When Harry stood in front of the house of his maternal grandparents, which he had never seen before, he and Draco, who was wearing a black cloak, repeatedly confirmed the 'assistance' they had promised before.
"You must - you must help me monitor my words and deeds, Draco," Harry took a few deep breaths and kept swinging his hands in front of his chest, "I don't want to do anything that will harm the current situation. I don't want to I don’t want to do anything that would leave a bad impression on Lily and others—”
"——If you can be so nervous during exams," Draco, who was asked to 'take on the heavy responsibility', said expressionlessly, "Granger won't complain that we both never pay attention to grades. I think you just need to keep quiet Just talk to you and ring the doorbell."
"That's an imprecise word," Harry pretended not to understand what he meant. "My second-year exams were done on the spot."
"Is this what you should focus on now?!" Draco kicked him, "Ring the door bell!" He rolled his eyes, "How come I never knew you were such a timid person? ? Your maternal grandparents are just ordinary people! And they are still your maternal grandparents!"
To be honest, there was a moment when this man almost died, and at that time, he dared to spit on the enemy; now that he was standing in front of his mother's house, he was nervous as if facing A closet full of Boggarts.
Harry didn't answer Draco immediately because he was still taking deep breaths. If anything, he finally understood Uncle Erik's mood: when the 'famous' Magneto was about to meet the twins he had never met as a father, he was nervous as if he was not a powerful mutant group. Like a leader, he was almost uneasy as an adult of his age.
Now, it was Harry who was so nervous that he didn't dare to press the doorbell.
Draco looked at the sun today and couldn't stand them just standing here, so he snorted, took out his wand from his sleeve, and poked the doorbell a few times.
Ding dong - ding dong ding dong -
"I'm not ready yet!!" Harry was simply shocked. He still remembered to lower his voice and roar again: "Draco!"
"You're welcome. I'm always generous in helping others. I wish you good luck." Draco gave him a fake smile and put on a hood and a brooch that cast temporary invisibility magic. "I won't handle this kind of social interaction for you. Yes, you have to come on, dear Harry."
Harry looked at his expression and couldn't help but feel an impulse that he hadn't experienced in a long time - an impulse called 'beat my best friend'. But immediately, he finally noticed a burst of footsteps coming from behind the door, so he looked in the mirror at a speed that only Peter could, adjusted his face, then put his hands in front of him, clasping them, Keep your back straight.
After doing all this, Harry raised his face and watched the white door being opened at a very fast speed. At that moment, he raised a smile that his father praised as "very sunny" , said hello very warmly: "Hi, good morning -"
After he finished saying hello, he noticed that the person who opened the door was not Lily, but a tall and thin young girl with blond hair. She was wearing a very simple shirt and skirt from this era, carrying a bag, and looked like she was about to go out; but when her eyes fell on Harry, her very light eyes and tightly bitten mouth All of a sudden they were all wide open. She even swayed a bit, as if very surprised.
Um, was my voice too loud? Harry immediately asked himself in his mind. Did I scare her?
But more questions suddenly appeared in his mind - who is her mother? Will she be my aunt?
He tried to speak softly and asked the girl: "Hello, I wish you a good mood - I would like to ask, is this the Evans home?"
"..." The girl trembled her lips, "Yes," she said, "That's right -"
"Francis!"
The young girl's figure swayed again, and then she turned slightly sideways, leaving a gap - but her eyes were still fixed on Harry, as if there was something about him that really concerned him, which made him Harry became a little more nervous. Fortunately, almost instantly, Lily appeared in the gap that had been made. She took a few steps forward, squeezed in hard, and showed a rather beautiful smile to Harry.
Harry could hardly restrain his eyes - this was the first time he had seen her dressed so sweetly and casually. In Hogwarts, she always dressed more formally, and her winter clothes were very ordinary.
