You Are What You Pretend to Be

AN: This may seem like a typical story line, and maybe it is. This is my first shot at an HP fanfiction. Let's see how it goes.

You Are What You Pretend to Be

Chapter 1: Hermione Jane Granger

Whore. Slut. Easy. A quick lay. The one night stand.

These were the nicknames given to me by everyone who knew the kind of person I was and what kind of stuff I did. They just didn't understand.

It wasn't that I was forced to do what I did, nor was I so low in my self-esteem that I had to lower myself to something like that. I loved what I did, I loved having these people make me feel special for that one night. There was a different person each night so I never got bored.

It all started the summer after first year.

The year had been hectic, being a first year; meeting my new friends and helping Harry fight Professor Quirrell. When summer came around, I was eleven years old. That's when I was first introduced to the world of sex and what one could gain for a small price.

I lost my virginity that summer. It was painful, but that pain brought pleasure as a counter balance.

Someone once asked me, do I regret it? I answered, no, but I know that sooner or later I will. I'll regret not saving it for the person who truly deserved that gift, if I ever find that person. But for now, for the years I've lived to this very day, I haven't.

At school, the true me would never be allowed. I would be shunned from the very people that I surrounded myself with almost everyday. Besides, even if I did decide to let out my real personality, no one would believe it was me. They would think I was putting on an act, trying to salvage a mere social life. I don't think they understood why I acted the way I did at school.

My summers were filled with parties, sex, drugs, alcohol, drive-bys, raids, fights and every thing that the mortal world had to offer. Before being accepted into Hogwarts I knew of these things but had never been ready to participate. Now, I was a leader, I was someone. My cell phone always had missed calls or text messages that had gone unanswered. I was almost never home.

My parents? They knew the kind of neighborhood we lived in, they knew what kind of life their daughter was bound to have. They didn't do anything to stop it, knowing that anything they tried would lead to a greater rebellion, taking their only daughter farther away from them then she already was. They couldn't stop it and so they ignored me, providing me with whatever I wanted; though even that wasn't much since I was provided shelter, food, water, whatever I needed, from whoever wanted to be close to me, there was never a shortage of that.

But as much as I loved the bustle of the summer, I loved the quiet of school just as much. It's true that I love to read, I love to be the girl that everyone comes too for an answer. I love knowing almost everything. There will always be in me that desire to learn, it's something that I never want to give up. I plan to be the best, and I will be. I won't fail, I won't be a nobody. Those days are gone. I am a somebody. I am Hermione Jane Granger, the brightest witch of this generation. Soon to be the brightest witch of all time.

"Hermione! It's almost time to go!"

I looked around my room, I knew in my heart that this would be the last time I looked at it. It was my Seventh year at Hogwarts, the final year. The war was brewing and growing closer to its peak. Soon Voldemort would attack; it was up to Harry to defeat him. That was the plan. How it would happen, that part was unpredictable.

My gaze landed on my uniform and I giggled at the way it laid innocently on my comforter. Compared to all my muggle clothing, it was so modest. I nodded at myself. I was going to modify it, but just a little. Placing it on I looked at myself in the mirror, I wouldn't have to do much. Grabbing my wand I shrunk the top so it was a little tighter and I made the skirt a few inches shorter. I smiled at the reflection before me; I wonder who would notice the changes.

Changing out of my uniform I replaced it with a pair of skinny jeans and burgundy red tube top tunic. Slipping on my black china doll shoes I once again smiled at my reflection. My top and the eyeliner I had on made my amber eyes pop out. My now permanently straight hair now contained gold, brown and blond highlights. It was a small change, but a noticeable one at that. My attitude I knew I couldn't change. I would need to be the same shy bookworm that I had always been. There was too much at stake this year for me to make any other changes.

I nodded and with my shrunken trunk in my purse, Crookshanks in his cage and my room in perfect order I left my house behind, off to my last year at the best wizarding school of all time.