Saturday morning, Hermione's plans were interrupted when an owl dropped a fat letter into the middle of her breakfast. The eggs did not mar her excitement at seeing her friend's hand written address. She'd wait until she out of the Great Hall to read Harry's letter due to the many nosy people. Thankfully Ron was not there, she knew he'd be bummed not to receive one too.
Harry left Hogwarts on Tuesday and everything Hermione was used to had changed. Ron wasn't even acting normal. If her gossiping roommates could be trusted, Seamus tore into Ron for his behavior towards Harry and being an idiot in general. Not that Seamus actions had been that much better. After that Ron had attached himself to her. They hadn't bickered once and he was doing his school work without being asked. It was strange, but Hermione was ready to listen to him whenever he ready to talk. Right now she wished they were having a normal year. She missed Harry and carefree Ron.
Weekend mornings often found the Hogwarts library nearly vacant, that was common until people began to try to cram for finals. Hermione took her seat at her normal study carrel and pulled out the thick letter. The normally observant girl completely missed seeing that she caught the attention of a Bulgarian seeker.
Harry's letter had a 'real' envelope unlike wizarding correspondence so it had to be ripped to open. Photos and another letter addressed to Ron scattered over the floor after her speedy opening. She gathered the photos, stacking them neatly to explore after her letter. Ron would be pleased with his letter, she smiled.
Hermione,
I can't believe that this is my third morning here. Hope you don't mind that I did not wait a bit longer to write you but I didn't want you getting anxious. There is so much to explain, the cooperative is very different from Hogwarts.
Sirius and Remus are still going through orientation so I haven't seen them since we arrived. I am hoping that they finish their training today. Having them back is going to be a big distraction for me, but I'm super excited.
Hermione, I know your first question is going to be about the academics. I don't know much, they won't schedule my first conference until Sirius is finished with his oreintation. He is expected to give the parental input. This conference will cover my academic goals and how I'm progressing.
She smiled, pleased that her friend knew her so well. 'At least Harry was thinking about it,' Hermione thought before she returned to her letter.
If it will make you feel better, the first thing I did after arriving here was school work. Wand carrying is a privilege here that must be earned. Ms. Wendy thought that it is cruelty to take away my wand so I started my first packet immediately. You would've found the packet interesting but most of it common sense. Things like a wand can be used as a weapon. The responsibility of having a wand and so on… After I finished the task, I was given an arm holster for my wand. They are standard here for students. Wish I knew about them sooner. Anyway I won't accidentally blow off my rear anymore.
A little bit of exploring here led to the start of my first friendship of sorts here. Jewel is 8 and you can thank her for most of the photos included in this letter. I found her crying. Poor thing was down on her luck, frustrated that she couldn't take a flying practical exam. In that moment she reminded me of you and your zest for learning. The adult manning the area had a leg injury and could not fly. She badly wanted the privilege to use the S.O.C. System to travel between more properties and that requires passing the flying practical. Any rate, I volunteered to accompany her in the air, and we spent the next hour flying, I forgot how awkward flyers can be when they haven't spent much time on a broom. At least the co-ops brooms are in better shape than Hogwarts. We both passed even though at that time I didn't know what it meant. Privileges are earned here when you show mastery of a subject. She was so excited and with my agreement signed us up for a couriering chore the following morning. Jewel's the kid sister I never had. She also gave me a nickname, Brit. Everyone here goes by a nickname some of them are fitting, others not so much.
Hermione was beaming. At least Harry didn't need another event like their troll encounter to make a friend with a girl. She couldn't help but find a picture of dark haired little girl holding onto a broom. Hermione loved wizard photos as they showed so much more personality. The child's face would light up with a brilliant smile before she'd get embarrassed by something.
The coop works on a point system. I'm required to earn 210 points per week, 150 points must be educational and rest from chores. They estimate that it should take about 35 hours per week. There aren't house elves here so there are plenty of things that must be done by someone. We are allowed magic if we've proved mastery. Each age groups requirements are different. Jewel only needs 168 points or 28 hours.
'Well at least everyone is appreciate of the work others do,' Hermione thought. 'So they earn a point every 10 minutes.'
