"Why do they hate me so much?" Hermione whispered to her best friend as they watched the group of older Slytherins walk by. "I understand the blood issue, even though it's complete bollocks, but they seem to hate me even more than the other Muggle-borns. And I don't understand why."
Tilting his head to look at her, Regulus for her to meet his gaze before replying. "It's because you believe in yourself," he said simply. "The others… The other Muggle-borns are cowed by them, and they feed off that. But you're determined to prove your abilities at every turn, and you never let them intimidate you into giving up. They hate you because they can't beat you."
Pursing her lips, she nodded thoughtfully, mulling his words over in her head. It made sense, even if it didn't help her in the slightest. If she wanted to avoid their ire, she would have to let them win. There was no way she would ever let that happen, so she would just have to continue to put up with being their main target for bullying. "Well," she replied, confidence beginning to seep into her voice once more, "I'll just have to keep proving them wrong, then, won't I?"
A/N: Prompt: believe