Harry Potter - Aftermath

by cbstevp

Harry Potter story, with the first of many chapters dealing with events surrounding the main characters immediately after the fall of Voldemort.

13. Chapter 13 The Granger Home

Aftermath - Chapter 13 -The Granger Home

Harry was a bit nervous coming to the Auror office this Monday morning. He was dreading the look on Charlie George's face if somehow he had discovered his only student had been fooled by something as simple as an Intruder Alarm (which is what Harry suspected alerted Travers and Greyback) and had been hit with a Body Binding Curse before he could even get his wand in his hand. Of course, on top of all this was the fact that he failed to protect Ginny and almost died and only by a sheer luck had survived. Yes, Harry was feeling more than a little sorry for himself this Monday morning.

Things were not made better by the celebration scene that greeted Harry as soon as he pushed through the oak doors to the office. People were laughing and smiling and saying well done to each other. Someone had already put a big red "X" through the wanted posters of Travers and Greyback, with the big words "DEAD" on Greyback's and "CAPTURED" on Travers'. He couldn't see Charlie George, but Lucy McMullan walked straight up to him.

"Harry!" she said very loudly with a big smile. "Did you hear the news? Greyback is dead and Travers was captured!"

Harry tried to force a surprised look on his face but knew he had failed. "Really? That's wonderful," he said but he sounded like it wasn't wonderful at all.

But Lucy was too caught up in the moment to notice. "It is, isn't!?!"

"So…what happened?" Harry asked as he made his way to his cubicle and she followed him.

"Don't know exactly. Someone said they were spotted in London and some of our bunch got there right quick and had it out with them."

"Splendid," Harry said as he put down his book bag and sat in his chair. "Ah…don't know who got them, do you?"

"No," Lucy said, a little less cheerful and with a puzzled look. "No one seems to know. I mean, some of the older Aurors, they are quite closed mouth and don't like to brag, so…well, I guess it doesn't matter, long as the deed was done, right?"

"Right," said Harry. "Excuse me Lucy, have to prepare for class, sorry."

"Oh, here's Charlie George now."

Harry looked up and there was Charlie George striding toward him, with a grin on his face. "Morning, Harry. Good weekend I hope. Heard the good news I take it. Yes, well, still more of them out there, but those two, good thing we got them, right? So off we go to class, shall we?"

Harry grabbed his books, said goodbye to Lucy and followed Charlie George to the class room. As soon as Harry sat down Charlie George's demeanor changed and he was all serious.

"So, want to talk about it?" he asked and Harry knew he knew.

"Who told you?" he asked before he could stop himself, sounding like a child whose secret has been revealed.

"Kingsley, first thing this morning," Charlie George said. "Thought I ought to know since, well, seems like you got caught flatfooted and, well…"

"You think I shouldn't be an Auror, don't you?" Harry asked quietly, not even looking Charlie George in the eye, feeling deflated. He just wanted to get up and run away. Maybe going back to Hogwarts wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"No, no, what nonsense!" Charlie George said at once in an admonishing tone and Harry suddenly felt better. "Even the best of us fail sometimes. It was a nice day, had your girl on your arm, felt like the world was yours and then…"

"It happened," Harry said his eyes downcast still. "I…was helpless…and we were about to die."

"Yes," Charlie George said solemnly. "Happens that quick."

Then Harry felt a surge of something, pride or anger or just plain old stubborn determination, he knew not, but he looked at his teacher. "What can I do? So it doesn't happen again."

Charlie George smiled and Harry had the feeling he had been waiting for Harry to ask that question. "Well, first off, you need to stop feeling sorry for yourself. Second, learn more about alarms."

"Was it an Intruder Alarm?"

"Could be. But they weren't in the alley when you first arrived, correct?"

"Yeah, didn't see anyone anyway and if they were invisible you think they would have attacked us right away, not hours later."

"Right, right," said Charlie George. "So I suspect it was something more sophisticated. A silent alarm which triggers another alarm at a distant place."

"What kind of spell or device does that?" Harry asked, never having heard of such a thing.

