A/N: OMG!!! THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL THE REVIEWS I RECEIVED!!! I LOVE YA GUYS!!!!

Chapter Nine-Acquaintance

"Who's this girl?"

"Oh, my gosh! It looks like she passed out!"

"Eek! She's all dirty!"

Those were the sounds Hermione heard when she regained conciousness. She fluttered her eyes open and saw five girls (fifth-years) gaping at her. One girl in particular, a blonde-haired one with pigtails and a tad too much make-up on gazed at her.

"Uh, hullo. You okay?"

Hermione sat up and straightened her outfit, only to realize she wasn't wearing the slacks and baby doll top that she wore awhile ago. Now, she wore Hogwarts robes and strange as it may seem, her badge was not of a Gryffindor lion but a Slytherin serpent.

"Where am I?" was all she could stutter.

"She's delirious! Take her to the infirmary quick!!!" squealed a small girl.

"Alright, what is the commotion all about?" said a voice. A boy's voice. All the girls jumped and looked worried. Hermione guessed that teacher HAD to be Severus Snape, because he's about the only teacher that can provoke a couple of students like that. But it was certainly not Snape (thank goodness!). it was a tall, dark and handsome man of about seventeen with hair as black as ebony and eyes the color of green-emerald and almost as exquisite as the stone itself! His body was glazed to perfection. The confused (as well as bemused) look on his face made the five girls blush and giggle because he looked so cute wearing that look. He glared at them and they quickly ran inside the Hogwarts campus, chatting and stealing glances at the boy's back. Hermione noticed a Head Boy badge pinned on the left of his robes, which were an emerald-green. She secretly named the boy Mr. Head Boy. Finally, after shaking his head and muttering about "annoying girls" then finally cast a look on Hermione.

She had dreamy, chocolate eyes, a creamy skin dappled with little golden freckles which weren't seen much due to the dirt on her face, and she had delicately arched eyebrows. She had a dent on her upper lip that looked as if some good fairy pressed it in on her christening. In other words, according to Mr. Head Boy, she was perfect. A fallen angel.

"Wow, she's beautiful," he thought. "Could this be my fallen angel?" He reached out a hand to Hermione. "What's a girl like you so pretty bathing in the mud?" he asked, chuckling. Hermione blushed and smiled shyly at Mr. him, which made his insides do flip-flops.

"She has the most beautiful smile in the world," he thought. "But how could I have noticed until now? I mean, she's in MY own House. How dumb of me."

"Come on, stand up, we'll get you clean," he suddenly said, and he sounded like a house mother, and Hermione told him so. Hermione took his hand, blushing furiously and patting her now bushy hair. She once again gave that charming lad a shy smile as he escorted her to the Slytherin Common Room.

"Come on, get inside," Mr. Head Boy ushered her into the Common Room. Hermione gasped. It was elegant. No! Elegant wasn't the right word to say. It was…BEAUTIFUL!!!!! The sofa was a velvety dark green with black fur trim. Crystal candlesticks helped light the common room and there was also a table full of chocolate of every kind. Suddenly, she heard someone clearing his throat. She whirled around and came face-to-face with Mr. Head Boy. "It looks like it was the first time you've been here," he said. Hermione noticed that he wore a slight smirk on his face that looked so tempting to kiss. Hermione grinned that killer smile of hers and Mr. Head Boy grinned back. "Er, I'm going to get you a cleaner robe in the spare room," he told her. "Have a seat first and eat some white chocolate." He then winked at her and opened a sliver door with a knob the shape of a serpent's face. When he was inside, his heart was throbbing and his stomach was doing flip-flops.

"What am I feeling?" he thought. "I think I have a fever." He put a hand in his forehead and frowned. "I don't have a fever, although I'm colder than usual."

"BUT WHY DO I FEEL HOT AND SWEATY EVERYTIME I LOOK AT HER!!!" he roared, but not loudly.

A portrait of an old man who was sleeping suddenly woke up and glared at him. "I think someone has a crush!" he retorted then told him to shut up and went back to his slumber. Mr. Head Boy groaned and picked a robe for Hermione. He then went outside and shut the door, which made Hermione jump. He handed the robe to Hermione. "Gee, thanks…uh…" Hermione blushed some more. "I'm afraid I don't know your name yet."

Mr. Head Boy then blushed and suddenly forgot his name. "Name?" he asked stupidly. "Yes, yes, name…er, uh…" He wrinkled his forehead for a moment and saw Hermione staring at him as if he were a nut.

"Ah, yes!" he said. "My name is Tom. Tom Marvolo Riddle."