As Blaise as predicted, Rachel had 'cried buckets' when he and Hermione had given her her birthday gift. She said that it was the best gift she had ever received and then smiled apologetically at Felix, who just smiled back at her. After they had gotten back from Diagon Alley, Blaise and Hermione had decided to make a cake for Rachel and then they surprised both her and Felix with breakfast on Saturday morning. After breakfast, they all spent the entire day together, just talking. Hermione got to hear everything there was to know about her biological family and she told them about her life growing up. Since Hermione had planned on moving out of her parent's house shortly after graduation anyway, Hermione asked if it would be alright if she spent part of the summer with the Zabinis. Of course, they had all agreed that it would be a great idea and Rachel had immediately starting talking about all the things that they could do and everything that she wanted to show Hermione, and Felix promised to take her to the ministry sometime to show her around his department. They also insisted on spending a few weeks at their home in Tuscany; Hermione couldn't believe that now had a house in Italy. Rachel could tell that she was somewhat apprehensive about her new life, and she insisted that if there was ever anything Hermione needed or wanted, all she had to do was ask.

After everyone had gone to bed that night, Hermione laid in bed thinking about the school year to come. She knew that she would be bombarded with curious looks and questions from her friends and probably everyone. She had decided to take Blaise's advice to just tell people to read The Daily Prophet so she wouldn't have to repeat the same story countless times, unless of course it was one of her friends who asked. It rather bothered her to know that Blaise's friends had been more accepting of all of this than her friends had, except for Ginny. Although, Blaise's friends were hormonal seventeen-year-old boys, and as far as they were concerned, they were gaining more eye candy. Hermione rolled her eyes at the thought, but she secretly liked the attention. She knew that she wasn't unattractive by any means before she became a Zabini, but she full on stood out now and it felt nice to be noticed for once. She loved her life as Hermione Granger, but she was very excited to start living her life as Hermione Zabini and she couldn't wait for all the new experiences that she would have.


The next morning, Hermione did her morning routine, dressed in her school uniform and then lugged her trunk down the stairs. Everyone had breakfast together and then Blaise hugged his mom and shook his dad's hand and told Hermione that he would meet her at the car so she could have a moment alone with Rachel and Felix.

Rachel hugged Hermione fiercely, "I expect you to write to us and let us know how you are being treated! If there are any problems at all, you tell your headmaster or write to us and the situation will be resolved immediately. You are a Zabini now and we don't take nonsense from anyone!"

Hermione smiled, "I promise that I will tell someone if I have any problems and I'll write to you every week, and I'll see you at Christmas!"

Rachel passed Hermione off to Felix and he hugged her as well. He told her to have fun and then he excused himself to tend to an issue at work. Rachel hugged Hermione one more time, and then she met Blaise outside as the chauffer loaded everything into the car and then drove them to the train station. (I'm going to assume that they have to have muggle tendencies at times so that they blend in smoothly, hence the muggle car and chauffer.) When they went through Platform 9 3/4, Hermione choked up a bit about the fact that this was going to be her last first day of school and she wiped away a few tears; Blaise just rolled his eyes and grabbed her trunk. Hermione looked to her left and saw the Grangers coming through the barrier with an animal carrier. Hermione grinned and ran over to them, giving them hugs. They exchanged pleasantries with Blaise and then turned to their daughter.

"We missed you darling! Did you have a good time?" Her mom asked.

"I did! We spent most of our time talking and getting to know each other."

"That's great, sweetheart; I'm glad it's all working out for you!" Her dad hugged her tighter.

"Well, we just wanted to see you off and give you Crookshanks." Her mom handed the carrier off to Hermione.

"Thanks, mum. I'll write to you every week and I'll see you for Christmas!"

They all hugged again, the Grangers said goodbye to Blaise, and then they hurried back through the barrier.

Hermione turned board the train when she heard a familiar voice.

"Hermione!"

The sound of Hermione's name caught the attention of quite a few people and they all turned in her direction and started whispering to each other. Hermione couldn't help but blush and Blaise gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. Hermione saw Ginny come barreling towards them.

"Hi Gin, but did you really have to draw everyone's attention?"

Ginny looked around and saw everyone looking at them and she smiled sheepishly, "I'm sorry Hermione; I wasn't even thinking."

Hermione smiled, "It's ok, Gin; are Ron and Harry here?"

"They're boarding the train. I just wanted to ask if you will be coming to sit with us?"

"I will if there's time, but McGonagall wants Blaise and I to meet her as soon as the train leaves and then there's the prefect meeting. I might be busy until we get to school, but I'll come see you if I can."

Ginny smiled and hugger Hermione, "Ok, well I'll see you soon either way!"

She sashayed off and Hermione saw Blaise checking out Ginny's backside. She smirked and elbowed him, "Subtlety Blaise; look it up."