"I don't know of any device that does that," Charlie George replied. "Generally have to be close, like a Sneakoscope warning. But some Intruder Alarm spells can raise a silent alarm over a few hundred feet away. They go off if anyone Apparates in the area where the alarm is set.

"Yeah, that could be it," Harry said, suddenly remembering about Professor Slughorn waiting disguised as an armchair for him and Dumbledore, having been warned as soon as they Apparated to that village.

"They could have been in one of the houses in Little Whinging," Charlie George was saying. "Maybe they got to the alley too late."

"Travers said they knew I was in my aunt and uncle's house."

"Yes, most likely they followed you," Charlie George replied. "Anyways, the mystery shall soon be revealed. We have a team in Little Whinging now, examining the alleyway. Disguise as street workers, or something like that I think. Arthur Weasley went with them to make sure they were dressed properly, act the correct way, all that. He's our Muggle expert, after all."

"Oh," said Harry, hoping Mr. Weasley got everything correct. Mr. Weasley was a Muggle expert but did not know everything. But Harry felt a great sense of loyalty to Mr. Weasley and would never say anything against him. "Yeah, no worries, he knows what he's doing."

"One more thing Harry," Charlie George said, more serious. "Kingsley wanted me to ask you if you have any idea why they were waiting for you."

Harry was so surprised by the question he didn't answer for a moment. "Ah…revenge, I guess."

Charlie George nodded. "Yes, that seems obvious. But why didn't they just kill you? They had the means and I'm sure they had the will. But…seems odd."

"Perhaps they wanted me to suffer," Harry said in a quiet voice. "Travers…he made me watch…while Greyback went after Ginny." As he said the last part his voice caught a little and he had to clear his throat.

"Hmmm. Funny," was all Charlie George said. "So…I guess today's lesson is more on how to detect alarms."

And so for the next few hours Charlie George introduced Harry to some spells that could help an Auror discover alarms, teaching him how to do them non-verbal since he was still a little weak at that. When done correctly, the spell caused an area with an alarm to glow a pale bluish color. They also looked at the latest Sneakoscopes and Harry was given some to carry with him at all times, something he should have been doing in the first place, Harry thought, angry at himself for being so stupid.

Harry also mentioned about the eyeglass witch's shop and how she wanted to add enhancements to his glasses. Charlie George said a few Aurors had them, but it wasn't something you could switch off and on. He suggestion Harry get one pair of glasses with enhancements for work and such and another pair without for normal every day things. That way he wouldn't be caught accidentally leering with his X-ray vision through the robes of the more fetching young witches at the Ministry.

"Suspect Ginny would give me a good cuff round the ears if I did that," Harry said and they had a good laugh, chuckling more as Charlie George told him some funny stories about Mad-Eye Moody and the looks he sometimes got on his face after a startling young beauty would walk past, his magical eye spinning right around and continuing to look through the back of his head..

By lunchtime Harry was feeling much better and was glad to catch up with Mr. Weasley and Percy in the cafeteria. Charlie George saw some friends of his from another department and went off to sit with them for a change.

"Busy morning out in Little Whinging," Mr. Weasley said to Harry and Percy in a low voice after Harry got his food. "We found out those two, you know who I mean, they were hiding there. A Muggle home about two blocks from the alleyway."

Harry suddenly had a sick feeling. "What happened to the Muggles who lived there?"

"Not to worry, it was a rented home," Mr. Weasley replied. "They must have taken over last year after you left just in case you ever came back. I'm sure they didn't pay, must have just cursed the landlord. He would have been in right proper fit of anger if he had ever seen the state of his property. Empty wine and butterbeer and firewhiskey bottles everywhere, scraps of food on the counter and floor, and didn't look like the bath had been cleaned in some time. They were not up to any housekeeping, that's for sure. We set the place in order though, so hopefully no Muggles will be calling those...what do you call them, ah,…police officers."

"So…someone was there. All last year, waiting for me?" Harry asked in wonder.

"Appears so," said Mr. Weasley. "Not exactly the kind of duty a raving mad Death Eater would relish, but not too many of them ever said no to their boss and lived, so I suspect they did it, however grudgingly. We are guessing Greyback and Travers needed a hiding spot and thought you might come back now that Voldemort was dead."

