Authors Note: this is based off a little tumblr idea. If anyone has written or read something similar to this, let me know and I will take it down immediately; I thought it was a good idea but did not in any way mean to steal it from someone else. My apologies ^^

~ Prologue ~

Hermione had grown up with it; the voice in her head that had read her stories since she could pronounce the words, the voice that repeated her thoughts back to her with every one. She had, of course, been confused for a while that the voice was that of a boy. But when she had told this to her mom, the loving woman had smiled.

"That means you're special, Mione," she had said, pulling the child up onto her lap. "The voice inside your head? That's the person you're destined to love. That's the voice of your soul mate. Not many people have one of those." And with that, she wrapped her arms around Hermione and pulled her closer, and explained soul mates; two people who come together against all odds and love each other more than life itself. At 8 years old, knowing only the love of her parents, this sounded strange to her. Someone who would love her more than life? Even so young, Hermione knew this wasn't logical. So she put it out of her mind, accepting the voice in her mind as something odd, not special. She did, however, become accustomed to it, and it brought her comfort when she was upset, just thinking random thoughts to hear that soft voice say them too.

Then a few years later Hermione had received the letter. The one saying that she had been accepted to a school; Hogwarts. She hadn't believed it at first, because who would? But the man had showed up, the tall man with the white beard and kind blue eyes, and he explained everything to her, even demonstrated a few spells to convince her. While he was leaving, he glanced at the Granger's full bookshelves, and added almost as an afterthought, that Hogwarts had an extremely extensive library. And Hermione had been ecstatic. Suddenly, the possibility of things she could learn was multiplied tenfold, the knowledge she could gain was unlimited! She couldn't wait to get to Hogwarts.

The long weeks passed, and finally, Hermione was standing on platform nine and three-quarters, surrounded by the sounds of hooting owls and faint calls of hello and goodbye all around her. It was chaotic, crazy, overwhelming... And she loved every minute of it. Now, Hermione was always a very organized girl, always with a plan, never unprepared. But like this, things that were so unplanned, dysfunctional, things like this were so hectic that they were almost beautiful. She was only 11, but she was able to appreciate things that she wasn't used to.

But suddenly, she heard something that made her heart stop, a familiar tone that she recognized, but no, it was impossible. It was the voice inside her head, saying something that sounded suspiciously like 'mother.' But Hermione, so caught up in the unorthodox beauty of the strange world around her, hadn't been thinking of anything, really; the word hadn't come from her. "Curious," she thought, her heart slowing as the voice repeated the phrase, this time from the safety of her mind and not the crowded train station.

Still a bit distracted, she waved goodbye to her parents and boarded the train. She didn't really talk to anyone, bumping the occasional person, but still trying to find that familiar voice. Eventually she gave up, to help a boy with a round face find his toad. She stopped once in a compartment with two boys, one with flaming red hair, the other with a strange scar on his forehead. Not giving it much thought at the time, she left, to prepare herself for arriving at the new school.

Walking back down the corridor a bit later, she caught a snippet of a conversation, and once again her heart stopped beating. "... All down the train... Harry Potter..." She didn't catch much more than that, but she hurried to get closer, to identify the source of the voice that was so similar to that of the one in her head. Unfortunately, with so many students out of their compartments, and the tells and hollers from older students, Hermione wasn't able to get close enough to hear more, nor was she able to find the speaker. She gave up for the second time that day, an event in itself that hardly ever happened, and once more passed the compartment with the two boys in it, telling them that the train was about to arrive at the school, which she had overheard in the corridor.

After exiting the train, she and the others her age were herded onto small vessels that would take them to the school. Riding the boat across the lake was terrifying; when she was younger, she had convinced herself she didn't need swimming lessons, and had almost drowned, so large bodies of water made her nervous. But she arrived on the front steps unscathed. The castle was huge, and having read her new copy of "Hogwarts, A History," she knew it would be as fascinating inside as it was outside. The large groups of students around her bustled and shuffled their feet, unsure of what to do since they had been told to wait.

Finally a tall, bossy looking woman came to them and ordered them all into a single file line. Once that had been accomplished, she led the parade of students in black robes through wide double doors, and Hermione was instantly drawn to the ceiling above her; her breathe caught for a split second, thinking there was no ceiling at all. But then she remembered what she had read, that the ceiling was charmed to reflect the sky outside, and even so young and inexperienced, she knew this was an amazing feat of magic. She was distracted at that moment by the sound of nearly-nasal singing, and was shocked to find an old hat sitting on a chair, having broken into sudden song. It eventually ended, and everyone in the enormous room clapped.

The Sorting, as it was called, began, and one by one the children around her shuffled up to the stool with the battered looking hat, and it called out the names of the four houses it had mentioned in its song; Ravenclaw, the wise; Gryffindor, the brave; Slytherin, the cunning; and finally Hufflepuff, the loyal. She heard the whispers of her new peers debating where they wanted to be, but Hermione herself didn't honestly care. She was happy to be here, regardless of where she ended up. Any House was fine with her, if it meant that she would belong.

After waiting what seemed like an eternity, the tall woman called out, "Granger, Hermione," and she held her head high and walked toward the stool, taking her seat and feeling as though she looked much more composed than she felt. It was then that she heard a voice inside her head, not her minds voice, but a different one entirely, and she immediately decided she didn't like it. It was the hat, of course, looking inside her head, deciding where to put her.

