Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. I only own the storyline and the characters I make up to go in here.

"Speaking"

Thinking

Chapter 2

All of the students sat around their perspective house tables awaiting the sorting of new students. The first years were lined up at the front of the hall and one by one were having the hat placed upon their head. It continued this way in alphabetical order. When it got to the N's Hermoine started to listen for Draco's name.

"Helena Nadiro…Slytherin! Maddie Nuzalen… Ravenclaw! Frank Maenas… Hufflepuff!"

Finally the awaited name came.

"Draco Malfoy…"

The room went quiet. Hermoine snuck looks at her housemates and friends. All wore a shocked and puzzled look on their faces.

Draco, on the other hand. Was having a battle of wills with the Sorting Hat.

Ah, Draco Malfoy. We meet again. The hat whispered in his mind. I thought that you just had to be a Slytherin through and through? Where has this attitude gone? Hmmm. I see the same tricky and sly part of you I saw 6 years ago, but I also see a newfound courage to face the future. This will not be an easy switch for you, but I believe in allowing the students to sort themselves to a certain degree. Are you sure you want to do this? The hat sent these thoughts to Draco while chuckling out loud.

Yes. I am sure about this. Draco thought back with a snarl in his tone.

Very well… "Gryffindor!" The hat shouted loudly to the silent crowed.

From the Slytherin table there were gasps, cries, and shouts of traitor! From the Gryffindor table there were groans, shouts of No, and even the sobs of some. Hermoine looked at Harry and Ron to see their reaction They were huddled together whispering. She could here small bits of phrases such as… "Couldn't be….must have tricked….make our lives miserable…how could this have happened….spy for the dark…." Hermoine couldn't handle it. All of this was just too much for her to take. She stood and moved over to the heads table and sat there so that she could think. The gasps of her peers didn't ring in her ears at all. Draco made his way over and sat beside her.

"You should be sitting with your new classmates and trying to make friends." Hermoine said while putting food on her plate.

"What do you think that I am doing, Granger." Draco said while snatching the grapes she had just put on her plate and eating them himself.

Hermoine glared at him and growled. "Try harder."

The two passed the rest of the feast in silence until Hermoine finally asked…"How did you fool the Sorting Hat?"

Draco put down his utensils and looked at her for a moment. " I thought every bad and wicked thought I could when I started up that platform. The hat laughed at me in my head but yelled out what I wanted it to."

"Oh. I didn't think that the hat would be tricked that easily." Hermoine said after a moment of silence.

"I think it saw through me from that very moment because my mind was also filled with the horrible visions of what my father would do to me if I didn't make Slytherin. I think it pitied me." Draco said with a small sad smile.

Hermoine returned the smile and finished eating.

After the feast, Draco and Hermoine made their way outside of the Hall. Dumbledor stood waiting for them.

"If you will follow me I will show you where your private suite is located." he said in his raspy voice.

Following the twisting and winding corridors, the trio finally made it to a picture of a pretty garden with fairies buzzing inside.

"Bronwyn!" The headmaster called out.

A small shining dot came close to show a young girl with huge butterfly wings.

Draco, Hermoine, this is Bronwyn. She guards your rooms." The tiny creature curtsied to them.

"Password" A squeaky voice chirped out.

Draco looked at Hermoine and motioned for her to give the word.

"How about…Sumimasen?" Hermoine said quietly.

Draco looked puzzled. "What does that mean?"

"Sumimasen is Japanese for 'sorry'. I started to learn some over the break but haven't gotten very far." Hermoine said with a little grin.

"Sumimasen it is." Draco agreed.

The two of them made their way into the common room. It was magical. The carpet was a thick and lush one the color of coffee. The furniture was all a light cream and stuffed with padding. A fire roared in the oversized fireplace giving the room a cabin like feel. On one side of the room were three doors. The two on the ends were marked with an elegant D and H. Dumbledor told them that there were many secrets in this suite that they would have to find out on their own. He promptly took his leave.

Hermoine and Draco made their way to their respective rooms. Draco entered his and looked at the plain décor and told the small art pallet picture on his door that he wanted the room to be black and gold. The carpet turned black and the walls turned silver. The bed became larger, due to Draco's specifications, and turned jet black with gold accent pillows on it. Most of the furniture turned black with gold accenting. On one wall he had a black dragon appear with black flames surrounding it. He thought the room looked marvelous.

Hermoine seemed to have the opposite idea. Her room was instructed to have pure white walls with a silver carpet that she could sink her toes into. The furniture was all white with silver cloth on it. A slash of crimson went down the comforter at an angle and added some depth to the shining room. Hermoine made one wall look like it was snowing and decided that it was good enough for now. She made her way to the second door that led to the bathroom.

