Hermione didn't come back to Gryffindor that night. Instead, she wandered
aimlessly about the castle, pondering her newly chosen path. It was cruel,
she knew, but people had been so cruel to her, and apparently she had quite
a bit of pent-up rage. It was a change from her usual holier-than-thou
attitude to one of secret disobedience and anger.
Finally, in the wee hours of the morning, her short travels brought her
back to the portrait of the Fat Lady. She recited the password and climbed
through, suddenly exhausted. She sat down in an overstuffed red chair in
front of the fire, intending to go up to the girls dormitories in a moment,
but within five minutes she was asleep. The warm fire and the soft chair
comforted her and lulled her into a sweet dreamless sleep.
---
Finally wandering down to the common room around 11 that Saturday morning, Ron and Harry found Hermione fast sleep in front of the fire. They cast sidelong glances in her direction and continued out to the Great Hall for breakfast. They'd missed it completely; lunch was already on peoples' plates. They sat down at the Gryffindor table, next to Seamus, Dean and Neville, and three of Ron's brothers were down the way just a bit. Harry couldn't believe how many Weasleys there were. Ron had told him that he had five older brothers and one younger sister, which confounded Harry. How could anyone live with that many people? He went crazy with just Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and Dudley; what would happen if he lived with eight other people? When Ron had first told him this, Harry thought that his family must be Catholic. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, both Lutherans, always made fun of the uncharacteristically large Catholic families. Harry had always rolled his eyes, but now he'd smiled a few times thinking about it. They probably didn't even know what Catholic was. He smiled and then glanced at his plate, suddenly ravenous.
Everyone had seem Hermione sleeping in the chair as they left Gryffindor tower, and they were eager to talk about it.
"Where do you suppose she went last night?" asked Dean. "D'you think she was upset or angry?"
"I'd say angry," Ron replied. "Didja see the look in her eyes? She looked like she was about to throttle somebody."
The rest nodded, with Neville adding in an uncharacteristic moment of confidence, "D'you suppose she even came back last night?"
None of them had thought of that; they'd all just assumed that she'd gotten back late and didn't want to wake any of the girls in the dormitory. Now they had something new to ponder about Hermione. She was a know-it-all, but was she a rule-breaker too? They knew that students were strictly forbidden to be out of their bed, much less houses, after dark. They all thought about it for a moment, and then resumed talking about Quidditch.
---
Hermione awoke with a start in front of the fire. She wondered how long she'd been asleep for, and upon looking at the clock, she saw that it was nearly one in the afternoon. Seeing as she'd returned at nearly five, she'd gotten a full night's sleep all throughout the morning. She went up to her dormitory to change her clothes before she went to get lunch from the Great Hall, and when she got there, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patel were sitting on the floor and chatting. She walked in, and they both gave her interested looks.
"Where did you go last night?" Parvati asked.
"Out," she answered simply.
"You're not supposed to go out after dark," Lavender said.
"What do I care?"
Parvati and Lavender were shocked. This whole week, Hermione had seemed so studious and holier-than-thou, and now she's being a scofflaw? They found that to be rather bizarre.
Trying another angle, Lavender asked, "Why did you go out?"
"Do you really think that's your business?"
Parvati and Lavender looked at Hermione with expressions of great surprise.
"What? Do you think I don't like to go out and have some fun?" she replied shortly. "I'm human too." Giving them looks of great disdain, she walked over to the armoire, grabbed a new sweater, pulled it over her head, and left again.
'Who do they think they are?' she thought, irritated. 'It's my business as to where I was last night. If I felt that it was necessary for them to know, I would have told them. Just because I came off as quiet and intelligent doesn't mean I can't do anything "out of character."'
She climbed out of the portrait hole and took the shortcut she'd found to the Great Hall, arriving in less than five minutes. She saw the rest of the Gryffindors at their table, and when they saw her, their eyes widened. She turned her eyes away from them and sat at the end of the table. She didn't want to deal with the questions that she was certain they would ask. Looking at her plate, it filled with food. She was starving. As she'd been asleep through breakfast, she ate greedily, emptying her plate quickly. She washed it all down with a cool glass of pumpkin juice, and then left without looking back.
Walking back, she ran into Malfoy. He was with a group of his Slytherin friends, and he said loudly to his friends, "Dirty Mudbloods, ruining this school." Hermione pretended to be hurt, and quickly walked away, covering her face with her hands in an attempt to show her distress. When she was sure they couldn't see her anymore, a small, evil smile crossed her face. She knew that Malfoy would do and say much worse to Ron and Harry. Just what she wanted.
---
Ron and Harry were walking a bit behind Hermione, and they heard Malfoy call her a Mudblood. Harry had never heard the term, and so he asked Ron what it meant. When Ron explained it, Harry was shocked. No one deserved to be called that, not even Hermione Granger, whom they couldn't stand.
As they walked by Malfoy, they shot him dirty looks, which he returned with the caustic comment, "Defending your Mudblood girlfriend? You two are no better." Looking at Ron, he continued, "You should be ashamed of your family, the way your father loves Muggles. You know, he'd be in a much higher position if he just came to his senses. He could make more money, and from the looks of your clothes, your family could use it." Looking back at Harry, he continued, "And you.you would be better off staying in the Muggle world. You have no wizarding talent, and the fact that you're with these Muggles and Muggle-lovers makes you even worse. You truly have been the downfall of the wizarding world: had you died when Voldemort tried to kill you, everything would be much different and much better, if just for not having you in the world." He paused, and then shot Harry the most piercing evil glare that he could muster. If looks could kill, neither Harry nor Ron would still be standing. Draco looked away and motioned for his group to leave. They all walked away in silence.
