Hermione stared at the portal...or Gate, as Souan had called it...in front of her.

Well, that certainly explains a lot! she exclaimed to herself with sudden understanding.

In fact, some of the mysteries that had plagued her about the peculiarity of the great uncle's bequest completely resolved themselves in her mind at the first sight of the ornate door in front of her.

First and foremost, it was now clear to her that Souan had been a Gatekeeper, an intermediary between worlds. In fact, he had probably moved to Japan specifically for that purpose. Perhaps, he had even been recruited for the position beforehand. Hermione did not know how all of that worked, but...as Luna had said...the walls between worlds were thinner in the East and, therefore, easier to pass through. Consequently, it made perfect sense, then, that somebody had to be in charge of the gateways between them.

It had also become quite clear to her that...for some reason...Souan had chosen her to become that somebody as his successor in the role.

Consequently, his message to Open the Gate as soon as possible also made complete sense to her, as did the function behind the sign on the door that was currently displayed on the CLOSED side.

Souan obviously wanted her to flip that sign to open the portal.

The question of Why me? was still prominent in her mind, though.

You are the only one who can handle the responsibility, he had said in his message.

Did those words mean that...somehow...her great uncle had known she was a witch? Otherwise, why else would he have chosen her...someone he barely knew and had not seen since she was young child – especially for such an important task?

Even though some of Hermione's questions had been answered, many more had jumped in to take their place. Probably the greatest one of them all now was simply, What am I going to do about all of this?

In actuality, the whole situation had turned out to be far more complicated than the simple real estate deal that she had originally thought it was going to be. In fact, everything had now changed and her approach was now going to have to change with it!

After all, she simply could not sell private access to and from another world to the highest bidder. Hell, she did not even know exactly how many worlds were behind that door in the first place!

Yet, somehow, she had already become responsible for them all, anyway!

Despite the fact that she was a Gryffindor, Hermione had never been one to rush into the unknown blindly like so many of the others whom the Sorting Hat had placed into that same House tended to do. That was just not her way. Instead, she liked to thoroughly plan things out...and prepare for contingencies...as much as possible, at any rate.

That was why she exited back into the main room of the café to figure out what she should do next. As she sat down at one of the wooden tables, she realized again just how serene the atmosphere was. It calmed her and helped her to think things through a little more clearly.

That was a good thing, too...because her very first instinct had been to call Harry.

She was able to quickly decide against that action, however, because she knew better than most that her best friend with SPT was definitely the type to rush in without a plan. Hermione did not want him to put his life on hold, though, in order to come to her aid when there nothing actually wrong...at least not yet.

She also did not want to contact Kingsley, Percy, or anyone else in charge at her Ministry just in case they felt that they needed to immediately report the situation to their Japanese equivalent. While she knew she might have to keep an open mind about that option in the future, she was reluctant to do so immediately because it was obviously not what Souan wanted. Otherwise, he would have done it himself...and let them be in charge of Gatekeeping...instead of leaving the responsibility to an unknown like her.

That was assuming, of course, that he even knew about the MoM in the first place...which Hermione was seriously beginning to doubt for many reasons. However, there had to be somebody in charge of situations like this, right? Would he not have known about them?

Regardless of whether he knew about magic or not, Souan must have also had a very good reason for doing things the way he did. Consequently, Hermione realized that she wanted a chance to figure out what was going on with Souan's unique little café for herself, first...before she made the decision to bring in any outside assistance. Therefore, she decided that it was best to tackle the problem head on.

Since she was now caught up in such a complicated situation, she decided that what she really needed first were the answers about the Gate, Souan, and her role in the matter before she could make any more decisions about what to do about it all. Otherwise, she was afraid that she really would have to turn it over to the JMoM, instead.

Since there was no other way to determine what Souan's mindset or plan had been, though, Hermione decided that the next best thing would be to actually open the Gate and try to find some firsthand answers from whomever decided to use the passage to the café. After all, even Souan had requested that she open it "as soon as possible," so it was quite likely that was what he wanted to happen in the first place. In fact, he might have even known exactly who the first Gate user would be...and that was why why he set things up in the strange way that he had.

If only I had known you better...or you had explained a little bit more...Great Uncle Souan! Hermione thought wistfully. This would have been a helluva lot easier to figure out.

Honestly, however, after she had put all of the currently available information together, she had absolutely no reason to believe that the situation was dangerous at the current point in time. Therefore, Hermione made her decision and and soon stood in front of the strange ornate door again as she took a deep breath. She was not afraid, per se. After all, she had met many non-humans before. In fact, that was bascially her job description at the Ministry.

