A/N: I hope it hasn't been too bad! Well, if you're reading this far, I suppose it can't be terrible. Lol. Anyway, I tried to sort of make up a Sorting Hat song, but I wasn't all that good at it, and so it's kinda bad. If you'd be willing to help me fix it, plz say so in a review! (I got better towards the end! I think… :P) Haha. It's based off the song in the fourth book, so the parts with 's around them are taken from there. I don't own it. Happy now? ;) And oh, the names were made up, so they're kinda weird—that's me for you, weird!
Chapter 2: First Night
Finally arriving in the Great Hall, Hermione surveyed her old home. She was so excited, and yet so scared of being in the top year. She was, of course, Head Girl, and was looking forward to having her own room. She wondered who the Head Boy was. Just as she was beginning to look around the Hall to find someone who fit the job, the huge doors opened.
A group of timid-looking first years crept into the Hall, flanked by Hagrid, and, as usual, Professor McGonagall. She led them up to the front of the Hall, where they all spread out. Just like the six previous years, Hermione could hear Harry and Ron moaning, "Come on, hurry up! I'm hungry!" But for once in her life, she didn't ignore them. Instead, she turned around, and whispered, "Hello. I'm Hermione." She knew it was cheesy, but she was in a little bit of a rebellious mood, ready to break any rule. Before either could even look at her, she turned back around as if she hadn't said anything at all.
The Sorting Hat began to sing its song, as always. Smirking still, Hermione sat back as she listened to it:
Four wizards lived so long ago,
A thousand years or more,
Whose names still live in tall-tales' lore,
And whose account always in store;
Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,
Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,
Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad,
Shrewd Slytherin, from fen.
Different, though they certainly were,
They shared one common dream,
They formed a stalwart plan to use,
That wouldn't crumble at any seam.
Hogwarts School began at once,
To teach the young of their universe
Everything that they must know,
From spells to how to converse.
Each of these four people
Formed a group within the school
For each loved certain values
And what they thought was "cool."
Huge laughter broke out at this line.
The bravest and least cowardly
By Gryffindor were prized,
The smartest and most clever
Were Ravenclaw's worthiest buys,
The hard workers and the kind,
Hufflepuff loved the best,
The ambitious and the powerful,
Slytherin placed higher than the rest.
Preceding their fateful deaths,
Each picked and took the best,
But how could they choose,
When they no longer had their lives to lose?
Proud Gryffindor found the answer,
And whipped me off his head,
The founders put some brains in me
So I could choose instead!
Now drop me over your ears, real tight,
And trust me while you will,
I'll sort you to your proper place,
Then all can eat his fill!
Everyone applauded the Hat's new song, and Professor McGonagall began calling off names.
"Akers, Abbey!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Aston, John!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Bryant, Diana!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Hermione applauded with everyone else at the table.
"Douffer, Haylen!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
More applause from the Gryffindor table.
"Fickler, Ryan!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
The list went on and on. Even though the Sorting was placed in high esteem, Hermione couldn't really figure out this year why it had been so. Big deal, she thought, A list of names is called and four others are called fairly randomly. Woohoo. In truth, Hermione had never even thought of the Sorting this way, and usually enjoyed it. But this year she found it rather boring, and let her thoughts wander. That is, until she felt someone staring at her.
She turned in her seat to try to find whoever it was that was looking at her. She couldn't see anyone in this huge mass! At that moment her eyes landed on Draco Malfoy. He was staring at her with… what? Dislike? Hatred? Interest? With a twisted smile, she waved, not waving her wrist back and forth, but rolling her fingers forward, quickly, but one at a time. Then, rolling her eyes, she turned around again. Freaky bastard, she thought.
But she could still feel his eyes on her. She tried to resist turning around again, and began wondering for the second time who was going to be Head Boy. Please don't let it be Malfoy. Ferret. Although, sigh, he gets good enough grades and a few (she let the next word roll off her mind's tongue sarcastically)select teachers like him… sort of. She though Ernie MacMillan might be a good choice. He wasn't anyone special, but did well enough in his classes, and made a good Prefect, from what she heard. Anothony Goldstein wouldn't be bad either, but she couldn't continue her thoughts because she didn't know too much about him… She then realized that she had no idea who it was, as she had just gone through the other three prefects. She knew Ron wasn't it; he would have told her.
