Harry and Sirius went to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries to get Harry's magical booster shots over the weekend—and after that, the shots really were through. Next up was, as Dr. Grant had suggested, Harry's dentist appointment. Just like they had with Bunsen and Barnes, LLP, they found a dental hygienist in the phone book.

Sirius was getting good at using the phone by now, so after he and Harry picked out a family-owned dental business owned by a young couple (it had very good reviews, and the couple looked nice enough), he was able to arrange everything flawlessly.

Harry, however, was nervous for his first dentist appointment, so when he and Sirius landed in the parking lot Tuesday afternoon, he was reluctant to go inside.

"Did my parents take me to the dentist before?" Harry asked.

"No," said Sirius. "They were planning to do so after your second birthday, but…something came up."

Sirius looked sad, and Harry nodded in understanding. Unlike the doctor's, this was the REAL first time he had been to the dentist.

There weren't a lot of patients in the dentist's waiting room at this time of day. Besides Harry and Sirius, there was a young couple, their toddler playing with the waiting room toys, a surly-looking teenager with braces and a girl Harry's age reading the latest issue of The Economist.

Harry wasn't particularly happy about going to the dentist, but there was one good thing about visiting Muggle-inhabited places—nobody recognized him there. To the Muggle community, he was just another person, not the Boy Who Lived.

Or so he thought.

When the hygienist walked into the waiting room and said Harry's name, the girl reading The Economist jumped as if her seat had suddenly caught fire. She lowered the magazine and stared around, her brown eyes finally falling on Harry. She mouthed, "Are you really?"

"Um…yes," Harry said, but as she opened her mouth to speak, the dentist repeated his name, and Sirius nudged him to stand up.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Sirius asked.

"Um…yeah, sure," said Harry. Sirius got up too, and they followed the dentist down the hall and into the examination room.

Harry didn't think anything could hurt worse than his shots, but his teeth-cleaning was downright painful. After it was finally over, the dentist handed him a toothbrush, some mouthwash and dental floss, and told him to go to the waiting room while she and Sirius discussed his "diagnosis".

"Okay," said Harry.

When he got back into the waiting room, there was the same girl from before, waiting for him. The first thing she said was, "I've read ALL about you!"

"You—you have?"

"Of course! I'm Hermione Granger, by the way," said the girl, reaching out to shake hands. She had loads of bushy brown hair, large front teeth, and a bossy voice.

"I'm Harry Potter," Harry unnecessarily. "Well, you know that already…"

"I do," she said excitedly, and then lowered her voice so that the couple and the teenager couldn't hear her. "In Diagon Alley I got some extra books for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."

Sirius had warned Harry about being famous, but he was in books, too? This was crazy!

"For as long as I can remember, I never knew I was special," he told her. "I mean, I could always do weird stuff that I couldn't explain, but that was just it, I couldn't explain it. Then one day my godfather turns up and tells me I'm a wizard."

"What's your godfather's name?" Hermione asked.

"Sirius Black."

"Oh!" Hermione's brown eyes grew wide. "I know that name—he was in some of those books, too!"

"Yeah, he was framed for murder, and for a while everyone thought he was a Dark wizard," Harry told her. "So he would be."

"Framed?" she repeated. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I imagine those books are a little outdated now, because—er, you know what a Pensieve is, right?" Harry figured that if Hermione knew just as much about his story as he did, she would know about magical objects as well. And sure enough—

"Of course."

"They used a Pensieve to bring up Sirius's real memories of that day," Harry began, and he told Hermione the true story. Her eyes grew even wider as she listened. Harry ended the story by telling her about how Sirius had rescued Harry from the Muggles, and that they lived together now.

"That's amazing!" she said. "I'm sorry your aunt and uncle were so mean to you. I promise not all Muggles are like that. My parents are Muggles and they're lovely people."

"Oh, I know," said Harry. "I'm sure Muggles are just like witches and wizards and Squibs—there are bad ones and good ones. I have a Squib neighbor. She's weird, but not mean. She likes cats."

"I like cats too," said Hermione. "I've always wanted one."

"So…what are you doing here?" Harry asked her, and they both sat down. "Getting your teeth cleaned, too?"

"No, my parents couldn't find me a babysitter," said Hermione, rolling her eyes. "I've tried to convince them I can stay at home on my own now that I'm almost twelve, but they're a little protective."

"Almost twelve…" Harry frowned. "Does that mean you'll be a second year at Hogwarts?"

"No, I just have a really early birthday, so I'm going into my first year too," she replied. "I got my letter last July, and it was such a surprise, but I was ever so pleased—it's the best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard. I've learned all our course books by heart…I just hope it will be enough."

"I'm sure it will be," said Harry. "I mean, I haven't memorized my course books."

"Have you tried out any spells?" Hermione asked. "I have, and they've all worked well for me."

