CHAPTER 87: THE DEPARTURE

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Faith is wisdom.

Faith is power.

Faith is heart-fragrance.

Faith is the sun-child

Of the Beyond.

~

-Sri Chinmoy

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August 29th, 1994. It has been a busy and annoying two days for Ed. For starters, the ministry kept asking for his presence during these two days. He accepted, of course, he didn't have any reason not to. He was questioned about the incident, where he went when the attack happened, what happened to his friends, and he answered with half-truth. He said that he fought with the death eaters, but quickly retreated as they were overwhelmed. Then he used a portkey to run away from the place.

Speaking of the incident, the press has been calling it 'The Night of Terror', and they exaggerate the incident with the mysterious creature. Some say it might be a dark creature, some say it might be a man disguised as a man (which is sort of true), and some might say that it is just an illusion, as they've been told that the creature was immune to any type of spell, as the spells went right through the creature.

He had also warded Richard's home, and the boy had since moved away from Ed's cottage, continuing to live with his parents for a little while, as it was their last days together with Richard for quite some time.

Ed and Hermione had also gone back to the mansion. Ciri had been initiated and was allowed to enter the suitcase. When she met Gilligan, she was quite surprised, but quickly collected herself. She was now living inside the suitcase until further notice.

Right now, though, Ed was preparing for the departure of his and Hermione's parents. They were preparing for one last trip shopping together, to make up for lost time, even though it wasn't enough in Hermione's opinion, and so did Ed's, but lately he was quite busy because of the trouble with the ministry.

He was walking through the halls of the Andrews manor for one last time. It was the house he grew up in, spacy, sophisticated, and comfortable, and now he's leaving it until the war is over. In his hands were a couple of trunks belonging to his foster parents, Roger and Anna. He was helping them move their belongings, as the entire time he felt guilty. It was like he was kicking them out of their own house.

He was now outside in front of the car, where he refused to give the belongings to Ashbey, who was also going to travel with them, as he wanted to do it himself. The sky was starting to glow orange, a sign that it was getting into the evening. He then put the belongings in the trunk and locked the huge front door of the house for the last time, as he would not be going back to it for a long time.

"All the doors are locked, right Ashbey?" Ed questioned the butler.

"Yes, Master Ed, I've checked it." The butler answered, and Ed just nodded.

Ashbey then opened the car door for Ed, where his and Hermione's parents, and Hermione were waiting. Ed sat in the back along with Hermione, who was smiling weakly at him.

"All done, Ed?" Roger asked from the front seat.

"Yeah, it's done." Ed nodded softly.

"Right, let's go shopping for the ladies, while we, the men in the house, go to a place where the ladies won't find us." Roger smirked, making the women suspicious.

"Where are you going to take Ed Roger?" Anna frowned.

"Well, that's the whole point, isn't it? To not be discovered by you. " Roger rolled his eyes.

Anna kept frowning, then the car moved, breaking the slightly tense atmosphere.

"So, you've got your things moved on where you're staying, Hermione?" Mrs. Granger asked the girl.

"Yes mom…" the girl mumbled weakly.

"Alright, when we get back, I don't want to see any grandchildren. It's too soon. " She sternly warned.

Hermione blushed furiously at this. "Mom!" she complained, but secretly, she was eyeing Ed rather intently.

Mrs. Granger just giggled. Then it was Mr. Granger's turn to speak. "By the way, where is your 'wizarding' house? You never told us, Ed. "

"It's not in London, that's for sure." Ed answered. "I can't tell you the details, but it's somewhere in a remote area of Scotland."

"It's a peaceful place, I bet." Roger continued, "You like that sort of thing, away from civilizations…"

"It's quiet there." Ed nodded. "Perfect for a resort, to be honest... although a cold one."

"That's great then." Anna nodded. "It's a safe place, right?"

"Yes, it is." Ed hummed. "Even if we lost the war, we could still hide there and no one would find us, though I doubt we'll lose."

"At least you have confidence Ed." Roger commented. Then, the car finally arrived.

"Regent Street?" Ed questioned.

