A/N: Next chapter is finally here. I will warn you it may feel a little rushed as I wanted to move the story forward and progress. As always please please review!
Hermione rose from her bed and stretched her arms above her head. It was the first day of classes so it was also the first morning she'd had to wake up before the sun. Her brain was still a little foggy as she made her way to the bathroom to get ready for the day. It took brushing her teeth and showering before she felt properly awake. As she came out of the bathroom, finishing tying her tie she felt the dread from last night blanket over her again. She could only hide her contract from Tom for so long. Hermione was finishing rechecking her bag for the day's necessities when the other girls began to wake up. She chuckled to herself and waved in greeting as she exited the room and walked to the common room.
Of course, the only other person awake and ready to go was Tom. This had been their routine for most of the year last year and it seems they had fallen into it easily this year. Tom didn't acknowledge any awkwardness if he felt any. Instead, he silently waited by the door until she caught up and they both exited together as it if was the most natural thing. Hermione couldn't help but bite her lip as they walked the warn path towards the Great Hall. She was waiting for him to explode, push her into a dark corner, begin yelling, something to indicate he knew. When they reached the hall doors and walked in she let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.
They took their regular seats at the Slytherin table just as Slughorn approached.
He seemed to be in a good mood, "Here are my two best OWL students! You two scored two of the highest grades I have ever seen! Here are your timetables, with these schedules I expect I am not the only teacher to be saying that today." He winked as he began to walk away.
Tom called after him, "Out of curiosity professor, for sheer bragging rights, who was higher?"
Hermione scoffed but looked up to Slughorn in quiet interest.
His eyes twinkled, "I'm not sure if I should say, you both got O's. Isn't that good enough children?"
Tom and Hermione looked at each other then back to Slughorn and shook their heads.
Slughorn let out a loud gaffaugh of a laugh, "No I didn't think it would be, you two are most competitive. I'm sure you're relishing having someone who can keep up eh Tom?"
Tom nodded but didn't speak, urging Slughorn to answer.
Slughorn sighed, "There is no distracting you two eh, well I'm sorry Tom but it seemed Miss Granger edged you by a few percents on the essay portion. Now I'm not supposed to be telling you this but as the schools only 10 OWL students, I feel you would push yourselves to continue to achieve. Who knows what you two could accomplish."
As he walked away, Hermione refused to meet Toms gaze. She busied herself with filling her plate and looking over her schedule. As she was scanning Friday's classes it was yanked out of her hands.
She gasped in surprise, "Hey, what was that for?"
Tom compared their schedules, "We have the same schedules again apart from Divination."
Hermione grabbed her timetable back, "Divination? Since when did you take up divination?"
Tom took a fork full of eggs, "I came to appreciate its uses the end of last year. I asked if I could take the OWL for it even if I hadn't been in the class and I earned a high enough grade to continue with it."
Hermione nodded her head but she was suspicious. She knew the Tom from her time took Divination seriously but what she had seen last year made her think that was something that had been changed, apparently not.
The rest of the group showed up and received their timetables as well. They mostly all had someone in their classes from the group which made future studying easier. The warning chime went and they all got up. Tom, Hermione, Abraxas, and Evan all went to the dungeon as Potions was first on their schedule.
Once at the class they noticed the others waiting outside as well, they were early so Slughorn hadn't opened the door yet. They made small talk until Slughorn whipped the door open.
He ushered them in jovially, "Good morning 6th year advanced potions! You may notice that there are not very many of you. This year we separated the O's from the passing grades. This class will be much more in-depth on the theory behind potions and high-level potions." He explained as they all took their seats.
As always Tom sat with Hermione while Abraxas took the vacant seat beside Evan, casting an unsure look towards Hermione. She shrugged and turned back towards the front where Slughorn was waving today's potion on the board.
"Today, as it is the first day of classes we will ease back into the process with a fairly easy one for this group- Confusion concoction. You will find the necessary ingredients as always, in the back. Begin!"
Hermione set up her cauldron to avoid the mad dash to the stores. This potion was not a long brew she had the time. She had decided that since it was already semi-altered as it was- her using her knowledge in school wouldn't be so risky this time around.
Most everybody was back at their seats so Hermione walked back to gather her ingredients. Tom was still in the closet as others scurried around him. She gave him a little smile as she reached for her sneezewort. He handed it to her as the shelf was a little taller than she was. She gave him a quiet thank you and turned around to walk back to their desk, he followed and set up his own station.
