Hello and welcome to another update to 'Choices'! There will be a couple more chapters left to finish off the story so don't worry... Enjoy!
Sydney never looked so amazing, with its grand Opera House and stunning seaports. It was no surprise that Hermione felt like a little girl in a candy store; the sight was beautiful to her. As the pair entered the hotel they would be staying at, Hermione's glee could barely contain itself.
"I can't believe we are finally here, Bella," she squeed, looking round at the grand opulent atrium to the hotel. It looked magnificent, and given it was one of the best hotels in the world, it was hard not to see why. Even Bella seemed in awe of her surroundings.
"I have to agree with you there, Hermione. Sydney is gorgeous." Bella put her hands on Hermione's shoulders and the two drank in the beauty of the hotel, and Sydney in general. "Let's put our bags in our room and go for a walk, shall we?"
The two headed to reception, and the bubbly receptionist gave them their room and keys. There was even a special Christmas Lunch being organised by the hotel for Christmas Day, which was a mere 3 days away. They made their way to their room, and stood in awe once again at the brilliance of the hotel's suites. The carpet seemed to be cashmere, the standing bookshelf made from mahogany and the bed was a king-size, with rather expensive looking sheets. As the pair realised this, Bella started looking really sheepish.
"Bella, how much did this room cost?" Hermione asked her lover, who was looking more and more sheepish with each passing millisecond.
"I really don't want you to be mad at me, but…" Bella started, but she couldn't bring herself to say.
"Very well, if you don't want to say, then I will see for myself," Hermione replied. Focusing her mind, she probed into Bella's looking for this specific piece of information.
"Hermione, I wanted this trip to be a strong and happy memory for you, for us." Hermione couldn't believe how much Bella had paid for their trip. "I want you to be happy, especially for Christmas."
"Bella…" Hermione hugged Bella tighter than she ever had before, she was truly ecstatic that her best friend would go through all this trouble for her. "Thank you, my love."
The pair decided to go for some lunch before heading to the dentistry where they believed Hermione's parents worked. After quickly going and reapplying the healing charm in the bathroom, they paid the bill and headed off, turning a few heads as they did. After a bit of searching, with no luck, they asked an elderly gentleman who directed them to the surgery, even after saying they had two of the nicest smiles that he had ever seen.
Bella entered the surgery, with Hermione not too far behind; something about explaining this to her parents was suddenly starting to scare her to the core. Bella, slowly bringing Hermione with her, went into reception.
"Hi there, we are here to see Dr Granger," Bella said politely, resting a hand on Hermione's shoulder in an attempt to calm her down somewhat.
"Do you have an appointment?" the receptionist replied without even looking up at the two.
"Not really, but she missed an appointment and really needs to see them," Bella insisted, trying not to get angry at the girl's blatant rudeness. She looked up at the two, then down to the schedule.
"They have a slot free at 5pm today, if you want that," she replied, glancing up at Hermione once more, a puzzling look in her eye.
"We'll take it, thank you;" Bella said, heading for the door out.
"Excuse me," she said to Hermione as she started to turn, "have we met before? I know it must sound strange but you look vaguely familiar."
"Sorry, but I don't know." Hermione said, before dashing out the door.
Xxx
The dental surgery was right next to the beach waterfront, so the pair decided to go for a nice refreshing walk to clear their heads before the meeting. Bella was deep in thought, and deciding that looking in her mind wasn't the best course of action Hermione chose to ask her outright.
"You want to know why I froze up before, don't you Bella?" she asked, with only a silent nod from Bella confirming her suspicions. "I guess I'm scared of the whole thing; meeting my parents, explaining it all to them, waiting to see if they will accept me back into their lives."
Bella tenderly put her arm around her companion. "I don't know whether they will accept you or not, but you cannot be afraid of it. You just need hope that they understand." Bella lent over and gave her a kiss on the cheek, just to further emphasise her point. "Even if they don't fully understand what happened, I'm sure they will understand your reasons."
The two made their way back to the surgery, a few minutes ahead of their appointment; however the receptionist let them in early as the surgery was empty at that point. They made their way up the stairs and into the room, slowly closing the door behind them.
"Ah, you must be our walk-ins," Hermione's dad, Philip Granger said. "My name is Dr Phil, and this is my wife, Dr Helen;" an assistant walked in and stood next to him. Bella instantly saw the resemblance; Hermione had her mother's untamed hair, and her dad's eyes. In fact, she could have passed for her mother in a picture, since they were so similar. "So, who is up first?" he asked the pair.
Once again, Hermione was frozen to the spot, so Bella volunteered. "Your friend looks nervous, miss?" Helen said. Bella merely smiled.
"Call me Bella. Yeah, she is quite nervous, as she doesn't like people pulling out her teeth," she chuckled, gaining a small chuckle from the two unsuspecting parents.
"Well I can guarantee you both that there will be no tooth-pulling today," Phil responded, eliciting a small smile from Hermione. "By the way, what is your name my dear?" he asked Hermione.
"Oh, erm. My name is Hermione," she said nervously, her confidence not rising in the slightest even with the friendly atmosphere.
"That's a very unusual name, but I like it," Helen said. "I feel like I have actually known someone with that name before, but I can't for the life of me remember where." Bella spared a knowing smirk towards Hermione as Phil started to examine her teeth.
