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 for every 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 clothes made her wary. 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 Muggles 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 miserable, 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 uffed 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 reviewed 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 respect 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 we 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 stating 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 woman 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 at the blue door. She wasn't tall, more 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 manoeuvred 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 endeavours of her school time, fearing they would pull her out of Hogwarts if they knew what she got up to. Sirius smiled shaking 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 Prongslet." Which 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 a 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 lacing his fingers together and looking to the floor. Hermione said nothing keeps listening.
"She's going 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 notice later today. 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 Buckbeak. 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 stupidness. Some woman 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 rejoin the adults.
They found a rather interesting sight when Hermione and Harry walked through the sitting-room door. Joyce and Narcissa were sitting on the grey couch, Joyce handling the remote while Narcissa stared at the TV with wide eyes. On it, the channel changed quite a few times. She blinked before turning back to Hermione's mother.
"And these are pictures from all around the world?" She asked utterly surprised. Joyce shook her head, smiling at the amazement of the other woman.
"Mostly, the channels are national. We have a few from France and Spanish, but mostly it's British." Narcissa nods slowly, staring at the TV still.
"And these...channels, what do they show?"
Mrs Granger shrugged.
"Sports, news, entertainment, cooking shows, something like that. I have no idea how many there are around the world, he has about 30-40, we can receive." The women nodded.
"And this is rare? Something like this must be expensive." Joyce shook her head, tilting it to the side.
"No, while it isn't the cheapest piece in our house it is quite common. Almost every muggle household has at least one."
Mrs Malfoy nodded slowly.
"So, it's like the wizarding wireless." Joyce looked up, noticing the two children smirking in the doorway. Harry stepped up.
"Yeah kind of but with like you see pictures and you can save these pictures. Also, it doesn't work with magic at all, of course, hence muggle."
Narcissa was too surprised to notice she was impressed. These people, without magic, had done something wizards couldn't do. There were two-way mirrors and the wireless, but combining both and that without magic was really impressive.
"And this is used for entertainment? What about information and learning? Wouldn't this be good for educating the population or communication?"
Joyce shook her head slowly, before nodding a little.
"Yes, there are educational programs, but it has its drawbacks. Like it is a one-way direction. We can't send from here we can only receive. For communication, we mostly use the phone." Pointing at it. "And learning is great with this but the internet is better. We can't decide what comes next on this device, the people making the channel decided. So if we want to learn let's say about Africa we would have to hope a program about Africa came up."
Narcissa followed the pointed finger.
"And what does this small box do?" Joyce stood up, walking over.
"Pretty simple, you pick this thing up and you can speak into this end and the other person with a similar device can hear you." Narcissa frowned.
"How do you know who you are talking to? And what range does it has? Do you state who you want to talk to?"
Joyce chuckled a little. It was fascinating, she had to explain this for the first time in years, ever since Hermione had been like three.
"No, back in the day it was done this way. Today you see these numbers? Every one of these devices has its own number. You dial it in and the system connects you to the right one. As for range, there is no limit as long as it is connected to the line. I frequently call my sister in Australia."
This made Narcissa's jaw drop, totally forgetting the fact she was impressed by muggles! This was a world she didn't understand at all, but she had always thought of muggles as these lowlife creatures, scraping on the real world. That they could do something wizards and witches tried for years and years to comprehend had never occurred to her.
"This is...interesting. I wonder why wizards did not pick up these at all." Hermione took that to come forth, her knowledge like a river released from its floodgates.
"That's pretty simple. All these devices work on electricity, the phone, TV, the lamps, heating everything. Like...Like magic is the life-blood of our society is electricity the one for the muggle world, but magic and electricity don't mix very well. They interfere with each other making the devices fail or even break down. Most magical households are so filled with magic, with wards, with warming charms and so on, it wouldn't work like that, but it is not unheard of. A girl from school, Cho Chang." Harry tensed a little at the name of the beautiful girl he had secretly watched over the last couple of months. "Has a phone at the front of their estate. Her family comes from China and she calls her relatives sometimes."
Narcissa nodded, looking thoughtful. She had sometimes thought about the muggle world, how sad it must be living there. She had always imagined it would be like their own only everything magical gone. No magical warmth, no transportation, no floo, no charms no nothing. That muggles could have things that act in a similar way was, interesting. It was cute, like children trying to imitate their parents, but maybe more like teenagers than three years old, like she thought before. She had to know more.
"What else is different?" She asked the muggle-born witch at her side. Hermione smiled, leading Narcissa out of the room, pointing out and explaining the way the lightbulbs worked. Harry stayed behind with Joyce.
