Three Witches
Nightingale Neighbor

"What?" Hermione and her mother said while Ginny stared at the woman.

"If it helps, the tea isn't magical, but instead a natural remedy," Cassie said. "And I'm not seeking to pry. But it wasn't hard to put two and two together."

"What do you mean," Hermione's mother said, her throat tightening, the color draining from her face making Hermione wonder if yet another person would figure out her father's secret.

"That the daughter of the Granger family who went on vacation for a full year was the same Hermione Granger being reported on in the newspaper. And knowing what's been going on the last year, I put two and two together that she sent the two of you away because of the war."

"You're in the papers?" Hermione's mother said, shaking her head before motioning for Cassie to follow her. "The kitchen's this way."

Ginny swallowed. "You did hear the acting minister say Hermione's a war hero?"

"But did she have to be?" Hermione's mother shook her head, not looking at her, while Hermione turned to glare at Cassie, wishing the woman hadn't shown up as her mother said. "Did it ever occur to you that your father and I wouldn't want you involved?"

"Well, I didn't know," Hermione started to say, only to say something else upon realizing she'd almost let her father's secret slip to the strange witch—or potential squib—standing in their family home. "That's not fair."

"Not fair?" Hermione's mother turned around in the doorway of the kitchen. "What's not fair is erasing your father and my memories and sending us packing to Australia! That's enough to give that father of yours a mental breakdown, Hermione Jean Granger!"

"I'm sorry!" Hermione said.

"Could I provide some context?"

"What context is there?" Hermione's mother snapped, making Hermione hope her mother would ask Cassie Nightingale to leave.

"Knowing what I do about the war, I don't think it would have been impossible."

"Why ever not?"

"Because she's friends with the Boy-Who-Lived," Cassie said.

"Harry doesn't like being called that," Hermione said as Ginny lifted her eyebrows. "He never wanted to be…."

"A hero?" Cassie said. "I agree that is quite the responsibility to place on a child."

"What are you talking about?"

"Shall I tell your mother or you?" Cassie asked. "It might be better coming from you.

Hermione pushed her lips together while her mom let out a deep breath. "Hermione?"

"Do you remember how," Hermione started saying, but then shook her head, realizing she shouldn't say, "You thought the war lasted thirty years." After an ever-slight pause, she said that her mother had caught on. "How they said there were two wars?"

"Yes?"

"The first one ended because Voldemort tried to kill a little boy and his family for reasons I'd rather not get into here and now, as that's really for Harry to tell and not me," Hermione said.

"But what does that have to do with that sweet boy your father and I met when we—that one time we went shopping for school supplies with you."

"It has to do with the fact both of his parents were killed," Hermione said, looking at the ground, at the rather plain carpet she stood on. "And Harry wasn't. Harry wasn't, but the reason he's called the Boy-Who-Lived is because, to this day, Harry is the only person ever known to survive what we call the killing curse."

"Something to do with Harry's mum sacrificing herself," Ginny said. "And placing protection over him. But because of that, when Voldemort returned the second time, he made Harry his target."

Hermione's mother blinked, then said. "I could really use a cup of that tea, Mrs. Nightingale."

"Ms. Nightingale," Cassie said, stepping into the kitchen as if she weren't a stranger.

"I don't know if anything is working. I mean," Hermione's mother said as Cassie turned on the faucet, letting the water run a bit to clear off. "I'd have hoped everything in the house had been turned off while we were gone in case of a mishap." She turned and glared at Hermione.

"I did. Kingsley made sure to have everything turned back on before you and Dad got home," Hermione said. "I was thinking things through."

"Yes, but what does your friend Harry have to do with you being involved?" her mother said, shaking her head as Cassie found a teapot. "Goodness, I've already got things I have to explain to that your father of yours, that he's already lying down as what's happened so far was too much for him."

"Because her name was known as well," Cassie said. "I mean, even I'd heard of her and knew she was a friend of the—of Harry Potter, and I was living all the way in the United States. She would have been a target as well, which in turn would make you and your husband targets as you're the Muggle parents of a Muggleborn."

