Hello! I've been writing this fan fiction off and on for almost 2 years, and I've decided to publish it. I hope everyone likes it! This fanfic doesn't have much angst in it because I don't have that in me, but hopefully you all will like it! The pairings are Neville x OC (an OC I hold very dear) and Astoria x Draco. At the beginning of each chapter, I am putting the song I listened to while writing it and it will help capture the mood of the chapter. Enjoy! (PS I have no beta, so bear with me here)

"Dream a Little Dream of Me" / Mamas & the Papas

"Why aren't you cleaning, Nadine? NADINE!"

The Italian girl sat down on the toilet lid with a thud, letting out a deep sigh. She heard her mom and at least two of her sisters screaming in the deli downstairs. The floors were so thin that sometimes she marveled at its ability to hold everything up.

She squealed in frustration and jumped up, raising one foot and banging it down over their heads. She yelled over their noise, "Shut your mouths for two seconds. This isn't Jersey!"

She banged her elbow on the fake gold towel rack and leaned her head against the pale mint tile that hadn't been updated since Reagan was president. She closed her eyes and breathed in the comforting smell of rosemary and basil that were sitting in tiny pots on the bathroom sill.

She looked out the dusty window to the hustle and bustle of nighttime Brooklyn. Her face was lit up with red and green by the neon sign just out her window, proclaiming "Rizzi's Place" for those who were passing through. Anyone who knew anyone in Bensonhurst knew exactly where Rizzi's was.

She stroked a warm leaf from her basil plant, exhaling softly as she felt the tiny hairs prick the pad of her finger. Faintly, she swayed to the voices of The Mamas & the Papas playing from the old radio down in the kitchen.

She had gotten a letter from her dear cousin that she would be visiting this summer, and honestly, she could not come fast enough. She had so much to tell, so much to discuss with her. But then again, she thought sadly, they didn't have much in common anymore.

Does Hermione even care about her anymore?

Nadine remembered the first time her cousin had been exposed to telenovelas. Nadine and her sisters had grown up with them, but coming from Britain, her cousin has watched, transfixed, as the beautiful ladies swept across the screen of their tiny TV.

Nadine hummed as she inhaled the smell of caramelized mangos. Her noni had mailed them from Erice in Sicily, just as they were ripening. Now, their sweet scent permeated the house and soaked the walls in the smell of sunshine.

Hermione had loved coming here in the summers, and Nadine was wistful for those times before she had gone off to her special school and could no longer visit.

She didn't know much about the school except that it, and Hermione, were part of a magical world that Nadine was not a part of. Nadine's parents had accepted this even better than Hermione's own parents, and had even taken Hermione in while her own parents sorted themselves out across the pond.

Hermione had never understood how they had taken it so well, but Nadine found it quite simple; they lived in Brooklyn, where anything could happen. Magic had always been humming all around them.

Suddenly, Nadine heard a distinct peck on the bathroom window. She jumped and almost dropped the washcloth she had been holding.

She could see bright white feathers flurrying out in the humid summer air. She peeked out with a frown. That doesn't look like a pigeon.

She opened the window as quietly as she could, wincing as the rusty runners screamed in protest. Her eyes widened when she saw a giant Great Horned Owl perched impatiently on their neon sign.

He flew towards her and before she could register his closeness, he dropped a scroll onto the sill. He fluttered back to the sign and began to open his big wings, preparing to take off.

She quickly set the letter on the toilet lid before leaning out again with an outstretched hand. "Hey! Wait, pal! Do you want something to eat for coming all this way?"

Nadine saw him pause and took that as a yes. With a laugh, she took off out of the tiny bathroom and shimmied down the thin hallway, covered in paisley wallpaper, and launched down the precarious steps into a downstairs that was built on Italian tradition and jazz.

The walls were orange, the floors were worn maple, and the dining chairs of the restaurant were mismatched. Spaghetti sauce was everywhere and the families cheered warmly as they saw her.

