The tension in the compartment of the Hogwarts Express was thick. Crammed together on one bench sat three slytherins, trying to look anywhere but at the girl they shared the cart with. After countless attempts to find an empty cart, to no avail, the group had to settle with one already occupied by a girl no less than fifteen. Although they made quite the cluttering noise and the elder blonde let out a string of curses as they entered, the girl stayed seated firmly, with her eyes glued to the book in front of her.
"Do you mind if we join you? All the other compartments are full," the dark skinned wizard asked.
The girl did no more then look to them with a frosty gaze before settling back down to her book. Taking her lack of an affirmative answer as a yes (and the fact they had no where else to go) the three squished quietly in the plush seats.
That had been hours ago. Despite constant attempts on the students part to engage the girl in conversation, she continued to stare at her book. The blonde, Draco, noted the way her eyes never shifted as she read new lines. It was almost as if she wasn't reading at all, although her furrowed brow and parted lips suggested she was in deep thought.
"I'm Malfoy. Draco, really, but they call me Malfoy. This is Blaise Zabini and this is Pansy Parkinson, you've got a name?" the blonde was confident that this was an easy way to lure her into a conversation to hopefully thin the ever-thickening air.
The girl's lips poised into a deep sigh. When he lips parted to talk: it was not the accent, foreign to the European youngsters, that startled them.
"Joleen. Don't call me Granger. That could get a bit confusing."
The three almost couldn't see with how heavy the air was.
"I never knew Granger had a sister. An American sister," hissed Pansy at the dining tables of Hogwarts. "They don't look one bit alike!"
It was true. While Hermione Granger had thick spirals of brown hair and eyes that could melt butter, her presumed sister was all ice. Blonde hair that stuck straight down to touch just below her ribs and eyes that could freeze the same butter with one look. Hermione had soft features and pouted lips. Joleen was pointed and fresh, with a pursed mouth and a permanent air of coolness. Perhaps genetics were a fickle thing.
The sorting began as per usual, with quivering first years biting their nails down to the cuticle. However, the slytherin trio kept their eyes trained on the eldest of the sorting group. Who looked as though being sorted into a house would not define who she would be the rest of her stay.
"Joleen…. Granger."
The room stood still, the faint hint of a smirk played on the lips of the girl on the stand. Following her eyes, Draco saw the affectionate smile of Hermione Granger directed towards her sister. The smile stayed in place even when gasps were heard around the room when Slytherin was called from the hat.
It's short and I'm sorry! I haven't written in awhile. I'm pretty nervous because I gave up writing fanfics for a while, but I hope this is up to par.