A/N: A lot of stuff has happened, but honestly there is no excuse for not writing except that I suck at half ass writing which is what I would have been doing. I hope that I'll start updating regularly again and for all my reviewers and followers – thank you for being wonderful and waiting.

XxTPHxX

Hermione gently placed a roll and a few pieces of chicken on her plate. She wasn't really hungry, but she knew that if Squiggles was here, she'd be upset if Hermione didn't eat something. She felt wrong sitting at this table, like she didn't belong on this side of the room. She glanced up and stared at the Gryffindor table and felt jealous of Lily for being there. Hermione scolded herself, she had the option to be placed there as well and she turned it down. There was no turning back now and she would just have to adjust to being a Slytherin. What was important was that her father would be so pleased that she was chosen to be in this house, even if she had to ask for it.

"I'm Bellatrix Black." The girl to her left introduced herself, glancing at the smaller girl.

Hermione smiled tightly, a part of her cringing at the mention of the other girl's name. "I'm Hermione Reynolds."

Bellatrix nodded. "I've heard a lot about you from my aunt."

"Are you talking about Walburga Black?" Hermione asked curiously as her stomach clenched in knots.

Bellatrix nodded before taking a sip of her ice water. "Yes, that's the one."

"She's one of my mother's best friends." Hermione commented slowly.

Bellatrix fixed her gaze on the young girl and softly whispered. "I'm going to be honest with you; a lot of people are going to pretend to be your friend because of your status as the only heir to the Griffin and Reynolds' fortune and titles."

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Why do you care?"

Bellatrix shrugged while stabbing at her steak which made Hermione wince. "I just do. I have my own fortune and title, so I'm not after yours. I just…I just wish that someone had extended the same kindness to me when I was younger…so I'm going to offer it to you."

"You're not that much older than me, you know." Hermione bristled sternly, not knowing why she was having such a bad reaction to Bellatrix.

"One year may seem small, but one can learn a lot within a year's time." Bellatrix lectured softly.

Hermione forced back her negative feelings towards Bellatrix and extended a hand. "I like to be called Hermione, nothing more and nothing less…though when we become better friends - I might accept a nickname."

Bellatrix smirked as she shook her hand. "I like you, so you may call me Bella."

Hermione nodded as the pain in her belly lightened, she turned to talk to Severus when Bella caught her attention.

"Idiot!" Bellatrix hissed angrily as she gripped her fork tighter.

"Who?" Hermione asked calmly, trying to find out what had caught Bella's eye.

"My younger cousin, Sirius Black. He thinks nothing of others! Aunt Walburga will catch heat for this from Uncle Orion." Bellatrix explained, grinding her teeth.

"I don't think he sees it that way." Hermione concluded softly.

Bellatrix sighed. "I know, but Uncle will not be happy about this at all."

"Walburga is a strong woman." Hermione replied cautiously, touching her new friend's arm.

Bellatrix closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "She is, but there are some things that even the strongest woman can't handle."

Hermione reached out and grasped Bella's hand. "I think Walburga is stronger than most women, she'll be fine."

Bellatrix smiled at Hermione and finished drinking her water. "You need to eat some more before we have to go to our dormitory."

Hermione nodded and bit into her roll. She looked over to check on Severus several times, but he seemed cozy with the other members of Slytherin. Hermione continued to eat slowly, while glancing over at the Gryffindor table.

"Please follow your houses' Prefects to your dormitory." The Headmistress announced with a flourish as the plates and cups disappeared from the tables.

An average-looking male stood up along with a strict-looking female and proceeded to lead them down to the dungeons.

Severus headed off without Hermione, so Hermione walked beside Bellatrix.

"The rules are simple here. Don't go into the Forbidden Forest, don't roam the halls around midnight, and don't associate with any other house except Ravenclaw." Bellatrix informed her as they strolled down a staircase.

"I've got a friend in Gryffindor." Hermione stated bluntly.

