Meet Lucinda Malfoy

Harry had kissed Cho, and that was a good distraction for Hermione. Thinking about Harry's uncomfortable experience was much more appealing than thinking about other things.

It was starting to get on her nerves. She had to deal with all the uncomfortable staring and whispering around and she kept telling herself it really wasn't their fault. Hermione was no longer a bushy haired bookworm with slightly larger teeth which made her look like a bunny. She now looked like a pureblood aristocrat who came from a very noble family and her very mannerisms that had helped her build an image of good muggle-born witch was making her look like a snobby pureblood. Therefore, she resulted to a worse set of mannerisms inspired by Ron. To her surprise it helped greatly. Everyone started to become more friendly toward her.

The weirdest problem was that people automatically expected her to know things that they only expected a pureblood to know. Remus had been kind enough to explain.

"This is their unconscious mind talking Hermione. They know that you're a muggle-born, but their instincts tell them that they're talking to a pureblood. You look a lot like purebloods these days as most of them are the result of inbreeding." He said as he looked at her eyes. "They're turning gray, aren't they?" He said.

"Yes, rumours about me being Dumbledore's illegitimate daughter are going to cease spreading." She said. "Dumbledore told me that my mom couldn't be Marlene."

"He knows your parents? Why didn't he tell us?" He ask with astonishment.

"Unbreakable vow." Hermione answered shortly. "I promised him I wouldn't tell much."

At that moment Sirius appeared next to Lupi.

"Sorry, I was a bit busy. So… I hear that you kissed someone, Harry."

Harry started to look like a tomato.

"That's true." he responded.

"You've got to tell me all about it."

"Are you a fifteen year old witch who's masquerading as Sirius Black." said Hermione with pure contempt.

"Wow, believe it or not, I still feel Lucinda is your mom. You two are so similar. You're going to love her once you meet up."

Hermione smiled.

After the evening meeting they returned to their dorm room. She fell fast asleep but an awful dream woke her up. A horrible dream that didn't seem so bad once she heard Harry's ear-piercing scream.

She jumped off her bed and ran to boys dormitory. Once they managed to awaken Harry they found out that something terrible had happened; Mr. Weasley was attacked by a giant snake.

It was a very stressful situation as they stood in Dumbledore's office, looking at him and waiting for orders.

"He refuses to look at Harry. That's unlike him." she thought to herself.

Did Headmaster know something she didn't?

Dumbledore made an illegal portkey, and sent them to House Black. It did not sit well her to travel by illegal means, but she didn't complain anyway.

When they got there it was complete chaos. Weasleys were crying and Harry had not gained his composure yet.

"Out" a very loud voice somewhere nearby yelled. The portrait of Walburga Black started screaming insults. Hermione was the first to move toward the portrait. The moment she saw her, Walburga Black became quiet and looked at her incredulously. "Bells?" she managed to utter before a blonde woman arrived and waved her wand to shut the curtains. She cast another spell as well that Hermione didn't recognise.

"Lucinda Malfoy. Nice to meet you." she raised her hand to shake Hermione's. She was a bit shocked so she hesitated at first but then she shook her hand. "You must be Hermione. Sirius has talked a lot about you."

"Hi. Yes, that's me. What was that second spell you did?" she asked.

"Oh, that was just a simple Muffliato. It's pretty useful. She can't hear us for an hour or so. It's a shame that I forgot to renew it before you arrived." She smiled. "Let's go meet others."

Lucinda Malfoy turned out to be a very positive, energetic woman. She was new to the Weasleys, but apparently she knew their mother very well.

"Are you sure you're Draco Malfoy's aunt?" Harry asked with a bright smile.

They couldn't stop admiring this woman. She had such a positive impact on everyone.

"Yes, I'm sure. How's he by the way?"

"He's fine, I guess." said Harry politely.

"Harry, what happened?" asked Sirius. Harry told him about his vision. Fred and George were listening intently as if their life depended on it. Their accusatory look that made Harry even more nervous.

Fred had asked if their mom was there.

"No she isn't, she might have guessed that something is wrong if she's checked her clock." Lucinda answered. "The old coot is bound to have reached her by now."

"Not a fan of Dumbledore, huh?" asked Ginny.