After lunch Harry went back to his cubicle, still having about fifteen minutes before his afternoon classes. He was no sooner there when Mr. Weasley came into the Auror office.

"Sorry, Harry, forgot to ask earlier but I don't seem to know Hermione's address," he began. "I wanted to send a team out to check her house for alarms and such."

"Her parent's home is in a small town called Gosport across the harbor from Portsmouth on the south coast," Harry said. "It's in Hampshire. I believe the house is on South Street, but I can't recall the number."

"Have you ever been there?"

"Ah, no, come to think of it. She always came to the Burrow or we met in London in Diagon Alley or on the train to Hogwarts."

"Well, well this is a spot of bother," Mr. Weasley said in worrying tone. "Can't Apparate there if we don't know where we are going, now can we?"

"What's this?" Charlie George said as he came in. "Need some help, Arthur?"

Mr. Weasley quickly explained and Charlie George smiled. "Ah, what a grand chance to test out our morning lesson, Harry. I think you and I will accompany the Auror team."

"But how can we get there?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Floo Network," said Harry suddenly. "If they've got a fireplace."

"Might be dangerous to just pop into a house," said Charlie George seriously. "Don't know what could be waiting on the other side."

"True, true," said Mr. Weasley.

"We can wait for dark and Apparate or fly there?" Harry suggested.

"I'd rather do all this by day than wait for nighttime," Mr. Weasley said. "Don't want to take anymore chances."

"Certainly not," said Charlie George.

Then Harry had a good idea. "Well, what about any wizards who live nearby? Maybe we can use the Floo Network, use their home as a base and take some Muggle transport to the Granger home."

"Right," said Charlie George with a smile. "Let me just check with the Magical Transportation office to see if we know anyone." He quickly got the town and street name off of Harry and left.

"So Harry," Mr. Weasley said after Charlie George had left. "Why don't you pop home and ask Hermione and get an exact address and we'll see if we can find a way there. All right?" Mr. Weasley said. "Oh, and give her this letter, please."

He handed Harry a letter. "What's this?"

"From the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Seems like they've located her parents in Australia."

"Excellent," Harry said. "So…be back soon as I can."

He went down to the main hallway and went to an area where people Apparated in and out and in a flash he was back at the Burrow.

To his surprise the first thing he saw was Ginny and Hermione down on their hands and knees in the garden.

"There's one!" Ginny shouted. "Catch him!"

Hermione lunged and grabbed a gnome by the legs. "I really hate to do this,"
she said to the squealing gnome as she stood. "But…sorry!" And then she threw the gnome and Harry had to duck as it just missed his head as it went over the hedge into the field beyond.

"Hey!" he shouted after he stood up again.

"Oh! Harry! Sorry!"

"Harry?" Ginny said, standing up, smiling, all covered in dirt and holding a garden tool. "Couldn't warn a girl before you pop in, could you?"

"Sorry, sudden noticed." He quickly explained what was going on and handed Hermione her letter which she ripped open and quickly read.

"They've found them!" she said with glee. "Up on the Gold Coast near Brisbane. Seems they have…oh my…taken up surfing!"

Harry had a chuckle and then they had to explain what surfing was to Ginny.

"On a board, out in the ocean? And your supposed to let the waves come to you and ride the board?" she said in bewilderment. "Muggles are mad, just mad sometimes."

"So, what's your address Hermione?' Harry asked.

"You certainly should know it since you have sent me letters there before," she said, looking at him with that look she got when she knew she had you over on something.

"Oh, right," Harry said, but it been ages since he had sent her a letter.

"Not to worry. We're coming too," Hermione said and before Harry could argue Ginny chimed in her agreement and soon Harry found himself sitting with a glass of apple juice in the kitchen as the two girls rushed upstairs to clean up and change clothes. Harry couldn't very well argue with them as it was Hermione's home they were going to.

