'Something terrible has happened; I can't tell you it in a letter. I need to talk to you both.'

The problem with not having any information is that you start providing your own. What on earth could cause Hermione to write a letter like that? I immediately jumped to the obvious conclusion. Jean and I didn't discuss it; in fact we hardly spoke at all. It was as if we were scared that giving voice to our fears would make them real.

We just had to wait for her to come home.

She turned up one evening, a few days later. There was a knock on the door and there she stood. She hadn't used the train, but had apparated straight back to the house. She fell in to our arms, needing support as much as comfort, as she looked all in.

We got her to the living room and she slumped in to a chair. She sat there, looking far worse than she had at Christmas, hugging herself with her arms and staring at the carpet as she rocked backwards and forwards. She kept saying, over and over again, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry..'

That was the confirmation I was looking for. She was 17, her boyfriend was back and she'd got herself pregnant, a year before her NEWTS. Was I more hurt than angry? No, I bloody well wasn't.

'Come on then, spit it out. Let's get this in to the open.'

Jean put her hand on my arm. 'Give her time; she shouldn't be getting upset in her condition.' She was obviously thinking the same as me. I tried to stay as calm as possible, given the situation. 'Tell us worst.'

So she did, and I wish I'd been right. The school had been attacked – Dumbledore killed – her friends injured.

Then she carried on, and for the first time she told us the whole story. How Harry had survived a killing curse. How there was a prophecy that he and You Know Who would have to fight each other and only one could live. That, before he died, Dumbledore had given Harry a task to find and destroy some objects that would weaken Voldemort so that he could be killed.

That she and Ron were going with him.

'Don't be ridiculous. What do you mean "go with him"? This isn't some kind of game. What chance to you think you stand? You're just children.' We were just shouting out random things, trying to get through to her.

'We know it isn't a game.' She was frighteningly calm as she spoke. It felt like she was the adult, and we the children. 'I've told you, Harry is the only one that can do this, but we can't walk out on him. Sometimes you have to take a risk. This is something worthwhile, not just for me, but for all of us, you included. I know I might die, I don't want to, but it could happen, I know that. But I'll die having lived and fought.'

It was Jean who spoke first. 'Hermione, my love, we know you're of age, that it's your choice and your life. But you're all we have, can't you see that?'

For the first time, she looked at us. Her hair was tangled and wild; her eyes red and swollen, her face blotched. Tears were streaming down her face.

'Mum, Dad, I'm so, so sorry for all of this. I never wanted to cause you this pain. I love you.'

Then she pointed her wand at us.

-o0o-

I can't tell you much about the next 15 months. It's possible you actually know more than me anyway. Hermione and Ron don't talk about what happened, and we don't know Harry well enough to ask. We wouldn't anyway; Ron told us that Harry still has nightmares. We know, of course, about the stories that have passed in to legend about "The Golden Trio".

They spent most of the time living in a tent, trying to avoid capture. We've never asked about their domestic arrangements, it's none of our business. I get the feeling Ron left at some stage. It was something Hermione threw at him once when they were having a row, which happens quite regularly. The fact that we or his parents might be there never stops them, we just pretend to read. On this particular occasion he was losing, as usual, and made for the door. 'That's it, run off when the going gets tough, just like you did in the tent. I know you'll come crawling back like you did then.' He has my sympathy.

We know they broke into the bank because there was something they had to steal, and escaped on a dragon. They still treat Hermione with icy politeness, evidently, and seem quite relieved when she leaves. Somebody once told me, at some award ceremony we were invited to, that the Ministry had to smooth a lot of ruffled feathers amongst the Goblin population.

We know they blew up the Lovegood house. I've met the daughter, Luna, who seems very relaxed about the whole thing, considering her dad was inside at the time. Mind you, she seemed fairly relaxed about everything. A strange girl.

And we know, of course, that they fought in that final battle and that Harry somehow managed to be killed but refused to die. She says she remembers very little. The lulls in the fighting were worse than the battle itself, according to Hermione. That was when the fear kicked in. Whilst they were fighting it was just a lot of noise and confusion and you didn't have time to think.

A lot of people died. Her search for us was delayed because 'there were a lot of funerals to attend, and we wanted to go to every one'. Ron's brother was one, and so was that pink haired policewoman. She was killed alongside her husband, who was the werewolf who had once taught Hermione. They left behind a small son, whom Harry helped raise, he's his Godfather. He's a lovely little chap and calls her "Aunty Herm-own-ninny", which I think Ron put him up to. I can see what she meant about wanting to fight for something worthwhile, like Teddy.

