OOC/I don't own this universe, or its characters. I just have an imagination and stuff. Thank you for all of the views and follows. I ask politely for some reviews; how am I doing, is it legible, interested to read more, why do it this way, etc?
When the boats were docked, the first years were led from the lake, up the grounds, and across a small courtyard and to a large door-maybe not the front one, but it was a large door. A woman with a black hat and dark green dress with a scroll waited for them just inside the door, when Hagrid brought in the rear, and the door shut behind them, she led them down the corridor without much of a word spoken. She continued to not say a word as she led them up some steps, and then around a corner, and then some more steps. She stopped right in front of another large door. She turned to the group, then.
"Through these doors lies the Great Hall, where all meals will be served. Once inside, you will follow me up to the front of the room, where you will be sorted. After the sorting, the feast will begin. Now everyone hold on a moment while I make sure we are ready to continue." She didn't wait for protest, and slipped through the door like a cat. Hermione looked around for Draco, and realized that while they had been walking, she had strayed. She had been looking at the moving portraits-they were amazing.
Harry and Neville and Ron were facing Draco and everyone else was watching. Hermione wriggled her way to the front where they were. "-nasty Malfoy will definitely be in Slytherin, like his traitor father."
"Severus Snape was also in Slytherin, and he saved everybody," Hermione interrupted them with a stern glare.
"Sorry love, I could hardly hear you over the volume of your hair," the red headed boy replied with a raised voice. Her mouth opened and closed a few times.
"It's not-I-wha-you..."
"I-I-I-I-whaa-whaaa. Sorry, being muggleborn and all, you must be pretty simple minded, you know, I didn't know muggleborns were so stupid." The red headed boy continued. Against Hermione's wishes, tears dripped from her eyes. Draco stepped around her and shoved the boy.
"You don't speak to her like that. Apologize Weasley," Draco had a different tone altogether than he had before. Ron moved to shove him back, when that woman cleared her throat and all the first years turned to stare at her. No one had heard her return.
"That is not the way to start the year off. You will shake hands and the problem is settled, is that understood?" The way her thin lips pursed drove the point home that she was having none of their crap. Draco and Weasley shook hands with scowls on their faces.
"Follow me." She turned and the walked in through the doors. As they did, Hermione wiped her face on her sleeve and Draco and herself moved towards the back of the group. She gazed up at the ceiling-she had been looking forward to it from the book she read-and she leaned to whisper to Draco.
"It's bewitched to look like the night's sky," she said, "but the candles are real," Draco looked sideways at her, as if the candles would be anything else but real, and smiled faintly. As they reached the front of the long Hall, silence fell. The lady stepped up to a stool with an ancient hat sitting on it and she turned and opened the scroll.
"Susan Bones," she had very little emotion at all, this woman. A red haired girl stepped forward and the hat was placed on her head. Hermione looked at the long sideways table behind the lady for a second and spotted the old man that could only be Dumbledore, and down the row, she looked at all the other professors, and then saw Hagrid, near the end. He gave her a smile and she returned it. He noticed who she was standing next to though, and his smile fell. That wasn't a good thing. Hermione was sweet and innocent and the Malfoy's didn't even know what those things were.
Hermione was jerked out of her wandering thoughts when and entire table erupted into applause. The girl must have been sorted. She moved to the table under the yellow banner-Hufflepuff. "Dean Thomas." The lady in the green dress moved right along. A boy from behind Draco moved around him and sat in the chair. He had dark skin and dark eyes. The hat was only on his scalp for a second before he called out, "Gryffindor!" The thunderous applause overshadowed the first and the boy went to go sit under the red banner. She gazed at the lion; that mean courage and bravery. She definitely saw herself in Ravenclaw, she already showed she didn't have much courage against the Weasley boy.
"Hermione Granger." Her eyes widened suddenly. She didn't move. Draco gave her hand a squeeze and then pushed her forward. She sat in the stool and the lady put the hat on her head. The smell of the hat reminded her of her grandfather. Wise and leathery. The hat chuckled faintly.
