dad decided we break all ties with them." I stopped as I let a tear flow down from my eyes. Harry, who was sitting beside me, put an arm around my shoulders. "And till this day, I never saw Amy or Justin even once. I was just eleven then so I could understand nothing of what occurred but as I grew old and got to know of the whole incident bits by bits, for the first time in my life I regretted of what I was. I couldn't help feeling guilty of what happened, I was sure that it was all because of me."

"Look Hermione," said Mrs. Weasley soothingly, "what occurred years ago are not of much importance today. And you are not a witch at your own will, fate and destiny had it for you. It isn't your fault from anyway. The view of your Aunt and Uncle is inappropriate."

"That's what my mother had been telling for years. And somehow I believe that." I said smiling at Ron's mother. She smiled back at me reassuringly. "So, after a few weeks of impatient waiting, my parents finally arrived back to Australia with my Aunt. At the first sight itself, she started firing me with all sorts of accusations regarding my parents' condition. She threatened to go to the Muggle police to report about my imprudent magic used on my parents. It was at this point that Ryan intervened. He suggested her that instead of the muggle police, we should rather go to the Ministry of Magic. Surprisingly, she agreed hopping that I would be punished severely for this act of mine. Needless to say, the Minister tool my side on this matter and explained to my Aunt the situation of our world and how it was necessary for me to take such a measure considering my status in the Wizarding world and my friendship with Voldermort's rival. But she was not to be moved by all of this "nonsense". It was only the next day when she apologised for her mistrust and rude behaviour that I got to know that Ryan had some kind of a secret session earlier night which included some shouting sessions and weeping on my Aunt's part. Till this day it remains secret to me as to what they discussed that night due to which my Aunt's behaviour towards me improved considerably. So, I lifted the charm from my parents and happily spent the rest of the Christmas holidays in Australia with them. Ryan decided that he should return at this point for he had some family matter to attend to. We expressed our gratitude to him for all his help and bid him farewell. After spending the New Year with them over there, my parents and I returned back to London and spent some time together here. And after three months or so holidaying with them I decided to return back amongst you all. And here I am today." I said as I concluded my narration.

For a moment there was a silence. Then Mr. Weasley said,

"I am happy for you, Hermione. At last there was an end to your struggle of finding your parents"

"It was adventurous." Percy piped in.

"But of course Perce," said George, looking at Percy sternly. He waved a finger at him as if he had done something naughty, "don't you dare play "Treasure Map" with Mom and Dad. If you oblivate their memory and go and hide them somewhere in Egypt and later look for them to imitate Hermione's adventure in course of finding one for yourself, I'll see that you do have a Salsa with the Mummies before you return, you understand?"

Everyone laughed as Percy went red.

"But I suppose you won't be even alive to have that awesome opportunity when Mum is there to dance you to your grave." continued George sadly, shaking his head. "You won't have the excuse of Voldemort to give even, you see."

"That's enough, George!" thundered Percy as Mrs. Weasley frowned and the rest laughed harder. "You are worse even without Fred."

At once, Percy's eyes widened and his face went red as he realised his mistake. George's smile faded at once and he looked down at his plate. Everyone around the table frowned at Percy except for Mrs. Weasley who looked on the verge of tears.

"Er, sorry?" Percy said meekly.

There was a stony silence in the room. No on knew what to do or say. Then Ginny broke the silence.

"May be we should all go on and have some sleep now." She said getting up.

"Yeah, right." Said Ron, as he imitated the same.

"I will cleen ze dishes." Declared Fleur taking Mrs. Weasley's plate from her.

"No, Fleur. Let me and Ginny do it." I said taking the plate from her. "You better go and take rest."

Fleur nodded but she helped Mrs. Weasley out of the chair as she wiped her tears. Mr. Weasley, looking distraught himself, helped Fleur to get his wife to his room. Bill on the other hand nodded at Percy and exited the room with Ted in his arms. Percy got up nervously and moved towards George, who hadn't moved an inch. Harry got up to help him and both he and Percy together took George to his own room. Before leaving, Harry turned back to me and mouthed 'upstairs' and pointed upward to indicate that I join him in his room after I finished my work. I nodded. Ron meanwhile stayed back to help Ginny and me to clear the table and wash the dishes. After 10 minutes or so, when we had finished our work, we headed towards the staircases. Ginny moved ahead of us to Harry and Ron's room while Ron and I followed her suit.

"So, this guy Ryan," said Ron as he opened the door to their room for me, "he seems to have helped you tremendously. You must be real grateful to him"

"Yes." I smirked when I thought of Ryan, the blonde git whom I considered a friend. "I am indebted to him. I really am. I hope I do pay him back somehow."

Little did I know how soon that opportunity will come.

A/N: I get on my knees and beg forgiveness for such a late update! Like I mentioned before, my schoolwork took most of my time and exams are around the corner. Anyway, I know this chapter is REAL long "(*phew*). But what I can't believe is that I actually wrote it this LONG! :o Well, life is full of surprises isn't it?

Also I'd like to mention that for a period of time, I wanted to give up with this fanfic…. I just didn't feel like continuing it…. But then I read 2 AWESOME fanfics by Bluemidget ("Pansy's Volcano" in Adult fan fiction) and scarlet-sparx ("The Unseemingly Proposal") and I was at once given back the confidence to write again. So, I'd like to thank this two people for giving me the interest to write again….

On another note, I would like to say that it struck my mind a few days ago that some of you might find this fanfic similar to yours or some others… For that I give my word that this Fanfic Is "a figment of MY imagination and I had not copied or taken any idea from someone else's"… So plz don't accuse me of anything… And if it is similar, then plz inform me at once, I'll try to do my best to change it….

Lastly, I am requesting you all for any king of suggestions that you can give to make this story better… I would welcome it wholeheartedly! And if there are any mistakes plz point them out to me… I'l correct them at once…. This is my first fanfic so there would be obviously many mistakes… And even if you say this fanfic is perfect, I would NEVER believe you….

So until the next time that I update, plz give as much reviews as you can….. The existence of My fanfic depends on your reviews !