Chapter Nine
When Harry entered the house, he could hear the usual buzz of activity coming from the kitchen. Owls hooting, bacon frying, pans clanging…
He stamped the mud off his trainers on the doormat before heading to the kitchen.
"Oh, good morning, Harry!" Mrs. Weasley said distractedly, ducking an over-excited Pig and nearly smacking Ginny in the nose with the hand flourishing her wand. "Oh, I'm sorry, Ginny, dear-Ron, come and take care of Pig!"
Harry swerved to the right as Ron snatched his owl out from beside his ear.
"Morning, mate," he said through his teeth, currently clamped around a piece of bacon. "Up early, aren't you?"
"Took a jog." Harry said casually, stepping over Crookshanks. "Nice morning out."
"It is that." Mr. Weasley agreed mildly, rustling the newspaper. "See that, Harry? We've caught another Death Eater."
"That's great." Harry said rather automatically.
"Help yourself, mate." Bill pushed a plate of toast towards him. "It's hard to think without filling the face."
Harry pulled up a chair and snagged a piece of the toast from the plate. "Thanks."
"Good morning!" Before Harry could turn, Hermione had bent, placed a kiss on his cheek, hands on his shoulders. He caught a faint scent of vanilla as silky brown hair swept across his cheek. "Sleep well? Oh, Molly, can I make up a tray for Adrian? He's just woken up."
"Who?" Ron said rather lamely.
"Adrian." Hermione repeated evenly, though there was no masking her excitement. "He's woken up."
Her eyes moved to Harry's. He felt a prickle of shame at the back of his neck, but then she offered a smile. He smiled back as she took the tray Mrs.Weasley offered her, and made her way to the living room.
"You know, she's gone."
Harry jumped. Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Good Merlin, I must have been blind." she said, sounding amused all the same. "Did you ogle at me like that? Oh, stop it, Ron. I'm sure Harry has perfectly decent intentions."
Harry felt his cheeks burn as Ron spluttered into his orange juice. He merely shrugged and walked rather quickly out of the room, still holding his toast.
"… how long was I- asleep?"
Harry cautiously walked toward the couch, where he could see the back of Adrian's head.
He wasn't quite sure how to announce his presence, but Hermione looked up just as he made his way to her side. The boy's pale blue eyes fixed on him rather warily.
"This is Adrian, Harry."
Adrian had a glass of juice in his bony hand, and Harry mustered up a smile.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Harry."
Adrian nodded.
"Okay," he said quietly. "Nice to meet you."
There was a long silence. Adrian studied Harry carefully, then spoke.
"It was you, then, that kissed Hermione this morning?"
Hermione started, and Harry felt his face grow quite warm.
"Er-well… yeah, that was me," he said, trying his level best to maintain a look of nonchalance under Hermione's surprised gaze. "I didn't know you were awake."
Adrian looked at Hermione, then said curiously, "Are you… married?"
"No." Hermione said, turning rather pink. "We're not. He's my best friend."
Adrian shrugged and took a sip of his juice. After a pause, Harry cleared his throat and noticed he was still holding a piece of toast in his hand. More for lack of anything to do than hunger, he finished off the last of it.
He heard Hermione take a deep breath and let it out.
"All right, then," she said cheerfully. "Harry, do you think Adrian could borrow some of your clothes?"
"I don't want to be any trouble." Adrian said quickly, but Hermione shook her head.
"Sure." Harry said, frowning. "But I reckon they're a bit big…"
She smiled.
"I'll just shrink them," she explained, chuckling. "You still think like a Muggle, Harry."
"What's a Muggle? And… and what are you?"
They fell silent, staring at Adrian for a moment.
"Well, I'm… I'm a wizard." Harry said after a long pause. "And Hermione-"
"… is she a-a `Squib'?"
Startled, Harry glanced at Hermione, who looked just as surprised.
"Where did you hear that?"
"Grandfather." Adrian looked rather shaken. "He'd always go on about how mistreated they were, but my parents always said it was-they thought he'd just gone a bit funny in the head. He'd tell Ben and I all about wizards at night when my parents were asleep-"
"Ben?" Hermione interrupted, her eyes suddenly brightening. "Who is he?"
Adrian froze.
"My brother. Didn't you see him?"
Harry shook his head. "Only your parents and grandparents…"
Adrian sat up straight, his eyes narrowing intently. "You didn't see him… dead?"
Harry shook his head again. "He could be-"
"Alive." Hermione finished softly, biting her lip thoughtfully, her eyes dancing with excitement. "Adrian, exactly how old is your brother?"
"He's ten." Adrian said eagerly, and he was now gripping his glass so tightly that his knuckles were white. "Can you find him? With a sort of-spell, or something?"
Hermione chewed on her lip silently for a moment.
"I'm afraid it's not quite that simple," she said at last, letting out a breath. "But I'll do everything I can."
Adrian nodded. After a pause, he said abruptly, "I'm not very hungry anymore, thanks."
Hermione reached out and took the glass from his hand.
"We'll leave you to your thoughts, then," she murmured gently, taking Harry's hand and tugging him out of the living room.
As soon as they'd entered the hallway, she turned to face him. Her eyes flickered over his face, then with a soft smile, she said, "Well, now you've met him."
"Yeah." Harry said, uncertain of what he was to say. "He's-nice."
She smiled, and turned down the hallway, heading for the kitchen. Just as she left, Harry caught her startling remark.
"He reminds me of you."
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