Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. Although I have taken a few liberties with my OC characters, which are mine. Enjoy!
Down Under
Harry and Ginny headed back upstairs as soon as they arrived back home to discuss what they had learned. They sat and talked for an hour before they looked up to see Ron and Hermione standing in the door way. The two of them walked in and sat down on Ron's bed opposite Harry and Ginny.
"So, were they your parents wands? What did Mr. Ollivander say?" Hermione cut to the chase.
"Well, he told me that they are most defiantly my parents wands. He also told me a little about my mum's first trip to Diagon alley." Hermione looked as thought she wanted to hear every detail but Ginny continued.
"Then, we went to see Teddy and brought him a present. Oh and Harry bought a new broomstick." Ron looked expectantly at Ginny, then at Harry.
"Well? What kind? Is it a Firebolt, a Nimbus? What?" Harry and Ginny smirked at each other. Harry nodded to Ginny letting her know she could spill the secret.
"Oh, just a new Firebolt Thunder," she laughed out loud when Ron squealed like a girl before fainting into Hermione's side. Harry laughed with her while Hermione huffed and started slapping Ron's shoulder to get him to wake up. Harry and Ginny were still laughing when Ron came too and sat back up. He was mumbling to himself something that sounded like Thunder and undefeated for a few minutes. Hermione and the other's ignored him and kept talking.
"So Harry what exactly did Mr. Ollivander say to you? I'm really curious." Harry picked up the box and looked at it.
"Well he said something about my family crest and motto. That is was fitting for me or something. I didn't get a chance to ask him what it said though. It's in Latin and Ginny nor I can't read it." He handed the box to Hermione and she examined the crest and motto for several long minutes. Harry and Ginny sat patiently and Ron still mumbled about broomsticks. Hermione looked up at them and grinned.
"Well, I'd say its fitting Harry. Very fitting. Exitus acta probat is Latin for The Outcome Justifies The Deed. Very fitting, I'd say." Hermione handed him the box and chuckled at his gobsmacked look.
"The outcome justifies the deed? Seriously? Wow. That's just…really? That's what is says?" Hermione nodded and Ginny giggled.
"Well, there is no saying that you're not a Potter now is there. You just reek of your family motto," Ginny laughed. Harry hit her with a pillow and started a pillow fight that lasted for several long minutes. It also succeeded in knocking Ron out of his stupor. Soon though, Mrs. Weasley was calling up the stairs that they should all come down stairs.
They all had lunch and then were ordered to take a sleeping draught and take a long nap since they'd be arriving in Australia at nine in the morning. At seven pm they were awoken by the smell of a roast chicken dinner complete with mashed potatoes and gravy, and corn on the cob. Ron was drooling before he even opened his eyes. They got dressed quickly and raced down the stairs, Ron winning by a mile thanks to his long legs and insatiable appetite. George, Charlie, and Percy all sat in the living room after dinner talking about the shop and what George and Percy needed to do to get it ready for Diagon Alley's official Re-Opening in three weeks. While many of the shops were open right now, like Ollivander's, Quality Quidditch, and the Apothecary, many of the other stores were still closed and waiting for new supplies and their owners to come out of hiding. The shops that were open were also experiencing shorter hours and limited supplies.
Harry was dragged back upstairs by Ginny and Ron by Hermione. They all sat in Ron's room and waited for the next few hours to go by. They were wide awake now and anxious to get going.
"Harry, what are the rest of the things in the chest you got. You said there were you dad's snitch, your mother's jewelry box, and their wands, but what else was there? I saw lots of books in there," Hermione said trying not to look like she wanted to ransack the room to find the books. Harry and Ron laughed and Harry got up to get the chest.
"Well, we have a few hours we might as well look at them," he said as he reached into the chest and pulled out four books. Most of the books seemed to be identical black leather bound volumes, as there were a few that looked different. The only difference on the black leather ones was the gold lettering on the front of each cover. The one Harry had on top seemed to be the first one as it read The Marauder Journals, volume one (Which means year one for those who aren't smart). Harry read this and laughed loudly. The others just looked at him curiously until he showed them the cover, then they laughed also. Harry sat down and held the book in front of him.