She had to admit, though, that she was a bit nervous simply because she did not know exactly what to expect next. After all, she was the kind of person who really hated not knowing about something important!

The witch also resisted the urge to take out her wand just to feel the comforting weight of the wood in her hand. She did not want to accidentally make the first "guest" who came through feel as if they were being threatened. If they turned out to be uncooperative or dangerous, though, than she would show them exactly what she was capable of and could do to them. If that did indeed turn out to be the case, then it would certainly justify all of the years she had spent since the war learning and practicing wandless magic, both defensive and offensive, so that she...and those she loved...would never again have to experience the same helplessness that she had to endure as a vulnerable teenager in the hands of the enemy once her wand had been taken away from her.

Hermione pushed those dark memories aside, though, as her confidence in her present ability to protect herself...and others, too...came to the forefront, instead.

Consequently, without any more hesitation, she stepped up to the Gate, turned the sign, and then took a step back to wait.

...

The response came much quicker than she had expected, however. In fact, just a moment later, the bell rang to indicate that someone...or something...was coming through. Then...in the very next instant...Hermione somehow found herself inexplicably being held gently in a pair of strong arms as bright light spilled outwards from the open doorway before it closed on its own.

"Finally!" A soft voice spoke and mesmerizing green eyes glittered as they gazed down directly into her warm brown ones. "What a pleasantly unexpected greeting, however!"

Even though Hermione did not know exactly who...or what...she was dealing with, she had already realized by the time she was a second-year Hogwarts student that it was almost never a good idea to look directly into the eyes of an unknown creature. In fact, that was why she had only ended up being petrified by the basilisk back then instead of immediately dying at the time. Plus, all of her experience over the years since then – especially in her role at the MoM's reformed Department of Magical Beasts and Beings - had only reinforced that knowledge.

Nevertheless, she realized that she did not know her visitor's intent and until she did, she could neither lash out nor let her guard down. Therefore, she simply averted her eyes and spoke plainly to the one in her personal space.

"I don't know exactly what services Souan provided here, but I am pretty sure that this was not on the menu. Therefore, do you mind taking a step back, please? You're a little close."

Even though she was not afraid, she was still a little relieved when the visitor laughed in an easy way, but still did as she asked. Only then could she see all of him...instead of just his eyes.

"You don't have to be scared of me," the unusual looking man who stood there assured her with a casual smile. "I'm not dangerous."

"You do realize that's exactly what someone who was dangerous would say, though, right?" Hermione replied to his comment in a dry tone. At her droll response, his smile widened even further into a cheerful grin.

She had to admit to herself, however, that she did not really feel threatened by his presence...and she had built up good instincts about that kind of thing over the years. After all, once you have been on the run, actively hunted, captured, and tortured, life turns that kind of skill into a survival necessity. Therefore, without feeling the need to move further away, she simply examined the visitor from her current position. After a good look at him, though, she also had to admit that his features were quite handsome - with his jade eyes, uniquely colored hair, and gold-tipped horns.

He seemed to know what she was looking at and displayed no lack of self confidence as he spoke to her. "Ah! You like my horns, do you? Would you like to touch them? You don't have to hold yourself back, you know."

At that moment, Hermione did not know whether to laugh out load or sigh in annoyance at the suggestive invitation. Typical male, she simply thought and shook her head before she spoke.

"I think I'll pass," she answered with deadpan calm again as she turned her visual examination towards his clothing instead. After all, compared to the wild robes that this bloke wore, even Professor Dumbledore would have been considered as conservatively dressed.

While she looked, Hermione put all of the visual clues that she had gathered together with all of her expertise and experience. She was then able to come up with one probable answer to the still-grinning and seemingly amused question that stood in front of her: Demon.

What kind, though...and from which world? she had to wonder.

After all, demons often had a very bad reputation - especially in the Western religions. However, many Eastern religions and folklore considered demons to be just another type of supernatural entity...neither benevolent nor malevolent as a whole...but with their own particular personalities.

In fact, the one who stood in front of Hermione seemed good-natured enough...despite his obvious flirtatious tendencies. Surprisingly, her hard-earned intuition did not send up any red flags about him, either. As a result, Hermione decided not to judge him immediately. She would remain reasonably guarded...but otherwise openminded...about both him and the situation. After all, she had always considered herself to be an advocate for non-humans. She could not do that if she was automatically biased against him just because of the general reputation of his species.

