'You can't mean this Hermione, seriously,' yells Snape at me. Then he looks at Draco, his godson. 'Did you make her do this? Abandon her own House?' 'NO, HE DIDN'T! THEY DID THEMSELVES, THEY MADE ME CHOOSE! DON'T MIND ME CHOOSING SOMETHING THAT MAKES ME HAPPIER THAN I HAVE EVER BEEN,' I yell back at Severus.
He snaps his head back to me again, but doesn't say anything. After some long seconds of silence, he sighs. 'I guess I can't blame you for choosing your brother and your "new" friends. But Hermione.. you belong in Gryffindor. You were sorted there for reasons!' 'I WAS ALMOST SORTED INTO SLYTHERIN,' I spit out.
One of my biggest secrets for years came out. Because yes, I was indeed almost sorted into Slytherin, just as I was almost sorted into Ravenclaw. 'Wha-what do you me-mean,' stutters Severus. Wow, I did something impossible: getting Severus Snape out of words, making him stutter!
'I was almost sorted into Slytherin.. the Sorting Hat said I was cunning and very ambitious. I didn't want in Slytherin, so I begged him for something different. He doubted between Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. It became Gryffindor, as you all noticed.' Draco nods while I speak. 'Quite logical: every Malfoy I know was sorted into Slytherin, and nobody can say you weren't ambitious. And you were seriously cunning, to be honest.'
'Okay.. and what now? You can't really stay here, because this is not officially your House. You can't go back to Gryffindor, because they will make your life miserable. A miserable time isn't what you need right now, you are finally getting a little weight back and look a lot healthier then before.' 'Can't you talk with McGonagall, professor,' asks Blaise Zabini. 'I guess not: the Sorting Hat decides.' 'But what.. what if we let the Sorting Hat decide,' I ask the group.
'What do you mean,' asks Snape me. 'What if we go to McGonagall and tell her what happened around the Sorting Ceremony? Ask her to please let me be sorted as Hermione Malfoy instead of Hermione Granger. I am sure she will see sense in it!' 'I can always try.. You stay here until professor McGonagall decided.' He gives me a kiss on the head and leaves. Many people look quite weird at me.
'What, I'm his favourite,' I joke. Draco punches me with his elbow in my stomach. We laugh about it when everyone decides to turn in. 'Where are you going to sleep, in the Girls dorms isn't any room,' asks Astoria. 'I will take care of my little sis,' replies Draco. So there we go, the Slytherin girls going to the Girls dorms while Draco, his manly friends and I are going to the Boys dorms.
Luckily, the boys have some respect for their female guest and let me change in the bathroom. Not much later I'm done with brushing my teeth and changing into night clothes. First, to make sure I wouldn't see something scarring me for life, I peek around the door. When coast is clear, I enter the room. Most boys lay on their beds already, Goyle snores softly. Draco smiles at me and I crawl into his bed and in his arms. For some reason, it didn't felt weird to sleep in the arms of my brother. It felt.. natural. Yes, that's the good word.
I drift off into a peaceful sleep, my brother's arms protecting me from all harm. From all the hate of my old House. From the slap Ginny gave me. From the doubts and unsureness I have about McGonagall's decision. My brother is my safe heaven, and I believe that I'm his..