The Eighth Year - Under Major Reconstruction

21 - Australia

"Hermione...I can't read this menu." He says confused, staring at the German menu

"They must have given you an all-German menu by accident. You're getting the same thing as me anyway, so you don't need it." She smirks, pushing his menu back down to the table as the server comes to take their order

After eating their lunch and Draco agreeing with Hermione that it was delicious and that he would probably ask to come again sometime soon before they go back for their second and final term at Hogwarts

"Are you ready to go find your parents?" Draco asks as they stand in an alley, ready to apparate to Australia

"I guess...please hold on tight. I really don't want you to get splinched." She smiles, holding his hand tightly as she apparates them to Adelaide

"Any idea where we should start?" He asks her

"Probably at Police stations." She says, walking up to a random house and knocking on the door

"How can I help you?" An older man asks, answering the door

"We were just wondering if you knew where the nearest police station was?" Hermione asks

"Eh...I can give you a map. I'm not very good with directions." He tells her, going back into the house and grabbing a map for the pair of them and showing where his house was and where the police station was

"Thank you very much!" Hermione says and then heads down the street, Draco following closely behind her as she navigates the map

Ten minutes of walking later, they reach the police station and walk-in

"What can I do for you?" A woman in a uniform asks

"Hi...we're looking for my parents. Monica and Wendell Wilkins. They moved here about a year and a half ago. We lost contact after I left when my boyfriend and I got engaged." Hermione explains, fibbing a bit

"Can I see some identification please?" The woman asks, causing Hermione to pull out her ID

"I'm sorry ma'am but I don't have them in the system. They may not live in my area." She explains after typing on her computer

"All I know is that they moved to Adelaide. Is there no way I could track them down?" She pleads

"I don't have them in my system. They may be in a different quadrant. You might check the phone books. Or perhaps realtors...otherwise I'm afraid I can't really help you. I'm sorry." She apologizes

"Thank you." Hermione sighs, grabbing Draco's hand and pulling him out of the police station

Hermione continues pulling Draco down the sidewalk until she stops at a children's play park. And goes to sit down on one of the swings

"Perhaps we could check the phone thing? That seems like a good place to start. Then we could go to the next police station. Don't give up Hermione. We'll find them before we go back to Hogwarts." He rubs her back, sitting on the swing next to her

"I know. I'm just bummed about it all...come on. We'll go knock on some random house and ask to see their phone book." She says getting up again

A minute later, Draco is getting Deja Vu as Hermione knocks on another random door

The man gives them his phone book and waits as Hermione flips through the pages until she gets to the W's

"I found several Wilkins...there's fifteen spread out around Adelaide...it doesn't say their first names...that's so dumb. Ours back home say their names!" Hermione says angrily

"Do you have something we can write their information on, sir?" Draco asks

The man grumbles and walks off into his house to get them some paper

"Hermione. This is just narrowing our search more and more. We'll find them." He says

After writing down the information about the fifteen Wilkins', Draco and Hermione head off to a store where they can buy a phone to call the numbers

"Hermione it's getting late here. We should head in for the night." Draco says after they've bought a small cellphone

"You're right. We can continue looking tomorrow. Come on, there's a hotel over there."

Walking into the hotel, they ask for a single bedroom for two nights and are given a door key.

"We close the lobby at midnight and ask that hallways are kept quiet until six. Enjoy your stay." The front desk clerk says

They walk up to their room in silence and immediately as they walk into their room, Hermione turns the television on a random channel and lets it play, telling Draco she was going to take a shower and then get ready for bed

Draco sits down on the bed and watches in wonder at the TV.

Suddenly an advertisement for a skiing resort in Switzerland comes on and Draco shoots up.
Why would a Swiss advertisement play in Australia?

So it's pronounced Skee-ing, not Sky-ing. Stupid Weaselette.

"Hey, Hermione. What's Skiing?" Draco asks slyly

"It's a muggle winter sport. Basically, you put long sticks on your feet that are attached to boots and you'll glide over the snow. My parents took me several times growing up and I used to love it. I haven't gone in a long time but it was so fun. I would love to go again...we can go if you want to." She answers from the bathroom

"It looks fun...I'm just confused as to why there is an advertisement for it in Australia since it says it's in Switzerland." he laughs

"Now that I don't have an answer for. I'm getting in the shower." She says and a few seconds later, the shower is running and Draco is closing his eyes for a bit of a nap, accompanied by the sound of the shower running and the television quietly playing

\\~//

Draco is awoken by rustling on the bed, which he realizes is Hermione crawling into bed with him

Shuffling over, he wraps his arms around Hermione's waste and attempts to drift back to sleep

"Drake...did you tell your mother that we would be traveling for a few days?" Hermione asks

"Nope." He answers

"Draco! She is probably worried sick about you."

"I'll find an owl and send her a letter tomorrow. Please let me sleep! We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow." He sighs, finally drifting back to sleep

\\~//

I hate this chapter for some reason
This isn't edited so I'm sorry if there are any issues! Let me know if you see any and I will correct them!

Thanks so much!

K bye

Shelby xx

2023 Shelby here. I removed more of the Disneyland stuff. It's much better without it I think. I like the idea of skiing better.