Pride… An excessive belief in one's own abilities that interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise.

When coming back for an eighth year at Hogwarts, Hermione had hoped that it would be easy. Surely, anything would be easy compared to being on the run for a year and then battling it out against Voldemort and his slew of Death Eaters and followers? Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case.

Now, more than ever before, Hermione felt like all eyes were on her to do well with her studies. No longer could she hide behind her bushy-hair and mountain of books. She wanted people to see her for more than the witch who helped Harry Potter's find a few Horcruxes in the woods. She took a sense of pride in the fact that even after missing a year of school, she was still able to thrive in each and every single one of her NEWT level classes.

It was still early in the year, but there was much to learn. Thankfully, a number of her professors allowed extra credit assignments. It was just a matter of taking advantage of these assignments to come out ahead of her classmates. Hermione would show everyone that even without Harry and Ron by her side, she was a force to be reckoned with.

Slowly, Blaise made his way toward the dungeons intending to get a few extra hours of potion brewing in before retiring for the night. Since Draco did not return this year, it allowed Blaise the time to shine in Slughorn's class after having come in behind him for so long. For once, he was getting praised for his perfect potions, and it was making him feel like the endless hours of studying until nearly two in the morning were finally paying off.

With almost a skip in his step, Blaise opened the door to the potions classroom only to find it already occupied. Hermione bloody Granger was seated at her favourite front table, frantically consulting her notes as she brewed what Blaise could only assume was the specified extra credit potion for Slughorn.

"Granger," Blaise said, his excitement ultimately rushing from him in a huff of air. "What are you doing down here?"

Hermione glanced up the table where she was juicing a squill bulb with the flat side of a knife. She squinted at him and then attempted a smile as she set aside the knife. "Oh, hello, Zabini. I didn't hear you come in just now."

Irritated that she'd ignored his question, Blaise practically stomped over to his usual table and let his bag drop heavily onto the surface. Inwardly he smirked when Hermione flinched ever so slightly at the sound. "It looks like we're both here to work on extra credit potions. Have you made much progress?"

Hermione eyed Blaise carefully as she stirred her potion to make sure she'd reached the perfect consistency. "I have a lot of ground to make up after missing out last year."

Scoffing, Blaise crossed his arms and glared at the witch. "You've always been at the top of the class, Granger. Maybe it's time you let someone else shine for once."

Stunned by his words, Hermione slowly set aside her ladle and gave Blaise a hard stare. "Zabini, I'm sure I didn't just hear you ask me to stop trying so hard in potions." His comments made her face flush in anger.

Feeling bold, Blaise strode right up to Hermione. "You know, Granger," Blaise said, leaning in so close that their noses were practically touching. "Many of us that were forced into the shadows by you, Potter, and all our other classmates the teachers find more interesting grew rather tired of never being ntoitec by our professors." Blaise was on a roll now, so he took a deep breath, glanced over Hermione's shoulder and added, "I know this may be hard to hear, but many of us didn't miss your crew being around here to steal everyone's thunder."

Straightening her shoulders, Hermione summoned all of her Gryffindor courage and went head to head with the Slytherin. "Look, Zabini, I wasn't even sure I was going to have another shot at my final year here at Hogwarts. Excuse me if you feel like I'm stepping on your toes a bit. Malfoy and I always were the top two in Potions, aside from Harry's short period of miraculous potion-making." Here she paused and shook her head at the memory. "What I'm trying to say is that I'm here to make perfect marks, and if that means you come in at second place for potions, so be it."

Smirking harder as a burnt smell began to waft their way, Blaise lifted his hands in surrender before grabbing his bag from the table. As he swung the strap onto his shoulder, he said, "You know what, fine. Have it your way, Granger, but just know that I intend to come out on top this year." He began backing toward the door as the sound of boiling began to fill the room. "By the way, you may want to check on your potion. You forgot a step."

As Hermione's eyes went wide in fear and surprise, her cauldron exploded behind her. She whirled around, wand up, and a protection shield spell already leaving her lips. Many highly un-Hermione like words left the witch's mouth as Blaise sniggered and reached for the door handle. The last words he heard as he slipped out the door was a threat that she would get him back for her ruined cauldron.

As he shut the door to the Potions classroom behind him, his smirk fell, and he sighed. He shouldn't have done that, but Blaise had every intention of being the best this year when it came to his marks. If that meant bringing down Gryffindor's princess a peg or two, then so be it. Still, as he walked the short distance to the Slytherin common room, Blaise did wonder if he'd let his pride get the best of him and made a mistake by purposely distracting Hermione from her volatile potion.

Only time would tell.