1.

Hermione:

Aren't you supposed to

find your real friends in Slytherin?

"Dear, your tea is ready!" Hermione Granger's mother yelled, trying to get her attention from the stairs.

Hermione was in her room. She had her nose buried in a giant book so heavy she had to put it on her desk to be able to read it. Her mother's cry was lost to her ears, as if the sound were a leaf falling from a tree in autumn. She turned page after page, sometimes wetting her finger with a little saliva before turning the paper over; She was lost in her reading.

"Hermione," Mrs. Granger called, also knocking on the wooden frame of the door.

She was knocking as a warning gesture, since the door was wide open. It was as if her mother was saying with her actions: I don't want to intrude on your personal space, so it's polite to knock on the doorframe before entering. But her daughter ignored her again, so she went in anyway, setting a cup of steaming tea on the desk. With her free hand she grabbed Hermione's shoulder, startling her to the point that she sat up straight in her chair.

"Your tea," she said again, sweetness permeating her voice. A mother couldn't get mad because her daughter was so focused on studying.

"Thanks mom," she replied.

"And stop slouching so much, it'll hurt you."

Hermione nodded absently. Mrs. Granger started for the door, but stopped halfway.

"Don't stay up late, tomorrow is the first day of school."

"I'll go to sleep after tea," she stated, though that didn't put Mrs Granger at ease, as Hermione's eyes were once again so focused on the pages that she could have burned the words as she read them. It didn't look like she was going to be sleepy anytime soon.

A mother's suspicions are usually correct: Hermione let the tea cool without taking even a drop and only when she closed the book did she realize her big mistake. It was already 5 in the morning. In a few hours she was going to King's Cross train station to start her fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but she looked like a Dementor instead of a student thanks to the large bags under her eyes and her shambling gait.

. . .

The next morning, at breakfast, her mother asked her several times if she had stayed up. Hermione denied it over and over again. Her father laughed and defended her.

"She's not a child, stop scolding her."

Mr. Granger smiled at his daughter, who returned the gesture conspiratorially. They both guffawed when they heard Mrs. Granger mutter,

"There's two children!"

Later her father took Hermione to the train station. He was a rather scrawny man so carrying his daughter's suitcases full of books was not an easy job at all. It was a relief to his spine to load all the weight onto the King's Cross baggage carts.

"Hermione, here!" Ron Weasley, one of Hermione's best friends, waved from afar. He was standing at the entrance to the platforms. "Hello, Mr Granger."

Hermione's father chatted a bit with both teens and then said goodbye to them. He also asked them to say hello to Harry, another of Hermione's best friends. THey both answered in the affirmative and Hermione gave him a hug before he left. Soon they were reunited with Harry, who was with Molly Weasley, Ron's mother, and the rest of the Weasley siblings: Ginny, Fred, and George. After several greetings and well wishes for a good year, all the teenagers entered platform 9 ¾.

The Hogwarts Express was a visual marvel. Its scarlet red color made it stand out in such a gray and metallic place. Also, it was very well maintained, unlike the old train station. The years passed, but the paint on that train was still as bright as on the first day of school. Its color was also reminiscent of Hermione's house: Gryffindor. She and all her friends were from that house, the house of the brave, the Hogwarts lions.

Hermione yawned.

"Hey… we're not in History of Magic class yet. Aren't you getting ahead of yourself?" Harry teased.

"Ha ha ha," Hermione exaggerated.

Harry and Hermione were a few steps behind Ginny and Ron, who were in a parallel world to the rest of the students, fighting each other over who knows what breakfast brawl from that morning; a typical sibling fight. On the other hand, Fred and George Weasley didn't stay long with the group, running off to talk to strangers the first chance they got. Neither wanted to know what that pair was up to, although the youngest of the Weasleys, Ginny, noticed that during the summer she heard explosions and saw smoke of quite suspicious colors escaping through small gaps in the door of the twins' room.

"It's not normal to see someone as responsible as you dead on your feet like this."

