First Year
"Have any of you seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one," Hermione asked. She was peeking into the carriage of three boys and two girls.
Theo perked up at seeing his sister for the first time that day. Because Snape had brought Hermione exceptionally early to board the Hogwarts Express, they hadn't been able to see each other.
"Can't say we had the displeasure," Pansy Parkinson said, looking Hermione up and down then scrunching her nose in disgust.
"Alright then–" Hermione went to leave but an arrogant voice stopped her.
"Wait a minute, what's your name? You look quite familiar," Draco said, tilting his head as if he was trying to place her face from somewhere he'd seen before.
Theo felt a shiver down his spine. Draco had seen his mother before, albeit not very much as she had started becoming a bit of a recluse toward her final years. But he was still familiar with Amelia.
Hermione straightened her spine, preparing herself, "Hermione. Hermione Granger. No, I don't think we've had the pleasure of meeting before."
"Granger? I've never heard that name before, are you a half-blood?" This time it was the other girl, Daphne, who spoke. Her question didn't have malice like she would've expected. Instead, it was more curious.
Hermione glanced around. Everyone seemed to be staring at her now and she tried her very best to avoid Draco who was staring at her so intently, as if he was trying to figure her out.
"Um... no... I'm a muggle-born."
Pansy made a noise of disgust and before she could tell Hermione to get her filthy self out of the carriage, Hermione was already walking away, not wanting to listen to whatever dung she was about to spout.
"Can't believe she thought herself high enough to speak to us, then she had the nerve to be rude and just walk away?" Pansy said in disbelief.
"Well, you heard her, she's a muggle-born. She probably doesn't even know who we are," Daphne replied placatingly.
Theo rolled his eyes and then allowed himself to relax. He was just glad Hermione was playing it off smoothly. Pansy's reaction did irk him, but he didn't let it get to him. He was just glad Daphne had more sense than Pansy.
"Draco, mate, why do you still seem confused?" Blaise asked, nudging Draco out of his thoughts.
Theo turned to his best mates and felt the pinpricks of anxiety. Draco was intelligent, more so than him, he'd admit begrudgingly, and if any one of his friends were to notice that Hermione Granger– muggle-born– looked strangely similar to him and his mother, it would definitely be Draco.
"I dunno, I just feel like she looks quite familiar to someone I've known before I just–"
"And where would you have seen her?" Pansy's shrill voice cut him off. "Been hanging around muggles have you?" she accused.
Draco's face hardened and before he could retort, Theo answered with a roll of his eyes, done with this conversation about his sister.
"Back off Pansy, he just said she looked familiar, he's probably just seen her around Diagon Alley shopping for supplies."
"Or in his dreams," Blaise chortled but quickly shut up at the scathing look Pansy gave him.
"Yeah, probably," Draco agreed to Theo's conjecture, not even acknowledging Blaise's joke, and turning to the window to effectively end the conversation.
Draco knew she looked somewhat familiar, he just couldn't place his finger on it.
But she's a mudblood, he thought to himself. So surely he was mistaking her for someone else. But yet, something about her caught his eye and it wasn't the way the sun through the windows made her hair glow like a halo when she opened their carriage door. It was also most definitely not the way he thought she was an angel at first glance. No, definitely not. Because never in his life would he think that way about a mudblood...
Hermione was walking through the train corridor and paused. Her first interaction with Draco Malfoy. She thought he looked the same as she saw in Theo's memories and from what she had seen at her mother's funeral. But up close he was definitely... cuter. Even if his hair looked ridiculous. Her lips twitched into a small smile and she continued looking for Neville's toad.
"Hmm... curious. Very curious." The hat murmured in her ear and Hermione was grateful no one but she could hear the hat's sentiments.
"A thirst for knowledge and to prove yourself but knowledge is not what you value most it seems..."
"What? That can't be"
"Oh, but it can. You see? I can see it all right here. You'd do well in Ravenclaw, most definitely. Slytherin though, is where you would belong..."
Hermione's eyes shot wide, and she looked at Theo, gnawing at his lip with worry.
Before she could beg the hat not to put her in Slytherin, it started talking again.