Bellatrix shrugged. "That friendship won't remain for long, especially since they're in Gryffindor. Slytherins hate Gryffindors and vice versa. Be careful, some Slytherins won't treat you well because of that."

Hermione nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Be sure that you do." Bellatrix reminded her, as they reached a stone wall.

"The password is going to be Merlin. Whenever it's time to change it, we'll post it on the board for everyone to see." The girl prefect explained as the bricks disappeared and became a door instead.

"I'll take you up to girls' room. We're divided up by year, but I'll be near you so if you end up needing help, you can come to me." Bellatrix rattled on as they went up the stairs leading to their beds.

"Tomorrow at breakfast, you'll be given your timetable – filled with all of your classes for the year. I'll help you out since I'll have my free period during the morning." Bella announced as she showed Hermione her bed and even pointed out her own bed behind a layer of curtains.

"Sweet dreams, Bella." Hermione told her before Bellatrix headed to her own "room".

"Same to you, Hermione." Bellatrix replied softly.

Hermione found a bed, a silver frame with green covers, which had her trunk on it and quietly organized her items for the next day. Crookshanks curled up onto the soft bed and watched his owner with slight interest as she busied herself with preparations, not even knowing how she knew what she'd need or where to put her stuff.

XxTPHxX

"Severus! What are you doing out here so late?' Lily questioned sternly as she stood outside the Gryffindor Tower. She was wearing her old set of pajamas that her mom had packed for her and her hair neatly braided and shiny from her shower.

"Hermione's hanging out with Bellatrix Black." Severus announced softly, his gaze taking in the sight of Lily.

"So? That's a good thing!" Lily exclaimed while keeping her voice low.

"Bellatrix Black is a bad Slytherin, a very bad one Lils!" Severus declared throwing his arms around, worry etched onto his face.

"What are you trying to say, Sev?" Lily asked uncertain, her mind not wanting to think of what he was implying.

"I know you very well. I know that you trust Hermione a hundred percent, but I don't think you should just yet. You need to wait and see how she truly is before you fully trust her." Severus explained softly, trying to stress the issue.

"She hasn't given me a reason not to trust her." Lily hissed angrily, her temper rising at her friend.

"She hasn't given you a reason to trust her either Lils." Severus retorted, having a feeling that Hermione couldn't be trusted at all.

XxTPHxX

"What did I tell you?" James teased Sirius as they sat on their beds.

Sirius rolled his eyes before kicking off his shoes. "I knew I was going to be a Gryffindor, so don't get such a big head."

"I saw that girl." James commented slowly as he played with his pillow, his mind went blank at the thought of her…he wasn't sure how he felt about her and how she made him feel.

"What girl?" Sirius asked, reclining on his bed.

"Hermione Reynolds, the girl that our mothers want us to meet." James said, recalling the girl from the sorting.

"Hm, is she cute?" Sirius asked curiously, his eyes widening with a slight interest.

"She's a Slytherin." James sneered, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"She's right up my mom's alley." Sirius sighed, closing his eyes in thought.

"She's fond of your cousin as well." James continued on, obsessed with the girl.

"Bellatrix? You've got to be kidding me!" Sirius exclaimed in shock, leaning up in an upright position.

"Nope, they were acting like old chums at their table during dinner." James explained, his eyes dark with loathing.

"Bellatrix is crazy! Out of everyone in my family, Bellatrix is the worst - hands down." Sirius declared, his arms flying around to emphasize his words.

James mentally agreed and voiced his opinion. "I've met her before, a very unpleasant meeting. Hermione probably isn't any better, we'd better avoid her."

"Avoid who?" Remus asked, coming in from the showers.

"Just some crazy girl." Sirius commented.

"Is Pete out of the showers too?" James asked, getting up before Sirius could and headed towards the bathroom door.

Remus lingered by James' bed for a moment as he adjusted his towel and then walked over to his bed and began to towel-dry his soaked hair. "Nope, but he should be done shortly."

James nodded and grabbed one of his own towels before heading to the showers. Sirius stared at Remus and inspected the other male before grinning.