"What a bright mind," he said, "A Ravenclaw no doubt would suit you." He said, but he didn't declare it like the other two. "But there is something in you yet, so clever, but I see your heart and not just your mind. No, not Ravenclaw. Better be...Gryffindor!" When the hat yelled out that time, the Gryffindor table erupted in applause. She glanced at the Ravenclaw table, like a missed opportunity, but she went to go sit at the table anyway. She turned to see Draco looking at her, and he seemed a little sad.
"Vincent Crabbe." The lady called out.
"Welcome to Gryffindor!" A scottish boy caught her attention, she turned to look at him, "I'm Oliver Wood, I'm Captain of the Quidditch team."
"I'm Hermione Gran-"
"Slytherin!" Somehow, when the entire table clapped for Crabbe, it was controlled and in synch, whereas the other tables had gone crazy. Hermione turned to watch the rest of the sorting.
Hermione kept her eyes on the back of Draco's head, hoping that-even in this crowded room and they would be really stupid for doing something but she still had a feeling they would attempt something-those thugs would leave him alone.
"Harry Potter!" One of the professor's shifted in his seat-he was all in black and the same colored hair-and watched the boy.
"Who is that in black?" Hermione asked Wood. He glanced that way and did a double take.
"Merlin's balls-sorry Granger-that's Severus Snape. He is the one that-"
"Defeated the Dark Lord." Hermione finished for her with a nod. Why would he care about Potter, though?
"You would do well in Slytherin." The hat said. Harry muttered something and the hat chuckled, "Oh? Better be instead...Gryffindor!" The table went crazy, and Hermione had a sinking feeling. That Harry Potter was one of the ones that wouldn't leave Draco alone.
"Ronald Weasley." The woman called. The red headed bully walked up and sat in the stool, a pleased smile on his face.
"Another Weasley! I know just what to do with you; Gryffindor!" More applause. Harry had sat across from Hermione, the older boys around them greeted him and he had a look in his eye at Hermione. Ron sat on Harry's other side.
"Ah! Mountain Troll!" Ron said quietly pointing at Hermione. She sank low in her seat and turned back to the sorting, so the boy didn't see her eyes watering again. A red headed boy next to Ron smacked him, hard. He ground something through clenched teeth into the boy's ear, but Hermione ignored it. She would ignore them if it killed her.
"Draco Malfoy." The man in black shifted again as Draco stepped forward. As he sat down, his eyes found Hermione, she smiled at him encouragingly.
He started muttering something before the hat was even on his head.
"Not Slytherin, eh?" The hat didn't seem to have a private voice. Some people in the hall even laughed, the Slytherins started to glower at him. "You have a thirst to prove yourself. Clever, talented… yes. Sytherin would help you on your way, no doubt about that." Draco continued muttering. The Sorting Hat was silent for a moment.
"Ravenclaw!" He yelled. The table didn't clap. Draco didn't move either. Hermione had read about the feud between tables, but she didn't understand the hatred. She stood and started clapping and cheering—she didn't think about anyone else. Slowly, the Ravenclaw's barely clapped at all. Ravenclaw and Gryffindor were the middle tables, and she was on Ravenclaw's side, so Draco sat directly behind her. She gave him a small smile, his ears were red.
"Hogwarts has really gone to the dogs," Weasley had a look of hatred upon himself as he gazed at Draco, as did most of those around him.
"Respect the Sorting Hat's decision," the boy next to Weasley told him sternly. He looked uneasily at Draco anyway. Hermione gave him a smile for support. He turned to look at her, still surprised.
"All Malfoy's have been in Slytherin," he had told her on the train. The lady in the dress had to clear her throat to gain back attention.
"Blaze Zabini." Another dark skinned boy moved up and before the hat touched his head the hat yelled out, "Slytherin!"
There were still many and more people to go. Hermione clapped when others were put in Gryffindor, like everyone else, but she was concerned about the two boys across from her. Same house or not, she didn't trust them a lick. She had almost wished that Draco had been in the same house as her, but if each year was supposed to share a dorm room, she was glad that Draco didn't have to worry about Potter or Weasley when he slept.
When the last girl was sorted, into Hufflepuff, the lady went to go sit down next to Dumbledore, who stood up and smiled faintly. "Welcome first years! Before our feast will begin, I have a few announcements. Because Professor Slughorn retired last year, Severus Snape has filled the position." The entire room clapped. "Also, we are welcoming another new professor; Alastor Moody will be temporarily filling in the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts." There was more applause.
