"But I'll go make sure they know who she is and where to find her folks," Harry said.
A few minutes later they were inside the house at Privet Drive. Harry showed Severus to the Master bedroom and where the bathroom was before instructing Dobby and Winky they could have Dudley's old room for themselves. He went back downstairs to turn the gas back on and rummage through the freezer for something to make for an evening meal. he hadn't even found something before Winky was back and shooing him aside to let her handle the cooking for Young Master.
"Do you have phone service, Harry?" Severus asked. He'd decided since they were no longer at Hogwarts or planning to return there, there was no need for him to keep referring to Harry by his last name only. It had been months since he'd even thought of the boy as Mr. Potter or even just as Potter. Always in his mind the boy was either Harry, Hogwarts Child or the boy. Besides, in the muggle world, very few adults in a teaching position called their students by their last names or with the honorific of Mr. or Ms. That was mainly a boarding school thing. Most teachers called their students by their first names. So it would seem odd if he kept calling him Mr Potter or just Potter.
"And the direction to get in touch with her parents? It might be better to just call them and tell them where they can find her," Severus said coming into the kitchen where Harry was defrosting a casserole in the microwave. Thinking to himself, 'And that way I can suggest again they move out of the country. Even if Albus is no longer a threat, he did have friends.
"I used to. I unplugged it when the Dursley's left. Didn't want to deal with his sister getting drunk and trying to find them. Then getting angry to discover I'm still here. Might still be connected though. I'll check. And yes I have her direction. She gave it to me at the end of first year before I learned what kind of a person she was."
He plugged the cord back into the wall and picked up the receiver. He passed it over when he heard a dial tone. He was pleased to discover he did still have service. Then he hunted down Hermione's home direction and called her parents. Severus took the phone from him and, when the adult Grangers answered, informed them of what had occurred this afternoon and where they could find their daughter now. It was a short conversation and Severus was scowling as he set the receiver back in the cradle.
After he hung up he explained, "The last time I saw them, her parents were justifiably upset at her branding. They blamed us for not putting a stop to the behavior she was displaying that led to it. But they also blamed you for doing it to her. It doesn't help that she can't admit she did you wrong. I know they are taking her to a mind healer but she isn't cooperating with her treatment. And they're still angry. I think now they're mainly angry with the staff at Hogwarts or maybe it's her they're angry with. But still they weren't too happy to hear from me."
"When she got expelled, did she keep her wand rights?" Harry asked as he sat down and waited for Severus to take the seat across from him. Winky set the meal she'd fixed for them on the table and they began to eat as they discussed the potential problem. Hedwig flew in the open kitchen window and perched on the back of the chair next to Harry barking softly and happily to see her wizard again. Harry fed her small bits of meat as he barked back to her in her own language. Severus just watched and listened in awe as the two reconnected after a long separation.
When it seemed that conversation was finally over for now, he answered the question Harry had asked him. "Yes. The ministry provided a list of tutors and the issue with her stealing from your vaults was hushed up. Apparently they believed Albus authorized it and he was high up in the Ministry as well as at Hogwarts. That he had no right to do it was a moot point, since the public believes he was your magical guardian. The Ministry knows and admits they know he isn't and never was. But the public thinks he is because he said he was. She claimed to believe he had the right to pay her for her service to him in his care of you. So to avoid bad press over it, the Ministry was willing to do whatever they needed to in order to make the problem, ie: her, go away. Her parents selected a tutor from the list and the Ministry paid them to get her through her Owls."
Bitterly Harry replied, "I'm perfectly sure quite a few of my galleons went along way towards hiring those tutors for her so she could sit for her owls and keep her wand rights here in Britain."