Harry and Ron looked at each other with blank stares.
"Is he like this with everyone?" Harry asked Ron, who shook his head confusedly.
"I have no idea, but he seems to be a jerk to the Gryffindors in particular. Apparently all of us have done him some personal disservice and he's trying to get revenge." Ron gritted his teeth and set his mouth into a thin line, bitter about Malfoy's comments about his family. He didn't want to talk about it with Harry, though; Harry was better off than his whole family, and he was only eleven years old. Harry couldn't possibly understand what it was like to have to wear second-hand robes, use books that probably ten people had used before him, deal with Scabbers as a magical animal, and many more things that he didn't even want to think of right then.
He must have looked like he was truly out in space, and Harry said so.
"Are you okay, Ron? You seem pretty out there right now," Harry asked.
"Yeah. Fine," Ron replied, still irritated with Malfoy. "Let's go."
---
When she returned to the common room, Hermione opened her Potions book and began writing down ingredients in a forgetfulness potion. Whenever she wrote things down, she repeated them quietly to herself, embedding them in her brain forever. She didn't even need to write them down from the book; she could have done it from memory, but she wanted to give the illusion that she was truly studying and for people to leave her alone. The silence was welcoming to her. Apparently everyone else was studying or was elsewhere in the castle.
After she'd finished writing the ingredients, she kept her book open and her quill in hand. If anyone came upon her, they'd assume she was studying and not bother her. Exactly what she wanted. She needed to think about how she was going to repay Malfoy for his evil services.
'I could.no, that wouldn't be appropriate,' she thought. 'What about.hmm. What if I were to give him inside information on the Gryffindors so he could use it to his advantage? I wonder how he would take that.' She smiled to herself and her thoughts continued in the same vein. 'I wonder if I could slowly infiltrate myself into their group...becoming close to them, finding things out, and then reporting to Draco and letting him use the information against them?' She paused. 'That's probably the best idea you've ever had, Hermione.' Her wicked smile spread across her face. She loved the person she was becoming.
---
Meanwhile, in the Slytherin house, Malfoy was also thinking about Hermione. He liked the way this girl was turning against her fellow Gryffindors and fraternizing with "the enemy." He truly hated the Gryffindors. His dark eyes flashed at the prospect of torturing them. Crabbe and Goyle saw Draco thinking, and they wondered what it was about. They fixed their dumb eyes upon him, as deep in thought as their small brains could handle.
When he felt their eyes upon him, Draco whirled around.
"What do you two lugs think you're doing?" he said sharply.
"What are you doing?" Crabbe ventured timidly.
"Nothing of your business, Crabbe," he paused, "nor yours, Goyle." Rethinking, he pursed his lips. Crabbe and Goyle could be of help to him in this endeavour.
"Maybe it is your business," he said unctuously, not unlike the tone of Professor Snape. "Maybe you could be of service to me. I've a source who gives me information. This source asks me to lay some pain upon the Gryffindors, and I think you might be able to help me with that. I've two Gryffindors in particular that this source has asked me to target, and they are easy targets indeed. One Ron Weasley and another Harry Potter. Those two, the Muggle-lover and the praised one, deserve it much more than anyone else. If you see them, torment them to the best of your idiotic abilities." He shot them an evil smile and continued, "I expect you to do this. There will be severe consequences if I see or hear that it isn't done."
All the while, Crabbe and Goyle had been nodding like the idiots they were. They idolized Draco. He was truly their Merlin. Anything he asked, they would do, no questions asked. Their brains didn't quite overflow with intellect or morals, so they worked well as pawns in Draco's personal game of chess, in which he worked as the Queen, moving whichever way he wanted, torturing people brutally, and protecting one person: Voldemort. Voldemort was his king.
Shooting them his dark smile again, he nodded. "Good."
---
Again in the common room, Hermione sat alone with her Potions book. She heard the portrait swing open, and she turned her head to see who it was. 'Harry Potter and Ron Weasley,' she thought greedily. 'They're mine.'
She rose from her place in the soft armchair and looked at them with soft eyes. "Can I speak with you two for a moment?"
Ron shrugged his shoulders and Harry nodded his head in agreement. "Sure." They walked over to the area in front of the fire and took seats in the armchairs facing Hermione.
"I think I acted a bit harshly last night," she began. "I'd like to apologise for being so rash."
Both of the boys raised their eyebrows at her.
"I know," she said. "I should have accepted your apology when you offered it. The thing is that I've been teased my whole life and I've never really had any close friends. I was hoping that when I came here, I would have friends. The things you said really hurt my feelings and crushed my ideals. I'd hoped people would see me for more than my intellectual personality."
Ron opened his mouth to say something, but Hermione stopped him.
"You don't have to apologise again. I'd like to forgive you and become your friend, if you'll let me," she said in a faux-pleading voice.
The boys looked at each other and shrugged. She seemed nice enough. They nodded. "Sure," they said in unison. She couldn't be that bad. She could always be of help to them when they didn't understand their.Potions work, as they saw her studying from her book.
Hermione smiled at them. Only this time, it wasn't a wicked smile: it was one of delight. She was delighted in the fact that she would have "friends," and also that she'd be able to pass information to Draco, both for his and her benefits, for them to be tormented for what they'd done to her. She didn't give up easily.