Remus frowned and narrowed his eyes. "What are you staring at?"

Sirius' grin grew. "We're going to be great friends."

Remus clucked his tongue and couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Why do you think that?"

"I saw you throw some kind of powder onto James' towel just a moment ago." Sirius enlightened him.

Remus smirked. "Just a little payback for turning Peter and me pink."

"Sooooo….what was it?" Sirius asked excitedly.

"A healthy dose of itching powder." Remus explained as he opened his old, worn out trunk.

Sirius frowned and slumped back down onto his bed. "I had higher expectations. You have disappointed me greatly, ex-buddy of mine."

Remus chuckled. "I don't want it to be too obvious that it's payback or I'd have to look out for him getting me back."

Sirius nodded, slightly agreeing with the logic. "Still, James will know that something's up when he starts itching all of a sudden."

Remus grinned. "He'll only itch when he's in front of a girl."

Sirius shrugged, clearly unimpressed. "How original Remus, that's totally uncreative and just plain boring!"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Only a specific area will itch, Sirius."

Sirius' smile widened slowly as his eyes twinkled with mischief. "I knew that you and I would be great friends."

Remus arched an eyebrow. "Sure, as long as you don't prank me."

"GUYS!" a squeaky voice screamed loudly.

"Peter?" Sirius and Remus questioned automatically.

"I can't turn the shower off!" Peter screeched, his voice squeaking a bit at the end.

Remus and Sirius glanced at each other and chuckled before hurrying to help Peter.

XxTPHxX

"Lily!" Hermione shouted, seeing her new friend outside the Great Hall.

"Hermione!" Lily exclaimed, a smile forming on her formerly sober face.

Hermione rushed over to her friend's side and gave her a small hug since \she still wasn't sure how well Lily liked her yet, but she felt like she'd known Lily for years instead of a day…especially with those emerald eyes that seemed to make her heart break and mourn something – something that she couldn't place.

"Did you get your schedule yet?" Lily questioned, returning the hug eagerly.

Hermione shook her head and ended the hug. "Bella said they'd give us the schedules at breakfast."

Lily's eyes narrowed slightly, it was so small that Hermione barely noticed the change in her friend's face. "Bella?"

Hermione smiled fondly. "A fellow housemate, our families know each other…intimately I guess."

Lily accepted the response and smiled. "That's cool, let's go eat then."

Hermione and Lily walked together into the hall and chatted about which classes they would like to have that year. When they faced the middle of the room where they'd have to part, Lily turned to face Hermione with a sad smile.

"I wish you and Severus were in my house." Lily confessed softly, the loud noises of the other students made it hard for Hermione to hear her.

"You'll find friends in Gryffindor." Hermione told her knowingly.

Lily shook her head. "I feel kind of like an outcast. They're all friendly to me, but I wonder if that's just for appearances and junk."

Hermione glanced over at her table where several occupants were sending her dirty glares. Bellatrix was trying to wave her over, but Hermione turned away and ignored her. "I'll sit with you."

Lily's eyes widened. "What? Can you even do that?"

Hermione shrugged. "Watch me." With that Hermione headed towards the Gryffindor table with Lily following her.

Hermione ignored the gasps and stares as she chose to sit in the middle of the Gryffindor table. She gracefully sat down and Lily followed quickly behind. Hermione grabbed the pitcher off the table. She whispered a muggle soda that Lily had given her during their train ride to Hogwarts.

Hermione looked up to see the shocked expressions of the group of girls sitting across from her. She smiled sweetly before holding out her hand. "Hi! I'm Hermione and this is Lily!" Hermione gestured to the silent, redhead next to her.

The girls stared in shock and when Hermione realized that no one was going to shake her hand, she used it to grab a roll instead. While Hermione was slightly upset by the girls' actions, she easily turned her attention to Lily and began talking to her like nothing had happened.

"My name is Alice." A young blond girl squeaked out. She was sitting across from Lily and extended her hand. Lily shook her hand first and Hermione eagerly did the same.

