Summary: Hermione Granger was a new transfer student at the beginning of their 5th year. Knowing that she was a muggleborn, the students and the teachers were shocked when the Sorting Hat placed her in Slytherin.

This is my disclaimer for this chapter and the rest of the story. I do not own any of the settings and characters. They all belong to J.K Rowling.

Author's Note: In this story, instead of Draco being placed in Slytherin in his first year, he was placed in Gryffindor instead. But he still has that same arrogant attitude of his. He's basically Hermione's part in the Golden Trio.

He would never get use to the sensation of passing through a wall. He opened his eyes and like every other year, students and parents were bustling around. As he walked around, he can see parents waving off to their children, kids excitedly greeting their friends with warm smiles and hugs, and before he can continue walking, he felt something land on his shoes. He quickly looked down and saw a frog that he would bet his wand on that it was Neville's. He picked up the frog and before he can go anywhere else, Neville quickly ran up to him. It took a while for Neville to regain his breathing.

"Hey Harry! Thanks for finding my frog. How've you been by the way? I hope you're still not upset over Cedric's death still."
For a second, a grim expression was seen on Harry's face but it quickly passed.
"No problem Neville. I'll see you in the Great Hall, alright? I got to find Draco and Ron."
Harry gave Neville a quick smile and walked away in searching for his best friends. After a couple of minutes, he found them standing on a bench looking for someone. He hasn't seen his best friends the whole summer. Draco still looked like an arrogant bastard with a smirk glued on his face but Harry wouldn't have him any other way. Ron still has that goofy expression on his face which Harry quietly chuckled at.
"Potter, over here!" Harry grinned. Draco would never call him by his first name. Never had and never will.

"Bloody hell mate. What took you so long?"
"Let's just say that Neville's frog landed on my shoe."
"Longbottom is always losing his frog. Why did he choose that blasted frog as his pet again?"

The three of them exchanged looks and before they knew it, they were all laughing for what reason they do not know. Well, Draco was chuckling.
"Ginny, Fred, and George already boarded the train. We should too as well." Ron quickly grabbed his bags and rushed into the train.
Draco nodded and followed Ron's actions with Harry on his tail. They went to go find a compartment and on the way, they saw Ginny in a compartment with her friends. They stopped to greet her and Draco smirked when Ginny blushed when it was Harry's turn to acknowledge her. For the past few years, Harry has been oblivious to Ginny's feelings for him but ever since last year, it looks like Harry has been developing a crush on his own. It took him a while to realize that. After passing a phase that included Cho, Harry has seen Ginny in a whole new light. Ron wasn't happy that Ginny was getting attention from all these boys but after a while, Harry and Draco, mostly Draco made Ron realize that Ginny was a grown girl. He still isn't happy about it though. But he realized that if Ginny had to date a boy, Harry would be the best choice.

After a couple of minutes, they found an empty compartment and put away their bags. Harry and Ron sat on one side with Draco sitting on the other with his legs taking up the rest of the space he had. He looked like a king by the way he had his hands behind his head and the smug expression on his face. They started talking about how their summer went, quidditch and what positions they would try out for, and before they can talk about anything else, Draco spoke.

"My father heard there is going to be a transfer student this year. I find that odd since there hasn't been any transfer student at Hogwarts in a long time with the exceptions of the Beauxbatons and the Durmstrangs but they were only here for the TriWizard Tournament." Draco glanced at Harry to see if he had any reaction to last year but Harry just gave him a wry smile.

"Do you think it has something to do with You-Know-Who?" Ron suggested quickly.
"Ron, just because a student is transferring to Hogwarts now, it doesn't mean that it's related to Voldemort." Harry chuckled at Ron's paranoid self. Draco and Ron exchanged quick glances. As much as he hated to admit it, he kind of agreed with Ron.

"You never know mate, Volde-" Before Draco can continue, the food trolley stopped outside their door and being boys, their thoughts on Voldemort and the new transfer student were swayed by licorice wands and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. The rest of their trip was consisted of stuffing their faces with candy, crude jokes from Draco, what they would expect in their 5th year, and more talk about quidditch.

