Authors note: Just so anyone who reads this will know. I now dedicate this fanfic to my bestest friend, Ms. Granger ^.^ And now, on with the story

Chapter Three

Paige made her way down the hall with a slow pace and a nervous look in her eyes. Not only did she not know anyone in her house, but she also had no idea as to how to get to the Great Hall. Lost and confused this young lady wondered the halls of Hogwarts not paying attention to her surroundings. This proved to be both a curse and a blessing when she suddenly collided with another student. Rubbing her head she looked up and discovered that she had collided with none other than Ron, who she noticed had been sorted in to Gryffindor. "I'm soo….sorry Ron. I didn't mean to bump into you," she apologized as she gathered together her belongings.

Yet Ron didn't seem to be bothered by their collision one bit which was evident in the goofy smile he gave Paige. "Don't worry about it," he replied with a hint of laughter. "You're lost aren't you? Well, actually that's obvious since you must have gone the longest way ever to reach the Great Hall. Lucky I was here to save you," he added except this time both of them started laughing. Then Ron picked up his wand and the two started walking. "You know, that's the first time I've seen you really smile. It's nice."

At this Paige smiled yet refrained from saying anything. After a few moments however, the silence was broken. "So…," Ron said trying to make conversation. "You're in Slytherin eh?"

Paige bit her lip, unsure of what to say. Yes, she had been put into Slytherin, but had she not almost begged the sorting hat to do so she would have been in Gryffindor. Instead of wasting time thinking though, she just came out and said exactly what was on her mind. "Well, ya…I mean, my father being who he is and all. My whole family tree seems to have been in Slytherin. Strangely enough though, I was almost sorted into Gryffindor like you. I'm not saying that's bad, not at all. It's just…I begged to be put into Slytherin."

At this Ron looked over at her with a shocked expression on his face. "Bloody hell, why would you beg to be put THERE?" he asked in shock.

Although the answer seemed quite obvious to her, Paige also understood where he was coming from. Slytherin after all didn't have the best reputation. "Well, think about it. My whole family has been in Slytherin, my father's the head of the house after all. I knew he wanted the same for me…and I didn't want to disappoint him, that's all." Her eyes looked nervously at the ground and she began biting her lip once more.

At this point Ron slowly began to take in the fact that Professor Snape was indeed her father. 'Yet….it doesn't make any sense!,' he argued to himself. 'He's the most annoying, cruel, git in the entire school, and she's….well, nice. They just don't' mix.'

Some how Paige was able to figure out exactly what Ron was thinking. Letting out a small sigh she held her books to her chest and began looking at the ceiling as she walked. "You know…he's not really a bad guy like everyone thinks he is. If you just really got to know him he's really…well, sweet," she says with a partial laugh at the end. "It's not like he has a choice acting the way he does. Lucius keeps an annoyingly close watch on him all the time. Come to think of it…it is really annoying." Instead of giving a reply Ron decided to take this into consideration the next time he was about to call his potions Professor a greasy git.

Just then they reached the Great Hall where all of their peers were happily chatting over breakfast. Paige stared uncomfortably at the table where she would be sitting. One person in particular caught her eye, probably because he was staring at her. Her eyes began to squint as she glared at the floor. "Draco Malfoy…gosh do I loathe him."

"Most of us do," Ron replied with a witty smile. For a minute the two just stood there in an uncomfortable silence until finally Ron just couldn't stand it anymore. "Well…I'm gonna go, I'm starving. Meet me outside after third period? I can introduce you to my other friends."

Paige smiled and nodded in reply. As Ron walked away towards the Gryffindor table she slowly turned and headed towards her own. To her dismay Draco had already stood up to greet her. "Well well well….you've finally decided to come to Hogwarts Paige? It's about time…," he said smirking. Paige couldn't help but give a slightly disgusted look and a slight nod. "Here…sit by me." As he said this he ordered Crabbe and Goyle to push over to make room for her.

Attempting to seem at least slightly grateful she mumbled a thank you and sat down. This wasn't going to be an easy year for her…not at all. That much was already decided when she begged to be put in Slytherin.. 'Hm….I bet Draco wouldn't be so thrilled with me if he knew my mother a muggle. That's right…him and his pure blood self would be in for quite a shock," Paige thought to herself as she twirled a lock of her black hair around her slim finger.

Meanwhile Ron was blabbing on and on about Paige to Harry and Hermione. Harry seemed to be quite interested while Hermione on the other hand seemed rather annoyed. "I first met her on the train," the red head explained to his friends happily. "She was all by herself so I kept her company a bit until Hermione had to come and ruin it." At this point the gave her a slight glare, but immediately afterwards turned back to his happy self. "I can't believe she's really Snape's daughter though. They seem totally different. She's nice and friendly and well, he's just not. I was really surprised when she showed up in Slytherin but then she explained how she begged to be put there since her entire family has been there."

Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and got his first real good look at Paige. Her hair, similar in color to his own, was French braided down her back with a few strands of hair hanging on the sides of her face. Her expression was less than thrilled and he laughed as he realized that It was clearly because of Malfoy who was attempting to get her attention. "Poor Malfoy…trying to get Paige to notice him," he stated in amusement. "Then again, poor Paige for having to put up with him."

Harry and Ron laughed together as they continued to observe Draco's futile attempts to get Paige's attention. Hermione on the other hand sat silently sipping her glass of juice and glaring over at Paige who was sitting there trying to block out Draco's voice. 'Ron couldn't possibly like her…could he?' she thought. 'I mean, he only just met her yesterday! Besides…what does he really know about her? She could be making up that whole thing about why she's in Slytherin and could be faking how she acts all together.' She then let out a barely audible sigh. 'I wish Ron would notice me…'Besides, she's a 3rd year! We're in our 6th!'

After breakfast ended Paige was relieved and walked briskly away from her table and out the door. The first class she had was transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. Luckily the room wasn't too hard to find so she reached class with minutes to spare. Taking a seat near the front she placed her books down on the desk and pulled out a quill, some ink, and her wand as well.

Moments later she felt someone occupy the seat next to her. When she turned slightly to see who it was she found herself staring at one face that she had rather hoped not to see.. None other than Draco's irritable and pudgy friend Crabbe was now beside her This both annoyed her yet surprised her since he was indeed three years older than her. That's when she discovered what was going on. 'My schedule…," she thought. "My schedule has me placed in classes with the 6th years…but why? Durmtrang wasn't THAT far ahead in it's teachings was it? Or perhaps Professor Dumbledore felt I was smart enough? Oh well…hmmm," she thought as her pale pink lips formed a smile. "Maybe I'll have some classes with Ron. He seems so kind and friendly. He was the first person to talk to me after all."

Transfiguration was one of Paige's best classes so she got through the class with no problem. Next on her agenda was potions, with her father. 'This ought to be interesting,' she thought as she headed down towards the dungeon. As she was about to enter she found herself face to face with none other than Ron. She smiled at him and stepped aside leaving the doorway open. "You have this class too?" she asked casually.

He nodded in reply. "I do actually. But you? Aren't you a third year?" he asked very curiously.

After letting out a giggle Paige attempted to answer. "Well…I thought I was to, but I guess my dad decided to let Professor Dumbledore know otherwise. You see, I've been kind of blessed in the knowledge department," she explained with embarrassment.

Ron's face lit up immediately. "Are you serious? That's wicked! I'm not so great with the school work thing. Maybe you could help me sometime."

Paige smiled and nodded. Then finally the pair made there way into what would prove to be a very interesting potions class.