Hermione sat in the middle of the class room next to Susan. When all the students were seated Slughorn silenced the room with a wave of his hand. She noticed Tom was sitting alone at the front.

"Today we are going to be making a newly developed potion called Dismera starciss" Slughorn said "Can anyone tell me what this does?" In her time Dismera starciss was commonly used and she easily knew what it did. She raised her hand and the only other person with their hand raised was Tom. Everyone in the class and even Slughorn appeared a little surprised as they stared at her. "O ho what do we have here" he said loudly. "Looks like you may have competition my boy" Tom put down his hand and turned to look at her with an expressionless face. "Let's have her answer for a change. Go on Maya"

"Dismera starciss is used to instantly heal deep cuts that cannot be healed with a sealing charm but since the potion has harmful side effects it is only used in emergencies"

"Correct" Slughorn said clapping his hands. "10 points to Ravenclaw" Tom was still staring at her with an unreadable expression. If he was affected by her answering correctly he didn't show it. "Everyone pair up with your partners" Slughorn said tapping his wand against the black board and instructions appeared.

"See you later Maya, my partners that boy at front" Susan said gathering her things. Soon the whole class was in pairs expect for her.

"Ah Maya you don't have a potion's partner but I can fix that" Slughorn said jollily. She could see from a distance that Tom didn't have a partner and she instantly knew what was coming. She didn't know if she should be terrified or grateful for having a chance to get closer to young Voldemort. He led her to the front of the room next to Tom. "My boy you won't have to work alone any more. You and Maya will be working together for the rest of the year" Tom nodded in response. "She is in advanced level for all her subjects so don't worry about being held back" Slughorn tapped his wand at the register and the name Maya Granger appeared next to Tom Riddle's name.

Although his expression remained calm she knew he was annoyed to be working with her as one of his hands was tightly clenched into a fist. "Of you go then" Slughorn said and everyone started to bring out their cauldrons and unpack materials. She read the instructions on the board and Tom seemed to be doing the same. He distanced himself from her as much as possible. Then he set up the cauldron and set it alight. Hermione walked closer to the cauldron and was about to toss in the first ingredient when he made them freeze before it could land. She stared at the hovering ingredients confused and then she realised what he had done.

"Maya why don't you sit down and let me take care of the potion" That was his nice way of telling her to get lost.

"We're meant to work together" she said firmly. She wasn't going to let him tell her what to do.

"You'll get the same mark as me so why don't you let me handle it" he said more coldly.

"We're making the potion together"

"Look Granger I don't need you to ruin it" he said glaring at her. She noticed he had used her surname instead. Well he had definitely decided to drop his Mr nice guy act.

"Not so nice now are you, Mr I'm so sorry here's bunch of flowers?" he smiled at her coldly.

"That's right Granger, it was all an act. I never thought I'd have to speak to you again let alone work with you"

"Tough luck Riddle" there was a spark of anger in his eyes at her words.

"Just so you know I was never sorry. It was actually quite entertaining watching you all scared" his lips twisted into half a smile. If he thought he was going to scare her into giving up he was so wrong.

"If you think that will make me change my mind then you can forget it"

"I meant every word and I don't need you ruining everything"

"I'm not going to ruin it and we're making it together?"

"Why do you have to be so difficult Granger?"

"Your the one who's being difficult Riddle" both of his hands were now clenched into fists.

"I'm asking you nicely Granger, let me make the potion" he said in a low voice.

"If you have a problem why don't you explain it to Slughorn" she crossed her arms and glared back at him. He looked like he wanted to hex her into oblivion.

"Fine be my guest" he suddenly said unfreezing the ingredients and they fell into the cauldron. "But I'm warning you Granger, I better not get anything below an outstanding"

"Are you threatening me?" he gave her a look that said he was.

"You talk too much" he said turning away. They started to make the potion in silence. Every time he needed an ingredient or something that was near to her he would stretch his arm as far as it would go but avoid getting close to her. After a while she was starting to get annoyed with him. Sure the dark lord wasn't capable of love and liked keeping himself to himself but did he really have to act like she was infected with something deadly. Using a pestle and mortar she started to grind the poppy seeds into fine powder. She looked up at the board to read the next instruction and with her eyes still glued to it she tipped the powder into the cauldron. Tom must have decided to do something similar as seconds later she felt his hand touching hers.

"Don't touch me" he hissed, immediately pulling his hand back.

"It was an accident I have no intention of touching you" as if she wanted to touch the dark lord. It was clearly his fault for not looking and now he was trying to blame it all on her. Strange though how his hand had felt warm and human, she had always thought his hands would feel cold and lifeless.

"You should watch where your hands are going" he said picking up the oak tree roots.

"You should follow your own advice" he glared at her but he didn't say anything. Instead he started to chop the oak tree roots with much more force than necessary causing the chopping board to crack in the middle. Hermione pretended not to appear bothered with his actions but she carefully watched him out of the corner of her eyes. She was wondering when the psychopathic dark lord in him would show up and there it was. Although she appeared cool and uncaring on the outside she was actually feeling terrified on the inside as she watched him butchering the thick roots with a mad glint in his eyes. From the looks of it the only reason he was controlling himself from attacking her was due to the presence of Slughorn and the other students. He would have probably torn her apart if they had been alone. He skilfully levitated all the oak root pieces into the cauldron and she couldn't help but be impressed by this. Levitating a single object took so much concentration and he was effortlessly levitating over a dozen pieces at once. She looked up at the board and the last instruction told her to add 3 drops of doxy blood. She lifted the small bottle and added 2 drops into the boiling green liquid.

