The Mermaid and The Wizard

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Things have been different at Hogwarts, that didn't mean that all was positive.

Some of the positive and interesting things about Hogwarts were the Changing Staircase, how many hidden and secret passages one could stumble upon and of course the classes themselves. Soon, every first year found out that magic was more than waving their wands and saying silly words. They had to study the theory behind the charm, hex and curse. Take notes on what each spell could do learn the proper name pronunciation and the correct wand movement as well. Most first years have yet to preform any display of magic for their classes, instead they were given homework, though Hermione wasn't hindered by this.

To Hermione's dismay, she wasn't able to make friends like she wanted to. Instead everyone stirred completely clear of her for the simple fact that she would raise her hand (after a few moments to see if someone else would answer) to answer any and all questions the professors ask, giving them the textbook accurate answers. Not to mention that when it came to the rules, she respected them as if they were the Holy Grail. She tried to not let their actions bother her, but it was hard when her own dorm-mates talked about her when they thought her asleep.

These things paled in comparison to the fact that Draco hadn't approached her since the start of term.

It's now been two weeks since then and all he has done is avoid her completely. Hermione, for her part, had stayed away from him at the beginning, but then tried to approach him when his bodyguards weren't around, only for him to turn and walk away from her. After the fourth attempt she stopped trying, hurt by his actions.

Her only escapes; were to swim in the Lake, away from the pain, the comments, the nicknames, all of it, and the library were she had found a secluded corner for her to relax and hidden, even though any student stepped foot in the library since it was still early term.

Every night, under the cover of darkness and with Professor's Dumbledore pass with her at al times, she would explore the Lake as much as possible, and every night she would swim by the Slytherin Common Room to peek inside and watch in sadness as Draco would sit there, looking like her ruled them all before returning to the castle.

Now, here she sat. In the secluded corner on the library she had claimed as her own. Taking notes and studying ahead as always. She once again had the place practically to herself since no one ever went to the library. As she took notes, her mind went back to her first class of Potions, making her quill stop mid sentence as she recalled the events that happened.

Flashback:

She had woken up early so as to not have to find an alternate route due to the Changing Staircase. Hermione quickly got her school robes from her trunk and proceeded to the bathroom they all shared for a quick bath. This has been Hermione's morning routine since she arrived. One of the good things humans had was that they could shower and be done quickly, for a mermaid there is no such thing as a shower sadly. At least not until she was a bit more matured.

Once done with her bath, she got dressed, brushed her teeth and combed her hair as best as she could. Her hair had turned extremely frizzy now that she spent more time out of water. 'I'll have to ask mom for some hair product,' Hermione thought as she got out of the bathroom and left the dorms after getting her bag just as the other girls had begun to stir.

She felt proud of herself when she reached the Great Hall with no interruptions or trouble from either other students or the school's resident poltergeist known as Peeves. Said poltergeist loves to pull pranks on every student and even some professors, though he respected the Weasley twins to a degree and even helped them in some pranks. The only ones able to keep him in check were Professor Dumbledore and The Bloody Baron, the ghost of Slytherin House. As if that wasn't enough, the castle itself seemed to love playing its own pranks on the students by making them believe some doors were real when they were fake or make them move around or having to tickle them at a certain spot to get them to open.