Thanks for all you guys who have reviewed! Means a lot. Also, if you have any constructive criticism please feel free to dish it out… i.e. characters seem off, etc.

Flash Back from Chapter 4

"Nice try Georgas. Let's add some gravelling next time, shall we? Oh and by the way, I'm changing the password to "ascendo tuum" (Up yours) he smirked, as he glided into his room.

"Very funny, Riddle!" Hermione yelled as she stomped into her room.

Chapter 5

That night, Hermione pretty much wore out her rug, walking back and forth in the hopes of coming up with some type of strategy. Finally, exhausted, and still very frustrated, she collapsed on her bed, falling fast asleep.

The next morning, she woke up changed out of her pajamas, walked gracefully over to the door which led to the bathroom, only to find it locked. Irritated, she knocked loudly on the door,

"Riddle! I know your in there! Would you please open up, other people would like to get ready too you know" she stated.

Ten minutes later there was still no response, and Hermione's anger was evident on her face. She had tried every charm that she could think of but Riddle had obviously placed some special charm on it to prevent her opening it.

Finally giving up, Hermione ran her fingers through her hair, trying to straighten it out as best as she could. She decided she would go down to breakfast and then rush back up and brush her teeth and such before class. Glaring angrily at Tom Riddle's door, she walked down to the Great Hall.

Upon entering she noticed that there were only a few other people up at this time of the morning… including Riddle. Hold on a minute, she thought – Riddle? Wasn't he upstairs being an arse and not letting her inside the bathroom? Narrowing her eyes she began to march over to where he was sitting, but then paused abruptly. She wasn't going to let him get the better of her. Placing a smile on her face, she avoided the now piercing gaze of Tom Riddle who had looked up upon noticing her swift turn of direction, and walked toward the Ravenclaw table. Seeing Ross Cooper wave a hand at her, she sat down next to him.

"How was your night, Ross?" she inquired as she placed some eggs and sausage on her plate.

"Great, yours?" he grinned charmingly.

She paused for a moment, taking in his appearance for the first time. He wasn't conventionally handsome, she realized. But he had a charming appeal when his brown eyes were twinkling and his face pulled back into a grin. Smiling back, she answered, "It was alright, kind of got off on the wrong foot with my Co-Head, but hopefully things will work out."

"Oh, hey, let me introduce you to my good friends Cynthia Burns and Samantha Rager. Guys, this is Hermione Georgas," Ross said, as he gestured towards the two girls across from him. Cynthia was a thin blonde girl, with straight hair and crystal blue eyes that were hidden slightly by her dark framed glasses, while Samantha was a portly girl with dark brown hair and hazel eyes, but a jolly and friendly feeling about her – somewhat like Molly Weasley.

Their conversation took off from there, discussing what classes they had first, etc. Hermione realized that she shared a lot of the same interests and courses with Ross and his two friends.

In a way, he reminded her a little of Harry, the kind supportive one. Smiling fondly to her self, she wondered what the others back home were told about her disappearance; - did Professor Dumbledore stage a fake death for her? Did he erase her from their memories? The very thought was enough to send her into tears.

"Hermione? You dazed off there for a second" Ross said amusedly.

"Op! Sorry," she replied sheepishly.

Glancing at her watch, Hermione swore as she realized she had less than 10 minutes to get to her room, grab her books, brush her teeth and make it to her first class – Advanced Potions with the Slytherins.

Waving goodbye to Ross, Hermione raced down the halls, muttered her password and ran into her room. Gathering all of her books and placing them inside her bag, she went to her next task – getting inside the bathroom.

Clearly Riddle had no intention of making living with him easy. Knowing that Riddle was still in the Great Hall, she quietly tip toed through his room and entered the bathroom through there. Once in, she cast a few simple spells to unlock the bathroom door from her room as well as some protective ones so that Riddle could not do it again.

Glancing again at her watch she realized she only had 5 minutes left. Rushing, she quickly brushed her teeth, and pulled her hair back in a loose pony tail, thanking Professor Dumbledore for getting rid of her old brown and bushy hair.

Shaking her head, she raced toward the Dungeons for her first class in the 1950's ever. Finally coming to a halt at the door, she pushed the door aside cautiously before slowly making her way inside.

