AN: It's been awhile since, an entire pandemic happened, but I'm back. Well, here it is, I won't keep you any longer.
A hush has fallen over the Great Hall. It is so quiet that you can hear a quill drop from across the room. I am stuck to the seat, glued, frozen, unable to move, as the sorting hat sits atop my head. My chest rises and falls quickly, my heart is going a mile a minute. This cannot be happening. How can I have been sorted into Slytherin? I cringe at the word. I am never going to survive in that house. I am a 'Mudblood' according to most of them (if not all of them). I have no friends or even acquaintances in Slytherin.
"I can't tell you why you were re-sorted Miss Granger. I feel shifts within students all the time, but the shifts I've felt recently are far too significant to ignore." The Sorting Hat says.
"Sorting Hat, this is mad!" I hiss through my teeth.
"Not at all Miss Granger. I do have to say that I have never sorted a muggle born into house Slytherin. You may not be who you think you are. Only you can figure yourself out, I wish you very much luck in house Slytherin, and I hope to see great thing from you." The hat says. Professor McGonagall reaches for the hat wearily. My hands shake as I lift the hat from my head. What did the sorting hat mean that I may not be who I think I am? This is all a load of Thestrsl Shit.
"Professor, there has got to be a mistake! How can I have been sorted into Slytherin? I will be so hated by everyone not just Slytherin! And Slytherin, they'll kill me!" I whisper to Professor McGonagall. She looks like she is gonna cry.
"As much as I hate to see you in Slytherin and out of my house, you are my brightest student after all, the sorting hat has decided and there is no changing that. This is a very rare occurrence and is doubtful that it will change its mind. I am truly very sorry Miss Granger; this is completely out of my hands." She grabs my hand and pats the back of it, though she will not meet my eyes. She is hiding something. I try to meet her eyes, but she quickly releases my hand and gestures for me to go stand next to the Professors table. Professor Dumbledore calls Luna, Dean, and Pansy back up, they come and stand next to me. Pansy sneers at me and leans down close to my ear.
"Stay away from Draco, he's mine!" she hisses in my ear, I clench my fist and glare at her.
"What are you talking about?" I whisper, unclenching and clenching my fist. My knuckles turn white from the stretching skin
"You know what I'm talking about mudblood, I heard about what happened on the train. Just stay away from him you ugly cow! You won't like what happens!" she threatens. She straightens up as Dumbledore begins to speak. Not because she respects him, but because he turns to look at her with a raised eyebrow.
"The four students that have been selected will meet briefly with their new head of house. First years, the dark forest that surrounds the school is strictly forbidden to all students. Now everyone, let the feast begin!" with a wave of Professor Dumbledore's hand, a gorgeous meal appears, and everyone tucks in. "You four follow me. We will not be going far as I know you're all famished." I keep my head down as Dumbledore leads us to the door behind the Professor's table. The door opens seemingly on its own, letting us through where students rarely (if ever) go. Even with my eyes cast down to the floor, I manage to somehow miss the waterfall of black robes and the scuffed-up dress shoe poking out from under the fabric. The toe of my black lace up combat boot acts as a magnet to said dress shoe as they connect. A small yelp leaves my lips, and my hands shoot out in front of me preparing to catch my fall. Before I hit the ground A strong hand grips my upper arm and hauls me to my feet, literally lifting me into the air a good few inches.
"Miss Granger do watch where you are going." I do not look up as Professor Snape rights me on my feet, too embarrassed to meet his eyes.
"Sorry Professor!" I say in a soft low voice, I tuck myself into the corner of the small faculty room.
"Good evening, Mister Thomas, Miss Parkinson, Miss Lovegood, and Miss Granger. I would like to be the first one to welcome you to your new houses. I am sure this is a great shock to all of you as it was for the faculty. I will leave you to your head of house, best wishes to you all." Dumbledore says before departing the room.
"Mister Thomas and Miss Granger, as you know I am head of house for Slytherin." I peek out from under my lashes, only for my heart to give a small flutter and my eyes to widen as shock rolls through me. I can't keep my eyes off of him, how have I never noticed how handsome he is? I should look away before he catches me staring, but how can I when his lush lips part and mesmerize me in their movements as he speaks? His skin, whilst not worry free, looks smooth to the touch. His black as pitch hair, not as greasy as I remember, falls pin straight to his shoulders, and his hooked nose is not as enormous and crooked as I once thought it to be. His eyes shaded the same deep dark color as his hair.
My eyes travel down the length of his lean body, covered from head to toe in black. His teaching robes are buttoned from mid-thigh all the way to his chin, all drowned in a thick very long black cloak, leaving much to the imagination.
The clearing of a throat takes me from observing Professor Snape any further. I look up quickly, finding Professor Snape looking at me with a curious raised eyebrow, which is gone as soon as it had appeared and replaced with a glare.
"Mis Granger. Pay attention! I will not be repeating myself like a fool. Even little know-it-alls don't know everything. Five points from Gryffin-…" his eyes narrow and his glare deepens, burning holes into me. I shrink into myself, but still hold his gaze. "You're dismissed, Mister Thomas fill her in on what I've just said." With that he sweeps out the room which is now empty.
