Bryt Watkins was perched at her window as she had been since she had woken up that morning. Hermione Granger, Bryt's closest friend, was arriving today to spend the rest of their summer vacation together.
Bryt's room was drastically different to what it would have been last year, before she had found out she was a witch. Her bed lay in the center and the bedspread left unmade, and that was the end of how her room used to be. A cot was resting between the bed and the wall, set there for the friend Bryt was waiting for. A trunk lay under the window beside Bryt, left open and holding black robes, several books, quills, and rolls of parchments. There was a small table in one corner where a cauldron was sitting next to two bottles of odd-colored liquid. The chest of drawers sat in another corner with a large bird cage sitting atop it next to hair bands and a brush. The desk was on the other side of the bedroom door and held a computer and an picture where the figures were moving. Two people were in it. Both had some Hispanic features and looked to be siblings with identical dark eyes and black hair. The girl was on her brother's back piggy-back style and laughing and the boy occasionally turned in a circle or readjusted his sister's weight.
Bryt straightened up excitedly as she heard a car approaching in the distance. Not even a minute later, the car came into view, heading for the Watkins household. As it pulled to a stop, Bryt could clearly make out the bushy-haired girl in the back seat.
"Hermione!" Bryt called out the window happily before running from her perch at the window into the hallway and out the front door. She had moved so quickly that she had made it to the car and threw her arms around her friend in a hug just as Hermione was closing the car door.
"It's great to see you again, too, Bryt," Hermione grinned, "Do you mind helping me with my trunk?"
"Sure," Bryt grinned, waving to Mr. Granger in the driver's seat before helping Hermione get her school trunk from the trunk of the car.
After Hermione bid her father goodbye, she and Bryt moved Hermione's trunk into Bryt's bedroom and placed it next to the cot just as Bryt's mother came into the room.
"Great to see you again, Hermione," Mrs. Watkins grinned, shaking the young girl's hand, "Bryt's talked a lot about you."
"Nice to see you, too, Mrs. Watkins," Hermione grinned.
"You'll meet my husband and the twins later today," Mrs. Watkins said, "Greg took the boys into London for a movie. I thought you'd like to spend a little time together before they begin hounding your friend."
"Thanks Mom," Bryt grinned as her mother left and she turned to Hermione, giggling at Hermione's odd expression, "I told you the guys in my family are obsessed with magic. Anyway, I'm really glad you could come. Sorry my room's a mess. I just couldn' concentrate on cleanin' with you comin' over."
Bryt grinned as she sat down on her unmade bed just to immediately jump up with a yelp.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked, coming over.
Bryt turned to her bed to see a gray mass of feathers right where she had tried to sit down. Bryt blinked as she knelt down to study the thing just to realize that it was a old owl.
"Poor thing!" Hermione gasped as she picked up the owl and a letter fell, "He looks ill!"
"I'll let him rest in Joey's cage for a bit," Bryt said, taking the owl over and placing him in the empty bird cage before going back to the letter laying on her bed, "It's from Ron...I was hopin' Harry'd finally written."
Ron Weasley and Harry Potter were two other friends of Bryt's. Though it seemed she got along better with them than she did Hermione(she had more in common with the boys, after all), Bryt was much closer to Hermione. It was possible that it was because they were both girls, or it was due to the fact Hermione was so much like one of Bryt's old friends from the States, or it could have been a mixture of both.
Over the summer, though, Harry hadn't written once to Bryt, despite the letters she had sent to him. She had found out from talking to Hermione over the phone and writing with Ron that neither of them had received letters from Harry, either. Bryt was getting more and more worried, wondering what could have happened and if it had anything to do with Harry's aunt, uncle, and cousin, all of whom hated magic. Which, in turn, meant they hated Harry. Bryt had recently been wishing she had gotten Harry's number at the end of last year. Then she could have called the Dursleys to find out if Harry was okay.
