Harry headed out into the backyard, Hermione following close behind. His eyes skimmed the area quickly, keeping an eye out for Malfoy's pale face or his silver-blonde hair. If he saw him, he'd run over and beat Malfoy to a pulp.
" Looks like Malfoy's avoiding us, doesn't it?" he said to Hermione, who was busy pulling her hair up into a ponytail.
Hermione glanced around the backyard and shrugged her shoulders. " Looks like it. I'm sure he'll stay away, if he knows whats good for him," she added, giving Harry a sly smile.
Harry laughed and the two sat down inside the gazebo, where Harry had been pondering over his thoughts about his mother and father just last night. He remembered shedding quite a few tears here, but decided to forget about it.
" Hermione? We're taking our Apparating test next year, aren't we?" Harry asked, sitting down on the bench that curved around three sides of the gazebo. He set a package of Chocolate Frogs down beside him and pulled Hermione onto his lap.
" Mm-hmm! It's a tough process, and I'm guessing right when we get back we'll start learning it," Hermione replied, unwrapping a Frog from it's package. She took a bite off the top of the head and chewed silently before adding," In fact, it looks so hard, I've been trying to work on it already."
Harry shook his head in amusement. That was Hermione, always ahead of things, always prepared. He looked at her fondly for a moment. " I bet when we first start to learn it, you'll start Apparating in no time."
Hermione smiled wistfully. " Yes, that would be nice, wouldn't it?" She looked at Harry with a funny smile on her face. " I bet you and Ron will end up Apparating somewhere completely way-off."
" Yeah," Harry agreed with a chuckle, remembering Ron Weasley, who was off in Paris with his family for the holiday. " Ron will probably Apparate on top some poor old bloke taking a walk down the street and -- "
" And you'll end up on top of him!" Hermione finished, squealing with laughter.
Harry chuckled too. He wondered how many tries it took his mum or dad to pass their Apparating test. Guess I'll never know, came a voice inside his head, sounding bitter. He shook his head slightly, trying to get rid of the voice, trying to block any thoughts of his parents away from his mind. Hermione was here with him, and he would concentrate on Hermione, not his parents. Harry glanced over at Hermione, who had slid off his lap and was now flipping through the newly revised Hogwarts, A History, which she had brought along.
Well, if Hermione was involved with her book, then maybe he could let his mind wander, Harry thought. He sat back and crumpled an empty wrapper of a Chocolate Frog in his hand, listening to the gentle wind rustling the trees nearby.
From the information he had collected from Sirius, Dumbledore, and even Hagrid, he knew his mum, Lily Evans -- which she had been before she married Harry's dad -- was Muggle-born. And that she was Head Girl, and before that, a prefect.
" She was the top student in our class, Harry," Sirius had told him once before. " Very clever, your mum was."
" Yer mum was very kin' to me," Hagrid had informed Harry. " Always be comin' down to my cabin to visit me.."
Harry smiled to himself. His thoughts then drifted over to his dad, James Potter, who was best friend's with Sirius, Head Boy, and a prefect as well.
" Your dad and I were like you and that Weasley boy you hang out with..Ron, is it?" Sirius had mentioned once, with a smile on his face. " Yes, it was us four -- Remus, Peter(with this, Sirius' voice went to bitter, then changed back to normal), James, and I..but your father and I had this special bond."
" Yer dad was the apple of every girls' eye, he was," Hagrid had said. " He always got intah trouble an' he was always up to somethin'."
" James was in my office a lot, Harry," Dumbledore had informed him, a twinkle in his blue eyes. " I took a strong liking to him, as I did to Lily. We stayed in close contact even after the two left Hogwarts."
" And Lily and James were just friends..before they started to get hung up over each other," Sirius had added, giving Harry a sly smile. " They were pure enemies in their first and second year, and we'd always play tricks on Lily and her friends. Then they slowly became friends..and I reckon by our sixth year your mum and dad both realized that they had fallen in love." With this, a small, odd smile had grown on Sirius' face; it was probably still hard for him remembering two of his closest friends.
Harry felt himself being shaken. He ignored it and closed his eyes, visions of his parents etched deep within his brain. Not until he heard Hermione calling his name did Harry open his eyes again. He turned his head to look at her; Hermione was staring at him curiously.
" Harry? Are you okay? I've been talking to you..I guess you didn't hear me," she said in a small voice.
" Sorry," he apologized, straightening up. Harry rubbed at his eyes for a minute, thinking. Hermione was giving him her usual puppy-dog stare: bottom lip jutting out, eyelashes batting playfully. He felt bad that his mind wasn't concentrating on her completely, but he couldn't help it, thoughts of his parents just kept interfering, more than usual in fact. " Say, I've got an idea," he spoke up after awhile, leaning forward. " Hagrid sent me a pack of Fizzing Whizzbees..you want some?"
Hermione's smile faltered, but Harry didn't notice. " Fizzing Whizzbees?" she repeated doubtfully. " Haven't we had enough with the Chocolate Frogs?"
Harry pulled Hermione to a standing position and led her across the yard, back into the house where Narcissa was standing in front of the stove, jutting her wand at the coffea-pot angrily. She turned and noticed the two before they were able to head upstairs.
" Oh, I'm glad you're here," she said in an aggrivated tone, silver-blonde wisps of hair falling in front of her face. She prodded the coffea-pot with her wand again and sighed. " I have no idea how to use this thing. Sirius asked for coffea..and..oh I don't know!"
Harry held in his laughter as he turned the stove on for Narcissa, waited until the water was boiling, poured the hot water into a coffea mug, then scooped coffea grinds into it. The grinds dissolved leaving a dark brown liquid inside the cup. Narcissa looked at it strangely and back up at Harry, her nose wrinkling.
" Harry, dear..I don't think that's the same color that I drank this morning," she said slowly.
" I'm not finished yet," Harry replied. He added cream and sugar, and stirred. Soon the coffea turned into a rich caramel brown and the aroma filled the kitchen.
Narcissa smiled happily and patted Harry on the arm, taking the steaming mug from his hands. " Thank you Harry..I better go give this to Sirius.." and she walked off.
Harry turned to see Hermione sitting at the kitchen table, looking bored. He frowned slightly, wondering why they were in the house in the first place. Oh yes..the Fizzing Whizzbees. " You wait here, Mione," Harry spoke up, dashing up the stairs. He grabbed a bunch of the large, white sherbert balls and hurried back downstairs, dropping the lot on the table.
Hermione opened one apprehensively. " I forgot what these -- " she started, as she started to suck on one. Almost immediately Hermione rose from the kitchen chair and started to rise up into the air, the top of her head grazing the ceiling. She smiled in delight. " Oh, I love these!"
Harry laughed. " We'll be safer outside, Hermione.." He opened the door and Hermione pushed through, still floating. He opened a package and soon the two were flying through the air, laughing as they continued to rise skyward.