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A Heartfelt Embrace

It had been a very long trip to Australia and even more so, across the island continent as Monica and Wendell Wilkins lived at one extreme point of Australia. They'd chosen their residence near the Cape Leeuwin in the south western tip with a house overlooking the stormy Indian Ocean.

Hermione had been staring at the house for a little more than an hour but Edward wasn't going to comment. He understood perfectly the reason behind her hesitation and fear. Hermione was scared that her parents would not forgive her for the terrible act performed on them. He didn't mind waiting for Hermione to find her courage. It was Hermione who'd asked him to accompany her on this long trip.

"Is it coward of me to so scared of my parents' reaction?" asked Hermione, her eyes never leaving the small cottage.

"No, it isn't. But you will have to face at one point or another so, you'd better get it done," suggested Edward.

"Like a band-aid?" Hermione asked, turning to look at him.

"Like a band-aid!" agreed Edward, smiling encouragingly at her.

She sighed. "I guess you're right but that doesn't make it any better."

"It isn't supposed to make it better and I'm not going to give you a pep-talk about how you should do this. Because you don't need it," Edward said.

"Yeah, might as well get this done now," whispered Hermione before taking a deep breath and opening the passenger car door.

Edward got out of the driver's seat before walking at a sedate pace to join Hermione on the small pathway leading up to a quaint cottage. Hermione's resolve seemed to have dissolved as she stared at the house but she smiled back at him when he took hold of her hand.

"Okay, Gryffindor courage fully charged, let's do this," she said before they walked to the small iron gate that Edward opened for her before going up the gravel pathway.

Hermione didn't wait before knocking on the dark wooden door. Edward heard footsteps approaching before the door was opened to reveal a mid-forty's man. This dynamic man has hooded brown eyes that are like two acorns with thick, straight, very short grey-brown hair. He was quite tall but still retained a boyish build. His skin is light-coloured. He has an elegant nose and a small mouth.

Edward heard Hermione's sharp intake of breath and thought that she would lose whatever resolve she had left but the young surprised him.

"Good afternoon, sir. Sorry to disturb you at this late time but our car broke down just in front of your gate and we'd need to call our insurance for a tow-truck. Unluckily, our phones have run out of battery and the weather's colder than we thought it would be for the season. Could we use your phone?" Hermione said, in a breath.

The man glanced at Edward eyeing him suspiciously before moving sideways to let them in. "Thank you very much," said Edward as he crossed the threshold. "Hopefully, we won't take too much of your time."

"I rather doubt that as this a rather remote area," said Mr. Granger, a.k.a. Mr. Wendell Wilkins. "But you're welcome to stay in as it is indeed rather cold for the season.

"Who is it, Wendell?" a woman's voice called from behind them.

The three of them turned to look at the approaching woman. She had thick, curly, coffee-coloured hair that was long and worn in an elegant style. She was short and had a slender build. Her skin is cream-colored with a slight tan and had wide brown eyes that are like two drops of chocolate.

"Introductions, maybe?" suggested Mr. Granger, turning to Edward who nodded.

Edward had turned to Hermione to introduce the young woman to her parents. How weird was that? However, Edward's eyes widened when he saw that the witch had already whipped out her wand and had pointed it at the older couple.

Mr. Granger had moved to shield his wife from their daughter before he asked rather calmly, "Who are you and what are you doing?"

Instead of answering her father's question and with a determined look on her face, Hermione had waved her wand in an intricate pattern. Edward watched a confused look pass over the older Grangers' faces before it was replaced by a look of recognition. In that short time, Wendell and Monica Wilkins were no more. The two adults moved as one to engulf Hermione in a bone-crushing hug while the latter teared up. Edward was forgotten completely as the Grangers shared a private moment.

"What did you do, pumpkin?" asked Mr. Granger, as he looked at his daughter as though seeing her for the first time.

"I'm so sorry, Dad," breathed Hermione. "I had no other alternative to shield you both from the nastiness that was the war."

"Perhaps, it would be better to discuss this seated with a steaming cup of tea," suggested Edward.

"Yes, that would be much better," agreed Mrs. Granger, before she remembered his presence and turned to look at him. "And who are you?"

"I'm Edward Cullen –"started Edward, before he remembered that he couldn't introduce himself as Hermione's fiancé, "– I'm a friend of Hermione."