Alice seemed to have broken the ice for the other girls and before they knew it, Hermione and Lily knew the names of all the girls surrounding them. Again, the conversation seemed to be awkward at first but as time passed, the girls seemed to have found common ground to discuss despite their backgrounds; their pets. Lily found that most of the girls had their own owls to owl home while several owned a cat and one owned a toad. Lily was the only one that didn't have a pet, yet of course.

"I enjoy my owl, Bernado, but I wanted something to cuddle with, you know? My parents, however, feel that two pets would be too much for me. I'll just have to show them during the holidays!" A young brunette girl exclaimed, Lily remembered that her name happened to be Susan.

"I agree, but while I love my kitten I would love an owl to be able to send letters to my family." Alice replied thoughtfully.

"Oh!" Hermione gasped. "You can use the school's owls in the Owlery."

"Really?" asked another girl that moved to sit next to Lily. Her name was Rayne if Hermione remembered correctly.

"I believe they said something about that last night." Lily mused thoughtfully, spreading jam over her toast.

"That's a relief!" Alice smiled, making a mental note to check that out later since she knew her parents would love a letter from her.

The girls spent their breakfast time talking and almost near the end of it, Lily felt better. She didn't felt a strong connection to these girls like she did Hermione, but it was nice to get along with her dorm-mates and who was there to say that in a couple weeks she'd be thick as thieves with them?

Hermione smiled at her redheaded friend as she sipped her orange juice, she had changed her drink since the soda had been a little harsh on her stomach. She wondered what it would be like to spend all her meals like this, surrounded by friendly faces. While her parents doted on her and spent as much time with her as possible, her childhood was lacking fellow playmates other than the house elves. This year, she'd be allowed to join her mother at tea parties but only because she hit an acceptable age. Purebloods like her parents cherished and sometimes overprotected their children, especially when there was only one in their household, and kept them home during their vulnerable years. Going to Hogwarts was the first time she'd been separated from her home and her parents.

"Oi! What are you doing here?" a young boy exclaimed from down the table.

Hermione looked up in surprise, nearly spilling her juice. It was a boy with brown hair and hazel eyes that hid behind glasses. He looked familiar to Hermione, but something was wrong with his eyes like she had expected to see a different color there. Hermione was deep within her thoughts that she hadn't realized that the boy was still talking.

"Slytherins like her don't need to be sullying up our honorable table." The boy continued, but was talking to Bella's cousin now and not her.

Hermione felt so insulted. She had done nothing wrong, at all. She almost belonged at this table, she could feel it. This familiar oak, she knew these marks on this table like the back of her hand and no stupid boy should contradict what her heart knew to be true. She turned her chocolate brown eyes to the strange boy and flicked her wand several times underneath the table. The boy suddenly jumped up and started screaming.

"James? What's wrong?" Bella's cousin asked worriedly

"Spiders! Get these damn things off me!" He screeched, pawing at his clothes and seeming to flick off imaginary bugs.

The whole hall erupted in laughter, save for the head table though there were a couple of chuckles. A professor took pity on James and undid Hermione's spell though he did deduct ten points for foul language. During the rest of breakfast, everyone was trying to figure out the culprit. Hermione returned to her table to get her time table, just a little worried about what had come over her. She didn't even know the spell she used, least of all how she did it nonverbally; but, it had felt natural to do so….like she had been doing it for years instead of just now getting her wand.

Hermione always knew she was a little different, at least she felt it. As a child, she never had random bursts of magic. No, from the time she could remember she could control her magic. She felt it under her skin and its constant hum. She never showed off, she had a feeling it would cause questions and her parents took her regular acts of magic to be pretty normal since she was their first and only child and with no other child to compare to – they viewed it as special, but nothing to be worried over. But Hermione knew that she was special, even if no one else knew and she liked it that way.

XxTPHxX

"That was quite the show." Bella commented as she showed Hermione to her first class, even though Hermione instantly knew the way. Severus was walking behind them without their knowledge.

