"When you were his age, you used a Permanent Stick Spell to plaster your bedroom walls with Muggle girl posters."
Narcissa mercilessly exposed Little Sirius's past without the slightest hesitation.
"Ahem." Little Sirius tried to defend himself: "It's just human nature, human nature..."
"I don't think so," Narcissa snorted. "For that, Aunt was very angry and gave you a good scolding, right?"
Little Sirius drooped his head, unable to say anything in response.
After all, plastering sexy Muggle girl posters in one's bedroom is indeed not something to be proud of, even if he tried to use youthful impulsiveness as an excuse.
Exactly, if you're not young, can you be called a young person?
It was at this moment that Molly, standing with hands on her hips at the door, noticed the newcomers.
She quickly approached them, greeting everyone without hesitation.
Even when facing the Malfoy family, whom she didn't usually get along with, she maintained a decent demeanor.
You can't start a fight the moment you meet, can you? That's something only kids would do.
After greeting them, Molly turned her gaze toward Harry.
"Oh, dear Harry." Molly reached out to ruffle Harry's messy hair. "The last time I saw you was last summer, and during Christmas, Ron was so grateful for your care... Come on, Harry, Ron and the others have been talking about you non-stop since they came back yesterday."
With that, Molly looked at Little Sirius again.
Although she had just exchanged pleasantries with Little Sirius, it didn't stop her from giving him a warning.
"Little Sirius, I hope you don't lead the children astray—they're still young and shouldn't be like you, always chasing after those Muggle girls!"
These words really got to Little Sirius.
No, how come everyone in the whole world knows about my Muggle girl poster incident?
Ignoring the flustered Little Sirius, Molly said to Harry again, "Come on, Harry, they're all eager to see you."
They walked into the Humble Abode, and only then did Draco and the others outside notice that someone had arrived.
"Harry's here," Ron said briefly, "let's go find him together..."
Saying this, Ron swung his arm and tossed the goblin he was holding far away.
Threw it quite far.
"Well done," George and Fred each patted Ron on one shoulder. "We'll reward you with a big spider for lunch."
Ron instinctively shivered.
He decided that when he returned, he would tell on them to his mom, determined not to let those two brothers' scheme succeed.
As they entered the Humble Abode, Draco's eyes first landed on his parents.
Because they had just gone around to the other side of the Humble Abode, they hadn't noticed who had arrived. Upon seeing his parents at first glance, Draco didn't feel joy but rather fear.
The kind of fear akin to a child who's been watching TV all day suddenly realizing their parents have come in from outside.
"Dad, Mom." Draco, like a startled ostrich, slowly shuffled towards his parents.
"Go wash your hands," Narcissa said kindly.
Draco, feeling reprieved, fled swiftly.
Seeing Draco like this, Ron couldn't help but lower his head and chuckle.
Looks like there's always something or someone that can keep things in balance; who would've thought Draco would be so afraid of his mom and dad.
But he didn't suspect that Draco lacked parental affection, since a child deprived of love wouldn't keep saying, "My dad."
"They really went wild last night," Molly said helplessly, shaking her head. "Arthur's the same, or rather—Arthur is the biggest kid among them. If it weren't for him leading them in their mischief, they wouldn't have stayed so long at the Grangers'."
"The Granger family?" Lucius said with interest. "I remember that surname—from that holiday before the start of second year, I had a drink with Mr. Granger."
"You know Mr. Granger?" Molly seemed a bit incredulous, as in her mind, Lucius was still that wizard clinging tightly to Pure Blood ideals.
She never expected that Lucius, versatile enough, would change his tune so quickly and completely cut ties with the Death Eaters.
"Of course, he's a very interesting Muggle," Lucius smiled. "I've always looked forward to meeting him again."
"That's great!" Ron suddenly said. "My dad just invited the Granger family to the World Cup yesterday—I'm talking about the Quidditch World Cup. Dad spent an entire evening explaining the difference between the Quidditch World Cup and the football World Cup."
"Yes," Fred and George chimed in in harmony, "Mr. Granger is a Manchester United fan—aha, how's that song go? Glory glory Man. United!"
The twins seemed to have a bit of musical talent; they sang the Manchester United anthem quite convincingly.
"Oh," Lucius smiled and said to the two of them, "I remember that team—Mr. Granger told me he particularly likes the player called 'Ryan Giggs.'"
Of course, Mr. Granger is a true football fan who wouldn't make the joke of 'Giggs and Rooney flanking together' like some Barça (star) football expert would.
On one hand, because Mr. Granger really watches football, and on the other, because Rooney would still be playing in the mud somewhere at that time...
"I truly hope Mr. Granger can join us," Lucius said again. "We had quite a delightful conversation back then, but unfortunately, we haven't met since."
This wasn't just polite talk, since Lucius had indeed witnessed Mr. Granger's impressive speculative and profiteering skills.
Although Mr. Granger didn't know how this money was made, he somehow always managed to earn it.
Narcissa glanced at Lucius but didn't say anything.
Although she was a Black, having married into the Malfoy family, the saying goes that when you marry a chicken, you follow the chicken; when you marry a dog, you follow the dog. Having married the versatile Malfoy, she naturally had to be versatile too.
A couple always has to adjust to each other; otherwise, life would be unlivable.
Since her husband thought that Muggle was decent, there must be something redeemable about him.
Otherwise, with Lucius's high standards, he wouldn't look favorably upon such a Muggle.
"Hopefully so," Harry said from the side, "but given Mr. Granger's lively character, I doubt he'd miss such a grand event."
Lucius nodded and then asked, "By the way, where's Arthur?"
"Arthur went to take Percy to the Ministry of Magic," Molly replied. "You know, my third son Percy graduated this year, and he was just hired by the Ministry of Magic. He's reportedly going to work in Old Batty Crouch's department."
"Oh, Old Batty."
When Old Batty was mentioned, Lucius flashed a barely noticeable disdainful expression.
But he covered it well, and none of the people present noticed this slight change in his expression.
"If I remember correctly, he should be the Head of the International Magical Exchange and Cooperation Department," Lucius said again. "If Percy's going into his department, he won't have much of a break all summer—you know, the International Magical Exchange and Cooperation Department is also fully responsible for the Quidditch World Cup."
"Will it be busy?" Molly asked with concern.
"Busy indeed," Lucius smiled and continued, "but Old Batty isn't exactly the best boss for a fresh graduate. If possible, I would suggest you let the child choose another department."
He spoke quite tactfully, but Molly indeed listened.
She actually had long heard about the rumors surrounding Old Batty, but what could she do? She couldn't interfere with the Ministry of Magic's job assignments.
"But I think," Little Sirius suddenly said, "Percy working under Old Batty isn't necessarily a bad thing; at least it can hone his skills."
(Request for monthly votes)