The first years coming to Slytherin were getting booed and hissed at. I watched the eleven year olds either approach the Slytherin table with their heads held high or their heads ducked. Very rarely did a new student look confused when they were met with this reaction, they all knew what to expect because their parents had been in Slytherin.

I had been the only one in my year to have been confused. My parents hadn't been in Slytherin, my parents hadn't gone to Hogwarts period. Or perhaps my dad had, but he had left when I was really little. Mum was as Muggle as they came.

I had been shocked when my acceptance letter came in the mail. Even more shocked when I got sorted into Slytherin, a house where I learned that I had best keep my mouth shut about the fact that I was Muggle born.

Within that first conversation at the Slytherin table, Draco Malfoy had bragged about his whole family being in Slytherin. Then Blaise Zabini had said something about Mudbloods and it was all over. I had listened to their conversation in silence, and when they asked about my family, I had simply said that neither of my parents had been in Slytherin. They had accepted this soon after and the conversation had changed.

My whole first year was spent trying to figure out a safe road I could walk on. I befriended Pansy Parkinson, despite the fact that she was a complete bitch, even at eleven. Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis were closer with each other, and Millicent liked to be by herself, but she was still a part of the group. Pansy seemed to prefer hanging out with me. I was quiet and just sort of let her speak, occasionally nodding and agreeing. Pansy had admitted to me her crush on Draco while I had absentmindedly braided her short hair out of her face. After promising I'd tell no one, Pansy had smiled a genuine smile and hugged me tightly.

I liked the other Slytherins in my year. Theodore Nott was the only one who was quieter than me; I liked hanging out when him the most. Blaise Zabini was closer to Daphne and Tracey than anyone else, but he was nice enough. And Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle were Draco Malfoy's shadows.

They were all I really had going into my second year at Hogwarts. No one in any other house would talk to, let alone hang out with me or any other Slytherin. To help get these first years sort of prepared, I scooted over and talked to them throughout the feast, at least making them feel welcome in our house.

"I'm for sure joining the Quidditch team this year!" Draco exclaimed to our group as we made out way down to the dungeon common room. "The Seeker last year graduated so I should be a shoo in for it."

"You'd be great at it, Draco." Pansy said, her eyes shining at him. She had written me lots of letters over the summer about how much she missed him. I nodded along with their words, not really listening to what they were saying.

The group of second year Gryffindors passed us and Pansy grasped my arm. "Look at that hideous thing!" Pansy hissed into my ear. I figured she was talking about Parvarti Patil, who had a heavy looking ornament in her hair. Before I could say anything, Pansy was already speaking up. "Hey, Patil! How're you able to lift your head with that rock on your head?"

Patil stuck her nose in the air and marched past. Lavender Brown shot me and Pansy a glare before linking her arm with her friend. Hermione Granger walked by herself behind them, looking troubled.

"Where're your shadows, Granger?" Pansy asked, her voice sounding shrill. Hermione Granger also ignored Pansy and continued past. I recognized the boy at her heels as Neville Longbottom.

Longbottom had struck me as a pitiful figure when I had met him last year. The chubby boy was always nervous, constantly fidgety, and he was prone to hurting himself or others. In our first Potions class, Longbottom had melted a cauldron and gotten the potion spilled all over himself. I distinctly remembered his whimpering when he was then covered in boils which, according to the textbook, were supposed to be burning and itching. That, along with a flying accident that broke his wrist, earned the boy a reputation for being pretty whiny and constantly hurting. I had personally never said a word to him, there was never any need to. Pansy did all the talking for everyone.

"Longbottom," Pansy started. "You look like you got fatter over the summer!"

Longbottom looked up briefly, his brown eyes looking scared. But he was able to duck his bright pink face and speed walk away from us Slytherins. I shook my head slightly as he left.

"I thought he would've failed last year." Draco said thoughtfully. "Longbottom's probably the stupidest student in our year, maybe the whole school."

That was rich, I thought, considering Vincent and Gregory were standing on either side of Draco. Those two had barely scraped by during last years exams, and Draco had practically bragged in the common room that his father had pulled some strings to keep Vincent and Gregory with us. I had no idea if this was true or not, but Lucius Malfoy was a school governor, from what Draco said about him.

Either way, I rolled my eyes and followed the rest of the group.

The common room was a welcome sight. The wide window revealing the lake to us was filled with the shadows of the merpeople. I saw some older students already standing at the window and waving hello. A roaring fire was blazing in the massive onyx fireplace, filling the tall room with dancing shadows. Draco flung himself into the first green plush sofa he got to and buried his face into the cushions. I ran my hands over the sofa's surface, relishing in its softness.

I had missed this common room. Clearly, it was the best of the common rooms, and the coziest. I said goodnight to my friends and went down some stairs to the dormitory. My things were already piled in front of my four poster bed, the emerald sheets and thick quilts cleaned and waiting for me.

My bed was between Pansy's and Millicent's. I immediately recognized Perseus Magnus Bullstrode laying on Millicent's bed.