"Is it that obvious?" she asked dejectedly.

Harry could only smile sympathetically at her and reply,

"Looks like a large group of centaurs danced on your face last night."

"You should sleep on the trip," Ginny recommended, butting into the conversation.

She had been listening to her two friends the whole way, unlike her brother Ron, who asked what Ginny was talking about, immediately stating that he didn't need to sleep. Everyone laughed at the redhead's confusion.

Once they were inside the train, they easily found a cabin for the four of them, just a few meters from the entrance door. They sat down without arguing about places, but when Hermione tried to close her eyes she realized how useless it would be to try to sleep. The boys and Ginny talked passionately about Quidditch. She mentally cursed them. It was obvious that they were going to chatter the whole trip... and even worse if they talked about that sport since they raised their voices without realizing it due to their excitement. They were even close to yelling because of how defensive they got when talking about their favorite players and teams. She tried to listen to them and join the conversation, but the pangs in her head wouldn't stop, she needed to rest. That she had slept so little last night after having been studying all day was taking its toll on her. Her brain threatened her, challenged her to see if she dared to continue demanding that it work. She got up from her seat, to the surprise of her friends.

"Sorry guys, I really need to sleep."

"Is it because of our conversation? Sorry Hermione, we'll shut up," Ginny apologized.

"Yeah, you don't need to go, we're almost done talking," Ron added.

But Hermione shook her head gently.

"Don't worry, really, I don't want you to be bored the whole trip by being silent. I'll go sleep somewhere else. Anyway, I won't add much to the conversation if I'm asleep."

"Are you sure?" Harry insisted.

"Yes. Please, don't even say goodbye," she joked. "See you at dinner."

Before leaving, everyone wished her a good rest. She looked both ways down the aisle and decided to go further into the train in search of an empty spot, or one where the people inside would be quiet. It was a difficult task because everyone on the train chatted happily as friends were reunited after months of summer. Hermione was about to return to her friends exhausted, until she saw a lonely blonde through a window. She knocked on the window a couple of times before opening the door.

"Hello. Is this cabin taken?"

"No. Go ahead," she replied simply.

"Thank you." The young woman sat in the seat across from the blonde. "I'm Hermione Granger. Don't worry, I won't bother you. I was looking for a quiet place to get some sleep."

"Then you found the ideal place. No one wants to sit with me or talk to me so I usually travel in silence," she commented quietly, which made Hermione uncomfortable. "I'm Luna Lovegood."

Hermione narrowed her eyes for a moment. The somewhat weary gears in her mind went to work. She had heard that name before. Within seconds her eyes widened in surprise: It was the loon! Loony Lovegood! She should have realized sooner...her blond hair was a little dirty and she had bulging eyes that gave her the impression of permanent surprise. The girl had an unmistakable air of madness.

Her eyes went to what the lunatic was holding in her hands, The Quibbler magazine. In most situations, she wouldn't have hesitated to say how stupid the magazine seemed to her, full of misinformation. But she was too distracted seeing how the blonde was holding said magazine upside down. Upside down! Was she even reading it? She shook her head to herself, knowing it would be a waste of time to say anything to Loony Lovegood, obviously she wouldn't listen to reason, and Hermione for her part was too sleepy to debate. She curled against the window, closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

. . .

Something shook her, forcing her to wake up. The dim lights of the train forced her to rub her face. She looked around sleepily, meeting gray, bulging eyes, just like a chameleon's.

"I wasn't sure about waking you up. Perhaps you didn't want to enter Hogwarts as an act of rebellion. I sometimes think about it, it must be fun camping outside the school."

Hermione ignored Luna and looked out the window. It was late. She opened the door to look out into the hall. There were no more people on the train.

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

"I already explained it to you. I wasn't sure about waking you up. Perhaps..."

"We have to leave now, we can't be late," she interrupted, too exasperated at the moment for her ravings.