Upon opening the door she met the eyes of Draco standing across the length of the room. They both walked in and looked around. Hermoine leaned over and took a look at his room while Draco did the same to see her room. Hermoine chuckled at the color while Draco shook his head at hers. The two exited the bathroom and went into their common room. At the same time they notices the small door in an unconscious corner. Draco reached it first and yanked it open to reveal a kitchen. A note lay on the dining table.

I hope that you don't feel

the need to use this but if

you do then just say what

you want and it will cook

itself up for you.

Headmaster Dumbledor

"Well we had best go to the Gryffindor common room to get the people there acquainted with seeing you." Hermoine said in a low, somber voice.

"I need to go to check on my sisters anyway." Draco said with a nod.

"SISTERS! What sisters!" Hermoine said while taking a surprised step back.

"They were sorted into this house today… right after me." Draco said with a questioning look. "Didn't you hear all the commotion?"

"No! I was too busy thinking of how to keep Harry and Ron from killing you." Hermoine said in a rush. "Oh Malfoy! We need to get over there right away if your sisters are in there!" Hermoine took off at a run… followed closely by Draco.

The two of them reached the portrait entrance to the Gryffindor common room as it swung open to reveal Harry and Ron coming out. Draco stopped in his tracks as did both of the other boys. Hermoine stopped and stepped in between them.

"Boys, no fighting. We are all in the same house. I don't want to have to take points away from my best friends." Hermoine said in a smooth and calming voice.

Both Harry and Draco nodded to this but clenched their jaw muscles and their fists. Ron, on the other hand, barreled forward.

"Hermoine, I know that he is in our house now, but I am not going to forget the last six years of torment just because a death eater spy has wormed his way into our domain!"

Draco stepped forward and rolled up his sleeves. "Take a good look Weasel. Do you see the mark anywhere on my flesh? No? Then perhaps you should keep your ignorant, lowborn, mouth to yourself!"

Ron got kind of red in the face and pulled back for a punch when two girls about a year younger than the other four came running out of the room. Ron stopped his punch and looked on curiously with Harry and Hermoine. Hermoine assumed that these were his sisters. One of them had short black hair that wisped around her ears and face, giving her an elfish look. She also had big, gray eyes that were framed by thick lashes. The other had long, curly black hair that had blue streaks in it. This offset her bright blue eyes that took over most of her face. They were both tall and well rounded and had faces that were similar to their older brothers.

"Draco! Can you believe it! We actually got into the same house!" The gray eyed one said with cheer.

Draco hugged both girls and turned them around.

"Hermoine, Potter, Weasel. These are my sisters, Persephone" He motioned to the one with the short hair. " and Iona." He motioned to the one with curly hair.

Persephone stepped forward and shook all of their hands. "Please call me Perry. My full name is so old sounding." She smiled a bit more at Harry, or so Hermoine seemed to notice.

Iona stepped forward and curtsied. "Please call me Io." She said in a meek voice before stepping back to her brothers side.

Hermoine smiled at both of the pleasant girls. "I would like for you to come by the Heads dorm tomorrow so that I can get to know you both! I'm sure that Ron or Harry would be glad to show you the way."

Perry gave her a huge smile and nodded. Io gave her a little head bob and went back into the Gryffindor common room.

After a while both Harry and Ron went back inside with Perry and Hermoine and Draco started back to their rooms.

"Listen, Granger. I don't want either of my sisters hanging around with those two dunderheads that you call friends." Draco said with a growling voice as they entered their common room.

"Harry and Ron would never hurt them!" Hermoine said in a believing tone.

Draco grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her into a corner, roughly.

"Oof!" All of the air escaped Hermoine's chest.

"The two of them don't like me and I don't like them. I refuse for my sisters to get caught in the middle. They are the most important things to me and I won't see them hurt in any way!" Draco said while not an inch from Hermoine's face.

Hermoine licked her suddenly dry lips. His body was pressed tight against hers and she couldn't think. For one fleeting moment in Hermoine Granger's life, she was impulsive. Hermoine moved that scant inch and licked Draco's full bottom lip softly.

Draco pulled back with wide eyes. He had been trying to intimidate her into his way of thinking when that soft touch shocked him. He met her eyes and they stared at each other for a long time. He noticed a blush work its way up onto Hermoine's cheeks.

"Um well, I had best go and get some sleep. Classes start tomorrow and all." Hermoine slipped from under Draco and took off into her room. Draco on the other hand was leaning against the wall with wide eyes fixed after the fleeing Hermoine.

"Wow…" He whispered in the silence.