The class was relatively quiet of chatter as everyone prepped their ingredients. Once all chopped Hermione cast a light confundus charm on the ingredients before adding them to her potion. It was a tip that professor Flitwick had passed to her when he began researching merging branches of magic together. When she did it, professors, Snape class he was begrudgingly impressed so it was sure to impress Slughorn.
It was nearing the end of the hour and most people were done. Slughorn walked around, commenting on each pair. He had saved Tom and Hermione for last yet again.
Slughorn stood in front of the pair of them, "My my, my two best students who to check first. Tom! Let's see what you have done."
Slughorn walked around and ladled some of Tom's potion out to inspect, "Perfect as always Tom! Just the right amount thickness, the perfect green hue- amazing!"
Tom smiled and bowed his head in thanks.
Slughorn then turned to Hermione, "Now Hermione dear let us see yours!" He again ladled some of hers to inspect, "just as I figured, perfect thickness and the green hue is spot on? Oh, but what is this? My dear, you have golden speaks throughout."
Hermione nodded, "yes sir I brewed it extra strength."
Slughorn looked skeptical, "Extra strength you say? How would we go about testing that?"
Hermione smiled, "well if someone was brave enough to try it you would see that instead of the mild confusion the regular potion creates, this would dull the senses enough to make the subject highly impressionable and easily manipulated due to their confused state."
Slughorn looked giddy at the prospect, "Let us see if anyone is brave enough to try it out!" He turned towards the rest of the classroom. One hand was in the air, Myrtle Warren of Ravenclaw.
Slughorn was excited as he called her over, "Miss Warren thank you! Now take just a small sip here we go!"
He handed the small vial to her and she immediately tipped it toward her mouth and emptied the contents.
The change was almost immediate. A blank mask fell across her face as if she couldn't make a decision as to how she was feeling. Her mouth hung slightly agape as Slughorn observed, "Miss Warren how do you feel?"
She slowly turned her head towards Slughorn and furrowed her eyes, "I… don't know "she spoke slowly and deliberately as if she had to struggle to remember the words.
Slughorn's eyes lit up with potential, "Miss Warren why don't you walk back to your desk."
She slowly ambled over as if in a daze. Just as she sat down he instructed her to come back. Without argument or indication that the repetitive orders bothered her, she came back. He did this a couple times sending her to different points in the class. Once done with the demonstration he was in high spirits.
"Miss Granger this is amazing! What is your secret?"
She politely smiled, "Thank you, sir, I had been researching merging branches of magic together so I cast a very mild confundus charm on the ingredients before brewing the potion."
His eyes winded, "that's brilliant Miss Granger! I am certainly excited to see where this research takes you!"
Before he could go on, the bell chimed indicated the class was over. He waved his wand and vanished everyone's potions. He opened the door and waved them out. Hermione heard him telling the other Ravenclaws to bring Myrtle to her bed to sleep it off and he would tell her professors what had happened.
Hermione watched Tom's reaction for the rest of the day. In each class, he sat next to her and was perfectly pleasant. No indication of what happened last year was to repeat itself.
They flowed from class to class, lunch to dinner with nothing out of the ordinary happening. Hermione relaxed as she finished supper, listening to Druella talk about care of magical creatures. Tom had excused himself early on for prefect duties. Hermione had her first shift the next night with the Ravenclaw prefect.
Once Druella was done supper, she and Hermione walked back towards the common room. They were surprised by mediwizards rushing in front of them, running up the main staircase.
Hermione and Druella looked at each other before running after them, eager to see what was going on.
They were stopped by Dumbledore who was guarding the entrance to the hallway the mediwizards had run down. They both looked up in question but he shook his head indicating he wouldn't be telling them anything. He told them to head back directly to the dormitory and not come back out tonight.
Sensing he would budge on the issue Druella turned and grabbed Hermione's hand to do the same. Just as Hermione turned out of the corner of her eye she saw movement, looking back she couldn't help but gasp.
The mediwizards began walking back towards the staircase with a stretcher between them, a hand hanging out of the side, limp and grey. Behind them, a furious Armando Dippet grasping 4th year Hagrid and Tom riddle telling a story of a spider.