Luna nodded absently, as if she didn't care what happened. It seemed she would have been fine with either outcome, whether they were late, had an adventure on the train, or who knows what other possibilities Loony Lovegood thought of as likely.

Before leaving they heard a knock. Both girls were startled. Luna spoke first:

"What was that?"

"It must have been a branch hitting a window in the wind."

What if it's a wrackspurt ?"

"What? That doesn't exist."

Luna was about to disagree, but the sound was heard again and instead of arguing, it seems that she saw more sense in going after the sound. Hermione's mouth fell open. She was about to leave the train alone, but for some reason, her morals did not allow her to leave without Luna. She had woken her up, preventing her from staying there for who knows how long. It was even possible that the train could have started with Hermione and Luna on it, leading to them missing an entire year of school. The very idea made Hermione shudder. She looked at the exit and then at the corridor where Luna had disappeared. She grunted and went after her.

"Loony...?" Hermione corrected herself and with more force in her tone she continued, "Luna?"

A blow sounded loud next to her ear. She let out a shriek and looked wide-eyed to her right, where the noise had come from. There was a person there. A second later she recognized her: Pansy Parkinson.

She was a classmate, from the same year, but from a different house. She was a Slytherin, a vile snake. She always clashed with that girl, usually verbally. She was the last person she wanted to meet, they had been on bad terms since first year. Besides, Pansy was undeniably a bad person.

Again Pansy banged on the door, snapping her out of her thoughts. Hermione looked at the girl's gestures, then saw the problem. There was something blocking the door from outside. Without thinking about it too much she unlocked it, freeing her.

Pansy's green eyes violently collided with Hermione's. Her usually pale cheeks were now a little red, though it was unclear if it was from anger or embarrassment. Hermione was about to ask what had happened. She wasn't stupid, that door didn't lock by accident, someone had done it from the outside. But unwilling to quench her curiosity, Pansy Parkinson turned her back on her and left without looking back.

"It's nothing, Parkinson..." she muttered. And with a more shrill and mocking tone she added, imitating her: "Thank you, Granger."

"Sometimes I do that too," said a dreamy voice. "For example, when I see myself in a mirror. I say good morning and then I say goodbye."

Hermione was startled again, this time by Loony Lovegood who had appeared out of nowhere. And worst of all, saying that they were alike.

"I'm not like you!" she squawked. She, with an analytical and rational mind, was nothing like that witch who lived talking about conspiracies by the Ministry or explaining the characteristics of non-existent creatures. Then, calmer, she added, "Where were you?" —and didn't let Luna answer her question—"Well... It doesn't matter. We have to leave right now, we'll be late."

They both left the train and headed for the castle. They arrived in time to catch the last carriage of the night: a self-moving carriage, without the need for horses, that traveled the final stretch of the road between Hogwarts and Hogsmeade train station (which was where the journey of the Hogwarts Express ended).). Pansy Parkinson was no longer there, everything seemed to indicate that she had taken the previous carriage.

Arriving at the castle, she cordially said goodbye to Luna and headed to her table. There Ginny looked at her as if she was going to behead her for taking so long. Harry and Ron looked confused, waiting for Hermione to explain why she took so long. And she couldn't be less eager to tell them what happened, so she decided to omit the people involved, saying simply that she fell asleep longer than she expected.

After the speech of the headmaster, Dumbledore, delicious dishes appeared on the different tables of the Great Hall. Ron was the first to attack, puffing out his cheeks like a squirrel stockpiling food. The rest of the group ate more quietly. Hermione looked up from her plate after a while. She first saw Luna at the Ravenclaw table. She frowned at the thought that someone in that house read magazines like The Quibbler. It was logical that the Ravenclaws, who appreciated wisdom, would ignore her and spread bad rumors about her. Then she looked further back, at the popular group of Slytherins: Malfoy, the Greengrass sisters, Zabini, Nott... but something was strange there. Why wasn't Parkinson with them? Hermione thought the worst: was she still on the train? Perhaps the person who locked her up was still hanging around...

