Hermione watched as Snape paced back and forth in the class. He looked at her, shook his head, and kept on pacing. Hermione sighed and looked back at the cauldron. She was assigned partners with Neville. Snape said that because of this, there wouldn't be any "fowl ups."

When Hermione looked at what ingredient Neville put in, she gasped. "Neville!" she yelled. But it was too late. He already put the ingredient in the potion. Something weird happened. The potion bubbled out of the cauldron, then, suddenly, sputtered all over Hermione.

It made a big puddle around her. It felt like it was pushing her into it. She saw everyone crowd around her. Snape pushed everyone aside and tried to help Hermione out of the puddle. But, she already passed out.

Hermione woke up to see that she was in the Hospital Wing. "What happened?" she asked herself.

"You fell into my class, that's what," a boy said to her. When Hermione looked at the boy, she noticed that not only was he her age, but was a Slytherin. "You fell into my class," he said again. "At first, you scared me half to death. Then, I volunteered to bring you to the Hospital Wing. So, I carried you here."

"Thank you," Hermione said. "And you are?"

"Severus Snape. But, who might you be?"

"I'm, uh, Robin. Robin... Quimble."

"Nice to meet you, Robin. Now, sorry if I disturbed you, I know that you want me to leave."

"No. Wait. Where are you going? Why do you think that I don't want you around?"

"Nobody does. Everybody hates me."

"Well, I don't. I want you to stay around."

"Why?"

"Well, I was kind of wandering, if we could be friends." There was a moment of silence then. Severus turned to Hermione. "You, want to be friends, with me?" he asked.

"Yes," she said.

"Noone ever said that to me in my entire life."

"Noone. Except for me."

"I can't believe this. Someone actually wants to be friends with me."

"Yes. After all, how bad can it be?"

"Robin."

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"No problem. Now, let's get out of here. I want to see what this place is like." Severus helped Hermione get out of her bed. When they walked out, Hermione reached out for Severus's hand. Then, once their hands barely touched, she pulled away.

When Severus saw when she was about to hold his hand and pulled away, he smiled and held her hand. She smiled and looked at her new friend, who smiled back.

Hermione waited in the Slytherin Common Room for Severus to come back from his talk with Professor Dumbledore. She smiled when she saw him rushing in. "Good news," he said. "Dumbledore said that you can stay at Hogwarts. You're a Slytherin now."

"That's great," Hermione said.

"Come on. I'll show you to your dormitory." Severus led Hermione to a stairway and pointed to a room. Hermione walked up a few steps and turned around to Severus. "Good night, Severus," she said.

"Good night, Robin," Severus said back. Hermione smiled, turned around, and headed up to her dormitory. Severus smiled and walked back to the Common Room.

Hermione woke up and looked up at the clock. 'Why is everyone not here?' she asked herself. When she saw the clock, she gasped and realized why. It was 10:29! Hermione quickly rushed into her uniform and ran to her classroom.

When she got there, she peeked in. Severus noticed her, waved at her, and pointed at an empty seat by him. She nodded and slowly tiptoed into the classroom. She noticed it was potions class by all the cauldrons and ingredients.
When she almost got to her seat, she heard a booming voice. "Hold it right there!"