e d i t e d

It was the first day of classes, but far too early for anyone to be awake. The sun's rays were just peeking through the curtains. Still, there was one girl up in the first year dorms.

Hermione Jean Granger.

Her hair was bushier than ever as she had just woken up. It was 5:30 in the morning. She had been training herself to wake up early in the weeks before her arrival, knowing she couldn't have any muggle technology like an alarm clock.

The girl looked around the room to everyone else who was still asleep. Her eyes caught on Anna, who was softly snoring. She had an arm around her kitten that was gazing up at Hermione with bright blue eyes, flecks of gold gleaming in the soft light.

"Hey, Anna," whispered Hermione, shaking Anna awake. The girl groaned and looked at her. "You need to get up, we're gonna be late for classes."

"What...it feels so early," she said groggily, giving a stretch causing Leah to hop down from the bed. The girl's eyes found the clock on the wall and she gasped. "Hermione...our classes are in TWO HOURS!"

The volume of her voice woke the others in the room, who groaned in annoyance of being disturbed from their slumber. Hermione just giggled and shrugged, "I like to be early, it's the first day after all."

Anna was actually quite annoyed at the girl. She barely even knew her, yet she was being woken up at the crack of dawn.

Hell, it took Anna 10 minutes to get ready and she was out the door.

But she knew she wasn't going back to sleep, so she decided to take a morning shower - which was way out of her routine - and look above acceptable as far as her appearance went.

On the other side of the Gryffindor Tower, the first year boys all woke up late, scrambling to get ready. Harry was trying to figure out how to properly assemble his outfit while Ron was cursing way too loud...his mother would have been ashamed.

Nonetheless, they all got ready early enough to get breakfast in the Great Hall. Ron and Hermione met Harry and Ron at the Gryffindor table. Anna laughed upon seeing Harry's attire.

"Do you not know how to tie a tie?" she asked with a chuckle.

Harry blushed and looked down at the sad knot he made. "Erm, I guess I never learned."

Anna sat next to him and slowly tied it herself. Her uncle had taught her and Violet when they were younger. She couldn't quite remember why, but she still remembered how.

She also attempted to fix his messy raven hair, and successfully managed to get a few sprigs down.

"Thanks," he said shyly, giving her a toothy smile. She returned it, nodding. Both of their cheeks were dusted pink.

"Oh, get a room you two!" Ron gagged before he shoveled a big forkful of eggs.

The four of them ate quickly and made their way to charms. All of the first years were nervous, especially those from muggle households. They had no clue what was about to happen, but they were excited to see real magic performed!

Anna was so nervous she wouldn't be good enough. What if she wasn't magical enough? She wasn't raised around it...the rumors from purebloods shook her. They were said to not have been as strong as those with purebloods.

Oh, but little did she know she was more powerful than some of the best wizards.

Luckily they made it to class on time. There was only one table open, and other scattered seats. It seemed as if many of the first years were too scared to sit at tables with people they didn't know.

But Anna was the opposite.

Just as Harry was about to pull her to the empty table, she cheerfully said, "I'm going to meet someone...hopefully we can make some friends!"

The boy just gave a weak smile and nod, letting Hermione and Ron have the table. He was nervous...he was very shy. The Dursley's never taught him how to make friends, and him and Anna were always outcasts.

Anna spotted a friendly face: Neville Longbottom. He was sitting in the back of the class by himself, fidgeting with his robes. She went over to his table and gave a smile, saying, "Hello! I'm Anna, do you mind if I sit with you?"

"O-oh, no, that's okay," he muttered, trying to smile in a way that wouldn't expose his buck teeth.

"Awesome, thanks," she said happily. "I remember you...Neville, right? The one with the toad?"

"Yeah. I'm sure that's how everyone will remember me, the boy with the loose toad."

She smirked, "Hey, at least you're not known for your dead parents and surviving murder."