"Welcome to my home!" Lily walked forward excitedly and gave him a hug at the door. "Let me think about it, we haven't seen each other for almost a month... I miss you so much! You look like you are doing well! Oh. , let me introduce to you, this is my sister, Petunia!"
While introducing, Lily touched her sister who was standing at the door with her elbow, looking at her almost pleadingly, hoping that she would not say anything weird in front of this junior.
"I miss you too, Lily," Harry got out of her hug with a flushed face, "Thank you for inviting you to my home."
At the same time, he also very astutely noticed that when he and Lily hugged, the tall girl stood stiffly aside, with an unnatural expression on her face... However, if you look carefully, you can still find that she She is somewhat similar in appearance to Lily.
"Hello, Miss Evans." Although he was very nervous, Harry still mustered up the courage to reach out to the girl and quietly called his aunt in his heart, "Nice to meet you. I am Frances Bagshot, Lily's classmate. .If you don’t mind, just call me Francis.”
Unexpectedly, his young aunt slowly stretched out her hand, but did not take it immediately. Instead, she stared at his hand, as if it was something that required hesitation to touch. But Harry could feel that she didn't mean any harm.
So, he decided to take the first step - before Lily was embarrassed to speak, he took one step forward and stretched out his hand.
"May I take the liberty of...?" he asked softly, so as not to appear too presumptuous.
Petunia still stared at his hand, but after some mental struggle, she nodded without noticing, and then brushed her bangs.
Harry's smile deepened a little. He directly took hold of Petunia's hand and shook it slightly, but did not hold it tightly - his aunt seemed to be a relatively reserved girl.
Lily smiled again.
"Come in," Lily greeted him, and at the same time stepped aside to make way, revealing the Evans couple in the living room, "This is my dad and mom! Dad, Mom, this is Frances - Francis, can I give you some juice?" Or do you like tea?"
"Just juice, Lily." Harry said quickly.
While Harry's young aunt was still standing at the door, Draco quietly cast a cleaning charm on his shoes, then quietly followed behind and slipped in.
He took a special look at Petunia when he passed by - this 'Aunt Petunia' whom they had never met was said to be Harry's only blood relative after losing his parents. Dumbledore had sent Harry to her and her husband's home, but one day After a car accident, everything was lost.
Now look carefully, this 'aunt' is still a girl about fifteen or sixteen years old. The clothes are old (compared to the future), the expression is stiff, very thin, and not particularly good-looking. After getting used to seeing Lily's beauty, liveliness and enthusiasm, Petunia seemed to be overshadowed.
Draco had a hard time imagining how this 'aunt' would raise Harry. This man looked very unsmiling and reserved, and seemed hard to please... What would Harry become?
He twitched the corner of his mouth, then decided not to consider the problem and followed Harry in.
Mr. and Mrs. Evans directly greeted their youngest daughter's friend in the living room, hugged him warmly, and quickly fell in love with him - they were already very curious about a 'pure-blooded' wizard, and during the holidays, Lily had already Said a lot of good things about him, which gave them a very good impression of this 'foreign boy' in advance. And when they saw the real person, this love increased exponentially - they had never seen such a good-looking child, let alone this child who was greeting them with a smile on his face.
"Oh, my God, you are really the most adorable child I have ever seen," Mrs. Evans could barely close her mouth from ear to ear. She enthusiastically held the boy's hand and pulled him to sit on the sofa, "Francis, is that right? I heard that wizards live a more traditional life, how about some black tea? We have very good black tea, or some cake?"
"Just juice, ma'am," Harry was almost overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and said very nervously, "I also like drinking juice, thank you -"
Mrs. Evans was more than a little 'enthusiastic'. She asked her eldest daughter standing at the door: "Petunia, dear, do you remember which drawer the chocolates we brought back from our trip are in?"
"I'll come find it," Lily said immediately, for fear of upsetting her sister, "Petunia should be in the cupboard -"
"I'm here to find you." Petunia said faster. She closed the door and quickly said to Lily, "Just go and entertain your juniors. I'll get the chocolates."
oh. Lily looked at her sister's back and blinked her green eyes.