"But your heart bleeds with bravery. Your soul desires family. There is no question, dear girl, you are... GRYFFINDOR!"
The only word, 'Gryffindor' rings out in the hall and immediately the table of students under the Gryffindor banner all start cheering.
She grins widely and catches the look of distaste on Theo's face while sitting down.
Once sat at the table, she sees Snape's expression and he is refusing to clap. An expression more sour than Theo's plastered on his face, but the same thought goes through both Theo and Snape's heads. At least it's not Hufflepuff.
Once in her bed with her poster bed curtains shut Hermione stews on what the hat said. Her soul desires family? But she already has family, right?
The first few weeks of being at Hogwarts was... hard to say the least. She never had friends growing up and she struggled learning how to converse with others the way regular kids their age would converse.
She had thought that everyone would be as invested in learning the way she was but some scoffed at her whenever she opened her mouth to tell them of all the exciting information she knew. Some rolled their eyes when her hand shot up to answer a question eagerly. For the most part, her peers just kind of ignored her or at worse, tolerated her when she tried talking to them. At least she wasn't getting bullied so far.
For her entire life, the only people she really spoke to were Snape, her mother, and her brother, so conversation with her peers just didn't come naturally to her. The first week of this realisation saw Hermione looking through the library for books on how to talk to people but it didn't help.
It also didn't help hearing Ron Weasley call her a nightmare and tell the other boys it's no wonder she has no friends.
After hearing that, Hermione felt herself crumble and her legs took her to the lavatory. She felt so alone and so helpless. Hogwarts was somewhere she had dreamt of going. This was supposed to be the start of something and still, she felt like she always did. Alone.
All she really had for company were her books and knowledge but that didn't fill the void of what she really wanted. A family she could call her own. So she cried softly.
Theo looked over to the Gryffindor table and frowned. His sister was not there. That's odd. He looked over to Snape and saw his beady black eyes were narrowing at the Gryffindor table as well. Sensing someone was staring at him, Snape turned to Theo and tilted his head in a silent question but Theo just shrugged in response, but a sick sense of foreboding had both of them worrying.
Suddenly, the doors of the Great Hall flew open and in came Filch running with a limp and yelling, causing everyone to become silent.
"Troll! Troll in the dungeon!" Everyone regarded him in confused silence as he looked up at the teacher's table directly at Dumbledore. "Troll... in the dungeons... thought you ought to know," he said right before fainting.
The Great Hall flew into hysterics. Theo felt like his stomach dropped. There's a troll in the dungeon and Hermione was not here. Anxiety ate at him and Theo felt panic rise.
"SILENCE!" Dumbledore's booming voice echoed throughout the hall, causing everyone to stop in their tracks and promptly shut up.
The prefects all directed them to their respective houses while the professors dealt with the very big issue. Theo had half a mind to run off and follow Snape, but before he could make a getaway, Draco and Blaise were pushing him along with the rest of Slytherin house.
When Snape saw the scene in the girl's lavatory, he nearly had a coronary. On the floor laid an unconscious troll, water from broken sinks and toilets began flooding the floors, and the three guilty faces of Hermione and the dimwitted duo were staring back at him and the other professors.
Snape caught Hermione's eye and he sent her a glare scary enough to make her bow her head in guilt. Because these idiots were not of his house, punishment came from McGonagall. Honestly, Snape thought it was too lenient for his tastes, but that didn't mean Hermione was off the hook with him.
"You and your brother will meet me tomorrow in my office, is that clear," Snape said quietly and sternly so only Hermione could hear as the professors walked them over to the Hospital Wing to be examined.
Hermione didn't bother looking at Snape but he saw her nod sadly in acknowledgment. When he made sure no one was paying attention as they were further behind everyone else, Snape placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Hermione knew it was his way of saying he was relieved she was okay and she felt a few tears of shame fall down her cheek.
After the incident with the troll, Hermione quickly forged a friendship with Harry and Ron. Being around them allowed her to learn how to interact and converse with others better. Because of this, she found herself slowly welcomed into the fold of the other Gryffindors.