Blaise smirked back at her and continued hauling their trunks to the train. As Hermione was stepping onto the train, she looked over and caught Ron's eye. She looked at him for a moment, not sure what to do and then she saw Ron give her a sheepish little smile. All the worries she had been carrying over Ron's reaction to her parentage suddenly vanished and she gave him a brilliant smile and winked at him. He grinned back at her and then disappeared through the doors. Hermione stepped inside and saw Blaise levitating their trunks into an open top compartment and then she noticed all the looks she was getting. Some boys were leering at her, some girls were glaring at her, other people were giving her curious looks and everyone seemed to be whispering. Hermione held her head high and brushed passed all the looks and whispers until she and Blaise reached the prefect's compartment. They walked in and saw Professor McGonagall sitting at the head of the table.

She stood up to greet them, "Welcome back Mr. and Ms. Zabini." McGonagall smiled warmly at Hermione, "How are you holding up, my dear? It must be quite a transition for you."

Hermione smiled, "I'm doing alright, ma'am. It's going to take a while to get used to all the looks and stares, but I'll manage."

McGonagall pursed her lips, "Yes, well, Professor Dumbledore and I will see to it that the looks and whispers stop very soon, I assure you."

"Thank you, ma'am."

McGonagall turned to Blaise, "And how are you doing, Mr. Zabini?"

Blaise smiled, "I'm doing just fine, ma'am."

"That's good; you two are adjusting well to being in each other's lives?"

Blaise wrapped his arm around Hermione's shoulder and pulled her into a sideways hug, "We are adjusting quite well, thank you."

Hermione nodded, "Yes, it's like he's always been in my life."

McGonagall gave them a genuine smile, "Well, that's wonderful."

She motioned for them to take a seat and she began their meeting. She discussed things that she wanted them to relay to the prefects during their meeting, then she told them about their duties and privileges specifically. Being Head students, their curfews were set back to 11 pm on weeknights and 1 am on weekends. They also had the privilege of going to Hogsmeade every weekend if they chose to and they were each allowed to bring one guest, as long as that guest had permission from their parents. Neither one of them was required to participate in the weekly patrols, they just needed to be available to cover for someone if they were unable to patrol for whatever reason. There were 24 prefects from grades 5 and up; one boy and one girl. McGonagall was going to leave it up to Hermione and Blaise to make the patrolling schedule. She handed her notes over to Hermione and then told them she'd see them again soon. With one last smile, she disappeared with a pop. Hermione and Blaise went over the notes, and waited for the prefects to arrive. Seeing how excited Hermione was to get started with her duties, Blaise told her that she could lead the meeting; she graciously accepted. A few minutes before students were supposed to arrive, the compartment door opened and Ginny popped her head in.

Hermione smiled, "Hi!"

Ginny came in and sat next to Hermione, "I thought I would come a little early so I can hex anyone that gives you a hard time; you are literally the only topic of conversation on this train."

Hermione frowned, "They probably won't even be paying attention during the meeting; Blaise, maybe you should handle it."

"Everything will be fine, Hermione. Besides, like Red said, if anyone gives you any problems, we'll hex them." Blaise looked a Ginny and grinned.

Ginny blushed and then looked at Hermione, "You've been dreaming of this moment since your first year, Hermione. Don't let any nosy, gossipy little twits take that away from you."

Just then, the compartment door opened and students started filing in. Ginny gave Hermione's hand a reassuring squeeze and then snatched Hermione's notes to take a look. As everyone came in, their eyes were glued to Hermione as they finally had a chance to see her up close. They would look from her to Blaise and back again and Blaise was already getting irritated with it. Draco sauntered in with Pansy Parkinson following close behind and he sat in the seat next to Blaise. They did their guy handshake thing and Draco gave Hermione an almost imperceptible nod. She did notice it though, and she gave him a small smile. Ginny noticed Pansy glaring daggers at Hermione and she was itching to grab her wand and hex all of Pansy's hair off. Hermione noticed a few familiar faces; Neville Longbottom, Parvati Patil, Susan Bones, Ernie Macmillan, Terry Boot, Padma Patil, Luna Lovegood, and Draco and Pansy of course. Hermione waited until everyone was seated to begin.

"Hi everyone; welcome back to another year of Hogwarts." She was so nervous, she thought she might hyperventilate. She could feel a panic attack coming on, but it was quickly extinguished when she felt both of her hands being squeezed; one by Ginny and one by Blaise. Reminding herself that she was far from alone in this, she cleared her throat and smiled.

"If you haven't already guessed, I am the Head Girl and this is the Head Boy, Blaise Zabini."

"What's your name?" Came a snotty voice.

Hermione gave Pansy a wary look, "You know my name, Parkinson."

