Chapter 3: New Friends

I just stood there, looking at the other Gryffindors. Then the red haired girl stepped forward and smiled.

She held out her hand. "Hi, my name is Lilly Evans. Welcome to Hogwarts and to the Gryffindor House."

I shook her hand and looked at the boys. A couple of them I recognized, they were only younger versions of their older selves. Lilly nudged them towards me and they introduced themselves.

"I'm James Potter, welcome to Hogwarts," one of the black haired boys said. When I shook his hand, I noticed he had warm cinnamon brown colored eyes.

The other black haired boy came up and shook my hand. "I'm Sirius Black." He winked at me and I frowned slightly, but then smiled. And then I saw him.

The tall sandy brown haired boy came forward and smiled a gentle smile. He held out his hand and said, "Hi, I'm Remus Lupin."

"Pleasure to meet you all. I'm Hermione Dumbledore," I said and watched their expressions.

Their face expressions went from surprise to shock and then excitement. Lilly then cleared her throat and sat down. The boys went and sat down again. "So you're related to the Headmaster."

"Yes, I'm his daughter. And also Professor McGonagall's daughter also," I told her. "I went to live in France with an Aunt and Uncle on my mother's side of the family and went to Beauxbatons."

"So why did you come to Hogwarts," James asked, curious.

I bent my head down. "Because I wanted to be with my parents and graduate here at Hogwarts," I said. "My aunt and uncle were moving and I didn't feel like switching to a new school somewhere else so I contacted my parents and they let me come to Hogwarts. I've been here for about a couple of weeks staying with a friend of my parents, but just last week, something happened and I had to come here immediately."

Remus looked at me and seemed to be studying me. "Why did you go to live with your aunt and uncle in the first place?"

I looked at him. "Because someone threatened to kill me when I was a little girl."

He looked down at his hands. "I'm sorry Hermione."

"It's alright. I prefer if other people didn't find that out though."

I felt horrible for lying to new people but it was better than them finding out the truth and risking the future. I noticed that Remus was sniffing slightly, a look of confusion on his face. I pretended to look through a borrowed book and soon Lily was pulling me out of the Common Room. We went downstairs for breakfast and I knew that I had gained new friends that would be there for me, no matter what happened. We laughed and ate while exchanging stories about Hogwarts and our summers, as if we had been friends for a long time. I noticed two people from the Slytherin House staring at us as everyone noticed my arrival but went back to their plates.

Leaning over to Sirius I quietly asked, "Who are those two from the Slytherin House that keep staring at us?" One had semi longish blonde hair and the other was of a smaller stature and had black hair that seemed to be extremely shiny. Sirius sneered at them and says, "They would be Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape. I'd stay away from them Hermione. They are bad news." I gave him a nod and went back to my breakfast as James again made a fool of himself asking Lily out again only to get shot down. I rolled my eyes as James sauntered over, a silly grin on his face as Remus started berating him slightly.

Soon, we were making our way to Mom's classroom for Transfiguration only for me to be stopped by none other than Lucius Malfoy who seemed to tower over me a bit that I had to crane my neck slightly to look into his stormy gray eyes. In a deep husky voice he asked, "May I help you make your way to your class Miss? I'm sorry I don't know your name."

I held out my hand for him to shake and politely says, "Hermione Dumbledore. It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Malfoy."

He shook my hand friendly enough and says, "Dumbledore? I didn't know that the Dumbledore line extended past the Headmaster. But I must say it is a pleasure meeting you Miss Dumbledore. Perhaps sometime we could study together?" He gave me a smile and suddenly I was bumped into from behind as James seemed to yank me away from Lucius.

"She doesn't need your help Malfoy. We can escort her to class and help her study," James butted in before I could respond. I elbowed him hard in the ribs and stomped on his foot in protest and as he let out a yelp and let go of me I retorted, "I don't need a bodyguard Potter. But Lucius yes I would love to get together at some point and study if that is alright with you. Just send me a note or owl when the time comes."

Lucius nodded as we headed to Transfiguration. I hadn't realized that the class was a mix of Gryffindors and Slytherins and still being mad at James, ignored the seat he was reserving, I made my way over to a empty desk and sat down with Remus scooting in next to me and getting his supplies out. "I commend you for standing up to yourself against James. Sometimes him and Sirius can be... a bit much."

I snorted in laughter and says "I understand where they are coming from but at the same time I would like to be friends with people in other houses as well. I learned that everyone should be treated equally and given a chance to prove themselves before forming a judgement of whose to say that maybe not all the Slytherins are bad. I heard that a few of them have been disowned by their families for choosing different paths from tradition."

Remus let out a smile and before he could answer, Mom walked in gracefully as the lesson started and stood in front of everyone, beginning her lecture for the day. Realizing I did not have the required materials yet, Remus kindly slid his book between us so we could both use it and I smiled, grateful to have made a friend I knew I could count on and possibly a couple more, but also I knew I had stepped into the crossfires of a rivalry that could turn horribly if not treaded carefully.