They walked down the street in a rather normal muggle neighbourhood. The three persons all looked rather uncomfortable but for various reasons.
Sirius was nervous about being on the streets. While he was cleared, the feeling of being on the run hasn't really left him and he more than once looked over his shoulder, his eyes out forever suspicious person and for potential hiding holes. Only his hand on Harry's shoulder calmed him enough down to resist the urge of changing into Padfoot and bolt for the next hedge or house corner. He wore a simple black t-shirt and jeans.
These clothes were the reason Narcissa was struggling. She wore a buttoned blouse and a pencil skirt that covered her knees, yet the missing of a robe or other wizarding cloth made her weary. She was absolutely out of her depth here. Yesterday had been strange, but at least these had been wizards people whose world, while she didn't share her view on it she at least understood. She never had talked to a muggle ever, something she was still proud of, but she would do for her cousin and his godson.
Harry was worried about a multitude of reasons. First, he was worried about Sirius and Narcissa. Sirius could be a handful and tended to be a little over eager and wild. He hoped his godfather would not scare the Grangers with wild stories about them, let's face it, a lot more dangerous wizarding world. Narcissa, on the other hand, had made quite clear what she thought of muggle and Harry was worried she would be cruel or offensive. Also, he was worried, what Hermione would say about him being there with the mother of Draco. The boy had made her life not really better and Harry was worried she would flip about that. While she was a lot calmer than Ron and more rational about these things, Ron had been reigned in by his mother and Harry knew nothing about Mr and Mrs Granger. That was the third part of his worry. He would meet the parents of his friend and while he wasn't worried too much about this, a few thoughts came and went in his head.
What if they thought he was rude? What if they thought he was bad for their daughter? What should he do if all of this went sideways? What if they just didn't like him? What if he was boring? What if...and that was just a little thought but it came back and back over and over again...What if they thought he was a freak and shouldn't be allowed around "normal people."
"We are here." Sirius stated, pointing at a white normal looking house in front of them It had grey tiles on the roof, flowers in the front lawn and a blue door. The windows were trimmed in blue as well and Harry saw a familiar bush of brunette hair in one of the top windows, dashing away moments after he saw it. Sirius opens the little white fence door, pushing it open and stepping inside. About a second after he stepped inside a blob of orange fur and grumpy eyes brushed against his leg, rubbing against him. The black haired man smiled, kneeling down and scratch the half-kneazel behind its ears.
"Hello to you too Crookshanks." The cat meowed for a moment, bathing in the attention, before he turned his back and tapped away with his tail held high in the air, disappearing around the corner of the house. Moments later the door flew open and an eagerly grinning Hermione appeared in the frame. Dashing across the front lawn the brown-haired rocket of a girl slammed into Harry's chest, hugging him. He offed a little at impact, staggering slightly.
"Harry!" She hugged him fiercely, before stepping back, holding him at his shoulders, both grinning like idiots.
"Hey, Hermione. How are you?" She smiled brushing through her hair.
"I'm fine thanks. Mostly bored because I don't know what books we need for next year so I revisit the stuff from last year you know. And you?"
Harry chuckled a little. Of course, she would do that.
"I'm fine really, living with Padfoot is awesome." He beamed looking over to his godfather. The man brightened visibly at the compliment his godson had given to him. Hermione, remembering her manners, stepped back from Harry and towards Sirius.
"Hello, Mr Black." Sirius smiled, stretching out his hand to the girl who in turn took it.
"Please Hermione, call me Sirius. After saving my ass from being dragged back to Azkaban that is the minimum." Hermione smiled too, nodding. While repect for the elders was important for her, she liked this more informal approach too. It was like with Hagrid. Sirius stepped to the side, placing his hand around Narcissa's elbow ever so slightly. Hermione's eyes fell on her and she had this feeling she knew the woman but she couldn't quite place her at all. Had she seen her in Diagon Alley?
"This is my cousin Narcissa. She...is staying with us for a while and us kind of dragged her along. I hope that isn't a problem." Sirius honestly hoped so. They had said they would bring someone along but still this was a little bit of a gamble.
Hermione smiled, shaking her head while stepping up to the woman and extending her hand.
"Of course not. Hello, my name is Hermione Granger, I go to school with Harry Mrs..." Her voice trailed off when she realised she didn't know the last name of the woman. After a moment Narcissa shook her hand before stateing with a calm and unreadable face.
"Malfoy." The smile on Hermione's face froze in an instant, while Harry flinched and stared at the back of his friends head. Sirius looked carefully between his cousin and the girl who had helped to save her.
"Oh." That was all Hermione said for a moment, blinking, unsure. "You are Mal...Draco's mother." The woman nodded slowly, carefully eyeing the girl. Hermione's face got a little harder, staring at the girl in defiance.
"Your son is an entitled prat Mrs Malfoy." She stated firmly, making Sirius flinch. This had gone sideways quicker than he thought it would, but before he could jump in Hermione raised her finger.