"Your..uhm cousin. She is a strange woman." Joyce stated after a moment, looking at the boy. He just shrugged.
"She was raised in one of the oldest families there are in the wizarding world and had never even met a muggle. Her family taught her...condescension towards muggles. I thought it would be good for her to actually meet some and learn that the grass on the other side of the fence is also green." Joyce raised her eyebrow a little.
"Condescension?" She asked with a little strain in her voice. He sighed, oh damn.
"Yes. She had been taught that wizards are better in every way than muggles, like being a superior race. A superstition that was shared with her...husband and his son and a lot of her own circle." The frown on her face deepened, thinking about someone sounding like a magic supremacist in her house, being invited without her knowledge.
"I am not sure if I like this Mr Potter." She stated firmly. He sighed in return once more.
"Yeah me neither. I hope I can show her that this blood superiority is stupid old fashioned thinking. She is a really lovely person, she was just with the wrong crowd for so long, she is..." He stopped at the firm gaze of Hermione's mother.
"Mr Potter, while I do believe we are a product of our surroundings we have to be accountable for our believes. Don't make excuses for bad behaviour or you will close your eyes against the bad sides of people."
Harry for a moment, thought of Dumbledore and how he always thought people could be redeemed and should be helped instead of being punished. That was right, you can't ignore the responsibility of someone only for being from a bad home or making the wrong friends. That led to ignoring a problem and letting it grow and fester.
"You are right Mrs Granger. I will think about it, but let me assure you, she isn't so bad. She hasn't insulted you or your family, is interested in the muggle way and she has been polite in every turn. I don't think that is normal behaviour of hers to someone she has...prejudice against and it's more than I thought when we came here. Even though she is accountable for her choices, she should also get her chance to change her mind. I would like that."
Joyce Granger softened her face a little, still worried but this passionate defence was something she liked to see in her daughter's friends. He had a firm look in his eyes and while Hermione has told her about Harry and how he defended her and their friend that Ron, it was good to see this steel and protective look in the boy with her own eyes.
"Very well, Mr Potter I wish you the best of luck. May I ask if your godfather has the same, thoughts?"
Harry quickly shook his head, grinning a little when he thought of Padfoot.
"No, Padfoot is quite the opposite. He is rather open-minded. He was actually kicked out of his family for turning his nose on this whole blood purity nonsense. He often states he thought of my mom like a sister and she was muggle-born. He doesn't really care for the high-society, which is funny as being Lord of an Ancient house and being something like royal."
For a moment it turned quiet between the two of them. Mrs Granger blinked very slowly, before getting her footing back.
"Royal?" Harry slammed his hand over his mouth. Oh damn, that shouldn't have come out of his mouth.
"I...uhhhh...please forget that."
The frown returned to her face, looking at him sternly.
"Mr Potter, that isn't something you just wave of. He is related to the queen?" She almost whispered in some kind of awe. For that now Harry chuckled.
"No, he is not. He is...a nobleman, but please don't ask him about it he hates it. He only has done it to get custody of myself and still doesn't like it. There are a few old families in the wizarding world and there are four, well now only three, that are so old they have been there basically forever. The Black family is one of them, making them...I mean us, something special in the wizarding world apparently. Nonsense if you ask Padfoot and something outdated if you ask me, but this is what our family apparently is. We want to use this to make the world a better place."
Mrs Granger nodded, thinking to herself, Her finger tipped against her lower lip for a while, while she thought.
"All right, I will not make a scene about this. The whole concept of royalty is strange to me anyway."
Harry nodded in agreement.
"I can agree with that."
Then she turned her head, smiling at the boy.
"Hermione told me you are with him for three days only and only known that he was there for a few weeks. Yet you already consider him so dearly. I'm sorry if I intrude but at the bits and pieces I gathered from my daughter's tales, you had a rather...unpleasent upbringing."
Harry flinched a little averting his eyes, looking down to the floor. Mrs Granger stepped a step back, raising her hand in an excusing way.
"I am sorry Mr Potter, I don't want to intrude." Harry shook his head slowly, looking still on the floor. The voices the other people could be heard in the kitchen while the silence was there.
"It's okay. My aunt and uncle,...aren't very nice people. I really don't want to talk about it." Mrs Granger nodded before tilting her head slightly.
"But you should." Harry raised his head, frowning a little, making the older woman raised her hand again.
