It had been two months since Jake was taken to Britain by the wizard who changed his life forever, with his birthday having simply been a day that had come and gone. The only thing that did happen was being personally delivered his letter by that same old wizard. Albus Dumbledore, current Headmaster of Hogwarts, had found him after Jake had killed his own father with his magic. It was out of both rage and fear. Rage for killing his mother, and fear for being killed like his mother. Jake considered himself a coward because of this.
In his time at the Leaky Cauldron, he had a chance to practice some spells as he was not putting any Witch or Wizard at risk. It was mainly just Charms he practiced from the Standard Book of Spells: Grade 1 , though he did get Grade 2, even though he had no reason to right now, but where he was stuck in the Leaky Cauldron, he figured he'd do something with his time, and practicing advanced spells for his age seemed like a good plan. He found it actually somewhat easy to practice the advanced spells, but not all of them were easy for him. Most of them were, in fact, actually difficult. He decided it was purely because he was trying to learn them on his own when he hadn't even had one class in Hogwarts yet.
It being May, Muggle Schools, as Dumbledore called them, usually let out at the end of the month in America, but Dumbledore said that Hogwarts term went from the very beginning of September all the way through the end of June. He wasn't sure just how appealing that felt to him, but it was a magical school, and he was magical, so at least he would be able to fit in while there.
The last time Dumbledore visited him had been a while ago, so he figured the old wizard must be busy at Hogwarts, he was the Headmaster after all, but with Minerva McGonagall as Deputy Headmistress, according to Hogwarts: A History , he wondered who really did the most work there as Head of Hogwarts.
Near the beginning of June, he had finally gotten around to meeting and befriending Neville Longbottom. Jake had a hard time not snickering at his last name, but managed to keep his cool for Neville's sake, "It's nice to be friends with another wizard before Hogwarts, makes it that much easier." Neville was definitely shy and not very outgoing, which wasn't how Jake felt really, but then he hadn't seen anyone else yet that might make him nervous to be around.
Neville did have a hard time with the American accent that Jake had, but managed to get used to it on the fourth day of talking to him. Jake on the other hand had a much harder time adjusting to the British Culture and Slang. He found himself venturing out of the Pub a few times to look at British Dictionaries and a Thesaurus to help. After trying all the way into the end of June, he just gave up and would respect the culture and slang, but would just continue with his American habits. To hell with anyone that tried to make him change.
Jake did catch word from Neville making an off-hand comment about wishing he could afford a pet for Hogwarts. Jake wisely decided to not bring up his massive wealth to Neville, lest he make the poor boy have an inferiority complex. Speaking of pets, Jake remembered that he had wanted a pet, so he went to Magical Menagerie to look for a pet with Neville tagging along, "What are you planning on getting?" Neville had asked him as they walked into the store.
Jake looked around at all of the cats, rats, birds, amphibians, rabbits, and some that he didn't recognize. He would have to return to Flourish and Blotts and get a book on Magical Creatures later, "I'm not really sure..." he slowly walked around, admiring every animal, avian and crustacean that he saw. He stopped at the birds and eyed a Solid Black Raven, darker than the others around it. It caught his eye and they stared at each other in a standoff, waiting to see who backed down first.
Neville was staring at the Raven and noticed in the reflection of the Raven's eyes that there was a Red Glow that was there only for a second. He looked back to Jake who was intently staring at the Raven. When he looked back the bird in question caw'd and flew over to Jake. Neville thought it was to attack and ducked his head. When he didn't hear any scuffling, he looked up and saw the Raven resting on Jake's extended arm, "Sweet Merlin," they both heard from the counter. Jake turned and looked at the woman managing the store to see her in awe, "That bird has been here for a very long time and everyone who has tried to buy it found themselves attacked. How did you tame that bird?"
Jake just shrugged, "I dunno, I just stared it down and the next thing I knew it was flying towards me and perched on my arm," he explained, walking up to the counter with the Raven.
"My boy, I believe this Raven has chosen to be your familiar," the woman smiled at the pair. She saw the way the Raven looked at him and knew that their destinies were intertwined.
Jake looked back to her, "How much?"
"Ten Galleons, which also includes bird feed, bird cage and a specially designed brush for her feathers, which are all included in the price" she smiled and watched as he pulled out a pouch of money, holding it with his extended arm and digging through it with his unrestricted arm. He handed her the Ten Galleons before replacing his pouch where it belonged.
Jake thanked her and walked out of the store with the Raven on his arm, her care products in a bag, and Neville following slightly behind, "I think I will call you... Chloe, do you like that?" He asked his Raven and she gave him a pleased sound, "Good, because I wasn't going to be able to think of another one right now," he laughed and re-entered the Leaky Cauldron, going up to his room and saying goodbye for now to Neville and going back to his room. He let Chloe fly to wherever she wanted for now and would just use the cage for when he got ready for the school year. He set out some food for Chloe and went downstairs himself for some dinner with it now being the evening.
