A sirius matter

chapter 2 - hello hermoine

Harry woke up the next morning to find that Hedwig had not returned. He listened to the house for a minute, and was able to determine, based off of the snores, that he was the only person awake in the house. He grabbed some of his baggy clothes he'd gotten from Dudley and took his five-minute (and not one second more, boy!) shower. He then went down the stairs as usual to start cooking breakfast. This time, he mused, they'll complain that breakfast is cold instead of late.

He was just setting the plates on the table when Petunia Dursley came into the kitchen.

"What are you doing, Freak!" shouted Aunt Petunia.

Harry replied calmly, "Making breakfast, Aunt Petunia, like I do every morning."

"Well, Freak, you're not making it anymore. Dudley's school nurse claims that he needs a diet, so now breakfast is going to be grapefruit quarters!"

"Ok," replied Harry, making absolutely sure that he didn't smile upon hearing that. "I'll take away Dudley's plate."

"You'll take away all the plates!" snapped Aunt Petunia. "We're all going on the diet!"

"What?" asked Harry. "Neither you nor I need a diet! We're both skinny!"

"I have nothing in common with you, Freak!" she screeched, "We're all going on that diet! Now throw away all this food that you've wasted, and don't think you won't have to pay for it with extra chores!"

At that moment, the doorbell rang, and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Dudley and Vernon came down the stairs. Harry was carrying the plates back to the kitchen, trying to figure out a way to smuggle the food into his room.

"Hello," greeted Aunt Petunia politely when she opened the door.

"Hello," responded a voice that Harry was very familiar with. He began walking toward the door while the Dursley males were doing the same. "Are you Mrs. Dursley?"

"Yes I am. Is there something I can help you with?"

Harry could now see Hermione, although she wasn't looking at him. She held out her hand to Petunia, who shook it while the brunette teenage girl said politely, "I'm Hermione Granger." She waited a few seconds for affect before saying, "I'm here to see my friend, Harry Potter."

"What!" screamed Petunia, Vernon, and Dudley at the same time.

Uncle Vernon shouted at the door Petunia had started closing, "You want to see the boy! YOU'RE ONE OF THOSE FREAKS FROM THAT BLOODY SCHOOL OF HIS, AREN'T YOU! GET OUT!"

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK TO HERMIONE THAT WAY!" shouted two different voices at the same time. One of the speakers was Harry, who looked, Vernon noted with trepidation, very much the way he did just before he blew up Aunt Marge the year before. The other was a middle-aged man with brown hair who just stepped into view, glaring at Vernon.

"My daughter told us you treat Harry like he's a freak because of his abilities, but I didn't believe it! We were just going to pick him up to spend the day with us. I think now we're going to keep him for the summer!"

Harry's face brightened, "Thank you, Mr. Granger," he replied politely, calling attention to himself for the first time.

He turned to the boy he'd met a few times in Diagon Alley and smiled. "You're welcome. No one should have to put up with people like these! Hurry up and pack, and then we'll go out to breakfast."

"Actually," said Harry boldly, "I cooked breakfast this morning, but Aunt Petunia told me to throw it out just before you came, since we're all going on a diet because Dudley's school nurse said he needs to lose weight. The plates are in the kitchen."