"Honesty and kindness are hardly mutually exclusive," Severus answered with a small smile. They usually were in his experience, of course, but he didn't think that his experience in any way corresponded to the norm. And, for that matter, his experiences here seemed to be vastly different than in the wizarding world.
He frowned slightly then, as a question occurred to him. He would likely read them all after he made his next trip to the grocer's anyway, but it couldn't hurt to ask, he didn't think. Especially if she was overly prone to honesty. "These, ah ... Harry Potter books that you mentioned," he began slowly. "Have you read them?"