A/N: I'm so happy so many of you are excited about this story, my phone has been beeping non-stop with emails telling how many people have favorited/followed and review this story, it's so amazing! I'm now slightly panicked that I'm going to mess it up somehow, but I'll try not to let that get to me, so here it is, chapter two. We've skipped over the child years because it's already all written and I didn't want to write an epic story, like I mentioned in the first chapter, I'm just getting back into the swing of things. So with that in mind, enjoy! :)

Worst Kept Secret

Chapter Two.

Hermione couldn't help but smile as she packed her trunk for the second time that day, excited to finally be attending Hogwarts after all her mother and father had told her. While she checked that she once again had everything that she could possible need, she daydreamed of all the adventures and friends she was going to make there.

"I think you've got everything in there but the kitchen sink, my sweet," Narcissa said as she watched Hermione start to pull her clothes out of her trunk again, only to immediately start refolding them. Realising that Hermione was panicking somewhat, Narcissa moved forward and gently pulled the clothes out her daughters hands and sat her down on the bed. "Hermione, what's wrong? You've been so excited about starting Hogwarts, why are you panicking?" she asked sitting kneeling down in front of her.

"Nothing is wrong, I'm just excited," Hermione said, hoping her mother would believe her, yet knowing it was unlikely. When she saw Narcissa give her a look of disbelief, Hermione couldn't help but sigh knowing that she wouldn't be able to hide the truth any longer. "I'm just scared," she admitted in a quiet voice.

"But why? It's all you've talked about since your letter arrived?" Narcissa asked, curious as to what could have made her usually confident daughter so worried. When Hermione mumbled something Narcissa raised her eyebrow at her daughter, "Hermione you know we don't mumble," she told her slightly sternly, reprimanding her for her bad manners. "Now what has you so worried?" she asked again.

"What if I don't fit in and make any friends?" Hermione asked her mother, revealing her deep secret and feeling shameful for not being a strong and confident as a Malfoy should be.

"Oh sweetie," Narcissa said moving to sit down next to the upset daughter, wrapping her in a hug as she comforted her. "You are going to make some wonderful friends when you get to Hogwarts. You'll form unbreakable, lifelong bonds with your dorm mates, I know that I did," Narcissa told her. "Try not to worry about it my sweet, all the girls in your dorm will have similar worries, but you'll soon get to know one another as you learn to live with each-others habits. When I was there, there was one girl who for the first two years used to sleep with a clothes peg on her nose every night thinking it would make her nose more petit, and we'd all found at least one lost peg in each of our beds by the time she stopped such ridiculousness," she shared with her daughter, smiling softly when Hermione couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter at the images her mother conjured. "And don't forget you'll always have Draco with you, the benefits of having a brother the same age as you. If I was ever scared or homesick at Hogwarts I had to sneak into the upper years' dorm rooms to find my sister. Not exactly something that was comforting," she said with a small laugh. Brushing Hermione's curly hair behind her she smiled down at her daughter, happy to see she was once again smiling and didn't seem to be worry anymore. "There, now that's better. Now, she we pack this trunk up again, for the last time this time," she said pointedly with a knowing smile while Hermione smiled sheepishly as the two Malfoy ladies got to work on all the clothes and books while Narcissa entertained them with stories of her and Lucius times at Hogwarts, their laughter filling the halls of the Manor the entire afternoon.

Hermione looked at the ceiling and gasped in wonder. She had read every book she could find and had pestered her father and Narcissa endlessly to tell her stories about Hogwarts, but it still managed to take her breath away. That is a really impressive charm, she thought to herself remembering what she had read in Hogwarts: A History. As she walked between the tables with the rest of the first years the whispers of the older students began to capture her attention.

"I can't believe they let her attend." "Surprised they didn't ship off to some forgotten school no one would have heard of." "Well she definitely doesn't look like a Malfoy, that's for sure." "Just look at that hair! Mrs Malfoy clearly isn't fond of her!" "Surprised the Malfoy's decided to keep her, thought they would be too worried about their status." "Wonder where she'll be sorted. Probably a Hufflepuff."

"Just ignore them," Hermione's best friend said to her having obviously overhead everything that had been said as they made their way towards the front of the Great Hall. "They don't know what they're talking about," she assured her friend with a smile, reaching out and squeezing her hand before she was called up to be sorted, the hat resting upon her head for seconds before it shouted out SLYTHERIN.

When it finally came to Hermione's time to be sorted, Hermione slowly made her way up to the stool, nervous and reluctant to be at the centre of everyone's attention, but she knew it was unavoidable. Professor McGonagall seemed to realise how nervous and reluctant Hermione was as she offered the young girl a small, encouraging smile before placing the tatty hat on her head.