The boy's eyes widened as he turned to look at her. "Oh, I'm so-"

"No, no, I was joking," she said with a laugh. "I mean, it's true, but...nevermind, that was too dark of a joke. So what's your toad's name? And why a toad? I mean, it's interesting but most people get cats and owls."

"His name is Trevor, my grandma got him for me-"

"Hello class!" interrupted a voice cheerily.

Anna was looking around for the teacher...she giggled when she realized who he was...a dwarf stood atop a tall stool. She whispered to Neville, "He's so cool!"

"Happy first day of term! I am Professor Flitwick and I will be your charms teacher throughout your journey here at Hogwarts. For our first day we will be learning a levitating charm! Very helpful and a basic spell. First we will practice the want movement. Pick up your wand, swish and flick."

The girl picked up her wand and dramatically did the incantation, causing Neville to laugh. "See? I'm not that scary."

"Okay all," announced Flitwick, "Next let's all say the spell, Wingardium Leviosa!"

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

"Okay, now that we know all of the steps, let's put it together. Do the movement and say the spell, and try to lift that feather up. I will leave you all to try it."

Everyone turned their attention to their feathers. Anna was unsure how to approach this...did she have to think about it extra hard? Or just do it like second nature?

"Wingardium Leviosa," she said and the feather immediately lifted, moving to whatever height she wanted.

"Woah...how did you do that?" asked Neville, staring in awe. "I've tried and it won't move at all!"

"Um...I don't know, actually, I just did it." Anna actually was confused. The magic just felt so natural to her, no thought was even required, it seemed. "Oh, look, Hermione's done it!"

Professor Flitwick failed to notice Anna's success, but saw Hermione. "Wow, Miss Granger's done it! Let's give her a round of applause."

Anna tried to help Neville for the remainder of the class period, and finally, just a few minutes before the bell rang, they succeeded. She couldn't help but notice Harry easily get it while Ron and Hermione argued the majority of the class period because his enunciation was wrong.

The class ended and Potions was next. Harry caught up with Anna, giving her a smile. "Hey, that was pretty fun, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was a lot easier than I thought!"

"I bet Potions won't be as great."

Anna frowned, "Why because of Snape? You never know it could be a lot of fun! I'm going to the washroom, I'll see you in class!"

They gave a wave and parted ways.

As she started heading back, someone started walking beside her. She turned to see Draco Malfoy. "Hey, can I help you?"

"No, I'm just here to walk you to class," he said cooly.

Anna grimaced slightly as she looked behind him and saw Crabbe and Goyle trailing along, never failing to give mean looks to everyone they passed. She asked Draco, "Oh, do you have Potions too? How did you know that's where I was going?"

"Slytherin and Gryffindor have Potions together," he said. "Speaking of houses...why did you deny your sorting?"

The girl just shook her head. She knew the question would come eventually, but she still couldn't help but dread it. She was beyond embarrassed.

Yet the boy just kept nagging, "Come on, Black, why not Slytherin? It's the best bloody house here. Everyone in Slytherin succeeds. And besides, Gryffindor is just a load of wannabe's-"

"Draco, just stop." Her voice was colder than ice. "It's not where I belong, I just know it."

They approached the Potions classroom and Draco followed Anna to the empty table she quickly sat at. She failed to notice Harry saving a seat for her, and the boy was quite offended, frowning upon seeing her with platinum blond.

"Well, you don't know your heritage, do you?" asked Draco, receiving a shaking head in response. "We're cousins, Black. You're a descendant of one of the purest families in the magical world, besides your muggle mum. Everyone except your father has been in Slytherin."

Anna's grey eyes widened as she looked at the boy. She could not believe they were related. But, upon looking at him, she noticed similar features. The cold grey eyes, pale skin, and sharp features.

Before she could respond, Professor Snape came to the front of the room, black robes billowing behind him, as if there were fans underneath.

She couldn't help but become distracted during the man's lecture. Her head was swimming with so many questions, and she was hit with the realization that she didn't know anything about her family.

