Chapter 3: The biggest Shock...
It was a huge shock. Standing in front of me, was the Zabini family. The reason I knew? Blaise Zabini. There was a four year old girl. Well, I think four years old. I'm not the best at reading ages. And then another girl, about ten years old, it looked.
"Ah, Hermione." Dumbledore said kindly.
"P-Professor Dumbledore." I said, my voice shaking a bit.
"And who have we here?" He asked, looking at Derik Tom Matt and Jason.
"These are my best muggle friends, sir. They're all seventeen. Curly black hair is Tom." My confidence started coming back to me. "The brunette is Matt, the tallest is Jason, and the shortest is Derik."
"Hey!" They all said. I ignored them.
"They know about magic, sir. As does the rest of my team. I couldn't very well just leave with a week of the season left and not explain to them why!"
"Ah, yes. I know, I let you out of school each year for practices and games for a week, as long as you don't have classes or something." Dumbledore reminded me. Harry and Ron looked at me, incredulous.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Ron asked.
"Well, the first year we weren't friends. The second year, sure we were friends, but, y'know? I wasn't sure if I should tell you. The third year, you were worrying about Sirius, and I didn't just want to be like 'Well, I need to go out to the dangerous part of the country right now to play some soccer!' Merlin knows I had a hard enough time convincing Professor Dumbledore. After that, I was just used to you not knowing. Plus, I didn't know if you would try to get me to play Quidditch. Merlin, I hate playing that sport." They nodded, grudgingly accepting it.
Mrs. and Mr. Granger then walked into the room. "Hello boys." Mum greeted my friends warmly. They smiled back.
"Well." Said Mr. Zabini. "Dumbledore? Now that everyone's here, could you please take off the glamour? My wife and I are eager to have our daughter back." He said cheerfully.
"Of course. Now, you may feel as if you're drowning for a moment. Please don't panic. It will make it much worse." And of course, I panicked.
"How long is it going to last!?"
"Just a moment, my dear, I told you this." Jason and Harry each grabbed a hand.
"Okay." I said, taking calming breaths. I took a deep breath and held it, hoping that more air would make it seem less like drowning. Nope. There was pressure on my lungs. And it really did only last a moment. When it stopped, I looked at myself. My skin was a bit darker, my hair a silky black curls, falling to my waist. I went to the bathroom, and looked at myself. My eyes were a beautiful violet, like my mums and sisters eyes, while Blaises and my fathers were a bright blue. Apparently I was the only child of theirs with curly hair, it looked. I also realized that I still only had my bikini top on, and quickly put on my purple halter top. When I got back to the living room, I took my no-nonsense stance.
"There are a few things we need to talk about." I said. "I'm not leaving my Soccer team."
"Oh, sweetie, you won't have to. We only live a few miles away." My mother said.
"Can I spend at least a few days with the Weasley's every summer?" I asked hopefully. They looked at each other.
"Yes, but can you not this summer? Well, for parties you may, but...we want to get to know you." I nodded, understanding this completely. I wanted to get to know them, too.
"Is that it?" My mother asked.
"Yes. Well, actually, we have an emergency Soccer meeting tonight. Can I please go? And then Soccer starts in four days." They nodded their consent.
I then looked at my siblings, who had been surprisingly quiet. "I know Blaise, but what are your names?" I asked.
They looked at me, as if measuring me up.
"I'm Lyssa." The youngest one said. I looked at my mother, who mouthed 'Elizabeth'. I nodded.
"Well that's a beautiful name. How old are you, Lyssa?"
"I'm five." Well, I wasn't too far off!
"Cool. And what about you?" I asked the eldest one.
"I'm Catherine. I'm ten. But I'm turning eleven in two weeks."
"That's great! So you're going to be going to Hogwarts this year?"
"Yes." She replied simply.
"Hermione?" Sirius said, getting my attention.
"Yes?"
"We need to go. We have a...meeting that we need to get to."
"Aw. Okay." I said, standing up from my crouch and going to hug him and Remus. "Bye, thank you for coming."
"Your welcome. Happy Birthday." Sirius said.
"You're welcome. And don't forget about your party at the Weasley's this weekend. You're family-the Grangers as well as the Zabinis- and you're friends are welcome to come. Happy Birthday." Remus said.
"Thanks, Remus." The two of them left, along with Fred and George.
"So, do you and your friends have time to come see the Manor before your practice?" My mother asked me, and I looked at them.
"Practice doesn't start till 7." Derik answered my unasked question.
"Yes we do." I told her.
"Great. Mr. and Mrs. Granger, you're welcome to come along as well."
"Thank you." My father made the fireplace larger with a spell.
"This is as about as big the fireplace at our house where you'll be coming out. So about four people can go at a time."
"Okay. Well...how about you and mum go along with the girls. I can go with Jason Derik and Matt, Ginny can go with my parents and Tom. And Harry and Ron can go with Blaise and Fred and George can go together."
Wow, that's a big list.