"Well this is interesting. Never thought I'd get the chance to sort you. Yes I know exactly who you are, everyone here does. Probably the worst kept secret in our world, but where to put, now that's the question. You've clearly got the brains for Ravenclaw, read all your books and more already. Hufflepuff maybe, no maybe not. I can see enough courage inside of you to be in Gryffindor, but maybe not bravely to step inside the lions' den. Guess that just leaves the snakes in the dungeons, we'll just have to wait and see if you're resourceful enough to make the most of your situation. SYTHERIN. Good luck, the sorting hat told Hermione before it was pulled from her head and she rushed down to the cheering table to sit next to Daphne, thankful to still be with her friend and brother. Looking around at her new house-mates, particularly the older students, Hermione just wished she could make a home in Slytherin house.

Only time would tell.

"Get out the way, bastard," an older boy told Hermione as she was forcefully pushed out of his way, straight into a wall.

"Hey!" Daphne shouted after him, only to cower back when he turned his stare on her. When he finally left and the two girls were alone, Daphne helped Hermione up off the floor and helped her friend gather up her fallen belongings. "Don't worry Hermione," she assured her friend. "It will get better, they just need to find out how great you are and they'll be falling over themselves to be your friend," Daphne told her upset friend with a reassuring smile.

"You suck at lying Daphne," Hermione told her friend as they carried on towards lesson. "That boy wasn't even in our house and he treated me as though I were dirt," she pointed out to her friend. "And no one is tripping over themselves to be my friend. If they're not pushing me into walls they're completely avoiding eye contact, as though I'm contagious. Even Draco doesn't talk to me as much," Hermione told her best friend, sadness colouring her every word.

"Draco's just trying to make new friends, he'll always be your brother though," Daphne pointed out to her, even though she knew the Malfoy heir was staying away from his sister more, something she knew was hard on her friend. "Just give it time, it'll get better," she tried to reassure her friend, but she knew that after a month of the same reassurances, Hermione was beginning to doubt it.

At the end of their last lesson of the day, potions, Hermione decided to ask her head of house if she could floo her father, in the hope of getting some reassurances from him, or at least the opportunity to suggest a change schools.

"Excuse me professor," Hermione asked shyly, knowing that Professor despised being bothered by students, even if they were from his own house. She just hoped that being the daughter of his friend, even the illegitimate one, would allow some leniency. "Would it be possible to floo my father, please?" she asked him tentatively.

"And why would you need to do that, Miss Granger?" Professor Snape asked looking over the small girl briefly before returning to the paperwork in front of him.

"To ask him about changing schools," Hermione told him, her voice so small, Severus had trouble hearing her.

"And what is wrong with Hogwarts?" he asked her finally looking up. When he took stock of how closely the young girl held her books to her body, as though forming a barrier between herself and everyone else, and the fact that she kept her head down, her hair partially covering her face as though she didn't want to be seen by anyone, Severus seemed to understand that this was more than just feeling homesick. Hermione was utterly and completely alone and miserable.

"Miss Granger, I'm afraid that no matter what school you go to, whether it's Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, or Salem, it's a good chance that people will know who you are still. What your father did in taking you in was both very brave and very irregular, making the Malfoy's more infamous," Severus told the young girl, feeling sorry for his friends' daughter.

"Well then he shouldn't have taken me in then," she told him forcefully, the beginnings of rage shining in her eyes. "I'd rather be here as a supposed mudblood than a bastard," she told him as tears began to pool in her eyes.

"Then prove to them that you are more than just a bastard," Severus suggested to the girl, somewhat angrily. "You are a Malfoy, whether you like it or not, even without the name. So start acting like one. You and your brother should rule that common room and instead you want to run with your tale between your legs, crying to daddy to make life easier! Grow up girl, and get out," he told angrily, waving his hand a wandlessly opening the door for her before sweeping out the room, leaving an angry and upset Hermione alone in the classroom to think about what was said.

After her brief but angry conversation with Professor Snape, Hermione decided that she should change her life and start acting more like a Malfoy and stop hiding herself away. Soon she found herself with more than just Daphne for a friend, Pansy, Millicent and Georgina all welcoming her into their social circle, while the older years no longer avoided her like the plague, but instead treated her in a similar way to Draco (who also talked to her a lot more than before). By the end of her first year at school, Hermione was eternally grateful that Professor Snape had not allowed her to contact her father, something she told him when he visited the family manor during the months between her first and second year, even though it was obvious he was embarrassed to be on the receiving end of such thanks.

Hermione's second and third year were much better than her first, her friendships blossoming as the girls grew into young women, the five girls become a force to be reckoned with no only in the Slytherin common room but also within the wider population of the school. It wasn't until Hermione's fourth year that things began to change.

With puberty, came boys.

Attending the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum seemed to place Hermione on the radar of several boys in the school, including an amusingly disastrous attempt from Ron Weasley, something which amused Draco and Severus greatly (though the later would never admit to such a thing). It also resulted in much more appealing advances, such as those made by Adrian Pucey, though both knew it would never amount to much more than a couple of dates at Hogsmeade, but they enjoyed themselves nonetheless before Adrian graduated.

It was after Hermione's fourth year however, that her life really began to change. Only time would tell if it was for the better though.