The trio entered the Great Hall and sat down. The thousands of candles seemed to have lost a little bit of their brightness this year since the Great Hall was usually brighter than this. The enchanted ceiling showed the clear, night sky perfectly. Some stars were twinkling and the half-moon was glowing brightly. They greeted other people and chatted. Soon enough, Ginny, Dean, and Seamus joined their chatter. Harry looked up at where the professors were seated and saw that Professor Dumbledore was not there. Then everybody in the Great Hall was silenced as they saw Dumbledore entered through the Great Hall doors. Normally, that wouldn't cease their talking but the girl trailing behind Dumbledore sure did.

A girl that look around 5'5 walked with a cocky aura around her. Ron made a joke of how she and Draco could be an arrogant, power couple. Draco glared at Ron and Harry as they snickered at Ron's joke. Draco went back to studying the girl. She had a fair complexion with hazel eyes. She had a button nose and had light brown hair that was accompanied with natural honey and black highlights that was full of not exactly curls, but voluminous waves. It stopped at the middle of her waist. Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and saw the guys over there leering at her in a provocative way.

Dumbledore led her near the podium and he quickly made his way to make a speech. Draco inwardly groaned because he didn't want to hear a bloody speech. Before he can continue his thoughts, Dumbledore's voice rang across the Great Hall.

"Greetings to all returning students and 1st years. I would like to welcome you back to Hogwarts, your home away from home. There will be a new Dark against the Dark Arts teacher this year, Dolores Umbridge."

As soon as he said that, every student look at the women dressed in a pink cardigan that was accompanied with a tight smile on her face. They had their fair share of DA teachers with one changing every year. Professor Lupin was the best one but the Ministry deemed that it wasn't fit for a werewolf to teach a group of kids.
"Who is she?" Ron questioned.
"I've heard of her. She was a Ministry of Magic bureaucrat who served as a Senior Undersecretary." Ron nodded and before Draco can go on, Harry interrupted him.

"She was there during my trial at the Ministry of Magic. She was of the people that voted for me getting expelled." Harry looked at her and Umbridge seem to have noticed since she gave him a mocking smile of her own.
With a wave of his hand, Dumbledore silenced the chattering.
"Now, that being said, there is also someone new that will be joining Hogwarts this year. Her name is Hermione Jean Granger and she will be a 5th year." She just stood there with a blank look on her face with her feet tapping impatiently against the floor. He then gestured towards the chair and she plopped down giving him an aggravated look. He just gave her a knowing smile in return and before she can do anything else, McGonagall placed the Sorting hat on her head.

Hmm, a transfer at this time of year? What an interesting little girl. Now let's cut to the chase. Your mind is beyond your age. You have one of the cleverest minds that I have had experience with since Rowena Ravenclaw. That is saying something Ms. Granger. However, that being said, you use that mind for cunning deeds to get what you want. I bet Salazar Slytherin would be rolling in his grave if he heard of this trait in a muggleborn, a Slytherin perhaps? Your loyalty is wavering between two sides so Hufflepuff is certainly out. You are very daring and have a lot of nerve, definitely a Gryffindor trait. This is one of the most contradicting decisions I had in a long time.

The students were waiting impatiently. It has been 5 minutes and the Sorting Hat still didn't place her in a house yet. Dumbledore's eyes gleamed with a hidden mischief.
"What do you think it's taking the hat so long?" Harry questioned. Before either Draco or Ron can reply, the Sorting Hat placed her in Slytherin. The normally loud Great Hall was filled with silence. Then all of a sudden, the students all busted into chatter. All over, you can hear snippets of conversations.

"This is impossible. How can she be in Slytherin if she is a muggleborn?"

"Salazar Slytherin is definitely rolling in his grave right now."

"She must have been real cunning to be placed in a house that only consists of purebloods."

All around the room, everyone was filled with shock. Even some of the professors were too.

"Wait, why were they surprised when the Sorting Hat placed her into Slytherin?" Harry questioned. Ron was too busy eating his roast beef to respond so Draco did it.
"Well you see Potter, Granger is not a common surname for a pureblood. And you know that only purebloods can get into Slytherin."

The trio looked at her in surprise and as she walked to her table, she caught them staring and she smirked. She then continued to walk down to her seat.

"Yup, she is definitely a match for Malfoy." Harry snickered as Ron said this.
"Shut up Weasley." Draco sneered but you can see amusement in his eyes.