"Hello, Perseus." I greeted him. The fat black cat meowed quietly as I pet him and he tightened the ball he was curled into. I smiled at him, happy to see the friendly cat already making himself at home.

A window that stretched from floor to ceiling was on the other side of the dormitory, and I had to wave hello to several merpeople as they passed by. By the time I was curled into my own bed, the other girls were entering. Millicent went to sleep first, Perseus only moving to sleep on the small of her back. Tracey and Daphne whispered excitedly to each other for a while and Pansy stayed up the longest, trying to get some reading in before class tomorrow.

I smiled into my pillow and I wrapped the quilt around me more. I had missed Hogwarts and my friends a lot. And something told me this would be a good year.

When I woke the next morning, I was delighted to find out that the first class of the new year was Charms, my favorite class. I was good at Charms, I understood it. Professor Flitwick was my favorite teacher here at Hogwarts; he was always quick to give praise when it was deserved.

"Welcome back to another year!" Professor Flitwick cheered, clapping his hands. "I'm so glad to see you all again. And I hope you've all done your summer work?"

I gave the small stack of papers on my desk a glance. The summer homework was the first thing I had done over break. Around the room, I saw some other students nod that they had indeed done the summer work, others like Weasley, scowled slightly.

"With that said, we're going to jump right into our first lesson." Professor Flitwick said cheerfully, waving his wand. All of the packets of paper rushed to him and piled themselves roughly beside him. "In your textbooks, please turn to chapter three. We'll be starting with the wand-lighting charm. Now, this may seem like a silly question, but can anyone tell me what this particular charm is used for?"

My hand went into the air at the exact same time as Granger's. I made eye contact with the bushy haired girl and narrowed my eyes. Granger held my gaze firmly as Professor Flitwick tried to figure out which one of us to pick on.

"Hm, Miss Schmidt." Professor Flitwick finally pointed at me. "You seem eager to answer."

"The wand lighting charm does just that." I said, finally tearing my eyes away from Granger. "It lights up the dark and can even reveal hidden places if pointed in the right direction."

"Correct, Miss Schmidt!" Professor Flitwick exclaimed. "Take ten points to Slytherin."

I couldn't help the smirk that came to my face. Pansy flashed me a smile and Draco smirked over in the direction of the Gryffindors. I had already read over this book a couple of times over the summer, the moment I got my hands on it.

"The lecture for the wand lighting charm is rather boring, I'm afraid." Professor Flitwick said, stepping down from his podium to pace the length of the classroom. "But, it must be done! Be sure to take thorough notes: the better the notes, the faster you'll get the hang of the spell."

The class flew by, and in the end we didn't get to practice the actual spell. I still left Charms feeling lighter than I had since leaving Hogwarts last year. Tracey walked beside me and gave me a smile.

"You look a lot happier, Heather." Tracey said. "I take it as you're happy to be back?"

"I'm thrilled that I'm back." I said with a toothy grin.

"Yeah well, you've gotta promise to help me with my Charms homework this year." Tracey said. "I almost failed last year."

"You won't fail this year, Tracey." Daphne said, taking Tracey's other side.

Draco, Vincent, and Gregory led the way to the Transfiguration wing, the three of them bending their heads close together. I frowned at their backs and wondered silently what it was they were planning. It wasn't until the small boom went off behind us and the three boys spun around did I realize that they must've set up a prank.

Longbottom was the victim of the prank. His bookbag had just exploded, and the chubby boy had screamed in fright. Draco's laugh echoed loudly across the corridor, as did everyone else's. I kept my mouth shut and watched the Gryffindors rush to the aid of Longbottom. Some of the Ravenclaws were openly laughing as well, while the Hufflepuffs looked on with mixed expressions.

"Oh Merlin, Heather, look at his face!" Pansy snickered loudly and pointing. Potter and Weasley heard Pansy and Weasley didn't waste times before stalking over.

"What'd you do to Neville's backpack?" Weasley snapped.

"I didn't do a thing." I said. Pansy couldn't stop giggling and I wished she shut up. Weasley was still glaring hard at the both of us. I glared back at him. When whipped whipped out his wand, I made an instinct grab for my own wand.

"What is the meaning of this?" Professor Flitwick's voice, despite being high pitched and kind of squeaky, still managed to sound intimidating. The short man made through the parted crowd, his eyes taking in Longbottom's smoking backpack, and my wand out along with Weasley's. "Duelling in the corridors is against school rules!

"Weasley, Schmidt, fifteen points will be taken from Gryffindor and Slytherin." Professor Flitwick said. "Both of you will be receiving detentions. Now get to class, all of you!"

Weasley gave me another hate filled glare, as if I had forced him to grab his wand. Pansy was back at my shoulder and she grabbed my arm, pulling me away from the scene. Draco went to my other side.

"Sorry about that, Heather." Draco said, not sounding sorry at all. "But it was worth it seeing the look on that idiot's face." And suddenly he was talking about how he and Gregory snuck some delay fireworks into Longbottom's bag when he wasn't looking.