Mystical Days: Trials and Tribulations [Hermione Granger]

Chapter 1

It was a few days into the summer holidays and, once more, Nathaniel Banneker woke up confused, forgetting where he was, as he sat up in bed and looked around. This room was much smaller than his own, but it was full of various Muggle trinkets and objects that he now had a basic knowledge of, thanks to Hermione Granger, his best friend and a Muggleborn witch. The walls of the room were coated in pale green wallpaper, that had floral patterns decorating it, which almost reminded Nate of the woods near his own home, much friendlier than the Forbidden Forest on the Hogwarts grounds, with the small splotches of pink and yellow that made up the flowers on the walls.

Nate would get up, swinging his feet over the edge of the bed, remembering that it had a lower bedframe than his own bed, before standing up and going over to Aeris' cage, where it was standing on the small writing desk in the corner of the room, next to a window. As he got to the window, Nate would close it, having left it open the previous night, as he had done every other night since he had arrived, allowing Aeris to hunt. Aeris, Nate's tawny owl, was currently in his cage, looked at Nate with his deep black eyes and ruffled his wings, hooting quietly.

Nate would stroke Aeris' feathers lightly. "You can leave you know.. I'm going to be fine here, and I'm sure you'll find me if we leave before you get back from a hunt." To which, Aeris would just ruffle his wings again and settle down in his cage.

Nate would just shake his head and get some clothes out of the wardrobe, checking his reflection in the mirror at the back of the wardrobe as he did so. His hair was untidy, having just gotten out of bed. It was shorter too, as Hermione's mother had insisted on cutting it when they had gotten back from picking him and Hermione up from King's Cross a few days previously, insisting that it had been too long and was going to get in his way.

Nate's clothes now carried the aroma of a manufactured detergent, having been washed in the Muggles' washing machine. During his brief stay at the Grangers', Nate had taken brilliantly to wearing Muggle-style clothing, having already had some experience prior to this, often wearing Muggle clothes at his own home instead of the standard wizard robes, as he found them more comfortable. After straightening his hair, Nate would pick up his wand and head to the bathroom, in order to get cleaned up for the day.

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A short while later, Nate would walk back into the bedroom he was using, now fully dressed in a grey long-sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans, with his wand in his pocket and his hair still damp from the shower. Although he struggled a bit, Nate took to the Muggle world rather well. Unlike many other wizards, Nate wasn't completely inept in regards to Muggle affairs and objects, despite not taking Muggle Studies at Hogwarts. Despite this, however, or maybe because of it, there was still much he didn't know, and he often had to ask Hermione for help. Thankfully, she always seemed happy to help him when she could.

Once he was satisfied that everything in his room was in order, and that Aeris' cage was closed, Nate would head down to breakfast with the Granger family, still feeling slightly awkward and out of place as he sat down opposite Hermione at the table.

"So what do you kids have planned for today?" Hermione's father, George Granger, asked them, his voice strong and calm, his manner polite and respectful so he didn't belittle others with his intelligence or his words.

"Well, I was thinking that me and Nate could go out for a bit... To help him get used to the Muggle world. And then we can do some homework later. If that sounds ok to you Nate?" Hermione asked, as she looked across the table at him.

"Y-Yeah.. That sound great." Nate replied awkwardly, aware that Hermione's parents were looking at him.

"Great.." Hermione would say, flashing him a quick, warming smile before getting up. "I just have to get ready, and then we can go." It was true that she had to get ready, she'd come down to breakfast just wearing her pyjamas, presumably out of habit or because she wasn't sure Nate would agree to her plan.

Nate would nod and get up as well. "I'll just be in my room waiting then.. Thank you for breakfast Mrs Granger."

"Oh, it's no problem dear. You're our guest." Hermione's mother, May Granger, would say as she smiled at him, her voice warm and gentle as she got up to clean the table. "Any friend of Hermione's is always welcome here."

Nate would just smile in response, happy to be so welcome in the Granger household, before heading back up to the guest room he was using.