For the rest of the time, they ate and conversed with one another with the new girl forgotten from their minds. A table over, Hermione sat at the end of the table where most of the 1st year Slytherins sat. A couple of them, not knowing that only Purebloods are to be placed in Slytherin tried to talk to her. She quickly glanced at them and sneered. She returned to her meal and throughout the rest of the feast, she didn't notice Dumbledore's stare on her.

The weekend passed way to quickly for the Trio. It was filled with catching up with old friends and packing away their stuff. Soon enough, it was Monday morning and it was time for class. They had Potions for double periods. As of right now, the Trio was rushing through the barren hallways because they only have a few minutes to get to their first class before being marked late.

"If only you didn't have to spend 30 minutes on your hair, we wouldn't be in this mess Malfoy."
"Shut it Weasley, I got to look good for the ladies."
"What girl would want to date a ferret?"
"Now it's not the time guys. If we don't get there before Snape does, we're gunna get in trouble."
"Not Malfoy. Snape seems to love Malfoy even if he is in Gryffindor."
"I can't help it if he's my godfather."

They reached the dungeon just in the nick of time and quickly sat down in their seats. Harry and Ron sat together with Draco sitting at the desk next to him with a seat open. Snape entered the classroom and told them to open their textbooks to page 394. Twenty minutes into the lesson, the door to the dungeons was slammed open with a big noise. Everyone snapped their heads up to see the person that made the commotion. It was Hermione. She leisurely walked in looking like she didn't have a care in the world about being 20 minutes late.

"Ms. Granger, where have you been for the past twenty minutes?"
"I got lost Professor. It is a very big school after all." Draco rolled his eyes at her response.
"I recalled that you got a very thorough tour of the school on the weekend. Now, where were you?"
"Yes Professor, you recalled correctly. However, I seem to have forgotten my way." Everyone detected the sarcasm that was in that sentence.
"That is a petty excuse Ms. Granger. It seems to me that you landed yourself detention tonight at 8:00 and 10 points taken away from Slytherin."

The Slytherin kids glared at her but she wasn't fazed since she sneered at them.
Harry and Ron snickered at the points being taken away from Slytherin.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, it seems you also landed yourself detention with Ms. Granger tonight." Their laughter immediately stopped and glowered at Snape.
Draco quietly chuckled at them and soon enough, he also landed in detention. Harry and Ron wouldn't dare laugh at Malfoy fearing it would land them double detentions. Snape then instructed Hermione to sit next to Draco. Hermione gave Draco a glance and sat down. The rest of the day passed by quickly much to the enjoyment of the Trip but it quickly passed away when they remembered that they have detention.

The Trio made their way to the dungeons and they found Hermione already there, standing by the door with an annoyed look on her face. Snape opened the dungeon door then they followed him into his room. Then, he instructed them to clean every corner of it until it was spotless. It would have been easy but Snape ruined their mood even further when he told them they had to do it the muggle way. He then gestured to the muggle cleaning supplies at a corner of the room. But Draco inwardly sighed of relief when he saw some of the supplies were wizard brands. Snape cleared his throat.

"I have important things to do and when I get back, I expect to see this room spotless. If I see a speck of dirt on the floor or on the desk, you will find that you will do this tomorrow. I will be back in exactly 3 hours." With that being said, his black cloaked swished around him as he left the door.

They quickly got their cleaning supplies and started cleaning. Draco was cautiously cleaning a desk that had some weird, green slime on top of the surface. It was probably a potion gone wrong from a lesson this morning. He was cautious with it since anything can happen. In this case, something can pop out of the green goo and attack his handsome face. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a rat scurried its way into another corner. He cringed at the thought of what else lurks around in this room. He shouldn't have to do this. He was a Malfoy for Merlin's sake. This is the work for house elves. His father will hear about this. He sighed knowing it wouldn't matter because Snape was his godfather. But godfathers shouldn't do this to their pureblooded godsons. He glanced over and saw Weasley cowering over a small spider and Potter sweeping the floor. At the end of his broom, you can see dead cockroaches, dust bunnies, and some other things he really wouldn't like to think about. It was futile to clean the room. It was in a dungeon and dungeons aren't much known for being clean and dirt free. He glanced over to Granger and saw that she was wiping a desk in the back of the room.

