For a while after her solemn announcement, Hermione simply sat down at one of the larger tables with the men and listened while the group lamented the loss of their Gatekeeper, café owner, and friend. She could not help but to notice, however, that although they were surprised and saddened to hear of Souan's passing, they were not really shocked by the news. Therefore, she realized that on some level they must have expected it – especially since Souan had been advanced in years...and Enchanté's Gate apparently had been closed for quite some time.

Soon enough, however, three curious sets of eyes...and oddly enough, one helmet...were turned back in her direction.

Hermione just sighed and rubbed her forehead again to ease the ache that seemed to increase as soon as she realized what those looks meant. "I guess Souan didn't tell you about me, either, did he?" she asked. "And here I was hoping that you might have some answers for me. I guess today is just the day for unexplained surprises, after all."

"Surprises?" The helmet-clad man with the deep smooth voice asked in a tone of disbelief. "Does that mean that Lord Souan did not mention us, his regulars, at all to you?"

Hermione just looked at the speaker as she finally realized that he no longer wore the armor in which he had arrived. Instead...except for the helmet which he still had upon his head for some strange reason...he currently looked quite normal in a shirt and vest with a pair of trousers that all fit his big muscular frame perfectly. She also glanced over at the others, then, and realized that at some point during the discussion, they had also changed their appearances into more casual ones to better match their current setting. Hermione could not help but to absentmindedly wonder if they were even aware they had done such a thing...or if it had been some sort of automatic magical reflex from being in the café and human world again.

Nevertheless, she also realized that she had not yet answered the courteous knight's question and quickly shook her head in response. "No. Believe it or not, I have not seen or heard from Souan since I was a small child. In fact, I had never even heard of Enchanté until about a week ago when I was initially contacted by his solicitor after his passing...and today was the first time I had actually seen the place for myself. While I was exploring the café and trying to figure out what I was going to do with it, I found the portal...the Gate...and then all of you arrived just as soon as I opened it. End of story. That's all I know...and that's why I said it's been a surprising day." She rubbed her forehead again.

"I see," the knight answered quietly. "Lord Souan truly kept all of this from you, didn't he? That is quite unexpected."

"You're telling me," Hermione answered a bit ruefully.

"Then you truly do not know who...or what...we are?" the beautiful angelic man asked gently.

She noticed that he had traded his wings in for some simple robes, but she did not mention that as she replied to his question honestly. "No...not for certain...but I do have my suspicions," she told him as she rubbed the aching spot again. She was afraid that she would have to excuse herself to go and find a pain potion or some muggle paracetamol or something if the throbbing pressure did not ease off soon.

The man nodded in sympathetic understanding. "In that case, please allow me to introduce myself, I am Il Fado de Rie. I am an angel of the Heavenly World of Caelm. Or rather, I was an angel, but I have fallen after breaking the laws of my world. Consequently, I have been in the care of Souan for quite some time, now. He was a splendid man and I'm sure that you will be just as considerate. However, you are obviously overwhelmed at this moment. Therefore, please allow me to use my healing powers to help you with your present physical discomfort."

With those words, he raised one elegant finger to touch Hermione's forehead. The instant it made contact with her own skin, the pain that had troubled her immediately faded away into nothing.

"Oh! Thank you. That is so much better!" Hermione uttered her sincere appreciation and was able to smile brightly at the kind angel since the formerly nagging stress headache no longer bothered her at all. Il returned the look in a pleasant and gentle way.

Since she suddenly felt more like herself, Hermione then turned to the next man at the table; the scowling fiery one. He seemed to be the one closest to her in years (even though she knew from experience that one could not judge a non-human's age by looks alone). He was currently flameless, as well, and dressed in what she could only guess was some sort of skater boy fashion. His tshirt did have a cute cat image on it, though, which made her smile.

Once he caught her eye, however, the man sighed heavily in reluctance before he introduced himself. "Ignis Carbunculus...a demon beast...from the Beast World of Bestia," he stated curtly and it was clear from his tone that he did not plan to add any more information to that snippet. However, he was surprised by a sudden sound of interest from the woman.

