The days passed considerably quickly. Draco avoided Harry and Hermione as much as he could, the only time the three of them were together in a room at the same time was during meal times, when Sirius and Narcissa insisted they all eat together.
Hermione had been visiting for four days already. Her mind wasn't wandering as much, and she wasn't so easily distracted anymore. Thoughts of Draco were now seeping from her head pretty fast. Harry's mind seemed to be at ease as well. He rarely had that far-away look on his face when they talked, and he wasn't very grumpy about the subject of his parents anymore either.
Hermione, who was in her room flipping through Hogwarts, A History, and looking for a funny picture of Snape to show to Harry, felt a sudden urge for something to eat. She could hear her stomach growling and she glanced at the clock. It was already 2 o' clock in the afternoon, lunch was delicious, but obviously she hadn't eaten as much as she wanted to. Heading down the stairs, Hermione could hear voices coming from the kitchen. She paused a minute by the doorway, listening. It was Sirius and Narcissa, not Draco.
" Hello, Hermione dear," Narcissa greeted as Hermione entered the kitchen, her eyes flicking around quickly to see if Draco was present. Relief swept through her.
" Hello Narcissa," Hermione said. She clasped her hands behind her back. " Do you have anymore of that steak and kidney pie you cooked for lunch?" she asked politely.
Narcissa smiled gleefully and got up from the table, opening the fridge. " Let me see if we have some left.." she said, her voice muffled as she stuck her head inside the fridge, looking around. " Sirius might have eaten it all..the pig," she added teasingly.
Sirius rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. " Speak for yourself," he said, pretending to be offended.
Narcissa laughed and pulled out a plate with one more slice of the pie. " Here you go dear," she said, starting to hand Hermione the plate. As Hermione held out her hands to take it, Narcissa snatched it back, clicking her tounge. " Oops..I forgot. It needs to warmed.." and she turned to the microwave. After pressing a few buttons, which turned the microwave on, then off, then on again..Narcissa stepped back, dumbfounded. " Sirius..how on earth do you use this Muggle contraption in the first place?" she asked desperately.
Hermione covered her mouth with her hand to hide her smile. The house was full of magical and Muggle items, and most of the Muggle items still confused Sirius, Narcissa, and even Draco, who was so spoiled from the Wizarding World, he still didn't know what a CD was.
Sirius got up from the table, setting down a copy of the Daily Prophet, and walked over to the microwave, where Narcissa was still standing, hitting the door of it with her wand. " Open!" she commanded, yet the microwave still didn't budge.
Chuckling, Sirius pried Narcissa's wand away. " Love, a microwave doesn't open by magic. It's Muggle invented, remember?"
Narcissa clicked her tounge in disapprovement as Sirius calmly opened the door and set the plate of steak and kidney pie inside it. He then pressed a couple buttons, then start, and the microwave started to give off a low, humming sound as the food was warmed inside it.
" I don't like that thing," Narcissa mumbled to herself, sitting down at the kitchen table and picking up an issue of Witch Weekly. " Oh look, Sirius..Fiona Droolop was spotted feeding Knuts into a..wattayacallit..parking meter," she read. Fiona Droolop, Hermione knew, was a crazy old witch who thought everyone and everything in the world was magical.
Once the pie was warmed, Sirius and Narcissa invited Hermione to come sit down with them. She did so, and set her plate down in front of her, already starting to dig in. Her stomach was growling uncontrollably.
After a few minutes of silence, Sirius and Narcissa reading while Hermione ate, Sirius set his paper down and turned to Hermione, was now drinking some pumpkin juice.
" How's Harry?" he asked bluntly, as if Harry was away on holiday and she was the only one who heard from him.
" Fine.." Hermione replied slowly. Harry was, in fact, upstairs taking a quick nap. After they had stayed up late last night talking and summoning odd things from the house to them, Harry was pretty tired.
" He's not too touchy about his parents anymore?" Sirius asked, his face holding a very serious expression.
Oh. So that's where the conversation was going. Hermione sat up straighter in her chair. " No, he's all right about it now. It must have been a phase, or something."
" Splendid." Sirius sat back in his chair, looking out the window. " Lily and James were wonderful people," he said, more to himself it seemed, than to them. " Two of my favorite people."
Feeling she should say something too, Hermione spoke up. " I saw the picture of the Potters upstairs, in the hall. Harry looks a lot like his father."
Sirius nodded and turned to Hermione. " That's right. Harry is so like James it's uncanny. From his talent in Quidditch right down to his unruly hair."
Hermione smiled, pleased. She knew if Harry was downstairs with them he'd be glad to hear this too, even though they both knew it already.
" Harry's Head Boy, isn't he?" Narcissa asked. " James was Head Boy too, wasn't he, Sirius?"
Hermione nodded quickly. " Oh yes. Harry's a wonderful Head Boy."
" You're Head Girl, aren't you, Hermione?" Sirius asked, turning to her fondly. " It's ironic, actually. Lily was Head Girl too."
" Come to think of it," Narcissa spoke up, leaning back in her chair. Her light blue eyes flashed in amusement. " You and Harry and Lily and James.." her voice trailed off and she turned to Sirius. " Think about it, Sirius. Isn't it funny?"
Sirius glanced at Hermione, then nodded at his wife. " Yes, Narcissa..you're absolutely right!" They both shared a smile.
Hermione glanced down at her half eaten steak and kidney pie, feeling her face flush. She glanced back up at the two adults, wishing they would tell her what they thought was funny. What about her, Harry, and Lily and James Potter?
As if reading Hermione's mind, Sirius turned to face her again. " The things James and Lily and you and Harry have in common..it's funny, Hermione."
" What things?"
" Well.." Sirius sat back in his chair, as if making himself comfortable for a long explanation. Hermione leaned forward eagerly. " Lily was Muggle-born..as are you -- " at this he turned quickly to Hermione. " I don't mean that offensively, of course. You look a lot like Lily, except your hair is long and brown..her hair was red. But your eyes are exactly alike. Lily was very pretty, as are you.."
Hermione flushed at the compliment. She did notice Lily Potter's green eyes were a lot like her own, but she never thought about it too much.
" Harry is looking a lot like James. Except for the glasses, but James was Seeker for our Gryffindor team back then. Very curious too, he was," Sirius continued. " And I was his best friend..we always stuck together. A lot like Harry and Ron."
Hermione's smile widened. " You're right. There's many things we have in common."
Sirius smiled and leaned backward again. " Yes, but that's only the beginning.."