"So.Hermione." Ron began, feeling awkward. "I'm really sorry that we said all that stuff to you last night. It was really unkind."
"Stop apologising. I said I forgave you, and I don't want to have to change my mind because you've apologised every five minutes," she snapped back. 'That probably wasn't the best way to start off,' she thought. 'Really smart, Hermione.' "Sorry," she said. "I guess I'm still a bit touchy."
She gave them another smile, this one apologetic.
"So." she began awkwardly. "What did you think of classes this week?"
They groaned. Ron took initiative and spoke.
"McGonagall and Snape are going to be awful," he complained. "If this was the way they treated us within the first week, I don't even want to think about the rest of the year. Plus, the Potions dungeon smells like feet. It's gross."
Harry added, "But I like Professor Flitwick. Charms is going to be fun, I hope."
Hermione raised her eyebrows at both of their comments. "I think all of the classes are going to be challenging. But that's good, isn't it? We'll never learn anything if the classes are too easy."
Ron shrugged. "Learning's good enough, I guess.but I don't know how well I'll do."
Hermione laughed, a giggle that tinkled like small bells, and said, "I'll help you, silly. Isn't that what friends are for?" Her grin spread wider across her face, and she looked into the eyes of the two boys, who were nodding and smiling at her too.
---
Hermione finally told Ron and Harry that she needed to study for Charms, and climbed up the short spiral staircase to the girls dormitories. She opened the door, and again she found Parvati and Lavender sitting on the ground. Again they stopped talking when she entered the room, and this time she said, "Can you be any more juvenile? If you're talking about me, I don't see why it can't be in my presence. If you're not, I'm human too. I have ears. Sometimes I like to talk to people too, but most of the time I like to talk to myself."
They stared at her with strange looks on their faces.
"Come on, girls. It's a joke," Hermione said, a small smile crossing her face. They rolled their eyes.
"Well, I don't really care if you talk to me or not. I just thought I'd make an effort to be nice to you, since we'll be living in the same dormitory for the next seven years, and I want for it to be pleasant. I suppose you're not going to accept my efforts." She turned and walked over to her bed, sitting down and closing the curtains around her four-poster. She took out the journal she'd kept since she was nine, and grabbed a quill.
'Log: September sixth I've met some interesting people here at Hogwarts. Some like me, some don't. I guess that's the way it is at all schools. I think it's going better here than it ever did in grammar school. I've already made two friends, which is more than I can say for just about my whole life. Classes are going to be hard, but I like it that way. I'd rather things be difficult and challenge me, than have them be too easy and bore me. I'll learn a lot while I'm here, and I hope to become a good witch. People tell me I have a natural talent. I find that out of the ordinary because I'm Muggle-born. I never had any magical training, and both of my parents are dentists. I don't know where it came from. On another subject, I've also met some evil people. Draco Malfoy, for instance, is quite the cruel one. He teases people mercilessly, but he's a Slytherin. I suppose that's just what they do. I don't know how to describe it, but I'm really changing. I'm no longer the "good girl" Hermione that I used to be, and it's just a week into school. I'm turning into someone more wicked than pure, and sinful rather than holy. It's a horrible thing to say, but I like it. It's a wonderful, refreshing change from having to live uprightly and be a perfect person. Now, I'm in cahoots with Malfoy. I've already been teased by the people I've just made "friends" with, and they truly hurt me. Their words were cruel, and their apologies forced. Last night I went wandering about the castle, and I took a path I'd never been down. As it turned out, it was the entrance to the Slytherin house. There, I officially met Draco Malfoy. I'd only seen him in Potions, being favoured by Professor Snape. I told him my feelings about the people in Gryffindor, and asked if he could do me a favour. He's helping me out with some things, and I'll be helping him with others. So far, things seem to be going well. Maybe I'll also be able to talk him into helping me curry the favor of Professor Snape. I've already won over the rest of the teachers with my zeal to learn, but he seems to be the hardest to get through to. With everyone but Draco, I put on the façade of being the perfect little girl, the overzealous, overachieving Muggle-born girl. With Draco, I can be my new self. I can show my new, dark colours, and he appreciates them. I've decided to infiltrate myself into the groups of the Gryffindors, learn about them, and become their "friends." Playing nice will get me places with these people, as kindness is one of their main virtues. Learning things about them will help me work against them. I almost can't believe how I'm changing. It's going from one extreme to the other. There really isn't an in-between with me. I like it. Good Girl Hermione is just a front. Bad Girl Hermione only comes out at night. Some day, I might have to reveal my new self to the Gryffindors. Maybe not. They don't deserve to know these things about me. They're not my type of people anymore. I was excited when I was sorted into this house, but now I wish I'd been a Slytherin. I wish I could be with people who are like the new me. More later, the curtains are shaking. 'Mione.'
The curtains were indeed shaking, so she opened them. She found Parvati and Lavender to be standing outside of her bed, hoping that Hermione would talk to them. She raised her eyebrows, silently questioning them.
"We're sorry. We'd like to become your friends too," Parvati said quietly.
Lavender added, "Since we're going to be living together for the next seven years, we decided that we want to get along with you and become close. It would be difficult to live with anyone for that long if you didn't like them. Truce?"
Hermione smiled her small smile again, and replied, "Truce. Want to go sit in the common room and talk?"
