When the owl from Hogwarts arrived, signalling the end of the summer, Hermione didn't know whether to be pleased or regretful that it was time to head back to Hogwarts. Luckily the letter confirmed she'd been transferred into Slytherin with immediate effect, but she knew things weren't going to be plain sailing. She may now be a Slytherin, but she'd been a Gryffindor for four years, and chances were a good portion of the school would hate her, or at the very least would be wary of her. At least on the bright side she would be returning to Hogwarts with friends.
For the first time in her life, Hermione felt as though she had real friends. Growing up in the muggle world she'd always been the odd one out, and before Hogwarts she'd never really had any friends as no-one had wanted to befriend the odd girl who always had her nose in a book. Even though she'd then made friends with Harry and Ron upon starting school, they'd never been her genuine friends. Firstly they didn't know who she truly was, because if they had known they wouldn't have even spoken to her, and secondly, Hermione herself had kept an emotional distance from the pair. She'd always known their friendship would end in disaster and it was easier for her to handle if she didn't care for them.
Although, Hermione really wasn't sure if Harry and Ron had ever really genuinely cared for her. When they'd first started school they hadn't wanted to know her, Ron especially didn't like her and had in fact insulted her on more than one occasion. However, for some reason they'd came to her aid when she was alone with the troll, not that she really needed their help as she'd been more than capable of outwitting a troll, and after that they'd just included her in things whether she wanted them to or not. Hermione couldn't help but feel they'd drifted into friendship, and that Harry and Ron hadn't actually taken the time to get to her know the real her. They were more than happy to take advantage of her brains to help them with both their school work and whatever mad adventures they'd been participating in that year.
However, things felt different with the Slytherins. She was aware they'd made friends with her because she was The Dark Lord's daughter, but she also felt that they'd taken the time to get to know her and build a genuine friendship. For the first time ever she had a female friend in the form of Daphne. Hermione had gotten along with the other girl far better than she'd ever gotten along with another female, and the two had spent quite a bit of time together over the summer. The other person, Hermione had felt a strong connection with was Draco. He'd actually been the one she'd spent the most time with, and surprisingly their friendship wasn't too different to how things had been the last few years. They still bickered and argued with each other as they debated almost everything, only there was no nasty name calling, just friendly banter as they each tried to get the upper hand.
Of course, Hermione had made friends with the other Slytherins as well and she'd seen them all over the holidays. Blaise and Theo had spent a lot of time with her and Draco and Hermione thought the pair were great. She even found that Vince and Greg weren't quite as thick as she'd always thought, and once you got to know them they were a lot of fun. Millicent was also really nice, although Hermione didn't have as much in common with her as she did with Daphne. The only person she'd never really bonded with was Pansy. Hermione had only seen Pansy a few times over the summer and every time she did the other girl made it clear she resented her joining the group.
However, Pansy aside, Hermione had enjoyed a great summer as she'd finally been able to embrace her true identity. As well as making new friends, she'd spent plenty of time with her father. She'd also witnessed just how happy her mother was to have Voldemort back. Her mother had always been a pretty happy person, but she was practically glowing now she was reunited with her husband. Hermione was just trying not to dwell on the fact her parents seemed to be making up for lost time in the bedroom. At the rate they were going she would have a sibling before she finished Hogwarts, although that could actually be quite nice.
With her Hogwarts letter in hand, Hermione headed off to find her mother. They would have to go to Diagon Alley, and she was hoping they could arrange to go on the same day as some of her friends. She hadn't made a public appearance since her true identity had been revealed and she was nervous about people's reactions. As luck would have it, Hermione was in the middle of talking to her mother when Draco's majestic eagle owl soared into the front room with a letter asking if she was up for heading to Diagon Alley the following day. Leah readily agreed to the idea, and Hermione wrote back immediately and the pair made plans to meet up and do their back to school shopping along with a few of their other friends.
The following day, Hermione and Leah arrived in Diagon Alley and headed to The Leaky Cauldron where they were due to meet Draco and the others. When they arrived Draco and Narcissa were already there along with Blaise. Within a few minutes Daphne and Theo also arrived with their mothers. Since the teenagers were all growing up, the parents agreed to let them go and get their stuff for themselves, while they enjoyed a couple of hour's relaxation.
"So are you in Slytherin?" Theo asked Hermione as the group made their way out of the pub and into the street.
"Of course," Hermione replied with a smile. "So, I'll need all new robes."
"I need some new robes as well," Daphne said, linking arms with Hermione. "Mine are all getting too small."
"Let's go and get robes first," Draco suggested. "We might as well get the boring part of the trip over with first."
As they headed to Madam Malkins, Daphne checked if Hermione needed any other part of her uniform. As it turned out, Hermione didn't need anything else as her mother had brought her fresh uniforms a few weeks earlier. Leah had obviously been a hell of a lot more confident that Hermione would indeed be switched to Slytherin as her new uniform was all Slytherin colours, not to mention it fitted her much better than her old Gryffindor uniform.
