Authors note: I do not own Harry Potter!

Hermione's POV

It was beautiful.

I gasped and grabbed Justin's shoulder. We were both giddy with excitement as we walked into the Great Hall. It was everything I had imagined and more.

"Look up, Hermione." Justin whispered to me.

"I know, it's enchanted to look like the night sky, I read about it in Hogwarts: A History."

He looked at me knowingly and rolled his eyes. We walked to the ends of the house tables and lined up down past the professors tables.

There was quite a few first years, but I was keenly aware of the silver blonde haired boy I had a run in with yesterday. It was still too soon from the encounter for me to be seeing him. I was on the verge of looking at him. I was trying not to care so much about this lousy boy and be stronger.

"When I call your name you will come forth, I will place the sorting hat on your head, then you will join your classmates at your house table" said the woman that unloaded us from the boats.

"Hannah Abbot."

The ceremony began, but I couldn't pay attention. I was too busy looking at the professors, the portraits of the founders of Hogwarts, and Dumbledore seated so calmly.

Susan Bones went to Hufflepuff. Me, Justin, and Neville clapped for our new friend. A Millicent Bulstrode went to Slytherin. Then a few made it into Ravenclaw.

"Justin Finch-Fletchley."

He wasted no time getting up to the sorting hat. The older woman placed the hat on his head and in no time the hat shouted out "Hufflepuff!"

I clapped as hard as I could and wondered if I would make it into Hufflepuff too. They seemed to be a good house, known for being loyal and friendly.

More names were called and I began to notice fewer students making it to Slytherin.

"Anthony Goldstein."

I was sure to be next. I had been relatively at ease all day up until this moment. All the self preservation had flown out the window and I wanted to vomit. It was a good thing I hadn't eaten much all day.

"Hermione Granger."

I sucked in a breath. Making my way up, I had decided to completely open myself to whatever this hat decided, putting complete faith into this magical object.

I took my seat in the chair and she lowered the hat to my head. As soon as it connected and rested fully on me, I was transported to a fuzzy reality. It was a blend of mine and the hats vision and thoughts, memories, and voices.

"Alright young lady, how does Slytherin sound?"

A hazed vision of all the pranks I would play on the unknowing bully played over us. The feeling of knowing more than anyone else and using it to my advantage filled me with joy and the images still rushing by turned red.

"No, I can't be in Slytherin. I'm a muggle born and I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Your magic has come from somewhere, dear. It is not random, it never is. I feel like I have felt your kind here before. I assure you, you have got what it takes for Slytherin... or maybe Ravenclaw?"

All the moments I'd spent reading pushed into view. In my room, at my desk, in the park, at Diagon Alley, on the train. A trail of words, definitions, facts, pictures, page numbers.

I felt yesterday's memory at Diagon Alley the strongest, and the hat picked up on it.

"My my, definitely not Hufflepuff. Yes either Ravenclaw or Slytherin. Look at you. Look at your quick wit. Look at you standing up for yourself. Look at the fear in that poor boys eyes. You will be a formidable witch one day, and Slytherin can help you on your way to greatness."

I couldn't argue with the hat. He was able to find my raw emotions and feelings. It did feel good to be powerful for a moment. I hadn't held back then, and I liked the way I had him backing away from me in fear. I shuddered at this... the hat felt it too...

"It took a lot of guts to do what you did... you had a real reason for doing what you did that you never had before. Your friend Justin is muggle born, and you were defending yourself and him. I can feel it. You have grown attached to this Justin. I put him in Hufflepuff you know..."

More images of me sitting alone, eating lunch by myself, kids pointing at me as I sat by myself. They melded into me meeting Justin, writing our letters, buying supplies together, and finally us riding together on the boats to Hogwarts.

"I'd like to be with him in Hufflepuff. He wanted to be in the same house as me so I can keep him informed and safe."

The hats laughter rang loud in my head and I wanted to plug my ears and cry. His laugh was terrorizing.

"The boy is made for Hufflepuff, without a doubt. And his family is waiting for him there. But I need to hurry up and place you somewhere before the headmaster puts me into retirement... what will it be then, Hermione Granger? Ravenclaw or Slytherin?"

I thought really hard on this. I had to be strong, and I didn't know if I could be strong enough for Slytherin. I wasn't one of them and would have to prove myself.

The hat interrupted me. "I wouldn't be so sure they wouldn't accept you dear. You have their blood, whether they know it or not."

"Whose blood do I have?"

"That I cannot say, all I know is that I have felt it before. You will have to find that out on your own. But please, we need to make a decision. Soon."

I felt the urgency then, not from me, I was enjoying this sensation. This had to be what the hat was feeling.

