Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. (obviously)
A/N: Chapter 2! Hope it measures up to expectations. Also you basically know the plot now.
Note: Sima is pronounced See-ma.
Sima punched the dummy. The enchanted mannequin backed up as though hurt, then quickly grabbed Sima's wrist and twisted her around so she was almost in a headlock. She jumped, loosening the dummy's grip before it could be as strong as possible. She ducked under its arm, ran around it and delivered a strong kick to its legs, forcing them to buckle and fall. Sima twisted it around and before it could react punched it in the face. She pulled her arm back to punch it again.
"Sima," a familiar voice said sternly. Sima stood up and pointed her wand at the mannequin. With a blast that matched her mood, she fixed it up and sent it on its way. She turned and faced her mother apprehensively.
"Sima," her mom began, "You can't just stay on the farm doing training exercises alone. I know you're unhappy about the move, but really. It's been a month, and you haven't met anyone."
"That's because there are no wizarding families here, Mom."
"And you know why! But there are plenty of Nomaj- Muggles, I mean, you can play with them, and once school starts it'll be good to have a friend," Mom said. "And it's Mum." Even though she knew why she had to act like she'd lived in England her whole life, she didn't like it. Even though she'd tried to explain to her parents that lots of people moved and she wouldn't bring too much attention to herself, they explained that it'd be counterproductive to the mission. Everything revolved around the stupid mission.
"Now you come with me to the store," Mom said in the scolding manner of mothers that makes it clear how much they love you. "Maybe you'll meet a friend."
"Doubt it," Sima muttered so Mom couldn't hear her. That was not how friends worked.
Sima trailed her mother around the store, occasionally running off to fetch this or that. The store was huge to Sima and she often had to use a Locating Charm to find what she wanted. Her mother would freak out if she saw, but Sima made sure no Nomajs were around.
"Here, Mum," Sima said, exaggerating her British accent for her mother's sake. It worked, for though her mom narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her, when no Nomajs did anything odd, Mom turned towards her and smiled. At that moment a shopping cart whirled the corner and slammed straight into Mom's before Sima could get out a warning. Both carts ricocheted off each other and pushed Mom and the other woman to the floor. The food from both carts sprang everywhere, but before they hit the ground Sima had discreetly put down a Cushioning Charm so none of the items would break. Sima ran to her mom and helped her up. A girl about Sima's age with long bushy brown hair helped the other woman up.
"Why on earth -" Mom's perfect British accent did nothing to hide the anger. Sima had to admire how Mom kept her false identity even when she was pissed.
"I'm so sorry!" The woman had bushy short hair that matched the girl's, but with a perpetual bed head. Glasses covered her kind eyes. The women started to talk. Now Mom would probably talk forever. Sima bent down and picked up the milk. The other girl walked over and plucked the cereal from the ground.
"Hello," she said, Sima winced. This was obviously the kind of person who talked to random people. Though Sima could play any personality accurately, she was herself now, and herself was shy and avoided new people.
"Hi," Sima said quietly.
"I'm Hermione Granger, who are you?" She, Hermione, bent down and picked up a carton of eggs. Just before her fingers reached the carton Sima blinked, and the carton was in Hermione's hand. Hermione looked a little puzzled and Sima stared confusedly at the carton before deciding she had been seeing things.
"I can't believe these didn't break," Hermione muttered, looking at the eggs.
"Oh! - um - I mean, erm," Sima cringed inwardly. She wasn't usually this susceptible to surprise. She automatically glanced at her mother, but she was deep in conversation with the woman who came with Hermione. She almost rolled her eyes. Mom could make friends anywhere.
"I'm Sima," Sima somehow kept her British accent.
"Oh, so what school do you go to?" the girl replied immediately. Sima was a little disconcerted at how quickly she responded. It was like she was reading a script.
"Erm," Sima said, putting on the accent thickly to make up for her earlier mistake. "I've been homeschooled, but-"
"Oh cool!" Was this stupid Hermione going to keep interrupting her?
In the days, then weeks, then years that followed, Sima became friends with Hermione. They ended up going to the same Nomaj school and having many classes together. Though she had to admit Hermione was kind of a know-it-all, Sima still thought she was amusing and fun to be around. She was the smartest of all the kids in their school, and was always pressuring Sima to work harder. Sima didn't care about doing well in Nomaj school as she'd be off to Hogwarts soon, but her parents agreed with Hermione. They said that a good spy had to be able to blend in anywhere, even in Nomaj territory.
Sima spent most of her time training, outside of school and hanging out with Hermione. Her parents taught her new spells and let her practice against them so she would get better. They would often surprise her to see how quickly and how well she could react. They also taught her how to confuse someone who was on to her identity, and how to blend in in places she had never been.
Sima had always loved training, especially fighting. She loved the feeling of being powerful and in control. But she found training was much more lonely and boring without Melody.
Sima and Melody had been given wands way before most kids, and had been taught most basic charms by the age of 7. Since then, they'd been learning more advanced defensive and offensive spells. They also learned Nomaj dueling with the enchanted mannequins, just in case their wands were compromised.
Sima had known all her life that she was going to go to Hogwarts at 11, not only as a student, but also as a spy. Her parents had yet to tell her what or whom she was spying on, and now that her 11th birthday was approaching, she wondered when exactly they planned to tell her.
Sima wasn't sure how she felt about going to Hogwarts. Her emotions regarding this particular topic had flipped around since she was little, first ecstatic that she would be able to use her skills in real life, (a feeling that she mostly felt whenever Melody was around), and then sad that she'd be moving and leaving Jayma Aunty, Annette Aunty, and Melody. And now Hermione.
The worst part about having Hermione as a friend, other than her attitude about schoolwork, was that she couldn't tell her about magic. Sima couldn't even have her over, as her house was so blatantly magical. Sometimes something would happen, like the incident with the egg carton, that would have Sima convinced that Hermione was a witch. But she was pretty sure that was just wishful thinking.
Sima's mission at the moment was to find Nomajborn witches or wizards, a mission from the Ministry that she was utterly failing at. Her parents assured her that it was quite possible, and likely, that there were no witches or wizards at her school, but Sima still felt disappointed, as her parents had assured her that if she found a witch or wizard they'd let her break the news to them. There reasoning was that it'd be easier coming from someone they knew, but Sima just wanted to see the look on their face when she showed them magic.
Note: You're probably wondering if Sima has to be a spy for the mission. The answer is no, her parents would always let her quit, but she also feels like Melody would be so disappointed in her, and she wants to be like her parents and be a spy.