A few minutes later, Harry walked over to Hermione intending to introduce himself.
"Hi, my name is Harry Potter. I'm in Gryffindor if you didn't know that already." He then held out his hand for her to shake. She glanced at him and didn't make any motion that she was going to shake his hand anytime soon. He slowly put down his hand and scratched his head nervously. He turned around intending to escape the awkward introduction but then Hermione's voice stopped him.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the famous Harry Potter aka the Boy Who Lived. You didn't need to introduce yourself, everybody in the bloody wizarding world knows you. Now shove off." She scowled at him and before she can get back to cleaning, Ron stepped in.

"Hey, that was real rude. He was just trying to be friendly and you were acting like a bloody brat."
Hermione gave Ron a look over and smirked. "Ugly red hair, dazed look, and ratty robes; you're a Weasley aren't you? Well, guess what, you can shove off too."

Draco finally intervened. "Look here Granger, with that attitude; I can see why no other Slytherin would want to be seen around you. That and your blood is simply not pure enough for them." He then grabbed Harry and Ron's arm and before he can walk away, what she said next stopped him in his tracks.

"A Potter, a Weasley, and a Malfoy. I've heard loads about your family. You should be ashamed of yourself and your parents. Who knew Lucius Malfoy would have the balls to betray the Dark Lord and work on the light side as an auror. What a pathetic excuse for a deatheater."
They were shocked but Draco didn't let his expressions show it. How did she know about that? Before anyone of them can do anything else, she gave them a scowl and walked out of the room well aware that she had two and a half hours left and the room didn't look any different to when they first started.

Draco was shocked that she knew information like this. How did she know about his father betraying Voldemort and working on the light side as an auror? Not that many people knew that Lucius was a deatheater. The only people that knew were Potter, Weasley and his family, the Order, the Ministry, and Voldemort himself. Ron halted his thoughts with a question that he knew that was plaguing all of their minds.

"How did she know your father was a deatheater?"
"And more importantly, why did she address Voldemort as the Dark Lord?"
"Whatever, let's just get back to cleaning this room before Snape has our behinds."

After a long, grueling two hours, they knew that the room looked no different than before. Harry saw that it was almost due time before Snape returns. Without a second thought, he waved his wand and the room became clean. Well, as clean as any dungeon can be.
Draco smirked at Harry and said, "Very Slytherin of you Potter. What's next, Weasley will stop stuffing his mouth during meals?"
"Shove off Malfoy." Ron just threw his dirty rag at Draco's face and they all chuckled. Snape then returned. True to his word, he returned exactly at 11:00. He gave them a knowing look and just dismissed them with a wave of his hand. They quickly got out of the dungeon and went back to the Gryffindor common room to get some sleep before class tomorrow.

That morning when the Trio woke up, they got ready to go down to their first class of the day, Care of Magical Creatures. It was a nice day and the sun was shining with barely any clouds visible. Harry and Ron were excited since it was the first time that they get to see Hagrid since the beginning of the year and Draco just had a scowl on his face. He didn't feel like working with Hagrid's creatures. He's been especially cautious ever since the Hippogriff accident during their 3rd year. Harry and Ron were making fun of him the entire week. It didn't help that his father was sending him letters that week saying how he disappointed he was when he found out that his son let a hippogriff bit him. Just because Lucius was no longer a deatheater, it doesn't mean that he will turn all happy and loving. He had to keep up the Malfoy name after all.

They made their way down to the class and found out they had it with Slytherin. Hagrid then greeted Harry and Ron with big hugs that they eagerly returned and surprisingly, he even gave Malfoy a smile. Draco just gave him a hesitant wave in return. Hagrid then started the class with where to find a centaur. After half an hour, Hagrid stopped talking and narrowed his eyes at something at the back. The class quickly turned around to see what Hagrid was looking at. It was the new DA teacher, Professor Umbridge and slowly trailing behind her was Hermione.