"Sure it is," thought Mrs. Granger. "I'm pretty sure Hermione has never mentioned an Edward Cullen before."

It was only after hearing Hermione's mother's thoughts that Edward realised that he hadn't been able to read the Grangers' thoughts before Hermione had removed the spell.

"Glad to meet you, Edward," said Mrs. Granger, shaking his hand.

He shook hands with Mr. Granger before they moved into the living room. Edward offered to make tea for them while Hermione had a heart to heart with her parents. He moved out of the living room and down the hall to what he knew was the kitchen from the fragrant pilaf rice that Mrs. Granger had prepared for dinner. He could hear the Grangers very clearly anyway. He was able to locate everything in kitchen very quickly thanks to his vampire speed and in no time, he had the kettle started.

"Why did you pull a stunt like that on us, Hermione? Erasing our memories and sending us halfway around the planet, what could you think of accomplishing by doing such a thing?" questioned Mr. Granger, the anger, hurt and betrayal evident as his voice wavered from the emotions bubbling.

Edward thought that the witch had been ill-inspired to choose him instead of the empath in the Cullen family. Jasper would have been useful to moderate the high emotions that he knew were felt by the family sat in the living-room. But the thought had barely registered in his mind before he dismissed it. He knew he was a selfish bastard and he did not mind that right then as he was alone with Hermione.

"Phil," chastised Mrs. Granger, in a reprimanding tone.

"Helen," mimicked Phil Granger, before the Grangers burst out laughing diffusing a bit of the tension.

"Mum, Dad –" started Hermione, after calming herself. She continued, " I was afraid for you. I was afraid that all the precautions I've taken after the end my sixth year would not be enough to protect you. I love you both so much and I could not bare the thought of losing you while I travelled across Britain on a wild goose chase with Harry and Ron."

"Honey, we –" started Phil Granger before he was interrupted by his wife.

"Let her finish, Phil," said Helen Granger.

"Thanks, Mom," said Hermione, before she ploughed on. "Even if I was able to cast magic since I was already of age, I thought it would a futile effort. Why would my magic be enough when the greatest wizard around had failed and was murdered at Hogwarts, which was supposedly the safest place in the Wizarding World. I was on the frontlines and I knew it was only a matter of time before they would come for me."

"I was the Mudblood who'd stood to Harry's side and defied their beloved Dark Lord. They'd probably want to make an example of me. All the wards that I could have erected around our house would not have been enough against them. I could not ask you to abandon your works and everything that you've built just for me. I had to protect you and to better do this, I had to remove you from there. But I knew that you would have fought me over this and so I resorted to my contingency plan. I erased myself from your memories and gave you the false identities of Wendell and Monica Wilkins. I influenced your minds to push you to move to Australia on a whim. I reckoned that I would have been able to find you after everything was over and beg for your forgiveness. If I did not make it, I would at least know that you were living a happy life away without me and not knowing of me."

"I am so sorry for everything. I know that it was cruel of me to do this to you but I did want anything to happen to you. I didn't want you to suffer because of me," cried Hermione.

"Hermione, never be sorry for being alive and keeping yourself or others alive. While your mother and I feel awfully betrayed and angry after what you've done to us, it doesn't stop us from loving our daughter unconditionally. But you must understand is that we feel like we have failed you, Hermione," shared Mr. Granger.

"What? No, I failed you," said Hermione.

"Your dad is right, Hermione. We feel like we've failed you. You must understand that you're the most precious thing we have in our lives and we, as parents, feel that we've failed to protect you. It is our duty as parents to protect our own, Hermione, not the other way around. And by doing what you've done to us, we feel inadequate as parents because we've failed you," explained Helen Granger.

"I understand that," said Hermione.

"And that is why we want you to promise us to never ever again take us for granted. Because we love you Hermione and don't want you to drift away from us like these last years. Don't write us off your life, please," pleaded Phil.

"I really am sorry for what I did," cried Hermione. "I promise, Dad. Mum!"

That was the moment Edward chose to bring the tea to the living room. He found the Grangers huddled together in a tight embrace.

Hermione turned to him and smiled. It was going to be okay.

End notes:

Yes, I know that after such a long absence a short chapter like this is insufficient but I promise to continue this story. I started this a long time ago but I'll finish this. I promise you all.

Sorry for the long absence but life gets in the way of things. Thank you for your patience and your love.

Have a great day and take care,

Ludo13