"But aren't you going out?" She followed him a few steps and said quietly to Petunia, "Isn't it okay?"
Petunia pursed her lips uncomfortably, but her attitude was still very cold: "It's just some routine chats, it's not interesting. I think one or two absences are okay... After all, we have guests."
Lily was very keenly aware of some changes in attitude. She laughed softly and blinked rapidly at her sister: "That's great. Thank you, Petunia."
Petunia, on the other hand, quickly got into the kitchen to look for the chocolates she brought back as travel gifts.
…………
Harry tried not to look at the house, or to look rudely at Lily's parents, he - he pretended that he was just a guest. But Merlin or God, when his grandmother, whom he had never met, held his with a pair of gentle and warm hands, and looked at him with a smile on his face, he almost changed his face, and his heart was beating fast. .
You shouldn't be such an unstable person, Harry. He was condemning himself in his heart. You can't scare your grandparents.
Reason calmed him down, but his face still slowly turned red, as if he was really shy.
Mrs. Evans already liked children, but seeing how shy this child was, she couldn't help but like him even more.
"Don't be nervous, my dear," she said very kindly, patting his hand. "We don't have any rules in our family. You can be casual."
Harry smiled at her and lowered his head lower, but still stared at her, and quietly moved his butt on the sofa, trying to get closer to her.
Mrs. Evans looked like a traditional English hostess he had heard of: sweet face, long, curly hair, and a slender figure; perhaps to appear formal, she wore a longer floral skirt, Wearing a set of pearl jewelry, Harry could smell the scent of freshly baked cake on her body as he was pulled into a hug by her.
As for Mr. Evans, who was sitting on the other sofa, Harry looked at him carefully when he greeted him. Just like Lily, Mr. Evans also has red hair. He should actually be in his forties, but he looks only in his thirties. He is energetic, wears a pair of glasses, looks very gentle, and talks very kindly.
Harry noticed that he and Lily had many similarities. For example, when they smiled, they both had two dimples on their lips.
"Lily always talks about you," Mr. Evans said kindly to the boy. "I remember her saying...well, I guess, you're a year younger than Lily, aren't you? I heard you were in different classes, How did you know each other?"
"Yes, sir," Harry wanted to turn around, but his hand was held tightly by his grandmother and he was unwilling to pull it out, so he tried his best to turn his body towards his grandfather, "My family and Headmaster Dumbledore We had a little bit of friendship, so they asked him to look after me and arranged for me to transfer to Hogwarts at Christmas - Lily and I met on the train."
Lily came over with a smile and sat next to her father.
"Severus and I were looking for seats at the time," she said with excitement. "We set off a little late, many carriages were already occupied, and I didn't want to sit with Potter and Potter's friends. It happened that Francis' carriage was still empty. We got to know each other and made friends, and he even hosted us for afternoon tea.”
Harry almost choked.
"'Nasty Potter' again," Mrs. Evans smiled, "I must say, you really hate 'that Potter', dear."
"Can we still have afternoon tea on the wizard's train?" Mr. Evans asked with great interest, "Lily, why haven't we heard you talk about this before?"
"Oh, oh, this is like I said," Lily looked at Harry, "This is 'Francis Treats Us' afternoon tea. I don't know how he stuffed the afternoon tea into the suitcase. Right, Francis?" "She deliberately dropped the topic and asked Harry to answer her father's question.
Harry coughed a few times and his face turned redder. By the way, although he couldn't see it, he knew that Draco was laughing at this moment - he saw the curtains by the window being pulled up strangely and shaking, but no one noticed.
"It's just a little practical magic." After clearing his throat, Harry straightened his back, "Actually, if you don't mind, I can demonstrate it...Lily, please come over and help me."
