A/N- A belated Happy Mother's Day to any moms reading this :-) A life at Hogwarts & buildup to Hogsmeade chapter here. I never cease to find it amusing how often I get chastised for playing with or using characters some people view as vile, evil, bullies, etc. It's really rather silly. Just because you dislike a character doesn't mean they must only be portrayed one specific way all the time. I dislike Ron Weasley. I've written/am writing stories in which Ron is a good guy and an important character. At the end of the day all humans have dark sides and light sides. That's what makes us human. And don't forget we're shaped by our life experiences, just like characters in stories are.

Hermione had never seen herself watching quidditch tryouts of any sort, but Theo asked her to watch him try out for the Slytherin house team and she couldn't refuse her brother. So there she sat in the stands, watching her brother try out to play as a chaser on an otherwise lovely September day. "Did not figure you'd be here," Pansy Parkinson said as she sat down near Hermione.

"Theo's my brother and he wants me here," Hermione shrugged, "so I'm here."

"Alone? Don't you have a posse of Gryffindors that follows you around?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow. She didn't have much interaction with the pureblood females of Hogwarts. Her two roommates were half-bloods and not all that bothered about Hermione's revealing as a pureblood. So she wasn't entirely sure how to interact with Pansy. The lessons of pureblood culture had mostly been about dealing with potential suitors, not with other witches. Not that Hermione cared about saying or doing the 'right' thing with Pansy. It was more not knowing how to read the situation or Pansy.

That said, Hermione wasn't about to be quiet or back down from the other witch, "The boys are working on homework. Plus I hardly thought Slytherin would appreciate a large Gryffindor audience."

Pansy said nothing in response as Theo's trial had just begun. While watching her classmate fly she noticed that whenever a bludger approached Theo, or an opposing player got too close, Hermione's knuckles turned white as she squeezed the edge of the bleacher. When he did a sloth roll to avoid a bludger Pansy half-expected Hermione to either pass out or scream at him when he popped upright again to score a goal.

"He's a good flyer, you know."

"I know," Hermione nodded. "He taught me how to fly on a broom this summer. But quidditch players get injured an awful lot and I worry he'll get hurt."

"Nothing Madam Pomfrey can't fix," Pansy shrugged. "And none of the Slytherin players will hurt him. Especially not during his tryout for the team. If he's injured he can't help us beat Gryffindor again."

"That is true," Hermione admitted. "Why sit here with me?"

"You've shaken up society, Granger," Pansy said, her eyes on the players. "You get revealed as the secret Nott heiress and next thing you know, Lucius Malfoy dies for nearly killing you. Dumbledore is finally fired. The youngest Weasley is in jail. Narcissa Malfoy tears up the betrothal contract Lucius had arranged with the Greengrass clan to marry Draco off to their youngest daughter. You've really done a number on society. You must be just like your father given how he's trashing traditions lately."

From Pansy's tone it wasn't clear if her words were words of bitterness or admiration. It seemed that much like Theo and Blaise, hiding her real emotions was a skill of Pansy's. Hermione watched as Theo flew with the other chasers, passing the quaffle back and forth as they streaked up the pitch. "Why are you here at the tryouts?" Hermione asked her after Theo's turn had ended.

"Just curious to see what the team will look like," Pansy shrugged. Well, Theo had said Pansy was the worst gossip in Slytherin and especially loved knowing everything first. Hermione supposed that made sense.

At the end of the tryouts Hermione climbed down from the stands and hugged her brother, "You were great Theo."

"Flint thought so too," Theo smiled. "I made the team."

Hermione grinned and hugged him tighter, "That's great! Congratulations!"

"You'll come to all my matches right?" He asked.

"Of course," she assured him. "Did Blaise make the team?"

"As a reserve chaser," Theo nodded. "But that's to be expected. It's just exciting that we both made the team, really." Hermione smiled. Her brother was downplaying it but she could see how excited he was. Theo had desperately wanted to be on the quidditch team and it showed in his eyes how buoyant he was about being picked for it.