"A demon beast with a human form?" she exclaimed excitedly. "That's fascinating! I remember your earlier shape, too, from when you arrived. Was that your intermediate one? Does that mean you have a full beast form, as well?"

"Uh, yeah...a Firewolf...but you don't want to see that one. I don't use it very often...only in emergencies. Plus, it'll burn the café down," he admitted, still a bit stunned by her enthusiasm, as he reached up in his confusion to absentmindedly run a hand through hair that was a much more fiery shade of red than the one the Weasleys all sported.

Hermione tried to set his mind at ease and smiled at him in appreciation for his response before she looked from him to the large helmeted man at his side.

He inclined his head to her before he began to speak in a courteous tone. "I am Canus...Canus Espada...a knight of the Fairy World of Medio. I was under the great care of Lord Souan, as well, and..."

"Wait!" Hermione unintentially interrupted him in excitement over his unexpected news. "You're from Medio?"

"Yes," the knight replied in a cleary surprised tone. "Do you know of that land?"

"I do," Hermione answered with confidence, "In fact, it is the only other world that I have visited besides my own. Therefore, I would love to speak of it with you some more when we get a chance. However, first I have a question for you, if you don't mind."

The knight inclined his head again. Hermione took that as permission.

"Why do you continue to wear your helmet – especially when you have already removed the rest of your armor?"

"Is that unusual?" The knight asked, clearly confused. "After all, Lord Souan advised me not to draw attention to my appearance around other humans."

"I think the helmet might actually defeat that purpose, Canus," she responded kindly, even as she heard the demon and Ignis snicker in amusement at her words. She just ignored them, though – especially since they had obviously not corrected the situation before then - as she continued. "Plus, you don't really have to worry about standing out from the crowd in this place, do you? It doesn't look like it is very comfortable, either, so please feel free to remove it if you are only enduring it for my sake, okay?"

"You are very considerate, Lady Hermione," the knight replied gratefully. "The helmet is indeed actually quite cumbersome to wear inside the café," he added. "Therefore, if you are sure...?" He left the question hanging as he glanced toward her. When she gave him a nod of encouragement, he lifted his hands up to remove the heavy headgear.

Hermione wondered why the other men seemed to pause...as if they were waiting for something with bated breath...until Canus set his helmet down on the table in front of him where it promptly disappeared. Then, she realized...with the part of her brain that was not engaged with watching the flicker of magical blue flames caress the air from where the knight's head should have been...that they were waiting for her reaction.

"Oh! Oh, I see."

She spoke softly as she processed the unusual sight before her as she immediately thought of the Dullahan from Irish folklore. She also knew that the situation probably would have made an even bigger impression on her if she had not already met Nearly Headless Nick at Hogwarts and heard his endless complaints about the Headless Hunt. As it was, however, she was able to take it all in stride.

"Well, I guess that explains a lot, too," she therefore commented in her normal calm voice. "Are you sure that you can see fine and everything like that, though?" she added with sudden concern as she purposely ignored the choking sound that came from Ignis's direction from her reaction...or lack thereof.

"Do not worry yourself, Lady Hermione," Canus responded. "My range of vision is even better in this state."

"Well, that's good, then," she answered in genuine relief, before she turned to look at the next man in line.

The cocky demon grinned with even more merriment at her after her exchange with Canus. "I guess I'm last then, huh? I'm from the Demon World, Asmodia. My name is Misyr Rex and I'm the powerful demon king, as you can see. Nice to meet you."

"Demon king?" she asked curiously.

"Yes. Demon king, demon lord, world conquerer, princess kidnapper...that sort of thing," he replied in a lighthearted, but sardonic, kind of way that made her wonder if he was actually joking or not. "I'm not on the job now, however, so you can just call me Misyr...or you can give me a nickname if you like." The smile he flashed at her then was dangerous, reassuring, and flirtatious...all at the same time...and it helped her to remember that she had decided it was important to stay both openminded and cautious around him.