Anna shrugged. "There is a lot of cheap clothing here... Perfect if we want to live a low profile. "

Ed just sighed guiltily and didn't say anything. The group then spread out, with Hermione and the women going shopping, and Ed and the men going to Merlin knows where.

"Where are we going?" Ed asked Roger.

"We're going to take you for a drink." Roger grinned.

"Drink?" Ed raised his eyebrows. "You know, I'm underage, right?"

"It's our last day together before we go, so I'll allow it." Roger patted his back.

"Are you okay with this, Mr. Granger?" Ed asked the other man.

"It's fine." The man said. "Just don't drink too much."

"A glass is fine." Roger nodded.

"How are we going to bypass the bartender then?"

"Money can solve everything." Roger added, which made Ed sigh.

The three then entered a bar nearby. It wasn't fancy or anything; it was just a normal bar. They had food served here, so minors could enter the bar, and then the group sat down at a table.

"Wait here, I'll order the beers and some snacks, I think they're already serving food anyway… it's already evening. " Roger stood up and walked to the bar.

"So Ed…" Mr. Granger suddenly asked. "How are you with Hermione?"

Ed gulped a bit. "It's fine, Mr. Granger…"

"She's not… bothering you is she?" Mr. Granger asked once again.

Ed was confused. "No… why do you ask that?"

"I'm just worried about her…" he said. "We've been sheltering her since she was a child... And her words could be… blunt and she sometimes didn't care about others' opinions. That's why she didn't have any friends until she met you…"

Ed chuckled. "It's been four years and you're only asking this now?"

"Well, we're leaving her for a long time, Ed." Mr. Granger stated. "I'm just worried that she'll be alone if you separate with her."

Ed shook his head. "I'm not that cruel, Mr. Granger… and I won't leave her, you have my word, she's already someone very dear to me, even if she's not my girlfriend anymore, though I doubt we'll break up... " Ed mumbled the last words, so Mr. Granger couldn't hear them.

"Well I'm grateful, Ed." Mr. Granger smiled. "I'm glad Hermione met you instead of some redhead git or something…"

Ed chuckled at the words, 'Oh how ironic…'

Roger then came back from ordering some food. "I ordered some chips, and the man didn't even care to ask about Ed's age. His face looks old enough, I guess…"

"Really?" Mr. Granger looked at Ed's face intently. "Huh… I guess he does look better than someone from his age…"

"I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult really…" Ed grimly said.

"For now, a compliment." Mr. Granger nodded.

The group just chuckled at Mr. Granger's words, then Roger continued.

"So, how are you right now, Ed?" he asked. "You never really told me what was going on really…"

Ed sighed. "Yeah… sorry if I haven't had time to spend time with you all. I've been really busy lately, the wizarding world's a mess right now…"

"A mess?" Roger asked. "Something happened?"

"An attack a couple of days ago." Ed grimaced. "Not an attack really, it was more of a raping of an event…"

Mr. Granger frowned. "What happened?"

"Death eaters, they're the supremacists, hired a bunch of mercenaries and attacked the Quidditch World Cup. A lot of people got killed, raped, and wounded…"

"That's horrible…" Mr. Granger grimaced. "You and Hermione are okay, right?"

"Yeah…" Ed mumbled. "Although Hermione was shaken after what she saw… As you can tell, she's been a bit distant lately…"

"Yeah, I've noticed that too…" Mr. Granger frowned even more. "Sometimes I still think that it's not a good idea to let Hermione go to the wizarding world…"

"The world's a mess right now, Mr. Granger." Ed stated. "She just entered the wizarding world at the wrong time."

"But then she wouldn't be able to meet you, would she?" Mr. Granger added.

Ed hummed. The orders then arrived, three beers and a portion of chips.

The three then took a sip of the beer. It was cold, which was refreshing.

"How's your first glass of alcohol?" Roger smirked.

"Oh, it's not my first drink." Ed stated, surprising the two. "I drank a couple of wine bottles throughout the years…"

"You unruly child, have you drunk alcohol since you were thirteen?" Roger asked, jokingly frowning.