*******
The month of June would be ending soon as it was now June 30th. Jake was currently sitting outside Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlor, enjoying some Mint Chocolate Chip. Chloe was flying around him before perching upon a signpost. As he was eating his ice cream, he heard a girl ordering something from Florean, but he didn't catch what it was. He glanced over at her and upon first glance, he thought she was rather cute, especially her buck teeth that she had, and when she caught him staring, he quickly turned away and continued to eat his ice cream.
He looked back up when she had approached his table, "Do you mind if I sit here?" the girl asked him in a bossy tone.
He stared her down for a moment before cracking a half-smile, "Sure, why not?"
She sat down near him, but not exactly beside him, "You don't talk like a Brit, are you from America?"
"I am, Jake Fernandes, nice to meet you," he politely said to her.
"I'm Hermione Granger," she said, extending her hand. He reached out and shook it, "So are you going to Hogwarts this year?"
"Yep, first year. I found out I was Wizard back on March 20th, five days before my Eleventh birthday. When did you find out you were a witch?" He asked her.
"September 19th, that's when I turned Eleven and got my Letter," she said excitedly, smiling to reveal her enlarged front teeth more easily, "since then I've been reading up on anything and everything to do with magic and Hogwarts. My favorite book is Hogwarts: A History ," she explained to him.
"Really? I think I might have to agree with you on that. When I saw the book in Flourish and Blotts, I just knew I had to have it. It only made sense to read up on the school and its history if I'm going to be there for Seven years," he said to her.
"That was my thought exactly! Well, maybe not 'exactly,' but it was close enough," she laughed a little nervously. She suddenly became very aware of how exposed her teeth were, causing her to cover her mouth, "Sorry..."
"Sorry? Sorry for what? Enjoying yourself?" Jake asked, rightly confused.
Hermione licked some of her ice cream she got before answering, "I-It's just... I know my teeth aren't very a-appealing to look at, so I try to hide them whenever I can. I h-hate when I smile or laugh because then it just exposes them to everyone and gives them reason to laugh at me."
"Why would they do that? There isn't anything funny about your teeth," he said to her as honestly as he could.
Hermione looked up at him, face slightly red, "You don't think so?" She asked, genuinely shocked by his answer.
"Of course not, th-they are actually k-kind of... um..." he suddenly found himself losing his voice. He wasn't usually nervous like this and found it embarrassing.
"Kind of... what?" Hermione asked slowly.
"Kind of... nice..." he flat out refused to look at her and instead decided to eat more of his ice cream. When he realized it wasn't melting, he figured Florean must have some sort of freezing charm applied to it to keep it from melting. That was actually rather smart, now that he thought about it.
"Really? That's... that's so nice of you to say... at my public school, I get made fun of for my teeth... but not just my teeth..." she trailed off for a moment, "no... I get made fun of because of my love for education and learning mostly."
"There's nothing funny about that either. It's rare to find someone your age who loves learning and her education as much as you do. It's respectable, honestly," he smiled at her, knowing that he was the same in that regard. He loved to learn new things.
"You think so? I'm so glad you do," she smiled again, not caring that he saw her teeth.
"I do because we are alike in that manner."
"You love learning as well?" She was rather shocked.
"I do. I loved learning I was a wizard, though maybe not exactly how it happened... and I loved learning about Hogwarts in the book. I love reading up on the various Charms and Potions and Plants that some of the classes at Hogwarts offer. It's all so absolutely fascinating to learn about," he smiled at her when he was finished talking.
"Do you want to be friends?" Hermione asked suddenly.
She said it so suddenly, he had to take a moment to respond, "Um... yeah, yeah absolutely, I'd love to be your friend, Hermione."
"I'm so glad you said yes! It'll make going to Hogwarts that much easier already knowing someone!"
"Neville said something similar," he mentioned as an off-handed comment.
"Neville?" She asked.
"Neville Longbottom. He's staying at the Leaky Cauldron as a permanent resident like I am, but he's living with his grandmother. She's a nice lady, if you can get past the rough exterior," he explained to her.
It was at that moment that Chloe decided to swoop down and perch herself on Jake's head. Hermione gasped at the sudden appearance of the Raven, "Is that a Raven?"
"It is. Her name is Chloe, and she's as stubborn as they come," he said, causing her to nip at his hair, "intelligent as hell, too."
"She's so beautiful, her Pitch Black feathers are really something," Hermione said in awe at the sight of the bird.
"She really is," he held up his arm to let her walk onto it. Once she had, he lowered his arm and scratched her under her beak. He could tell she was enjoying the scratches because her head was angling up to the sky.
"Aww, that's so adorable!" Hermione almost squealed.
"You wanna hold her?" He asked her.
"A-Are you sure?" She didn't sound that sure of herself.
"Of course!" He extended his arm towards her, "Just hold your arm out and Chloe will perch herself on you."
