"Magic?" Bond repeated. He sounded skeptical… so skeptical, in fact, that Jean was sure that he assumed she was insane.

"Yes." She said, sniffing, thinking it best to rip the band off right now. "They came over, told me that our daughter was a witch, and shipped her off to their school…."

"And you just let this happen?" He sounded incredulous.

"Because magic is real." Jean stressed. "They proved it while they were here."

Bond cocked his head at her.

"I never took you for the type to be taken in by parlor tricks."

Jean laughed.

"Yes, turning my coffee table into a pig and back again was a mere parlor trick." She said. "No, James. Magic is real… and our daughter is studying it."

James took in a deep breath.

"Jean." He said. "Perhaps we should go in for a consultation together. You obviously aren't in your right-"

"You came here for answers about where our daughter has been for the past two months, and I gave them to you." Jean said. "You can ask her over Christmas Dinner, if you like."

"That isn't for another two months."

"I think the bigger issue is that the tree of us have never had Christmas Dinner together in Hermione's life." Jean said.

The two glared at each other.

"You have made your opinion clear." James said at last. "But Jean… there can be any manner of explanations as to what you saw. Hallucinogens, hypnosis…"

"Magic?" She repeated, her mouth twisting. "Even MI6 doesn't know everything that happens in this country, 007."

…

"Your wife believes in magic."

"Yes.." James Bond was already on his third cigar during his phone conversation with M. "And Hermione is studying to become a witch."

"Christ." M whispered. "007, how could you have let this happen? Your child is involved in a cult."

"She's eleven." Bond said dismissively. "Once we get her out…"

"If we get her out." M said sharply. "007, we can't simply assume that it will be that easy. By the sound of things the girl went of her own free will… and with her mother's blessing to boot."

"If we manage to establish a case against the school-"

"A school that does not officially exist in any official capacity, 007." M said. "We are building a case, but it will likely be years before we have enough information on their operation. We currently don't even know where the school is located."

"What do we know about this school?"

"Next to nothing other than the fact that it does exist. They could be doing anything up there."

Bond gripped the phone.

"007, I would not ask this of you unless it was absolutely imperative… but you must find a way to use your daughter. She and countless others may be in very great danger."

"I'm talking with her Mother now." Bond said. "She will hear me out, at least."

"Just be sure not to have another child with her, James." M sounded exasperated.

Bond hung up the phone and rolled her eyes.

"Were you talking to M?" Jean inquired, sounding legitimately interested. Bond gave her a look.

"I can't confirm that."

"But it was her." She stressed. "Uh, it is the same woman, right? Grey hair…. Moody…?"

"She's not that moody." Bond said.

She laughed, and then fell silent, as if she were embarrassed that she still found him funny.

"I don't think you should be all that concerned, personally." Jean said. "I helped Hermione with her shopping and walked her to the train… everything seemed perfectly ordinary."

"Perfectly ordinary." James repeated. "Platform 9 ¾ does not exist."

"It does." Jean said. "If she comes back for Christmas by the train, I'll show you."

"What other ways could she get here?"

She went pink.

"I'm not sure." She admitted "She said she had… options."

"What kind of options."

"Magic options."

"You're humoring me."

"She tends to be kind of vague about this kind of thing in her letters." Jean said, shaking her head. "She thinks that… umm…. She shouldn't be talking about it."

Exactly like someone who was being indoctrinated into a cult. Bond thought dryly. It dawned on him, though, that Hermione had never mentioned the finer details in her letters to him either. She had simply mentioned her uneasiness being in a new place and being bullied.

"Why shouldn't she talk about her school?" Bond asked.

"Well… people without magical powers aren't supposed to know about those who do." Jean said anxiously, watching him. "There are exceptions, of course… as her parents we have a right to know what she is doing, but broadly speaking…"

"A right?" Bond asked sharply.

"There are laws." Jean said quickly. "Laws against talking publicly about the world of magic..."

"Laws?" Bond repeated. "This organization exists beyond the boundaries of the school?"

"Why yes. Plenty of them live in London… among normal people."

If that was true there would be signs.

"Where can I find them?"

She gave him a look.

"Come shopping with us when Hermione goes back to school."

In the end she refused to entertain him further.

…

It was hard to believe that she had been friends with Harry and Ron for almost two months.

"I'll be spending my Christmas with my parents." She informed them. "I daresay there won't be a lot of students staying for the holidays, will they?"

"Aren't your parents divorced?"

"Separated." She sniffed. "They never married. But Father wants to see me, he says… he thinks I'm growing up too fast."

Harry and Ron laughed, and she felt her heart soar.

She spent the entire ride home on the Hogwarts express reading, and despite being warned ahead of time found herself shocked to see her parents, James and Jean, standing together to meet her.

"Hello." Bond said brightly. "How was your trip?"