"Nadine! There's my little tamale," Vinnie, a middle aged woman with dyed red hair and a toothy smile, shouted.

"No time, Vin!" Nadine called, sliding through the front of the restaurant and through the kitchen doors. The heat from the restaurant was only amplified here, the ovens bursting with fire, marinara sauce bubbling over in a witch-like cauldron, and the din of seven voices crowding over one another.

Her mom, Rosa, was sliding a monstrous mushroom pizza into the oven while shouting at Nadine's youngest sister, a joyous 4th grader with cropped dark hair and big eyes. She was sitting on the counter, ignoring her mom and snacking on a large carrot.

Nadine barely registered her father burning steaks on their oldest oven and her sisters bickering about how long the pasta had been in the water.

Rosa was a small, short woman with a booming voice and permed hair. She barely came up to Nadine's chin. "Nadine, how's the bathroom going, babe? Please say it's not horrible?" She enunciated the hah in hah-rrible.

"It's goin' just fine, Ma!" Nadine said, sliding a slice of hot mango on a plate and dashing it with chili powder. Do owls like spicy food? she thought. I hope so.

She darted back out the kitchen into the restaurant, dodging countless little children and twirling plates from the waitresses, running up the stairs. Her bangs were stuck to her forehead with sweat, but she hoped she hadn't taken too long. She didn't know much about the owls in Hermione's world, but she assumed they were busy creatures.

When she slammed her body into the bathroom, the plate balanced on her palm, she saw the owl in its same position on the neon sign. Breathing a sigh of relief, she stuck the plate out the window in offering. "It should be cool enough, but I didn't know if you liked spicy food so I took a risk, I'm super sor—"

He jumped over and clamped the mango in his talon, before going back to the sign and tossing it up in the air. He caught it and let it slide down his throat, gulping it down in one swallow. She shuddered as she imagined a mouse instead of the mango slice.

He blinked at her once, in what she assumed was a grateful slowness, before soaring off into the damp night. She stuck her head out the window and craned her neck to watch him until he was invisible amongst the glowing signs and the countless housewives standing on their rickety balconies and shaking out faded floral sheets in a futile effort to dry them. Honking horns and shouting men were deafening her.

She closed the window and set the plate down, grabbing the rolled up letter before sliding down to the cool floor in exhaustion. Her faded apron bunched up around her stomach and her bare legs draped themselves unceremoniously over the pink tub.

She slipped off the ribbon and unrolled it, her eyes dancing across the familiar handwriting. She frowned in disappointment as she began to read, then her face ghosted confusion, before excitement lit her eyes.

Dear Dina,

How's my favorite cousin doing? (Don't tell your sisters that)

I'll cut to the chase. I can't make it this summer. In fact, I'll be upping you one. It's not really something I can explain over letter, but here's the gist. My school wants to introduce muggle students (that would be you) into the existing magical students (that's me). I know this sounds weird, but trust me, hogwarts need something like this. As you know, there has been a supremacist war going on, and it was horrible, Nadine.

The school needs a breath of fresh air. I told the new headmaster, Minerva McGonagall, that you were that fresh air. You will be the first muggle student to attend. It would just be for this school year.

I think you could really change things here, and McGonagall trusts me.

I know Uncle Sal and Aunt Rosa will be hesitant, but right now, the most dangerous thing in the wizarding world right now is stagnation. We need you to get blood pumping again.

If it isn't too soon, we will be 'teleporting' you Monday. School won't start for a bit, but this gives you time to familiarize yourself and get to know everyone. You'll love them!

All my love,

H.G

P.S: Bring all the telenovela tapes you have! I need to catch up!

Nadine sniffled as she set the letter down. Hermione always teased her ability to cry over the smallest stuff, but this wasn't small. Hermione hadn't forgotten her after all; she thought she was fresh air! Could you imagine that?

She wiped her eyes with a laugh and leaned her head back against the tile, closing her eyes and imagining exactly what she should wear.