Whatever. Like I care anymore. She snorted in her mind; all of a sudden someone poked her.
"Hermione, where are you tonight? You haven't gone anorexic on us, have you? The feast's just appeared! Hello? Anyone home? I said, the feast's just arrived! Look… three kinds of chicken; black pudding, honey ham, turkey, fresh salad! Mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes! Baked potatoes! Fried potatoes! Sautéed pota—! Hey—what's up with the potato thing?" Both Ron's and Harry's voices washed over her, as the former of the pair waved foods right in front of her nose.
She swatted Ron's arm, the one that was currently holding a giant bowl of mashed potatoes. She was getting really annoyed at her two 'immature' friends. He almost dropped the bowl, both because she had hit him, and because she then said, "Ron and Harry! You stupid idiots. What are you doing? I don't need for you to smash anything in my face to get me to eat." She helped herself to a giant plate of food; she was suddenly very hungry. Seeing this, Harry raised an eyebrow, and commented, "Well, then. You're not anorexic. How about bulimic?"
Hermione fixed him with her now oh-so-deathly death-glare. He stopped, looking very mock-frightened, but a bit actually frightened too. He raised his hands to face-level, pushing them forward, as if he were backing away from a wild bear. "Okay, then. You don't have an eating disorder. Happy? I'll just… go back to my dinner, then." Shaking his head slightly at this new Hermione, he slowly picked up his fork while still looking at her shoveling food down, and began to eat the feast he had helped to describe in such detail earlier.
"Gryffindors, follow me, please!" Hermione called out, after dinner was over and Dumbledore had finished all of his announcements. She raised her arms and motioned for all the new Gryffindors to follow her. She led them up the multiple staircases to the picture of the Fat Lady.
"Gryffindors, that was the fastest way to the common room. There are other ways, but we all need to get to bed; we don't have time to explore them now. However, keep in mind that the staircases do like to change occasionally, so something that's a path one day may not be a path the next." The new first years looked bewildered at all of this. Where was the common room? They didn't see anything. And the staircases changed? How?
If the first years were confused then, they became even more befuddled when Hermione turned towards the pink-dressed lady, and apparently randomly said, "Bonan Grazi."
They were startled to see the painting swing forward, revealing a hole in the way. Hermione walked forward, and again motioned for them to all follow her. Everyone followed, and their mouths fell to the floor as they laid their eyes on the magnificent Gryffindor common room.
"All of your belongings have already been brought up. Girls' dormitories are up the stairs to your right, boys' on the left. Good night everyone!"
Hermione stood there as she watched all the little ten and eleven-year-olds drag themselves sleepily up to bed. She began plodding along to her room then; she had to go up the same staircase, and then up another one to a picture of a slightly thinner girl in a pink dress, who was presumably the Fat Lady's daughter.
When she was about halfway up the first staircase, she heard her name being called. "Hermione!" She didn't turn around, but stopped. She heard someone, or someones, running up behind her. "Hermione, could we talk? You've changed a l—" At hearing these words out of Ron's mouth, whose voice she had finally recognized, she put up a hand and started back up the stairs. She was getting a little mad at them, starting to turn from the perfect Head Girl to the person she was at home.
Ron and presumably Harry ran up the stairs after her. Harry's voice now wrapped around Hermione. "Hermione, what's wrong? We need to know; we're you're friends!"
The young woman finally turned around. "There's nothing to know. I have no idea what you're talking about."
The two teenagers both began babbling at once. "Hermione! We do need to know!" "Hermione, we're your friends!" "Hermione, tell us!" "Hermione, what do you mean?" "Hermione, we want to help you! That is, if there's anything wrong…" "Hermiiiiione!"
She clapped a hand over each of the boys' mouth. She smiled a sort of maniacal grin, something almost evil glinting in her eyes. She bent down, took her hand off Harry's mouth, then kissed him sweetly while Ron looked on, bug-eyed. She pulled his lower lip as she broke away, then replaced her hand where it had been before. She leaned down to Ron, then, and kissed him even slightly deeper, wrapping her free arm around his neck. She pulled away from him in the same manner as she had Harry, and replaced her hand again. "There's nothing you need to know," she whispered. "Just remember that." Finally releasing them, she turned and continued to walk up the stairs, leaving the two dumb-struck boys behind.