"I haven't," Harry admitted, but then he had an idea. "But maybe…you know, after your parents and Sirius are done with my diagnosis…we could hang out and practice?"

Harry was afraid she would say no, but he was surprised at how she brightened at his suggestion.

"Oh, that sounds lovely!" she replied. "I've got my wand right here! I always carry mine with me, do you? I do hope Sirius will let me join you, it's not as if he knows me, I promise I'll be a great guest."

"As long as you don't accuse him of being a murderer or anything, I think you'll be fine," Harry told her, grinning. Only a few moments later, Sirius and Mr. and Mrs. Granger stepped into the waiting room, each of them smiling.

"So I see you've met our daughter, Hermione," said Mr. Granger. "How nice."

"Harry is nice, Father," Hermione said back, beaming. "In fact, we were wondering if perhaps I could visit him at his flat for a few hours. We want to go over our books for school. He's going to Hogwarts, too."

Sirius's eyes widened as he looked back and forth between Harry and Hermione a few times, but then he smiled.

"If it's okay with Hermione's parents, it's fine with me," he said. "Guests are always welcome."

"Another…another one!" If Sirius looked surprised, it was nothing compared to Hermione's parents. However, it seemed to be pleasant surprise. Harry thought they looked happy to see Hermione making a friend.

"We'll have her back by dinnertime," said Sirius.

"Thank you, Mr. Black," said Mrs. Granger, bending down to kiss Hermione on the cheek. "Have fun, dear."

"I will, Mother," said Hermione brightly.

"So…you're a witch, eh?" Sirius asked casually as they exited the dentist's office.

"Oh yes," said Hermione. "Since then I've tried to learn everything I could about the Wizarding world, you know, I hope it will be enough, I was just telling Harry…"

"I can help you there," Sirius told her. "I grew up in a wizard family. I've been teaching Harry all about the Wizarding world, and if you want, I could teach you about it too."

"That would be wonderful!" said Hermione, clasping her hands together in sheer delight. "You're the first real wizard I've ever met, the first fully-trained one, that is! I thought I wouldn't get to meet any until I got to Hogwarts and met my teachers."

"I'm honored," said Sirius. "But the teachers won't disappoint, either. I hope McGonagall is still there. She can be strict, but she's an amazing witch. And even though she's strict, she's fair."

"So how did you get here?" Hermione asked, as they got to the parking lot. "Car, I suppose?"

"My flying motorcycle," Sirius said proudly, gesturing to it.

Hermione turned pale.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked, concerned.

"I-I'm a little scared of flying," she admitted.

"No need to worry," Sirius told her. "I can just drive on the road, like I do with my Muggle girlfriend. But since there are three of us, we'll probably need…"

Sirius flicked his wand, and a sidecar became attached to the motorcycle.

"Oh, wow!" said Hermione.

"I'll ride in the sidecar," Harry offered, of course because he wanted to be polite to Hermione, but also because he was actually a little smaller than she was. Hopefully this would change after he started taking Dr. Grant's growth supplements.

"Very well," said Sirius. "Here we go."

This was the first time Harry had driven on the road in Sirius's motorcycle. It wasn't exactly the same, but he didn't want to make Hermione do something she was afraid of doing. Sirius kicked the engine to life, and they headed home.

…

As soon as Harry, Hermione and Sirius entered the flat, Sirius asked Hermione what she wanted for dinner, but she seemed flustered at this and told him it was his choice. Sirius, in turn, told her that she was the guest and therefore dinner was her pick tonight.

"Why don't you try some of Barbara's brownies?" Harry suggested.

"For one thing, you ate them all, and another thing, brownies aren't dinner," said Sirius, but he was grinning. "I could invite her over, though, if you two don't mind. She's a much better cook than I am."

"Excuse me," said Hermione, "but who's Barbara?"

"My Muggle girlfriend," Sirius told her. "Would you and Harry be okay with her cooking dinner for us?"

"I wouldn't mind meeting her, not at all," said Hermione. "What about you, Harry?"

"Sure," said Harry, "as long as she bakes more brownies."

The pair of them raced to Harry's room to study magic after that (Harry hurriedly stuffed his Prongs toy under the bed). He pulled his wand out of his pocket and grabbed The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 out of his bookbag. Then he asked Hermione which spell she would like to practice first.

"How about the Alohamora charm?" she suggested. "It opens locked doors, windows—anything that can be locked, really."

Harry remembered how Sirius used to unlock the Dursleys' door with magic. Could Hermione do that spell, too? He led Hermione out of his room, and locked the door behind them. "Show me how it's done."

"Alohamora!" said Hermione, pointing her wand at the locked door, which sprung open. Harry was quite impressed. "Now you try."

"Okay," said Harry, feeling a little nervous, as this was the first spell he'd ever tried. They locked the door again, and Harry attempted the spell—"Alohamora!"

