Ch. 1 - Purebloods & Mudbloods
"I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." The boy extends his hand, flashing Hermione a smile. She relunctantly takes it, smiling as he gives her hand a squeeze. They awkwardly stand for several seconds until Draco coughs.
"Um, you haven't told me your name." He points out, making Hermione blush. "Granger. Hermione Granger." She smiles as she copies his introduction. He crosses his arms and gives her a playful smirk.
She starts to speak but a woman's voice from the front of the room cuts her off. "Come along with me and you will be sorted into your Houses." Draco, Hermione, and the rest of the students form a line and follow her into an enormous room.
Hundreds of kids flash smiles and wave at them as they make their way towards the front of the room where the Sorting Hat lay on a rickety old stool. The woman, Ms. McGonagall, pulls out a list from beneath her robe and starts to call out the names.
"Hermione Granger!" She calls out and Hermione steps onto the stage, feeling everyone's eyes on her. Ms. McGonagall lowers the hat onto Hermione's head and the hat ponders for a few seconds.
"Hmm, better be Gryffindor!" The hat shouts and everyone claps and cheers. Hermione's eyes find her way to Malfoy and he claps and cheers with everyone else except he's looking at her with sadness plain on his face. What was he so sad about? She runs off the stage into the arms of her fellow House.
"Draco Malfoy!" Ms. McGonagall calls and Draco waltzs onto the stage as if he owns the place. Hermione stares at him as he climbs the steps and settles onto the stool. Ms. McGonagall picks up the hat and before she even sat it on Draco's head the hat calls out a word Hermione didn't want to hear.
"Slytherin!" Draco smirks and strides off the stage, walking towards his House. Hermione watches as a girl smiles and gives him a big hug. Hermione clenches her hands and forces her resentment down. Draco pulls away from the girl and raises his eyes to Hermione. Hermione forces herself to look away, instead raising her eyes up to the stage where Harry Potter was settling into the stool.
"Gryffindor!" The hat shouts, its cry echoing off the walls. Hermione cheers, waiting until Harry was off the stage before she runs up and hugs him. She looks up from Harry's shoulder to Draco's eyes that were staring at her as if she had broken his heart. She quickly pulls away from Harry, never taking her eyes off Draco.
"What are you staring at?" Harry asks, looking in the direction that Hermione was staring. She quickly averts her eyes and stares at the enormous plate of food in front of her. "Nothing. Let's just eat, I'm starving." Harry gives her a strange look but decides to say no more on the matter. Instead he struck up a conversation with Ron, leaving Hermione alone to her thoughts.
She looks up once to see Draco winking at her. Her heart races and she quickly looks down at her food again, not daring to raise her eyes again. After the feast, Percy, Ron's older brother, leads the Gryffindors up a steeping staircase that changes its course every few seconds. She caught sight of Draco following a dark-haired girl to the dungeons. That must be where the Slytherin common room was.
A girl leads her up to the dormitory where Hermione crashes into her bed, instantly falling asleep.