I've followed Jewel's pattern for school and chores since I'm learning how things operate here. Plus, I can't seem to be able to tell her no. We get up early, go to the school room before breakfast and hopefully get in an hour. After eating breakfast, we take a shipment to another property by broom. It is kind of neat to do a chore that requires a wizard's broom. Then we do course work in that property school room until Jewel needs a break. Depending on the time, we either eat lunch or find another chore. And back to the school room we go to finish out our educational points. Then we try to see if there is a shipment going back to our home site. It's only happened once so far, but is worth checking just in case. Once we're back we have to deal with the local drama. The pictures go into more details about our days.
Hermione took a glance at a picture that reminded her of her nursery school. A room lined with shelves holding interesting activities, floor mats, tables and painting easels. She missed the environment where school wasn't a competition. Hermione learned early on that she had to be the best or she had nothing in primary. The classroom was no longer just about learning but dealing with nasty classmates.
She forced herself to save the rest of the pictures for later because she was afraid it would spoil the rest of the letter.
Diva is another 8 year old, she is one of the few non-orphans on our property. She is a bully and has it out for Jewel. Her mum is as bad as my aunt, her daughter can do no wrong. Diva is furious that Jewel isn't staying around to be picked on. She keeps trying to get her grounded. Thankfully her mother isn't a caregiver and Aunt Cookie wasn't born yesterday.
We spend our evenings hanging out with the other kids. Chip is the oldest, 16 I think. He wants to be a healer. He's outgoing and friendly. He's always checking to see if I need space away from Jewel, thinking that she's acting like a lost puppy. I really don't mind her sticking around. Huck and Finn are 11 year old twins, their family is working to set up one of the new properties. There are a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds that think we are "cool". Those little tykes running around here are going to take time to get used to. The other people in the group shot, I haven't really met yet.
I wish you were here so I could show you everything. I get 10 international post before I have to earn them. I'm not sure how much they cost. Professor McGonagall can help you send your letters. It's also why I included Ron's letter in yours. The goblins don't charge more unless your post is over a pound. Please share the photos.
How are things at Hogwarts? Would you mind writing something to Jewel? She be tickled pink to receive anything.
Yours,
Harry
Hermione remembered hoping that there were no bullies at Hogwarts. She wasn't naive enough to hope that the cooperative didn't have any. The group shot had a pretty little blonde girl that would glare at Jewel before smiling at whoever was taking the picture. Auntie Cookie looked like her wise grandmother. Hermione couldn't count the little ones that would weave between people's legs. They never stayed still long enough. The twins looked they had just gotten off one of Mark Twain's river raft with their unkempt casual appearance. They were holding squirm toddlers that beat them with rattles before the two would start cooing to the tykes. Chip was laughing in the back of the photo. He seemed to enjoy the lively chaos. Hermione was glad to see that Harry was surrounded by people.
Jewel had taken pictures of some of Harry's and her own activity trays. One was of Harry being overrun by 4 and 5 year olds when he got out a dragon tray. Another tray was on household charms that weren't covered in Hogwarts curriculum. Jewel showed one where you had to observe the difference between different types of eyes used in potions. Hermione studied the dozen other school room photos. They told her so much more than Harry could in words.
She'd be envious if she wouldn't miss her books. She wished Ron could have that style of education. He was good at anything he had to work out for himself like chess.
The caption on one of the chore photos made Hermione laugh. Harry didn't want to see the inside of another pumpkin ever again. Ms. Wendy claimed that I wouldn't get tortured here. Well she's wrong. Pumpkin innards are disgusting. After we emptied, them we had to separate out the seeds. I will avoid that chore again at all cost. The five year olds would have loved it but they don't have their knife safety skills completed done yet.
The photos were gathered up and few books were checked out before she left to find Ron. By that time, the Bulgarian missed his shot at introducing himself. He asked the unfriendly librarian about her and found out she's a regular. He'd be back, it was not often he found a pretty girl that paid him no mind. He left the tomes he had been pursuing to wonder what she was up to.
…
Ron was lounging on a couch with his homework when Hermione found him. Half of his hair was sticking in strange directions, Hermione supposed that he skipped combing it and hoped he wasn't getting depressed without him best mate about.
"Ron, you got mail."
A/N I know this chapter is short so I debated for a long time about add other Hogwarts moments but there isn't much going on that adds to my story "yet". This is not a bash Ron fic. He's just having to deal with his issues. My normal update will go up on Wed.
Reviews are always welcome and please drop a line if you have any nicknames that would help me out. I can't make any promise to use them all.