No luck. Harry felt his face start to get hot. Maybe he wouldn't be such a good wizard after all…

"It's okay," said Hermione. "Let's try a different one, the Hover Charm."

"Fine," said Harry dejectedly. Hermione magically unlocked his room door again, and they sat down on Harry's bed.

"Right now. The bigger and heavier the object, the harder it is to make it levitate," said Hermione, grabbing a ballpoint pen from Harry's desk. "So we should start with something small and light, like this pen. Do it like this—Wingardium Leviosa!"

The pen floated up into the air. Hermione let it hover for a moment, then let it down.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" said Harry, waving his wand. The pen twitched slightly.

"See, it's not so much of a wave, more of a swish-and-flick," said Hermione, demonstrating with her wand. "Swish and flick."

"Swish and flick," said Harry, trying to imitate her movements. He was feeling more idiotic by the moment. "Wingardium Leviosa. Wingardium Leviosa!"

Still, the pen just gave a feeble sort of jump.

"Well, that's something," said Hermione.

"It's just like I thought," Harry said glumly. "I'm never going to be a good wizard."

"Don't say that," Hermione insisted. "You just have to keep practicing!"

Harry didn't really feel like practicing magic any longer, at least not with someone who seemed much better at it than he was, so he was glad when they were interrupted by the sound of footsteps. Sirius was standing in the doorway, looking mildly interested.

"Doing magic, huh?" he said, looking at their wands.

"She is," Harry replied. "I was utterly useless at it."

"What spells did you try?" Sirius asked, sitting down on the bed.

"We tried Alohamora and Wingardium Leviosa," Hermione told Sirius. "Harry didn't manage to unlock the door but he almost levitated a ballpoint pen."

"Hmm…maybe we just want to switch gears for a little," Sirius said thoughtfully, then grinned. "I could teach you some offensive and defensive magic instead. You never know when that might come in handy."

Hermione looked like Christmas had come early. She seemed very pleased that they got to learn from a fully-trained wizard.

"What will you teach us?" she gasped.

"Well, a lot of offensive and defensive magic is pretty advanced, and not something a lot of first years could do," said Sirius, getting to his feet and rolling up his sleeves. "But there's still got to be a few…let's see now…"

"Maybe you could just show us," Harry offered; he, like Hermione, was very anxious to see offensive and defensive magic—well, he liked to watch Sirius do magic in general, really, but this was exciting.

"I don't want to hex either of you," said Sirius. "Are you sure?"

"Do it! I want to be hexed!" Hermione told him eagerly, jumping up and down. "As…as long as you can fix it, of course."

"Hmm…think you can handle a simple Leg-Locker Curse?" Sirius asked hesitantly.

"Oh yes, I've read about that one! It was in one of the books I got for background reading! Here—" Hermione pointed her wand at Sirius and said, "Locomotor Mortis!"

Sirius froze from the waist down. But he beamed, and so did Hermione.

"Good job," said Sirius, pointing his wand at his legs and saying quietly, "Finite", which freed him instantly.

"Yeah," said Harry, impressed. "Good job."

"Know any more?" Sirius asked.

"We want to see you do some, Sirius," said Harry earnestly.

"Do something really advanced," Hermione added. "Something I won't be able to do."

"That'll be hard," Sirius told her with a grin. "Some of the spells that just came to mind would destroy this flat, and my Muggle girlfriend, Barbara, will be here any moment…eh, well, have you been able to Disarm anyone yet, Hermione?"

"I haven't tried," said Hermione. "But I could now! Isn't it Expelliarmus?"

"Yes," said Sirius, "but do you want to let Harry have a go at it first?"

"Oh…yeah." Hermione flushed a little, then smiled. "My teachers are always saying that—'let someone else answer for a change, Miss Granger.' Well, in that case, you go ahead, Harry."

All of a sudden, Harry felt as if he was onstage; he was very aware of Hermione and Sirius watching him.

"Your job," Sirius began, "is to make my wand fly out of my hand by saying this incantation: Expelliarmus!"

"O-Okay," said Harry, and he brandished his wand at Sirius. "Expelliarmus!"

Sirius's wand flew right out of his hand. Hermione cheered, and Sirius said enthusiastically, "Good job! See, I knew you could do it!"

"Try it on me now," said Hermione excitedly, darting in front of Harry; he Disarmed her as well.

"Do you think you can do it, Hermione?" asked Sirius, who had picked up his wand from the floor—only, of course, to be Disarmed again by both Harry and Hermione. Two spells at once blasted him backwards onto the bed, and he got up, laughing.

"I'm very proud," he told them, just as someone knocked on the door. "Ah, that'll be Barbara. She's making spaghetti and meatballs tonight, with chocolate pie for dessert."

Sirius picked up his wand again, smiled at them, and left the room.

