Harry and Ron were already at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall by the time Hermione and Kellen had joined them.

"Hey there, you two," Ron said in between mouthfuls of shepherd's pie.

"Hiya Harry, hiya Ron," replied Hermione. "How are you?"

"Good, a bit tired though," answered Harry. "What's new with you?"

"Been a long day," sighed Kellen. "I never thought Potions would end. I still can't believe Snape humiliated me like that." The last few words sounded quite shaky, a far cry from his usually confident-sounding voice.

"That was bloody awful, mate," Ron said. "He went too far there."

"I mean, how dare he insinuate that Hermione and I are an item? Fer corn sake, I'm not even twelve yet. I'm nowhere near ready to have a girlfriend," Kellen grumbled.

"And I'm nowhere near ready to have a boyfriend," agreed Hermione. "But you would be an awesome boyfriend to have when I am ready," she whispered to Kellen. Kellen gave her a quick side-hug in appreciation.

"Hopefully that's a good while from now," Kellen chuckled softly.

A few minutes later, the friends finished up their meals and started to make their way back to the common room. They unfortunately passed by the Slytherin table, where Draco and his goons mocked Hermione and Kellen.

"Granger and Grimseth, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g," Draco chanted, with his cronies Crabbe and Goyle yukking it up.

"Grow up, Malfoy," Hermione snapped. "You wouldn't want Kellen to put you in your place again, would you?"

"Oh, I've already told my father about Grimseth," Draco replied coolly. "He's coming to the school later this week to personally ensure that nobody touches me, either physically or with magic. Especially not by some mudblood outlander like Grimbreath."

"Your idle threats don't intimidate me, Malfoy," Kellen retorted. "If your father is anything like you – which I strongly suspect he is – he's a craven, conniving git too."

"How dare you insult my father like that," Draco spat. "He has more money and influence than all of Gryffindor. He's on the school's Board of Governors – he has the authority to have Dumbledore removed… mmm, mmm, mrrmrm mrrmrm!"

Kellen merely waved his hand in the air, and Draco's lips suddenly sealed shut. "I think I've heard enough out of you today, Malfoy. Have a good evening." Crabbe and Goyle looked at each other, dumbstruck.

Kellen smirked at Draco and his entourage. "Don't worry, it'll wear off in a bit."

A pretty blonde Slytherin girl stood from her seat and hurried over to catch up with Kellen and Hermione as they left the Great Hall. Kellen didn't know what the girl was about to do, but she flung her arms around Kellen in a gesture of gratitude.

"Thank you, Grimseth," the girl said softly. "Nobody else in Slytherin has the stones to put Malfoy in his place." She took a step back and spoke in a more normal voice. "I promise, not all of us in Slytherin are prats like Malfoy and his goons. There really are some honorable witches and wizards in our house – after all, Merlin was once a Slytherin."

"And Merlin also defended the rights of Muggle-borns," Kellen replied. "Like Hermione and myself."

"I still can't get over the fact you're Muggle-born," the girl responded, clearly astonished. "You're an immensely gifted wizard – you've got to have a phenomenal intellect to use wandless magic like that as a firstie."

Hermione smiled. "I'm not even sure Kellen realizes the extent of his gifts…" She turned to Kellen, whose cheeks were reddening by the second. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"That's all right," Kellen replied softly. "I suppose it's something I need to get used to."

The blonde girl giggled and extended her hand to the Gryffindor friends. "Oh, I forgot my manners. I'm Daphne Greengrass. I don't think we've met."

"Hello, Daphne," Hermione giggled as she took Daphne's hand and shook it gently. "I'm Hermione Granger. And I'm sure Kellen here needs no introduction."

"You're a bright one yourself aren't you Granger… err, Hermione?" Daphne replied. "I've seen you in the classroom and in the Great Hall, and your nose is often in a book, isn't it?"

"Guilty as charged," giggled Hermione. "If I'm not reading a textbook for class, you'd better believe I'm reading an interesting novel. I prefer mysteries and adventure books, but Kellen was kind enough to lend me Foundation by Isaac Asimov. It's science fiction, and positively fascinating!"

"I'm not rightly sure what that is," Daphne sighed. "I promise I'm not trying to come off as sanctimonious, but I come from a pureblood family and I don't really know much about science fiction or any of this other Muggle business." She smiled sweetly. "But just because I come from a pureblood family, doesn't mean that we all share Malfoy's views on who should and shouldn't practice magic. You two are very talented and I'm a little envious."