The girls nodded, and the three of them set off to become better acquainted.
---
Harry and Ron walked up the steps to the boys dormitories, talking quietly.
"Why d'you think she automatically wanted to be our friend?" Ron asked.
"I don't know," answered Harry. "She said she was a bit too harsh last night.."
"I know what she said, I was there!"
"..and maybe this is her way of apologising."
"Duh, she said that herself!"
Harry shot daggers Ron's way.
"Sorry. You don't need to restate the obvious. I was there." He shrugged and continued up the stairs, opening the door when he reached it. He held it for Harry, and they both went into the first-year boys' dormitories.
Seamus, Dean and Neville were already there, working on their Potions homework. When they heard Harry and Ron come in, they paused. Looking up at them, their faces showed that they had some sort of secret. The nervously set mouths, and the eyes avoiding theirs made their faces suspect.
"What's going on?" Seamus asked suspiciously.
"Nothing, nothing really," Harry replied quickly. "I'm, uh, I'm going to do my Transfiguration homework now."
"No you're not, what's going on?" Seamus said again.
Harry and Ron looked at each other, and Harry motioned for Ron to field this question. He gave Harry the same type of look that he himself had been given earlier.
"Fine. We came in from lunch and we saw Hermione sitting in front of the fire. She stood up and asked us to come and talk to her. She apologised for being so harsh last night, and she said she wanted to be our friend. We figured there really wasn't any harm in it, because she's smart. She can always help us with our homework. She's nice enough, too. I think we might turn out to like her."
Seamus raised his eyebrows, looking at Dean and Neville. They pondered this quietly for a moment, and then Seamus, apparently their ringleader, said to Ron, "Okay. But only if she doesn't become a know it all like she's been."
Harry and Ron looked at each other, not knowing whether that would happen or not. She seemed pretty self-righteous.
'Oh well,' Ron thought. 'We might grow to like her.'
---
In the common room, Lavender, Parvati and Hermione were talking rapidly, exchanging information about themselves and learning about the others. It turned out that they were actually quite alike. Both Lavender and Hermione were from Muggle families. Parvati's mother was a witch, and her father was a Muggle. She had a twin, Padma, and she was from East Germany. Hermione'd lived in London all her life, was an only child, and was Muggle born, as she was sure they both knew. Lavender lived in Surrey, and had three sisters. Two of them were older, and one two years younger. When Lavender got her letter, all of her sisters were jealous. The two older ones, Violet and Rose, wished that they'd gotten letters, and the younger one, Regina, hoped she would get a letter when she turned 11 in two years. Her parents were so proud of her, as Hermione's were.
"So when I got my letter," Hermione said excitedly, "my parents were shocked. They never knew that there was a wizarding school anywhere, much less here in England. They were so proud of me, though. They took me right to Diagon Alley, once we figured out where it was, and got all of my school supplies. I stocked up on books, too, so I could study before I got here. I wanted to make sure that I knew what I was doing, so people didn't think I was just a stupid Muggle."
Hermione was amazed at herself, telling these two girls more about herself than she'd ever wanted to.
'You know you're not going to become attached to these silly people,' she cautioned herself. 'You'd better take heed in what you're telling them. Their knowledge of you could be used against you, just as your knowledge of them will be used against them. '
She pasted a small, fake smile onto her face and said, "I loved talking to you. I think I'm going to take a walk about the castle and get myself acquainted with the place. When I get back, we need to finish our conversation!"
Her faux-excited tone fooled Parvati and Lavender. They smiled, and Lavender said, "It's been great getting to know you. Have fun."
Hermione left the common room with the two other girls looking after her.
"That girl is strange," Parvati said in a perplexed voice. "One minute she's cranky, and the next she's friendly."
"Maybe she's just adjusting," Lavender suggested. "She said she'd never really had friends. She probably doesn't know how to make them."
Parvati nodded slowly. "That's probably it."
---
Once Hermione had lost sight of Gryffindor tower, she breathed a heavy sigh of relief. 'You need to stop talking so much about yourself,' she chided herself. 'Being aloof is better for your purposes at this school.' She nodded to no one, and continued walking. She hoped to run into Draco, so they could discuss his payment for tormenting Harry, Ron, and the rest of the Gryffindors.
She was in luck. Seeing him coming down the corridor from the Slytherin house with his two ugly, stupid cronies, she tried to motion to him with her eyes and a slight sideways nod of her head. He caught it, and returned it by quickly jerking his head upward.
"I want for you two to go out and find those Gryffindors. Do whatever you want to them, but if I hear that you went easy on them, you know what I'll do," he said in his usual slick voice.
Crabbe and Goyle looked at each other, nodded, and set off in the direction of the Great Hall.
Once they were out of sight and earshot, Draco turned to Hermione.
"What do you want?" he said sharply, quietly.
"If you don't mind," she snapped in return, "I have a way of repaying you for your 'services.'"
"And what might it be?"
"Well, if you'd listen to me, you'd find out."
He shot her one of his trademark dirty looks and nodded to her. "Talk, then."