"Is Barbara nice?" Hermione asked, sitting down on the bed and setting her wand next to her.

"She's…she's all right," said Harry. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know," said Hermione. "I've just…never had a girlfriend, that's all. It can get kind of lonely."

"So all your friends are boys?"

"No, all my friends are nonexistent," said Hermione sardonically. "I think the kids at my school think I'm a little strange, you know…a teacher's pet…"

"But you're really nice, too," said Harry, "and smart. I can tell you'll be a very powerful witch. Sirius says it doesn't matter if you come from a Muggle or pureblood family. You've of talent—and with some training—"

"Thank you, Harry," she said, looking a little embarrassed, but flattered. "I just hope I do well at Hogwarts."

"I hope I do, too," Harry admitted. "I don't really have any friends either."

"We could be friends," said Hermione shyly, tentatively, as if she expected him to refuse, to tell her he would never want to be friends. "If—if you want to, I mean."

"Of course," said Harry. "Now we know we'll each have at least one friend when we get there. I hope you're in Gryffindor with me."

"Gryffindor does sound the best, from what I've read in Hogwarts, A History," said Hermione. "Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad either, though."

Hermione smiled slightly. "Listen, do you…do you want to work on magic again?"

"Sure." Harry grabbed his wand and stood up. "Maybe you can teach me that…that Locomotive Mortim or whatever it was."

"Locomotor Mortis," said Hermione, and laughed.

…

Harry and Hermione spent the next fifteen or so minutes practicing magic. Harry became very good at the Disarming spell Sirius had showed them. Hermione convinced him to go back to Wingardium Leviosa, and eventually, he had been able to make his pillow float. Sirius walked in just as Hermione was trying to levitate the bed.

"Okay, you two, class is over," said Sirius jokingly. "Time for dinner."

Harry jumped off the bed and raced to the kitchen (Barbara's cooking was sure to be as delicious as ever). Hermione went more slowly, seeming nervous.

"H-Hi," she said to Barbara.

"Why, hello there," said Barbara kindly. "You must be Hermione Granger."

Harry thought Barbara looked kind of pretty. Her dark hair was tightly curled, and she was wearing gold hoop earrings with a matching gold necklace; the pendant was a sideways heart, encrusted with diamonds (probably fake, but they looked just like real diamonds). Barbara didn't normally wear a lot of makeup, but she was wearing lip gloss and bronze eyeshadow, which highlighted her hazel eyes. Her nails were painted bright pink. Her skirtsuit was baby-blue, and she was wearing black high heels.

"Yes, I am," said Hermione. "Your hair looks nice. I can never get mine to do anything cool."

"You'd be amazed at what you can do with the right hair products and styling tools," Barbara said, gesturing to her hair. "I used a curling iron for this, y'know…and I have to use a special shampoo for long, thick hair." She paused, then smiled. "I could give you a makeover sometime, if you'd like. Just for fun."

"Oh, um…sure!" said Hermione, brightening. "That does sound fun."

"These meatballs are fantastic, Barbara," Sirius told her through a mouthful of beef. "I don't know how you do it."

"Cooking's just my talent, I guess," she replied. "I'm not really good at anything else."

"Don't be so modest," said Sirius, winking, and she giggled.

…

After dinner, Barbara left to go back to her own flat. Sirius took Hermione home in a cab this time, so that none of them would have to ride in a sidecar. Hermione smiled sweetly at Harry as they got into the cab.

"How come you don't smile with your teeth?" Harry asked her.

"Oh…" Hermione turned a little pink. "People tease me for my teeth, you know…sometimes they call me Beaver Girl. I don't want to give them ammunition, so I stopped smiling with my teeth."

"That's terrible," Harry said angrily, remembering how it had made him feel when people made fun of his appearance. "Why do kids tease about things like that?"

"I don't know," said Hermione. "I'm supposed to get my braces next year, but I don't think that will be such a good idea, either. They'll probably call me 'Metal-Mouth' or something."

"Nah," said Sirius thoughtfully. "I'm sure there's some way to shrink your teeth by magic."

"It wouldn't be good to do it without my parents' permission," Hermione told him. "Thanks, though."

"Well, anyway, you can always smile with your teeth when you're around me," Harry told Hermione. "Because we're friends, and friends don't care about little things like that. Right, Sirius?"

"Right," said Sirius.

Hermione smiled again, this time with teeth, and Harry thought it was a pretty smile anyway, even if her teeth were a bit overlarge. When the taxi dropped her off by her building, he was sad to see her go.

"Thanks for having me over," she said kindly. "I'll keep in touch. You've already got my parents' phone number, haven't you?"

"We have," Sirius replied. "Goodnight, Hermione."

"Goodnight," she said, shutting the door, and the cabbie drove off. Harry and Sirius practiced the Disarming Charm a little more that night, but it wasn't quite the same.