After all, she knew she was very good at what she did. However, she could not fool herself...not even for a moment...that she could possibly be on the same power level as a demon king.

Nevertheless, for some reason, she could not help but to like him, anyway. Consequently, she responded with a guarded smile of her own before he spoke again.

"Now, Hermione Granger, Great Niece of Souan, and Current Owner of Enchanté, it is your turn. Why don't you tell us exactly who...or rather what...you really are?"

"What?" the three other voices coursed in reply as two heads and a suddenly red-flamed neck turned rapidly in her direction.

"Ah! I had begun to wonder if you, in particular, could tell," Hermione ventured as she looked a bit sheepishly at the demon lord in front of her, "especially after I figured out what you were and that you were probably also the one who had set the wards around this place."

"I knew it!" Ignis interrupted when he had finally had enough. He slammed his fist down angrily on the table hard enough to make it creak ominously. "For someone who supposedly didn't know about us until today, you certainly didn't act very worried about it. You're not just some random relative of the old man's after all, are you? In fact, you're a damn spy for the GPM! That's the only way to explain how the hell you know so much!"

"The GPM?" Hermione asked in genuine confusion. Her eyes met Misyr's questioningly as Ignis huffed.

The demon shook his head. "Don't worry about the GPM. He occasionally comes in handy, but the rest are more like annoying buzzing insects than anything else. They're not important right now, however. Let's focus on you, instead." He paused to grin suggestively at her before he turned toward Ignis with a look that made the firewolf cross his arms across his chest and slam back in his seat like a disgruntled teenager.

Misyr is enjoying this, Hermione realized. He likes to be in charge and make people squirm. Too bad for him, though. I don't care if he is more powerful or not, I also like to be in charge - especially to make sure that things are done right the first time. Plus, I'm not the squirming type!

After all, Hermione was not worried about her explanation since she had already decided to tell this unique and intriguing group of men..the same ones who knew and respected Souan the most...the truth about herself. What was the point of hiding it from people like them, anyway? They were not human nor were they from her world. Therefore, the Statute of Secrecy could not possibly apply to their situation.

"Well, Hermione?" the demon continued in a smooth and persuasive tone. "Care to share why Souan would leave an important place like this to a girl he barely knew – even if she was a blood relative...or how you could recognize a Gate and how to open it...or knew that I was a demon almost as soon as you met me...or figure out that Il and I had placed protective wards around the place to keep out the riff-raff...or even how you knew about demon beast forms, headless knights, and Medio in the first place?"

Hermione recognized the challenge in his tone and rose to meet it. "I would be delighted to," she answered confidently as the rest moved their heads (or flames) back and forth between them as if they were watching a tennis match. "After all, I have no reason to keep it a secret from you." She paused to indicate the entire small group in front of her before she continued. "However...to be honest...even though I'm pretty sure I know why Souan chose me to be here, I have to admit that I still don't understand how he knew about me, in the first place. After all, everything I know and have learned about the man...plus what all of you have told me...simply points to him being a regular person with a regular shop...even though he obviously had a very irregular clientale," she explained before she paused. "No offense meant to any of you, of course."

She looked around and happened to catch Il's eye, so she smiled at the fallen angel. He returned the look with a gently amused one of his own. "No offense taken, my dear," he replied. "After all, it is the truth."

"Get to the point!" Ignis interrupted their exchange with a bit of a snarl, though. "Who cares about us? Are you human or not?"

"Yes, I am human," Hermione conceded, and Ignis made a face as if he was disappointed in some way. She was not finished, though. "However, I'm not just a human." Here she paused and thought for a moment before she lifted her hand and tapped gently on both the salt and pepper shakers located in front of her on their table. When the pair started to twirl and dance together in an obvious waltz across the surface...without any kind of assistance...the woman completed her statement. "I'm also a witch."