Ed shrugged. "Mostly out of curiosity really, it was nice."

The two men just shook their heads in amusement.

"By the way, Ed, how's your company going?" Roger asked.

"Oh, it's doing well, I'm probably richer than you now if I changed the galleons into pounds."

Roger grinned. "Fourteen and already surpassing me. You're a mad monster Ed, I'll tell you. "

Ed chuckled, and Roger just sighed. "I didn't expect any of this when I adopted you…"

"What did you expect, really?"

"I expect that you will be a somewhat obedient child who will be great at succeeding in the company." Roger stated. "I've got the 'great on succeeding the company' part, but obedient? Not so much…"

"Well, I didn't expect this either." Ed shrugged, "You've got your homes sorted in Australia?"

"We have." Mr. Granger nodded. "It'll be a normal house, not a huge mansion like your father had…"

"You're going to live in the same house?" Ed asked curiously.

"No, just live next door." Roger answered.

Ed hummed, and he pulled a bracelet from his pocket and gave it to the two. "Here, so I can visit you whenever."

"What is this?" Mr. Granger looked at the bracelet curiously.

"Sort of a beacon really, I can always sense the bracelet, so I can go to you without knowing the address of your home."

"That's useful." Roger nodded. "You'll visit us?"

"Once in a while." Ed nodded. "But I can't do it too often though. They might track you down if I do that."

Roger hummed. "Let's just hope this war of yours ends quickly."

"It won't, I'm going to take my time on it." Ed blurted out, which earned strange looks from Roger and Mr. Granger, but they didn't say anything.

Meanwhile, Hermione and the women were shopping for clothes at a clothing store. Anna and Mrs. Granger were picking clothes, but instead of their own clothing, it was for Hermione.

"Shouldn't you find something for yourselves?" Hermione questioned in embarrassment. "I can pick myself…"

"Nonsense." Anna shrugs it off. "I must say that your choice of clothing is a bit dull, Hermione…"

"What do you mean?" Hermione frowned.

"What Anna said is right, sweetheart. It's a miracle really that Ed didn't have any complaints about it." Mrs. Granger agreed.

"What does Ed have to do with this?" She angrily protested. "I think my choice of fashion is good enough. Thank you very much." She huffed.

The two women ignored it. "Your hair is a good start. You've fixed your hair with God knows what... I'm not sure how I feel about your teeth... they're good. but as a dentist, I don't know if I like it... "

"It's my choice, mom…" Hermione whined. "I can pick for myself... you can go find your own clothing." Hermione pushed the two women away from the clothing for women.

The two women just giggled, but then Anna asked the girl. "How's Ed treating you, by the way… he didn't ignore you did he?"

"Of course not…" She answered unconvincingly. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, he's been a bit of a loner since he was a child." Anna stated. "He's good at communicating formally, but he doesn't express his personal feelings very much around people."

"He's surprisingly an emotional person." Hermione stated, which surprised Anna a bit. "He's quite open in terms of his feelings towards me, I guess that's good…"

"That's really good." Mrs. Granger. "Men tend to hide their feelings… if they told you about it, it means that they trust you very much."

"So I warned you, Hermione, don't hurt my little Ed." Anna spoke sternly.

"Of course I won't hurt him, Mrs. Andrews…" Hermione spoke softly. "I don't know what I would do if I hadn't met Ed. Well, I do, but I probably won't be as happy as now…"

"That's good." Anna nodded.

"You two are going to be okay once we leave, right?" Mrs. Granger said worriedly.

"Don't worry, mom; when I'm with Ed, I feel like I can accomplish anything." Hermione stated.

"That's really corny, sweetheart." Mrs. Granger giggled, but Hermione could tell that she was relieved.

The three then continued to shop for clothes, and a couple hours later, they were finished. It was almost time for the flight. It was the very last flight of the day, at 11.00 PM.

They were now going back to the car, where Ashbey was waiting. The butler helped the women move the shopping bags to the trunk, and Anna asked, "Where are Roger and the others?"

"They're still having a conversation and drinking mistress." Ashbey blabbed to the women.