Hermione's Daily Prophet was on the table and there on the front page was the story about Greyback and Travers. Harry quickly read it and it was a pack of lies, but he knew it really was for the best. He had enough with people staring at him and congratulating him for killing Voldemort and he sure didn't want to put Ron through that for killing Greyback. Just then Mrs. Weasley came in the kitchen with a load of clothing in a basket.

"Hi," Harry said, still feeling a little guilty from the morning's events.

"Harry! When did you get here?" she said, and sounded more cheerful than this morning.

"Just now," he said.

"Have lunch yet?"

"Yes, at the Ministry, thank you," he replied, then explained why he was there.

"Not going anywhere without me you're not," she said in her 'don't argue with me tone'. "Not after what happened yesterday. And if those two think they can get out of doing their chores and escape my eye they've got another thing coming. The gnomes will still be there when we get back." And before Harry knew it he had three women coming back to the Ministry with him. Ginny didn't argue with her mother, but looked like she wanted to and the two still seemed very cold to each other.

They used the Floo Network and in a few moments were back at the Ministry. Ginny had never been there before when it was busy and looked around a bit wide eyed.

"I never knew so many worked here," Ginny said and then jumped a bit when an old wizard stopped and looked at Hermione.

"Hermione Granger?" he asked.

"Yes?" she said cautiously and then the old wizard smiled.

"Good show, good show," he said as he shook her hand. As they walked this happened a few more times, some for Harry, as usual, some for Hermione, who was blushing more each time, and even some for Mrs. Weasley, getting congrats for her Witch Weekly cover. Finally, they made it down to the Auror office where Mr. Weasley and Charlie George were waiting for him, with Lucy McMullan and two other Aurors. Another person, a woman, was there and Harry had no idea who she was.

"Molly?" Mr. Weasley said, suddenly worried that his wife was showing up at his place of work. "Anything wrong?"

"Not at all," she said with a big smile as she gave him a kiss. She was glowing from all the praise she was getting. "Just decided to go for a trip."

"Oh, right," he said, looking at Ginny and Hermione and seeming to understand. "So, we've found a wizard who has a home nearby in Portsmouth and he has consented to let us use his fireplace. He has just had a word with his family through a fireplace conversation so there will be no surprises. Oh, and Hermione, this is Joan from the Magical Transportation office. Why don't you go with her and give your correct address? We'll hook up the Floo Network for your parents' home so we can get back, once the house is clear, all right?"

"Your home does have a fireplace, yes?" Joan asked. She was about 35 and was short and thin and had short black hair and a pleasant face.

"Yes," said Hermione, and soon they were walking away after Mr. Weasley told Hermione to meet them in the main hallway when the fireplace was attached to the Floo Network.

"Ah, so introductions," Mr. Weasley said and then introduced everyone. Charlie George already knew Molly and smiled as he kissed her hand, and then said he was very pleased to meet Ginny. Ginny, however, was not pleased to meet Lucy McMullan.

"You're an Auror?' Ginny asked in surprise.

"Yes, I am," Lucy said smiling.

"And you work with Harry?" Ginny asked in a sort of accusing tone and everyone got the gist of her meaning.

Lucy look at Ginny steadily and even blushed a little. "Ah, no, he's in training, so…no…Harry and I don't work together. And…I have a boyfriend, and well, sorry, Harry, you're a bit young for me, so …no worries, all right?" The last part was for Ginny.

Now it was Ginny's turn to go red as everyone had a small chuckle and Ginny stammered a replied. "I…I didn't mean…oh, sorry. I think you misunderstood me. Just…I was wondering if you knew Tonks."

Harry was sure she was jealous and was just covering up now.

"Yes, I knew Tonks," Lucy said and the others also said the same. "Great witch she was." Then Lucy looked at Mrs. Weasley. "You killed Bellatrix Lestrange, right?"

"I did, and glad of it," Mrs. Weasley said with fierce pride.

"So am I," said Lucy and the others chimed in their thanks, for most people now knew it was Lestrange that had killed Tonks at Hogwarts.

"Well, let's move off to the main hallway," said Mr. Weasley and soon they were all walking toward the elevators, Harry and Ginny behind the rest.

"Jealous?" Harry teased in a quiet voice.

