what just sprung into my mind when I was reading your opinion on Hook – what Hook asked to tell Aurora and what Cora actually said through her is in a way different and they should pick up on that – but most of all, Snow in particular should know Cora’s power. She caught her playing Lancelot already, then they quickly become suspicious of Hook and revealed he wasn’t telling them the truth to start with either. Then why on earth no one bothered checking if Aurora is actually Aurora and not Cora in disguise?
As for Granny and Gold – well, she had to pay him the rent, for starters! But yes, they must’ve met back in FTL as well, my theory is that it was Rumple who gave Granny the red cloak but in exchange he must have wanted something that led to separation between Red and her mother – I just can’t imagine Granny parting a family without a good reason!