I was trying to think rational. I had assumed I wanted to be in Ravenclaw ever since I first heard of the house, but something about the unknown intrigued me. This was a long commitment though. I would be in this house for seven years.

I wanted to know how I acquired this magic. I wanted to know my heritage. The decision had been made then and the cold feeling of coming back to reality hit me, just in time for my regular self to hear "Slytherin!"

I couldn't believe what had happened in my head. The whole time I was walking to my house table, I tried to recall what had made me pick Slytherin. But like a dream you desperately wanted to remember, the more I searched for it, the farther away it went until I had absolutely nothing to go on.

You could tell something was stirring amongst the professors. The ceremony continued, but I felt strangely watched by everyone. Particularly the upperclassmen at my table that had either the face of confusion or sneers.

A few more students went to Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor before a name was called that brought me back to reality. I observed the blonde headed boy I desperately wanted to forget stroll up to the hat. I then learned the name of the foul boy I had grown to detest so much. It was Draco Malfoy.

The hat didn't even sit on his head a second before it called out "Slytherin!"

I smiled, but that was only for appearances. On the inside my stomach was doing flips.

Draco Malfoy strolled confidently over to the table, and even dared to sit in front of me. He oozed supremacist.

"That was impressive Draco, the hat didn't even sit on your head!" A larger-than-average boy said, nudging at him with his elbow. He didn't bemuse his friend with any reply.

Now it was my turn "So that's your name, is it? Draco Malfoy." I watched his face twitch. I was reliving deeply the odious encounter, feeling that crushing word stab at me again. Mudblood. This boy, and many of the onlookers from down the table, unjustly hated me. I wondered how he was going to treat me now that I was on his level, at his table, among his peers.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you my name before. I wish to put the past behind us, start new."

I was dumbfounded. Was it really that easy to sway these people? Would I have a chance to fit in? This surely was all for show, and with that I flashed him a careful smile. "Yes, I'd like that too."

"You've met-," the boy sitting next to him tried to speak. Draco flew up his hand to signal them to hush.

"These are my friends Crabbe and Goyle." He introduced his friends with a lack of concern. These poor friends, they looked respectfully onto this Draco Malfoy, yet he couldn't even care to treat them with dignity.

"Pleasure." I tried to look to each of them like it really was a pleasure to meet them.

"Theodore Nott."

I had to turn and see. The boy definitely intrigued me, I had spent a great deal of time with him today. Not that that time was spent conversing or growing to know one another. I had read a book that talked about the power of simple proximity making one infatuated with a person.

"Ravenclaw!" The hat shouted out.

I half expected to hear that, with his hair and high cheekbones, I'd put him in Ravenclaw just for looking so raven-like.

This was obviously not how many people at my table or the boy felt. He stood and tried not to make eye contact with anyone as he slowly trudged foreword. The old woman had to sit the hat down and grab ahold of Nott to steer him to his house table.

Draco had turned to watch and had a disgusted curl to his lips.

A Pansy Parkinson was quickly sorted into Slytherin and took her seat proudly, and ever so properly, next to Draco. She smiled at him and he offered her a weak one in return. She looked to me next, this time for longer than she had on the train, with wide eyes and a investigative look. She seemed to have arrived at a conclusion quickly and turned back to the ceremony.

"Harry Potter!"

The room went quiet except for the rustling of clothing as everyone had to see where the Boy Who Lived would be sorted.

The had sat on his head for a bit, but soon enough it's answer for everyone waiting was "Slytherin!"

I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited. I loved a good mystery story, and Harry Potter was currently filled with secrecy.

He even seated himself next to me. I saw the searching looks, the reaching for a question or answer that came with the sorting hat. I hit a wall every time I tried to recall what me and the hat discussed in my head.

More names were called. I gathered from a few glanced between Potter and Malfoy that they had become friends. I internally groaned. Didn't Potter see what an ungrateful, selfish prat this boy was?

"Ronald Weasley."

Harry was showing interest in where this boy was going. He was one of the red heads I saw coming through the wall at the platform this morning.

"Hufflepuff!"

The boy had a look of shock and fear on his face. This I couldn't understand, since Hufflepuff was a notoriously kind and unthreatening house.

"Don't give the Weasley's a bad name in Hufflepuff!" A pair of red headed twins stood and shouted at him. Relief did come over his features and he seated himself at the table.

Last was a "Blaize Zabini!"

I knew what house he was going to be in before the hat had a chance to sit on his head. He shared that same half-smile, proud shoulders, and dazed gleam in his eyes.

"Slytherin!"

He took his seat as Dumbledore stood to address some start-of-term notices.

I eagerly listened and took note of this Forbidden Forest. You shouldn't call something forbidden and expect people to stay away. At least not people like me, the thought of it made me that much more curious.