"Yes!" she replied in a low fierce whisper as she took his hand and gave a nasty look to a young witch who was looking at Harry, seemed about to speak to him and then just turned away after seeing Ginny's face.

As they were standing in the main hallway waiting for Hermione, Harry realized something. "Ah, Mr. Weasley, we aren't exactly dressed for walking among Muggles."

Only Ginny was wearing Muggle clothing, jeans and a pink sweater under a nice beige jacket. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were in robes and the Aurors were wearing the nice leather trench coats Mad-Moody always wore, which was almost like a symbol of their office. Harry didn't have one yet and imagined he wouldn't get one until he finished training.

"Merlin's beard," Mr. Weasley said softly so the others couldn't hear him. Just then Hermione was coming toward them. "Well, no time to change now, Harry."

"I'll just say we are off to a fancy dress party or…maybe some kind of convention if anyone asks."

Mr. Weasley smiled. "Good lad. Okay everyone, off we go." He gave them the house address they were going to and then one by one they said the address very loudly and popped into the bright green flames in the fireplace. Harry was the fifth to go after Charlie George, Lucy and the two Aurors. The familiar spinning sensation and the quick glimpses of other fireplaces were familiar, as he kept as still as he could with his arms tucked in at his sides.

He came out into a pleasant living room and immediately heard Charlie George talking to someone.

"Very kind of you to let us use your home, Mrs. Wilkins," he was saying. "I've met your son and his wife once or twice at the Ministry."

"Not at all," an elderly woman was saying and then as Harry stepped away from the fireplace and brushed ash off his clothing she caught sight of him. "My oh my, Harry Potter."

"Hello," Harry managed to say before a small boy shrieked his name.

"Harry Potter!" said the boy who was about 8 and had thick blond hair, standing next to the older woman..

A small little girl was also standing there, also blond, looking at Harry with wide eyes. "Hello," said Harry and the little girl just looked at him in astonishment and then hid behind the woman who was obviously the children's grandmother.

"Oh, don't mind them, Mr. Potter…"

"Harry," he quickly said.

She smiled. "Harry…just well, you don't know how much you mean to us all."

"Thank you," Harry said, and strangely for once he felt glad some was thanking him. Soon the others had arrived and after more hellos and introductions to Mrs. Wilkins they made ready to leave.

"But you must stay for tea!" she said.

"Sorry," Mr. Weasley said. "It's very kind of you, but we are terribly busy."

She understood and all thanked her. As Harry was making his way to the door, the little boy appeared with a camera. "Just one picture, Harry? Please?"

"Sure," Harry said and then Harry knelt between the little boy and shy girl as the grandmother took their picture.

"I'm going to be a great wizard like you some day, Harry," the boy exclaimed.

"Me, too," said the little girl.

"Mind your parents and grandmother and I'm sure you will be," Harry said with a big smile and then made his goodbyes and soon joined the others outside.

"Found some new fans?" said Hermione, looking back at the little boy and his sister looking out the front window and waving at them.

"Yeah," Harry replied. "I can't believe we were ever that small. So, where are we going?"

Everyone looked at Hermione as she got her bearings. "Yes, the ferry across the harbour is about four blocks this way. We can wait for a bus or, well, it's a nice day, let's just walk."

It was indeed a nice day, the sun shining and the sky with only a few clouds. The ocean breeze was a bit cool but they were all warmly dressed. Soon they were off and as they walked Hermione tried to explain as much as she could about Portsmouth and her town of Gosport.

"The harbour has one of the oldest British naval bases still in use," she said.

"Naval…what's that?" asked one of the Aurors.

"Are you British?" Charlie George said to the Auror with some surprise. "Don't know what a navy is! It's a scandal. My Muggle granddad was on a destroyer in the North Atlantic convoys during the war."

"What war was that?" asked the other Auror. They were both young men, in their late twenties Harry guessed, one white and sandy haired, the other black with dreadlocks like Lee Jordan had. "Certainly not the one against You-Know-Who."

"The Second World War!" Charlie George said in exasperation. "And to think I trained you, Robert! Might have to include Muggle history in future courses."

