After a few days at Hogwarts, Drucy began to feel as if she was finding her place. Her new friend, the shy but pretty Roenna, turned out to have a sharper wit than she gave herself credit for. It was an entirely different way of conversing for Drucy, full of hidden riddles and puns, and she found it enjoyable if exhausting. Her classes proceeded about as well as she might have expected. Charms was still a disaster. She had not yet managed to perform a single one. She did well in Potions, checking her work and humbly accepting suggestions from Snape's portrait when there were few Slytherins in the common room. This isolation seemed to be a relatively common occurrence, and she asked her sister about it. Esme told her that the school as a whole was not as full as it had been in the past. Few babies had been born around the time of Voldemort's return and in the first few years afterwards. Slytherin House saw the brunt of the depletion, as fewer families wanted their children to be placed there, and Slytherin deaths were particularly high during the Battle at Hogwarts; the Death Eater toll was high, and most of the few who returned to fight for Hogwarts with Professor Slughorn had died. "The only thing Voldemort hated more than a Muggle-born," Esme explained, "was a Slytherin who refused to follow him." The end result was an almost creepy silence in the halls, on the stairs, and in the common rooms, all of which seemed to be designed to hold twice as many aspiring students. "Don't worry, Drucy," Esme told her, when she pointed it out. "You're the last of the 'quiet generation'. By the time you are in your third year, this place will be so crowded that you'll be begging for some peace."

Drucy had been at Hogwarts for a little over a week when she decided that she'd had enough peace. That morning, for the first time, she locked and cursed her own door. Her spell had been alarmingly easy to cast. Her wand definitely had a personality, and she could picture it snickering as she strode away. Anybody who tried to get through her lock would find himself unable to stop the tickling sensation for hours. Buoyed by her success, she decided to turn proactive at breakfast. Offering her sister a smile and Roenna a pat on the back to let both know that they weren't being forgotten, Drucy passed the Slytherin table, passed the Hufflepuff table, passed the Ravenclaw table… and tapped Daniel on the back. He turned, surprised, and his eyes lit up. "Hey, Drucy! Here, have a sit. Want some pancakes?"

Daniel had joined her at the Slytherin table, usually during lunch, once every couple of days, and Drucy thought it was high time she returned the favor. It definitely wasn't easy. Daniel's face was the only kind one. Others varied from startled surprise to outright hostility. She saw Matt Briar, the kid who had insulted her on the train, fork halfway to his mouth, staring in undisguised astonishment.

"I'd love some," she told Daniel, sitting beside him. "Thanks. How does your day look?"

Daniel put several pieces of bacon on her plate. "Not the best, but at least we have flying practice today."

Drucy shuddered a little. "The heights bother me. You're really good at it. You take to the broom like a natural."

"Of course the heights bother you," came Matt Briar's defiant voice from across the table. "You're a dungeon-dweller."

Drucy flushed slightly. The words themselves were not insulting. His tone unquestionably was. On the other hand, if he started trouble here, she had the feeling that the Gryffindor who taunted a Slytherin at the Gryffindor table would not be the first to get into trouble. She directed her answer, not to Matt, but to Daniel and the other nearby students who were watching her. "Well, I do have a second-floor bedroom at home, but I'm sure everyone knows that the Hat imbues you with a hatred of windows the moment it places you in Slytherin," she deadpanned. Daniel burst out laughing, which surprised Drucy. Her riposte had sounded much better in her head. The students near him smiled in mild puzzlement. Matt Briar looked furious.

"I think I'd better go back," she told Daniel. "If he's going to make trouble, I think I'd rather not be here when it hits."

"Take your plate," Daniel replied. "It's not like they have House markings on them. And Drucy…" He reached out and put his hand on hers for a moment, an honest smile on his face. "Thanks. I know it isn't easy to cross the room."

Drucy's smile returned, and she rested her other hand on top of Daniel's before picking up her plate. "No potions today. I'll see you at flying, then," she said, and strode back to her table. Esme had a funny look on her face, but she didn't say anything as Drucy sat back down. Roenna, on the other hand… "Something wrong with Slytherin pancakes?"

Drucy had learned to recognize the wry smile Roenna employed when her jabs were friendly. "You ought to try it. Look at all the bacon I got."

Esme snorted. "Brave, Drucy. A bit foolish, maybe, but brave. Your friend Daniel has the chutzpah to pull it off. You… well, Hogwarts is definitely changing you."

