Stay with the Patil Twins

[Both twins were sorted into Gryffindor in this timeline]

The sorting was arguably the most stressful 5 minutes of Hermione's life... well. aside from her little change into a witch and the ensuing "little" change to her body. She was overjoyed to hear the cheers of Gryffindor as she hurried to their table, feeling very young for the first time in years as she took her seat amid the older students. Her robes weren't exactly figure flattering, a refreshing change from the muggle world, yet she could still feel the eyes of the other students sizing her up. She was relieved when the attention shifted to the next incoming first year.

She ended up flanked by the Patil sisters as the sorting came to a close, whether on purpose or not she wasn't sure. She was glad for the familiar company, hopeful in an embarrassed way that she might have found her first friends.

"Would be a record." she muttered, wincing a little at memories of her first years of secondary school.

"What did you say?" Parvati leaned over and Hermione cleared her throat, "Nothing! Just... feel like I could set a record with how hungry I am!" The Indian girl quirked her mouth and raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying it. Hermione decided to change the subject, "So... what do you think of the teachers?"

Parvati glanced up at the head table and smirked, "I think Padma is going to have a hard time flirting her way into good scores." Padma reached around Hermione and smacked at her sister, "Can you not start spreading rumors the first hour we've been here?"

"So study hard and prove me wrong. I'm really doing it for your benefit."

Hermione felt slightly like a third wheel as the evening progressed but she started to realize that Parvati was really only paying attention to her and the bickering back and forth was just her total familiarity with her twin. She did her best to be entertaining, something she'd never excelled at, but Parvati didn't seem to mind as she talked about her books and how strange they were compared to muggle teaching. They continued conversing as Percy the prefect lead them to their common room, pausing only for Hermione to gawk at the portrait of the fat lady and the passageway behind.

Parvati grinned, "I hear there are all kinds of secret passages throughout the castle... we should try to find some one day." Hermione couldn't repress her glee, try as she might: she was here, a witch, in a magic castle talking with her newfound witch friend about finding secret passages. Her inner child had never been this excited.

She giggled a little, thinking about how the best part of that was the 'friend' part, and Parvati joined her. Soon they were nearly in tears, feeding off one another and their own nervous energy. Padma gave them a disgusted look, "If you two are quite done, we have room assignments."

Later that night, when her roommates had finally gone to sleep and Hermione herself was on the verge of passing out, she heard Padma's voice whispering across the room."You've got it bad, girl."

Parvati responded with a quieter but more aggressive tone, "Shut up! She's right over there!"

"So? Maybe she'll hear and ask you out. I'm really doing this for your benefit." The sound of rustling and a pillow colliding with someone marked the end of the conversation but Hermione stayed awake long afterwards, thinking of the hushed exchange.