"No, sorry that came out wrong Mr Potter. I meant don't bury it inside you. Talk to your godfather, your friends, preferably a psychologist about this. I have no degree in psychology but I can recognize a hurt child when I see one, and you, young man, have very hurt eyes. Don't think I didn't notice the remnants of a bruise on your cheek or the way you flinch away from certain things. These wounds tend to heal unhealthy if unchecked. Do yourself a favour and find someone you can trust with this."
Harry stiffened, looking at the floor for a while, thinking to himself. This was a really strange visit.
After a while, all six of them returned to the sitting room. Hermione has shown Narcissa quite a few things around the house and she was surprised about what got her interested. Cell-phones were nothing interesting to her at all, thinking it was just a simple advancement over the normal phone. On the other hand, the dehumidifier in the basement got Narcissa's interest quite a bit. Drying charms were used like a hair-drier or vaporised humidity on something but never removed the water out of the air, causing to this day wizards and witches to dry their clothes on clotheslines or had problems with mould. While it could be cleared out with a simple vanishing spell they had never thought about removing the problem at all.
Same was with other random things around the house. The idea of a pen was utter confusing for Narcissa. Self-inking quills just transferred ink from a bottle to the quill itself, still, an inkpot was needed. Also, they were always inked making their transport a hassle. For muggles to have a more simple and elegant was of doing this was incredible for her.
Narcissa had gotten a thoughtful look on her face while they had walked through this house. The Muggles weren't what she expected and while there were many MANY things wizards did better, more easily or were overall superior, she had to admit muggles had some things going for them. Still, wizards were at an advantage as a whole, but maybe muggles weren't as inferior as she thought they would be.
They sat in the sitting room now, talking about a few fun things, when Mr Granger, shuffling uncomfortably for a moment and shooting a few looks to his wife, finally spoke up.
"Mr Black, I mean Sirius, we would like to ask for a favour." While Sirius tilted his head to the side, Narcissa stiffed. Favours meant a lot in the wizarding world and could mean a lot. She was on edge all the sudden.
"How may I help you, David?"
Once more looking at his wife Mr Granger sighed folding his hands.
"Look, ever since Professor McGonagall brought the letter here, explaining what these little mishaps that happened around our Hermione happened mean, we know there is magic around the world, yet this decree about minors is unnerving."
Narcissa chimed in crossing her arms. "That decree is there for a reason. Children have hurt themselves in the past and especially Mu...Muggleborn where the parents don't have the knowledge what to do at these moments, the statue of secrecy aside." David raised his hands waving a little while shaking his head.
"Oh no you misunderstand. We understand why Hermione can't do magic around here and that supervision is needed and all that. It's just we actually saw only a little bit of magic over the past few years. Professor McGonagall made a teapot tap-dance and we see just a little bit when we bring Hermione to Diagon Alley, but other than that." He shrugged a little, while Sirius nodded.
"I remember a similar talk when James parents visited Lily's parents for the first time." He paused for a moment, before elaborating. "I mean Harry's grandparents. Anyway, yeah I could do some magic, no harms done. What would you like to see?"
He grinned like a child on Christmas, pulling his wand. The Grangers looked at each other, while Harry and Hermione smirked a little. Then David shrugged.
"We have no idea what can be done actually. We don't ask Hermione too many questions about it. Being muggle means we will never be fully part of this world." He said the word a little sneering like he didn't like it at all, which is understandable. It is a rather belittling word after all.
Sirius smiled.
"Fine no harm I-" He raised his wand but Narcissa slapped on his hand.
"Siri. Remember we are at a muggle house. With two children having the trace on them. While the ministery is rather carefree about magical children, this is different." Sirius sighed nodding. Then he got a smirk.
"Good thing I know the head of the DMLE very well."
He pointed his wand at the floor, whispering an incantation. The Grangers looked in awe when a white and silver dog jumped out of his wand, looking up, happily panting, one ear nicked to the side.
"Amelia, this is Sirius. I'm at the Family home of the Grangers, with Harry and their daughter. I will perform magic around here for today, so if one of their traces is acting up that's me. Thanks." He nodded and the dog disappeared in the floor. Both Granger parents looked at the piece of floor with fascination.
"That was...something," Joyce said with a smile, taking hold of her husband's hand. "And that...animal." Sirius smiled nodding.
"It's called a Patronus." David nodded. "That Patronus, how does it know where to go or who to talk to? I mean there should be more than one witch called Amelia."
Sirius nodded before thinking for a moment.
