It took a few weeks for the elite pureblood friend group to fully trust and accept me, most of them hesitant about my bloodline, but once that was old news I was welcomed into their group. Daphne was still the only one who knew the truth about me and she continued to secretly teach me everything about the ideas of blood purity and any wizarding terms that I should've known anytime we had time to ourselves, helping me to fit into the façade we created. The blonde-haired girl had easily become my best friend, the two of us almost always found together, but the one person who I was surprised the most about was Draco.
Once his arrogant front wore off with a bit of time, I found myself becoming closer to Draco than I thought I would. I could tell that he was the most weary about me, but soon enough he and I had our own little inside jokes about Pansy whining about everything and constantly throwing hissy fits, and how Crabbe and Goyle could probably stuff an entire pie into each of their mouths and have no trouble eating it. Pansy, who everyone knew fancied Draco, was very jealous of our friendship and loved to make that known at any chance she could, so long as Draco wasn't around to hear her pouting.
As I grew closer with my Slytherin friends, I found it much harder to keep up with Harry and Ron, considering the dislike my housemates had for the two of them, and even harder was Hermione. Despite me possibly being a fellow muggle-born, I had to pretend as though she was beneath me and that even the thought of talking to her disgusted me. I managed to find the odd time where the two of us could study together in the library and discuss what it felt like to grow up being raised as a muggle and then to suddenly be thrown into the wizarding world. Hermione had her own thoughts about my blood and she reckoned that there had to be some magic somewhere that would have being the linking factor as to why I was put in Slytherin, but she couldn't think of anything further than that.
"Ana!"
"Harry!" I gasped, placing my hand over my racing heart. I had been sitting at one of the benches in the courtyard, enjoying the sunny October weather and the little moment of aloneness that I was having while my friends were all down by the lake. "You scared me half to death."
"Sorry, I just didn't think I would see you here. We saw Malfoy and his friends down by the lake and figured you would be with them." Harry took a seat across from me on the bench and nervously rubbed his hands together. "Have you seen Hermione by any chance?"
"No, why? What happened to her?"
"Ron said something not so nice about her when we were leaving professor Flitwick's class and she overheard. She stormed past us and I think she was crying and we haven't seen her since." Harry glanced at Ron who had taken a seat next to him. Ron looked very guilty and embarrassed, but I felt no pity for the boy. Ever since the first day, Ron had made it clear that he wasn't a fan of Hermione and that he thought she was annoying.
"I didn't mean for her to hear it, it just sort of slipped out." Ron tried to defend himself. His face had gone bright red and nearly matched the messy mass of hair on his head.
"You idiot. I may not have known you for very long but I know that you have a big mouth Ron and you really need to work on controlling it. One day you're going to get yourself in a lot of trouble and you better not expect me to have your back because I will let you pay the consequences." I hissed at him.
"Well now I can see why you were sorted into Slytherin." Ron muttered, earning a shove from Harry and a glare from me.
"It's a wonder to me how you were sorted into Gryffindor when you are so bloody cowardly and pathetic sometimes."
I stood up abruptly and left the two boys at the table, walking straight towards the closest girl's bathroom to collect my thoughts. I rarely ever got cross with people, but something about Ron just did my head in sometimes. His comment about me being in Slytherin really just bothered me and I didn't really know why, maybe it was because I could see how truly cruel my fellow house-mates could be and I liked to think that I didn't sink to that level, or maybe it was because I was scared that I was exactly like them and I didn't want to be.
The faint sound of crying welcomed me as I walked into the bathroom. Whoever was crying tried to make her cries quieter when she heard the door shut, but I was able to follow the sound until I reached a stall.
"Hello?" I called out quietly, standing back a bit from the door. "Are you alright?"
"Liliana? Is that you?" Hermione's broken voice asked back.
"Yes, it's me. Are you alright, Hermione?"
The door opened up and Hermione gave me a watery smile. "I'm fine."
"I heard that Ron was rude to you. I let him have it for it. What exactly did he say?" I grabbed her arm and gently pulled her out of the stall.
"He said that it's no wonder that I have any friends because I'm such a know-it-all and a nightmare." She wiped her eyes and sniffled. It was clear that Ron and Harry really hadn't bothered to spend much time with Hermione, because I had spent enough time with her to know that she really was a good person and someone I was happy to call my friend. "I thought that Ron and Harry were my friends, but I guess I was wrong."
"Well, I like you." I said confidently, giving her a big smile. "They're going to realize what idiots they were and be begging you to forgive them, trust me. Why is it such a bad thing that you're smart?"
Hermione just shook her head and laughed, giving me her first genuine smile. We sat in the bathroom and just talked for what seemed like ages, neither of us caring to keep track of the time at all. One of Hermione's house-mates came in to check on her and told her that dinner was starting soon but didn't linger due to the fact that I was there. It wasn't until we heard the door bang open and saw a massive troll walk in and focus in on us that we realized that we had missed something very important. We tried to hide in the stalls, as if he never saw us, but the wooden frames came crashing down as he knocked them over.
"Hermione, Ana! Move!" I heard Harry yell. I quickly got up and ran with Hermione under the sinks but that proved to not work as a hide out as well when the troll swung his club again and broke two of the sinks.
We were helpless as Harry was grabbed by the troll and held upside down, leaving Ron as the only one with a wand in his hand, both Hermione's and mine lost under the debris from the stalls. Hermione coached Ron on the wrist movements for a 'wingardium leviosa' and I held my breath as he recites it, hoping that it worked for Harry's sake. With the miracle of Ron actually being able to cast the spell properly, we were left with an even bigger obstacle to overcome, facing the professors. Hermione quickly came up with an excuse that she thought she could take on the troll by herself and I tried to convince her that she couldn't which is why we were both there.
"Well then, Professor Snape, if you would take miss Taylor back to the Slytherin Common Room. I think everyone needs to be off to bed after this, excitement." Professor McGonagall motioned for all of us to leave the bathroom.
I followed Snape through the castle towards the dungeons, noting his slight limp as he walked. We were completely silent as we walked, up until we reached the portrait. "I don't know the real reason you were so foolish and I don't care to know, but I will not have you disgracing this house's reputation."
"Yes professor. I'm sorry." I hung my head.
"Get in." He said the password and I felt his eyes on me as I entered.
"Where were you?" Daphne asked, scaring me from her spot on one of the chairs. "I couldn't find you before dinner and then no one knew where you were during dinner either."
"I… Don't worry about it." I walked past her quickly, going straight up to the rooms and right into bed to avoid any further conversation. As close as I was to Daphne, I didn't know how to explain what had just happened without having fully processed the whole thing myself.
Unluckily for me, Pansy and Millicent were already in the room when I walked in and both of them immediately tried too question me as well as to where I had been during dinner. I quickly made up the excuse that I was in the Hospital Wing with Madame Pomfrey because I was feeling ill, knowing that Pansy wouldn't accept me just brushing her off.