Her uncle always avoided talking about her mother, and her father was never spoken of, nor was his family. He always made it seem like her parents weren't ever close.

Anna had her aunt, uncle, and cousin, so she never felt the need for her own family. She was loved and cared for, and everything else didn't matter...until now.

She couldn't even imagine how Harry must've felt.

"Potter!" Snape's voice run through the room, making Anna's eyes snap up. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

The girl looked back at Harry, who looked terrified. "Sir, I don't know-"

"Let's try again, Potter, where would you look if I asked you to find me a bezoar?"

"I don't know, sir."

Draco started snickering beside the girl, who swiftly kicked him under the table. He yelped, but quickly went silent when Anna glared at him.

"What's the difference between-"

"Hermione seems to know, why don't you call on her?" asked Anna quietly, causing all eyes to go to her.

Snape glared. "Well, Miss Black, why don't I ask you?"

"How would I know? You're supposed to teach us!" she defended, her face turning crimson. "All I know that that a bezoar is in the stomach of a goat."

The man glowered at her, but decided against speaking. He went to the chalkboard and started writing bullet points for the day's lesson.

Harry mouthed 'thank you' to Anna and she just gave a weak smile before turning around.

They both had a feeling their first year at Hogwarts would be much more difficult than it seemed at first.

They didn't know that Snape would be the least of their problems.

~=~

~In which some old sections with inline comments are perserved~

"Calm down, we still have.. A HALF HOUR!?" I yelled as I looked at my clock. What? I still have a half hour? Why did she wake me up so early?

^lmao, my concept of time just have been nonexistent because a half hour is not early at all wtf

"Yeppers," I said. Then a little goblin stood up on a stool.

^hE'S A DWARF!!!!111!!1!111! wow I was offensive

"Yay it worked!" She said happily. The rest of the class, we talked and became friends. I found out she was a muggle born, in Hufflepuff, and loved animals. She was great. But this was the only class I had with her because most of the classes we had with the Slytherins sadly. Class was dismissed. I said bye to Amanda, gathered my stuff and left for potions. I was walking down the steps, tripped and almost fell, but someone caught me. I looked up into the grey eyes that belonged to Draco Malfoy.

"Thanks," I said.

"No problem," he said with a smile, an actual smile, not the smirk he usually wore.

^eW they are cOuSiNs and also my writing sucked pp, how did people read this garbage?

I was really ticked at Draco. I could tell that Anna didn't mind his presence, but I absolutely hated him. I didn't hear half of what Snape said, so I just started writing in my notebook, so I didn't look like I was fuming, which I was. I mean, I know I'm not going out with Anna or anything, but Draco likes her, and I can tell, actually everyone can. He made it so freaking obvious last night before the sorting. I just wish I could tell her I liked her. I snapped out of my thoughts when Snape asked me a question.

^bRuh you're literally eleven, hush. also who ever used the word "ticked"? 

"Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

"I don't know sir," I said quietly. What was he talking about.

"Let's try again, Potter, where would you look if I asked you to find me a bezoar?"

"What's the difference between monkshoods and wolfsbane?" He asked again.

^thank you all for the lovely translations

"Ok... I think asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the draught of living death. Then, a bezoar is a stone that's taken from the stomach of a goat and it can save you from almost any poison. Monks wood and wolfsbane are the same plant, anything else you would like to know, Professer," I growled the last part. His face looked almost emotionless, but I could see that he looked kind of amused.

"I have to say, that was...I guess a little impressive.... Five points to Gryffindor," he muttered, but the class was so quiet, everyone could hear him. They gasped. He almost never gave points to other houses besides Slytherin. It was a good thing I read some of my potions book last night. And Hermione talked about potions during breakfast.

^um, no. snape doesn't ever say anything like that nor would an eleven year-old besides Hermione be able to answer those questions. why did I make Anna a knock-off Hermione? also I spelled "professor" wrong eNd me.