When they arrived in the robe shop, Madam Malkin raised a curious eyebrow when Hermione entered with the Slytherins, but she plastered a polite smile on her face and set about measuring those that needed measuring for new robes.
"So we have three sets of male Slytherin robes, one set of female Slytherin robes and one set of female Gryffindor robes," Madam Malkin said, checking her order forms.
"Two sets of female Slytherin robes," Hermione corrected. "I'm a Slytherin now."
Madam Malkin's eyes widened in shock as she realised who she was dealing with. The papers had been full of the fact Voldemort had returned and that he had a daughter at Hogwarts, although her name had been mysteriously absent from all the reports. The only thing known about the young witch was that she'd been attending Hogwarts as a muggleborn, therefore she hadn't been in Slytherin for her first few years at school. However, Madam Malkin had not expected the girl in question to be the polite Gryffindor, Hermione Granger.
With robes sorted the group headed back out into Diagon Alley as they continued their shopping. As they headed from shop to shop, Hermione was aware of the looks she was receiving, especially considering they saw a few people from school. However, no-one said anything to her, although that was probably down to the fact Draco was glaring at anyone who even looked as though they were going to approach Hermione. Doing her best to ignore the stares, Hermione focused on enjoying her time with her new friends.
"Just books now," Draco announced as they ticked the last few bits and pieces from their shopping lists.
"I love buying new books," Hermione said with a grin.
"Me too," Draco replied, smiling along with Hermione.
"These two are going to be impossible, aren't they," Blaise groaned as the group headed into the bookshop. "Trust us to find someone who loves books as much as Draco."
"There's nothing wrong with being well read," Draco told his friend.
"But it's not natural how fast you read," Theo protested. "I don't mind a good book, but I can make it last an entire term."
"It takes you an entire term to read a book?" Hermione gasped, turning to face Theo. "Please say you read really long books."
"No, he doesn't," Draco answered. "He just reads really slowly."
"I do not read really slowly," Theo said with a pout. "I just don't whizz through a million and one books a term."
"How many books do you read a term?" Hermione asked Draco as they began to locate the textbooks they would need for the coming year.
"It depends on the books, but I can usually average one a week," Draco replied. "Although, I'm not so sure how much time we'll have for reading this year. We've got O.W.L.S, and studying will have to take priority."
Hermione couldn't help but smile at Draco's words. Not only did he read about the same speed as her, but his view on education was very similar to hers. She'd never given much thought to how much Draco studied, but she was pleased to learn he took his schoolwork seriously. It would be nice to be friends with someone who understood why she worked so hard, and didn't think she was boring because she chose to study instead of lounging around doing nothing productive.
After grabbing their books the group left the bookshop, and since they still had some time before they had to meet back up with their parents they decided to head off for an ice-cream. As they reached the ice-cream parlour, Hermione was almost knocked off her feet when someone flew out of the shop and collided with her. Regaining her balance, Hermione apologised to whoever had ran into her, just as he was apologising to her.
"Hermione," Neville Longbottom gasped, taking a nervous step backwards once he realised who he'd ran into.
"You should be more careful where you're going, Longbottom," Theo snapped.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," Neville said quickly.
"It's okay Neville, it was an accident," Hermione said, giving her former housemate a smile. She actually liked Neville, and had nothing against the slightly shy, bumbling boy.
"You're not mad?" Neville asked.
"No, it was an accident," Hermione replied. "I'm not a monster, Neville. I'm the same girl I've always been."
Neville smiled for the first time since they'd started talking, but before he had a chance to say anything his grandmother appeared from a nearby shop. Marching over to Neville, she dragged him off by the arm, all the time loudly scolding him for consorting with Death Eater scum.
"Damn, Longbottom's gran is fierce," Theo mumbled as they headed into the ice-cream parlour.
"Yeah, she's pretty harsh on him," Hermione said.
Neville never spoke badly about his grandmother, but she got the impression the old woman was always putting him down and making him feel as though he wasn't good enough. Hermione suspected that without his gran nagging at him, Neville could have been a pretty formidable wizard. Instead he had no confidence, and let everyone walk all over him.
"Never mind about Longbottom and his gran," Draco said when they sat down with their ice-creams. "We need to think about the end of the summer. My parents are hosting their annual end of summer picnic, and I trust you'll all be there."
"Of course we will," Blaise replied. "We wouldn't miss it."
"What is this picnic?" Hermione asked.
"Basically my mother puts on a massive spread and invites all our friends round," Draco explained. "It's just a way of having one last fun day before we go back to school. I know for a fact she's planning on inviting you and your parents."
"In that case, I'll be looking forward to it," Hermione said with a grin. One last get together before heading back to school sounded like the perfect way to round off the summer.