Lily jumped over in a few steps: "How are you going to demonstrate? We can't use wands during the holidays."
Harry reluctantly took his hand out of Mrs. Evans's, then reached into his coat pocket, dug through it, and pulled out a small, delicate box.
He tapped his finger on it and released some magic power: "Quickly zoom in."
The box followed his magic instructions and spun around a few times. Then with a swish, it changed from the size of a ring box to the size of a laptop. Finally, it opened automatically with a snap.
Before Mr. and Mrs. Evans could exclaim, he took out a small bouquet and bowed to give it to Mrs. Evans. The bouquet consisted of dozens of pink roses, with dewdrops still on their delicate petals, as if they were in the garden just now, not in the box.
"It's so rude of me," Harry said with courage as he presented the flowers, "I should have presented flowers to the hostess as soon as I entered the door."
"Oh, what beautiful flowers!" Mrs. Evans didn't think he was rude. She was so surprised that she gave the boy a hug after taking the flowers. "How can this be rude? I haven't received flowers from young boys in many years." .” She joked, “It’s rare to see a considerate boy like you nowadays.”
After saying that, she looked at each other and smiled meaningfully at her youngest daughter. The latter quickly shook her head and asked Mrs. Evans not to think too much.
"You really don't have to do this, Frances," Lily changed the topic and continued the box with Harry, "Oh, what are you still taking? You won't return-"
"My great-aunt told me," Harry said pretending to be serious as he took out the contents of the box, "For a family with ancient traditions like ours, when visiting a friend's house for the first time, you must remember to bring a visiting gift. Especially those who are friendly and welcoming, Lily, please don’t mind, it’s just tradition.”
At this time, Lily blushed a little. She called Francis a guest, not to ask him to bring out gifts: "Actually, you really don't have to do this, let me."
"It's not a particularly expensive gift," Harry whispered close to Lily, clasping his hands together and shaking them, "Don't refuse, unless you think my gift is not good enough." After saying that, he took out a gift box and put it away. On the coffee table, "This is for you, Mr. Evans. I hope you enjoy your coffee."
"Oh, oh, thank you," Mr. Evans was a little surprised that he also had a gift. "You are really too kind."
"What's in here?" Lily asked softly.
"A magic device that can make coffee automatically," Harry also whispered to her, "You said that your father likes to drink coffee, but grinding it manually is very troublesome. All you need to do is buy coffee beans, roast them, grind them, and It can be brewed well.”
Although there were no automatic coffee machines in this era, Harry could still find what he wanted in the magic items shop after searching carefully.
Mr. Evans grabbed a corner of the gift box: "I'm a little curious...Francis, do you mind if I open it and take a look now?"
Harry nodded quickly, and Mr. Evans quickly opened the gift box. Before he could fully open it, the copper coffee brewing set and grinding tools jumped out, jumping around on the coffee table like floating rabbits, as if they were looking for something everywhere.
"oh!"
There was only an exclamation and a clang as a cup hit the floor because it was not held firmly and broke into several pieces.
Everyone turned around and saw Petunia standing aside, holding a full tray in her left hand and empty in her right hand - this was probably the reason why the cup was smashed. Harry noticed that his future aunt looked at the set of coffee utensils, her face turned pale, her mouth was pursed tightly, and she exuded a slight sense of fear and obvious rejection.
Is she afraid of magical things? Harry thought with some surprise.
"Petunia," Lily reacted first and leaned towards her sister with concern, "How are you? Are you hurt?"
"I'm sorry," Harry apologized quickly and patted the table. The utensils immediately stopped and landed on the table, as if they were ordinary objects. "I should have let them sit quietly in the box. You Are you okay, Miss Evans? There are some things I brought - please forgive me if I offend you, I didn't know you didn't like these things."
Although Lily had said that her sister was quite dismissive of everything about wizards and was unwilling to understand, Harry did not expect that Petunia would be so afraid of magical objects - Lily had been studying at Hogwarts for four years, and her things would always be there. Some will be 'magical'.