She didn't want to think of it as a situation from a detective story, but she had repeated the strange and inexplicable situation over and over in her mind during the trip to the castle. And now Pansy Parkinson wasn't there! Her gaze frantic and filled with dread, she swept the entire Slytherin table. A sigh of relief escaped her. At the end of the table she found her, in the last seat. Parkinson was absently playing with her food, her posture pained. She felt silly for caring, especially for one of the meanest people she knew. Whether she was sad or happy was none of her business. But regardless of how cruel the Slytherin could be to her, she was still a person and no person deserves bad things to happen to them. Or at least, not very bad things.

After dinner and the Sorting Hat ceremony, Hermione and Ron rose from the table to show the incoming first years where the Gryffindor common room was, since they were now house prefects. Ron had complained because he wanted to stay and continue eating desserts, he insisted that on the first day you have to have a big dinner, but even so, grumbling and everything, he did his duty as prefect with Hermione. At the end of the night she said goodbye to Ron, as she wanted to talk to Ginny for a while before curfew.

Both girls walked calmly through the corridors, already quite empty at that hour.

"Can you imagine Gryffindor being next to the kitchens instead of Hufflepuff? I'm sure my brother would be a walking ball after a year.

Hermione laughed. Ginny could sometimes bring up topics of conversation out of nowhere and they managed to be entertaining. Suddenly, Ginny fell silent; an abnormal action on the part of the redhead, the most talkative of the Weasleys. She seemed to be seeing a ghost by how surprised she was. Well, a ghost was not uncommon there, ghosts abounded in the castle. But it was certainly strange what was in front of them: a fight between several Slytherin students. They had never seen one. It is true that not all of them get along but they respect each other.

Pansy Parkinson was cornered against the wall. Daphne and Astoria Greengrass located one on each side, hemming her in. Two other girls that Hermione didn't know except by their faces were in front of Parkinson, covering the rest of the space so she wouldn't slip away.

"It is necessary to establish the rules, Pansy," Daphne began, and Astoria continued, "We don't want to see you even out of the corner of our eyes." —The ones who didn't speak, laughed, interrupting what the youngest of the Greengrass was saying, but she ignored them and continued—, "much less do we want your treacherous ears to listen to our conversations. And you better stick to it! We are not going to contain ourselves because you are from the same house."

To Hermione's surprise, Pansy Parkinson's gaze was fixed on the floor. Not even in her wildest dreams would she have imagined that snake to be so submissive, without a sarcastic comment for whoever crossed her path.

"Are you afraid?" Daphne scoffed, seeming to have realized the same thing as Hermione.

"I just don't want anymore trouble. I'll do as you say." Pansy's voice sounded flat and tired.

Hermione had a bad feeling, she grabbed Ginny by the hand and dragged her away from this Slytherin girls' meeting. The last thing they needed was getting into a fight on their first day of school.

They were both quiet for a while as they wandered around, until Ginny couldn't take it anymore:

"That was weird."

"Very strange," Hermione agreed.

"I'd pay a million gold galleons to find out what happened to make them all so…tense."

"Those two, the Greengrass sisters, were her friends. What could Parkinson have done to make them so angry with her?"

"I don't think they were friends. They were more of an evil group with a common taste: bothering people. Honestly, Parkinson is getting a taste of her own medicine."

They didn't bring it up again. They walked on in silence, or well, as silent as it could be with Ginny humming a song. When they reached the Gryffindor dorm, they split up to go to their respective rooms. Hermione went straight to bed, without unpacking the suitcases that always magically arrived from the train to the rooms. She needed to sleep, to organize all the information of that peculiar day. Before falling asleep, she berated herself for worrying about Pansy Parkinson. If it was the other way around, the Slytherin would laugh at her and gloat over her troubles.

Translated by majere616

I (the author) speak Spanish and my English is very basic, but I'm taking classes(? So don't worry, I can understand your comments, but my grammar is bad. Luckily Majere took the time to translate. 3