A/N: Thank you all for reading. I hope you keep at it.
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.
Professor McGonagall came by to say goodbye the day of the departure and made sure to give the three of them a charm that automatically converted their British accents to American accents. Hermione's charm was a necklace shaped like an owl, "You know what they say, owl's just ooze of wisdom." She said. Hermione thanked her and assured her that she would be very careful.
Instead of traveling directly to the house by floo, Hermione apparated to the airport in Portland, Washington. She didn't want to take any chances with landing in someone else's floo network and she felt more comfortable apparating places anyway. She's had way more practice than a normal witch her age. Kingsley had given her a picture of Charlie Swan so she could recognize him when she saw the man. She also made him promise to keep updating her with news of the death eater hunt. "And if you need any help, I will just be a floo away," she told him.
"I will, Hermione. Now go."
She was looking around the bustling airport when she noticed his figure waiting in a corner. He was a fairly tall man with a broad built; his brown hair was a shade lighter than Hermione's. He actually looked a little like her father. A deep breath, that's a bad train of thought. She started towards Charlie; he spotted her before she reached him.
"You must be Miss Hermione Granger, it's a pleasure," he said kindly shaking her hand.
"And you must be Mr. Swan," Hermione replied giving him a warm smile. He seemed like a very nice person.
"Please call me Charlie," he said. He glanced behind her, "Did you not bring any luggage?" he asked.
Hermione pointed to her purse, "Got everything right here," she said, "the purse is charmed to hold as many things as possible."
"Oh, of-course," Charlie said. Hermione couldn't help but notice his sad look, she knew how hard it was for squibs to know their entire family except them could perform magic. "Well, that's hardly fair. I can't offer to carry your bags now," he said jokingly.
Hermione gave a small laugh, "Maybe next time," she said.
"Come on then, my car's parked right out in front."
The car ride to Charlie's house took about half an hour. He started asking her about things back home but instead Hermione kept diverting the topic to other things. Charlie seemed to have understood and didn't inquire further. He changed the topic to school.
"Going to school isn't required of course, I could always tell everyone you were home-schooled and finished schooling early or that you are taking online classes. There is however a muggle high school close to our house in which you are welcome to enroll," he told her.
Hermione had already decided this though. If there was one thing that would keep her sane in the middle of all this it was going to school and he told Charlie as much. Charlie chuckled, "You miss are nothing like my Bella. She hates the idea of school."
Hermione asked about the clan of Draekanae who lived here. "Oh, the Cullen clan? They've been here for almost a year now. They're harmless as far as their breed go. They've trained themselves to live among humans. The clan leader, Carlisle, he is actually the town's doctor."
"Seriously?" Hermione was very impressed. It was one thing to drink animal blood but to be a doctor among humans deserved a lot of credit. "That's fascinating."
"The kids go to the high school too," Charlie continued. "You'll see them when you're there."
"Do the Cullens know about the Wizarding World?" Hermione asked. Generally only traditional vampires had common knowledge of wizards. Any other vampire breeds like the Draekanae or Draculae usually did not know about them.
"I don't think so. They might suspect there are other magical creatures but they don't have any specific knowledge about your kind."
Hermione nodded. She noticed how Charlie said your kind as in he didn't belong with the Wizarding World. Well, it wasn't like wizards treated squibs very well. Muggleborn or not, at-least Hermione had magic. She couldn't imagine what it was like to watch your whole family perform magic when you couldn't do it yourself.
Soon they reached the house. Charlie showed her the bedroom she would be living in. "It's a little small," he said. "It used to be Bella's but she hasn't visited in years."
"It's lovely," Hermione said. "Thank you."
Charlie nodded. "School has already started but there's no rush. You can start whenever you want to."
"No, no, I can start as soon as possible. I need something to keep my mind off things anyway."
Charlie gave her shoulder a pat of reassurance, "I'll go call the school administration."
Before going to sleep, Hermione called Harry and Ron on the floo powder to see how they were doing. The clan of sorcerers Harry was staying with was better than he expected. Two of the sorcerers turned out to be five year old girls who became obsessed with Harry the moment they saw him. Hermione thought it was adorable. And Ron was taking his situation with surprising calm.
"I'm going to die out here 'Mione! I am seriously going to die! I think I'd rather face Aragog!"
Yes, surprisingly well. She bid them both goodnight and fell asleep early. She had school tomorrow after all.
Reviews?