"Congratulations Granger, you are the first muggle-born in Slytherin history." Snape sneered at her.
"The elves are moving your things to your new rooms, Miss Granger. Professor Snape will show you the way." Dumbledore stood and led Hermione to the door where she cast one last longing look at McGonagall, as if that would change her fate, then hurried to catch up will the sullen potions master.
…
TWO – In the Snake Pit
Snape paused in the middle of a nearly empty hallway somewhere in the dungeons, Hermione had gotten lost several turns ago, and turned to look at the stones of the wall at a place where they had been placed differently. The only sign that something was there.
With some reluctance Snape uttered, "Copper cauldron." The stones slithered into a rather outlandish archway that peaked through to the Slytherin common room. Hermione raised an eyebrow. She had expected something more like torture before killing or maybe pure bloods rule. Catching her expression Snape scoffed.
"Dumbledore insisted on a more appropriate password for the time being." He hissed.
With a sudden ache for her old common room, Hermione realized she had no idea what the Gryffindor password was. She sighed and walked in through the arch and couldn't help her jaw from falling open. Whereas the Gryffindor common room was cozy with warm colors, the Slytherin common room was made of steely silvers and deep greens. Everything looked much too expensive and there was an eerie aqua glow to everything as if they were underwater. But perhaps more than that, the common room was incredibly spacious. It all seemed a little unfair and Hermione wondered how many families like the Malfoys had bribed the early architects to make Slytherin house that much more exquisite. When she realized she had not been followed into the common room, she looked back through the archway at the potions master.
"Professor?"
"The girls' dormitories are through the doorway on the right." With that, Snape left, the stones sealing the archway behind him. It was only then that Hermione noticed the few mingling students. For a moment she was furious at Snape for leaving her to defend herself against what would surely be great opposition from the Slytherin house, but then she realized she had never really expected anything more from him. Hermione watched the students a moment before she understood that they were first and second years. They wouldn't really know who she was, they would think she belonged here.
As she relaxed, Hermione let her surroundings engulf all her senses and after a fraction of a moment it dawned on her that she was no longer a Gryffindor. She was Slytherin. Good ole' Gryffindor courage was not a requirement. The world here was based on cunning and astute observations and enormous amounts of misplaced pride. Hermione heard the sorting hat's rough voice in her ear, she'll do. She could do this. McGonagall would never have let it happen if she didn't believe in Hermione. And Dumbledore, well, Hermione decided not to let him down, not after what was undoubtedly a massive amount of effort to make this change acceptable.
With a new demeanor, the strut of a Slytherin and the smirk of a potions master, Hermione Granger crossed the Slytherin common room and entered the girls' dormitories.
SHSHSH
Hermione's resolve, however strong, did not last long. The night was a tangle of dark looks, shouted obscenities, and more teasing than she had ever had in her life. There were also so many questions she didn't know how to answer. Yes, she had changed houses. How? The sorting hat changed its mind. How could a mudblood end up here? No idea. So many how and why questions and for once, Hermione didn't have the answers. Desperate for support, Hermione almost snuck out to find Ron and Harry but she remembered the conditions for her new life. A few times she nearly left to find McGonagall but she wondered if the stern witch would even hear her out now that she wasn't one of her own.
Instead, Hermione lay in her new bed, staring up at the shimmering silver drapery, and pretending she was somewhere else. Perhaps in her future when she and her husband could afford such fine draperies, deep in the muggle world with no cares for radical wizards who ruined lives just by existing. Would she ever find friends here, among snide pure bloods? If not was she destined to be lonely, an outcast. She tried to picture what that would be like but all she saw was some Snape-Hermione hybrid; a severe old woman with a bad attitude and short patience with no comrades to speak of. Hermione closed her eyes against the image and wished that whatever was coming would pass quickly and she could return to her familiar life.
SHSHSH
Severus stared at the half empty glass of bourbon in his hand and pondered his rather insane inheritance of Hermione Granger. It infuriated him greatly that he would be the first head of Slytherin house to defile the place with a muggle born, particularly that muggle born. He'd never live that down. If he lived at all that is. She wasn't much to be proud of, a bit pretty he supposed; obedient, which would please some future hoity-toity well blooded husband at some point; and smart. Her hair wasn't quite as disastrous as it used to be but still was not appealing, her large front teeth were not quite so large, she seemed to skinny, and for Merlin's sake she was an obnoxious know it all. Severus sat upright in his chair, shot down the rest of his bourbon, and glanced into the glass as if expecting feedback to his revelation. She was smart. She was in fact the brightest witch of her age and that was indeed something to be proud of. His legacy as Slytherin's head of house wouldn't be the first muggle-born to roam the dungeons' secret rooms, no, his legacy would be the brilliance of one witch who defied every odd held against her.
He stood suddenly. He needed to know about her classes, what she was taking, where she struggled. In two years, Slytherin house would produce a genius thanks to him. Severus ignored for the moment that the wizarding world as he knew it was set to end before two years was up. He had to make Hermione the perfect protégé, the perfect Slytherin, the perfect little Death Eater to be, for some reason he could not fathom, he needed her to survive.
SHSHSH
Breakfast, Hermione decided, would be horrible. She trudged her way up from the dungeons, trailing behind the other early-rising Slytherins, hoping someone had accidentally made her invisible overnight. She felt utterly foreign to herself with her silver and green tie and her snake adorned robe. The fire in the common room only served to warm up the dormitories so the rest of the dungeons made her feel as damp and frigid as they were. She couldn't imagine how she'd appear to the Gryffindors who had once been her friends, and her family.
There was a hushed commotion when she walked through the doors of the Great Hall from those who noticed her. She overheard a lot of the same questions she had asked herself, and that the Slytherins had asked her when they discovered her in their midst. One glance at the Gryffindor table told her that Harry and Ron weren't there yet but the Patel twins were staring at her and Neville Longbottom was watching her with utter disbelief and betrayal. Her heart hurt for him but she did not let it show. Hermione found an empty place at Slytherin table and sat down slowly. She hadn't had an appetite since the feast the night before but she knew if she did not eat something, it would show her unease. With great force, she drank some tea and nibbled on a piece of toast while she stared unseeingly at her class schedule.
Severus had to admit that he was maybe a teeny bit impressed with the girl. She had shown no sign of weakness except for the barely visible twitch of her shoulders when she looked somewhere in Longbottom's direction. He was tempted momentarily to use legilimency on her but decided it was best not to push anyone's luck.
"How does she seem to be holding up, Severus?"
Severus glared at the headmaster before answering. "She's fine I would assume."
"You have not checked on her?"
Severus avoided answering by placing a slice of orange in his mouth.
"Severus." Dumbledore admonished lightly. "You do need to check on her. She will need plenty of proper grooming before we can let her face Lord Voldemort or the Death Eaters."
"It will be done." Severus said curtly. But his mind was already reeling. Hermione Granger's intelligence was inspiring. He knew that if he were to fall, Granger would be an exceptional replacement, but she did need training. So much training. But more than anything, he needed to test her strength. If she was to be tortured, he needed to know she would not give everything away and ruin any potential the wizarding world had left.
It was then that Potter and Weasley entered the Great Hall and Severus sat back to watch the outbreak that was sure to follow. It was entertaining, but more than that, it would shed some light on the new Hermione Granger.
…
Apologies for the short chapters! Everything is still building! They will get longer. I hope you enjoy and please comment!
(I'm also looking for a beta!)