**
Just a note from me to you.sorry it took forever for me to update. I went home for a week and forgot to bring my disk with me. Duh, Lauren. Also, I want to apologise for possibly offending anyone with my comments about large Catholic families. I'm Catholic myself, so I'm basing it on my own experience. Another quick jot, I'm planning on following Hermione through the years of Hogwarts, but in an abbreviated fashion, of course. It'd take me years to write it all out. (If you read my Remembrance of Things Past, you know how verbose I can be.) So, some things may go by quickly, but I'll try to hold true to the events in the books as well. Let me know if you have any comments, questions, concerns, or ideas. And last, but certainly not least, I'd like to thank my lovely beta Heather. You're fabulous, darling! **Lauren
---
Finally wandering down to the common room around 11 that Saturday morning, Ron and Harry found Hermione fast sleep in front of the fire. They cast sidelong glances in her direction and continued out to the Great Hall for breakfast. They'd missed it completely; lunch was already on peoples' plates. They sat down at the Gryffindor table, next to Seamus, Dean and Neville, and three of Ron's brothers were down the way just a bit. Harry couldn't believe how many Weasleys there were. Ron had told him that he had five older brothers and one younger sister, which confounded Harry. How could anyone live with that many people? He went crazy with just Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and Dudley; what would happen if he lived with eight other people? When Ron had first told him this, Harry thought that his family must be Catholic. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, both Lutherans, always made fun of the uncharacteristically large Catholic families. Harry had always rolled his eyes, but now he'd smiled a few times thinking about it. They probably didn't even know what Catholic was. He smiled and then glanced at his plate, suddenly ravenous.
Everyone had seem Hermione sleeping in the chair as they left Gryffindor tower, and they were eager to talk about it.
"Where do you suppose she went last night?" asked Dean. "D'you think she was upset or angry?"
"I'd say angry," Ron replied. "Didja see the look in her eyes? She looked like she was about to throttle somebody."
The rest nodded, with Neville adding in an uncharacteristic moment of confidence, "D'you suppose she even came back last night?"
None of them had thought of that; they'd all just assumed that she'd gotten back late and didn't want to wake any of the girls in the dormitory. Now they had something new to ponder about Hermione. She was a know-it-all, but was she a rule-breaker too? They knew that students were strictly forbidden to be out of their bed, much less houses, after dark. They all thought about it for a moment, and then resumed talking about Quidditch.
---
Hermione awoke with a start in front of the fire. She wondered how long she'd been asleep for, and upon looking at the clock, she saw that it was nearly one in the afternoon. Seeing as she'd returned at nearly five, she'd gotten a full night's sleep all throughout the morning. She went up to her dormitory to change her clothes before she went to get lunch from the Great Hall, and when she got there, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patel were sitting on the floor and chatting. She walked in, and they both gave her interested looks.
"Where did you go last night?" Parvati asked.
"Out," she answered simply.
"You're not supposed to go out after dark," Lavender said.
"What do I care?"
Parvati and Lavender were shocked. This whole week, Hermione had seemed so studious and holier-than-thou, and now she's being a scofflaw? They found that to be rather bizarre.
Trying another angle, Lavender asked, "Why did you go out?"
"Do you really think that's your business?"
Parvati and Lavender looked at Hermione with expressions of great surprise.
"What? Do you think I don't like to go out and have some fun?" she replied shortly. "I'm human too." Giving them looks of great disdain, she walked over to the armoire, grabbed a new sweater, pulled it over her head, and left again.
'Who do they think they are?' she thought, irritated. 'It's my business as to where I was last night. If I felt that it was necessary for them to know, I would have told them. Just because I came off as quiet and intelligent doesn't mean I can't do anything "out of character."'
She climbed out of the portrait hole and took the shortcut she'd found to the Great Hall, arriving in less than five minutes. She saw the rest of the Gryffindors at their table, and when they saw her, their eyes widened. She turned her eyes away from them and sat at the end of the table. She didn't want to deal with the questions that she was certain they would ask. Looking at her plate, it filled with food. She was starving. As she'd been asleep through breakfast, she ate greedily, emptying her plate quickly. She washed it all down with a cool glass of pumpkin juice, and then left without looking back.
Walking back, she ran into Malfoy. He was with a group of his Slytherin friends, and he said loudly to his friends, "Dirty Mudbloods, ruining this school." Hermione pretended to be hurt, and quickly walked away, covering her face with her hands in an attempt to show her distress. When she was sure they couldn't see her anymore, a small, evil smile crossed her face. She knew that Malfoy would do and say much worse to Ron and Harry. Just what she wanted.
---
Ron and Harry were walking a bit behind Hermione, and they heard Malfoy call her a Mudblood. Harry had never heard the term, and so he asked Ron what it meant. When Ron explained it, Harry was shocked. No one deserved to be called that, not even Hermione Granger, whom they couldn't stand.
As they walked by Malfoy, they shot him dirty looks, which he returned with the caustic comment, "Defending your Mudblood girlfriend? You two are no better." Looking at Ron, he continued, "You should be ashamed of your family, the way your father loves Muggles. You know, he'd be in a much higher position if he just came to his senses. He could make more money, and from the looks of your clothes, your family could use it." Looking back at Harry, he continued, "And you.you would be better off staying in the Muggle world. You have no wizarding talent, and the fact that you're with these Muggles and Muggle-lovers makes you even worse. You truly have been the downfall of the wizarding world: had you died when Voldemort tried to kill you, everything would be much different and much better, if just for not having you in the world." He paused, and then shot Harry the most piercing evil glare that he could muster. If looks could kill, neither Harry nor Ron would still be standing. Draco looked away and motioned for his group to leave. They all walked away in silence.
Harry and Ron looked at each other with blank stares.
