That night, Harry made inquiries at the lobby about the directions. The three had decided to use Muggle means of transport because none of them knew anything about Sydney and appearance of three teenagers at any random place was sure to cause huge ruckus. The next morning they were heading towards Leura on the train. They crossed the Blue Mountains. They were enthralled by the scenic beauty of the place. The Three Sisters seemed to be worshipping the mountains while the plateaus stood next to each other carving huge valleys between them. The sight was beautiful. Within 3 hours, they reached Leura. Hermione felt that two eyes were not enough to gather the beauty of this place. The pleasant sea side, hills and valleys lining were covered with snow like a bunch of diamonds over a gold ornament.
"Whoa!!! This is wicked!" exclaimed Ron
"It's beautiful!" said Harry
The trio kept admiring the magic of the place, before reality hit them.
"What are we going to do now? Search again with pictures?" asked Ron, after sometime
"Looks like the only option" said Harry.
"Bloody hell! Isn't there an easy way? My legs are stiff already!"
"Oh I'm sure that won't break your legs, Ron!" snapped Hermione and turned away.
"Oh come on..." Ron started but was cut off in the middle by Harry who nudged him to keep quiet.
Not knowing where to start first, Hermione suggested they split up and look for her parents and return with the results after completing their area. So they split up in three different directions.
Hermione inquired and questioned every single house lining her direction, but none of them seemed to know the Wilkins. Hermione was hopeless by now. She wanted to scream out loud. Her desperation made her think that even Harry and Ron weren't helping her, but her heart knew better. She got up and went to their meeting point. Harry was already there and he reported the negative which only increased her frustration. Minutes later, Ron returned with the same result. She wanted to break things. Her frustration was too much to bear.
"Hermione, you have to calm down. Only when your mind is in peace you can succeed in this." said Harry, taking her hand in his.
"How do you expect me to..." shouted Hermione and took her hand away forcefully. She stormed inside the caf outside which they were standing.
Harry and Ron looked at each other helplessly and then rushed over to console Hermione. Harry knew how that felt and he kept uttering consoling words to Hermione while Ron sat next to her and held her hand. It was sometime past afternoon. The temperature was dipping. They decided to do the next set of searching together and so they walked on, questioning anyone on the way. The road wasn't jam packed with people, neither was it too empty. Few people clad in warm winter clothes kept trotting here and there, running random chores and buying things for their household. The entire countryside was very peaceful with the snow clad hills giving the appearance of a soldier protecting the land against the climatic invasions. The three kept walking and asking the passers-by as they did.
"You give me my change and I leave then", they heard a woman arguing with a shopkeeper.
Hermione stopped short. It was the voice she only knew too well. She'd heard that voice, ever since she walked into earth. The voice that comforted her in her childhood, the voice that had sung lullabies to her in her childhood, the voice that had supported her through all odds, the voice that had been of that one person who brought her to earth after 9 months of carrying in her womb. It was her mother. She turned to see where her mother was standing. Mrs Wilkins (Granger) was of medium height with frizzy brown hair. Hermione had inherited her mother's hair and father's looks. Hermione wanted to shout and scream with delight but all that escaped her was "Mum". She squeezed Ron's and Harry's hands and looked at them as though in a trance, her eyes were bearing traces of unexplainable happiness and her lips were curving upwards to a beautiful smile.
Leaving Ron and Harry shocked; she instantaneously rushed forward to where the woman was bargaining with the shop keeper and handed the change to the woman, after much insistence. She offered to drop the woman home as she was already carrying so many things. She called to her friends and both of them helped her. Together, they carried the lady's bags and the lady led them to a small house where she was living with her husband.
"Aww thank you my dears! God bless you" said the lady, as her husband came to the door to help his wife.
"Dad" muttered Hermione. Hermione was shivering with delight.
"Come on inside, dears. Have something to snack. It's quite cold outside" said the woman, in a kind voice with a heart-warming smile that had always been Hermione's favourite about her mother.
"Oh no, ma'am we need to be heading back now."
"Sir, we have a job to finish tomorrow, and if you two don't mind, can you help us?
"Oh we'd be glad to, boys!" said Mr Wilkins to Ron
"Thank you so much, sir!" said Harry, shaking hands with him.