Hermione, Harry, and Ron were glued together at the hip and for the first time, she felt almost whole. She and Ron bantered still, but it was always lighthearted. Her friendship with Harry, though, was something else entirely.
It was the type of friendship that was not of a romantic nature at all. Hearing snippets of his upbringing made her feel almost seen. She could relate to him– to someone– for the first time and it was a breath of fresh air.
In Harry and Ron, she felt as if she had found other pieces of her soul and she'd like to believe they felt the same. It was a feeling she didn't think she'd ever not cherish.
Snape and Theo had tried persuading Hermione to rethink their friendship but she left no room for discussion. She gave a resounding 'no', and walked out of their occlumency lesson, much to the dismay of Snape, who muttered about adopting those rude boy's attitude. In truth, Hermione didn't want to even argue with them about her friendship. She didn't feel the need to even explain why. She knew well enough they would just tell her she was probably just desperate for some friends and settling but that was so far from the truth and Hermione knew they would never understand. Theo had his friends growing up. He had his people. Snape wasn't the friendliest and didn't have friends. He was definitely cordial with others and had his acquaintances, but he wanted it that way.
The friendship she found in Harry and Ron was as common as supernovae and the friendships that bloomed because of them, the adventures and stories that will follow, are the remnants of that occurrence.
For now, things were falling into place at Hogwarts. She was top of her class, she was finally integrated into the world of magic, she still spent time with Theo and Snape, and now, she was finally feeling a sense of belonging and a sense of true friendship. Yes, for now, she was happy.
Draco Malfoy was sneering at the Gryffindor table, more specifically at three particular students.
"Mate, did you eat something sour? Why is your face like that?" Theo asked and Blaise snickered.
"Those three," Draco growled, nodding towards Harry Potter, Ron Weasely, and Hermione Granger. "What's so special about them anyway? A half-blood scarface, a ginger blood traitor, and bushy-haired, know-it-all mudblood."
Theo clenched his fists beneath the table to stop himself from punching one of his best friends. He took a deep breath before chuckling, trying to make it sound believable, "Okay, I get the other two because they think just because Harry Potter is the bloody chosen one, they can get away with anything they want, but Granger is just a mudblood," he had to stop himself from cringing at the derogatory word. "And so are a lot of people at this school. Why is she the one to get your knickers in a twist?" He said taking a bite of mashed potatoes to stop himself from clenching his jaw.
Truthfully, Theo didn't mind who his sister befriended as long as they treated her well. But after befriending the two dunderheads, it did not pass Theo how Hermione had become a new person. Sure, she was starting to be more social– which was fine– fantastic, even. He knew her struggles making friends and seeing her start to come out of her shell was a great sense of relief for him. He was happy for her. But after being friends with them, he noticed how much more trouble she seemed to find herself getting into and Theo knew it didn't take a physicist to see that it was those two bringing her into their messes.
Draco scoffed. "She does not, as you say 'get my knickers in a twist'. She's just an infuriating little mudblood who doesn't deserve to be at this school. She doesn't even have the right to have magic. Always with her nose in a book and raising her hand at every question. How is it even possible the mudblood thinks she knows everything?"
Theo grinned to himself. He was proud of his sister. She knew the answer to everything and anything. Of course, being the goddaughter of Severus Snape had its benefits. Hermione had a natural thirst for knowledge and a love of knowledge in general, but having Snape encourage it and teach her everything he knew, there was no doubt that Hermione was well on her way to being the brightest witch of their age.
"Is that jealousy I see?" Blaise snickered.
Draco scowled. "There's nothing to be jealous of. She's a filthy abomination. She's a disgrace and just look at her," he gestured. All three boys looked at said witch to see her laughing at something Weasley had said.
"What are we looking at?" Blaise asked after a moment of silence analysing Hermione.
"She's not even a pretty mudblood! She's plain and ugly. The only thing she has is her brain and even then, she's not even worth spitting on."
Theo wanted to hex his best mate into the next century. It took all his willpower not to even punch him. He had to sit there and listen as his friend insulted and degraded his sister. How dare he call his sister, plain and ugly?! How dare he insinuate she's worthless?!