"But, I don't like judging a book by its cover since that is exactly what your son does, I will not do the same. You are your own person and I will try to hold back my opinion until I saw what kind of person you are."
Narcissa blinked at the girl. She wanted to scream at her so hard, telling her who she thought she was, what she thought she could get away with, that she was a mudblood, while she was Narcissa Malfoy nee Black, pureblood Lady of a great and noble house, but she caught a glimpse of Harry's emerald eyes. He stared at her with so much intensity, making her stop right in her tracks, the moment she wanted to start yelling. With a great effort, she pushed back the amount of venom in her mind and on her tongue and she nodded briskly.
"I think that is agreeable."
Before anyone could say anything a woman appeared in the blue door. She wasn't tall, more an average size and neither overweight nor thin. Her brown hair mirrored her daughters in it bushy way and she wore glasses and a blue summer dress. A smile was on her face. Next to her was a tall man, also brown hair and glasses. He wore a dressing shirt and suit pants, a smile too on his face. They both stepped outside in the front lawn, the woman taking the lead.
"Welcome to our home. I'm Joyce and this is my husband David. Hermione how about you introduce us to everyone?" She asked her daughter who quickly stepped up.
"Mom, Dad, this is my good friend Harry, it's a shame it took so long for you to meet him." Both parents shook the hand of the slightly blushing boy. Joyce smiled while David looked at him with the caution of a father who meets a boy who is friends with his daughter.
"Hello Mr and Mrs Granger, thanks a lot for having us. Hermione told me so much about you." Mrs Granger chuckled and Hermione's father loosens a little bit up. Joyce spoke up.
"Well, no problem young man. Our Hermione has talked about you quite a lot over the years, too all in favour of you." Harry felt his ears getting hot a little bit.
Hermione led his parents to the two adults.
"This is Sirius Black, he is Harry's godfather, but he hadn't been here up until recently because of another man's mistakes." The girl carefully manovered around saying he was an ex-convict and was a bit on the crazy side. She had spent quite some time this morning planning out how and when to say this. She hasn't told her parents the more dangerous endeavour of her school time, fearing they would pull her out of Hogwarts if they knew what she got up to. Sirius smiled shacking both of her parent's hands, making a friendly compliment to her mother. He insisted on being called Sirius, making her parents in return insist on Joyce and David.
"And this is Sirius cousin Narcissa...Black. She is staying with Harry and Sirius for the moment because..." Her voice lingered of for a moment, because she didn't really know why Draco's mother was staying with the two of them. Narcissa, having learned manners in the harsh house of Black, stepped forward, holding out her hand for her parents.
"There was a problem at home and it was best for me to stay at House Black for a while." Mom and Dad shook her hand a little cautious at the really vague description but way too polite to ask more. A lot of people didn't tell others about their domestic life after all. Joyce waved to the door.
"Then I hope that problem will resolve itself quite soon Mrs Black. Please come inside all of you." They all filed into the house, walking into the sitting room. Sirius had been to Lily's parents once in their seventh year but Narcissa, trying her best to hide it, eyed the first muggle house she has ever been to. It was quite normal, while she didn't get what quite a few pieces in the room were. There was this black box at the wall, with a smaller black thing that looked like a handle on it. Next to the handle were buttons. Then there was the much larger box, about the size of a large Trunk, sitting there. It seemed to have some kind of glass window but she had no idea what it was about.
Hermione kept standing.
"Mom, Dad I would like to show Harry my room." She stated firmly, taking Harry's hand and almost pulling him out of the room. Sirius chuckled and called after them.
"Behave Pronglet." What caused Hermione's father to call out too. "Leave the door open, honey." Hermione rolled her eyes and they made their way up the stairs and into Hermione's room. Harry looked around for a moment. It was clean and tidy. There was a large bookshelf on the side, filled with quite a lot of books and tomes. On the floor was a light grey carpet and the desk was propped up under the window. There was a single bed, about fifty inches wide, with white sheets and blanket. Hermione flopped down on it, gesturing towards the chair at the desk. Harry sat down still looking around. He smiled when he saw a picture of him Ron and Hermione on her nightstand. It didn't move, probably for safety. Harry returned his gaze to him at him staring friend.
"I like your room. It's very you." Hermione smiled shortly.
"Thanks. Now tell me, why is Dracos mother here?" She asked firmly with the no-nonsense voice she often used when he and Ron groaned about doing their homework at Hogwarts. He had this adult serious tone in her voice then. Harry sighed.
"Look, everything that was said down there was true. She had...a problem at home and had to get out. We took her in three days ago." He sighed again lazing his fingers together and looking to the floor. Hermione said nothing keeps listening.
"She goes through a lot right now and I want to help her. She is really nice, you know? She might have the worldview of a Malfoy but I think she wants to be different. She isn't like Malfoy, riding the arrogant train all the time and looking down at everyone. We were over at the Burrow with her yesterday and it went quite well. Please, try to be nice to her." He looked up again, while Hermione stared at him thoughtfully. Then she smiled slightly.