This time Misyr was the one who sat back heavily in his chair. However, he wore a look of satisfaction in the process...as if he had known...or at least suspected...the truth all along.

"Does that mean you have magic...as Misyr and Il do?" Canus asked.

"As you can see, I do have magic," Hermione admitted, as a simple tap and a murmured Finite Incantatem brought the dance of the seasonings to a halt. "However, I believe that it is more closely related to fairy magic...like what you have used to disguise your appearance...rather than demonic or angelic powers. After all, it is my understanding that magic came into the human world from Medio in the first place." Canus nodded to the truth of that.

"What the hell?" Ignis roared. "Humans have powers, too?"

"Calm yourself, Ignis," Misyr suggested kindly. "After all, not every human carries such energy, only a select few...special ones...such as our Hermione here."

The woman nodded. "That's true. I wouldn't necessarily call myself special or anything, but compared to the general human population, only a tiny percentage of us are magical. Plus...while there are definitely people who have magic that runs in their families...I'm not one of them. I was born with the natural power, however, even though my parents and their families...and even Great Uncle Souan, apparently...did not have any themselves. I went to a special school for people like me, though, and that's where I learned so much of what I know today...such as the history of our magic and its connection to Medio." Here she paused to nod at Canus before she continued.

"As for the rest of my knowledge, I do a lot of independent study and research for many reasons...some of which are for specific personal or professional projects, but I have to admit that I do some of it just for pleasure, as well. In fact, I'm pretty well known among my peers for being a bit of a swot...a person who loves to learn just for the sake of the learning itself. Not only that, though, but my choice of profession also accounts for a lot of what I know about other non-human beings, too." With those words, she glanced over at Ignis, but paused to sigh when she saw the way he continued to look at her with distrust.

"At any rate, the reason why all of this surprises me, is simply because I was blindsided by it. I had no idea that this was the kind of situation that I was walking into when I inherited the café. Despite that, however, none of it really shocks, upsets, or worries me."

After Hermione's demonstration and explanation, everyone had more questions and she answered what she could while she asked a few of her own. All of the men were kind and cooperative with her...and seemed genuinely interested in what she had to say...except for Ignis.

Hermione found that every time she looked up from her conversations with one of the others, the firewolf's eyes were on her...and not in a particularly admiring kind of way. Finally, she had enough of the indirect shade and decided to confront him about it.

"Ignis, do you have some kind of problem with me?"

He just grunted and looked away. "No. I was just thinking that you are much too plain of a girl to be related to the old man."

"Ouch!" Hermione murmured softly as she thought about his comment for a moment. It was rather rude and did not do her self-esteem much good, even though she had always been well aware she was not a beauty. However, she also knew better than most that, try as she might, she just would not be able to please everybody. Consequently, she just shrugged at him instead of trying to childishly retaliate and hurt him with words of her own.

"I've been called worse," she replied in a contemplative tone, instead, "much, much worse." With those words, she reached over...almost subconsciously...to gently brush her fingertips over the carved word on her left forearm that was currently covered by the material of her shirt . After all, it was her permanent reminder that sometimes people could hate you for the most insubstantial of reasons.

Ignis just looked at her in confusion, however. After all, long sleeves covered her arms and he could not see anything out of the norm there. However, he still realized that something had upset her...and he did not know how he felt about that. Nevertheless, she did not say anything else to him and instead turned towards Canus when the man asked her a question about her visit to Medio.

The knight's shirt collar bobbed as he apparently nodded in understanding when she explained that she was from Britain and had brought a small herd of young sick thestrals back to Medio, the original homeland of their species, through the Ministry of Magic's Gate for some exposure healing after they had showed signs of ancestral relapse. She also added how lovely she thought the place was and how much she enjoyed meeting Titania, as well.

As he listened, Canus's neck flames burned a soft gentle blue, and he seemed to be quite pleased about her explanation. However, before he could respond, Ignis beat him to it, instead.