"I guess they had a journal they wrote in every year. Should I just read it out loud so it goes in order?" The others nodded eagerly. Harry smiled and opened the book.
Two hours later they were all startled out of their laughter by Mrs. Weasley calling them downstairs. So far from their reading they had read about the marauders meeting, becoming friends, and naming themselves and many more escapes from Filch than the trio had all their school years. They had all laughed themselves to tears at some of the jokes and pranks the marauders had done. They were glad that Fred and George hadn't gotten a hold of these books ever, or school would have been even more chaotic then it already was.
The foursome trouped down the many staircases and walked into the living room. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were standing in the center of the room, Mr. Weasley holding an umbrella.
"Sit down, we have about ten minutes to discuss some things before you leave," Mr. Weasley said as he gestured towards the couches. "There will be some ground rules while you four are in a different country. First, while you are staying in the hotel, separate rooms for the guys and girls. Ginny should be able to stay with Hermione at her parents house if the need should arise. Two, no one should be alone ever. Even if it is in the hotel rooms no one should be left alone. Three, no magic in front of the muggles at all. The magic there is monitored so strictly that even a simple Lumos in a muggle hotel room will set off their alarms and bring their ministry down on you in a matter of seconds. While you are there, you are muggles. I am actually tempted to take your wands and hold onto them for you, but that would leave you defenseless. You are allowed to use magic to defend yourselves if the need arises, but take care that you don't act like Mad-eye, rest his soul, whipping wands out at anything that scares you." The group looked at each other and back to Mr. Weasley.
"Four, the portkey leaves from here and arrives back in Grimmauld Place's kitchen. There is only one portkey and if you miss it when it's time to leave, you will be stuck in Australia for a week or so, maybe even longer. I'll trust you four to pick one person to keep track of the portkey during the week." The three of them looked straight at Hermione, who opened her mouth in surprise.
"You guys want me to take care of the portkey? Why me?"
"Well, 'Mione, of the four of us, you are the most responsible one. That's why," Ron smirked. She looked at the other two and they nodded, so she shrugged in submission.
"Okay, that answers that. Now, Harry, I must apologize to you about springing this on you now. But, the Australian Ministry learned that you were the one wanting admission to their country and demanded that you be directed to their Ministry building and meet their Minister of Magic. He will give you a brief tour of the magical locations so that you can Apperate around and talk to you, I'm sure, about you. I am truly sorry about that. I tried to keep it under wraps that you were traveling, but someone tipped off the Transportation Department and they filled in the paperwork that was sent to the other Ministry." Arthur truly looked sorry so Harry felt no ill will towards him.
"It's alright Mr. Weasley. I think I can handle it. I'll try and think about it as learning about other Ministries." Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Hermione beamed at him, while Ron and Ginny faked gagging behind their backs. Harry grinned and rolled his eyes.
"Oh, and one more thing. Be good! Now, each of you take hold of your bags with one hand and the umbrella with the other. We'll see you all at Grimmauld Place in a week. Good luck!" Everyone held on tightly while Mr. Weasley counted down. The last thing they saw was Mrs. Weasley tearfully smiling and waving before they began spinning. The trip took much longer than any other portkey trip they had taken and by the time they had arrived they were all nauseous and dizzy and laying on their backs.
"Ah, you must be the Potter Party, right? I'll give you all a few minutes to situate yourselves and we'll head up to the Minister's office. He's right exited to meet 'ya Mr. Potter," said a young man that was sitting at a desk in an area marked Transport. The man had dark skin and extremely dark brown hair and was wearing a kaki colored button down shirt with a kangaroo and a wand stitched on the left side and the name Mike stitched on the right side. "M'name's Mike Janson. I'm the intern of the Transport Department. Are y'all ready?" Mike stood up and helped the girls to their feet. He led the way up a few flights of stairs and down several hallways. No one they passed looked remotely magical, in fact if they hadn't been told they were arriving in the Aussie Ministry of Magic they would think they had arrived in a muggle office building, all the way down to the tacky landscape paintings on the walls and a Culligan Water fountain next to a copier machine.