"Is he like this with everyone?" Harry asked Ron, who shook his head confusedly.
"I have no idea, but he seems to be a jerk to the Gryffindors in particular. Apparently all of us have done him some personal disservice and he's trying to get revenge." Ron gritted his teeth and set his mouth into a thin line, bitter about Malfoy's comments about his family. He didn't want to talk about it with Harry, though; Harry was better off than his whole family, and he was only eleven years old. Harry couldn't possibly understand what it was like to have to wear second-hand robes, use books that probably ten people had used before him, deal with Scabbers as a magical animal, and many more things that he didn't even want to think of right then.
He must have looked like he was truly out in space, and Harry said so.
"Are you okay, Ron? You seem pretty out there right now," Harry asked.
"Yeah. Fine," Ron replied, still irritated with Malfoy. "Let's go."
---
When she returned to the common room, Hermione opened her Potions book and began writing down ingredients in a forgetfulness potion. Whenever she wrote things down, she repeated them quietly to herself, embedding them in her brain forever. She didn't even need to write them down from the book; she could have done it from memory, but she wanted to give the illusion that she was truly studying and for people to leave her alone. The silence was welcoming to her. Apparently everyone else was studying or was elsewhere in the castle.
After she'd finished writing the ingredients, she kept her book open and her quill in hand. If anyone came upon her, they'd assume she was studying and not bother her. Exactly what she wanted. She needed to think about how she was going to repay Malfoy for his evil services.
'I could.no, that wouldn't be appropriate,' she thought. 'What about.hmm. What if I were to give him inside information on the Gryffindors so he could use it to his advantage? I wonder how he would take that.' She smiled to herself and her thoughts continued in the same vein. 'I wonder if I could slowly infiltrate myself into their group...becoming close to them, finding things out, and then reporting to Draco and letting him use the information against them?' She paused. 'That's probably the best idea you've ever had, Hermione.' Her wicked smile spread across her face. She loved the person she was becoming.
---
Meanwhile, in the Slytherin house, Malfoy was also thinking about Hermione. He liked the way this girl was turning against her fellow Gryffindors and fraternizing with "the enemy." He truly hated the Gryffindors. His dark eyes flashed at the prospect of torturing them. Crabbe and Goyle saw Draco thinking, and they wondered what it was about. They fixed their dumb eyes upon him, as deep in thought as their small brains could handle.
When he felt their eyes upon him, Draco whirled around.
"What do you two lugs think you're doing?" he said sharply.
"What are you doing?" Crabbe ventured timidly.
"Nothing of your business, Crabbe," he paused, "nor yours, Goyle." Rethinking, he pursed his lips. Crabbe and Goyle could be of help to him in this endeavour.
"Maybe it is your business," he said unctuously, not unlike the tone of Professor Snape. "Maybe you could be of service to me. I've a source who gives me information. This source asks me to lay some pain upon the Gryffindors, and I think you might be able to help me with that. I've two Gryffindors in particular that this source has asked me to target, and they are easy targets indeed. One Ron Weasley and another Harry Potter. Those two, the Muggle-lover and the praised one, deserve it much more than anyone else. If you see them, torment them to the best of your idiotic abilities." He shot them an evil smile and continued, "I expect you to do this. There will be severe consequences if I see or hear that it isn't done."
All the while, Crabbe and Goyle had been nodding like the idiots they were. They idolized Draco. He was truly their Merlin. Anything he asked, they would do, no questions asked. Their brains didn't quite overflow with intellect or morals, so they worked well as pawns in Draco's personal game of chess, in which he worked as the Queen, moving whichever way he wanted, torturing people brutally, and protecting one person: Voldemort. Voldemort was his king.
Shooting them his dark smile again, he nodded. "Good."
---
Again in the common room, Hermione sat alone with her Potions book. She heard the portrait swing open, and she turned her head to see who it was. 'Harry Potter and Ron Weasley,' she thought greedily. 'They're mine.'
She rose from her place in the soft armchair and looked at them with soft eyes. "Can I speak with you two for a moment?"
Ron shrugged his shoulders and Harry nodded his head in agreement. "Sure." They walked over to the area in front of the fire and took seats in the armchairs facing Hermione.
"I think I acted a bit harshly last night," she began. "I'd like to apologise for being so rash."
Both of the boys raised their eyebrows at her.
"I know," she said. "I should have accepted your apology when you offered it. The thing is that I've been teased my whole life and I've never really had any close friends. I was hoping that when I came here, I would have friends. The things you said really hurt my feelings and crushed my ideals. I'd hoped people would see me for more than my intellectual personality."
Ron opened his mouth to say something, but Hermione stopped him.
"You don't have to apologise again. I'd like to forgive you and become your friend, if you'll let me," she said in a faux-pleading voice.
The boys looked at each other and shrugged. She seemed nice enough. They nodded. "Sure," they said in unison. She couldn't be that bad. She could always be of help to them when they didn't understand their.Potions work, as they saw her studying from her book.
Hermione smiled at them. Only this time, it wasn't a wicked smile: it was one of delight. She was delighted in the fact that she would have "friends," and also that she'd be able to pass information to Draco, both for his and her benefits, for them to be tormented for what they'd done to her. She didn't give up easily.
"So.Hermione." Ron began, feeling awkward. "I'm really sorry that we said all that stuff to you last night. It was really unkind."
