Breaking Free (Book 3 of the Lost Potter Series)

Pre-Lunch Talks

Soon enough everyone convened together in the dining area/spilling into the kitchen for lunch. The first to sit down were Harry and Ron, back from whatever chores they'd been assigned to. Olivia, Hermione, and Ginny finally left their room, after lengthy awkward discussions giving way to a joking, lighthearted memory, to join them.

"And what've you lot been up to this morning?" Ron asked the girls bitterly, envious they hadn't been subjected to the same labour he and Harry had.

The girls shared a look, with Hermione being the one to respond, "Just some lady business, Ron, nothing to be jealous of."

Ginny snickered and sat down across from Harry, with Olivia to her left and Hermione, across from Ron, to her right.

"I'm not jealous," muttered Ron under his breath. Hermione and Ginny rolled their eyes.

"Need I remind you of the Yule Ball?" Hermione once again sassed him, earning at least smiles from everyone except Olivia, who didn't get the reference, and Ron, who just put his head down on the table and muttered about all girls being insane.

Next downstairs was Draco, who looked around the place as if he was doing his very best not to be offended by the decor. It wasn't working.

"Draco? Are you alright?" Olivia asked from across the table, not trusting her wobbly legs enough to run and surprise him with a hug (mostly to embarrass him, naturally).

Draco finally seemed to notice her and nodded, "Back to human and didn't sell too much of my soul in order to get out of there, so I'm doing quite well."

Before any of them could respond to Draco's dry humour, Sirius Black strolled on through the back door with his left hand holding on to his wand and a plain, half-empty bag.

He shuffled over to Olivia's left and plopped himself down on the seat, the bag placed in front of Olivia. He turned to her, slightly out of breath, "I grabbed the rest of your things, figured you'd want them."

"Thank you," Olivia said honestly, shifting the bag to underneath her chair, "And are you alright? You're breathing a little heavy."

Sirius waved her off, "You have to walk a fair distance to disapparate from here, and I've never been one to be in the best of shape. Have you seen Remus around today?"

"He's upstairs with Kingsley and Nymphadora," Draco supplied, jerking his head back towards where he'd just come from.

Sirius looked at the boy oddly yet nodded and thanked him. Once Sirius had made it to where Draco was standing, his odd look had only grown in intensity, finally resulting in Sirius saying, "You look too much like your father." Before making his way upstairs.

Draco looked confused and slightly offended, stealing Sirius' seat beside Olivia.

"Did they give you the all-clear, then?" Harry asked Draco directly, surprising most of his peers with the lack of hostility in his voice.

Draco nodded, rubbing his right wrist with a newfound anxious tick as everyone besides the Potter twins glared at him.

"Good. It'll make bringing you along easier." Harry said matter-of-factly, surprising everyone.

"Wait, what—" Was Ron's immediate response:

"Harry, are you sure—" Was Hermione's:

And "How come he gets to go?" Was Ginny's.

Olivia and Draco remained silent, Draco out of shock and Olivia out of wanting Harry to continue talking.

Harry glared at the table slightly before meeting his friends with brazen eyes, "I know Olivia won't leave him behind and we have to bring her along so he's coming."