Disclaimer - I own nothing. All rights go to J.K Rowling

First year part two

Hermione woke to Pansy gently shaking her shoulder. She opened her eyes and took in Pansy's appearance, already dressed and hair done.

"Come on, time for breakfast. Just get dressed and tame your hair. Don't bother with your books. We get our schedules this morning and will come back for them okay? Good.I'll be waiting downstairs."

Hermione blinked twice and then did as she was told, the slytherins obviously knew what they were doing so she figured the best thing to do was follow their lead.

XXXX

At dinner that night Hermione thought about her day. Like the night before she was left out of conversation, she could see this becoming a regular occurance. She didn't mind it so much right now but she could tell that she would soon be sick of it.

She thought about her classes that day, Transfiguration, Double Potions, and Charms. She had enjoyed all her classes, though she did not participate much. Theo Nott had pulled her aside after transfiguration and told her that it doesn't matter if she knows the answers, she can't seem like a swotty know-it-all. It gives Slytherin a bad name. If she must raise her hand she is to do it slowly and do so sparingly. She was not going to go against what he said but it did make her feel slightly bad. How was she supposed to show her understanding of a topic if she could not answer? She was so caught up in her thoughts she did not notice Draco's eyes on her.

It wasn't until they were walking back to the Common Room that someone spoke to her.

"Granger? Can we talk for a minute? " It was Theo Nott. hermione simply nodded and stopped walking, the others kept on going with nothing more than a curious glance at the two. It wasn't until they were out of sight that Theo started talking

"What are you?"

"Excuse me? " Hermione was confused at the question not to mention a little offended.

"Blood status. You're not a pureblood i know that. I know all the families from France who are. "

"Does it matter? " she was getting nervous, she knew it was only a matter of time before someone asked her.

"It's the reason no one is talking to you. Someone has to ask, and then decide if you're good enough to be a part of the group. If not then.." he trailed off

"My parents are both muggles, Nott. Now that you know that i can only assume i'll be cast out. " Her hands were shaking rather badly by this point of the conversation

"Why would you be cast out? You could have lied and said Half-Blood. You could have assumed that none of us had been to Avignon, that we wouldn't know the difference. But you told the truth. That gets you points. Come one we should get back to the common room. It's nearly curfew. " He started to walk away.

Hermione could only blink, she was shocked to say the least. Did it mean they did not care about her blood status? And if that was the case then why? She shook her head and followed after Theo.

XXXX

When they reached the common Room, Hermione took a deep breath. She didn't know what was about to happen but she had a feeling it could go very wrong. They stepped in together and at once, Draco's eyes were on Hermione. She raised her eyebrow and his gaze slid over to Theo. He gave a nod and Draco smiled.

"Congrats Granger, guess we can talk to you now. " He gestured to a seat beside him " We were about to play a round of exploding snap. Care to join?" She nodded.

It seems everything has a way of working out.

XXXXX

One day, later that week, when she was walking down the corridor to Charms class with Pansy and Daphne ( One of the girls in her dorm ) when she bumped into someone

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" The words were out of her mouth before she saw who it was she knocked into. There were two identical boys in front of her, with matching grins and bright red hair.

"Hey! It's Frenchie. How's the south of France? I hear it's lovely this time of year." Hermione cringed when one of the boys spoke, immediately flashing back to the train station and the lie she had told.

"How exactly do you know a Weasley, Granger?" Pansy's voice had taken an unusual cold tone that Hermione was not used to

"Parkinson. We met at King's Cross. Wait- Frenchie, you're a Slytherin?" Fred looked disgusted at the thought. His brother-George- was shooting daggers at Pansy and Daphne.

"Yes...I am. Is that a problem? "

"Do they know you're a muggle born? People like you don't go into a house like that. It's unheard of. " Hermione stiffened at George's words

"What exactly do you mean by someone like me? " Hermione was shocked at the harsh tone her voice had taken on, she had never heard herself talk like this before.

"I just meant-" George had the decency to look a little ashamed of his poor choice of words

"Come Hermione, we're going to be late for class. We don't want to be caught associating with this trash." Daphne took Hermione by the elbow and gently tugged her along. They moved past the weasley twins as they yelled out insults to the young slytherin girls.

So much for the nice boy she had met at the train station. Apparently there were people she was not allowed to know, and that family was one of them. She tried to put it out of her mind, she had more important things to think about, like what was to be for lunch.

XXXXX

The weeks of first year seemed to blur together and before she knew it Hermione was faced with the choice of staying at the castle for Christmas or going home to her family. She knew that her friends were all going to be going home, that meant she could stay and have the dorm all to herself or se could go see her parents. She took her trunk out from under her bed and started packing. London it was. She might even go to Avignon on a train for real this time.

XXXXX

Jacob and Amelia noticed the change in their daughter almost immediately after she stepped through the barrier. She carried herself in a higher, more confident way. She spoke in a colder way, and she hardly smiled. At first they thought that she was not enjoying herself at school but then when Hermione started to talk about her friends they realized that's where the problem was. Hermione had fallen in with a different crowd than she normally would.

When they arrived at their house, Hermione went straight to her room and took her things with her. Her parents were shocked. They had expected to see their daughter for more than 20 minutes that evening. It seemed the only time hermione had for them was during the car ride back from the train station.

Hermione washed up for dinner, happy with the work she had done. She had dug through the linen cupboard for new sheets and blankets to match her new theme for her room. Her bed was now almost exactly how it was in the dorm, blacks and greens. She was going to ask her parents to have her room repainted, light blue was simply just not who she was anymore. She wanted a deep green. She had also found silver curtains and hung them. She now felt much more at home in her room.

When Hermione stepped into the dining room, her parents were surprised. She was dressed rather nicely. They were used to their daughter wearing jeans and a jumper, however she was wearing a nice shirt, a skirt and her hair was pulled back into a tight bun. What had this school done to their daughter?

XXXX