"Stop" Tom said when she was about to add the third drop. She ignored him and added the last drop.

"Stupid girl what have you done" he ran up to the cauldron.

"It clearly said add 3 drops" She couldn't understand what he was getting so worked up about.

"You've ruined the potion"

"I haven't ruined it"

"Why didn't you stop or are you so dumb that you can't understand simple instructions"

"I followed the instructions perfectly Riddle"

"Look at the colour" he said hysterically pointing at the cauldron. "What colour is that Granger?"

"It's red" she said stepping closer. "Like it's supposed to be"

"It's the wrong shade, its light red when it's supposed to be dark red" All the text books said that it was supposed to be red but she had read somewhere that if a shade of dark red could be achieved the chances of side affects were greatly reduced. But it was supposed to be impossible to get that shade and there were theories but no one really knew how to do it.

"Look Riddle it's meant to be red and while dark red gives the best results, the chances of achieving that shade are like one in a million"

"There is no such thing as chance in potions. It is an art of blending in the right things at the right amount and balancing the elements. But you wouldn't know that would you Granger. All you do is mindlessly follow the given instructions, never really thinking about the way it's being constructed"

"That's what we're meant to do, follow the approved instructions"

"No that's what dumb people like you are meant to do while someone like me would be able to spot the flaws and correct them"

"I am not dumb" she said in a high pitched voice.

"You are, because everything you know is learnt from books and their really isn't a brain inside that thick skull of yours. If you possessed true intelligence you would be able to see outside the box but you obviously can't" That really hurt and she felt like crying. The worst thing was, what he said had some truth in it. When had she really thought of something that she had made up using her own brain?

"It's meant to be red but we can start over if it bothers you so much" she forced out holding back the tears.

"There isn't enough time" She glanced at the hourglass to find it almost empty. "If you had just listened and added two drops" he punched the chopping board making it snap in two. Then he quickly repaired it with a wave of his wand before anyone noticed. He looked at the potion for a while then he sat down far away from her and stared unblinking at the wall in silence. She stirred the potion not knowing how to fix the situation. The colour in the books said it was meant to be red and surely they couldn't really lose any marks, could they?

"Times up everyone" Slughorn said loudly making everyone freeze. Tom got up and stood next to the cauldron. Slughorn went around the room inspecting and telling the students where they had gone wrong. He graded the potions and noted the mark in a small book as he moved along. He was soon going to be coming up to their table and she could see Tom becoming more tense by the second. Slughorn walked over to their table with a huge smile on his face but his smile slightly fell as he looked down at their cauldron. His smile was back on full again but Tom had obviously noticed the slip. "Well my boy there is nothing wrong with the potion but I was almost expecting to see a shade of dark red." He said in a disappointed tone. Hermione peered at Tom out of the corner of her eye expecting to see some sort of reaction. He was standing absolutely still with a facial expression that betrayed no emotion. "But I mustn't expect too much from a school boy, greedy me" he laughed. "Well it is satisfactory, you get an outstanding" he said cheerfully putting down a huge O next to their names. "Good work Tom and you to Maya" he said moving onto the next table. Tom drew in a deep breath and clenched his hands into fists.

"This is all your fault" he whispered harshly giving her a death glare. She couldn't understand it, they had gotten the top grade. But the dark lord was pissed of because he hadn't gotten the right compliments from Slughorn.

"We got an outstanding Riddle, theirs no higher grade than that"

"I regret not having shoved the wand right into your neck" he whispered really lowly so that only she could hear him. He quickly gathered his things and left the room in silence. She gathered her things feeling angry. She shouldn't be feeling so small and scared by him. He was just a school boy right now and she had to stay strong and focused. She had to kill him and save the future from Voldemort. She walked out the door and headed to her next class.

"Hermione did you talk to him" Susan said running up to her. "What did he say?"

"His a prick and don't ever mention him again"

"Aw sweetie did he reject you" Hermione stopped walking abruptly. "Well the other girls did have this theory that he might have been staring at you because you stood out from everyone else. You know like the way an ugly duckling draws more attention than the rest" That's it she couldn't take it anymore. The whole morning she had to endure Tom and now this Susan girl was calling her ugly.

"Are you trying to say I'm ugly" she hissed drawing her wand. Susan stopped talking immediately and took a step back"

"Of course not Maya" she said stuttering. "I was just repeating what the girls told me, anyway I'll see you around" The girl ran of fast. Great Hermione thought putting her wand away. I've just lost the only friend I had around here. That's another thing the war had changed about her. She tended to threaten and attack people more carelessly than before. For the rest of the day she sat alone at the back in all of her classes. She answered every question correctly receiving the same surprised glances but there was still no reaction from Tom. Susan sat huddled with a bunch of girls and ignored her completely. She didn't blame the girl but she felt really lonely as she watched them talking and laughing.

Thank you to all my reviewers. I agree with my anonymous reviewer, most of the fanfictions make Hermione better than Tom but I don't think that's realistic. She is intelligent but I think she mainly just memorises everything from books. In HBP she struggled in potions and got mad at Harry for not following the approved instructions. Snape truly understood the art of potion making and made adjustments using his own intelligence. I think Tom would be intelligent enough to do the same but Hermione wouldn't have a clue what to do and her actions during potions in HBP is proof. Don't worry, I'm not going to make Hermione really stupid or anything but I think Tom would be a little bit better than her.

I made a picture for chapter 6 and the links on my profile page. Now I have to get back to revising for exams and don't forget to review my lovely readers.