"C'mon mate, you must be joking? Even I can admit that's a bunch of shite," Blaise said in between bites of his chicken.
Blaise just shrugged.
"Draco, just leave her be," Theo said, rolling his eyes and trying to play cool and unaffected. "Seriously, mate. The girl doesn't even know you and you're already hating on her because she's a stupid swat and managed to become friends with the bloody chosen one when he rejected your friendship." Theo knew he shouldn't have targeted Draco's pride, but really, he was just so angry and annoyed that he didn't care.
Draco narrowed his eyes. "Watch yourself, Nott. And why are you being soft about the mudblood?"
Theo scoffed. "I'm not, I'm just tired of hearing you rant on about the bint. You claim she is worthless yet you make it a point to bring her up nearly every chance you get and don't think we didn't notice it was because she became friends with those two."
Blaise nodded and pointed at Draco with his chicken wing, "Theo has a point. Before you would just stare at her and make small remarks about how annoying she was but now you've just been, I dunno, an arse. Are you actually just jealous of Potter and Weasley?"
"Jealous?" Draco scoffed, but Draco couldn't find another retort. He didn't think he needed to because that was certainly a ridiculous notion. Jealous? Jealous of what? That they were always on the receiving end of her smile and laugh? Definitely not.
By that point, Theo had had enough. He just ignored Draco's last sentiment and finished eating. Sure, he agreed Draco was misguided, he would be too if his mother nor Snape hadn't taught him differently, but being misguided didn't give you a pass to be a first-class git. By the end of dinner, Theo's mood was significantly worse. He sighed and pulled his sleeve down to reveal his bracelet. Tapping three times, he looked up across the hall and saw Hermione staring back at him with a worried expression. Theo shook his head and shrugged subtly. Hermione quirked a brow and nodded, but every now and then she would glance back at Theo worriedly.
Theo toyed with the bracelet and sighed. He missed spending time with his sister. Now that they were at Hogwarts, their interactions were very minimal. They both had voiced their annoyance to Snape during one of their occlumency/legilimency lessons, but they knew it was for the best. At least some interaction was better than none.
"What's that," Draco asked, pointing to his bracelet.
Theo held his hand out and showed Draco and Blaise the bracelet, turning the plate around to show that it had his name engraved on the back.
"It's nice," Draco said.
"Always? What's that supposed to mean?" Blaise asked.
"Last words to my mum," Theo muttered, tugging his sleeve down.
Blaise and Draco shared a look. While they were never close to Theo's mother or hadn't engaged with her much throughout their friendship with Theo, they knew that Theo's father was a horrible man to both his son and wife so the topic of family had always been a sore spot for Theo.
Draco clapped his friend on the back. "I packed exploding snap in my trunk, care to play later?"
Theo smiled at his friend and nodded. "Yeah, sounds good."
It was the end of the year and Hermione had just been released from the Hospital Wing. Ron remained after breaking his arm and Harry was still recovering from his encounter with Professor Quirrel, more specifically, Voldemort. Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel were working on destroying the Philosopher's Stone and now the year was coming to a close, but not without one final lecture from Snape and Theo.
"You must be reasonable! They are not–"
"No, Uncle Sev! They're my friends. My best friends. You cannot ask me to abandon them!"
Theo clenched his jaw. "Hermione, you almost got killed– twice– this year. They could've gotten you killed!"
"No, they didn't do anything! I chose to help them and I will always help them!"
Snape shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Hermione, I am responsible for both you and your brother. I promised your mother I would always take care of you two. Letting you befriend the wrong lot and allowing you to dance with Death is not taking care of you!"
"Just because he's Harry Potter does not make him a dangerous person!"
"Hermione–"
Hermione snapped her head to Theo. "No. I will not cut my friends off. Right now, they're the only people I have."
"You have us!" Theo shouted.
"I know that but it's different!" She said, scrunching her eyes and rubbing covering them with the heels of her palm. "Look," she started after taking a breath and turning to Snape. "I know what mum made you promise her, but just have faith that I know what is right for me. I just need you both to trust me, please!"
