The Uncle From America

Chapter 8

It hadn't taken long for Hermione to fold back into her old habits. Returning to Hogwarts had been refreshing after a near-month in unfamiliar territory. Word about her parents' death had traveled quickly around the castle and in the first week, she was constantly offered condolences from friends and people she had never met before. Fortunately, Lavender and Parvati would keep guard around her when she was in the Common room. Harry would also glare at the ones whispering about her. Nearly every teacher had offered their help, should she need anything, and even Snape had merely ignored her instead of making rude comments in class. It hadn't taken over a week before the clamor died down and things were truly back to normal... Or almost back to normal.

Her friendship with Ron had taken a drastic turn. She would still speak civilly to him, but otherwise ignore him or reject his attempts of talking about anything else but classes. Harry, while still hanging out with the redhead, had also put some distance between him and Ron, spending most of his time with Hermione. The rest of the Weasley clan was promptly ignored, as Ginny seemed to have heard about the unreturned letters and hadn't tried to make contact either. Fred and George had apparently other stuff on their mind at the time and had not realized anything about the situation. Not that they would have cared much at first place; she wasn't that close to them.

The only time they tried to prank her to 'cheer her up' (changing her books into comics and having a squeaking feather whenever the tip touched the paper was NOT appreciated), she cast a few jinxes of her own (courtesy of having *cough* Paint and Fish *cough* perpetually trying to hex each other and being caught in the middle) and turned their skin bright red and blue. The jinx also made it so that they'd shine in the dark like a pink bulb in a disco. They took the hint and left her alone afterwards.

So Hermione was quietly enjoying the return to normal when the mail arrived and a large owl dropped two letters unceremoniously into her bowl. At first, Hermione wondered who had written to her before remembering Clint's hasty promise about keeping in touch. A soft smile grew over her face as she opened the first envelope.

"September 7th,

Hey Hermione,

I hope your first week at school went well. Sorry I didn't write earlier, I thought you might need time to return to your habits. I also had to ask Maria about the whole mail-pet thing. She subscribed me to a sort of storage where I can get my mail in case I don't want the letter delivered straight to me, y'know, when I'm busy. (How do they find me anyway? Do they have some inner radar? Do they cast spells on them to do their job?). Why can't wizards use emails or cell phone like normal people? Animals are totally not practical. Don't think I've forgotten the present that raccoon dropped in living-room," Hermione winced slightly. Fish's raccoon had indeed dropped a little extra along with a letter, the day before her departure to Great Britain. She returned to the reading. "The apartment feels a bit empty now that you're gone. I'll be off for my next job soon, so I won't be able to reply right away. I can't say where I'm being sent, but I'll bring you back a souvenir.

Feel free to write back about anything. I think it'll be a good distraction for you and me. And maybe it'll help things along, next time you come over.

Nat says 'hi'.

Take care.

Clint."

Her smile widened at the last words. Was this how Harry felt when he got to write to Sirius? She promised herself to write back soon and hurriedly opened the next letter.

"Brita, cher!"

Hermione nearly rolled her eyes. Who else but Paint? She felt slightly guilty at not having thought much of them yet. "You promised you'd write when you'd return to England! And we're still waiting! Or are we poor US folks not good enough for you anymore? :( Gretel wants to know how it went with the stupid redhead. You knocked some sense into him? Oh, and you owe Fish 20 bucks, Don Juan got back with his ex two days ago! We're all headed to the same school and see each other at break. Teachers are okay here," Hermione read an extensive description of Paint's point of view of said teachers and couldn't help but snort at some lines. In spite of their two years gap, Paint and Fish had officially replaced the Weasley twins as prank masters back in summer classes. A quick note from Gretel insisted they were making life hell; but knowing the girl, Hermione had no doubt she was enjoying the troublemakers' pranks. "We'll be waiting to hear from you!