The Shades of Grey

Sign of the Dark

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter, not me. All characters and plot that are in her books are hers.

AN: Read, vote, and comment!  Thank you!

CHAPTER THREE

SIGN OF THE DARK

Hermione awoke in the morning to light shining in from the window. She had gotten first pick of the beds last night, the other girls graciously (or not so graciously, in Pansy's case) offering the privilege, so Hermione chose the only bed by the window. Hermione had never felt so much like a princess - people seemed to be going out of their way to please her. Hermione figured that it had something to do with her lies of being a Black.

Hermione quietly grabbed her showering supplies and made her way to the girl's shared bathroom, careful not to wake the others. Tracy, who slept two bunks down from Hermione, Daphne separating the two, was the only other already awake. Hermione looked at her questioningly, but the girl simply angled her head towards the shower, as if to say you go first. Hermione wondered why in the world being a Black gave her so much power, but she shrugged it off and strode into an empty bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later, Hermione emerged to find everyone else awake. They all sat on their beds, seemingly waiting. Hermione locked eyes with Tracy and Daphne, who both smiled and jumped up, taking off towards the two available showers. The other two, Millicent and Pansy, gave Hermione a quick look before avoiding her gaze.

Oh, how Hermione wished there was a book titled Pureblood Rules and Customs 101.

Apparently, the news of Hermione being a Black spread. When she walked into her first Transfiguration class, the Professor paused at Hermione's name in roll call, as Professor Flitwick had done a few hours previous.

"Would you prefer me to call you Miss Granger or Miss Black?" Professor McGonagall asked Hermione.

"I would prefer if you used my real name, Professor." Hermione said, grinning on the inside, "Thank you for asking."

And so the class continued, the others giving Hermione looks the entire time. Hermione did her best to ignore them. It really wasn't that hard, for the classwork was... difficult, to say the least.

Hermione stared at the little matchstick in front of her. She'd tried to turn it into a matchstick, but all she could do was make it pointy! Professor McGonagall still gave a point - rather reluctantly - to Slytherin, for it, but pointy wasn't enough! If Hermione was going to be the best, she had to do something as simple as the first Transfiguration lesson of the year!

Hermione closed her eyes. She needed to think logically. Ranting in her head would do her no good. Hermione thought about what she was trying to accomplish. She needed to change a matchstick into a needle. It seemed so simple, but... well, it wasn't, apparently. She remembered what the book she'd read had said. Wandwork, check. Words, check. Will, check times ten. Visualization...

Oh.

Hermione had been imagining a needle, but she didn't have the image in her head. So she thought of it - a small, silver, shiny, stiff string-type thing with a pointed end on one side and a miniscule loop on the other. Hermione suddenly wondered if she could make the needle gold. For a golden medal, of course. For the best. And that's what Hermione was going to be. So she visualized that, too.

She waved her wand and said the spell, keeping the image clear in her mind. Hermione opened her eyes to see a small, golden, shiny, stiff sting-type thing with a pointed end on one side and a miniscule loop on the other. A golden needle. Hermione grinned, doing a little happy dance in her seat before realizing that wasn't proper to do and going still. Thankfully, it seemed that no one noticed.