Here comes the first meeting between Hermione and Ursa. If I hadn't already made it clear, majority of the story focuses on them and their friendship so don't go hoping for any Dramione romance soon. As for Ursa, if you're wondering what she looks like just picture a younger Narcissa with platinum blonde hair, but a bit of a ghostly colour to it like Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones. She'd also wear her hair fancy like that too, so that's an image of Ursa in your mind if you want one.
Start of Something New
Before introducing herself to Hermione Granger, Ursa decided that it was best to find out as much as she could about the girl so that when she did speak to her for the first time, she didn't say anything that Hermione wouldn't like. After doing some poking around, Ursa discovered that Hermione hadn't yet made any friends despite the occasional conversations with Harry Potter and a few other Gryffindors. Ursa herself hadn't yet met Harry Potter, but she was assuming that the boy wouldn't like her anyways due to her connection with Draco.
Other than that, there wasn't really that much to know about Hermione other than the fact that she spent a rather unhealthy amount of time in the library. With that in mind, Ursa decided that she would seek her out in the library since if she was ever going to introduce herself to the younger girl, it would have to be in a place with nobody around and the library was just that place.
So when the time was right, Ursa made her way to the library and looked around until she found Hermione at the back with a mountain of books beside her. Based on what Ursa had heard about the girl, she was quite studious and was already proving to be a favourite amongst the teachers. With the brilliance that she seemingly possessed, it made Ursa wonder how the girl hadn't ended up in Ravenclaw. That would certainly be something that she planned on asking her once they were on talking basis, which Ursa couldn't do until she approached her so she did just that with elegance and poise like she had been raised to.
"Hello," Ursa greeted her. "Reading, yes?"
"Um, yes," Hermione murmured.
"Do you mind if I join you?" Ursa asked.
Hermione shrugged, "If you want."
"Of course I do," Ursa smiled as she sat down next to the girl and prepared to introduce herself. "My name is Ursa."
Hermione's eyes widened, "As in Draco Malfoys older sister?"
"Yes, I am," Ursa confirmed.
"Why would you want to sit next to me?" Hermione narrowed her eyes, giving Ursa a distrustful look.
"Because I want to," Ursa replied. "Is that a problem?"
"It's just that… You're Malfoy's older sister and I'm me," Hermione answered.
"What's wrong with you?" Ursa asked.
"I'm… muggleborn," Hermione answered quietly.
"The first thing you'll learn about me, Hermione, is that unlike my brother, I do not judge people based on their blood status. I might have been raised to think like that and spew bigotry like Draco does, but I grew up with a brain of my own and didn't allow my father to influence my views," Ursa explained.
"So, you're nice?" Hermione clarified.
"It depends on how you define nice," Ursa smirked. "I'm certainly not like my brother, but I wouldn't know how to classify myself as nice. People tend to say that I have a rather stiff personality."
"It's been mentioned that I have a rather obnoxious personality," Hermione mumbled.
"Why would people say that?" Ursa wondered.
"Because I'm an eager student. I like studying and answering questions when asked, even when I wasn't asked the question. But most of my classmates seem to find that annoying, so I haven't made many friends," Hermione answered.
"Would you want to be my friend?" Ursa offered.
"Not to sound rude, but why are you even talking to me, let alone offering to be my friend when you barely know me?" Hermione asked.
Ursa shrugged, "I could always use more friends. As much as I love my Ravenclaw housemates, we are generally what we're portrayed as and it does become rather insufferable being around them."
"The Sorting Hat almost put me in Ravenclaw," Hermione admitted.
"Yet it put you in Gryffindor?" Ursa stated.
"Just like it put you in Ravenclaw," Hermione remarked.
Ursa chuckled, "Good point. I think out of everyone; I was the least surprised to find myself sorted into Ravenclaw. I might come from a family of pureblood Slytherins, but I know that I lack certain qualities that would've made me fit in with the snakes. I'm confident in the hats decision to put me in Ravenclaw. It would've been nice to change the 'all Slytherins are bad' stereotype, but I'm fine with taking on the challenge of proving that not all Malfoys are prejudiced snobs."
"You don't seem like one at all. You're probably one of the more nicer people that I've met since coming to Hogwarts," Hermione said.
"Well, thank you. Of all the lessons my parents tried teaching me, I did pay attention to manners," Ursa commented.
"So… you're a Malfoy, in Ravenclaw?" Hermione stated.
"Indeed I am. My father was furious when he found out. He sent a howler to me that everyone in the Great Hall heard, resulting in obvious embarrassment for me. But my father never quite seemed to care about me as much as he does for Draco," Ursa replied.
"I don't see why he would. No offence, but your brothers pretty mean," Hermione remarked.
"None taken. I'm sure my father would be proud of that since that's exactly how he raised Draco to be," Ursa said.
"Who would want to raise their child to spread bigotry and hatred?" Hermione asked.
"Pureblood supremacists who believe that muggleborns like yourself are beneath them. My father is the epitome of that just like my mother is your typical pureblood wife who dots on her husbands every need and doesn't have the backbone to stand up to him when he bullies his daughter," Ursa replied, ending that on a scowl. She loved her mother, really. But it would be nice for her mother to stand up to her father for her.
"I can't say that I can relate because I grew up knowing that both of my parents loved me. I guess it helped that I'm an only child too," Hermione said.