There are some things I've never worked out, and nobody will tell me. Where did that scar come from on her neck? It looks to me like somebody tried to slash her throat at some stage, but she just says 'It was one of those things, don't worry', so I know I should.

-o0o-

What about us? Well, we were safely away from everything. Hermione had put us under some kind of spell, like we were hypnotised. We found a dentist to take over the practice, telling him we wanted to take a sabbatical and go travelling around the USA and Canada; he was in charge and a signatory on the bank account. We remortgaged the house up to the hilt then, as Wendell and Monica Wilkins, we went to Australia. I still don't know how she managed to change all our documents. The American bit was a red herring she made us throw in as extra protection.

Once we got out there, we seem to have travelled around, never staying more than a day or two in one place. I worked that out from a pile of receipts I found. We were living off the cash from the house, God knows what would have happened if … anything had happened. We couldn't have been too conspicuous, and must have been acting fairly normally, because I don't think we ever got arrested.

The funny thing is, I'd always wanted to go there, and I did for over a year, but can only remember the last couple of days. I'm not even sure if we saw a kangaroo.

-o0o-

We were standing in the street, Jean and I, and Hermione and Ron were in front of us. For some reason they were hugging, laughing and crying all at once. I realised that I didn't know where I was, which wasn't a great surprise, because it was a small town north of Melbourne, and not Surrey.

We went to a nearby café where Hermione started to explain what had happened, and why we had ended up where we were. They'd tracked us down by using wizard contacts in Australia. We decided fairly quickly that we would go to Melbourne the next day and start arranging flights home.

'We'll see if there are some rooms at our hotel for you for tonight.'

'It's OK, dad, we've already booked a room.'

I wasn't a dad for nothing; I picked up the key words. 'What do you mean, "a" room? Ouch!' That last bit was because Jean had kicked me under the table, quite hard actually.

'They've travelled 12,000 miles, I'm sure they're perfectly capable of sorting out their own accommodation.'

I looked across, Hermione was blushing furiously, and Ron was looking a bit nervous, which was gratifying.

Whilst trying to sort out the flights, I did manage to get Ron on his own and given him the old "Are your intentions towards my daughter strictly honourable" interrogation. I'd always wanted to do that. To be fair to him, he did well. There was no doubt he loved her, and had come close to losing her on enough occasions that he wasn't going to risk it again. I think they'll be alright.

-o0o-

We arrived back in Britain, and tried to pick up the pieces of our lives. For her age, Hermione had organised things quite efficiently. The house was still there, for a start, though my eyes started watering when I saw what the mortgage repayments were now. The practice was doing well; the dentist "we" had brought in was good at his job and popular with the patients. Jean wanted to slow down a bit, so we sold half to him and she retired. He'll probably buy the rest in a couple of years when I decide to go. The money certainly helped reduce the debt to a manageable level. Of course the pension fund was untouched, so we'll be fine.

It was time for Hermione and Ron to move on as well. She started working for the Ministry, and has done very well there. She moving up the ladder and the smart money says she'll continue to climb, maybe right to the very top. It's generally acknowledged she's the smartest witch of her generation. Of course, it does help having the Minister of Magic as a former comrade-in-arms.

Ron went to help his brother in his business for a few years, and then went in to the Ministry as well to become an auror. Harry is his boss, so it's just like being back at school, only they've got even more rules they can break and bigger trouble to get in to.

Now Hermione and Ron are married, and can look forward to a life together, and we can look forward to some grandchildren, which will be nice. I know Arthur and Molly want the same, even though they've got a few already. We still see them quite regularly at "The Burrow" and they've visited us a few times as well. Arthur's fascinated by anything electrical; he loves our CD player and computer. We got him one of these "build your own electronics" sets for his birthday last year and he was thrilled.

-o0o-

We occasionally go to events with Hermione, if Ron is working away from home for example. When people get to know who we are, they tend to say 'You must be very proud.' We are, but perhaps not the way they imagine.

It's not the fact that Hermione is one of "The Golden Trio", or even that she is the youngest ever female recipient of the "Order of Merlin (1st Class)" in history.

No, we're proud of her because she is intelligent and works hard and has made the most of her opportunities. We are proud because she will stand up for what she believes, and will defend the rights of others. We're proud because, when the going got tough, she stayed loyal to her friends and fought along side them, knowing the risks.

We're proud because, when all is said and done, she is Hermione - our daughter.