Mike saw the four of them looking around skeptically and answered their unasked questions.
"Australian wizardry is not as common as you'd think. Everyone with magic in Australia has at least one aboriginal relative. My great-grandfather was a full blooded Aborigine. His son was taken to live in a white, Christian boys home in the late 20's to learn how to be a civilized human being. He grew up hating all magic and married a plain, Christian girl. They had a son, who grew up and learned he was magical. That was my dad. When my great-grandfather learned his grandson was magic he came to Sydney and offered to take my father back home with him so he could learn magic. Well, my grandfather, hating magic the way he did, agreed and let me father move back to the tribes land. He grew up learning magic and got married to my mom and had me and my two sisters.
"The thing about Australia though is that there aren't as many magical folk around anymore that aren't aborigine's so they have a small area in the north where they can live and we keep track of them here. We have the central magical headquarters, or Ministry, in Sydney so we can keep track of the whole continent." Mike looked up and stopped. "Ah, here we are. G'day Linda, I've got the Potter Party here to see the Minister," he said to a short dark skinned woman who had large piercings in her ears.
She glanced up and nodded then looked back down. She finished reading a sheet of paper before reaching over and pressing a button on a phone and said, "Minister the Potter Party is here to see you." She waited and they heard a crackle and static-y reply they couldn't understand, before saying okay. Without looking up she said, "He'll see you now, go on in," as she waved her hand towards a door to her right. They said goodbye to Mike and walked through the door and into a large office room.
There were many tribal portraits on the walls and behind the desk there was a large ceremonial instrument hanging on the wall. The man behind the desk stood and welcomed them.
"Ah, Mr. Potter, it's so nice to finally meet you. My name is Paul Kessy, I am the Minister of Magic here in Australia and Tasmania. Please have a seat, all of you." He sat in his large black chair behind his desk and the four of them sat also while Harry introduced his friends.
"I was only partially informed of why you needed to come to my country. I was only told that you were here to retrieve someone's relatives." Hermione sat up straighter and cleared her throat.
"Yes, that would be my parents. See, since I was so close with Harry during his fight I knew I was a target of Voldemort's Death eaters, so I did some complicated magic on my parents and sent them here because I knew that your laws were harder to break here without being caught. My parents are muggles so I didn't see a problem with sending them here." The minister was looking at her closely. "They don't even know who I am right now. I memory charmed them to forget me to keep them safe." Hermione looked a little sad and Ron placed an arm around her to comfort her.
"That is strong magic for one so young to be practicing. Almost considered borderline Dark magic here in Australia. I will forget I heard of it for now, since you must have accomplished it in London and not here. I would like to review the rules and laws of my country before I let you wander aimlessly for the time you'll be here. We have few laws here about magical tourists but the ones we do have are very strict. First, we do not allow any magic to be done in muggle inhabited areas. So Miss, since your parents are muggles that must mean they live in muggle areas. That will mean no magic in their house when you find them. Secondly, only if you are in life threatening danger may you use defensive magic. There are few dangerous magical beasts here that would attack humans and the ones we do have are on the island of Tasmania, so there are no threats of that nature to worry about. Thirdly, you are not allowed to bring any
creature, whether magical or not, into the country without the proper identification and paperwork. But I don't see any animals with you so I don't think you have anything to worry about.