"You've met the Fairy Queen?" he asked in disbelief. "Un-freaking-believable!" he murmured after she nodded in the affirmative.

Misyr, obviously amused for some reason by Ignis's response, proceeded to change the topic when he suddenly announced aloud in a wistful tone that he wanted to drink some of Souan's coffee.

That comment served to turn the conversational tide back towards Enchanté itself and then, specifically about Hermione's intentions towards the place that had become so important to the four non-humans who sat around her.

Hermione simply told them the truth.

"I just don't know," she replied with a sigh. "I do have my own career...one that I quite literally fought and bled for...back in England. Therefore, my initial plans..when I first found out about the shop...were simply to sell the place immediately." At Ignis's grunt of protest, she put up a placating hand and continued. "However, I don't really know about that now. After all, I wasn't expecting the situation here to be quite so...complicated. I never had any intentions of running a coffee shop...and I still don't...but there's obviously so much more at stake here than just coffee, isn't there? Therefore, I think...no, I know...that I need more time and information in order to figure out exactly how to proceed with all of this!"

Surprisingly...despite their obvious attachment to the place...the men seemed to understand what she meant and none of them, not even Ignis, applied any more pressure. Instead, they all decided to take a break for the night in order to go their separate ways and meet back up again together on the next day to discuss the issue further.

That was when Hermione realized for the first time that the non-humans were not just regular guests of the coffee shop, but almost all of them...with the sole exception of Misyr...were long-term lodgers in the rooms on the second floor, as well. She had never made it that far during her inspection, though, so she had no idea that those rooms had already been taken. In fact, it seemed that since Il was not very welcome in his own world, he normally lived at Enchanté almost full-time.

Hermione did not say anything to either the angel or the others, but she knew that bit of information just added to the existing complications and would probably make her decision even more difficult in the long run.

Nevertheless, since she had not known what the day would bring when she made her travel arrangements, Hermione had already booked a hotel in Magical Tokyo for herself for that night. At the moment, she was quite grateful for such a foresight - especially since it would give her some quiet time to think about the situation without the others around.

Plus, Misyr had assured her that she did not need to worry about the security of Enchanté while Canus and Ignis stayed there. He also added that he would personally handle the Gate. That was important because Il had warned her during an earlier conversation concerning the portal that leaving it unlocked could lead to unexpected and possibly dangerous visitors.

"Completely unlike us, of course," the angel had added without even the tiniest bit of irony in his tone.

Hermione had hid her smile then at the thought that he truly seemed to believe that a demon king, a fire beast, a headless knight, and a fallen angel would not be considered to be dangerous by most people.

At any rate, Hermione knew that - under normal circumstances - it was probably crazy to leave the men...the non-humans...in charge of her property. After all, she had just met them that day. However, somehow...with the possible exception of Ignis...she felt that they genuinely liked her. She had no reason to distrust any of them, either. Plus, if nothing else, they had all truly respected Souan and had his final wishes and best interests at heart. Therefore, she also knew that they would not harm the café in any way.

With that thought, Hermione also realized that she was probably being unfair to the firewolf just because he had been unpleasant to her. After all, she could still tell that he cared for Enchanté...and Souan...just as much as the rest of them did...maybe even more. She was even intuitive enough to realize that was probably exactly the reason he did not like her in the first place. She had the feeling that it was not really personal; it was just that her presence represented an unwanted change to him and he resented her for it.

Unfortunately, however, it was just another complication to add to the ever-increasing list.

With that in mind, after Misyr had been the last one to say his farewells and disappear, Hermione locked the main door to Enchanté from the inside before she stood in the middle of the café and took one last look around. Just as it had done before she had met the rather unusual guests, the place exuded a sort of serenity that calmed her. Therefore, it was with a contented smile and a clear head that she turned on her heel and apparated away straight to her hotel.

Consequently, she did not see the jade eyes that watched her approvingly from the doorway to the Gate room...nor did she see their owner turn and take the stairs up to the second floor in order to have an important discussion with the others who waited for him there.