Hermione took a deep breath. "I know you're probably asking why I didn't just go with you," she said as she continued looking at the floor, "But I couldn't leave Harry to deal with what he needed to do on his own. Not when helping him was the right thing to do, even if it meant dying in the process."

Her mother sighed. "Well, you certainly are your father's child."

Hermione's head jolted up. "Wait? What's that supposed to mean?"

"To be honest, I don't rightly now," her mother said. "But we'll talk about it more after Ms. Nightingale leaves. What I do know that is, but," her mother continued, "I am proud of you. Like I am your father."

"Like my father," Hermione said, frowning. She shook her head before taking a seat at the kitchen table. Ginny joined her, both hands behind her neck, but the look she gave Hermione said she didn't know any more than Hermione did regarding what they should do.

"I'll be finished soon so you can have that conversation." She turned, smiling at Hermione's mother. "And if you or your husband need anything, I live at Grey House?"

"The old abandoned home all the kids say is haunted by a ghost?" Hermione's mother asked.

"I'm sure there isn't a ghost," Hermione sighed. She almost asked her mother if her father hadn't told her that ghosts were actually different than how they were depicted in Muggle stories, only to remember yet again Cassie didn't know her father actually wasn't a Muggle. She took a deep breath. "And ghosts aren't how they are in Muggle stories."

"No, they're not," Cassie said. "And I think I'd know if a ghost existed there." She gently placed four cups on the table and poured the tea out. "So, here is a tea for all four of you because something tells me you're all in need of it, but good luck in discussing what needs to be discussed. And again, I'm just at Grey House if you need me."

With a nod of the head, she headed out, giving them a kind smile as she left. Hermione's mother let out a sigh, picking up the tea. "So, I won't be long. Just going to see your father drinks this."

"So?" Ginny asked when Hermione's mother disappeared from the kitchen.

"So?" Hermione said.

"What did you think of Ms. Nightingale?"

"I don't know," Hermione said, shaking her head. "It was super weird her showing up like that, but I never thought other wizards or witches would ever find out where I lived. I kind of knew, back when Harry faced Voldemort the first time during our first year, that not letting people know might, for the time being, be the best."

"Well, that's true. And there wasn't any damage when we got here. Just a lot of dusting that needed to be done," Ginny said. "Kind of wish Ron had been more supportive regarding your parents."

Hermione shook her head once. "I don't know. I don't think I want to know how he would have reacted upon finding out my dad's actually a Death Eater, a former one. I don't know…."

"Your father isn't a bad person."

Hermione's eyes blinked, her head turning to look at her mother. "What?"

"Getting back to what I said, that you are your father's daughter. I never got exact details from him. It's not something we really talk about." Her mother's eyes blinked, sitting down. "But then, I can't blame him."

"Why?" Hermione said. "He was a Death Eater. Yet you're not concerned about that."

"Because I know what," her mother said before she sighed, sipping her tea. She took another deep breath before speaking again. "What I know is how traumatized I was from what I did know. How traumatized were your grandparents as well? And your Uncle Lettie?"

"Hold on," Hermione said, shaking her head. "Do they know? That dad's a wizard?"

"Yes, they do," Hermione's mother said.

"That's a breach of the statute of secrecy," Ginny said.

"Breach of the statute of secrecy," Hermione's mother laughed, running fingers through her straight brown hair that was starting to have some gray. "Your father broke the statute of secrecy when we first met, being honest with me about who he was, including the part about being a Death Eater. Not that he actually understood at the time what that really meant. Neither of us did."

"What do you mean?"

"As I said, I don't have the details beyond knowing that your father wouldn't be alive if it weren't for my parents and brother. You almost didn't have a dad at all because he came so close to dying, simply because he decided to do the right thing when it came to all of that Death Eater business." Her mother took a deep breath. "No. He did die. His heart did stop on the operating table. More than once. So please, be careful what you say to him and ask him.