"Now that we have that out of the way. Welcome to Australia. I hope you have a wonderful time, might I suggest a visit to the aboriginal tribes of the northern territories. There will be a most wonderful celebration in a few days time up near Kakadu National Park. I have a map of the country with apparation sites outlined and magical towns marked. I'm sorry I can't take you around the area myself today, I have much to do." With this statement Mr. Kessy stood and handed Harry a small map and said good bye to them. They glanced at each other and shrugged and walked back out of the door they had only just arrived through a few moments before. They got directions from the secretary on how to got out of the building and headed out to the street.
"Well, that was…interesting. I don't understand why we couldn't learn the rules from someone else. I mean, why the Minister of Magic?" Harry asked them. Ron and Ginny shrugged but he saw the scholarly look in Hermione's eyes and new his rhetorical question was going to be answered anyways.
"Well, they usually do have someone in the transportation unit give the rules to foreigners. But my guess would be that you are such an important person, Harry, that when the minister found out it would be you he decided to tell you the rules himself to make him look good," she finished while looking at the map. Ron and Ginny just shook their heads and smiled. Harry joined her in looking at the map. He saw several small red dots and three highlighted areas, but had no idea what either meant. He started looking around the edge of the map for a legend but once again Hermione answered his questions.
"The red dots are apparition sites and the three yellow areas are magical communities, like Diagon Alley. See this one over here," she pointed to a yellow area on the left side of the map. "This is the home of the Thundelarra Thunderers and this one here is the Woollongong Warriors. I think we should check out this one here, called Aussie-Wand Way. It's closest and the larger of the two on this coast. It's bound to have a hotel of some sort in it, and if we get rooms in a magical area we can still do magic without worrying about breaking the law on accident. We should use this apparition point here," she pointed to a red spot about half a kilometer away from where they were. "We can apparate to Aussie-Wand Way and explore and plan for the day. Harry did you bring any muggle money?" He shook his head and she frowned. "Well, that means we have to walk to the apparition point. Come on." With that she folded the map and began to walk away from them. Ron chuckled and ran up to her and walked with her. Ginny and Harry followed a bit behind them.
The walk didn't take that long and soon they were popping into a loud, bright line of shops and vendors. It was like they had apparated straight into Diagon Alley, but with more kangaroo images and a different accent. Mothers were pulling small children away from colorful displays, teen boys were grouped around the local broomstick shop window, old men were arguing over their ice creams about politics and the latest rise in price on certain potions ingredients, and groups of teen witches were gathered together giggling about the good looking man on a cover of a magazine. Vendors were calling out their wares to passerby and the smells of the restaurants were slightly overlapping and strongly overpowering. What looked to be the center of all the activity was a large black marble building with a sign that said Gringotts over the large double doors.
The foursome headed towards the bank while looking in every direction trying to take in all the sights, sounds, and smells. Harry and Hermione were thinking of their first time to Diagon Alley and reminiscing. Ron and Ginny, who had always known Diagon Alley, were in awe of seeing such a new place. The sights and sounds may have been similar but it was still a new place and they wanted to see it all. They arrived on the steps of the bank and Harry turned to them.
"Okay, guys, I had Bill get enough gold out for me, I'm sure of that. What I need to know is how much muggle money do you think we'll need?" he looked to Hermione as he finished.
"I'm not sure Harry. We'll be using a magical hotel and magical transportation at least for a few days. After we find and fix my parents minds, we could probably stay at their house. I researched this when I had to send them here. One Galleon is equal to eleven dollars and thirty-two cents in Australian currency. So if we want about four-hundred dollars we'd need to change in…thirty-five Galleons, five Sickles, and twenty Knuts." The three of them gaped at her. "What? Oh come on its basic mathematics. Oh never mind. Harry just go in and trade in the money to get about two-hundred dollars. We'll wait out here." Harry shook his head and turned into the doors. While he was gone the other three sat on the steps and watched the commotion of the Way.