"Consider yourself lucky then that you never had to question your parents love for you. I know that my mother loves me, but only to a certain extent. As for my father, I know that if the opportunity presented itself, he would love nothing more than to name Draco as his rightful heir and leave me with nothing," Ursa said.
"He takes after his father then?" Hermione clarified.
"Yes. You would be rather unfortunate to meet him, Hermione. If you think Draco is bad then you should just imagine an older version of him but ten times worse. That is the best description of Lucius Malfoy that I could give you," Ursa explained.
"Then I hope I don't ever have the misfortune of meeting him like I have had with his son," Hermione murmured.
Ursa grimaced, "On behalf of my brother, I truly do apologise for whatever he has said or done to you. It is certainly not behaviour that I myself would reciprocate or condone in any shape or form. It's just unfortunate that my brother grew up naïve, thinking that his father could do no wrong despite his dark past."
"Is it… true?" Hermione asked.
"I can't say," Ursa shrugged. "While I would like to think that my father's claim of acting under the Imperious curse would be true, it does not help me sleep at night knowing that he preaches those same prejudiced beliefs that Lord Voldemort himself proclaimed."
Hermione shuddered, "Y-you can't say his name."
"Hermione, you should know that fear of the name only increases the fear of the thing itself. It would do you no good to fear someone like the Dark Lord since he embraced others fear of him and relished in it. He would be shuddering in his afterlife knowing that someone, let alone a muggleborn, didn't fear him," Ursa proclaimed.
"I suppose you have a point there," Hermione agreed.
"I like to think that I have a point about many things," Ursa smirked.
"Might I ask what other subjects you study? I've heard that third years get the choices of other electives that I didn't get to choose," Hermione said.
Ursa grinned, "Of course! My elective subjects are Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. Creatures and Arithmancy are two of my best subjects. I do well in all of them, but I certainly excel there. I would take them any day over that useless Divination subject. It's a wasted space of magic if you ask me."
"Do you mind if I ask where your name comes from? I've never heard anything like it before," Hermione wondered.
"You see, my mother Narcissa was formerly a Black, and they have a tradition of naming their children after star signs or other celestial objects. Like Draco, from the Latin word of dragon in the northern sky. My name comes from the Ursa Minor and Ursa Major stars that actually border Draco's star," Ursa answered.
"But Narcissa isn't a star that I've heard of," Hermione pointed out.
"You're right there. My mother is the only Black that I know of whose name did not come from a star, only it is derived from Narcissus in Greek mythology. I would have to ask her about that one day," Ursa said.
"I could only imagine how fun it would be to research star names. We haven't done anything like that in Astronomy yet," Hermione stated.
"I've certainly spared a few hours look up the names of old relatives and their stars. It certainly is a fascinating concept, but the subject of Astronomy itself is more focused on studying the patterns and movement of the sky rather than the stars. It's certainly one of my favourite subjects too, and Professor Sinistra is one of my favourite teachers," Ursa said.
"I like Professor McGonagall. I can tell that she's got a soft spot for Gryffindors, but I suppose that's to be expected from the Head of Houses, since Professor Snape only seems to hate anyone who isn't a Slytherin," Hermione commented.
"Yes, he certainly does have a rather… unorthodox way of teaching. But unless you're a bad student in and outside of class, that gives him even more reason to dislike you. Though I have heard that he's particularly harsh on Gryffindors," Ursa replied.
"He is," Hermione nodded. "He seems to have this vendetta against Harry Potter, much like how your brother does."
"I'm sure that Draco's issue with the boy comes from the fact that he rejected his hand in friendship. My brother is a rather prideful boy, much like his father. If you do anything to ruin that, he'll try to ruin yours too," Ursa stated.
"He already has tried to," Hermione muttered.
"But do not let him, Hermione. I might have only just met you, but I can tell that you are a very bright young girl who certainly deserves better treatment than what you have gotten so far. Do not let Draco's bigotry effect you. I might not be able to read my brother like a book, but I know that if he does not like you, it would only be because of your blood status. And if he does try to bring you down, let me know so that I can try to do something about it," Ursa said.
"Oh no, I wouldn't want to cause any issues with you and your family. Though I appreciate the offer, I can handle him on my own," Hermione argued.
"Nonsense. I already have enough issues with my family so defending you would hardly change anything, Hermione," Ursa insisted.
"Well, thank you," Hermione smiled. "I've never had a friend who would be willing to do that for me."
"Even in the muggle world?" Ursa narrowed her eyes.
Hermione nodded, "Even there, I didn't have that many friends because of other people's issues with me. Now that I know I'm a witch, I understand now why bad things would happen to people after they were mean to me as I got older and why strange things happened. Even though I might not fit in entirely, I do feel like I fit in here in the wizarding world."
"You do, Hermione. Whether you are muggleborn or not. Anyone who can do magic belongs here. Do not let anyone, let alone my brother, ever make you think otherwise," Ursa stated.
All Hermione could do was look at Ursa and smile, thankful that she had said that. Adjusting to life in the magical world had been more difficult than Hermione tried to let on just like dealing with the constant ridicule and judgement that she faced from her classmates. Although she might not have made many friends, Hermione was thankful to have seemingly found one in Ursa Malfoy.
And thus, a friendship was forged.