"Do not be afraid," the hat whispered into her brain, "I'll only be here a little while, just taking a peek inside your mind. Oh, and what a mind it is! Such intelligence, Ravenclaw would be an obvious choice... But you have such big goals too, and are loyal to the people who matter to you..." It paused then, much like Hermione did when she came across a challenging passage in a book. "Ah, but what's this? Bravery! You stand up for what you believe in, my dear, is that correct? Yes, there are big things ahead for you... Well then, I think the best place for you would be... GRYFFINDOR!" The hat yelled not only in her mind, but also to the crowd, and she winced slightly before smiling and hopping off the stool, walking over to a table full of students in red and gold.

The sorting continued, and there were many additions to every table. The hat took as long as it needed to make the decisions of where everyone belonged. Some people took quite a while, but Hermione noted that one boy, with whitish-blonde hair, had hardly had the hat on his head for three seconds before the hat yelled, "SLYTHERIN!" He smirked, an expression that seemed to belong on his face, and was soon lost among a sea of green and silver. People around her continued talking, and she momentarily lost interest in the sorting, in favor of the discussions around her.

However, when the tall woman called out, "Potter, Harry," all conversation in the room came to a halt. Hermione was intrigued; that was the name the voice-in-her-head-that-wasn't-in-her-head had spoken before. The hat sat atop his head for a very long time, and the boy's eyes were clenched in thought, though she didn't see what there was to think about when the hat was poking around in your head. It finally called, "GRYFFINDOR," and everything resumed all at once. When the last student was sorted, the man who had explained Hogwarts and magic to her stood at a podium, and said a few odd phrases ("nitwit, did he just say nitwit?"), then took his seat, and all across the hall, the tables were suddenly full of food. Hermione, as well as everyone around her, dug in, soon full to the brim with delicious food.

Not long after, the feast had ended, and Hermione joined the new group of Gryffindors on the journey to their tower. The day had been long and exhausting, and Hermione lay in her bed, thinking about how amazing everything at this school was. Her last thought before drifting off to sleep was that she hoped she found out who owned the voice she was thinking in at the moment.

~~~•~~~•~~~

It was only a few weeks later that she found out.

Hermione had been catching small phrases of speech from the voice that sounded like the one in her head, but could never pinpoint exactly where it was coming from. Whenever she tried to get close enough to really hear, she was thwarted. Then one day, in the library, she heard loud laughter, followed by a voice hissing, "be quiet, you idiots!" At first she felt slightly offended, because who would be so rude as to outright laugh in a library? But then she realized that the boy who had spoken had her mind-voice. And she couldn't take the suspense of not knowing who this person was, so she slowly crept around the side of the bookshelf and peeked out toward a table where three boys were sitting.

The two larger ones were decidedly unpleasant looking in Hermione's opinion, and she very suddenly wished with all her heart that neither of them had been speaking. Then her gaze shifted over to the boy between them, the one with the odd shade of almost-white blonde hair, and she stopped breathing when he spoke once more. "Honestly you morons, do you want us to get kicked out? Unlike you I actually care about my grades." He scowled at them, his nose turning up just slightly. Hermione couldn't breathe. She had been frozen in place since she looked around the bookshelf, because she finally had her answer. This was the boy who had the voice inside her head. It was him. What was his name again? It was quite odd, she remembered... Drake? Something similar to that. The boy bent his head back over his book, his friends fell silent, and the young Gryffindor watching then took a few steps back into the safety of the bookshelves.

She had finally found him! Hermione allowed herself a moment to let a broad smile take over her face. The mystery was solved, she had finally found out who the mysterious voice that spoke in and outside her head was, and now there was no question about it; the two were the same. Now the only thing left to find out was why his voice was in her mind. She decided she'd ask him if he knew.

She didn't have to wait long before she got her chance. His friends had finally slunk away, grumbling about not liking the library (Hermione had scowled at this; how could anyone not like the library?), and the boy was left alone at his table. She slowly walked out from behind the bookshelf, tentatively sitting across from him. "Um. Hello," she started, her pulse speeding when he whipped his head up in shock. She was momentarily distracted by the shade of his eyes; a hue of blue that was almost grey. They were beautiful...

"Excuse me," he snapped, and Hermione was forced out of her reverie and focused on his face again. He looked quite annoyed. "I asked what you thought you were doing."

"Oh," she said plainly, unsure of what to say now that she was actually sitting with him. "Uh, I just, had a quick question to ask you." He stared at her, waiting, before exasperatedly sighing. He huffed out, "well?" And Hermione panicked.

"What's your name?" The question burst from her lips before she could stop it, and she mentally slapped herself. He looked at her, scowl in place, before shaking his head at her expression. "Draco," he said, "Draco Malfoy. Will you go away now?" She thought that was kind of rude, but in the hope of getting a good answer, she didn't want to make him mad.

"Just one," she said, but was startled into silence when he slapped his hand on the table and gave a small shout. "Wait a minute," he started, and Hermione was so shocked by his sudden change in demeanor she didn't even reprimand him for raising his voice in the library. "Aren't you Granger?" He asked her, and she gave a small smile and nodded, secretly pleased that he knew her name. But that was soon lost when he sneered, and spat, "bloody Gryffindor know-it-all. Why are you asking me anything?" With that, he slammed his books closed, tossed them into his bag, and stalked away. He threw one last dirty look at her over his shoulder, and then he was gone, leaving Hermione to wonder if she would ever solve the mystery of the voice inside her head.