Harry came out after ten minutes and they headed down to the road. Ron asked an elderly man where the nearest hotel was and they were pointed down the road about a quarter of a kilometer to a quaint white, wood-shingle-siding building. It had black shutters and a red door. Three dormer windows facing the street and a smokestack on both ends of the roof. A lovely, flower-lined walkway led them to the door, where a sign read the Aussie-Wand Way Walkabout Inn. Ron and Harry smirked and followed the girls inside.
"Duck!" shouted a voice at the foursome. All four whipped out their wands and fell to the floor instantly as a large green ball of fur soared over their heads giggling. Once the green blur had passed they jumped back up and pointed their wands at whoever had shouted. Several people who had been laughing moments before saw the wands and the wand holders in dueling stance and became still, wary of a possible fight, and ready to bolt if necessary. Harry, who had pulled himself to the front of their small group, looked at the small boy who had shouted with a frightening glare. The boy had backed into a woman behind him and darted behind her skirt.
"Now there, he was just havin' some fun. Leave him alone, now. Perry, go gather up Ned and head outside with 'im. You'll be okay, these folks won't do nuthin to ya." The little boy crept over past where they were standing, with lowered wands still in their hands. He grabbed the green ball of fur, which squealed, and took off at a run for the door.
Harry looked back to the woman. He had lowered his wand at the sight of the little boy cowering behind her but had decided to keep it out in sight just in case there were problems. He took in the sight if the woman, noticing that she wasn't so much a woman as a very tall girl about the same age as him. She had dark hair pulled back into a ponytail, dark brown eyes and a small pointy nose. She looked either very tan or was part native and was wearing an ankle long, brown skirt and a black tank top with sandals on her feet. Several bangles adorned her wrists and a decorative necklace of jade and pink amethyst stones around her neck.
She looked at Harry curiously and glanced at his scar. Instead of the trademark gasp and telling him his own name, she grew wary and suspicious. He stepped forward holding out his hand.
"I should apologize. My friends and I are very jumpy. We weren't expecting to nearly get bowled over by a giant green fur ball upon entering the building. My name is Harry Potter, these are my friends Hermione, Ron, and Ginny. Can you help us get a room here?" The girl, hearing that her suspicions were correct about the man before her, blushed at his formalness.
"Well, no I can't help ya, but me dad can. Hold on, I'll go get 'im," she skipped out of the room shouting for her dad leaving Harry and company behind. They stood awkwardly in the lobby waiting, aware of the stares from the others occupying the sitting room next to them. Harry edged away from the stares but before he could completely get away an elderly man with many age spots hobbled over.
"You say your name was Harry Potter?" he asked gruffly. Harry nodded apprehensively. "You're from England?" he asked the whole group. They all nodded again. "So then you'd all have gone to Hogwarts, right?" Once again four heads nodded. "Well, tell me now. Did you have a teacher by the name McGonagall? Minerva McGonagall?" They all looked at each other curiosity peaked, and nodded once more. "How's old Minnie doing then, eh? She still teaching transfiguration?" The four of them all smiled at their stern professor's nickname and nodded once again. "Well, dingo got your tongue's? How is she?" The old man waved them to follow him to a seat. He sat in an old recliner and they took a couch to themselves.
"Well, she actually is Headmistress of Hogwarts now, since Dumbledore died," Harry started. They sat and talked with the old man about having 'Minnie' as a teacher for six years. Hermione and Ron were just starting to tell the old man about McGonagall's battle with Umbridge throughout their fifth year when the girl and her father walked in. Harry left Ron and Hermione to tell the story, reminding them about her adamancy that he get into the Auror program, and he and Ginny walked over to rent the rooms. Ginny noticed the girl trying to catch Harry's eye and decided a silent battle was in order to make sure the girl knew who she was, Harry's girlfriend.
"How many rooms do you want?" the man asked.
"Two," Harry replied.
He didn't notice the silent battle between the girl and Ginny, who had caught the girl staring at Harry.
"How many nights?"
The girl looked at Harry and smiled at him. He caught the smile and briefly smiled back, distracted by the question he had just been asked.