She was met with a room filled with students and the sneering face of her new teacher, Professor Peters.

"How kind of you to join us, Ms. Georgas. Five points from Ravenclaw. Now take a seat next to Mr. Riddle," he hissed.

Rolling her eyes, as she fondly remembered Professor Snape, she sat down next to a sneering Tom Riddle.

"To start off this year we will be brewing Veritaserum next class. Can any one tell me what this is?" Professor Peters continued.

Instantaneously, two hands popped into the air – Tom Riddle and Hermione's.

"Well, well. Let's see what this new Head Girl knows. Clearly she thinks she is smart enough that she doesn't have to be on time for classes," he sneered.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione recited, "Veritaserum is a powerful truth potion. It is used to make the drinker answer any questions put to them truthfully. The use of it however, is strictly controlled by the Ministry of Magic."

Professor Peter's eyes narrowed in dislike, "Adequate. Today you will be brewing the basic shrinking potion as a review. Your homework is to read up on Veritaserum as you will be brewing it in your next class. The list of ingredients are on the board, I believe at this stage in your education you should know what to do."

With that, Professor Peter's sat down at his desk and began grading papers.

Tom Riddle turned to Hermione, eyes cold and distant, "Well you may be able to recite information, I refuse to allow my grade to be in the hands of a cocky Mudblood. So sit back, you are not to touch anything. And you may thank me later for giving you such a good grade," he smirked.

Hermione replied sweetly, "No thanks Riddle. We're both doing this. I'm not leaving my grade in the hands of some puffed up arrogant pureblood – oh wait, you're not one are you? You're nothing but a "filthy" half-blood."

His eyes widened and then narrowed as he hissed, "Where did you hear that from?"

"None of your business, now let's get to work," she replied, shrugging her shoulders.

Tom Riddle for once, obeyed, however it was clear to anyone paying attention that this topic would come up again at a very near date.

The class after that went by fairly smoothly, both working in silence. At the end each cleaned up the mess before heading to their next class. Hermione's heart wasn't in the other classes that day as she thought of the consequences of taking the Veritaserum. Inevitably as the day ended her mind was still centered on that issue as she fell asleep.

The next day passed just as quickly and before she knew it was time to brew the Veritaserum. By the end of the class very few students had been able to brew the potion correctly, with only a few having the correct color. Tom Riddle and Hermione's cauldron however was perfectly clear, - which was what it was supposed to be.

As Professor Peters strolled around the classroom, deducting points from failed potions, he spoke, "You will of course be testing these potions next class. However, those of you who have faulty potions due to your own incompetence, you will find your results quite… interesting. I look forward to seeing the results. Bottle 2 cups worth of your potion and bring it to the front for testing. Label it. Clean up afterwards. That will be all."

Tom Riddle acted before Hermione could and brought the sample of their potion to the front, so she began to clean up. When all was done, she exited the classroom swiftly.

Her other classes went by smoothly, as Tom wasn't in any of them. However her mind kept wandering to what would happen tomorrow – the Veritaserum. What if he found out she was from the future? Biting her lip Hermione decided not to go to dinner, but instead relax in her room, maybe she would sneak down later to the kitchens.

8 o'clock rolled around and Hermione's stomach was growling. Dinner was definitely over by then so she decided it was a safe bet that no one was down there, it was time to journey down to the kitchens. Opening her bedroom door, she began her walk down. Her mind was lost in thoughts as her feet walked the familiar path, therefore, she did not realize that there was a figure approaching her until she was on the floor with the said person on top of her. Letting out a huff, she opened her eyes slowly, "Tom?" she asked hesitantly.

"Well done Georgas. I guess we can add graceful walker to your list of attributes" he added snidely.

Surprisingly, Hermione let out a low chuckle. Tom looked at her weirdly before getting up and gathering the books he had been carrying. Hermione sat there on the floor and asked, "Well aren't you going to help me get up?"

Tom's regular sneer re-appeared, "And dirty my self with the likes of you? I think not!" and stalked off.

Sighing, Hermione got up and continued down to the kitchens.