Bryt turned back to the letter in her hands and opened it as Hermione sat on the cot that had been set up for her. Bryt read it aloud:
"'Dear Bryt and Hermione (if she gets there before Errol)
"'I still haven't gotten any word from Harry and I've had enough of it. Fred, George, and I are heading right to that house and are taking Harry away from those Muggles. And, hopefully, find out why he hasn't answered any of our letters.
"'Wish us luck! Ron.'"
"I hope he's not planning anything dangerous!" Hermione exclaimed at once, "They'll get themselves and Harry in trouble!"
"I'm sure they'll be fine," Bryt grinned over at her friend before grabbing a blank piece of parchment and the quill sitting in ink next to her computer monitor, "But I'll relay your message to them. Anythin' else you wish to say?"
"They better not do anything to get them into trouble," Hermione said again and Bryt laughed.
"Right then," she said, putting her quill to paper as she began to write.
'Dear Ron and Harry (if he's there!)
Hermione got here right as I got your letter, Ron. Your owl seems sick...Maybe you should get a new one, or wait for Joey. It's probably quicker that way, anyway.
We hope you got Harry okay and Hermione hopes you didn't do anything to get you guys in trouble. I personally don't care what you have to do to get Harry away from his family.
I want to hear everything about what happened and why Harry's been ignoring our letters. Was it because of his aunt and uncle? Is Harry okay? You have to let us know! But maybe you should send Hedwig because your owl doesn't look like he'll last much longer...
Remember, Hermione's staying here for the rest of summer. We can't wait to see you when school starts.
See you soon!
Bryt & Hermione'
"There," Bryt grinned, setting the letter aside to let the ink dry. She turned to see Hermione was pulling out a couple of Lockhart books from her school trunk. Bryt had lent them to her friend at the beginning of the summer.
"I brought your books back," Hermione said without need as she handed Bryt the two books, "I can't understand why Julio thinks Lockhart's a fraud."
"Sofí thinks he's jealous of all Lockhart's done," Bryt said as Hermione noticed Bryt's picture sitting on her desk.
"Did you take that over the summer?" she asked, nodding to the picture.
"At Sofí's birthday party," Bryt grinned, "And that reminds me...Julio liked the picture of you I gave him for you and he sent one back with me...Hold on."
Bryt went to her still-packed suitcase from where she had arrived home a little over a week before and pulled out a moving picture of Julio. The blonde went over and gave Hermione the photo with a grin.
"Thanks," Hermione returned her friend's grin, studying the picture closely before fishing out one of her books and putting it away in the pages.
"We'll find you a frame for it when we get school supplies," Bryt grinned, "Whenever the letters come."
As if on cue, an owl swept into the room and dropped two letters on Bryt's bed before swooping out again. Bryt picked them up and noticed one was addressed to Hermione and handed it to her friend as she opened her own.
"I should make comments about expectin' letters more often," Bryt laughed before looking down at her school list.
SECOND YEAR STUDENTS WILL REQUIRE:
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk
Bread with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart
Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart
Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart
Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart
Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart
Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart
Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart
"Looks like you're gonna get your own copies now," Bryt laughed, "Hold on. I'll go let Mom know we got our lists."
Bryt hurried from her bedroom and down the hall. She went through the small study and into the kitchen where her mother was working on lunch.
"School lists came, Mom," Bryt grinned, "When do you think we can go get our supplies?"
"Your father's insistin' on takin' you," Mrs. Watkins gave a sigh, shaking her head, "His next day off is next Wednesday, if you can wait 'til then."
"That's fine," Bryt grinned, hurrying back to her room to tell Hermione.
"Let Ron and Harry know," Hermione said, "We can try and meet them in Diagon Alley."
"Good idea!" Bryt said, grabbing her quill and adding one last message to her letter.
'P.S. Hermione and I are going to Diagon Alley next Wednesday to get our school supplies. Try to meet us there if you can. We'll meet you outside of Gringotts.'