"Thank you, Daphne," said Kellen. He smiled at his new friend. "You're rather brave to reach out to us like this… I mean, we really appreciate it, but you're not exactly ingratiating yourself to your fellow Slytherins."

Daphne giggled. "I was very, very nearly sorted into Gryffindor, if you can believe it. I almost let that bloody hat have its way, but I figured I didn't want my parents have to explain my sorting to the other purebloods so I ended up wanting Slytherin a little more."

"I can see that," Hermione responded. "Both Kellen and myself were strongly considered for Ravenclaw."

"Oh, you two have Ravenclaw written all over you," Daphne said, her giggling intensifying. "You two have more brains than all of Slytherin and the rest of Gryffindor, combined."

"We're both clever, but I find that we're a bit differently gifted," Hermione said. "I have a fair bit more common sense than Kellen does, but he can figure things out instantaneously that would take even myself some time to think through."

"I didn't ask for these gifts," Kellen lamented. "I often wish I was just a normal kid… all I ever did was scare other kids away."

"I wouldn't have you any other way, Kellen," Hermione said. "You're far more than just a brain – you're one of the kindest boys I've ever met, and you really are brave like a Gryffindor should be."

"You're far better company than Malfoy, that's for sure, Kellen," Daphne added. "You're incredibly smart and brave, but you don't come across as smug. In fact, you seem to be quite modest, which is quite refreshing. Fair or not, Gryffindor has a bit of a reputation for having rather brash witches and wizards."

"Which is proof why we shouldn't judge a book by its cover," Kellen said. "Thank you for reaching out to us, Daphne. You're welcome to hang out with us at the Gryffindor table anytime you'd like."

"And I know you're probably not comfortable with the idea, but you're both welcome to hang out with me at the Slytherin table," Daphne replied. "I don't really have a lot of in-house friends, other than Tracey and to an extent, Pansy, but she's a bit too close to Draco for my taste. She's going to regret her friendship with him one day, I think."

"You seem like a really nice girl, Daphne," Kellen said. "I'm sorry you're not more appreciated in your own house, but if it's any consolation, I think you've just picked up two new friends tonight."

Daphne smiled sweetly at Kellen. "You two are definitely the sort I'd prefer to hang out with. I think I'll take you up on your offer sometime. I think I'll head over to your table sometime tomorrow."

"That would be great," Hermione said. "I think having inter-house friendships is a good thing… I understand having house pride, but that shouldn't prevent us from getting to know students from other houses. Particularly Slytherin. You're right, there are honest witches and wizards that are in Slytherin and I'm sure they're sick of the stereotypes."

"I couldn't agree more," Daphne replied. Her eyes suddenly filled with tears. "I truly appreciate you two giving me a chance like that. You have no idea how much that means to me. Not everyone from Gryffindor would give me the time of day like you two did. Thank you." She gave both Hermione and Kellen a gentle hug.

"You're welcome," Kellen chuckled. "I look forward to seeing you at our table tomorrow. Remind me to teach you the Dangling Jinx and the Full Body-Bind Curse to you sometime, in case Malfoy and his goons give you trouble."

"You'd do that for me?" Daphne asked, completely stunned.

"You know it's going to be a matter of time before he knows you're my friend, Daphne. You need to be able to defend yourself when I'm not there," Kellen explained. He turned to Hermione. "I know we're housemates and we won't be separated as easily, but I'll teach them to you as well."

"Wow, I don't know what to say," Daphne said. "Thank you, Kellen. I'm starting to regret not choosing Gryffindor, at least a little bit. I think my parents would have gotten over the initial shock."

"I'm sure you'd make an outstanding Gryffindor," Kellen said. "But you can still do some good as a Slytherin, too. I have no doubt you will."

Daphne smiled at Kellen. "You're a sweetheart, Kellen Grimseth. Would you like to meet up during our next shared free period tomorrow and we can practice together?"

Kellen grinned. "Sounds like a plan to me. Well, it was nice meeting you, Daphne. I'm about to head up to our common room for a round of Wizard's Chess. I'll see you tomorrow, okay? If Malfoy gives you any trouble, let me know. I'll tell Professor McGonagall on your behalf if you'd like, because I don't think Professor Snape would lift a finger against his favorite pupil."

"Unfortunately, I think you're right about that. Also, Gemma is one of our prefects. She seems pretty reasonable - I feel like I can trust her. She seems to have no love for Malfoy either," Daphne responded. "Have a good evening, Hermione and Kellen."