"It's not that we don't trust you, Hermione," Snape said, trying to make her see reason. "You just don't know what you'd be getting yourself into by sticking to those two boys, especially Harry Potter."
"I do know and it's no different than you being my godfather. And I'm sorry, but you can't make me cut them off. They're my friends. They're my family now too and a part of who I am and I will stand by them...no matter what," she said firmly, staring directly at Snape with a knowing look. Right then, Snape knew she was not impervious to what was going on. Hermione knew what it meant to stick with the chosen one and Snape knew she meant what she said. After this year, there was no doubt that the Dark Lord was trying to come back.
At that moment, Snape saw the distinction between Hermione and Amelia. Both, look so much alike, both brilliant and stubborn. The only difference was Hermione was willing to stand up and fight for whatever comes in her way whereas Amelia was more for self-preservation. Hermione would've made an excellent Slytherin just like her mother, but she was a Gryffindor through and through. It's where she belonged.
Snape did not know what to do with this realisation. He wanted to keep fighting about this, but he knew it would be redundant. She won't give up on this.
"Hermione, you can't really be this stubborn?!" Theo yelled in frustration.
Hermione took a deep breath and shook her head. "I'm done talking about this. I need to finish packing," she said as she marched out of the classroom with Theo right at her heel.
Draco was passing through the dungeons when he saw two figures coming out of Snape's class. What the hell is Theo doing with mudblood Granger? Draco watched silently as the two argued. They looked like they knew each other and something about that stirred an unpleasant emotion in him that he could not place.
"Why are you being so stubborn?!" Theo asked angrily.
"Mudblood Granger, stubborn? Now that's believable. What's going on here?" Draco drawled, coming up behind them with suspicious eyes.
Hermione and Theo startled, their eyes widening a fraction.
"Draco, mate! Nothing, this mudblood just ran into me and won't apologize," Theo said cooly.
Draco turned to Hermione and sneered. Her arms were crossed against her chest and she was looking away, glowering. Draco tsked. "Mudblood, mudblood, mudblood...you really need to learn how to respect your superiors. I suggest you apologise to my friend over here."
Hermione's head snapped to him and her eyes flashed with anger. "Screw you, you arsehole. I certainly hope you're not referring to yourselves as superiors. Get off your self-righteous high horse. 'Look at me I'm Draco Malfoy, I'm a pureblood, I like being an arsehole and having no one except my other pureblood bigot friends like me'," she said imitating his voice. "Just because my parents are muggles doesn't make me any less of a person than you are. If you're so superior why do I best you in everything? Why am I top in our year and you're only second?"
Draco's cheeks tinged pink and his nostrils flared. Theo wanted to jump in because even though Draco was a prat to almost everyone, he knew he had a kind heart deep down that had just been overshadowed by his father's teachings. But he knew his sister was right and he honestly hated hearing his best friend act so hateful. Draco needed to be taken down a peg and needed to get it through his clouded head that blood doesn't define a person. How the hell is blood 'filthy' or 'dirty'? How the hell does it make you a better wizard? Honestly, it's a load of rubbish, really, but Theo wanted Draco and Blaise to get that. They were as much family as Hermione and Snape were to him and he didn't think he could handle cutting them off for something as trivial as blood or lineage, but he didn't know how much more he could handle of this blind bigotry.
Theo felt worried for his sister by the way Draco's eyes flashed. He glowered and straightened his spine to tower over Hermione, yet ever the brave Gryffindor, she too, straightened her spine and met his threatening stare with one of her own.
"How dare you talk to me this way," Draco seethed, raising his wand. His fingers were clasped so tightly around it that his knuckles turned whiter than his already pale skin. "You're not even worth the dirt beneath my feet. You don't deserve to be here and one day you'll–"
"She'll what," came a low drawl. Three pairs of eyes snapped to where Snape was crossing his arms with his usual look of indifference. His beady black eyes fell on Draco's wand that was still aimed at Hermione. Despite keeping up his appearance, Theo and Hermione recognised the flash of anger in his eyes.
"She'll get what's coming," Draco said, not backing down.