'So far so good, hun;' Bella said mentally to Hermione, who was getting more and more comfortable with the situation. 'They seem to remember the name, which is a start, so try asking about them, see if they can't spark some memories.'
"So tell me a little bit about you, Hermione," Phil asked. "You don't sound Australian."
"Well, neither do you, doctor;" she responded, earning a smile from the two. "It sounds like an English accent, come to think of it."
Phil chuckled, "yes, we both originally come from England. A little village north of London. It was actually really quaint there. Then we got a job offer here and we emigrated."
"Was there anything holding you there, in England?" Hermione inquired, probing for some fragment of memory to appear. She didn't want to use magic unless she had to, as that might damage their minds completely.
"Not really," Helen replied this time. "We had always wanted children, but we could never conceive. A lot of the people we talked to had either passed away or moved, and we had a good opportunity here." She glanced over to Hermione, noticing her baby bump. "How long do you have left?"
"Oh, only a few more days to go, maybe even after New Year's." Hermione didn't know what to do at this point, she couldn't think of the questions to ask, and she was getting more and more flustered as time went on.
Bella decided to help a little bit by 'accidentally' opening her jacket, allowing the two doctors to see the Memory Pendant the sage had given them back in Hong Kong. "My, that is a beautiful necklace you have there, Bella;" Phil said as he finished the examination.
Bella got up from the chair and invited Hermione to sit down. "We were in Hong Kong recently; it was a nice piece of jewellery, so I bought it." She reached back and undid the clasp removing it from her neck. "Although, apparently it better suits someone with blue eyes." She offered to let Helen try it on, and as Phil prepared the next set of tools, Bella helped put the pendant on her.
"What do you think, Phil?" she asked, posing a little to show off the necklace.
"It does look good on you, honey," he replied, mesmerised by the pendant. The pendant was starting to have its desired effect, causing a few memories from Hermione's childhood to manifest. Bella urged Hermione to delve into their minds, to further reinforce the memories.
As the memories started to get stronger, and the little girl started to grow up, the effects ebbed towards Phil, who also started to see the memories. With the strength ever increasing, Hermione made her presence known in their minds.
'Remember me…'
As the effects of the pendant faded, the pair dropped to the floor, Hermione and Bella quickly catching them and keeping them steady. "Do you know who I am?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, you are our daughter," a teary eyed Helen whispered, hugging her long lost daughter. As she did, Phil came over and joined the hug, crying as he rarely would except for extremely good news.
"There is something else you should know, Mr and Mrs Granger," Bella said smiling, as the two looked at her.
Hermione broke the hug and headed towards Bella, and the two made a small display of magic to prove themselves. "We are witches."
The trip was a success, with the pendant and the subtle hints and questioning bringing back Hermione's parents' memories. Besides the usual, 'Why? How? When? and Thank you' that they got; the doctors also asked them if they wanted to go for dinner to celebrate. Even the receptionist was shocked when she was told Hermione was their daughter.
The four found a lovely restaurant on the seafront, and after sorting out a reservation for later that evening, headed back to change and get ready. Hermione it seemed was much more relaxed now that she had her parents back, but the biggest test was yet to come. "How do I tell them that you are the, erm, 'parent' of this child?" she asked Bella, who was doing her hair up at this moment in time.
"I have no idea," Bella replied. "I don't think anyone could have thought of how to say it. If anything, just tell them the truth."
"I don't know which is harder; telling them I'm a witch, or that I'm a lesbian."
"Now, now," Bella came and sat down next to Hermione, stroking the bulging belly of her lover as she did, "we will make it through this, lesbian or not. Besides, I think they would be glad to have a granddaughter, as long as her parents love her to bits. Wouldn't you agree?"
"You're right, Bella, I'm sure they will accept you, and the baby is going to love them too." Hermione nuzzled Bella's neck gently, and the two fell back into the bed, softly kissing one another, happy that the other would always be there for them.
The four finally arrived back at the restaurant and were seated. The Grangers were apparently good friends with the Maître D, as he managed to get them a quiet windowside table for four. As they ordered, Hermione started feeling woozy once more, so Bella subtly used the Healing Charm on her, to Phil and Helen's awe.
"How much magic can you do?" Phil asked; aware that they needed to be quiet about the whole thing they had agreed to speak quietly throughout the evening.
"While we can do virtually any spell and charm that we have come across, most of the time we have to limit what we can do." Bella removed her hand from Hermione and conferred with Hermione over whether she was feeling better. "This charm for example allows for people to eliminate whatever illness is ailing them, for a short time at least."
"Amazing," Helen whispered, clearly still in awe after being told about the wizarding world all over again.
"There is one thing we haven't told you about yet;" Hermione said, looking over to Bella for permission. "Me and Bella, we, erm, well…"
Helen seemed to understand immediately what she wanted to say. "Do you love her, Bella?" This caught Bella off guard, and she quickly nodded her head in confirmation. "Hermione, do you love Bella?"
"Bella is the kindest woman I have ever met. When we first met each other there was a connection between us – mortal enemies of one another. But almost a year ago, we got into a situation which changed both our lives. We were able to give each other what they had been longing for. Bella wanted a companion, and she found one in me in the same way I found one in her. I love her, and she loves me just as much." She grasped Bella's hand and gave away the bombshell:
"This baby is mine and Bella's daughter."
Just a quick question everyone, "What do you think the title of this chapter refers to?"