Pansy smirked, "Well, I know your name, but some of the other's might not."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Is there anyone here who doesn't know who I am?"

The fifth year Slytherin girl prefect smirked, "I don't know your name."

Blaise opened his mouth to berate his fellow housemate, but Hermione raised her hand to stop him, "My name is Hermione."

The fifth year Slytherin exchanged a smirk with Pansy, "And your last name?"

Hermione stomped her foot like a small child, "Oh for Merlin's sake; my name is Hermione Olivia Zabini, I was born on October 14 along with my twin brother Blaise, my parents are Rachel and Felix Zabini as well as Liz and Lewis Granger, I have black hair and blue eyes and I am positively itching to start handing out detentions and taking away house points," she looked pointedly at Pansy and her fellow Slytherin, "so, I suggest that unless you both want to be the first recipients of each of these, you drop the subject that is Hermione Zabini as it is none of your business. Am I understood?"

The fifth year nodded, but Pansy continued to glare at Hermione, "You aren't nearly as special as you think you are Zabini," Pansy spat the last word as though it was poisonous, "as far as I'm concerned, you will always be nothing more than a disgusting, filthy Mudblood!"

Ginny reached for her wand, as did Blaise, while everyone else was stunned by the sudden hostility in the room. Draco, however, was just watching the two females with an amused expression. Hermione put her hand's out to stop Ginny and Blaise from hexing Pansy, "I've got this; Jealousy really doesn't suit you, Parkinson."

Pansy snorted, "I am not jealous of you, you little-"

Hermione cut her off, "Oh, but you are jealous of me because now I am superior to you in every...possible...way. I am smarter, better looking, and more wealthy than you could ever hope to be and it all just fell into my lap without me having to lift a finger. The entire school knows that your father lost your families fortune to slags, booze and gambling. It was really quite...muggle of him. You've spent the last four years on your hands and knees just hoping that some rich, good looking wizard would take pity on you. It's rather ironic, don't you think? All that time spent on your knees...your blood is closer to the dirt than mine ever was."

The room was deathly silent as everyone waited to see what would happen next. Ginny was grinning from ear to ear, Blaise was looking proudly at his little sister, him being a whole 5 minutes older than her, and Draco had a smirk on his face to rival all his others. Pansy's face had gotten redder with every word that Hermione said and now it was clear that she was on the verge of tears.

Hermione was beyond livid and she had to take several breaths to calm herself down, then she looked around the room at everyone, "I don't care if I'm a pureblood, half-blood, muggle born, or squib; I will not tolerate anyone using the word Mudblood, Blood Traitor or any other equally foul word in regards to another student." She turned her eyes to Pansy, "Detention for one month, Parkinson and from now on, the subject of me and my family is off limits."

Pansy continued to glare daggers at the Head Girl, but she kept her mouth shut.

Hermione returned the glare, then turned to address the rest of the students, "Now, there are a few things to go over before we get to school. First of all, there were some complaints last year that our robes are too hot, so Professor Dumbledore agreed to let us only wear them during important events and when we are having class outside during colder weather. One main reason why we were required to wear the robes is because there are some students," Hermione looked pointedly at Pansy, "who feel the need to reveal too much skin while in their uniforms. Dumbledore said that we are going to be given one chance to prove that this new uniform change will not be a problem."

Hermione slipped off her robe and held her arms down to her sides, "As you can see, the length of my skirt ends at the tips of my middle fingers; the skirts cannot be any shorter than this. If this rule is broken even once, we will have to start wearing our robes at all times during school hours."

Hermione looked at Pansy, "Stand up, Parkinson."

Pansy's glared intensified, "Why?"

"Just stand up! I'm not going to hex you if that's what your worried about."

Pansy hesitantly stood up.

"Take off your robe." Hermione ordered.

"Why!?" Pansy whined,

Hermione just looked at her. Pansy huffed and pulled off her robe and set it on her chair. The buttons on Pansy's shirt were threatening to pop off because the shirt was so tight and her skirt was about three inches too short. Hermione pointed her wand at Pansy, said a spell and they all saw as her skirt got longer and her shirt was no longer two sizes too small.

"If you screw this up for everyone Parkinson, I'll be sure that they all know who to thank." Hermione was very satisfied with the look of pure hatred that Pansy was giving her.

"Now, McGonagall has given us the opportunity to have a dance this year; she said we can decide between Halloween or Christmas."

Blaise and Draco exchanged a look and they responded together, "Christmas."

Hermione looked between the two, "Um, alright; is Christmas alright with everyone?"

Everyone nodded and the two Slytherins smiled.