"Of course, Harry, for you I will be at my best behaviour." Harry smiled, nodding.
"Thanks, she will try her best not to stir up any commotion. This is the first time she ever had contact with muggles, so...yeah I think the shock will be there." Both teens chuckled for a moment, thinking about how little Mr Weasley knew about muggles and he LOVED them.
Then Hermione got serious, looking deep into Harrys eyes like she searched for something in them.
"Does that "problem at home" have something to do with that black eye she is trying to hide behind her hair?"
Harry sucked his breath through his teeth.
"You noticed?" Hermione nodded, crossing her arms.
"Yeah, I think Mom noticed it too. Dad I am not sure, might will this day. You didn't answer my question." Harry squirmed a little, looking out the window.
"Hermione, this isn't up to me to talk about, I'm sorry but I can't tell you." But Hermione pieced together the thing by herself in an instant.
"Draco or his dad?" Harry sighed, letting his head hang again.
"His dad." Hermione got an angry face, gritting her teeth.
"Asshole." Harry couldn't stop himself from smirking. Hermione never swore, but he nodded.
"Yeah, I hate that guy." His friend nodded to him. For a moment it got quiet between the two of them.
"I assume you told your parents about Draco, therefore the...namechange?" Hermione nodded.
"Yeah, I complained quite a lot about him over the summer in particular, because of the whole Hagrid incident. So I thought it would be best not to say they are related." Harry leaned back, slowly nodding in agreement. Draco had been extra nasty this year and he had hated him more than before.
"Have you heard from Hagrid? Ever since that night with Sirius and Wormtail I haven't heard from him." Hermione got a hurt look, staring at him.
"You didn't read it in the papers?" Harry blinked looking confused, he slowly shook his head.
"N-No, I'm only with Sirius for three days now, while I've been at the Dursleys, I didn't get the papers, because no owls you know? What happened?"
Hermione fumbled with her fingers, looking down at the floor, downtrodden. She shifted a little trying to find the right words, even biting her lip for a moment.
"There has been an incident. Of course, the bloody Prophet has blown it out of proportion, but I wrote to Professor McGonagall and she informed me. Apparently, that night when they executed Buckbeak, Hagrid had been pretty drunk. He was heartbroken, you know how much he loved Beack. He wasn'T himself, struck with grief and sadness."
Harry got uncomfortable´, rolling closer on the chair. He placed his hand on Hermione's knee, pleading in his face.
"H-He is alright, right? He didn't get himself...is he hurt?"
Hermione shook her head, taking a deep breath.
"No he isn't injured, but he punched the executioner. Right in front of that awful man." Her eyes darted to the door. "Mr Malfoy. Dumbledore stopped him before it could get worse, but Malfoy insisted that he was unfit to teach and used his influence to have him removed as Care for Magical Creatures teacher. He got lucky keeping his ground-keeper role." Harry gripped more firmly onto Hermione's knee.
"Bloody hell." Hermione squirmed a little.
"It got worse." Harry flinched feeling tense up even more. He stared into the hazel eyes of his friend, taking a deep breath.
"Worse?"
Hermione now having tears in her eyes ever so slightly, nodded.
"Somehow it got public that Hagrid is half-giant. They ran a big story in the Daily Prophet about that being the proof that half-breads are dangerous and what not stupidies. Some women from the ministry, the secretary of the minister or something like that claimed some pretty nasty things. It was pretty bad. I have it here somewhere if you want to see it."
Harry shook his head.
"No thanks. But...But that's bullshit, Hagrid is a nice and awesome guy, you know that Hermione. We have to do something." She nodded, pulling her friend into a hug. Harry nuzzled into the bushy brown hair, taking in the comforting smell of his friend. It had always calmed him down this smell of lavender and Hermione's own scent calmed his nerves and helped him return to his senses.
"I know Harry, of course I know. He is our friend, but these stupid people are like vultures, despicable and horrible, just horrible. We will do whatever we can to not let these small person win over someone so awesome, I promise." They just sat there for a while comforting each other, feeling the closeness wash over them. It was warm but they didn't care the need for affection bigger than the need for cooling down.
After a few minutes of just sitting and hugging each other, they pulled back. Hermione glanced at the door.
"I think we should go back. We left two purebloods with two muggles alone. I think that could end in disaster." She stated with a smirk. Suddenly the tension burst like a bubble and both of them chuckled at the absurd situation. Getting up, they hugged once more and made their way down the stairs again to rejoine the adults.
Hello, so this is out there. I hope you like it. Like I stated before I need Hagrid in this situation, not because I hate him but he is a mear plot device in this story and he isn't in the focus. Also I could totally see Hagrid punch the executioner if Buckbeack would have been executed.
I hope you enjoyed and I hope for comments.
Also I there are no names for Hermiones parents in the books, so I used some from Life is Strange so I don't forget them.