"Drinking?" Anna frowned. "As in alcohol?"

"Yes mistress…"

"Ed is drinking too?"

"Yes…"

Anna was furious, while Hermione just sighed.

"Why are you not mad right now?" Anna asked the girl.

"He's been drinking since last year…" Hermione mumbled.

"And you didn't stop him?!" Anna questioned.

"Well, I can't stop him... He always snuck out of a bottle of wine once in a while…"

Anna sighed. "Ashbey, call them back... We're two hours before boarding and they're drinking? Irresponsible children…"

"Right away, mistress…"

Ashbey then left the women to get the men, and once he was back, the men, especially Roger, had a grim look, while Anna just stood beside the car, her expression looked furious.

"Who told you to bring Ed to drink?" She questioned the man.

"We're going far away from him, Anna. At least let me drink with him once."

"Are you drunk right now?" Anna questioned again.

"It was only a glass of beer, Anna, nothing heavy."

Anna then turned his head to Ed, which made the boy flinch a little.

"Hermione told me you've been drinking since last year." She informed.

Ed then eyed Hermione, who had an innocent smile on her face. "I was just trying it." He mumbled.

"Hermione said that you've been sneaking out with a bottle of wine." She informed again, and Ed just glared at Hermione, but again, an innocent smile.

"I've done that a couple of times…" he mumbled again.

"You're still a child and you're drinking alcohol regularly… I did not raise you to be like this!"

Anna then continued to ramble in the car. She's still rambling on the way to the airport. She's saying how Roger is irresponsible and how Ed's drinking is a problem that he needs to solve. Surprisingly, Mrs. Granger didn't say anything to Mr. Granger, but Ed could tell that the man was also nervous.

"You're not going to be like this when we're older, right?" Ed asked Hermione beside him; his forehead was a bit sweaty.

"Who knows?" Hermione shrugged innocently, her gaze drawn to the window, making Ed even more nervous.

The rest of the way was filled with Anna's scolding and the groan of annoyance from Roger, but thankfully, the car arrived quickly, making Ed sighed in relief.

But thinking that it was time to say goodbye, Ed tensed again, and Ed could feel that Hermione was tense as well. The parents started to get out of the car, while Hermione just sat quiet in the back with Ed. She looked reluctant to move.

"Come on." Ed said to the girl, softly. "Time to say goodbye."

Hermione just nodded weakly, and slowly got out of the car. The last was Ed, who closed the door. Ed saw that Hermione was already talking to the parents while Ashbey was transferring the baggage to the trolley.

"How about the car, Ashbey?" Ed asked the butler.

"I'll place it in a special parking place, Master." Ashbey simply said.

Ed just smiled. The boy then hugged the man, making Ashbey surprised. "Thanks for everything, Ashbey, I'll see you again in a couple of years." Ed said, as he separated.

Ashbey just smiled. "Good luck on your ordeal, Master Ed."

Ed nodded. "Godspeed on your journey to Australia."

Ashbey then entered the car again, going to the special parking space, while Ed pushed the trolley to the group.

Hermione was already hugging her parents. She was holding her tears as she didn't want to cry in public.

"Here." Ed said softly to his parents while handing over the trolley.

"Thank you…" Anna mumbled. "You take care here, you hear me?"

"I will… mom…" Ed said, making Anna smile. "You too, dad... take care of mom for me." He said this while hugging Roger.

"I will. Don't worry about that, I've had experience in that department." Roger chuckled. "You though, take care of Hermione. She's not like you, all tough, she's in her emotional phase."

"I will." Ed nodded. "Don't worry about that."

Roger hummed. "Be good here, son, and good luck."

The parents then looked at each other, and finally, they waved at the two teenagers, leaving them in the lobby, and into the airport.

Hermione couldn't hold it any longer and cried while waving back at her parents. Once they finally entered the building, she hugged Ed, and cried into his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Hermione, we'll see them soon enough."

Hermione just nodded weakly at Ed's shoulder. "I hope so…"

"We just need to have faith in ourselves for this…" Ed continued. "Pray that everything doesn't go wrong..."