(To my readers, im still getting the hang of this coding, sorry for the wall of text.)
CHAPTER 2
Safe to say she had never thought to connect with anyone in the last four years as nearly everyone had gone to live a life they thought they couldn't have before the war.
Harry has gone on to law enforcement and catch death eaters and make a bit of good happen in the world and Ron couldn't sit still in one place for to long so chose to travel to see as many places as he could. Both had been restless after the war, no longer having the adrenaline of being hunted and defeating a dark lord left both with nothing to aim for and left them wayward.
Hermione in the other hand was happy to finally breath without having to look over her shoulder every three minutes to see if she was being stalked, if anyone recognized her or if someone wanted payback for a death during the war.
"Hermione, you look like a tightly wound coil, are you alright my girl?" The soft voice of the caretaker asked in the dim lighting as she shook herself out of her train of thought.
"Oh, I'm fine Mr Abernathy, thank you though for your concern." She said with a small smile to him as he set down the tray with the pot of tea on it and a dainty china cup.
Horrors left a mark but she had a lovely employer who was happy to let her work on restoring some of the oldest books in history as well as more recent texts without wanting to know the details of her past.
"Well if you're sure. Also Martha wanted to know if you would like a little dinner to go with you when you head home, she's most insistent to feed you after you came to fix her great gammas cookbook." He said with a small chuckle.
"I would love to have some of Martha's Cooking. Would save me from having to cook when I get home late tonight." She said with a smile before fixing herself some tea and taking a sip.
Tea was calming to her, a habit of days gone by as she took another sip, set it to the side so she could finish her work.
"I will be down a little later to get you, the Mrs wants me to help with dinner of all things." He said as he headed off upstairs with a chuckle and humming an old song under his breath as he always did.
She had been working on meticulously lining up the spine and seams of the pages of a book for several hours before fixing them back in place with a special sealer and seeing to it that it dried well and that the small charms were repaired within its pages. Many of them had charms that spoke out the recipes so you didn't have to pick it up and read it while baking which made her believe that Mars Abernathy cooked in the muggle way more than once a week. With a nod as she fixed the last of the spine with a little dab of adhesive and a sealing spell with the tiniest flick of a wand.
"All done. I'll just leave it to rest overnight and the book is as good as new." She said somewhat cheerfully to herself as she collected her tools, summoning them back to their case in a tidy order before tucking her wand up her sleeve in its holder strapped to her wrist.
She finished off her tea before heading out of the workshop into the upper levels inside of the house, going slow to stretch out the muscles in her legs from the hours of sitting she had done.
"Oh dear Hermione, is the book okay?" Martha asked as soon as she made it in the doorway, the sound of concern in the lady was endearing.
Martha was a portly motherly woman who instantly saw those that needed the extra love. If it wasn't for those keen eyes of hers she probably wouldn't have this job she mused to herself.
"It will be as good as new by morning, I left it on the workbench to dry out and you can collect it and have it back in its place on the shelf come morning." She said while Martha swooped gave her a big hug before bustling off to get the dinner to go for her, bundled up beautifully in a bag so she could carry it safely.
"Here you go dear, I hope you get some sleep, your looking tired lovely." She cooed her concern as she handed her the bundle.
"I will Mrs Abernathy. Thank you for the food." She said before seeing herself out after waving goodbye to Mr Abernathy who cheerily waved back from his seat at the dinner table.
Stepping into the late night darkness, she found it peaceful in the quiet with only the odd sound coming out of the buildings she passed, the only clue that life dwelt within them as she headed out through an alley and into an apparition zone and with a turn of her step and a crack, she headed for home.
The same spot every day she landed with a resounding crack in the dark. In the middle of nowhere her house stood alone in the dark away from the village surrounded by a small forest and fields a plenty. The spot she landed in now had the wheat nearly full size in the autumn with the leaves of the trees boarderint the forest turning brilliant shades, even seen in the dark with the moon glowing as her cloak made a soft sound against the plants as she walked through it to her back door.
Three wards tingled along her skin, letting her know all was well as she headed inside, undid the fourth ward with a word and headed inside, resecuring it behind her.
Repetition repetition, her whole life now was just habit and repetition now as she set her repair kit on its shelf near the back door, set the food on the servery with a heating charm round it an headed for the shower.
Efficient to a fault, she didn't waste time in her shower, scrub and out with a clean set of clothes, a soft mint coloured shirt and grey slacks, and pulling her now somewhat tameable head of wet curls back into a loose braided ponytail as she headed back to the kitchen to eat.
The Abernathy's had been good to her, almost like surrogate parents after she couldn't return her parents back to the way they were after the war. She didn't have the heart to tell them everything that happened and why she had to make them vanish in the first place.
Mrs Abernathy showered her in the same love her mother had and they bonded quite well that the lovely lady was happy to give her meals any time it suited Hermione to ask for a snack. Though she had a habit of missing meals so Martha made sure she ate something wholesome.