"Er, oh, um. Two or three, I think. Can we add more if we need too?"
Ginny's red ears signified how angry she was. She pulled Harry's hand into hers and smirked at the girl.
"Yes, you can add nights, though we ask for at least a twenty-four hour notice, and we reserve the right to say no. How'll you be paying?"
The girl was glaring at Ginny as Ginny wrapped her arms around Harry's waist and smugly leaned her head onto his shoulder.
"Er, the normal way?"
The girl was getting angrier by the second.
"I mean, muggle money, magic money or muggle credit."
Ginny was smiling at Harry now and shocked him momentarily by sliding her hand into his back pocket of his jeans. He turned and gave her a shocked but pleased look.
"Oh um, then magic money."
The girl was getting so angry she was shaking. Her total focus was on Ginny now.
"Okay, that'll be seven galleons, thirteen sickles and two knuts."
As Harry turned to get into his bag for his money Ginny caught his lips in a kiss. When the kiss ended they heard a door slam and the girl was no where in sight. The man had looked up suddenly and saw his daughter was gone. Harry had grabbed his money and turned to hand it to the man.
"I should apologize for my daughter. Though I'm not quite sure what has gotten into her." Harry looked at Ginny who was smiling innocently.
"It's quite alright, sir, she probably just needed to do something else," Harry responded quickly. The man handed him the keys to the rooms and told him which way to get to them. Harry picked up his and Ginny's bags and called Hermione and Ron over. They all headed up the stairs and found the conjoined rooms and settled in. Harry and Ginny sat on the bed together and Ron and Hermione sat on a couch facing the bed. They all sat thinking quietly for a time before a quiet voice interrupted.
"I can't believe we're on a whole other continent. We're so far from home," Ginny said as she snuggled closer to Harry.
"Yeah, it's hard to believe that just two hours ago we were in Ottery St. Catchpole in Devon. Now we're literally half-way around the world," replied Ron. Hermione sat up and summoned some parchment and a Never-Out quill.
"We should start planning. We need a outline of where we should start looking and how we are going to approach them," she said to the groans of her friends. She ignored them and continued planning out loud. "Okay, we need to find out where all the malls are in Sydney and the surrounding areas. We can look at the directory for each mall and see if any of them have a dentists office run by the Wilkins. When we find out where their office is we can spend the day at that mall watching them and follow them home after they get off work. That should take up all of today and tomorrow, and hopefully by tomorrow night I'll be talking with my parents again!" Hermione was so exited to get to see her parents after almost a year of not being in contact with them that the others just couldn't say no to her when she suggested they get to work.
They headed out to the muggle area of Sydney and searched for malls for several hours. They found three malls in Sydney and one in Manly. The one in Manly was a bust as it was a very small outlet and had no dentists as did two in Sydney. The third mall was the largest of the three and had four dentist offices among the four floors.
"What luck, four offices, four floors, and of course, they have to be on alternating sides of the whole mall," Ron mumbled. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Look, we can eliminate this one," she pointed to the one on the ground level. "Because this one is Oral surgery. This one we can eliminate because it caters to a more cosmetic side of things like dentures and veneers. These two are most likely," she pointed to the ones on floors two and four. She headed off to the escalator and Harry pulled a weary Ginny and Ron behind him. Harry and Hermione had an interesting time getting the Weasley children to ride the escalator and as soon as they did they had an even more interesting time getting them off the moving stairs.
"Hey Ginny, you ride that one back down and see if I can walk down the up one faster. We'll race!" Ron laughed. Ginny ran to the down escalator and Ron positioned himself at the up one. Just he was about to shout go, Hermione grabbed him and pulled him away. At the same time Harry had grabbed Ginny and pulled her away also. The two of them complained but went silent after Hermione told them in a hushed angry voice that people were watching them make fools of themselves. They paired back up and walked across the mall towards the busy dentist office in silence. After a few minutes of silence, Harry snorted which caused Ron and Ginny to start laughing also. Hermione huffed and tried to hide her smile but failed. They finished the walk laughing about the muggle contraption and what they thought Mr. Weasley would have said and done with it. They arrived at the dentist office and stopped. It had a blunt sign, saying Dentist in large red letters above a door that had little white letters saying Dr. Rosin, DDS and Dr. Samsun, DDS.