"The boy screaming?" Hermione asked curiously.

"No, you were sitting with a mudblood at the Gryffindor table." Bella informed her.

"How do you know that Lily is a muggleborn?" Hermione asked, narrowing her eyes at Bella's word choice.

"It's the way they carry themselves I guess. You're going to have to be careful with that though." Bella warned her.

"Look, I like you a lot Bella. I really do, but Lily is one of my friends too and I don't appreciate you calling her that. You should be careful with that." Hermione told Bella with a certain glint in her eyes as she stormed past a shocked Bellatrix.

Severus tilted his head slightly as he mulled over Hermione's words, maybe she wasn't that bad after all. He was going to need to keep a close eye on her. He treasured his best friend Lily and he didn't want just anybody to be her friend. He had to protect what was his.

XxTPHxX

Hermione went to all her classes without any trouble, her feet knew where to go and since today was their first day here – all their teachers were just going over what to expect in their class and the rules for safety in the classroom. It was a good thing too since Hermione was in a total daze the whole time. Before she knew it, it was lunch time and she was having a rough time deciding where to sit. Should she start forming her own relations in her own house? A mean voice helped her make her decision.

"You need to go sit where you belong." The boy from earlier hissed at her, she thought his name was James or something of that nature.

She blinked at his hostile attitude as he shoved past her to go to his table along with Bella's cousin, Sirius, and two other boys. She wondered if she had done something wrong to him, other than from this morning of course but he didn't know about that did he? She watched him walk away while he was rubbing his crotch, gross.

She turned to walk to Slytherin's table and everyone there stared at her which didn't surprise her so much. She chose a seat beside Severus and asked him if he enjoyed the Potion's class that they had earlier. It was a short conversation, but it was nice to see that he would talk to her if Lily wasn't around. The food appeared and everyone dug in. Hermione's eyes did stray to see if Lily was doing okay. It seemed that she was talking to Alice and Susan from this morning, it made her smile.

XxTPHxX

Mother and Father,

I miss you both, but I have good news. I was sorted in Slytherin yesterday, and I already have three friends. Two are in my house and one is in Gryffindor, which everyone finds odd but I don't, is it odd? How is Squiggles? I miss her oatmeal cookies though the food is good here (not as good as hers though!). I met all my teachers today and they all seem to know what they're doing. I'll be starting to learn stuff tomorrow and I'm excited for it. Enough about me, how are you faring? Did you enjoy your last tea party with the Longbottoms, Mother? How is work, Father? I hope that you will write me soon.

Yours,

Hermione

Mum and Dad,

I got into Gryffindor! Sirius is in the same house as well, isn't that good news? I can't wait till Quidditch tryouts though I know first years can't join in, but maybe I'll be good enough for them to change the rule, eh? I know you want to hear how boooooring my classes were and who was teaching what and blah blah blah, but honestly I hardly paid attention. Before you kill me, it's because it was our first day and they were telling us "what to expect" and I gathered that if I zoned out then I could be happily surprised everyday instead of expecting what I was going to learn, smart plan right?

Love you guys,

James

Mother and Father,

I'm in Gryffindor.

Sirius

Mummy and Daddy,

How do I explain what I've learned and seen in these few short hours? I can't really, but I miss I could. I love you guys and I wish you were here with me. I've been sorted into Gryffindor which is Hogwarts' house of the brave which is surprising since I get scared easily, right? Severus is in a different house, but we've still managed to hang out. I also made a new friend who helped me make friends in my house today. I want to tell you more, but I'm getting tired so I'll just write you another letter tomorrow.

Love,

Lily

P.s Tell Tunie that I love her too.

Mother,

I hope this finds you well. I hope father is doing good as well. I am quite fine today. I was sorted into Slytherin, but was that a surprise? My friend wasn't but I've made a few in my house already so I'm not worried. My classes went fine though I can't wait to really start learning tomorrow. Please reply. I love you

Severus