Prologue

Draco had no idea why Hermione would be such an interest to him this year. She was quiet, friendless, a know-it-all, and she had no blood-status. If the Hogwarts rumors were true, then she was raised in an orphanage. With no blood-status and her awkward social skills, Hermione had no reason as to why she should grab the attention of Draco Malfoy, pure-blood extraordinaire and heir to the Malfoy fortune. He looked at Hermione from across the Slytherin table and found her seated in the Ravenclaw table. He knew that Hermione had almost all the same classes with the Slytherins, as there is not a single day where Hermione would not raise her hand to answer a question. Draco looked at her and took in her chestnut hair and fair-skinned complexion. He loved her deep chocolate eyes whenever she glanced at him and he knew that this year she'd be glancing at him a lot more. Draco Malfoy and Hermione were named Head Boy and Head Girl this year, beating out Lisa Turpin and Harry-bloody-Potter.

Draco had tied to be-friend the son of the famous Auror, but Harry publicly ridiculed him in the beginning of first year. Draco and Harry were enemies for the rest of the school year, with Harry often being the instigator. However, this year Harry would leave him alone since Draco is now Head Boy. Draco looked at Hermione one last time and continued to eat, talking to his friends.

Hermione sat silently and alone at the Ravenclaw table, enjoying her pumpkin juice and apple pie. She was oblivious to everyone around her and she liked it that way. She never liked to socialize with people that have treated her like a social pariah. Whether it is because of Pansy Parkinson's group of Slytherin friends tormenting her or Harry Potter and his Gryffindor House playing pranks on her and giving her headaches, Hermione avoided everybody. It didn't stop her from having an acquainted relationship with people from Slytherin, but that is the way of Slytherins. They have allies only, never friends. Hermione felt a pang of loneliness hit her and was immediately frustrated by it. She should have gotten used to it by now. Since she was born, Hermione was always alone. Other children isolated her because of her unexplainable powers, and she is still isolated in her new magical life because of Pansy Parkinson and Harry Potter. Oddly enough, Draco Malfoy seemed to be staring at her. She can tell that he thought she wouldn't notice, but she did. Hermione was naturally curious to figure out his behavior, but she'll have time later on. After all, she was Head Girl and he was the Head Boy.

Harry Potter was glaring at bloody Malfoy for staring at Hermione. It's not like he fancied Hermione, no far from it. He discovered the truth from his parents when he and Ron were snooping around in his father's study for his father's secret stash of Ogden's Finest. He discovered the birth certificate of a certain Hermione nee Potter, and that made him worry. He was shocked to say that the girl he often hexed for a joke was actually his half-sister. When he confronted his parents, they revealed that a month after they found out that Lily was pregnant with Harry, James was pumping for information from a Death eater and had to perform the unmentionable to get the information. The witch was a daughter of one of Voldemort's finest Death Eaters and she was desperate for somebody to love her. Nine months later and a month after Harry's birth, they found a crying child outside their doorstep in the late night with a note. The note read that the girl was James' daughter and that her name was Hermione. The note ended with the mother telling them that she will be dead when Voldemort finds out that she had been impregnated by the enemy. Lily did not react nicely to that, telling James that he was supposed to have used protection. They didn't want Hermione, not wanting to raise a child of a death eater even if James was the father. The rivalry and opposition ran so deep in them. They sent her away to the orphanage. From there, they never heard from her again nor had they ever wanted to find out about her. When they heard that a certain Hermione girl was in Ravenclaw in one of Harry's letters, they deliberately ignored that it was the same Hermione that is Harry's younger half-sister.

Harry was angry with his parents for their decision. The amount of guilt and shame made him think over his behavior over the last seven years in Hogwarts. In a way, he should have seen it though. Hermione carried about certain characteristics that his father in her. For one, it was her hazel eyes. Nobody had that same amount of depth in their eyes like his father. Another was her ability to take everything in stride. It was the same manner as his father whenever his colleagues ridiculed him. Hermione was a more calm and levelheaded version of his father when he thought about it.

Harry didn't speak to his parents the rest of the summer and he still continued to ignore their letters two weeks into the school year. It made him angry when he was overhearing the boys in his dorm and year level talk about Hermione as if she was a conquest for them just because she was possibly the last virgin in their year level. Ron had asked him permission to ask Hermione out, seeing as how Harry was her brother, but Harry knew of Ron's past relationships where he left a trail of broken-hearted witches after he shagged them. He practically threatened his friends not to mess with Hermione. Everybody thought he had a crush on her, but the few people such as the Weasleys, the Longbottoms, and the Lovegoods knew of Hermione as her half-sister after Harry confessed to his friends. As far as they knew, Harry was quickly developing his protective instincts on his oblivious half-sister. He wouldn't confront her; ashamed of the years he spent hexing her and making her be the butt end of his jokes. But he promised himself that he would try to be a better brother to her now, even if she doesn't know. It will be hard however to do so when Draco sodding Malfoy was taking an interest in her. No way in hell would he allow a Malfoy to be near his sister.

Ron Weasley was angry at his best friend for forbidding him to have a relationship with his half-sister. They were best friends since the beginning; he should at least let him date his sister. After all, Harry was dating Ginny. Ron glared at his best friend from behind while thinking about Hermione. She was innocent and pure. She had no business with the rest of the world yet she still had a quiet impact on them. She managed to develop an acquaintance relationship with a couple of Slytherins and she was rumored to have been offered job offers in the Ministry from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to the Department of Mysteries. She was exceptionally powerful and carried a lot of magic in her that would attract any pureblooded male to her… if they even wanted to break traditions and marry an unknown blood status witch. Ron quietly fumed behind his best friend, but he also started to plot ways to get close to Hermione.

Ginny Weasley glared at her brother when he whined about Harry not allowing him to date his sister. Ginny held a soft spot for Hermione when Hermione saved Ginny from expulsion after Ginny cast her famous bat-bogey hex at a couple of boys who had tried to take advantage on her. Ginny looked at her fiancé as he looked across the room at his half-sister. She could feel the shame radiating off of him and she felt sympathy for him. Ginny could only help as far as she can by supporting Harry as he tries to become a better man.