Chapter Text
21st June, 1998
Hermione woke up with a splitting headache.
She had been studying fairly late into the night and hadn’t slept till 4 AM, so waking up with a headache at 8 AM didn’t seem too out of the ordinary.
Deciding that there was no point in trying to go back to sleep, she opened the curtains to let in the beautiful Sydney sun, and as the rays hit her skin, she felt a bit better but the headache refused to abate.
After a quick shower she went downstairs to join her parents, still sporting a headache, which had only increased in intensity.
She found her parents hunched over their coffees; her dad had his head in his hands while her mother was awfully quiet for a sunny Saturday.
“Mum, Dad, I have a terrible headache,” she said as she massaged her temple.
“So do we, pumpkin. I’ve been telling Jean that the pasta was off.” Her father gestured towards his mother.
“The pasta was absolutely fine, Richard, I’m not sure why all three of us have headaches. Is there a gas leak by any chance?”
“Sweetheart, the house that had gas heating is several thousand miles away. This house has electric heating.” He laughed through obvious pain.
The Grangers had a pretty simple life since they migrated to Australia. A dentist couple with a lovely young daughter. She was extremely academically gifted and had always wanted to study Environmental science at the University of Sydney.
Their Aussie friends often asked them why Hermione didn’t choose Cambridge or Oxford, but the proud parents always said that their little girl knew what she was doing and this had been her lifelong dream.
Who wouldn’t do all to support their only child?
“Be that as it may, dear, I’ll make some eggs and we’ll try taking the meds. If we’re not better by arvo, it’s an emergency appointment with Dr. Jones.” Hermione’s mother decided and then got up, giving her father a quick kiss before heading to the open kitchen.
By the time they all had their food and some medicines, they had all started feeling sleepy and left for their rooms for a quick nap.
That is when their sleeping minds were assaulted by vivid visions of a family of four.
Richard, Jean, Hermione, and Hugh Granger.
Richard Granger
He saw two little bundles as his wife nursed their twins.
A brown-haired girl with bushy hair and a brown-haired boy huddling together as he told their bedtime story.
How the boy, Hugh, took naturally to riding a bicycle and how his daughter was scared to venture down that path.
Their many holidays as a family. Going to the cinema, an excited Hugh grabbing for the popcorn as his sister happily ate an apple instead.
A strange lady with a strange stick, telling them all about a fantastical world of magic and dragons. Sending him off on a train to his new boarding school—Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry.
Jean Granger
She nursed two beautiful little bundles as her husband looked on in admiration.
How unbearably cute the brown-haired boy’s face seemed when he broke his first tooth, how he chased his sister around their red-bricked home in England.
The strange occurrences that used to happen around her young son.
The time Hermione fell from a tree and was certain to hit the ground headfirst but landed so softly like her fall had been slowed somehow.
Watching her twins eat their first ice creams, the unbridled joy of childhood reflecting on their pretty faces.
A strange lady with a strange stick, telling them all about a fantastical world of magic and dragons. Sending him off on a train to his new boarding school—Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry.
Of Hermione crying on the platform for having been separated from her twin.
Hugh introducing them to his eccentric girlfriend—Luna Lovegood.
Hermione Granger
Her learning to ride a bike with her brother.
Both cuddled up together to listen to bedtime stories.
Trading Hugh her chocolates in return for story books.
How Hugh used to stand up for her, both in kindergarten and against the neighbours whenever someone made fun of her teeth or called her a know-it-all.
The strange lady said that Hugh was special and would need to leave for a new school, the many hours of crying after the stranger left.
Hugh promising that he would always be her friend and would write every week.
Of crying on the platform as he left for a new school with a magical name.
The many correspondences via owls.
Meeting his best friends Ron Weasley & Harry Potter.
Meeting his eccentric girlfriend, Luna Lovegood.
Ron Weasley spending a week at their house every summer from Hugh’s second year onwards and then of Hugh joining his best friend’s magical family for a couple of weeks.
11th July, 1998
It had been a few weeks since the memories had flooded back and Hermione’s world had been paused. Nothing made sense and she had stopped going to her university classes as well as her part-time job.
Her parents didn’t fare any better and had taken an extended leave from work.
Each day the Granger family would sit around and recall snippets of their previous lives to try and make sense of what had happened.
No photograph or legal document pointed to a Hugh Granger but they did find a phone number for what seemed to be her grandmother.
Last week they had placed a hopeful call to the lady—after getting shouted at for having fallen off the face of the earth for a better part of the year, she had asked about her and Hugh.
That convinced them they weren’t suffering from some mass delusion.
“Why would he take such a step? I’m certain it is that wizard boy Ron Weasley’s doing.” Her father ranted for the umpteenth time.
The anguish on his face, the fear that something horrible had happened to Hugh and no means to contact the wizarding world put all of them on edge.
“Why don’t we grab some lunch in the garden? I’ll order pizza and then we can try and remember how we used to contact Hugh.” Her mother suggested and both Hermione and her father agreed.
But Hermione knew that it was an exercise in futility as none of them could recall having contacted Hugh without his sending an owl first.
As they were eating their lunch a black limousine with an Australian flag appeared in their driveway.
Shocked by the sudden invasion of their privacy, the Grangers stood up to see what the commotion was about.
As the car stopped, a secret-service-type man got out of the passenger seat and rushed to open the door.
For a brief moment, Hermione hoped that her brother had come back for them but instead another familiar face met her eyes—Hugh’s tall best friend—Ronald Weasley stood in an expensive suit with a sombre expression on his face.
Her parents must have picked up on the underlying grief in his eyes as her mother gave a little sob and Hermione joined her mother too.
She was rooted to the spot and so were her parents. Ronald Weasley made short work of the little distance between them and as he looked at them, she could see that he was in pain too.
“Mr and Mrs Granger, you may not remember me but I went to boarding school with your son.” Ronald introduced himself, fighting tears.
In the moment she knew that the worst had happened and this familiar stranger also knew that they had worked it out but either for propriety or for the lack of any other way of addressing the matter, certain conventions had to be followed.
“W-We remember,” her father responded. This was the first time she had heard him stammer.
“Why don’t we go inside and reacquaint ourselves, Mr Weasley?” her father suggested.
Ronald nodded and waited for them to lead him in.
Once settled on the sofa, her mother asked in hope,” Is Hugh alright?”
The tears that brimmed in their guest’s eyes were indication enough that the worst had indeed come to pass.