"Oh, he's aware of that. I respect his knowledge and leadership, but he's a bit to much Dark Lordish for my taste." she explained. "They way he puts you in dark until the right moment for him, is honestly dangerous and manipulative. However, if Sirius trusts him, I trust him."

Ginny was gaping at her.

"We should go to Saint Mungo's." said George. "We need some proper clothes, of course, do you have any?"

"I do, unfortunately, I can't give them to you." said Sirius with a very serious face.

"Come on!" they all exclaimed.

"How are you going to explain your first hand knowledge of this attack?" he said patiently. "We have to wait for the hospital to inform Molly."

"Why?" Ginny asked.

"We don't want any attention drawn to Harry and the fact that he had visions of events that took place hundreds of miles away!" He said as he was losing his patience. "What would the Ministry's reaction be?"

"That's bullshit." said Lucinda. All the heads turned to her in surprise. Sirius did it so fast a loud click was heard. Lucinda continued, "That shouldn't be your reason for not going. He's your father and you deserve to see him, but think what would Arthur say if he could talk to you now? What would Molly say?" She looked into their eyes.

"They would have asked us to wait, and to not put Harry in trouble." said Fred dejectedly.

"Damn." said Ron.

"We need a drink." said Sirius. He summoned a keg of butter bear from the pantry.

"You're keeping a keg?" Said George.

"Four, actually." He answered.

"It's my fault, I drink a lot," said Lucinda.

"How come you don't get fat." asked Ginny.

"Malfoys don't get fat!" she said as she served the first round.

Soon they received a message from Molly. Mr Weasley was alive and hopefully he would get better soon. She had asked them to stay where they were.

"It says 'still alive'. Does that mean…?" Ginny couldn't stop the tears. Harry seemed extremely disturbed.

"Potter is it?" Lucinda asked. When he nodded. "Would you mind if I called you, Harry?"

It was really weird to be called Harry by someone who looked so much like Lucius Malfoy.

"It's Okay." he responded as he sighed.

"Then call me, Lucinda." she smiled. Harry could see why Siruis liked this woman. " Harry when such magical visions occur, it's really hard to define your amount of control on the events that happen. Let me be frank with you. You had zero control or responsibility regarding what was happening there. I have seen it happen before so please don't blame yourself, okay?"

Harry nodded at her.

Molly arrived in the morning. Oddly she mistook Hermione with Lucinda.

"Merlin! Lucinda you've changed so much." she said.

"Because that's not me, Molly." she laughed as she hugged her. "That's Hermione Granger."

"Oh my! You've changed so much, my dear. Your hair is just like Lucinda's but your face…" she frowned a bit and then shook her head. "Doesn't matter. Forget about it."

She faced her children. "Your father's going to be alright. Bill is staying with him. I think we'll visit him tomorrow. You need to eat something. Sirius dear?"

Kreacher had disappeared so Harry and Sirius made breakfast.

"Charlus Potter would go nuts if he knew his grandchild would cook one day." said Lucinda, "That's one of the things he believed a Potter should never do."

"James had no talent in it as I recall," said Sirius as he was distributing bacon. "I, however, was a natural. My father loved cooking and rare happy moments I shared with him were all here, in the kitchen."

"Oh, that's why you've got a kitchen that can actually be visited. I always wondered why uncle Orion spent so much time in the kitchen."

"James was very bad at potions too. Severus says you've got your mother's talents, fortunately." she pointed at Harry.

"She was great at potions, but I was…" Sirius said.

"Outstanding at it. Yes I remember. You managed to dye Lucius's hair Auburn for a month." She said "That was accomplishing the impossible."

"I was going for black, actually." he said proudly.

"Oh? It's still impressive." she said as looked at him fondly.

Harry send as bit happier today. There was a glint of happiness in his eyes. Hermione wondered if it was because of Sirius's new friend.

"She is good for Sirius, isn't she?" she asked Harry.

"Yeah she's great. She could keep him from going mad here. And I suppose Sirius really likes her. Friendship might be just the beginning." Harry responded softly.

When Molly found out how they had been alerted about her husband through Harry's visions. she hugged Harry so tightly that he feared his longs would pop out.

"Harry dear, you saved Arthur. If you hadn't seen it…." she burst into tears. It took three cups of hot chocolate to calm her down.