Just as she was about to introduce herself, though, and ask him some of the questions that had weighed so heavily on her mind, the room around them begin to shake. She turned and looked curiously at the demon to see he if was the one creating the chaos.

He saw the question in her eyes and shook his head knowingly. "Ahaha!" he laughed, instead. "Everyone must be excited. In fact, without Enchanté's barrier, the entire town could have been blown away by now."

"Barrier?" Hermione murmured. "Wait!" she exclaimed as she suddenly remembered the spine-tingling feeling she had experienced when she had first entered the café. She had thought it had just been excitement then, but now she realized that the feeling really could have been "protective wards."

She did not even realize that she had spoken those last words aloud until the demon looked at her appreciatively. He did not have a chance to respond, though, before the bell rang again and the door was flung open with such force that she would have been sent flying roughly across the room if her companion had not snapped his fingers...after which her body immediately, but gently, moved a few feet backwards...seemingly of its own accord.

Hermione was not fooled, however, and glared at the obvious culprit who just continued to grin merrily at her. Neither one of them had a chance to say anything, though, before a loud, boisterous voice shouted from the doorway for the "Old man" and a "meal on the house!"

The unusual person whom Hermione saw leave the Gate then was quite wild-looking with flames that spilled out from his entire body. However, fiery or not, he barely had time to step over the threshold and let the door close behind him before the bell rang and the door opened again.

This time a soft sweet voice called out for "Souan!" The person who then emerged had a light physical presence and gentle features that matched his angelic voice. As a result, Hermione was only slightly surprised when she noticed that he also had a pair of beautiful feathered wings to complete the aesthetic.

She did not have much time to gaze at the newcomer, though, because the bell rang immediately once more and another guest arrived. This one started to verbally praise Enchanté in a deep voice with a smooth and charming tone as soon as he entered into the room. However, that pleasant timbre was also accompanied by an incongruous loud and metallic sound. As he came into sight, Hermione could see that the unusual noise was actually made by the suit of armor he wore.

It became immediately obvious to Hermione then that even though they all looked, spoke, and dressed very differently...and were, therefore, probably from different worlds...the men must have known and liked each other well. In fact, they greeted each other and joked among themselves just like any old friends who had not seen one another for a while would do.

At least that was what happened until their eyes fell upon Hermione.

Then they quieted and just stared at her in curiosity until the fiery one spoke up and roughly accused her of trespassing.

"What?!" she exclaimed with sudden irritation.

Hermione did not know exactly why, but the unfounded accusation really annoyed her after all the trouble she had gone through that day. Consequently, she could feel her magic start to rise with her anger before the first visitor, the demon, stepped between them and inserted himself into the conversation.

"Sorry, my dear," he spoke smoothly to her in an obvious attempt to de-escalate the situation. "This crew is a suspicious and dubious bunch, but they don't really mean any harm...so don't worry."

Somehow, his efforts paid off and Hermione felt calmer again in just a moment as she finally realized just how ridiculous that the situation she found herself in actually was...and she forced back a laugh.

"Dubious, indeed!" she repeated with a snort, instead, as she pointedly included him in that statement with her eyes. However, he just laughed again before she decided that it was finally time to get down to business.

"In fact," she added, "maybe it's time that you actually introduced yourself. Perhaps I might even find you to be just a little less dubious, then?"

"With pleasure!" he responded immediately before he spoke his next words with a grandiose flair to emphasize their importance. "We are guests...from another world."

At his cryptic answer, Hermione just sighed a bit in irritation at the unnecessary theatrics while she pinched the bridge of her nose to try to ward off the headache that she knew from experience was coming.

"Well, yeah," she replied as calmly as possible. "That's kind of obvious, though, isn't it? After all, I am the one who opened the Gate. Therefore, do you think you could be a little more specific, please?"

Her completely exasperated response...and her clearly unimpressed demeanor...just made the demon laugh again...this time even harder than before...while the others just stared at her in even more surprise.

If you want something done right... Hermione decided just as her instincts had proven to be correct and a dull pain started to throb behind her eyes and forehead.

"Right then!" she spoke up again as she also rubbed the center of her forehead in an attempt to find some relief from the increasing discomfort. "I'm Hermione...Hermione Granger. Souan was my father's uncle...my great uncle. It seems as if you didn't know this, yet, so I'm really sorry to be the one to have to tell you. However, Souan...well...he passed away. That's why I'm here. He left the café to me."