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Hermione froze.
Instead of running into Harry—
She stared too long and the figure standing just outside of Magical Menagerie let out a barking sound, almost as if he ’d gone mad, reminding Hermione for some reason of the time spent in Azkaban in the other world by this person, yet she’d have thought—
“Don’t mind Sirius Black,” McGonagall said. “He’s all bark and no bite. Although,” she said, looking up at the wizard in question. “He was certainly a handful back when he was at school.”
“Apologizes,” Sirius said. “Couldn’t resist, what with that wide-eyed look of surprise when she saw me.”
“Because you’re not in Azkaban, although should I be surprised about that in this world?” Hermione thought to herself.
“I’d rather you not frighten our future first years more than just the sight of you,” McGonagall said, then looked around. “Where is Lord Black? You tend not to be such an imposing figure when he’s around?”
Hermione ’s eyes blinked. “ I thought Sirius didn ’t have anything to do with his family? Is that what changed things. ” She stared at him. “ Was he a Death Eater? And does this mean his father, or even grandfather, is alive? ”
“You can stop staring now,” Sirius said. “He…”
“Sirius,” McGonagall sighed. “You’re not exactly helping your case; she shouldn’t be frightened of you.”
“I’m not!” Hermione said.
Sirius let out a laugh. “You aren’t.” And then, “Well, she is right though. I definitely don ’t strike as striking a figure when Lord Black is around. He ’s…” Sirius turned his head to the store. “He’s in there. With the old man getting a birthday present, or at least the old man is trying to get one.”
“Why would,” Hermione almost blurted out, stopping herself from asking why Sirius’ father and grandfather would be shopping for a present for Harry, let alone why Sirius wasn’t helping. Still, she assumed that one of the two was alive, “That’s correct, it seems.”
“Anyways. Let’s go and find you a cat, as you told your mother you’d planned on getting.”
“Oh. Spoiling yourself?” Sirius said. He winked at her. “Good luck with your first year. Get sorted into my house, Gryffindor, of course.”
“Sirius! Really,” McGonagall said before heading in.
Inside—
Hermione expected two older gentlemen, but there was a rather handsome young man standing there holding—
“Cr…” She almost blurted out, causing the young gentleman to look up, or perhaps it was the jingling of the bell.
“Professor McGonagall,” the young man acknowledged.
“Lord Black,” she acknowledged back.
Hermione ’s mouth opened and closed. “Regulus Arcturus Black?”
This drew the attention of the other two men, one who stood at the counter paying for the cat while Hermione—
“Harry’s getting my cat for my birthday?”
There came a laugh. “A Muggleborn who knows who I am before they even start, McGonagall?”
“Well,” the second oldest of the two older men said, turning to look at her as he stood right by Regulus. “Seems like you’re off to a good start.”
Hermione frowned. “I thought…”
Regulus frowned, then said. “I guess you’ve heard of the family reputation? Yes, certain members are against Muggleborn attending Hogwarts.” He said, “But it’s not your fault you’re inferior at magic.”
Hermione puffed out her cheeks. “I am not inferior. I can do anything a pure-blood can! ”
“Of course you can,” the man next to Regulus said. “Although it is going to be more difficult, given…”
“My inferior blood?” Hermione asked.
“I am so sorry,” McGonagall said.
“Don’t be,” the third gentleman said. “Her being aware of the prejudices held against her is a good thing, but I daresay that is one of the positives of this—whatever those Muggle contraptions are.”
“Computers, grandfather.”
“You’re Lord Black?” Hermione asked, frowning, noting both his father and grandfather were alive.
“Well, yes,” Regulus said as the other man Hermione guessed was Orion.
“There. Bought and paid for,” Orion said, turning his head. “But are you sure that’s what you want for your birthday?”
“Yes,” Regulus said. “He’s just…”
“Wait,” Hermione said, feeling the color drain from her face. “Your birthday is the same as Harry Potter’s?”
“Ms. Granger! You shouldn’t…” McGonagall said, turning to look at Hermione.
“Granger?” Regulus’ voice strained. “AS in Hermione Granger.”
McGonagall stiffened, turning to look at him. “You shouldn’t…”
“Your grandfather,” the eldest said. “He wouldn’t be the owner of Granger Books, would he.”
“Yes,” Hermione said.
“You remember that quaint Muggle bookstore, Orion?”
“Well, yes,” the man standing by Regulus said, obviously as confused as McGonagall. “Did you introduce Regulus to that place?”
“As head, he needed to be acquainted with Shakespeare.”
Regulus swallowed, looking at her. “Then you are Olivia ’s daughter.” And then, “How are your parents?”
“Parents?” McGonagall said. “You really shouldn’t leap to conclusions regarding a child’s home life, Lord Black.”
“She’s not,” Regulus swallowed, which meant he too caught on.
And then, from the man who ’d just purchased the cat, “Regulus Arcturus Black, what have you done!”
Hermione stared at Regulus, finding herself confused as her brain tried processing what happened, but like a certain someone who was missing in this world, Regulus did, in fact, have black hair and gray eyes.
“What is going on here?” McGonagall said.
“Well, since the cat is out of the bag—and suddenly I’m glad Sirius isn’t here to crack jokes about the cat being in Regulus’ arms right now,” the eldest man said. “I know this is a tad out of the norm, but would it be possible for us to take over?”
“Excuse me.”
“She is, after all, I hope, my son’s only grandchild,” Arcturus said.
“You knew?” Orion said.
“Yes, well, someone else was quite unaware as he’d stop visiting that store, possibly because he didn’t think himself good enough to see a certain young lady,” Arcturus said. “And I’d like to remind the two people here not in the family that we Black prefer to keep our secrets close at hand.”
Hermione swallowed the assumptions—
“What kind of world is this, where my father disappears only to turn out to be Sirius’ dead younger brother from my world?”