Harry hoped not in his. Just then he had an odd thought. What exactly did wizards do during Muggle wars? He was sure Hermione knew and asked her.

"Mostly stayed out of the way," she said. "Not our business, the affairs of Muggles, according to what little I've ever read on the subject. Enough problems with keeping goblins down was a main reason given."

"And of course, we are all supposed to be secret so…no helping the Muggles," added Mrs. Weasley, and by her tone Harry knew she felt it was the right thing to do.

"Yes," added Hermione. "But in the First and Second World Wars a few wizards joined the British armed services, usually Muggle born, but had their wands taken from them when the Ministry found out. Even a few Hogwarts students left school and joined up. There's a small plaque in the trophy room of the school with the names of five older boys who joined up and never came back."

"Never came…oh," said Ginny, understanding. A wizard without a wand was not really a wizard and guns and bombs could kill Muggle and wizard alike.

"So…what is a navy?" Lucy asked suddenly. "Is it all those planes in the sky?" Charlie George just shook his head in despair.

"A navy is made of warships that fight at sea," Hermione said. Still seeing the puzzled looks she asked, "Has none of you besides Charlie studied Muggle history?"

"I have," said Harry. "Some anyways, in grammar school. So…the British navy…very famous…won many battles, including…Trafalgar?"

Hermione grinned. "Good for you, Harry. And who was the commander for Britain at Trafalgar? "

"Nelson," said Mrs. Wesley and Ginny at the same time. Ginny had taken Muggle studies at Hogwarts, which included some British history. But she looked at her mother in surprise. "Oh," Mrs. Weasley said. "I've been to Trafalgar Square in London and Nelson's column is there."

"His ship the HMS Victory is actually here," said Hermione. "It's a tourist attraction now."

"A real live Muggle sailing warship?" asked Mr. Weasley as they waited for a street light to change so they could walk. "Oh, I'd love to see that!"

"Another time, dear," said Mrs. Weasley. "We have much to do today."

Soon they were at the ferry that took them across the harbor to Gosport. It cost one pound each and they were lucky Hermione had thought to bring some Muggle money along. Mr. Weasley told her to get a receipt so she could be reimbursed by the Ministry.

"No, it's no trouble," she said, but he insisted, said they were on Ministry business, and she got the receipt and handed it to him.

The man who took their tickets on the ferry looked at them oddly and Harry just said, "Going to a convention." The man shrugged and soon they were on board. The trip was very short and they could see a lot of the harbor. Some grey painted destroyers were there and Mr. Weasley was all beside himself, seeing the Muggle ships.

"Imagine," he said. "Sailing on the open ocean. What a marvel these Muggles are."

From the ferry it was a short distance to South Street and soon Hermione's home came into view. They stopped as soon as Hermione said that was her house. It was a two story brick detached home, with a garage on the left side and appeared to have a fenced in back yard.

"Right," said Charlie George. "How should we handle this?" The question was for Harry.

Harry took a deep breath. He hadn't expected his first field mission to be so soon and in front of so many people.

"Well, ah, I guess we should check for alarms."

Charlie nodded to him and Harry stepped closer to the house, made sure no Muggles were about, and took out his wand. He concentrated on the spell Harry George had taught him that morning an after a few tries he got it right. The front door and the windows they could see all started to glow blue.

"Alarms!" Charlie George said quickly and all the Aurors pulled out their wands and were suddenly very serious. Then Hermione just stepped in front of them, waving her wand. After a few moments the glowing stopped.

"Of course, there were alarms,' she said. "I put them there. No one has been in the house for almost a year. I…wait…something's not right. The garage door. It wasn't glowing, was it?"

"No," said Robert the Auror.

"I definitely remember putting an alarm there," Hermione said, now worried.

"Can you access the house from the garage?' Lucy asked and Hermione said yes.

Charlie George nodded to the other Aurors and they started moving forward toward the house. Harry was moving up also, but Charlie George shook his head.

"Traps," he said.

Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley waited anxiously. The Aurors approached the garage and Charlie George waved his wand and the main door opened. They could see a car, but suddenly the view was blocked by a cloud of black smoke came out and Charlie and Lucy immediate cast spells that surrounded the smoke and contained it in a bubble.

"Knock out smoke of some type," said Lucy, as she sent the black bubble high in the sky. "No worries, it will break after a while and dissipate."

"This is going to take some time," said Mr. Weasley. "Good thing we came with you."

Hermione was frowning. "I wonder when they were here. I'll just have a word with Mrs. Finnegan."

"Who?" asked Ginny.

"My neighbor," said Hermione. "I told her my parents were traveling for a year and I was going back to school. She's been collecting our mail. I asked the post office to hold it but as I couldn't give them a definite return time they refused to do so."

"I'll go with you," said Ginny and she and Hermione went off to the house on the left of the Granger home.

A long thirty minutes later Hermione and Ginny were back with a plastic shopping bag full of mail and the Aurors were definitely inside the house. There had been a few bangs and flashes of light and Willy, the other male Auror, had opened a window and said not to worry, all was under control. Harry wanted to go inside and see what was happening but Mr. Weasley told him to stay put and he reluctantly agreed.

"What did your neighbor say?" Harry asked Hermione, who was leafing through the mail.

"Well, we had to make small talk at first, and she was happy to see me," Hermione began. "I asked her if anyone was around the house and she wasn't sure. A few months ago, she thought she heard a shrieking sound one night, but it only lasted a second so she thought nothing of it. That was one of my alarms I believe."

They waited some more, making small talk. "Is it a nice neighborhood, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked Hermione.

"Yes," she said. "I do miss it sometimes. I went to school a few blocks from here. And my parent's dental office is in the center of the town, not far from here. I should pop around there, tell the other dentists that Mum and Dad will be back soon."

A few cars and buses had gone by and a few people, all giving strange looks to them, but no one stopped and no one asked any questions. Finally, Charlie George came out. "A few tongue freezing curses and a few body binding curses and two Intruder Alarms, not of your making Miss Granger I take it, but that's it. I actually tripped one of the alarms hoping the scum who set them would come back. Be a nice surprise, four Aurors, with five extra expert spell casters waiting for them. Maybe we already got the bunch that did this or they're in the grave."

"They…they didn't mess up the house, did they?" Hermione asked with worry.

"No, nothing seems to have been touched," Charlie George said. "On purpose I'm sure, so you'd walk in all happy, nothing out of place and then…well, you get the idea."

But Hermione wasn't listening, she was already up to the front door and was inside in a moment and soon the rest followed her.

They spent a pleasant hour inside the house, with Mrs. Weasley making tea and coffee for them all, the only things still in the cupboards. There was sugar but no milk and the refrigerator had been unplugged anyway. Mr. Weasley marveled at all the electrical appliances as Harry went around the kitchen plugging everything back in so they could be demonstrated to him and the others, who seemed very interested, except Charlie George who had grown up with a Muggle father. He just kept walking around, looking out the windows, and waving his wand in case they missed any traps.

Then all of the Aurors and Mr. Weasley sat in the living room drinking tea and coffee as the TV was turned on. For Charlie George and Harry and Hermione it was nothing new, but for the others it was fascinating, watching television.

Hermione had dropped the mail on the dining room table and said it waited this long it could wait till they got back to the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley and Harry sat at the dining room table with Hermione's family photo albums as Ginny and Hermione went upstairs to her room to get some clothing and her passport, and some money she had left in her desk in her room last year.

Then Mrs. Weasley noticed the dust on everything and soon had her wand out, and began cleaning the house. Harry felt bad sitting there doing nothing so he looked around and found the vacuum cleaner in a hall closet. As soon as he turned it on in the dining room there was an uproar and everyone except Charlie George was there with their wands out.

"Oh," said Lucy, after Harry had turned it off. "It's a Muggle machine."

"A vacuum cleaner," said Mr. Weasley, beaming. "I'd love to take it apart."

"No, Arthur," Mrs. Weasley said. "Don't you have two at home already?"

"Yes, but they don't work," he said glumly.

Soon Hermione and Ginny joined them downstairs. Hermione had her passport, some clothing, and some money.