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Alexander Nott sat in the Board of Governors meeting, his face not showcasing his amusement at his daughter's requests to add muggle things to Hogwarts. Andromeda Tonks and Severus Snape were doing an excellent job presenting a case for each item, including that loads of students had suggested giving them a football pitch and some indoor sports too. Andromeda had clearly sourced prices of the necessary equipment, which Alexander admired. Snape meanwhile pointed to the vast array of empty rooms in Hogwarts that could be used that would otherwise go unused for yet another year.

But he stayed silent, listening to the questions the other school governors were asking. He wanted to gauge their opinions if he could. Most seemed unsure and so Alexander made his voice known, "This would be on a trial basis, of course," he said to Snape and Tonks.

"Of course," Andromeda nodded. "If the students like these things, we could consider making them permanent."

"Well in that case, I'm in favor of it," Alexander said, well aware of the amusement in Andromeda's eyes. He was certain she knew his daughter was behind many of these suggestions. "Perhaps these ping pong tables can keep the students out of Filch's hair on rainy days."

"That would be a pleasant change," Snape agreed. Alexander held much sway over the board because he had two children in school; most of them didn't even have grandchildren in school anymore so as a parent if Alexander approved the others were more likely to trust him.

"I don't mind the sports but I see no reason to not use a quill and parchment," one of the oldest governors said. Alexander mentally rolled his eyes but said nothing. He'd take what he could get for now.

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At the end of September as quidditch try-outs for the house teams finally ended the announcements were made about muggle football and ping pong tables coming to Hogwarts. Hagrid would be drawing out the lines of the football pitch on an empty plot of land not far from the quidditch pitch so that the players would have access to the locker rooms. Joseph Fox, muggleborn and a fan of the sport, would be the referee of games. Anyone could play, which perked the first years up regardless of blood status. Dean and many other students cheered at the news.

In early October Hagrid brought the four ping pong tables into Hogwarts and Professors Tonks and Fox assembled them in the new 'recreation rooms' for the four houses. For Gryffindor, the table was a big hit and they quickly had to implement rules to make sure everyone could play. Hermione set up a long parchment scroll so that the 'reigning' champ could be listed, crossed off, and a new name written in their place. If the champ lasted three games undefeated, they had to give up the crown (so to speak) and step aside for two 'unseeded' players to play. Then at the end of the month they'd have a mini-tournament for the undefeated players and a bag of candy would be the prize for winning.

Hermione enjoyed ping pong, and so it wasn't a total surprise that she ended up in the Slytherin recreation room at her brother's request to teach them how the game should be played. Dean went as her assistant but soon she found herself playing doubles with Pansy Parkinson to take out Draco Malfoy and Dean. "This is surprisingly fun," Pansy said with grin as Draco's paddle missed the ball. "We play to 11 right?"

"Yes, so this is match point," Hermione nodded.

"Come on Malfoy, you don't want to lose to the girls," Dean encouraged. "Hermione gloats when she wins."

"So does Pansy," Draco frowned. "They're going to be unbearable."

But despite that motivation, Pansy's strong volley whiffed past the two boys and the witches won, both smiling at the result. "I'm never going to hear the end of this," Draco predicted.

"You can always have a rematch," Dean reminded him. "Everyone will get really good with some practice. Many muggleborns had a big advantage in Gryffindor at first but the Weasley twins really picked it up fast."

"I'll get revenge," Draco vowed, giving Pansy a glare.

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The morning of their first trip to Hogsmeade Hermione sat at the Gryffindor table, thinking about how things had gone so far this term. Ron was keeping to himself which meant he was also keeping his mouth shut, which made for a pleasant change thus far. Draco Malfoy seemed to have dramatically changed, though Hermione was dubious about just how 'dramatic' the change was. After all, her father had been able to act like he hated muggles for over 13 years despite having hidden his daughter with a muggle family and keeping tabs on her that entire time. Theo had learned early on to feign hatred of muggles to appease his grandfather despite not hating them at all. So as far as she was concerned, Draco could simply have been an amazing actor for his father's benefit and never have actually hated muggles. Only Draco could answer that question and it wasn't one she was particularly interested in knowing the answer to anyway.