"And Mr. Filch would like me to remind you, that the third floor corridor on the right hand side is strictly out of bounds to anyone that does not wish to die a most painful death..."

There was an awkward silence as everyone let those words sink in.

"Now, let the feast... begin!"

The food appeared before us in droves, just like the book said it would. Everyone else was filling their plates so I followed suit.

Our section of the house table was rather quiet. We had two elephants in the room, and no one was sure how to converse. Particularly how to converse while stuffing their faces.

I reached to my left to grab a roll and caught the eye of mister Harry Potter. He smiled at me, watching me a little too closely than I liked.

Millicent spoke softly, so softly only I could hear. "I have never heard of a Granger being in Slytherin. Are you half-blood? Your dad is a muggle?"

I looked around to see everyone trying to conceal their interest in our conversation. So I leaned into her and spoke softly "No, I don't have magic parents."

"Interesting." Our small conversation ended then.

I heard Harry gasp and clang his spoon on his plate. He was rubbing his forehead on his scar, and I wondered if this was a common thing for him.

"Are you alright?" I asked, leaning forward.

"It's my scar... do you know who that professor is over there?" We glanced over to the man with greasy black hair and a rather large nose. His stare was unmissable. He had his eyes locked on Harry, and we assumed that's why his scar was hurting.

A rush of excitement hit me at the peculiarity of the situation. That was before Malfoy inserted himself into our conversation.

"Oh, that's my godfather, and head of Slytherin house. Severus Snape."

I looked back to the professors tables and Snape had averted his gaze. Harry had lowered his hand from his forehead.

"Professor Snape..." I said aloud, feeling how the name sounded on my lips.

"He's not that bad, once you get to know him."

I thought of how ironic it was for him to say that, and laughed to myself.

"I wouldn't laugh, Granger, he's a right scary looking man."

I narrowed my eyes at Harry. "I was laughing about something else entirely," I let my eyes wander forward to meet Draco's. He clearly understood what I had implied. I also picked up on how he knew my name, unless he simply remembered it from the ceremony. "He is rather intimidating looking, I'll be my own judge of character. Malfoy may be right, but I do think it stranger how your scar hurt you when he was looking at you..."

"What class does he teach, Draco?" Harry asked.

"Potions."

We continued to eat until the headmaster rose to dismiss us, the house prefects leading the way.

It was a bit of a mess trying to weave all the students out of the hall and through different corridors, but once most of them got to the grand staircases, us Slytherins diverged down a long flight of stairs. The prefect was explaining to us the history of the castle and where the girls and boys dormitories were located.

Through a secret passageway, we made it to a door that demanded a password. I heard the 6th year prefect say "pureblood," before we walked through. Once again, I laughed to myself from the irony of it all.

The stained glass above the fireplace was breathtaking. It was the only source of light, moonlight, other than a few green spherical table lamps. Those set on dark-wood end tables accompanying hard, cold, black leather furniture.

I followed behind all the other girls to the dormitories, and made my way to a four post bed with my belongings next to it. The house colors decorated all the furniture again, and a serpent tapestry hung between my bed and Pansy Parkinson's bed.

The three girls I was to share this room with were all different. For the most part we went through our things quietly.

I glanced to the girl sleeping across from me. She was blonde and slender and her trunk had a T.D on the end. She looked up to me then and saw this as a fine time to introduce herself.

"Hi, I'm Tracey Davis."

"Hermione, Granger."

We both looked to the girls on the other side of the room. Pansy was trying to pay us no mind, and Millicent walked over to us.

"Oh come off it Pans, we are gonna have to live with each other now so be social!" Tracey said to her.

She wrinkled her face and stomped to us, crossing her arms over her chest. "Hi, I'm Pansy Parkinson. I would like to let everyone know I get the bathroom first after classes and my side of the room is strictly off limits." She turned away with a huff.

I was used to her type. I looked to Tracey Davis and she shrugged.

"Millicent Bulstrobe. I'm pretty easy to get along with. But I like to keep to myself. I have my pet cat here, but he will keep off your beds, I promise. He's quiet too."

I had to speak now. "Well, I'd like to get to bed, I can't wait to start classes in the morning."

"I get bathroom first!" Pansy reminded everyone before headed to our shared bathroom with her pajamas.

I sat down on my bed and pulled out some parchment to write my parents. There was so much uncertainty running through my mind, more mysteries, and I had lost track of my thoughts. I was starting to feel more at ease about being in Slytherin, though I was worried about Malfoy telling people what happened at the bookstore. I had to get control of myself, but part of me truly enjoyed letting loose all my emotions.

I was third to have the bathroom and before long I was in bed. The thought crossed my mind that they might try and prank me. I was the last girl to fall asleep.