"What seems to be the problem Professor?"
"You had a missing student in your class, Ms. Granger to be exact. Now, if you had been paying attention, you would have noticed that. Are you sure you deem fit to teach a class when you were not even aware that you were missing a student?" Umbridge narrowed her eyes at him.
"I'm sorry Professor. She is new to this class and I'm not use to an extra head present. Now Hermione, why are you late?"
"I slept in. Detention last night had me tired." She just shoved her hands into her pocket and looked away.
Hagrid, Professor Umbridge, and the rest of the class, including the trio were surprised that she would give such a blunt answer. She didn't even made an excuse like she did yesterday during Snape's class.

"Well, I will see to it that you will have detention with me tonight. And Hagrid, I expect you to let this happen again or consequences will have to happen, now good day." Umbridge walked off leaving Hermione in a foul mood because she found out that she had detention again. She went to stand with the Slytherins and as she passed the Trio, she gave them a glare and they returned it with equal force.

The lesson was going on normally until the centaur ran away and Hagrid had to go capture him for his next lesson with Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. He left the Slytherins and Gryffindors on their own. All was going well until Pansy Parkinson went up to Hermione. The Slytherins stopped talking to see what was going on and the Gryffindors, noticing the amount of chatter was less than before, looked over to the Slytherins to see what was going on, including the Trio. Pansy was walking towards Hermione with a haughty smirk on her face and Hermione looked like she couldn't care any less. After a few moments, Pansy reached Hermione and they were only a wand's length away from each other. Hermione raised an eyebrow looking like she couldn't care any less.

"Look here Granger, I don't know why you were placed into Slytherin but I feel as my rightful place in this house, I have to let you know that you do not belong here. Do you want to know why? It's because you are a dirty, little, Mu-"Pansy was cut off by Hermione's face. Her expression turned very dark and menacing. A very cruel smirk appeared on her face.

"I'm a dirty, little, what? Were you about to say that I don't belong in Slytherin because of my inferior blood? Because I'm a mudblood? Well, guess what Parkinson, if you like your pure blood so much, you wouldn't mind seeing it on your body or splattered on the ground? If you desire that, I can make that happen." Pansy never looked that frightened in her life. She looked in Hermione's eyes and saw nothing but cold, hazel eyes. In that moment, she believed Hermione's threat. She looked around and saw everyone's eyes on them. She could not let them think she was afraid of this foul mudblood. She raised her hand intending to slap her but before she can hit her mark, Hermione's hand caught her wrist and tightened her hold. She still had on a frightening look on her face. She then smirked and squeezed her wrist. Throughout the field, you can hear Pansy's screech as she felt tremendous pain around her wrist.

Draco and the rest of the people that were there were taken back by how brutal Hermione was. He honestly didn't expect that things were going to go that far between Granger and Parkinson. It looks like Parkinson may be the cat fight type but it looks like Granger likes to fight brutally. "Bloody hell." Draco looked around and saw Ron was the one saying that. Harry was about to step in but Draco held him back. He gave Harry a look signaling that it was between the Slytherin girls and not them. Where was Hagrid when you need him? Hermione let go of Parkinson's wrist and sneered at her. Parkinson was holding her wrist and trembling. She walked away with Millicent Bulstrode and they were probably going to the Hospital Wing to get her wrist healed. Hermione looked around with a menacing glare on her face and walked off.

That night, Hermione was slowly trudging her way to Umbridge's office to receive her detention. She could've blown off the detention and did something worthwhile but she didn't feel getting another detention. After a couple of minutes, she was at her door. She knocked once knowing that if she didn't respond, she could just leave and say that Umbridge didn't respond to her knock. To her disdain, she did. "You may enter." With a sigh of exasperation, she turned the knob and entered. Her eyes were hit with a wave of pink. On a wall, it was filled with pictures of cats on plates. She mentally rolled her eyes when she saw the cats moving on the plates. Her gaze finally landed on Umbridge and saw that she was sitting there with a smile on her face as she sipped her tea.

"Well Ms. Granger, as your punishment for being late to class, you will have to write lines." Umbridge handed her a blank piece of parchment and Hermione was about to go through her bag to get a quill. "I'm sorry Ms. Granger, but for this punishment, you will be using this… special quill of mine. Now sit down and you will write I will not be late again. "

Hermione raised an eyebrow and sat down thinking it wasn't going to be that hard. She wrote "I will not be late again" the first time but then she felt this weird sensation on her hand. She ignored it and continued to write. She felt another stinging sensation in that area again and on it, she saw deep, scratch marks that said, "I will not be late again." She looked at Umbridge and she saw that she had on a very haughty smirk. "Learned your lesson Ms. Granger?" She merely responded with a nod. "Good, you may leave." Hermione simply glared at her but she just continued to sip her tea. She grabbed her bag and left. Once she closed the door, she raised her hand and inspected the words that were on her skin. It was red and it sting. She thought about going to the Hospital Wing but shrugged it off knowing she had worse and survived. She had a blank look on her face but quickly snapped out of it and continued walking down the hall to the dungeons.