"Take care, young people. Any help, ask us right away!" said Mrs Wilkins
The trio left the place after waving goodbye to the couple. Once they were quite a distance from them, Hermione squealed with delight and pulled Ron and Harry into a tight hug.
"We've found them Harry! Ron, we've found them" squealed Hermione
Her joy knew no bounds. Harry felt so happy for her and Ron just stood silently by the corner looking at her while she rejoiced.
*******
The trio decided to retire for the day as it was past evening and their task had been a difficult one. They booked a room in a small cottage and stayed there for the night. Hermione offered to lie down on the recliner while the other two on the bed. She couldn't sleep that night. Her anxiety was overwhelming and the sound of her mum's voice, which she had heard after over a year, still echoed in her ears. It was past midnight and she still lay awake, reading about the counter spell. She took a deep breath and stared outside the window. She remembered the day she battled with herself to make this decision.
Dark days were steadily rising. Voldemort was gaining followers at an unbelievable. Death Eaters were on the rise. Nowhere was safe. Harry was being hunted down like an elephant being hunted down for its ivory. Ron and Hermione were closest to him and there were no limits to the tortures that Voldemort can do to locate Harry, and that included killing too. She rebelled against her own self. She knew she had to do this if she wanted them alive. If she delayed now, the consequences may be too ghastly to think about. She took her wand and mumbled an "I'm sorry, mum. I'm sorry, dad", came down to her parents who were getting ready for lunch. She raised a wand and said "Memoria Immutatio", and a white smoky light escaped her wand. Then she went to them.
"You are Mr Wendell Wilkins and Monica Wilkins. Your ambition is to settle down in Australia. Okay?"
"No, but we are..."
"No. You are Mr and Mrs Wilkins and you'll soon be fulfilling your dream of settling down in Australia."
She kept repeating this to them until they were finally convinced of what she said. Minutes later, she modified their passports. The next day she dropped them off at the airport, pretending to be their neighbour who had come to see them off. They went past the security counter and then waved Hermione goodbye- and Hermione never saw them again for a year.
"Hermione...! Hermione..!"
Ron's voice brought her back to the present. She was sitting by the window and Harry was sitting opposite her.
"Ron! You aren't sleeping?" asked Hermione
"Why are you awake?" Ron asked back
"I ... I was just..." Ron raised his eyebrows. "Ok. I agree"
"Hermione listen. I understand... you need to sleep. Tomorrow's work is a big and challenging one. You need your energy for that, don't you?"
"But, I just can't. I don't know if I will be able to. It's too complex. I...I don't know. My parents..." and she broke down. Ron hugged her and she sobbed onto his chest.
"You're the brightest witch, Hermione. If you can't, then no one else possibly can." Harry said, as he walked up to Hermione. He sat next to her, and patted her head comfortingly.
"Harry, but I don't want to do any harm. It's too difficult. Remember Dumbledore himself found it difficult to... "
"No Hermione, you can do this. We believe in you." said Ron.
"Lie down and sleep for now"
"Harry..."
"NOW!" Harry said with firmness in a gentle voice, and Hermione nodded and lay down on the recliner. With that Harry patted her head and went off to sleep. Ron stayed up for some more time holding her hand. When she was finally asleep, she quietly got up without disturbing her and kissed her on the forehead. He came back to the bed and found Harry already asleep. He too pulled up his blankets and fell asleep immediately.
***********
The next morning dawned as a cold wintry one. There had been mild snowfall the previous night and the cold waves swept over them as they quietly had breakfast with a tense atmosphere hovering over them. Hermione could tell that her friends too were as tensed as she was. Her tension was rising by the minute, her fingers fidgety, her eyes were unsettling and her stomach was churning. Soon, they got up and headed to where the couple was living. The countryside was breath-taking. As the cold wind brushed past them, they saw how beautiful the region was- covered by snow and intervened here and there by shrubbery. Hermione was silent throughout. Within minutes, they reached the place where Mr and Mrs Wilkins lived. Harry glanced at Hermione, her nervousness too apparent. Ron rang the doorbell and they waited for a couple of minutes before Mrs Wilkins opened the door.
"Good day, my dears! How pleasant to see you! Come on, come on inside!" said Mrs Wilkins as she welcomed the trio cordially.
"Ah welcome dears!" said Mr Wilkins as he shook hands with the three.
