Familiar Face (Harry Potter Fanfic)

Seriously Bad Manners

Hermione didn't want to invite anybody to her family home for the summer.

The very thought of having someone over left a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach, for she couldn't see how her Wizard friends interacting with her Muggle parents could ever end well. Yet there she was on the Hogwarts Express, sliding down in her seat upon realizing she didn't have to invite anyone when they could invite themselves.

Everything started with Sirius Black.

Specifically, everything started with three kids helping to capture the former Death Eater, Peter Pettigrew, which led to the vindication of Sirius Black. This led to him and Professor Lupin—who'd lost his job at Hogwarts—riding back with them on the train, which led to Sirius and Harry discussing their plans for the future. Sirius was, of course, a free man, which meant he could do anything he wanted.

He could do anything he wanted, including many magical and delightful things, and yet, "I want to do the Muggle thing."

Harry frowned, not understanding why his godfather wanted to do what he called the Muggle thing, having grown up among Muggles. Somewhat apprehensively, Harry said, "That wouldn't be very enjoyable at the Dursley's, though would it."

"No. I think it wouldn't." Sirius frowned, pondering over that revelation, but then—he turned to look at Hermione. "You're Muggleborn, aren't you?"

"Sirius—," Remus cleared his throat. "You can't just go and invite yourself over to another person's place like that."

"Yes, I can. And wouldn't it be a wonderful surprise?"

Which, to Hermione, everyone just showing up at her place would most definitely not be a wonderful surprise. Ron looked at her, frowning. "Your parents could always say no, you know. At the train station."

"I take the bus home," Hermione commented.

"Your parents let you ride a Muggle bus on your own?" Remus asked, looking slightly concerned. "I mean, you did mean the Muggle bus and not the Knight Bus?"

"Yes," Hermione murmured, feeling a little queasy in regards to where the conversation was headed.

Sirius didn 't pay any attention to how apprehensive she was regarding him inviting himself over, though perhaps it didn't show at all. "Oh. Well, it's not as fun as riding a flying motorcycle, but it will do."

Remus sent her an apologetic look as if to say there would be no talking Sirius down.

Not that she knew how to tell everyone coming over to her place wasn't a good idea. Harry observed her carefully and said, "Something the matter Hermione?"

Ron perked up. "You aren't embarrassed by your parents, are you? I mean, they seemed rather normal, particularly compared to mine."

Except, her dad wasn't particularly normal. He was, after all, her geeky, awkward dad who enjoyed watching his Doctor Who collection, passing said obsession onto her youngest sister, which in turn was only another thing on her other sister's long list of things that embarrassed her regarding their family, which in turn included Hermione being a witch.

"Not really," Hermione said, although the way the older of her two younger sisters also denied being a witch while refusing to attend Hogwarts was an embarrassment. And, there was no denying her parents' only foray into the Wizarding World was embarrassing, though more so because of how Mr. Weasley managed to make both her parents feel uncomfortable, particularly when he got into it with Mr. Malfoy.

In fact—

—Hermione dreaded her mild-mannered father meeting the loud and boisterous Sirius Black. There was an intensity about the man, which would undoubtedly cause her father to go into a nervous breakdown. Yet, as much as she wanted to say so, there was that feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach of her father being unfairly judged simply because he was different or even her youngest sister.

Not when she didn't have a way of explaining, of letting people know there was nothing seriously wrong with her dad despite their initial perceptions.

Jules—Jules didn't need explaining, or at least as much, because of her age. Or so Hermione kept telling herself, her worry focusing on how they would react to her father. She'd hoped Mrs. Weasley would even put a stop to the matter, only for Sirius to do what Sirius did, promising to have Ron back by the end of the day with Remus responding that yes, he would make sure Ron was back, meaning he expected to be the one taking Ron home, not Sirius.

So, her thought wasn't on anything but her father having a nervous breakdown while hoping her mother was at home to do something about the situation, when—

"Welcome home, Time Lord!"