"I guess we should send the old owl on his way," Bryt sighed after her ink dried. She took her letter to the owl and attached it to his leg before sending him off through the window. For several minutes, Bryt wasn't sure if the owl would stay air born, but it finally disappeared in the distance.
"I hope the poor thing will make it..." Hermione said, staring out the window still.
"Yeah, same here..." Bryt said, "But he must be tougher than he looks. Anyway, want to take a walk outside? It's a really clear day and I can show you where I usually like to hang out."
Hermione gave a nod and the two girls headed out into the sunshine, enjoying their walk. Bryt spent most of it telling Hermione of everything she had done the when she had been visiting her friends in the States.
"Sofí had a classic beach party for her birthday," Bryt said, "It was great until a nasty storm hit and we actually lost the beach umbrella. We ended up soaked and Mrs. García didn' want us gettin' in her car wet. Sofí wanted to dry off with a spell, but Mr. and Mrs. García wouldn' allow it."
"Of course not," Hermione said, "There were probably Muggles around."
"Not really, except for Mrs. García," Bryt explained, "And Mr. García's Muggleborn. Neither think magic should be used for anythin' other than emergencies. I guess that's why electronics work so well in their house, they don' use magic much."
"I think that's a smart idea," Hermione said, "Even though we're witches and wizards, it doesn't mean we should use magic for everything."
"Yeah, I guess," Bryt shrugged, then turned to walk backwards in front of Hermione, "Anyway, Sofí and Julio are actually gonna spend all summer here next year! You've gotta come by sometime to meet 'em!"
"I'd love that!" Hermione grinned, "It will be really nice to finally meet Julio in person."
"Julio's just as excited to meet you," Bryt grinned.
"Bryt, Hermione, lunch is done!" Mrs. Watkins called from the kitchen window.
As the two headed back to Bryt's house, Bryt noticed the family van pulling into the garage.
"Looks like they're back," Bryt said, leading Hermione into the kitchen.
The two had just sat down to the lunch that Mrs. Watkins had fixed when Bryt's father and brothers came in the room.
"Hi!" Mike and Drew chorused, grinning at Hermione.
"And you must be Hermione," Mr. Watkins added, "The young witch from Bryt's new school."
"Dad, don' start," Bryt said, "Hermione's Muggleborn, too, she probably couldn' tell you any more than I already have."
Of course, Bryt didn't actually believe that. She bet that Hermione knew a lot more about the magical world than Bryt did, but she didn't want her father annoying her best friend with questions. Bryt noticed Hermione looking over at her and Bryt turned to her friend, mouthing 'please don't get him started'.
Hermione just gave a nod and turned back to her lunch.
"We got our school letters today, Dad," Bryt said, "I won' need much this year, just some more potion ingredients and one book. My Lockhart set is on the list this year."
"Can we come to Diagon Alley with you?" Mike asked excitedly.
"Not this year, boys," Mrs. Watkins cut in before her husband could reply, which got a groan from both her sons.
After a noisy lunch of Mike and Drew constantly bugging Bryt and Hermione about school stories(most of which Bryt had already told them several times), Bryt and Hermione stood up and started back for Bryt's room.
"Are your brothers always like that?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, unfortunately," Bryt replied, "You'd think after hearin' about a Quidditch match ten times they'd stop asking. I kind-of hope they'll get letters to Hogwarts in a few years, then they'd leave me alone."
"You never know, they might," Hermione replied, "I'm sure there are at least some Muggleborns at Hogwarts who have a brother or sister who's also a witch or wizard."
"Maybe," Bryt flopped down on her bed and stretched out, "Won' know for a couple of years, anyway. If it weren' for the fact I need the books for school, I'd let those two read my Lockhart books. That'd keep 'em occupied."
After that, Bryt and Hermione went to Gilderoy Lockhart and long discussions of his adventures. The two stayed up until well after midnight when Mrs. Watkins caught them and told them to get to sleep, which they both agreed to, deciding to finish their conversation in the morning.