"See you tomorrow," replied Hermione.

"Have a good evening, and do be careful," pleaded Kellen.

When Hermione and Kellen returned to the Gryffindor common room, Ron and Harry were already sitting there. Ron had a particularly puzzled expression on his face.

"What did Daphne Greengrass want?" he asked.

"She's cool, Ron," answered Kellen. "She hates Malfoy just as much as we do. She's a really nice girl, actually."

"She very nearly got sorted into Gryffindor, if you can believe it," Hermione added. "She wanted Slytherin more because she didn't want to upset her parents."

"I'm going to teach her some basic defense spells tomorrow because it's a matter of when, and not if, Malfoy finds out that she's my friend, and he's going to ride her mercilessly, I'm afraid," Kellen said. "It's the least I can do to help her."

"She was a little shocked that we actually just stood there and listened to her," Hermione said. "She says that not everyone in Gryffindor would give her the time of day like we did. I know she didn't mean anything by it, but it's still a little hurtful knowing that not everyone in our house would want to be her friend just because she got sorted into Slytherin… she really is a sweet girl."

"Ready for me to get my Wizard's Chess set out, Hermione?" Kellen asked.

"Not really," Hermione said. "You're probably going to annihilate me." She sighed. "Let's just get this over with."

A few minutes later, Kellen returned to the common room with his Wizard's Chess set. The game was just as Hermione feared, a complete blowout in Kellen's favor – it was over in maybe ten minutes.

"Good game, Kellen," Hermione sighed. "I'm just not that gifted at chess, I guess."

Kellen smiled at Hermione. "I can give you some pointers if you'd like to improve your game, if you'd like. You seem to have the basics down."

Hermione smiled at Kellen. "Maybe another time. I think I'd like to get started on that letter, actually."

Kellen nodded. "Sounds good to me. Thanks for being a good sport, by the way."

"Hey Kellen, I'll play ya," Ron offered. "I need a challenge. Harry's still working on the basics."

"Great," replied Kellen. "I'll be happy to oblige."

Meanwhile, Hermione pulled out a quill and some parchment and began writing her letter home.

"Dear Mum and Daddy,

I've just finished my first day at Hogwarts! It's very different than my old school, that's for sure. The school is a gigantic castle in the Scottish Highlands, and the subjects they teach aren't anything like they taught at my old primary school.

I was afraid that I would not make friends very easily here, but thankfully I've already made several. The first one I made is also my very best friend. We met on the Hogwarts Express, actually. His name is Kellen Grimseth, and he's the sweetest boy I've ever met. He's also phenomenally intelligent – he puts my cleverness to shame, if you can believe it! He's Norwegian-American (he speaks Norwegian fluently!), but his mum's family still lives in the United Kingdom.

I met Kellen's cousin Desiree Moultrie this morning. She's in the year ahead of us, actually. She's like Kellen in that she's very clever and also very nice, but she's in another house called Ravenclaw. That's where the cleverest students usually go. In fact, both Kellen and I nearly ended up there ourselves, but we both wanted to be Gryffindors. So far, we're both very happy with where we got sorted.

There's a couple of other boys in our year – Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Harry's nice but perhaps a bit reserved, and Ron is rather silly, but he's friendly too. Like Kellen and I, they're Gryffindors. We hang out at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall and in the Gryffindor common room a lot.

Finally, I met another girl at dinner this evening – her name is Daphne Greengrass. She's from another house – called Slytherin – but I think Kellen won her respect after standing up to a bully from her house tonight. She is a very sweet girl too, and we invited her to sit with us at the Gryffindor table as she doesn't seem to be very popular in her own house. There's a rather big rivalry between the Gryffindor and Slytherin houses, and I'm glad she's willing to look past that to forge friendships. She seems to be a keeper.

I miss you both very much, and I can't wait to get your reply. Christmas can't come soon enough! I love you so very much. Please write back soon.

Love,

Hermione"

She gently folded the parchment and tucked it into an envelope and addressed it to her parents. Suddenly, she heard a disappointed groan from Ron.

"Arrrgh!"

"Checkmate, Ron," Kellen said with a smile.

"You're too bloody good, mate," Ron replied, sticking out his hand in congratulations.

"You're a skilled player, Ron. Don't beat yourself up over it – you're certainly good enough to beat me," Kellen said as he took Ron's hand appreciatively.

"Same time tomorrow then?" Ron asked with a smirk.

"You're on," Kellen grinned.