The three introduced themselves at first and then they started talking. Mrs Wilkins got up to fetch some drinks for them, but Hermione asked her to sit down and offered to bring it herself. While going into the kitchen, she nodded to her friends.
"Mr Wilkins, we are students undertaking a certain study on people living by the countryside as part of our project in school. Would you mind answering few questions?"
"We'd be glad to my dear boy! Ask away", said Mr Wilkins enthusiastically to Harry
"How long have you been living here?" Ron asked.
"Oh, for about two months actually. We shifted from our place in Sydney because Monica wanted a more peaceful place."
"Nice place Sydney! Sir, where are you from?" asked Harry
Mr Wilkins considered that question and thought deeply as though looking for a lost memory. "Oh we came from London, I suppose. We had our ambition to settle down in Australia and flew up here about a year ago and..." His words were lost as a smoky blue light appeared behind their heads. The couple's gaze stood transfixed straight ahead of them.
Harry and Ron couldn't help but stare tensely at the source of the light coming from the wand held by their friend who stood focused while making some complex actions that accompanied the spell.
******
Hermione went up to the kitchen and poured out freshly made lime juice onto 5 glasses. Her mind wasn't in this. She had to carry out her plan now. So far it had been going well, and she prayed the main picture goes well too. She left the tray and came to the kitchen door to find her friends still having her parents hooked in the conversation. Ron nodded from there telling her that she can carry on. She pulled out her wand, closed her eyes and sighed deeply. She opened her eyes and found Harry giving her a quick come-on-you-can-do-it look. Hermione raised her wand and muttered "Restituo Veteri". As she said this, a smoky dim blue light escaped her wand. She thought of all the memories she wished to restore. She put her left hand over her right hand and brought to focus every memory she could be reminded of and also the prime focus being to wipe away the false memories.
********
Ron and Harry were almost petrified at what they were seeing. Hermione looked scary with her eyes wide and fixed on her parents, giving her an almost Bellatrix kind of look. Ron felt scared. He could feel the determination radiating from Hermione. Harry tugged at Ron's shirt and Ron was horrified at what he saw. The couple's faces were contorted with pain. Mrs Wilkins was holding on to the couch and her eyes seemed to be begging to an unknown entity to let her go. Mr Wilkins looked pale and looked like he'd pass out anytime.
"Harry! Do something!" told Ron
"Ron, we can't do anything. If we disturb either of them , the connection will be lost and all our efforts would go useless and besides Hermione already warned us that it would be painful to the person on whom it is cast...and the person who's performing the spell will be sucked out of energy slowl...Oh no! Hermione... Ron! Go to her. I'll take care of them!"
Hermione's hands were beginning to shake and she was beginning to lose focus. Ron hurried to her and held her hands whispering "It's ok. Just hold on a little more time. Come on, Hermione!" Ron looked at Harry who seemed paralyzed with fear for both Hermione and her family. Ron had never seen Harry fear anything before. He had been the one to instil courage and bravery in them and urged them to be fearless always. Seeing him panic, Ron felt so helpless, yet he held on to Hermione's arms. Please, let her succeed. Please, he prayed. A thudding sound disrupted his thoughts and he saw Hermione's parents faint on the couch, right next to each other and felt Hermione almost immediately pass out on his arms. Harry rushed over to them and helped Ron bring Hermione over to the couch.
"Ron, what's wrong? Why are you trembling?" asked Harry
"It's...it's just, you know..."
Harry patted him on the shoulder understandingly. Harry had the same thoughts. He hoped the spell had worked its magic. He'd never feared anything so much in his life. He couldn't understand why he felt so paralyzed seeing Hermione lose her energy and seeing her parents cringe and writhe in pain. What he had witnessed few minutes ago still danced before his eyes. He couldn't take them off. Hermione's parents had their eyes tightly shut, almost crying out to leave them alone. He knew what it meant losing parents, but losing parents to a spell and watching them live happily without the knowledge of the existence of a daughter, he guessed, should be even harder.
"Mu...m" muttered Hermione. "Da...d"
Hermione's mumbling brought him back to the present and he watched as Hermione meekly sat upright on the couch. Ron sat next to her, holding her hands as Harry now tried to revive her parents. Harry sprinkled some water on their faces. The three held their breaths as the couple slowly stirred to consciousness.
******
"Mum? Dad?" called Hermione, gently.