"Ok, Christmas ball it is; we will start working on the plans in November. Two final things; we will have prefect meetings every Wednesday at 7pm in the prefect's lounge. (I just made that up.) For those who don't know where it is, it's on the 5th floor next to the Transfiguration room and the password is 'unity.' The last thing we need to go over is patrolling. Blaise and I will have the schedule made for our next meeting and we will take over the patrolling for the first week for the 5th years who are new at this, as a prefect you have the option of taking away house points and assigning detentions, but only if it is absolutely necessary. If you abuse your privileges, your title will be revoked. If anyone comes to you with a concern, do your best to solve the issues yourself. If you can't, come to Blaise or myself and we will remedy the situation. Ok, I think that's it; are there any questions?"

Everyone shook their heads and Hermione smiled, "Ok, then you're all free to go."

Pansy was the first one up and she stormed out the door, not looking at anyone. Everyone else scraped their chairs back and quickly exited the compartment. Draco and Ginny were the only two that remained behind.

Hermione was grinning from ear to ear, "That was bloody brilliant, Hermione!"

Hermione raised a newly waxed eyebrow, "It was just a meeting, Gin."

Ginny rolled her eyes, "I'm talking about putting Parkinslag in her place; it was brilliant!"

"Oh, that; not one of my finest moments."

Ginny scoffed, "Leave it to you to feel bad about putting that horrible slag in her place! She deserved everything she got!" Ginny looked at Blaise and Draco, "Sorry boys; I know she's your friend, but she had it coming."

Blaise snorted, "She is not my friend; in fact, I can't stand the slag."

Draco grinned, "She's had a bit of a thing for him since we broke up in 4th year. She went after him first, but he rejected her. Theo had a go at her for a while, but he got bored rather quickly."

Hermione and Ginny wrinkled their noses in disgust, "Slag or not, I shouldn't have put all of Pansy's personal issues out there for everyone to know." Hermione frowned.

Ginny put a hand on Hermione's shoulder, "She was trying to do the same thing to you, Hermione; don't feel bad!"

Hermione decided to change the subject and she looked at her brother and his friend, "Why were you two so keen on having the dance at Christmas? You hardly seem like you would care either way."

Blaise smirked, 'We have other...plans for October."

"Really; such as?"

Draco tried to kick Blaise in the shin to stop him from spilling their secret, but it was no use; he just had to open his trap.

"Slytherin has a big party every October; it's supposed to be for my birthday, but it's really just an excuse to have a big party."

Ginny grinned, "I knew it! I've heard about your parties."

Draco narrowed his eyes, "That's impossible; people that are invited are forbidden from telling anyone else. That's how it stays a secret."

"Well, I heard someone being invited last year." Ginny turned to Blaise, "Can Hermione go to your party? I mean, her birthday is the same day after all."

"Sure, if you want to." Blaise smiled at Hermione.

Hermione wasn't sure if she wanted to go to a Slytherin party by herself, "Well, can I invite some friends? Just a few."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Just what we need, a bunch of damn Gryffindors to ruin our party."

Ginny shot a glare at Draco.

Blaise ignored him, "Sure, you can bring some friends."

Draco growled at Hermione, "Boy, you sure know how to come in and fuck everything up, don't you? You think that just because you now hold the Zabini name you can go from being a boring, unattractive, insufferable, know-it-all to this perfect little princess? You can't just have everything handed to you, you know."

They all saw the look of hurt that crossed Hermione's features and her eyes as they started to glisten, "You're right; I'm sorry. I'll stay away from your party and I won't tell anyone about it."

Ginny tried to stop Hermione, but she was out the door in a flash. Ginny turned on Draco and glowered at him, "What the hell is your problem, Malfoy!? You are a bloody pathetic idiot! She didn't ask for any of this and she certainly didn't expect to get anything handed to her and you bloody well know that! Blaming her for your little crush and making her out to be this horrible person just to justify why you need to hate her is just sad and pathetic! You would be so lucky to have someone as wonderful as Hermione in your life, but at the rate you're going, that will never happen! You have managed to send my best friend crying and running from a room in less than 72 hours and Merlin help me, if it happens again, no power on this Earth will save you from me from hexing you to hell and back!"

Ginny turned on her heel and stormed out of the room. While Ginny was going off on her tirade, she was poking Draco in the chest with her finger and he was certain that there would be a bruise tomorrow. Draco was afraid to look at Blaise; he turned his head towards him at winced at the look on his face.

"The red head pretty much has you pegged, doesn't she?" Blaise's voice was deadly calm, "you are like a brother to me, but Hermione is my sister. Don't make me choose between the two of you; you won't like my choice. You need to grow up Draco and stop acting like a child; do not blame these feelings that you have towards my sister on her. You have the potential to be a great man, Draco; a man that could actually be worthy of Hermione's time and affection. You need to just grow the fuck up, get over yourself and act like a man!"

With that, Blaise swept from the room, refusing to listen as Draco tried to stop him.