Sheila Bennett eagerly accepted the incoming video call and propped her laptop on the coffee table.

"Hello Aunt Sheila," Helen's smile was tight, mirroring her husband's next to her.

"Helen Bennett Granger," admonished Sheila, "I haven't heard from you for an entire year. Shame on you for abandoning your old aunt!"

Helen looked down in shame, and Daniel Granger sneaked an arm around her.

"It's a bit more complicated than that, Aunt Sheila," he placated.

"Daniel, honey, I love you, but I will kick your ass for keeping my niece from me for so long. I was worried sick. First my daughter disappears without a trace, then my niece drops from the face of the earth. I am running out of relatives I can lose. Did you know I called your neighbours?" she saw the Grangers wince on her screen, "Do you know what they told me? They said you moved to Alaska. And I said to myself, there is no way my niece would move to the US without informing me. In fact, there is no way my niece would make such a huge move without telling me."

Helen and Daniel exchanged a look she couldn't decipher.

"We actually moved to Australia."

Sheila's mouth hung open.

"Why on earth would you do that?"

"It's complicated."

That word again, Sheila was somehow more worried than she was before hearing from her niece.

"I think we'd best wait until we can talk about it face to face when we drop Hermione by your place," Helen continued speaking.

"Oh I have missed my little 'Mione. When are y'all coming?"

Daniel had moved a couple inches further away from his wife.

"I thought we hadn't decided yet?" he asked his wife.

"Well now we have, Hermione needs to be somewhere safe."

"Harry said they were safe now."

"Well of course he did, he doesn't want her to leave. Those two are joined at the hip, they're co-dependent, it's not healthy and it needs to stop."

"I don't think forcing them apart is the solution…"

"Are you saying we should leave Hermione in a warzone permanently following that damned boy into battle?"

Sheila had trouble following what seemed to be an ongoing argument between them.

"I'm not leaving my daughter there. She's moving to Mystic Falls, and she's going to therapy, and she'll never, ever see that godforsaken country again."

"We were talking about a year or two to finish school and get her head right, and now you're saying never? It's still my country Helen, and it's my daughter too, I get a say in this."

"My daughter was tortured, Daniel!"

Helen's voice broke and Sheila gasped. What was happening with her family?

"Our daughter will receive all the care she needs, and if you want it to be in Mystic Falls, fine. But what we won't do is go to the extremes and alienate her further from us. If we isolate her from everyone she knows and loves, she will only resent us. We need to come to a compromise, together."

Sheila had no idea what they were talking about, but she knew Hermione needed her help. That poor girl had been kept from her roots for too long. It was time for her to come to her real home and reconnect with the Bennett ancestors.

"I take it I'll be expecting y'all soon?"

Helen looked at her sheepishly.

"Yes Aunt Sheila, I'm sorry you had to see this, it's been…intense lately."

I'll bet thought Sheila to herself, but she only smiled at her niece and made the arrangements with her. She'd be seeing them in a week.

Hermione's mood didn't let up the entire drive from the airport to her grandaunt's house, which took five bloody hours despite her mother's tendency to drive too fast. She jumped out of the car as soon as her mother parked the car in a well-kept driveway. Her cousin, Bonnie, ran out to welcome her immediately and enveloped her in a hug.

"I've missed you so much!" she exclaimed and Hermione's dark mood melted at those words. She hugged her cousin just as tight and returned the sentiment sincerely. It really had been too long since they had last seen each other.

Aunt Sheila waited for her turn to embrace her, whispering words of love into her hair. She then ushered all of them inside and waited for everyone to settle down in the living room around a pot of tea before fixing her niece with a pointed stare.

Helen sighed and averted her eyes.

"Hermione," she started, her voice shaky, and Hermione felt suspicion arise in her. They had spent the last week fighting and her mother's suddenly guilty demeanour didn't point to anything good. "I have never told you this before, because I never truly believed it. After all, I don't have any magical powers. I truly believed my bedtime stories were just that, stories made up by the overactive mind of my late mother." She could feel Aunt Sheila glaring at her and kept avoiding her eyes. "Your grandmother and your grandaunt, and their mother before them, are witches."

Hermione gasped and stood up from her seat.

"How many times have I told you this, child?" Sheila asked incredulously.

"Aunt Sheila, in my defence, you were drunk every time you brought it up."

Bonnie stifled a laugh.

"How could you hide this from me?" Hermione finally found her voice. "All these years? You let me go to Hogwarts without any knowledge of this?"

"Hogwarts?" it was Sheila's turn to get angry, "you mean the British Magical School? Hermione has magic and you didn't tell me? All those years, I thought magic had skipped your line. Helen, you should have told me as soon as you found out."

Daniel took his wife's hand in his. He may not have been on the best of terms with her lately, but he could see her getting overwhelmed by everyone ganging up on her.

"I didn't believe in it, Hermione. And even after I saw the evidence of the kind of magic you have, the kind they taught you in that school, I still didn't believe that my family had it. My mother never had a wand or a school or anything like that."

"That's because we practise earth and ancestral magic. Our powers lie within our connection to our ancestors. We don't need magical conduits, nature is our conduit. Had I known Hermione displayed powers, I would have taught her," Sheila looked at her niece with such disappointment.

"You let me spend all those years thinking I was…" Hermione was losing her temper, she could feel her hair cackling around her.

"Go on, Hermione, say it, I let you spend all those years carrying the shame of being a Muggle-born when you were actually better than us this entire time."