Most of Slytherin seemed a bit lighter, actually, which surprised her. It made her wonder just how much control Lucius Malfoy had had over the other families because it seemed like the biggest changes were in those who'd been closest to the Malfoy family. Narcissa Malfoy actually smiled, which according to Theo and Blaise wasn't something she'd ever been seen doing before. Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle actually laughed. Not that weird chuckle thing they would do the previous years but actual laughs.

And the muggle things added? Well the footy was being embraced with open arms by the first years especially, as they couldn't try out for quidditch yet, but every house had a team. Gryffindor's captain was Dean, of course. If Theo was quidditch mad then Dean was definitely football mad. The ping pong tables were incredibly popular. Every house seemed to use theirs regularly.

Harry sat down opposite her and disrupted her thoughts, "How do you get up so bloody early on a weekend?"

"Habit," Hermione answered automatically as she drank her tea. "Today is a big day, though. Our first trip to Hogsmeade."

"Yeah I'm excited too," Harry nodded, glancing up as he heard the owl post arrive. A Gringotts owl soared down to the table and presented its leg to him. Harry untied it, "I guess this is about what happened to the Potter things," Harry said to Hermione before unrolling the parchment:

Mr. Potter,

We have looked through all records pertaining to the Potters and can confirm that several former Potter properties were given to the Black family as a bride price by your grandfather Charlus Potter when he became engaged to your grandmother Dorea Black. As for the Potter heirlooms, we have determined they were destroyed when your family home was destroyed 31 October, 1981.

Only gold remained in your vault, which has been untouched until you presented yourself to Gringotts with Hagrid in 1991. We hope this answers your questions and we now consider this inquiry concluded.

If you would like your family tree drawn out, Gringotts is happy to do so for a fee. Simply write to the bank's genealogy department.

Thank you for your continued patronage,

Grukluff

Department of Account Records

"I think that answers that question then," Harry shrugged, handing the letter to Hermione. "Your father was right. My family gave up their properties to the Blacks."

"I knew the Potters weren't a wealthy family," Hermione mused. "He went over the wealthiest families with me this summer and your family's name wasn't mentioned. But I do know the Blacks were quite hungry for gold. They had a habit of having more daughters than sons so struggled to keep the family name going."

"Dumbledore always acted like my family was this special name in the wizarding world but I don't think they were. At least, not in mine or my parents' lifetime. My father was special because he was pureblood, case closed," Harry shrugged. "I guess I still have that land that their home was built on, though."

"I think they turned it into a war monument," Blaise said as he sat down next to Harry and Theo sat next to his sister. "You probably don't have that either."

"Better to know this now than later, I guess," Harry mused. "A war monument? Really?"

"People are suspicious of places alot of dark magic has been in," Theo explained. "So a war monument is a way to sort of cleanse the area and keep people away from horrible places. Morning Hermione."

"Good morning Theo," she smiled. "Excited for today?"

"Very," he nodded.

Harry looked at Theo, confused, "Is all that really true?"

"Well, all magic leaves a residue when a major event takes place," Theo answered. "The pyramids of Egypt prove that. And curses can certainly last centuries. Plus does anyone really want to take the chance when it comes to possibly babies or children being raised in that spot? Better safe than sorry, people figure. I'm sure the ministry paid for the land, though. That's probably why you have so much gold in your vault."

Blaise smirked, "Mate you sounded like your sister just now."

"I could be compared to worse," Theo shrugged, not really bothered by the comparison. He loved his sister and as far as he was concerned, she was pretty much perfect. Being compared to her was a compliment as far as he was concerned.

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After breakfast they gathered their coats and money and headed to the carriages that would take them down to the village. Professors Malfoy and Tonks were there with clipboards, checking off names to make sure those headed down all had turned in permission slips. "You all have fun and make sure you're back at the station when it's time to head back up."

"We will Professor Malfoy," Blaise smiled at the witch, making Draco glare at him.

"Let's go before Draco kills you or Hermione hexes you for being an idiot," Theo yanked Blaise toward the carriage, much to the amusement of the two witches marking off names.

"I'm not sure which spell I'll use yet. I'm debating between three that cause severe pain but leave you otherwise unharmed," Hermione mused loudly, making Blaise's eyes widen in fear.

Harry snickered at Blaise's reaction. Hermione could be scary, and apparently Blaise had only just learned that fact. Poor bloke.