KNOCK! KNOCK!

"What is it?" someone yelled harshly.

"Professor Snape? Can I talk to you for a moment, please?"

"I'm busy," he snapped. "Can't it wait 'till Potions this afternoon?"

"Alright," she grumbled.

Still muttering to herself, Willow walked to the great hall for breakfast. [Snape : 1, Willow : 0. It's no big deal. I just have to wait until this afternoon. Can't wait to know the rest of my schedule!] she thought excitingly. No matter how old she was, she was still excited on the first day of school.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she bumped into someone. "Watch it, Rosenberg!"

[Draco Malfoy. Great. Just what I needed.] She sighed. "Sorry. I wasn't looking."

"Better be careful next time. You may be in Slytherin, for some obscure reasons I would prefer not to think about, but you're still one of those disgusting Mudbloods!" He walked past her quickly and took his place at the Slytherin table.

Willow stood there just in front of the double doors, quite a bit thrown back by his comment. She had learned to ignore people like Cordelia or Malfoy, but it hurts nonetheless.

"Are you alright, Willow?"

The redhead startled and turned around. Hermione was looking at her with concern. "I'm fine. I'm just nervous about my first day."

"You don't need to lie to me, you know. I know it hurts to be called that. I mean, it's not like we decided to be muggle-born, were we? But blood is blood. I don't see what the big deal is. Purebloods are just a bunch of inbreeds."

Willow laughed and smiled brightly at the Gryffindor. Then she frowned. [In your blood lies the truth.]

"Willow?"

She snapped out of her thoughts. "Sorry. I'm just going to go inside, now. Yeah, that's what I'll do. I'm starving." She quickly went inside, leaving a confused Hermione outside, in front of the doors. She walked to her table and sat a couple of places left to Malfoy. She grabbed her schedule from the pile next to her.

Monday : Herbology, lunch, Potions with Gryffindors
Tuesday : History of Magic with Hufflepuffs, lunch, Charms
Wednesday : Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures with Gryffindors, lunch
Thursday : Divination, lunch, Defense against the Dark Arts with Gryffindors
Friday : Ancient Runes with Ravenclaws, Arithmancy, lunch

"What's with all those courses with the goodie-goodie two shoes?" she heard someone say. Looking up, she realized it was Malfoy. "Isn't it enough seeing them during meals?"

"I think they're nice," she replied softly.

Draco glared at her. "The sorting hat must be getting old or your mind was so fucked up, he got confused and sorted you in the wrong house. You can always run to muggle lover Dumble-freak and ask for a transfer, Mudblood," he sneered. A couple of Slytherins snickered.

Willow had heard enough. She suddenly stood up and slammed her hands on the table, making the students closer to her jump. "That's it! What the fuck is your problem, Malfoy?" she yelled. The hall became silent and all heads turned toward her. "You were ok last night and even nice to me when Pansy *suddenly* fell down by *accident*. Afraid Daddy will get mad if you're nice to one person? Or is it that your cold heart couldn't handle it? Just admit it Malfoy. You're just a scared little boy who's not able to think by himself yet and has to rely on his father." She grabbed her book bag and stomped angrily out of the great hall, cheers from the Gryffindors following her outside. She walked briskly to the library, bumping in students on her way there.

The moment she stepped in, she backed into the wall and slid down. [Oh my God! I can't believe I said that!] She didn't trusted her legs yet, so she stayed like this until she figured out it was time to head to her first class, Herbology... with only the Slytherins. [Oh, joy.]

* * *

Willow was quite surprised. The morning wasn't as awful as she imagine it would be. In fact, she was now starting to think she had done the right thing by making a scene at breakfast. Sure, Pansy and Draco were both shooting her death glares, but the other members of her house were looking at her with something akin to respect. Nobody stood up to a Malfoy. Except the terrible trio, but they didn't count : they were in Gryffindor.

At lunchtime, people kept greeting her and she barely made it to her table in time to grab something to eat before it was time to head to the dungeons. It was time to meet the feared Professor Snape, Head of Slytherin, in the most dangerous class of all, Potions with *both* the Slytherins and the Gryffindors.

When she entered the classroom, she saw that only one other person had arrived and, to her delight, realized it was Hermione. "Hello, Hermione. Mind if I sit here?"

"Are you sure you want to do that, Willow? Snape will have a fit if you sit down next to a Gryffindor and I'm sure Ron will again act like a git and treat you badly because you're in Slytherin, even if he met you before and found you nice."

"Maybe you're right. But I wouldn't want to disappoint my *fanclub*. They'd just love to see me sitting with 'know-it-all Mudblood Granger', as my fellow housemates call you. I've finally found someone who spends more time than me studying. I hope you're not afraid of competition for the highest grade," she said teasingly.

"Bring it on, know-it-all Mudblood Rosenberg!"

The two girls laughed and the redhead sat down beside her supposed enemy, but who might actually be her soul sister. Notebooks, quills and ink out, they both waited patiently, ready for a three hour lesson on potions.