Mrs. Evans immediately patted his hand comfortingly: "Petunia was just a little surprised. She rarely saw such magical things - Lily kept her things in an orderly manner and put them all in her room. It’s nothing, honey.”
"No," Petunia gritted her teeth, winced, and gently broke away from Lily's hand. Then she shook it as if she remembered something, and patted the back of her hand with her backhand, "I'm fine, it's just not good. Be careful...just accidentally."
As she said that, she put the heavy-looking tray on the table without letting Lily help, and took them down one by one: a pot of black tea, a plate of fragrant-looking pancakes, and a plate dotted with some fruits. Chiffon cake, a plate of exquisitely crafted and small chocolates.
"I just said why you haven't come out yet, you made pancakes which you are best at!" Lily said loudly on purpose, so that Francis knew that her sister had taken the trouble to prepare snacks, "You are the best, Petunia, thank you! "
Upon hearing this, Petunia pursed her lips uncomfortably and said nothing. After placing the snacks, she sat down - a place where she could face Harry, but not too close or too far away. She lowered her head and played with the chain on her wrist without saying a word, like a silent shadow, out of tune with her family members who were full of laughter and enthusiasm.
Harry couldn't help but feel a little lost and confused. He had also heard that if it hadn't been for an unknown accident, Petunia would have been the one to raise him, and Dumbledore had ensured that Harry was handed over to his aunt - but he had no memory of the aunt who was supposed to have taken care of him. No, so he wanted to talk to her more.
He didn't want to frighten her when he arrived and leave her with a bad impression; and Petunia didn't look like the sister he imagined Lily should have. She didn't seem to like talking to Lily, nor did she want to talk to the guests. But he did not show any obvious disgust, nor did he go out or go upstairs without saying hello, but sat down.
Harry couldn't help but think of his sister, Wanda, who was always confident and always calm. She didn't like to talk much and was very independent, but she was always gentler and tolerant than her two younger brothers and sisters.
Well, how should I put it, if Harry had to say, Wanda is the kind of perfect sister. She has not been a sister for a long time, but she has mastered the essence of this identity very quickly. As long as she stands next to Wanda, all her brothers and sisters All listen to her, for she will keep everyone safe - and she can.
But now that he met the real Lily's sister, Harry was reminded of another kind of sibling: Bobby's brother, an ordinary child without any powers. He did not accept his brother's unique talent at all and rejected everyone at Xavier's school. People, including Bobby, act like they're not brothers.
Petunia's behavior seems to be somewhere between them...or maybe it's just that she is quieter and less expressive, and it's not that she dislikes or doesn't accept it. Harry comforted himself in his mind, because in fact, he did not feel any malice. As a telepath, if the other party's malice and rejection were really that strong, he would feel it.
Fortunately, Draco helped me choose a gift! At this time, he was very glad for his original decision.
"Miss Evans?" He turned his head towards Petunia and spoke to her gently, "I'm really sorry - I hope I didn't do anything rude to you. Lily should have said that I... I don't visit wizards from time to time. Outsiders, I hope you can forgive me for some of my actions.”
Petunia didn't seem to expect that he would talk to her. She pursed her lips and even the muscles around her cheeks trembled. She looked at Harry for a moment, then quickly looked away, looking at some unknown place.
"It's nothing." She fiddled with her bangs and held her chin high, "You don't have any rudeness to me."
"Petunia is a very nice person." Lily was very happy to see that her sister and her junior classmate were getting along harmoniously. After all, Severus and Petunia were like enemies in the previous life. "You will know if you get along with her more, Frances, Petunia just doesn't Be expressive.”
Harry breathed an exaggerated sigh of relief.
"That's good," he smiled carefully and sincerely at Petunia, "because if I were rude, I wouldn't know how to get your sister to accept the gift I gave her."