Opening the bundle she paused as she saw the container of amazing smelling food and a cutout from the daily prophet neatly tucked on top.
Lonesome? Wanting to make a connection? Don't want face to face engagement? Sign up now for a pen pal exchange! Just fill it a questionnaire and we match you with like-minded pen pals.
It was like a shock to her brain, a revelation she hadn't thought of to engage with someone that wasn't work related and it would seem Martha had thought so to.
Setting the cutting to the side as she thought it over and tucked into her meal, slowly chewing the first bites as she mulled it over.
But the end of her meal her honey coloured eyes hadn't left the bit of paper more than three seconds before she wordlessly summoned a parchment and quill.
And began to write...
.x.
.x.
Dear editor.
I would like to sign up for the pen pals subscription. Please send questionnaire and I will fill it out promptly as soon as I receive it.
Regards.
G.
.x.
.x.
She kept it short and sweet before she summoned her small owl with the little note and sent him in his way, watching dark feathers heading off into an even darker night from the window.
The clock on the mantle chimed midnight and she headed promptly off to bed.
For he first one in several days she was able to get a bit of sleep, free from the nightmares that plagued on her mind often. Like reliving the torture that Bellatrix delighted in. That was one she hated with a passion.
Her slow tired, barely awake, walk to the kitchen felt like a normal everyday thing till she saw the owl sitting on his perch just outside the window with a scroll attached to a claw and she rushed for the latch with part of her braid coming loose to flow out behind her in her haste.
The owl hopped in and held out a claw to hand her the scroll and she took it eagerly before treating it to some food and refreshing his water before she scurried to the table, broke the seal and soon honey brown eyes were devouring the words upon the scroll like a drowning man seeking a boat.
They ranged from simple questions to more in depth personality traits and with little thought a quill was in her hand and the room filled with nothing but the sound of scratching on parchment till it was completed in her elegant handwriting, the curves of each answer as honest as she could make them before setting the quil down to fetch breakfast while the ink dried naturally with a simple cereal being the morning meal.
Only a few times while eating did she add more to the scroll before calling it done and send it off in the trusted claws of the owl.
Her nerves nearly got the better of her as she went about her day as normal. Cleaning from top to bottom, getting rid of the dust with a wave of her wand and opening up the windows to the sunshine and the cool breeze before she collected a book in need of repair from her pile and settled into her favorite chair at the table she had sitting to one side of the living room and laid it down gently on the padded work table.
It's cover and spine were water damaged and corroding but all the text were still readable and wouldn't need more than a touch up and realignment and recovering, so she set about her task in hopes that it would distract her mind from the coming answer of a pen pal. Who knew you could be so nervous of text on a page, but then again every student at some point was in the very same nerves.
Two hours into her work and with the job nearly completed, the fluttering of wings and the light tap tap of the owl sounded from the kitchen.
This time it was a small envelope, which she opened with eyes intent on the bit of paper as she opened it and let herself take in the words.
.x.
.x.
Dear G,
We believe you have the right matching qualities with a notoriously hard to write to individual, your owl is informed of the address and you may send a letter as soon as you wish.
Many regards
Penny Fethermore
Matchmaker for penpals UK
.x.
.x.
She nearly couldn't believe her luck at the prospects that all she needed to do was write and send a letter.
Almost to easy for immediate communication with someone one the outside world. Being social.
She stood here in the kitchen looking at the parchment before scrabbling for the table and the preset page and quill she had sitting there waiting expectantly and just wrote without thinking to far ahead on what she was writing.
.x.
.x.
Dearest reader,
Thank you so much for being the one to accept this letter,
In all honesty I never thought I would be so lonely as to apply for an anonymous pen pal, but it does give comfort to write for the first time in several years. Something about the quill in hand and the smell of fresh parchment brings back old memories of days gone by but then I'm at a loss on how to start up conversation, as you have no obligation at all to reply I don't know quite what to say, so please bare with me.
I'm an academic with a love of potions, charms and history. I currently work within the pages of books, and tomes that are far reaching into the histories of a witch or wizard's life's works, gently telling those little secrets to one who would listen to them and so few do, but I aim to preserve their works as best I can; and in my spare time I have taken to making potions of various degrees of difficulty just to break the time I spend pottering in my house by myself.
Besides that I have one feline companion and to much time on my hands and so, I'm happy to dedicate that time to conversing with you.
Hope your day is well,
G.
.x.
.x.
A quick scan of the words and she gave a nod, keeping it forward and to the point but mostly she wanted to see if his person would reply at all, as she sealed it with a tap of her wand and a water repelling charm, she handed it to the owl who gave her a nibble of her fingers and the took to the sky, and for once she watched it as it climbed steadily into the clouds and vanished from sight.
Her expectations were not high and she didn't expect a reply but she didn't know if she would be disappointed at the reply or no reply at all.
Biting the edge of her lip till the buzz of bugs had her closing her window once more and going back to her work, least that never failed to distract her mind.