Things weren't going as she planned. She had to befriend him. What was it that Dumbledore said, - something about things Tom Riddle had missed out on in his youth – companionship, trust, love, understanding…

The rest of the day passed by slowly, as Hermione's thoughts was consumed with how she could put her plan in action. She wasn't worried though, she could have covered this material in her sleep. By dinner time, Hermione decided her best option was to not lose her temper around him, to remain cool but nice, and if that didn't work well, she would have to try something else.

Two days passed and Hermione's plan was still in progress. Tom was somewhat baffled, he knew she was up to something, but what he had no idea. She had gone from hot to cold within a day, - from being fiery and spirited she became cool yet kind.

He remembered the first day of school, how after dinner she had come in, done the most bizarre thing – she smiled at him, - smiled! – and then said hello in an attempt to start a conversation. Who in their right mind does that? For as long as he could recall, no one had ever willingly smiled at him except teachers, but they were so easily fooled by his charm and aptitude to learn. All of the students knew by now that they were not to mess with Tom Riddle – the cool and collected Slytherin. Even the Slytherin's didn't mess with him, they knew he could perform more advanced spells in his sleep then the lot of them could while wide awake. However, back to the Hermione situation, he was beginning to lose his temper. There was only so much kindness – fake one at that, which he could take.

That day went by just as fast until it was time for Hermione to head to Advanced Potions. Sitting down at her spot next to the punctual Tom Riddle, she mentally prepared herself for an interesting class.

Professor Peters then swept into the classroom and snarkily said, "Well? What are you all waiting for? Get your vials, you will be testing today. Each person will test the potion, however you will only place three drops in your mouth. The other person will then ask three questions – and I emphasize, only three. For homework you will each write an essay on Veritaserum and its pros and cons. Get to work."

With that said, Hermione rushed up before Tom could move and got their vial, sitting back down she asked whether he would like to go first or not, to which he answered he would go first.

That said, he placed three drops on his tongue while Hermione waited for the potion to take effect. Once she noticed that his eyes glazed over, a twinkle in her eyes, she asked her first question, "Have you ever loved someone? – this includes parents, friends, etc."

She immediately regretted asking that question, however, as she heard his response which was devoid of emotion due to the potion, "No, never."

Then she asked her second, "What's your happiest memory?"

"Getting my letter to Hogwarts," he answered.

Lastly, she asked, slightly hesitantly, "Why do you hate me?"

There was a slight pause as she noticed him struggling against the effects of the potion before she heard, "Because you are ignorant – and yes I realize I have only known you for a few days, but I know your type. You go through life thinking you are superior to others because you grew up in a happy family with your perfect picket fence and moral ideas of what is right and wrong. Well there is no right and wrong, there is only power and those to weak to reach out and grab it. I despise what you represent."

Hermione inhaled deeply, realizing that he had inadvertently offered her deeper insight to how she could befriend him. Abruptly Tom's eyes lost that dazed look and he looked up at her questioningly with narrowed eyes, "Well? What did you ask?"

Making her eyes look mockingly innocent she responded, "Oh just you know, this and that. Feel free to waste one of your questions on it though." Quickly she placed three drops on her tongue waiting for it to take affect.

Tom paused a moment until he saw her eyes glaze over before he asked quietly, "Why are you constantly trying to be nice to me?"

Dazed and glossy eyed, Hermione responded, "I want to be your friend."

Trying to hide his surprise, Tom inadvertently asked, "Why?"

Cursing at wasting a question he waited. She then said, "Partially because of Head Duties, I want this year to go smoothly, the other part because I'm intrigued. You're a very interesting person, a smart one, and yet very bitter for being so young. You remind me very much of my friend from back home, he grew up similar to you, and yet he has a totally different outlook of life."

Lastly, smirking, he asked, "What's your one of your most embarrassing moments?"

Hermione then responded, "In second year, my two friends and I were making the poly juice potion in order to find out some information. We were going to turn into three other students, and I had thought I already had the hair from my person when we were in a dueling match. It wasn't until I had already transformed that I realized I had used her cat's hair not hers. It was humiliating; my friends didn't let me live it down for a while."

Grinning despite himself, he then quickly composed his face as he noticed her eyes losing their glazed look. He would definitely be using that information sometime.