Hermione hesitantly held out her arm to allow the Raven on it. Chloe didn't even need to fly with how close Hermione's arm was. She stepped over onto it and began to preen her feathers before staring into Hermione's eyes.
"Don't back down from her stare, if you do she will never let you hear the end of it," Jake informed her.
Without breaking eye contact, Hermione had to ask, "How do you know?"
"Because Neville was unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of a display of dominance by Chloe. So don't stop staring her down," Jake said, he could tell that Chloe was annoyed at him for giving Hermione help. After five minutes, Chloe finally broke and hopped onto Hermione's head, settling in nicely. "Congratulations, you now have her respect. Took longer than I thought it would, though."
"How long did it take you?" Hermione asked uneasily as Chloe refused to leave her hair.
"Maybe a minute, if that?" He shrugged.
"Maybe it didn't take as long for you because you were meant to have her?" Hermione looked at him, looking adorable with Chloe sitting on her head like she was.
"Maybe..." he leaned back in his seat in thought.
Hermione looked at the time, "Oh, I really should get going, I promised my parents I'd meet them in the Leaky Cauldron in just a few minutes," she said sadly as she was having loads of fun, "Oh, how were you going to get to King's Cross on September 1st?"
Jake hadn't really thought about it, "I dunno, I guess I'll find some way to get there," he shrugged.
"Come on, let's go ask my parents if they don't mind coming and getting you on the morning of September 1st!" Hermione said, standing up quickly and jostling Chloe, causing her to fly up to the signpost again, "Sorry Chloe!"
"A-Are you sure, Hermione? I don't want to be a burden or anything on them..." he said, unsure of whether it was a good idea or not.
"Of course! Plus, since we are friends now, they will want to meet you anyway! Come on!" Hermione grabbed his arm and basically dragged him out of his seat.
"I'll be back, Chloe!" He quickly hollered back to his Familiar. She looked content to just stay up there for hours.
Hermione had, as predicted, dragged him all the way back to the entrance/exit of Diagon Alley. She pulled him through and walked him over to her parents, "Mum! Dad! Sorry I was almost late."
"It's alright, sweetie," her mother said from her seat at one of the tables, "Who is this?" She asked politely, motioning to Jake.
"Mum, Dad, this is Jake, my friend," she said with a wide smile.
Her parents exchanged glances and were happy for their little girl, "I'm so happy to hear that, Hermione," her mother pulled her into a hug while her father seemed to size him up for a moment.
Once Hermione was back to standing beside him, her parents introduced themselves, "Well it's lovely to meet you, Jake. I'm Jane Granger and this is my husband, John Granger."
"It's wonderful to meet you both," he said to them.
They both blinked, not expecting an American accent, "Are you an exchange student?" Jane asked him.
"No, no, something happened back in America and the Headmaster came and brought me to Britain. I've been living in the Leaky Cauldron since late March," he explained to them.
Jane looked at him and was curious about what happened, but knew he would tell them if he was comfortable with it, "I'm sorry about whatever happened, but I'm glad you were able to befriend our Hermione. We understand she isn't like most other kids her age, so for you to be her friend means a lot."
"That's the thing, Mum, he's like me! He loves learning and he cares about his education as much as I do about mine," she said happily, glancing at him with a smile before looking back to her parents.
John finally spoke up, "Like my wife said, it means a lot to us that you befriended our daughter. So are you a Muggleborn as well?"
"Dad!" Hermione said with a scandalized look on her face.
"It's okay," Jake said, "to be honest, sir, I'm not entirely sure... My parents in America weren't my real parents, so I know I'm not a Muggleborn, but both Hermione and I have read up on Wizarding history about Blood status, I know we have," he looked at her and she nodded, "and we both know how Muggleborns are seen by many Pure Blooded witches and wizards, but if I am a Pure Blood, then I refuse to buy into their ways of blood supremacy," he said with Conviction in his voice.
All three of the Grangers stared at him in awe. Hermione for his stance on Blood Purity if he in fact is Pure Blood, and her parents for being only Eleven and having that much conviction about something, "Hermione, I think you've made the most wonderful friend you could've ever asked for," her mum said with a smirk on her face.
"I know I have," she looked over at him and finally remembered the reason for bringing him over, "Oh right! Mum, Dad, on the morning of September 1st, is it okay if we come by the Leaky Cauldron and give Jake a ride to King's Cross? He doesn't have a way of getting there."
"Well of course, dear, we would be glad to give him a ride to the station," her mother said and her father agreed.
Hermione was ecstatic and hugged her friend. Jake was caught off guard and was honestly a bit uncomfortable with it since he didn't initiate the hug himself. She pulled away after a few seconds and waved to him, "Bye, Jake, I'll see you on September 1st if I don't see you before then!" She said as she walked out of the Leaky Cauldron. He smiled and went back to Diagon Alley to fetch Chloe so they could go back to his room; he felt exhausted after all that just happened and flopped down onto his bed once in his room.