"Stop apologising. I said I forgave you, and I don't want to have to change my mind because you've apologised every five minutes," she snapped back. 'That probably wasn't the best way to start off,' she thought. 'Really smart, Hermione.' "Sorry," she said. "I guess I'm still a bit touchy."
She gave them another smile, this one apologetic.
"So." she began awkwardly. "What did you think of classes this week?"
They groaned. Ron took initiative and spoke.
"McGonagall and Snape are going to be awful," he complained. "If this was the way they treated us within the first week, I don't even want to think about the rest of the year. Plus, the Potions dungeon smells like feet. It's gross."
Harry added, "But I like Professor Flitwick. Charms is going to be fun, I hope."
Hermione raised her eyebrows at both of their comments. "I think all of the classes are going to be challenging. But that's good, isn't it? We'll never learn anything if the classes are too easy."
Ron shrugged. "Learning's good enough, I guess.but I don't know how well I'll do."
Hermione laughed, a giggle that tinkled like small bells, and said, "I'll help you, silly. Isn't that what friends are for?" Her grin spread wider across her face, and she looked into the eyes of the two boys, who were nodding and smiling at her too.
---
Hermione finally told Ron and Harry that she needed to study for Charms, and climbed up the short spiral staircase to the girls dormitories. She opened the door, and again she found Parvati and Lavender sitting on the ground. Again they stopped talking when she entered the room, and this time she said, "Can you be any more juvenile? If you're talking about me, I don't see why it can't be in my presence. If you're not, I'm human too. I have ears. Sometimes I like to talk to people too, but most of the time I like to talk to myself."
They stared at her with strange looks on their faces.
"Come on, girls. It's a joke," Hermione said, a small smile crossing her face. They rolled their eyes.
"Well, I don't really care if you talk to me or not. I just thought I'd make an effort to be nice to you, since we'll be living in the same dormitory for the next seven years, and I want for it to be pleasant. I suppose you're not going to accept my efforts." She turned and walked over to her bed, sitting down and closing the curtains around her four-poster. She took out the journal she'd kept since she was nine, and grabbed a quill.
'Log: September sixth I've met some interesting people here at Hogwarts. Some like me, some don't. I guess that's the way it is at all schools. I think it's going better here than it ever did in grammar school. I've already made two friends, which is more than I can say for just about my whole life. Classes are going to be hard, but I like it that way. I'd rather things be difficult and challenge me, than have them be too easy and bore me. I'll learn a lot while I'm here, and I hope to become a good witch. People tell me I have a natural talent. I find that out of the ordinary because I'm Muggle-born. I never had any magical training, and both of my parents are dentists. I don't know where it came from. On another subject, I've also met some evil people. Draco Malfoy, for instance, is quite the cruel one. He teases people mercilessly, but he's a Slytherin. I suppose that's just what they do. I don't know how to describe it, but I'm really changing. I'm no longer the "good girl" Hermione that I used to be, and it's just a week into school. I'm turning into someone more wicked than pure, and sinful rather than holy. It's a horrible thing to say, but I like it. It's a wonderful, refreshing change from having to live uprightly and be a perfect person. Now, I'm in cahoots with Malfoy. I've already been teased by the people I've just made "friends" with, and they truly hurt me. Their words were cruel, and their apologies forced. Last night I went wandering about the castle, and I took a path I'd never been down. As it turned out, it was the entrance to the Slytherin house. There, I officially met Draco Malfoy. I'd only seen him in Potions, being favoured by Professor Snape. I told him my feelings about the people in Gryffindor, and asked if he could do me a favour. He's helping me out with some things, and I'll be helping him with others. So far, things seem to be going well. Maybe I'll also be able to talk him into helping me curry the favor of Professor Snape. I've already won over the rest of the teachers with my zeal to learn, but he seems to be the hardest to get through to. With everyone but Draco, I put on the façade of being the perfect little girl, the overzealous, overachieving Muggle-born girl. With Draco, I can be my new self. I can show my new, dark colours, and he appreciates them. I've decided to infiltrate myself into the groups of the Gryffindors, learn about them, and become their "friends." Playing nice will get me places with these people, as kindness is one of their main virtues. Learning things about them will help me work against them. I almost can't believe how I'm changing. It's going from one extreme to the other. There really isn't an in-between with me. I like it. Good Girl Hermione is just a front. Bad Girl Hermione only comes out at night. Some day, I might have to reveal my new self to the Gryffindors. Maybe not. They don't deserve to know these things about me. They're not my type of people anymore. I was excited when I was sorted into this house, but now I wish I'd been a Slytherin. I wish I could be with people who are like the new me. More later, the curtains are shaking. 'Mione.'
The curtains were indeed shaking, so she opened them. She found Parvati and Lavender to be standing outside of her bed, hoping that Hermione would talk to them. She raised her eyebrows, silently questioning them.
"We're sorry. We'd like to become your friends too," Parvati said quietly.
Lavender added, "Since we're going to be living together for the next seven years, we decided that we want to get along with you and become close. It would be difficult to live with anyone for that long if you didn't like them. Truce?"
Hermione smiled her small smile again, and replied, "Truce. Want to go sit in the common room and talk?"
The girls nodded, and the three of them set off to become better acquainted.
---
Harry and Ron walked up the steps to the boys dormitories, talking quietly.
"Why d'you think she automatically wanted to be our friend?" Ron asked.
"I don't know," answered Harry. "She said she was a bit too harsh last night.."
"I know what she said, I was there!"