"Well, I don't think this is it, but lets go in and check anyways," stated Ginny. She began walking in and the others followed. She walked up to the desk and cleared her throat. A stout, elderly woman looked up from her mystery novel with a surprised look.
"Oh, hello. How can I help you? Are you here to make an appointment?" she asked them while taking her glasses off and letting them hang around her neck from the cord they were attached too.
"Yes, we have been looking for a couple who might work here in the mall. We were told that they run a dentists office here. Their names are Granger—"
"Wilkins! Sorry Ginny wrong couple, not the Granger's, the Wilkins'," Hermione cut in. The woman looked at them suspiciously and sighed.
"The Wilkins' work up on floor four. I guess there's no chance that you'll be taking them away now would you? My husband's practice has suffered greatly since they arrived. They are taking all our younger patients from us." The woman huffed and lifted her book up and put her glasses back on as if to end the conversation. Hermione looked a little put out.
"Actually, we came here to help them pack. They'll be leaving the country by the end of the week. If we can, we'll put in a good word for your practice if you'd like. They can refer all their patients to you." The woman looked up in surprise.
"You'd do that for us? I mean, why're they leaving?" she asked.
"Well, I think they were asked by relatives to come home and help take care of an elderly aunt or something," Hermione said. She turned and said over she shoulder, "I'll tell them you can take their patients for them, it'll be a relief for them." They followed her out and practically ran to follow her up two flights of stairs and across the mall once more. They were all breathing heavily as they arrived at a store front much more eye friendly than the other office. The All-Star Smiles: A Family Dentist looked like the kind of place that all kids would want to go to get their teeth looked at. It had bright colors all over the place, life-sized portraits of kids with bright smiles and a large play area with puzzles and blocks and mazes. Kids books and family magazines littered the tables next to the many comfy lobby chairs along one wall. A television was bolted to the wall on one corner and it was playing the popular movie Spice World. A counter was placed off to the side next to a large aquarium with many tropical fish inside. A young man, approximately mid-20's looked up as he heard the bell ring when they entered.
"Hello, welcome to All-Star Smiles, can I help you make an appointment?" Hermione walked over and smiled at him.
"Actually, I'm here to see the Wilkins. I'm a…relative of theirs," she finished lamely. He smiled at her and nodded.
"Well, it's nice to meet the doctors' family. What's your name, I'll run back and tell them you're here." Hermione balked, this wasn't part of her plan. Ron stepped forward.
"Her name's Hermione Granger. They don't actually know her at all, she's a long lost relative actually." The man smiled again. His day just got much more interesting.
"Okay, I'll let them know. You can take a seat if you'd like, I'll be right back," said the man who quickly got up and ran to the back.
"Ron, this wasn't part of my plan. We were supposed to wait till they got off work and then follow them home. We have to leave, now. I don't know if I can hold myself back from reversing the magic right here right now if they come out." Harry, hearing this statement, slowly moved towards her and whipped her wand out of her purse without her knowledge and moved slowly away from her back to where he was before. Ginny and Ron noticed this and shushed her just as the man came back out with Mrs. Wilkins. Hermione sat down suddenly with a glazed look on her face. Mrs. Wilkins looked around at the four of them in surprise. Ron pulled Hermione to her feet and pushed her forward.
"Mrs. Wilkins, this is your, erm, third cousin, I think, Hermione Granger," Ron said pushing Hermione forward. They noticed her hand twitched towards her purse then stop and reach forward to shake hands with her mother.
"Hello," Hermione said shakily. Mrs. Wilkins smiled interestedly and shook hands with Hermione.
