HIDDEN BLACK

✧THIS LITTLE SNAKE WILL MAKE THE BEST BUSINESS PARTNER✧

LYRA WOKE UP THE NEXT morning before any of the other girls, finding that her habit hadn't changed throughout the past year. The last night had been a bit awkward; Ginny was welcoming as always but Hermione seemed slightly suspicious, something she just couldn't change. She would have thought that being a muggleborn like herself, Hermione would understand what she had gone through the past year, but if the bushy-haired girl wasn't going to reach out to Lyra, then she wouldn't either.

She felt a bit awkward that no one was up yet, not even Mrs. Weasley, so she just sat awkwardly at the kitchen table and pulled out a book, not trusting herself around all the magical appliances.

Just about twenty minutes later, the first redhead, appropriately Mrs. Weasley, entered the kitchen, nearly jumping in surprise when she saw the Slytherin.

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Weasley!" she whispered, placing her bookmark and closing her book. "I'm an early riser- I didn't know exactly what to do..."

Molly's face softened a bit. "Don't worry, dear, it's quite alright. Would you like anything for breakfast?"

"Um- I'm not sure if wizards have the same things- usually, I just have cereal, but I can really eat anything."

"Hmm, well, I'll be making some porridge for everyone else, if that -"

"Oh, thank you, Mrs. Weasley... can I help with anything? I don't know how to use magical appliances but I can try -"

"Don't think about it deary," said Mrs. Weasley kindly, "you can just stay there and I'll have breakfast ready in a jiffy."

Lyra nodded bashfully and opened her book again, but wasn't necessarily able to focus as she noticed Mrs. Weasley's occasional glances. She didn't know what to do to get herself out of the 'suspicion zone', but she could only hope that it would just pass with time.

Soon after, Mr. Weasley joined the table with a friendly welcome before beginning to look through a sheaf of large parchment tickets. He was wearing what appeared to be a golfing sweater and a very old pair of jeans, slightly too big for him and held up with a thick leather belt.

"Oh! Lyra," he said after a moment, looking anxiously at her, "What d'you think? You're a muggleborn- we're supposed to go incognito."

Lyra internally winced, but nodded her head with a strained smile, "It looks great. Definitely muggle attire."

Mr. Weasley beamed.

Mrs. Weasley soon left, saying that she was waking everyone up, and returned only a minute later, followed by Harry, Ron, and the twins.

"Where're Bill and Charlie and Per-Per-Percy?" said one of the twins, failing to stifle a huge yawn.

"Well, they're Apparating, aren't they?" said Mrs. Weasley, heaving the large pot over to the table and starting to ladle porridge into bowls. "So they can have a bit of a lie-in."

"Apparating?" Lyra asked curiously.

"Disappearing and reappearing from one place to another," said Mrs. Weasley briefly. Lyra had a feeling that there was a lot more information that she wasn't saying, not that she could blame her, but it would possibly be something she could look up in the library or ask Ginny.

"So they're still in bed?" said the other twin grumpily, pulling his bowl of porridge toward him. "Why can't we Apparate too?"

"Because you're not of age and you haven't passed your test," snapped Mrs. Weasley. "And where have those girls got to?"

She bustled out of the kitchen and they heard her climbing the stairs.

"You have to pass a test to Apparate?" Harry asked.