"He said the Slytherin Prefects will meet us after supper at the entrance of the great hall. What are we going to do? We won't last in Slytherin." Dean says, turning to me with large eyes.
"I don't know, this is all so much to take in, Professor Snape hates us. Just because we're S-Slytherin now does not change the fact. We should stay to ourselves and try not to get on anyone's bad side." I say, Dean nods, quickly standing, and I follow suit. I keep my eyes down as follow Dean to the table of Slytherin, I could feel my blood coursing through my vein heavily as I worry my bottom lip between my teeth. Okay, deep breaths, they're only students, one more year and school houses won't matter. I'm only moving to a different location in the castle, everything is fine.
Dean and I sit near the end of the table by the first years. Every time I glance up, I see the older Slytherin staring and when caught they turn and whisper to each other. I push my food around my plate, my appetite left me long ago. Dean doesn't even bother making a plate. Not even half way through dinner we get up from the awkward table and head for the entrance, two of the Slytherin follow us.
"Hi, I'm Daphne Greengrass and this is Theo Nott we are two of the Slytherin Prefects, we'll be the ones you come to with any questions you might have, we will show you where you'll be sleeping, if you two have any trouble you'll find either myself, Theo, or Professor Snape. I can only imagine how much this must suck and we're here to try and make it suck as little as possible." Daphne says, taking the lead and walking ahead of us. I walk behind Dean quietly trying to blend into the background. "I'm sure you two already know where Slytherin common is, but if you do not it is in the dungeons. It does get quite cold, but you'll get used to it and after a while you'll prefer it and will start to think the rest of the castle is blimmin hot."
I listen as we make out way down the familiar staircase to the dungeons where potions is taught. For some odd reason it feels right to be down here. I've never felt this while being down here. I shrug it off as we pass the potions class room and make our way all the way down the hall.
"The password is Cauldron Cakes." Theo says to the painting and to us. I laugh a little but other wise say nothing. "Your schedules will be on your beds as well as a weeks' worth of school uniforms. You'll have to buy your own uniforms if you require more. Also, as a Slytherin you have special access to the restricted section of the library at regular library hours." I gasp at that; this is the first I'm hearing of such a thing. "Well, I'll show Thomas where he'll be sleeping, and you take Granger. I bid you two a goodnight and will see you in class tomorrow.
Daphne points the way with a smile. The layout of the rooms is the same as it is in Gryffindor, just a different color scheme. "This all must be very hard and strange. I can't even begin to wonder how you must be feeling about all this. I'm sorry this is happening to you."
"Thank you. If I'm being honest, I think this is for the best. My friends and I had a falling out, things between us were getting tense and I just snapped. I had to walk away from them. This is quite scary though. I know the majority of Slytherin don't like me because of my blood status. If I'm being honest, I'm surprised with how kind you're being to me." I follow her up the stairs to the girls dormitory.
"Well, Slytherins tend to stick together. We are after all outcast to the rest of the student body. And if you hadn't lost your friends before this, I can guarantee that you would have after being re-sorted." I open my mouth to disagree but close it after thinking about how much Harry and Ronald hate Slytherin.
"Yeah, you're probably right. Harry and Ronald really hate Slytherin and everyone in it." I shake my head.
"Well, there is really nothing to be done about it, and I don't think anyone can change the minds of Gryffindor's. This is your bed." She says pointing to the bed by the window.
"I don't think that's true. My mind can be changed." I say confidently.
"Yes, well you're also not a Gryffindor. You're a Slytherin now Hermione." That statement alone knocked the breath out of me. I Hermione Granger am a Slytherin. I'm no longer friends with Harry and Ronald. By default, does that mean Ginny too? And the looks of their face are burned into my brain permanently. Yes, shock was evident but so was disgust and betrayal. I will never be the friend of Harry Potter and Ronald Wesley ever again, most of all Ronald. I cringe just thinking the gits name. I'm glad I wasn't the one that caught him cheating on me, though I do wish I knew who he cheated on me with.
"Yes, it seems so. I just wish I knew what changed or what shifted so drastically that the sorting hat took notice. I didn't do anything different other than get cheated on."
"Well, what exactly did the sorting hat say to you? It must have givin you some type of clue or a lead or an answer." Daphne ask, just as curious.
"He said that he's never sorted a muggle born in to Slytherin and that I'm more than likely not who I think I am." I pick at my finger nails while sitting on the edge of my new bed. "What could he possibly have meant by that?" I look up at Daphne and find her eyes as saucers.
"I think you should owl your parents." She says.
"Why would I do that? What do they have to do with…" My question trails off as I catch on to what she's getting at. "That can't be! They have photos from when I was born!" I nearly shout, more out of disbelief, than her actually suggesting that that…
"Hermione, I think it's possible that your parents aren't your parents." My heart begins to race.
AN: Feedback? Appreciated!