"Hello. So third cousin, huh? Do you know the family tree well enough to tell me how we're related?" she asked. Hermione thought and then nodded.
"Um, I think so," she muttered. Suddenly the door opened and the bell rang as a group of people came in and wandered to the desk setting their children down in the play area on the way past.
"Oh, dear. We're a little busy right now it looks like. Why don't my husband and I have you and your…friends?" Hermione nodded. "You and your friends over for dinner tonight. Is that alright?" Hermione nodded. "Okay, well, hang on just a sec and I'll write down our address for you." With a strange glance at her unknown daughter she turned to the desk and wrote on a prescription pad an address and phone number before turning back to them.
"Here you go. Call us if you get lost. We should be home by about six thirty, so you can come by then. Okay? Bye." She rushed back to the back room to help her husband set up for the seven new appointments they had. The foursome wandered back out to the mall area and sat down on a bench.
"Well, Hermione, at least we know your magic worked. She didn't even flinch when she saw you," Ron stated. Hermione sighed.
"Now I just have to worry about if I did too good a job on them and won't be able to reverse it tonight." Hermione got quiet as they sat and watched the goings on around them. After a quarter of an hour of sitting in silence Ginny stood up.
"Okay, my butts getting sore sitting here. Did any of us bring any good clothes to wear to a reunion dinner? I don't think we did. So I say, we go shopping for a few hours. Get some new clothes and a bathing suit and then keep ourselves busy until six thirty tonight. Okay? Okay." She grabbed Harry's hand and began pulling him towards the nearest clothes store. Ron chuckled and stood up pulling Hermione with him. She stopped and so he had to stop as well.
"Ron, I'm really worried. What if I can't change them back?" She looked so despondent and scared that he pulled her into an embrace. They hugged for several minutes until an immature punk yelled at them to get a room. They pulled apart and Ron gave him a glare that made the kid smirk and run off with his little friends.
"Hermione, it'll be fine. You are a great witch, you researched how to do those spells until you could have done them in your sleep. I remember hearing Ginny complaining about your sleep talking and mentioning the spells," he smiled and she sadly chuckled. "But the thing is, I know you'll be able to do this because you never quit. Even if by some bizarre chance you don't get it right the first time, you'll keep at it until you do get it right. Don't worry so much, you'll get it fixed, you'll have your parents back by dinner time tonight. I promise, okay?" She smiled at him and nodded. "Okay, now, let's go find Harry and get some money from him so I can buy you a present and me some food." She laughed and let him pull her towards the store the other two hand gone into.
A/N: Whew, this chapter was a brat. It was so difficult to get them to Australia. This chapter took like four times longer than it usually takes me to write one chapter. AND it's on the short side. I hate writer's block. Well, Now that they're down under, I'm getting more ideas. Oh, and I used the Mall of America in Minnesota as my basis for a mall plan. If anyone knows Australia or has any ideas let me know, I may like them enough to incorporate them into my story. I know next to nothing about Australia so I'm in research mode. I was going to have them go to the Queen Victoria Building (a mall in Aus.) but when I looked at the website, it looked a little too haute couture for mere teenage wizards and witches, so I invented a mall based off my own experience at the MOA. And yes I live in MN. So I would know that mall well. lol
What did everyone think of Harry's family motto? Fitting, or too fandom-ish? Please Review, constructive criticism is welcome. Please leave a review even if it's only a few words, I'll appreciate it!
And sorry for the long a/n but I need to apologize to my faithful readers for taking so long, I have been having a hell of semester of college, idk if I've said it before now, but I'm taking a science lecture and lab for the first time in like 5 years, and it's kicking my butt. Ie: my first test in the lab 40/100 and yep, I was bummed. But I'm doing better, and my betas are working on the early chaps. So I apologize, life got hectic and I fell behind, (and I am not liking my Australia chaps so far so if you like them, please tell me, it'll make me feel better about them and motivate me to write more.)