"It was very good, thank you." Hermione said.

She was watching them carefully. Her parents had always been very careful not to clue her in on their personal problems… particularly with each other. But she could clearly see that her Mother's smile looked rather fixed.

"I hear that you're becoming a witch." Her father said to her kindly. She relaxed somewhat… she had not been completely sure whether her mother had been completely up front about what she had been up to for the past few months.

"I am." She said. "But… we mustn't talk about it her. Let's go home."

Her father drove more cars than she could even keep track of, and all of them were high end luxury vehicles. It was so high end, in fact, that people passing by were stopping to gape at it…

"How much did that car cost?" Hermione asked disapprovingly, as they approached it.

"Nothing." Bond said brightly. "I got it from work."

"As a dentist." Hermione said dryly.

"Yes."

"Mum doesn't drive cars like this."

"She's not a fan of luxury vehicles."

Jean frowned at him.

"On the contrary I like it very much."

For the past couple of months she had listened to Harry Potter tell her how lucky she was to have parents and how he wished his Mother and Father were still alive. Although she understood and was sympathetic towards him, she could not help but think that maybe he was romanticizing the idea of having parents a little much. If he had been in her shoes, doubtless he would have felt as uncomfortable as she did, as they drove away from King's Cross to her Father's home.

It was an immaculately clean little place, that seemed somehow sterile and lifeless. As if it was very uncommon for anyone to live here. In fact, it dawned on her that she likely spent more time in this place than he did… A magazine she had left open a table when she had last been here had laid untouched for months.

Her mother looked out of place as well. Hermione knew her well enough to know that she was insecure about the fact that countless other women had been in this woman more than she ever had. She kept casting anxious looks around, as if expecting one to fall out of a closet half dressed, but nothing of the sort occurred. This time, anyway.

"How is your school, Hermione?"

Her father was smiling at her.

"It is going very well." She said, her voice cautious. "How much do you know?"

"Everything that your Mother knows."

"Everything about the school." Jean stressed, as she sat down across from them, bottle of wine in hand. "I haven't told him anything about your friends."

"You have friends now, Hermione?"

"Yes." She said. "Harry and Ron."

"Boys?"

"Yes, boys." Hermione said. "Do you have an issue with that, Father?"

He was staring at her rather intently, but before he could speak Jean get in.

"They're eleven, James." She said exasperated. "Let them have fun."

"I know what boys are like-" James began, but Hermione shook her head.

"So do I." She said. "But they're my friends."

James was staring at her again, and Hermione had an uneasy sense that he was more deeply evaluating her comment than she was comfortable with. She was used to her Mother not taking everything she said completely seriously, but her father seemed to almost hang on to her every word.

"Your father is having a hard time understanding that you're becoming a witch." Jean said. "He's just worried about you." She brushed her hair with her fingers. "Like I'm worried about you."

"There's nothing to worry about." Hermione said. "Not anymore, anyway."

"What was this thing about a troll?" Her father asked. "Your mother received a letter from your headmistress."

Hermione turned bright red.

"It sounds as if you're getting into dangerous situations at school, Hermione." Her father said. "If anything is wrong,… I need to know."

"That was…" She shook her head wildly. "It…"

She seemed to be struggling. Bond sat and watched patiently. Hermione had never been the sort of person to lie to her parents.

"I lied!" She blurted. "I told them I tried to fight the troll!"

It took a little bit of coaxing to get the full story out of her. She had been in the girl's bathroom when a troll broke into the school and attacked her. A couple of boys in her year, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, realized she was missing and came to find her. They had gotten into a brief scuffle, and when it looked to the staff that Harry and Ron had gone looking for the troll themselves Hermione lied to protect them.

By the end of the story her Mother was smiling.

"You seem to have found yourselves some real friends, Hermione."

Bond placed a hand on his chin.

"Trolls…" He murmured. "In a school…?"

"It was twelve feet tall and carried a club." Hermione said earnestly. "It could have easily killed me…"

The trip had worn her out, and Hermione was the first to retire for the evening. When Jean left him alone to go to bed herself, Bond reached for the phone and dialed Moneypenny.

"I have a couple of names to look into." He said. "My daughter is friends with two boys in her school… in her year. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. I wanted to know if you could do a background check on them."

"Will do, 007." Moneypenny responded. "I hope this is for the mission, 007. It wouldn't do if you terrified a couple of boys for simply knowing your daughter."

"I think they're friends for a long time, Moneypenny."

He hung up the phone and his eyes fell on Hermione's bag. She had neatly stacked a number of her school things on the desk in front of her. Among them… her schoolbooks. Bond reached forward, and began to rifle through them.

…

A/N

I was positively shocked by the positive reception that chapter 1 got, which is a major reason why I decided to put up a follow up as soon as possible. Thank you all for you support.