"Mum, I'm scared." The brunette girl clung to her mother's arm as she looked around nervously. She knew what she was supposed to do, she knew it quite well. However, she thought, reading about everything and knowing how to actually do them are two completely different things… Sometimes. She thought back to the day she had been proved wrong, the day she had received the letter.
Sealed with a deep red wax, the seemingly frail parchment should have torn when she went to tear it open. But instead, when she first grazed the raised seal, it cleanly released itself from the envelope with a small whisper that she felt touch her heart with a burst of a strange sensation. Something she thought freedom would feel like. She pulled the sheets of thick paper out of the envelope and unfolded them. The black seal at the top of both pages hovered over a strange name that she had never heard before, but the rest of the words after the first made sense to her. They revealed a new pathway in her life, something that would explain every single instance in her life. It read, "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." She had watched movies and read books about witches and wizards. She had played pretend with her friends about spells, yelling "Abracadabra!" and brandishing twigs they found on the ground. Secretly, she had watched as the mean boys who bullied her at school tripped over something that wasn't there, as the girls who made fun of her bushy hair suddenly showed up for class with hats on to hide the balding spots that appeared overnight. A smirk grew on her face. She was going to prove them all wrong. She was going to prove to all of them that she was Hermione Granger, the soon-to-be best witch of all time.
She opened her eyes to stare at the gorgeous crimson train in front of her, white smoke already starting to pump out of the smokestack as they readied themselves to pull away from the station and begin a new term. Her mother peeled her trembling fingers from her jumper and gently pushed her towards the train. She looked back towards her and her father as she went, watching them as they looked towards her with a proud look in their eyes and - she yelped as she tripped on something solid and fell backwards towards the stone floor. She shut her eyes tightly, waiting for the pain to hit her back, when she hit something hard but warm. Definitely not stone. Was that… an arm?
"Mione!" Her parents rushed over.
"I'm fine. Thank y-" She broke off as she stared up at the boy standing next to her. His blond hair shone under the dim lighting of the magical station and the black robes hanging off his slim figure held a silver crested pin in their midst that matched his gleaming eyes. A strange color, she mused, until she realized she was staring into his eyes and he into hers. A shiver went through her as she saw emotions flicker over his face. Shock, admiration, surprise, contempt, all swept through to land on a blank mask.
"Your welcome," he drawled. "Mione." He smirked.
She straightened and held out her hand. "Hermione Granger."
He looked at the slim hand she held out and slowly lifted his head to meet her eyes, slipping a pale hand into hers. It felt right to her, and her gaze dropped to their combined hands, the tan against the pale, the rough against the smooth. She was suddenly self-conscious, of her hands of all things.
"Draco Malfoy."
The countryside flashed by as the train skimmed the tracks. The hordes of students, both wandering the corridors and grouped in compartments, laughed and yelled as they reconnected with old friends. A mixture of muggle clothes and wizard robes was watched by a group of children behind a closed door. Among them were a young boy and girl, both first years, who huddled close to one another as they whispered quietly to each other.
"So, what position do you want on the Quidditch team - is that how you pronounce it, Draco?" Hermione asked.
Draco laughed. "Yeah, Mione, that's how you pronounce it. I wanna try to be Seeker."
"They're the ones that catch the Snitch, right?" He nodded in response. "You'd look good in a Quidditch jersey, Draco." She blushed, looking down at her hands.
He nudged her and she looked towards him, her cheeks flaming. "You'd look good in green, Mione."
"I hope we're in the same house." She smiled.
He reached over and slung an arm around her shoulder as the train started to slow. "We'll be in the same house, Mione. I know it. We're gonna dominate Slytherin."
"Hermione Granger." The name rang through the vast hall, echoing off the stone walls, silencing the murmurs among the four tables. The cluster of first years still waiting to be sorted parted and the nervous girl walked through the makeshift aisle and walked up the steps to the three-legged stool with the floppy hat perched on top. Professor McGonagall stood next to the stool, ready to place the hat on the girl's head. Taking a deep breath, the girl sat down on the seat. The last thing she saw before McGonagall lowered the hat onto her head was a pair of gleaming silver orbs sitting at the table on the far left, the table covered in green. Then, darkness.
Well, hello there… Hm… Quite an interesting mind… What's that? Oh… you like Slytherin, don't you? Yes… You could be there. But you could also be in Ravenclaw, with that mind. Hufflepuff, with that heart. Gryffindor, with that courage! No, you want Slytherin, still… Interesting, how very interesting… Well, Ms. Granger, I guess it will have to be…
"SLYTHERIN!"
There was polite applause from the majority of the room but the table decked out in emerald erupted in screams, the loudest coming from a lean, blond haired boy already wrapped in a green and silver striped scarf, who jumped up onto his seat and screamed, "Yes, Mione! I told you so!"
She blushed crimson and leaped off the wooden seat to go meet her new house, already feeling accepted into their midst.