"Hermione Granger!" Professor McGonagall's stern voice called.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione stepped forward, trying to appear calm although on the inside she was freaking out. As she followed the gray-haired witch up the stairs and into the Great Hall, she desperately tried to remember everything she had read. She awkwardly climbed onto the tall stool, attempting to look calm.

Slowly, she felt the hat being placed on her head.

"Ahhh, very smart, very, very smart indeed, the deep, ringing voice of the hat spoke, " Lots of ambition, very eager to prove yourself aren't you? A wonderful mind for sure, but where to put you, hmmm." Following this outburst the hat paused, finally announcing boldly, and to Hermione, almost mischievously, "Slytherin!"

She heard a few gasps. She knew from her studies that muggle-borns were never Slytherins! The founder himself, Salazar Slytherin, had hated muggles!

Hermione was frozen. Was this a mistake? Where they going to kick her out? Imagine that, her first day and already an outcast. She sighed before cautiously walking over and sitting next to a very pale girl with blonde hair.

"Hello," the blonde girl chirped, surprisingly Hermione with her friendliness, "I'm Tracey Davis, nice to meet you."

"Oh, um, hi, I'm Hermione Granger," Hermione replied with a smile. Tracey smiled back as they watched the rest of the sorting. Dumbledore had given a speech, which, to Hermione's dismay, she missed most of due to Tracey's loud squeals of "Loooook! It's Harry Potter!" Hermione had turned to look but instead was met a pair of cold, gray eyes glaring at her. No longer caring about seeing Potter she turned away, pretending to be really interested in her ice cream.

After the feast all the Slytherins headed downstairs. They arrived at a wall upon which one of the Prefects, Katherine Something, yelled "Osmoria!" The wall swung open, revealing a dark passage that lead to a dimly lit, mainly green and silver room, filled with couches and tables. The room was decorated, in Hermione's opinion rather depressingly, with skulls, bones, snakes, and other things of that nature. The girl prefect, Hermione found out her name was Katherine Brocys, lead them up to their rooms. Noticing she was sharing with Tracey, Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. The room had two large beds with their trunks beside them. Hermione, extremely tired from the day's events, climbed in to her bed.

She was about to fall asleep when Tracey suddenly blurted out, "You're muggle-born. Aren't you? I don't recognize you at all, and I don't think I've ever met a wizard named Granger."

Oh no. Hermione thought, her heart sinking, she's going to hate me now. Hermione had never relly had friends before, and she had quite liked the idea of Tracey and her being friends.

"Cause, I mean I don't really care, I'm a half-blood. The whole 'pure blood' thing is pretty idiotic to me. "

Hermione broke out into a huge grin, her perfectly white teeth shining. "You have no idea how happy I am to hear that!" she said jumping out of bed to give the small girl a hug. "I'm so worried everyones is going to hate me because of it," she admitted.

The blonde smiled, then cheerfully added, "At first I'm sure some of them will. If I were you I'd be really careful about what I do. But, I think, after a while, once they learn you're just like us, they'll not hate you." Hermione laughed.

"Oh, but, um, yah I'd avoid Draco, he's the little blonde boy, and, uh, probably Pansy Parkinson, too, both their families are very pure blood oriented. "

"Hmm," Hermione replied sleepily, "Don't you think Pansy resembles a pug?"

Both girls broke into high-pitched giggles before falling into a deep sleep.

The next day, both girls woke up early and headed to breakfast, trying to avoid any other Slytherins. Unfortunately, on the way back from breakfast they ran into none other than Pansy and Draco.

"Well if it isn't the little Mudblood," Pansy nasally taunted.

"Don't even think for a second that you're really a Slytherin. Salazar Slytherin would roll over in his grave if he knew this happened," Draco added, his glaring gray eyes once again giving her the death stare.

"Oh, shut-up Malfoy! Since when has the sorting hat made a mistake, huh?" You two are the biggest idiots I have ever met, and I sincerely hope you fall into a hole and die, because it would do the world a giant favor." Tracey retorted, grabbing Hermione and dragging her in the opposite direction muttering angrily about "Malfoy, the little shit."

Hermione, shocked at her friend's outburst, was speechless.