"Well, to cast a spell, you need a certain mindset. Most times it is control and calm, focus, but a few work different. The Patronus charm works with happy memories. You remember something happy for it to work. The strength of happiness determines the power of the spell but that isn't all. While it is used mostly for fighting some of the vilest creatures out there, creatures so dark they can't stand this ray of happiness, it can be used to relay messages. It's rather rarely used this way, but it happens. For that, you need a happy memory about the person. So I could produce hundreds for Prongslet here." He ruffled his hand through his godson's hair, almost knocking his glasses from his head.
"But I would never be able to send a message to let's say, Professor Snape." Mr Granger frowned a little.
"We heard about this man. He seems...unpleasant." Narcissa bristled a little, staring at Sirius for a moment. Her cousin noticed the gaze shot at him.
"Snape...yeah, I can't say I like him very much myself. We went to school with each other and we had...not a lot in common. I have heard from a friend he isn't the best teacher, but even I as someone who doesn't like him at all, have to say he is an extraordinary potions master."
Mr Granger frowned, crossing his arms.
"I am not sure if that justifies his bl-" But he was cut short by a silver and white bird jumping from the ground and sitting in front of Sirius. It opened its beak and the voice of a really angry woman spilt out.
"Sirius Orion Black! I am NOT your secretary or clean-up crew! I am the head of the bloody DMLE! I have more important things to do than caring for your stupid little pranks! If you continue to contact me about such nonsense I will hex your ears to your arse the next time we see each other. Floo the Department for underaged wizarding by Merlin's beard!" With a loud snap sound, the bird popped away. Sirius had lowered his head between his shoulders the moment he had been berated, flinching ever so slightly. For a moment it was silent then Harry started chuckling before laughing out loud.
"Damn Padfoot, she got you good. I think you will have to make up for that in the future." Grumbling Sirius swatted his godson over the arm.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence Prongslet. Yeah, Melia sounded pretty annoyed didn't she?" Sirius asked with still a flinch on his face. Harry shrugged his shoulders.
"Yeah. Well, you have to hand it to her, she has done quite a lot for you the last few days and you didn't make her job a lot easier. Also, she asked you to keep it low." Sirius placed his hand on his chest in fake hurt.
"Excuse me for being locked up in Azkaban for twelve years and breaking out just so you little devils can terrorize me on every turn. Maybe I should ask Melia out to dinner to make up." For a moment Harry flinched, but Sirius smiled and bumped his shoulder into Harrys, winking at the boy.
Narcissa coughed slightly, making Sirius turn to the Grangers. They stared at him with something of confusion and worry.
"Y-You were captive? And broke out somewhere?" Sirius sighed. Merlin damn, he had tried to avoid this and by the look on Hermione's face, she too.
"Oka, this...might take a while."
And so Sirius told Joyce and David about the way he escaped prison, only to realize he had to tell them why he was in prison in the first place, but then he realised for that you had to explain the Potters and for that, he had to explain Voldemort. It took about two hours until he finally finished.
Joyce stared at him, looking like she needed some time to digest this.
"S-Sirius, that sounds horrible. I am so sorry you had to endure this! And to think there was a war, one unnoticed by us at all. Horrible, really horrible." Sirius nodded, sighing before he put his arm around his godson's shoulders.
"Yeah but thanks to this young lad and your own daughter I am free now and will make up to Prongslet the years we lost." David turned his eyes to his daughter, who was now squirming and looking into her lap, blushes over her cheeks.
"Hermione, why didn't you say anything? That is wonderful, why couldn't you tell us?" Hermione looked up, uncertain, fiddling with her sleeve for a moment.
"I-" She looked down again. "I don't know. It was so much and to take it in and I would have needed to explain and I was worried you would be angry with me for being in that situation because it was kind of dangerous and if you knew you might not allow me to return to Hogwarts and..." She broke over when her mother pulled her into a hug, making Narcissa smile a little. She had this urge for her a moment too, a fearful child in front of her. Thank Merlin her mother did it, she wasn't sure how she would have later handled comforting a mudblood.
"It's okay honey, of course, we are worried, but we are not mad. You did a good thing helping Sirius. You did very well, and while we have always been a little concerned about the safety in your school we know you love it there and we wouldn't stop you from doing what you love. But please tell us about what happens there, it makes us feel safer that way." Her father placed his hand on her shoulder too, smiling at his daughter. Harry smiled, this was a family, and he put his hand onto Sirius' knee for a moment, thinking he finally had this too. Sirius brushed through Harry's unruly hair and looked at the Grangers with a warm expression. Then he raised his wand.
"So, now what was that back a few hours about you wanting to see magic." He stated with a smirk, swinging his wand.