The couple stared at her as though she were an unidentifiable object. Hermione felt her hopes come crashing down. She thought she'd have an emotional breakdown. She got up and hurried into the kitchen, unable to bear the pain of it, leaving Ron and Harry behind.
"What, in the name of heavens, is the name of this place and what are we doing here?" asked Mr Granger to Mrs Granger, puzzled.
"Yeah, which place is this? Doesn't look like our home, does it? And where is our Hermione?" asked Mrs Granger
No sooner than she said this, Ron ran into the kitchen screaming, "Hermione, you've done it!" The couple was puzzled as to who the red haired boy that was screaming out their daughter's name was. When Hermione came out from the kitchen, she met Harry's happy face and he gestured her towards her parents.
"Mrs Granger, please turn back and look who is standing". Hermione ran forward and hugged her parents. Harry silently informed her that he and Ron would go for a stroll and be back after sometime. Hermione tearfully nodded, her face lit up by a beautiful smile. After they were gone, the happy little family that had just reunited settled down. Hermione explained everything, right from what she had done to them to how she found them here. The couple stared in astonishment at the magnitude of work she and her friends had undertaken.
"Dad, mum, I'm sorry. I had to do it. I had to choose the less painful of the two. I couldn't risk losing you."
"It's alright, honey! We're proud of you", said her mother and kissed Hermione on her forehead.
"Everything is fine now, Hermione. A brave girl like you shouldn't cry", said her dad, smilingly.
She hugged both of them once again. The intensity of her happiness was so great that she felt she could fend off nearly all the Dementors that existed.
*******
"Ah! All is well that ends well, isn't it mate?" asked Ron to Harry as both of them, walked idly on the nearby street.
"Yes. It feels great, really." Harry said
"She was scary, wasn't she? I mean, she was brilliant but scary" said Ron
Harry grinned. "Yeah, she was."
"Mate, I need to tell you something." Harry looked at him and Ron went on, "There was an instant in there, when I thought you looked pale as ghost. It was... It was like...you know..."
"Paralyzed by fear, yes. I don't know, but I just didn't want this to fail. Hermione has done so much for me and I just can't stand her..." he took a deep breath and sighed. Ron thought he saw a trace of pain, which was visible in his eyes for a second.
Ron decided to leave the topic there as it troubled Harry. Although Harry didn't show it out much, Ron knew how much pain he had gone through by all the deaths, including his brother Fred's.
"It's alright mate. It's all well now" and they continued to walk.
After some time, Harry asked, "Mind if I come up home there, Ron, you know after we leave? I...I don't feel like being alone. It makes me think of, you know..."
"You're not welcome, you know that. I'd hate to have you and Ginny too, of course" Ron teased
"You arse!" said Harry and he punched Ron in the stomach, and they both burst out laughing and continued walking with their hands on each other's shoulder
*****
They came back late in the evening, much to the annoyance of Hermione. Harry, Ron, Hermione and her parents dined together that night and Harry and Ron retired to a room in the first floor. They'd both gone to bed when they heard a knock on the door.
"Ah! Hermione, I'm already tired." grumbled Ron, as he opened the door. Harry was just wearing his glasses. Hermione ran in and hugged both of them. "Ron, Harry, we did it! Thank you so much!"
"Well, I suppose thank you is absolutely necessary" laughed Ron
"You did it, Hermione! Come on..." said Harry.
"I don't know how I did it. It felt like sort of you know, like I was connecting my mind with them. The thing is, I DID IT!" squealed Hermione
"Well, that's a great surprise, isn't it?" taunted Ron
"Not funny, Ronald" snapped Hermione
"...and besides, I think you are talking on very low notes now. Your parents might as well not wake up when you speak like this" said Ron, and the three of them burst out laughing. After sometime, Hermione left the two and headed back to her room. The day had been exhausting and she fell asleep almost instantly.
*****
The three of them stayed there for two more days before leaving Leura. In the meanwhile they had arranged for flight tickets for the Granger family. Harry had felt it was best that Hermione went with her parents. He told her he'd be heading back to The Burrow and that they'd both just disapparate. Harry and Ron saw Hermione and her parents off at the airport before they held hands and disapparated to the Burrow.
"Welcome home, Harry!" exclaimed Ron as they apparated outside the Burrow.
Harry smiled cheerfully looking the Burrow, which had been his second home after Hogwarts.
****
Arjun
Cricket
