My Father's Daughter

CHAPTER SEVEN

Page count: 8

Hogwarts

Hermione woke the next morning in a comfortable bed and to the sound of rain pelting against the windows and the wind's whistles echoing. She lifted her head from her pillow and peered to the window, the rain running down the glass distorting her view of the dark grey sky.

Hermione sighed, because that was a great indication of how her day was going to go. She couldn't tell the time by the dark sky, so she cast a charm with her wand, indicating that it was a little after six in the morning.

Knowing that she wouldn't be able to fall back to sleep, she climbed out of bed, hissing when her bare feet touched the freezing cold stone of the floor. She summoned her slippers from her trunk, laughing to herself when she saw the white fur, pink floppy ears and the large googly eyes, depicting a bunny rabbit.

Her brain called forth fond memories of the animal slippers of her youth, her mother buying her a new pair each year, and each year she would receive a different animal representation, especially since starting Hogwarts. Her first year she'd been given kitten slippers, her second year she received dog slippers, her third piggy slippers, her fourth teddy bear slippers and her fifth she'd had monkey slippers. Her mother had decided that her sixth year would be the year of the rabbit.

She shook her head before climbing out of bed, this time her feet were protected from the cold stone floor, but the rest of her was exposed to the chill of the dungeons, and it was far colder than she remembered it ever being in Gryffindor Tower.

She retrieved her wash products and a clean towel, before entering the bathroom and quickly showering, making sure she was washed and dry long before any of the other girls would wake. She dressed in her new uniform ready for the first day of school, before making her bed, sighing when Crookshanks jumped up and wrinkled up the covers as he curled up in a ball and fell asleep. Seeing no point in antagonising the ginger fur-ball that was her familiar, she turned away from the bed and made her way over to the wardrobe, opening the first door where a mirror was attached on the inside.

She looked herself over, feeling strange wearing her new house colours and emblem. She knew she belonged in Slytherin, it was in her blood after all, and it had been the Sorting Hat's first choice, but for her safety, she was placed elsewhere.

Gryffindor has been her home for the last five years. She'd completed more assignments in the common room than she had in her dorm room or the library. She had curled up on the worn armchair and read a book in front of the fire almost every night. She had watched Harry and Ron play wizard's chess more times than she could count.

She felt strange, not only had Gryffindor been her home, it had also been her prison. She hadn't felt free. She hadn't felt supported, cared for, appreciated. She'd been pulled into arguments and fights, she'd been forced to set aside her own ambitions and studies in order to help others who didn't even appreciate what she had sacrificed.

She felt as if a part of her old self had died and she was being reborn, forming into a newer, better version of herself. She was a Slytherin, not just by house association, but by name and blood. She had his blood flowing through her veins. No matter what anyone said about her new standing, she couldn't let them get to her. She wouldn't let them shame her.

She was the daughter of the Dark Lord, the heir to Slytherin himself, and she would be dammed if she let anyone make her feel bad for that. She was proud of her blood. She did not care for their past actions, for blood prejudice, for her father's cause, and she did not care for the mistreatment of Muggleborns, but she could look past that. Both her father and Salazar Slytherin were very powerful, brilliant wizards, despite their actions, that could not be denied. So yes, she was proud of her family.