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Hermione Granger braced her shoulders as she boarded the train. She hadn't wanted to ask for help with her luggage and had promptly used her wand to levitate her trunk. Everyone said you weren't meant to do magic outside of school, but Hermione figured that in such a crowded place, with magic being cast willy nilly, the ministry wouldn't be able to tell who was casting what.

She forced herself to take a deep breath and remember her plan. She was going to be cool, relaxed, and witty. She would not allow herself to become the social pariah she had been all of primary school. She tossed her hair back(which she had spent nearly thirty minutes on to reduce the frizz this morning) and, after eavesdropping a bit outside of the compartments, opened the first one that seemed to have first years in it.

There was a pale, blonde-headed boy who seemed...pointy. She recognized his looks to be similar to the picture of Lucius Malfoy, the head of the Noble and Ancient House of Malfoy. Beside him was a similar boy in the skin color tier. His hair was dark and curly. Opposite them sat a pug-nosed black haired girl and beside her was a dark-skinned boy who was messing with his trunk.

They all stopped talking to look at her and for the tiniest of moments she panicked. This was stupid. She was in way over her head.

But she took a deep breath.

"Sorry, all the other compartments are full. I'm Hermione Granger," she said. She didn't actually know if all the other compartments were full, infact, she had a tinkling feeling they weren't. They was still a small number of students saying goodbye to their parents, actually. 

"Granger? Of the Dagworth-Grangers?" The pale boy asked. 

She nodded.

Liar liar liar liar—

"Oh, brilliant," the dark skinned boy groaned. "Another potions prodigy like our dear Theo here." 

The curly haired boy blushed and swatted at the boy, hissing a "Blaise!"  so Hermione assumed that must be him and that Blaise must be the dark skinned boy.

"If your of the Dagworth-Grangers, how come I've never seen you in any society events with your family?" The girl asked.

Hermione forced herself not to panic and instead said, quite cooly, "My father moved us to the continent during the war. I had to beg him to allow me to attend Hogwarts." 

"Your accent, though," the girl insisted. 

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "I grew up with English people, obviously. Do you think my family would let me interact with dirty muggles?" She sneered even as she got a sick feeling in her stomach.

"I'm Draco Malfoy," the blonde boy spoke up before the girl could continue. He took her hand and kissed the knuckle of it. "That's Pansy Parkinson, and the other two are Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott. Sit down."

She did, and she had to force herself not to smirk.

She had actually done it, actually fooled these people who had seemed oh-so-powerful just days ago.

"Sorry 'bout Pansy, she's a right bitch," Blaise said suddenly, which led to Pansy Parkinson slapping the hell out of him. 

"Language!" Hermione and Pansy said in unison before locking eyes and dissolving into laughter.

"What have we done," Blaise said mournfully, "we've given Pansy a girl friend!" 

"Oh, shut it Blaise," Pansy said, glaring at him. She shoved him off the seat beside her and dragged Hermione over. "Tell me about the continent, Mione. What's the fashion over there like? Is it true that the ghost of Marie Antoinette talks to the French wizards?" 

Hermione grinned and so began to lies and betrayal of Hermione Granger.

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Crossing the lake to Hogwarts was incredibly terrifying seeing as Blaise and Theo wouldn't stop rocking their boat back and forth, causing Hermione and Pansy to shriek and scream at them. Hermione was quite sure she had thassolophobia now as well, seeing as Hagrid(Draco seemed to hate him, so Hermione supposed she ought to as well) mentioned a giant squid being in the water.

When they finally got off the boat and found Draco, he was arguing with Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley. Hermione sighed as she watched the interaction.

When Draco returned, scowling, he whispered his complaints seeing as Professor McGonagall had come to give them instructions. Hermione had to bite down the urge to tell him to be quiet. 

They filed into the Great Hall, Hermione holding onto Pansy(who she had decided was wonderfully amazing)'s hand tightly. "Oh, what if I get sorted into Ravenclaw instead of Slytherin?" Hermione said, louder than she had thought because Draco turned to her. 

"You'll get Slytherin, Mione, don't you worry. You were right vicious when Pans was questioning you." He reassured her, and she felt a small flush of pleasure. He, a member of the sacred 28, believed she'd get into Slytherin. She was somehow reassured and watched as her friends got sorted. 

"Granger, Hermione!" 

By the time her name was called, she was quaking in her boots. So far, all her friends had been straight to Slytherin. The hat had hardly hesitated.

She walked up to the stool and sat down, the hat dropping onto her head.

Where to put you? 

"Slytherin Slytherin Slytherin-", she was whispering under her breath.

Ah, you want Slytherin, do you? Odd for a Muggleborn, although you do show great ambition and cunning.

"Yes! Put me in Sly-"

Ah, but it does take bravery to do what you did on the train today. You would do just as well in Gryffindor...and your love for knowledge would do you well in Ravenclaw...

"But I use my knowledge, I don't just store it. And I'd never fit in Gryffindor, it's obvious that Slytherin is the best option!" 

Well, I do take what students want into account. And you've already fooled the children of Death Eaters. Yes, I see it now. Better be...

"SLYTHERIN!" The hat roared in her ear, and Hermione broke into such a bright smile she was sure she would blind the students looking at her. She didn't falter as she walked towards the silver and green table full of cheering students. She sat down beside Draco, beaming.

"I was nervous, for a moment there. The hat wanted to put me in Ravenclaw or even Gryffindor," she admitted to him.

Draco gave her a pitying look. "Ravenclaw isn't so bad, but Gryffindor is...Merlin, I'd feel horrible if you went off to live with them, Mione." 

She grinned. "Well, I didn't. I'm here, where I belong." She was fidgeting with her now silver and green tie, and as the rest of their friends joined them, Hermione could not help but feel a warmth she hadn't felt in a long time. She had accomplished so much yet so little in such a short amount of time. She'd force these people to accept her, make herself indispensable to them, so that if the truth of her blood ever came out, they couldn't make themselves get rid of her.

Yes, her plan was clear in her head.