"Say, Hermione," Harry asked as they waited for Mrs. Weasley to put the finishing touches to her cleaning in the kitchen. "How did you get passports for your parents if they changed their names and they don't remember being the Grangers?"

Hermione turned a bit red. "Oh…well...I think I may have broken a few laws...but, there are a few spells that can forge documents. So…that took care of that. And we went to another town where they are not known and set up a bank account in their fake names there. Then I transferred a lot of money from their real account to that one so they could use bank cards to access it in Australia. They also had a lot of money in traveler's checks. It was all very complicated but, well, I seemed to have pulled it off."

"Brilliant," said Ginny. "If we ever need to become criminals, you are definitely joining our gang."

"What gang?" asked Mrs. Weasley and then Hermione made a big show of thanking everyone for helping her and soon Mrs. Weasley forgot her question.

Hermione needed to go to the bank and her parents' office and in a group they moved off, the Aurors and Weasley parents still not sure the area was safe yet. First they went to a bank where Hermione withdrew some more cash from an ATM. Then they went around to her parent's dental office. Hermione just went inside for a few minutes to explain to the staff that her parent's would be back next week, she hoped anyway. The staff were relieved, she said, glad the Grangers were coming back.

"So," Harry asked her as they walked back to the Granger home "Where have the staff believed your parents have been all this time?"

"Traveling," Hermione said. "Told them they suddenly decided to take a trip and they were in charge. Well…it caused a bit of an uproar, and the number two dentist said he needed to speak to my parents and had to get permission to hire new staff to help with the patient load and all. Well, I thought of that…"

"Of course," said Ginny as she and Harry grinned at each other.

"And I…forged my father's signature on a letter telling the staff what to do."

"Hermione, Hermione…" Harry said in an admonishing tone which changed quickly. "Well, done."

"It was, wasn't it?" she said with a big smile. Soon they were back at the house. Mr. Weasley wanted to look at the Granger's car and check out the rest of the Muggle things but his wife said it was time to get back to the office. Soon they were standing in front of the fireplace in the living room.

"So," Mr. Weasley said, looking at Hermione. "Where's the Floo powder?"

She looked at him in astonishment. "Ah, this is a Muggle home."

"Drat," said Mr. Weasley quietly. They all had a small chuckle over that.

"Maybe we can Apparate from the back yard," said Robert. "Looks enclosed enough not to attract attention."

They moved to the backyard where there was a small patio and a very overgrown garden. It was all surrounded by a fence and a few trees.

"Oh, look at the garden," Mrs. Weasley said, shaking her head and then started to take out her wand "Just a minute…"

"Now, now, Molly," said Mr. Weasley. "Let's let nature do its job without any magic, Okay? I'm sure that Hermione's parents would love to take care of it on their own when they get back."

"But it looks so…oh, well, all right," she said but didn't look happy and kept sneaking looks at the garden and shaking her head.

In a few seconds Lucy and the other two Aurors had Apparated away after Hermione said thanks to them. Then she locked the doors and she and Charlie George put some alarms on the house.

"So, Harry, enough for today, yes? You can head on home. Don't worry about your books, no homework tonight. We'll be doing more alarm work tomorrow morning and you have a lesson with Mr. Kim," Charlie George said.

"Didn't do much today," Harry replied.

"Tricky case, this one, we'll take it slow, so…well, no worries." Then he turned to Hermione. "By the way, nice work with Travers. And Molly tell your son he did us all a favor killing that evil git Greyback. Nice to meet you Ginny, and don't worry about any ladies chasing Harry here, I'll keep an eye out for them."

She blushed and said thanks as did Hermione and Mrs. Weasley and in flash Charlie George was gone. Harry quickly explained that Kingsley had told Charlie George the real story.

After that Mr. Wesley kissed his wife goodbye, said his goodbyes to the others and then he was gone back to work. Finally, Ginny took Harry's arm and soon all four of them were back at the Burrow. After Harry changed clothes and got to helping Hermione and Ginny de-gnoming the garden, he felt like it hadn't been a bad day after all.