"..and maybe this is her way of apologising."
"Duh, she said that herself!"
Harry shot daggers Ron's way.
"Sorry. You don't need to restate the obvious. I was there." He shrugged and continued up the stairs, opening the door when he reached it. He held it for Harry, and they both went into the first-year boys' dormitories.
Seamus, Dean and Neville were already there, working on their Potions homework. When they heard Harry and Ron come in, they paused. Looking up at them, their faces showed that they had some sort of secret. The nervously set mouths, and the eyes avoiding theirs made their faces suspect.
"What's going on?" Seamus asked suspiciously.
"Nothing, nothing really," Harry replied quickly. "I'm, uh, I'm going to do my Transfiguration homework now."
"No you're not, what's going on?" Seamus said again.
Harry and Ron looked at each other, and Harry motioned for Ron to field this question. He gave Harry the same type of look that he himself had been given earlier.
"Fine. We came in from lunch and we saw Hermione sitting in front of the fire. She stood up and asked us to come and talk to her. She apologised for being so harsh last night, and she said she wanted to be our friend. We figured there really wasn't any harm in it, because she's smart. She can always help us with our homework. She's nice enough, too. I think we might turn out to like her."
Seamus raised his eyebrows, looking at Dean and Neville. They pondered this quietly for a moment, and then Seamus, apparently their ringleader, said to Ron, "Okay. But only if she doesn't become a know it all like she's been."
Harry and Ron looked at each other, not knowing whether that would happen or not. She seemed pretty self-righteous.
'Oh well,' Ron thought. 'We might grow to like her.'
---
In the common room, Lavender, Parvati and Hermione were talking rapidly, exchanging information about themselves and learning about the others. It turned out that they were actually quite alike. Both Lavender and Hermione were from Muggle families. Parvati's mother was a witch, and her father was a Muggle. She had a twin, Padma, and she was from East Germany. Hermione'd lived in London all her life, was an only child, and was Muggle born, as she was sure they both knew. Lavender lived in Surrey, and had three sisters. Two of them were older, and one two years younger. When Lavender got her letter, all of her sisters were jealous. The two older ones, Violet and Rose, wished that they'd gotten letters, and the younger one, Regina, hoped she would get a letter when she turned 11 in two years. Her parents were so proud of her, as Hermione's were.
"So when I got my letter," Hermione said excitedly, "my parents were shocked. They never knew that there was a wizarding school anywhere, much less here in England. They were so proud of me, though. They took me right to Diagon Alley, once we figured out where it was, and got all of my school supplies. I stocked up on books, too, so I could study before I got here. I wanted to make sure that I knew what I was doing, so people didn't think I was just a stupid Muggle."
Hermione was amazed at herself, telling these two girls more about herself than she'd ever wanted to.
'You know you're not going to become attached to these silly people,' she cautioned herself. 'You'd better take heed in what you're telling them. Their knowledge of you could be used against you, just as your knowledge of them will be used against them. '
She pasted a small, fake smile onto her face and said, "I loved talking to you. I think I'm going to take a walk about the castle and get myself acquainted with the place. When I get back, we need to finish our conversation!"
Her faux-excited tone fooled Parvati and Lavender. They smiled, and Lavender said, "It's been great getting to know you. Have fun."
Hermione left the common room with the two other girls looking after her.
"That girl is strange," Parvati said in a perplexed voice. "One minute she's cranky, and the next she's friendly."
"Maybe she's just adjusting," Lavender suggested. "She said she'd never really had friends. She probably doesn't know how to make them."
Parvati nodded slowly. "That's probably it."
---
Once Hermione had lost sight of Gryffindor tower, she breathed a heavy sigh of relief. 'You need to stop talking so much about yourself,' she chided herself. 'Being aloof is better for your purposes at this school.' She nodded to no one, and continued walking. She hoped to run into Draco, so they could discuss his payment for tormenting Harry, Ron, and the rest of the Gryffindors.
She was in luck. Seeing him coming down the corridor from the Slytherin house with his two ugly, stupid cronies, she tried to motion to him with her eyes and a slight sideways nod of her head. He caught it, and returned it by quickly jerking his head upward.
"I want for you two to go out and find those Gryffindors. Do whatever you want to them, but if I hear that you went easy on them, you know what I'll do," he said in his usual slick voice.
Crabbe and Goyle looked at each other, nodded, and set off in the direction of the Great Hall.
Once they were out of sight and earshot, Draco turned to Hermione.
"What do you want?" he said sharply, quietly.
"If you don't mind," she snapped in return, "I have a way of repaying you for your 'services.'"
"And what might it be?"
"Well, if you'd listen to me, you'd find out."
He shot her one of his trademark dirty looks and nodded to her. "Talk, then."
**
Just a note from me to you.sorry it took forever for me to update. I went home for a week and forgot to bring my disk with me. Duh, Lauren. Also, I want to apologise for possibly offending anyone with my comments about large Catholic families. I'm Catholic myself, so I'm basing it on my own experience. Another quick jot, I'm planning on following Hermione through the years of Hogwarts, but in an abbreviated fashion, of course. It'd take me years to write it all out. (If you read my Remembrance of Things Past, you know how verbose I can be.) So, some things may go by quickly, but I'll try to hold true to the events in the books as well. Let me know if you have any comments, questions, concerns, or ideas. And last, but certainly not least, I'd like to thank my lovely beta Heather. You're fabulous, darling! **Lauren