Drucy wasn't sure if she liked the sound of that. She glanced down at her plate, feeling more than a little awkward. Then another voice broke in, a little deeper, and decidedly warmer. "I think it's a splendid thing to do. You know we've been told to encourage some inter-House unity. You go ahead and visit your Gryffindor friend whenever you please."

Looking for the source of the voice, Drucy froze inside as she recognized 'Prefect Brian'. Since the first day she arrived, he had never failed to be courteous and friendly. Still, all she could think of when she saw him was her sister's increasing distance. And yet… her sister was definitely closer to her now than before, and Drucy found herself choosing to spend time with her new friends and mentor that could have been spent with Esme. Instead of fixing Brian with the icy stare she had previously reserved for him, she offered him a nod that was, if not friendly, at least neutral. He smiled and pretended to tip his hat to her. Suddenly (and rather unfairly) feeling affronted by his continued friendliness, Drucy turned away and pretended not to see.

Breakfast was the apex of her day.

Matt Briar definitely targeted her now. He tripped her up in the hallways and laughed as she fell. At flying practice, he tipped her off her broom when the teacher had her back turned. As Drucy rose stiffly and started brushing off her cloak, Roenna eased her broomstick closer and whispered, "Curse him, get him back!" Drucy was certainly tempted, but her wand responded by shooting several green sparks into the air, and she remembered how eagerly it had set the trap on her door that morning. He tested her patience, but she didn't want to hurt him. Not badly, anyways.

Daniel landed beside her as the lesson ended. "Hey," he said quietly. "Sorry about the jerk. He might be my House, but I don't have to like him for it. Can you come with me? There's someone I want you to meet."

Drucy's mother would have bought her the nicest broom in the best store if she had wanted it, but Drucy didn't particularly enjoy flying. She did not own a broom. She set the school broom down and followed Daniel across the field, across the grounds, to a tall, round hut surrounded by a couple of simple vegetable gardens. Inside, she could hear a man's rather boisterous humming. She thought she knew who this was. Her mother had not said very much about the Hogwarts groundskeeper, and her father knew even less. "Hey, I remember that you were nervous about him the first night," she said.

"I like to face my fears," Daniel told her, "and this one wasn't nearly as scary as I thought." He raised his voice. "Oi! Afternoon, Mr. Hagrid! I brought my friend with me today!"

The door opened, and the enormous half-giant waved them inside with a friendly smile. His smile faded a little as he recognized Drucy. "Yer friend is a Slytherin," Hagrid said bluntly.

Drucy had to admire the way Daniel took it. "Yes," he said plainly. "I used to be afraid of you. Don't tell me you're afraid of her."

"I haven't had the best of luck with Slytherins," Hagrid told Drucy. "Never did understand more'n half of 'em, and they don' like me either. Professor Slughorn seems a decent fellow, though. So what's your story?"

Drucy was caught between indignation and sympathy. "I was born into a world that doesn't like me, because of my parents," she told the big guy. "Everyone judges me on who they are and what my grandmother did. My parents didn't tell me much of anything about you, good or bad. So I'm just going to have to judge based on what I see."

Hagrid grunted. "Spoken like a Slytherin, but well-put for all that," he conceded. "Here, have a cookie."

Drucy had never been warned about Hagrid's baking. He had improved in fifteen years, however. The cookie was misshapen, enormous, and nearly goopy with chocolate, but it tasted good. Hagrid clearly did not care how much butter, sugar, and chocolate he used in his cookies. Being half-giant, perhaps he needed the extra calories, Drucy thought. Watching the two students happily eating their way through their cookies, Hagrid grunted in satisfaction and settled himself down on the end of his enormous bed. "So how was yer day, Danny?"

Drucy had very little to do. She listened to Daniel talk about his lessons and his House as she looked around the one-room cabin and all the curious things hanging from the ceiling. Finally, she spoke up. "I think we need to get back soon. They'll be serving supper, and I need to get my homework done."

"Geez, you're right, Drucy," Daniel agreed. "I didn't notice the time. Thanks for the cookie, Mr. Hagrid. I'll come by when I can."

Drucy repeated her own thanks for the cookie, and Hagrid smiled as he patted her on the shoulder as carefully as he possibly could. "Nice ter meet you, Drucy. Come by anytime. Yer nice for a Slytherin."

"You're nice for a half-giant," Drucy shot back before she could stop herself. Hagrid looked at her for a moment, then chuckled warmly.

"Sorry, sorry, yer right, I know it. Well, if more Slytherins wind up like you, I might be havin' to change me ways."

And maybe, Drucy thought, as she followed Daniel up to the castle for supper, I'm already changing mine.