"I have a gift too?" Petunia blurted out almost in shock.
Harry did not speak, but solemnly took out a beautifully wrapped, palm-sized gift box from the box, and gently handed it to Mrs. Evans, who was closer to Petunia, hoping that she would hand it over to Petunia.
"Maybe I don't have very good taste," he said, "but I have a distant cousin who has much better taste than me, and I asked him to help me choose."
Mrs. Evans opened it, took a look at it, looked at Petunia again, and smiled.
"I'm sure you'll like this present," she said kindly. "Petunia, dear, sweetheart, come and see what little Frances has given you—what a pretty little thing it is!"
She closed the box and handed it to Petunia. The latter hesitated and did not take it immediately. Instead, she took deep breaths several times before shaking her hand and taking the box.
What if this was something - an unnatural magical item. Petunia thought. I just held back and waited until he left before throwing it into the drawer.
The blonde girl panted rapidly, lowered her head, and began to open the lid of the box, while Lily also leaned over, curious about what gift her junior had chosen.
And the next second, they both stared at the gift box and let out a cry of surprise——
——A silver bracelet lies in the box, shining with tiny brilliance.
At first glance, it looks like an ordinary product sold in an ordinary store, but if you look closely, you will find that it is made of several shining silver threads, and it feels smooth and smooth, not rough at all; and the chain In the middle, there is a silver rose the size of a thumb. This rose is small and delicate, and the core of the half-bloomed flower is a small, brightly colored ruby.
"Merlin, this is so cute," Lily couldn't help but say, "Put it on and take a look, Petunia."
Even though Petunia was so nervous before that she couldn't show any expression that could be called friendly, she couldn't help but smile at this moment. Clearly, this was a gift that was very close to her heart.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief and thanked Draco ten thousand times in his heart; while Draco, who was hiding aside, began to feel proud of his choice.
Gift giving is also an art!
From what I heard, the Evans family is quite wealthy. The gift should not be too simple, but it should not be too expensive either, because the other party may be burdened or think you are showing off your wealth - so give a gift to a girl instead of a woman. , while the workmanship is exquisite, the style should not be too rigid or too simple.
Petunia picked up the bracelet, glanced at Lily again, and spoke to her sister in the gentlest tone throughout the summer: "Help, Lily—I can't wear this on one hand."
Lily agreed immediately - she had always wanted to get along well with her sister, but now she was so excited that she felt like she was riding a broomstick from the Nimbus series.
She hummed a song and carefully helped her sister put the bracelet on her right hand. She moved a little further away and clapped her hands: "It suits you very well! It looks great on you, Petunia. You should wear more of it on a regular basis." Wear such cute accessories.”
She knows how Petunia usually likes to dress - neat to the point of being meticulous, always looking well-educated and normal, in line with the dogma of every strict girls' school. If it is not a holiday, Petunia will not even wear a hair tie that is too fancy. of.
At this time, Petunia could no longer be stern with her sister, because she thought so too——
——Even she, at this moment, smiled at the sister who had frowned a dozen minutes ago.
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The word count has exploded otz sorry for being late
Professor Snape, I'm sorry, you'd better save it for the next chapter.
Next update on the twenty-seventh
Go to bed, go to bed, good night everyone
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated the nutrient solution between 2020-03-21 03:53:58~2020-03-25 01:03:02~
Thanks to the little angels who threw the landmines: Mu Ningyan 2; Zhifeuzhifu, Jiang Zhifu, littlewing 1;
Thank you to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: 392 bottles of Cheshire Cat; 40 bottles of Mu Ningyan; 20 bottles of Thrush, Mario’s Little Monster, Lingkong Luoxue; 10 bottles of Stella; 5 bottles of Teapot Cat, Hello, and Lingdangxiang 3 bottles; 2 bottles upward; 1 bottle of Moon Night Shura, Jinxuan Cathy, kimchi jar, rice wine and meat;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!