"Helen," Daniel warned his wife but she ignored him.

"I have never, not once, felt ashamed of who I am. I carry that pride carved into my skin," Hermione hissed and felt a pang of petty satisfaction when her mother winced. "But you deprived me of a connection to my ancestors, to my roots. My magic could have been so much stronger. It could have made a huge difference in the war. Maybe I wouldn't have needed to obliviate you and Dad if I had known I had help outside of England."

"Don't you dare put that decision on me," Helen shook her husband off of her and jumped to her feet, "you decided to raise that stick on us and screw with our memories. That decision is yours and yours alone!"

"And I will live with it my entire life!" Hermione stood up as well stomping her feet. "I am done apologising for it. It saved your lives, and it was all I could do with what I knew at the time."

"Enough." Sheila didn't raise her voice, she didn't need to. She sent a wave of calm towards her family members. They weren't quite ready to kiss and makeup yet, but at least they weren't at each other's throats anymore. "Settle down, both of you."

They were both still fuming, and decidedly not looking at each other, but they sat down.

"Now, what's this I hear about a war?"

It took three hours, multiple pots of tea and coffee, and many tears before Sheila was up to date with everything that had happened in the British Magical World in the last few years.

By the end of the tale, Sheila looked at her grandniece with tears and pride in her eyes. She stood in front of her, and took both of her hands in hers.

"I am immensely proud of you, Hermione Bennett Granger," she said, "more than words can express."

Hermione swallowed a sob and nodded.

"But one thing's for sure, you are not going back to England."

Helen sat back, satisfied.

"But I need to help rebuilding. There's so much to do, I can't just abandon everyone!" protested Hermione.

Sheila raised her hand to silence her. "You have given too much already, child. It is eating at you. I can see it in your eyes. It's time for you to choose you, to be with family, to heal. You can stay here with me. We'll even connect my fireplace to the fire travelling system…"

"The Floo…"

"Yes, we'll connect my house to the Floo if you wish. I don't intend on isolating you from your loved ones. But sweetheart," she cupped Hermione's cheek, "you can't heal in the same environment that broke you. You have to be somewhere safe, for now."

Hermione felt tears escape her eyes and looked down before nodding. They were right. She knew they were right. It didn't make it any easier.

Dear Harry,

I'm settling fine. My grandaunt, my maternal grandmother's sister, is a witch. It's still wild to even think about. She's amazing. And her magic is much different from ours; she has a lot to teach me. I'm excited to learn.

She already connected her house to the Floo system, so we'll see each other soon enough. In fact, she can't wait to meet you.

I'm enjoying the quiet, and that makes me feel so guilty. I can't believe I'm not helping at Hogwarts, or at 12 Grimmauld. I should be there with you, not here drinking sweet tea. But the more time I spend here, the less I want to come back, if that makes any sense. Mystic Falls is so boring, it feels like nothing bad ever happens here. And I think that's what I currently need. I hope you can forgive me.

I know you're not one for letters, but please write to me. I need to know that you're safe. I need to know that Ron is alright. And Gin, and Luna, and Neville, and everyone else. Keep me informed on Hogwarts, and the Ministry. I haven't renewed my subscription to the Daily Prophet yet, so if you could take care of that for me as well, I'd be grateful.

I miss you so much. Please take care of yourself.

Love,

Hermione.

Dear Hermione,

You can't imagine how happy I am to know you are in a boring place. It won't stop me from worrying about you, but it helps. And none of that guilt stuff, you deserve some peace and quiet.

I will be taking you up on that visit quite soon. Everyone is doing as well as can be expected. They're currently raising funds to start renovations on Hogwarts. I've donated as much as McGonagall will let me, Neville too. Kingsley wants to make death eaters' families pay, and everyone agrees with him. It's not like they can't afford it. Besides, it's not just about the money, but magical skill. So many wards were damaged, they'll need to bring in experts. Bill wanted to call in favours from his friends in Cairo but McGonagall refused. She said Hogwarts' secrets should stay that way. Overall, it seems like it's going to take some time. It's a massive headache. Between that and the rogue death eaters, the Order is pretty much still in business. And no. I can hear you from across the ocean, and the answer is no. You are not allowed to feel guilty, your only responsibility now is to be with your family and heal. You are not needed. I mean we love you, and you're brilliant, but I need you happy more than I need you fretting by my side.

Take care of yourself too, Mione. I'll see you soon.

Love,

Harry.

PS: I've renewed your subscription to the Prophet, you'll soon be reading about the local madness in more details than I can provide. I took the liberty of subscribing you to the Quibbler as well. And I'm not sorry about it.

Hello everyone! Thank you for reading so far :)

I've been working on this for so long and I'm very excited to share it with you all. I'm posting this first chapter to get a feeling on whether or not there's even an audience for this or not, but I'll keep posting anyway to be honest I like it too much to stop.

The hyperfixation has taken a hold of me so here we are. This will span all of TVD and TO. Hermione is here, and all of the plot elements that I hate will change thanks to my love Hermione Granger who will not stand for certain behaviors *cough Damon the rapist cough cough*

My pairing of choice will Hermione Granger and Elijah Mikaelson. It will be a slow burn since Elijah doesn't even appear until halfway throught seaon 2 and I will be starting at season 1 of tvd because someone has to kick Damon's ass and we all know it ain't gonna be Stefan

This fic is very self indulgent, and I'm having so much fun writing it, and I would love to have some company along the way.

Let me know what yall think and I'll see you next chapter! :)