"Now, I would like to remind everyone that the Forbidden Forest is named that for a reason. Anyone caught near the forest's borders will be severally punished. Without further ado, may the feast," he lifted his hands and clapped, "begin." When he opened his hands, food was suddenly everywhere along the table. Hermione eyed it all hungrily and made her a plate with reasonable proportions. Everywhere she looked, the guys were loading their plates with reckless abandon. She rolled her eyes and ate with her manners. She didn't speak to anyone around her; they all seemed to be talking about Quidditch anyway, even two pretty girls a little down the table were involved. Whenever she turned and looked at Draco, he was talking lightly with some of the people around him. She was glad that he was at least making friends. It seemed like forever when the feast was over. The Gryffindor Prefect started gathering up the first years, as she noticed the same was happening at all the tables, so she only had a brief moment to smile and wish Draco a good night before she was shepherded—literally—out of the Great Hall and towards a room of so many stairs.
The magical Staircase. She had read about it. They weren't timed, and they moved when they want to. She smiled as she saw them flying around several floors over their heads. The red haired prefect led them up the steps, urging them to hurry and keep up. When they got to a corridor, Hermione hadn't really been paying attention to where they were (she had been looking at the portraits again). They came to a stop at a lady in a pink dress. She looked down at the Prefect without a smile. "Password?" She asked almost in a bored tone.
"Caput Draconis." Her entire frame swung open. He waited in the corridor of all the first years to go inside the common room and when they did, he moved to the front of the group and got all of their attention. "Listen. The password changes frequently, when it does, the words will appear on the inside of the Pink Lady's portrait, but only when she is closed. The stairs behind me lead to the dorms, the girls rooms are at the top of the stairs and on the left, the boys on the right. Each cluster of rooms will have a number on it—the number corresponds to the year you are in currently. Any questions?" The first years looked to him.
One boy raised his hand, "Where are our things?"
"Waiting on your beds, of course." The boy replied, almost bored. "Anyone caught sneaking into a room that isn't theirs will answer to McGonagall. McGonagall explained the House Cup, correct?" He asked. The wide-eyed look gave him the answer. "Every year the different Houses compete to finish the year with the most points. Professors, Head boy and girl, and prefects can award and deduct points. We like to win, so behave and do as you're told." No one had any more questions so he dismissed them all to bed. Hermione went up the stairs and found her room, marked with a golden 1, and went inside. Three of the five girls were already there, Hermione made the fourth. She spotted her trunk sitting on the bed next to the window and she moved it to the floor at the foot of the bed so she could sit down. She could remember the other girl's being sorted, but she couldn't remember their names.
"I'm Lavender Brown." The girl had a heart shaped face and pudgy cheeks, but there was kindness in her eyes. Her hair was wavy like Hermione's, but not nearly as bad. She was sitting on the foot of her bed with the Daily Prophet—Hermione could read the big black label from her bed— in her hands; Hermione guessed that that was the morning paper.
"Fay Dunbar." This girl had the bed right next to Hermione. She had a kind smile and a pixie face. Her hair was cut short and framed her face, and was a deep shade of brown. Her eyes were bright blue, however, and contrasted against the paleness of her skin.
"Parvati Patil." Parvati was clearly of Indian descent, and Hermione thought she looked very pretty. She had the same color eyes as her hair and she had a small golden necklace with the letter P as a pendant. All the girls were smiling at her.
"I'm Hermione Granger," she said with a friendly smile. The other girls glanced between each other.
"I'd stay away from that Malfoy boy if I was you," Lavender Brown told her, "just because the hat put him in Ravenclaw, doesn't mean he doesn't have evil in his blood."
Hermione stopped herself from glaring at her but sighed. "I had a very nice ride with him on the train, and he wasn't evil. He was nice. I can take care of myself, anyway. So thank you, but Draco is my friend." She let out a noise and turned her back on the girls as she got herself ready for bed. She ignored them as they started talking and when she got into her bed and closed the drapes around her, she was pleased to discover that she couldn't hear anything. She then remembered reading about the common room enchantments in Hogwarts: A History. It was a silencing charm, for privacy.
She fell asleep, despite her eagerness for the next day.