The month of September passed by quickly for Hermione and the weather was fairly mild. Students were starting to realize that they have their O.W.L.s. Some laid back and thought they have more than enough time to study. Other students, like Hermione started studying immediately. Soon enough, it was time for their first Hogsmeade trip.

It was on a Saturday and students were getting ready to go. McGonagall and Filch were taking attendance of whose going and who's not. When they were about to leave, Hermione tagged along thinking anyone could go. However, noticing her, McGonagall stopped her and the Trio, being the nosy boys they are, turned around to see what the commotion was. It seems like they were not the only one that was nosy since many of the other kids turned around to. "Ms. Granger, do you have your permission slip to go to Hogsmeade?" Sensing Hermione's confusion, she explained some more. "You need a parent or guardian's permission to go on our Hogsmeade trips. That way, they will be aware that you are outside of Hogwarts." Hermione shook her head and lowered her eyes onto the ground. With a nod of her head, McGonagall ushered the students to keep on walking.

"It serves her right for acting like a bloody bitch to us." Ron muttered. Harry didn't say anything and just nodded. Draco just simply smirked. They looked back again and saw Hermione just standing there with a look on her face. A moment passed, and Professor Dumbledore came up next to her. He put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Ms. Granger, shall we go inside?" She just shrugged off his hand and turned around making her way inside the building. Dumbledore slowly followed her with a sad smile on his face for what apparent reason we do not know.

The Trio arrived at Hogsmeade and the first store they went to was Honeydukes. On this particular Hogsmeade trip, it was quite more crowded than usual. They squeezed their way through people and someone stepped on Ron's shoes. Draco and Harry had a short laugh at Ron's pain. They made their way to Honeydukes and stepped in and were greeted with tons and tons of delicious looking candy. They haven't had sweets since their train ride on the Hogwarts Express. They bought a whole bagful of sweets and they made their way to Sprintwitches to look at the latest Quidditch equipment.

Draco's mind was wandering off. It led to the thought of the Granger girl. She was certainly a mystery to him. She was a muggleborn in Slytherin, she knew about him and his family, and she is most definitely not afraid of getting in trouble or causing trouble. Draco snapped out of his thoughts when a hand waved in front of his face. It was Ron's hand and Draco quickly swatted it away. Ron and Harry were making jokes about Draco dazing off for the next few minutes in which Draco responded in insults, but they knew it was just harmless joking. They then continued to enjoy themselves and walked into many different stores.

By the time they returned to Hogwarts, it was time for dinner. Everyone went to their house tables and sat down. Soon enough, a meal fit enough for a king appeared on the table and everyone started eating or in Ron's case, inhaling. During the middle of the meal, Hermione entered the Great Hall and even though it seemed normal, the Trio's eyes watched her until she sat down. They all glanced at each other, shrugged, and went back to eating.

Over at the Slytherin table, Hermione was not really eating. Her elbow was on the table and her head was rested on her palm as she pushed and played around with her food with a thoughtful look on her face. Her chicken thigh and mashed potatoes were already cold and she only took a sip of her pumpkin juice. She just grimaced at the brown blob on her plate and pushed it away. She just sat there solemnly and started thinking things that a 15 year old girl shouldn't be thinking. Her eyes harden at a single thought and she grabbed her bag making her way out of the Great Hall. And again, she didn't notice Dumbledore's eyes on her when she walked out. This time, the Trio didn't notice her as they were too busy talking about the upcoming quidditch trials with Ginny. However, Pansy noticed her walking out of the Great Hall and she was whispering nonsense about Hermione trying to get back at her when she broke her wrist.

TBC
My first Harry Potter story. Please Review. Don't be afraid to give me feedback and by feedback, I mean if you like it or constructive criticisms.