Snape tutted. "Mr. Malfoy, come to my office to discuss a few things. As for you two," he said turning to Hermione and Theo, "Don't you think it best to go on to dinner? Surely you wouldn't want to miss it," he said pointedly. They both nodded and rushed off.
Draco sneered at the back of Hermione's head and followed Snape into the class.
"What is it," Draco spat angrily, breathing harshly.
Snape narrowed his eyes, "You'd do well to watch your tone, boy. I am still your professor and godfather. Take a seat." Draco sighed.
"Take a seat," Snape commanded softly when Draco hesitated.
Draco sat and slumped down, not with the typical poise he usually carried.
Snape crossed his hands behind his back and regarded Draco, "So, would you like to particularly tell me why you're so...ruthless...to Miss Granger?"
Draco scoffed and rolled his eyes, "She deserves it. She's a mudblood," he said with conviction.
Snape sighed. He cared for Draco. He was his godson after all. He knew Draco was a good boy at heart and he agreed with Hermione. He was just misguided. Narcissa and Lucius may not be the worst parents, but Lucius didn't show much affection to Draco ever, and as Draco grew, Lucius was more adamant about Narcissa doing the same. Claiming he needed to start being treated like a real man. Their toxic beliefs held strong and they made sure Draco held the same ones. Snape always wondered if there was any way to get Draco to become more open-minded without revealing too much and avoid suspicion.
"Draco, you're my godson and I want you to be honest with me. What is it about Miss Granger that has you so hateful towards her? There are so many muggle-borns at this school. Granted, you're not the nicest to them, but they don't quite strike a nerve in you like she does. You don't target them like you do with her. Why is that, I wonder?"
Draco glared at his godfather who held his stare. Finally releasing a breath, Draco slumped and put his head in his hands, avoiding messing up his perfectly gelled white hair.
"She's best friends with Harry bloody Potter. She's brilliant, strong, great with her wand, caring, witty...and nothing like my parents taught me. They told me mudbloods are beneath us, that as purebloods and Malfoy's, we're the best. They taught me mudbloods don't deserve to have magic and will steal ours from us. They taught me they're a parasite to our world and I believed them...then she comes here and starts proving me wrong, and I'm just so confused so I take out my anger on her because I guess–" Draco paused, not knowing exactly what were the right words to explain.
"While you're trying to convince Miss Granger that she's, as you call, a parasite, you're trying to convince yourself as well."
Draco stared at Snape with wide worried eyes for a moment before nodding, "Please, don't tell my parents."
Snape was proud, to say the least. He had been so worried trying to find a way to steer Draco in the right direction. But without his help, Draco was managing to question things himself, albeit not in the best way, but questioning them nonetheless.
Snape sighed and took a seat next to Draco and placed a hesitant hand on his shoulder. Draco was not used to such affection from his godfather or anyone else for that matter. Lucius and Narcissa, while they loved Draco in their own way, never hit him and never really punished him unless he misbehaved and wasn't acting proper, they were still cold. They gave him anything he wanted and for that, Draco grew up spoiled, but they weren't affectionate. A pat on the back or a small smile here and there, but they never spoiled Draco with what he truly wanted.
As he got older, conversations more revolved around how to act, how not to act; what to believe, what not to believe. It was never 'how was your day' or something trivial of the sort that made one feel cared for.
"Let me ask you a question," Snape started. "If your parents told you the sky was green because they genuinely believed that, would you yourself believe them if deep down, you knew otherwise?"
Draco looked at his godfather as if he were an idiot. "Obviously, not."
Snape was trying his best not to snap some manners into the boy but held his ground. He needed to get this very important point across.
"Well if it is so obvious then obviously don't believe what you don't believe," Snape glared.
Draco stared back for a moment before he nodded slowly, still a bit confused with himself but clearer than before.
"Now I suggest you go off to the kitchens for some food. I'm afraid you had just about missed dinner."
Draco nodded, muttering a small 'thanks, Snape' but before he could leave, Snape stopped him.
"And you'd do well to mind your uncouth language, boy. Your father may use that word mindlessly in private, but even he knows not to speak so openly derogatorily in public. You are not your parents and you can be better."
Snape watched as Draco's shoulders tensed before he swiftly continued on his way.