Harry Potter: Who cares about belated motherly love?

As I took a step away from the stove, there was a piercing scream.

"Master Harry's friends! Miss Ronaldine Weasley has arrived!!!"

The cry came from Betty, the elf that Sirius had just hired. Because Kreacher was old and the mansion that had been abandoned for ten years was in a dilapidated state (the mansion and land were too large for Kreacher to handle alone), Sirius hired two new elves to help him.

One of them is Betty, and the other is Betty's husband Archie.

The two were arranged to be subordinates of Cricher, who was responsible for the management of the entire mansion, while Betty and Archie were responsible for various chores.

It seemed that Betty's task was to welcome the guests today. She waved her hand and gently brushed off the tiny dust on my dress, and then did the same to Bill and others who arrived one after another.

At the same time, she seemed to have used some magic to convey our arrival to Sirius and others. Almost at the same time as Percy came out of the fireplace, Sirius took Harry into the reception room.

"Hey, welcome! Wow, Ronnie, you look so new today! So beautiful!"

Sirius smiled and hugged each of us. He praised me generously. As he expected, no details were missed.

I smiled in response, thanked for the invitation and extended birthday wishes to Harry.

"Thank you for asking, Mr. Black. Happy birthday, Harry."

I curtseyed slightly formally, and Sirius gave me a sly smile.

"Haha, it's a refreshing change! Thank you, Miss and Mr. Weasley. Thank you for coming on the occasion of your godfather's 'big day'."

Our interaction left Harry a little confused, but after Sirius gave him a look, Harry also bowed slightly to us gracefully.

"Welcome. Please enjoy yourself today."

After Harry got into position, I looked at him and couldn't help laughing.

"Hey, Harry, that robe suits you really well."

In fact, the dress robe, which was mainly black with some Gryffindor gold and red, really suited him.

Her hair, which was usually a bit messy, was styled into slight curls this time.

"Ronnie, you are so amazing! I almost thought you were a princess!! You are so beautiful!"

Just as we were chatting happily, Kritcher suddenly appeared with a "pop" and saluted us respectfully.

"Master, Master Harry, the Weasley Masters, the tea is ready."

Kreacher, who had a grudge against Sirius in the "original work", now at least acknowledges Sirius as the "official head of the Black family."

Perhaps it was because he had given up "Slytherin's firearms" that he was so respected.

***

Do you remember that I once corresponded with Sirius and asked him about the "Horcrux"?

He hesitated for a long time and didn't want to tell me about the terrible magic item, but finally understood my feelings and told me.

As a thank you, I also added in the letter what I had not finished saying in the headmaster's office about "Tom Riddle's Diary". It seemed that it was because of this that Sirius noticed that Kreacher once possessed the "Horcrux".

Although he didn't tell us too many details, Sirius did tell me that Kreacher once possessed the "Horcrux" and had destroyed it.

———Then, just before the summer vacation, the funeral of “Regulus Black” was held solemnly.

Now, Kreacher, wearing a brand new snow-white pillowcase, had "a certain firearm" given to him by Sirius hanging around his neck as a relic.

This is one of the reasons why Kreacher is so loyal to Sirius.

Perhaps it is because of this that the current Black family mansion has completely lost the gloomy feeling in the "original work" (although there is a head of a house elf hanging in the room on the second floor, but at least that's other than that).

Perhaps because Krichter had acknowledged Sirius as the legal master of the family, he became much gentler towards us. Although I didn't know what he was thinking, he never showed any dissatisfaction and always treated us as "honored guests".

He also seemed very polite to Harry. Although he didn't call him "Master" (perhaps in his eyes, there was only one "Master"), it was obvious that he respected him.

While sipping tea and chatting with Harry, about 30 minutes later, guests arrived one after another.

It was then that my brother and I were temporarily separated from Harry and his friends and led to the great hall which served as the banquet venue.

Before the party officially started, we kept greeting the guests who arrived one after another, including Greengrass, Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle, etc. Some of them were classmates I had met at Hogwarts, and they came here with their parents.

Most of them are from Slytherin, which is not surprising. After all, most pure-blood nobles are sorted into Slytherin, so this is a natural result.

These people at least seemed friendly on the surface (after all, this was a party hosted by "Mr. Black", and if they messed it up, they might not be able to survive in the British wizarding world).

By the way, they (especially those children I met at Hogwarts) first blushed when they saw Bill, and then their eyes widened when they saw me. Especially Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, their faces were as red as ripe apples, their mouths were open, and they didn't move. In the end, their father even had to force their jaws closed. Seeing this scene, I couldn't help but laugh in my heart.

I was trying hard to hold back my smile and was greeting the guests with a friendly smile on my face when suddenly someone called me.

"Ronnie!"

"Neville! Long time no see."

I turned around and saw Neville walking towards me with an old woman with a straight back (probably her grandmother as rumored).

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Weasley. I'm Neville Longbottom. Thank you, brother and sister, for taking care of me all the time."

"I don't deserve it. Thank you for always taking care of my brothers and sisters... I'm William Weasley, Mrs. Longbottom, nice to meet you."

In such situations, the younger person or the one with lower family status should usually greet first. However, although the Longbottom family is of higher status, strictly speaking, there is "no head of the family", so the etiquette is a bit delicate.

Judging from family status, the Weasley family is the lower one, so Bill should greet them first. However, according to the principle of elders first, some people think that Neville should greet them first.

In order to avoid unnecessary controversy, and perhaps out of respect for Bill, Neville chose to greet first.

Because of this, Bill smiled from the heart, rather than a routine "business smile".

"You may already know Mr. Longbottom, but I would like to formally introduce you to Mrs. Longbottom. To my right are my brothers Percival, Fred, and George, and my sister Ronaldie."

"Oh, Mr. Weasley, there's no need to introduce yourself. I often hear my grandson mention you, especially Miss Ronaldi. It is said that she often takes care of my grandson... Thank you very much."

When Bill introduced us, we all saluted to Mrs. Longbottom in turn. After the majestic lady returned the salute, the atmosphere instantly became much softer.

Now that we have formally greeted each other, the semi-ceremonial "greeting" is over. From now on, we are just ordinary friends and classmates, as well as their guardians.

We were chatting with Neville (Bill was chatting happily with Mrs. Longbottom) when I noticed that Percy, who was explaining Neville's History of Magic paper to her, suddenly held her breath.

Following his gaze, I saw his signature platinum blonde hair and a figure that looked exceptionally elegant even among these nobles.

"Oh, isn't this... Mrs. Longbottom, and the new branch head of the Weasley family?"

The man who spoke was Lucius Malfoy, and beside him stood his wife Narcissa and their only son Draco, who were walking towards us.