A/N: Another chapter up. Please like, follow and review!

The entire walk down to the dungeons was filled with Riddle spouting facts about the castle, like a tour guide. Hermione smiled and nodded, adding the occasional comment to show she was listening to the boy. She, of course, knew these facts and had to stop herself from correcting some of the lesser points. Pretending not to know something was exhausting.

They had reached the Potions classroom in a few minutes to find the door already open. They walked in and Hermione began to take in her surroundings. Before she could see if anything was really different however she was startled by a loud voice. This voice belonged to Potions Professor Horace Slughorn.

It boomed right beside her, "Ah you must be Miss Granger. Dumbledore told me to expect you this morning. I have heard many good things about you! Go and sit next to Tom, he can help catch you up or lend some help."

Hermione walked towards Tom scowling. She was always the one to give out academic help, not receive it. She bristled as she sat down and took out all of her potion items and waited. She could see Tom smirking at her beside her, but chose to ignore it.

The rest of the students slowly trickled in until each stool was full. Slughorn then began the lesson, " Welcome 5th years! As you all know this is the beginning of your OWL year and you must be prepared! So for this lesson, I am assigning an individual potion to assess where each of you are and how I can better help you for this year. Know I know potions are not for everyone but they are important so try your best." He waved his wand and the page number appeared on the board, " Please turn to page 357 and begin, If needed, extra potions stores in the back of the classroom as usual." Slughorn then sat behind his desk as everyone began.

Hermione opened her textbook and realized that potion he was ranking everyone off was the drought of living death. This posed an ethical conundrum for her. She remembered Snape's instructions on this potion and they were slightly different than what was in the book. She knew Snape was a revolutionary potions master so she wondered, did she use his methods or the instructions in the book. She looked around and noticed Slughorn slightly frowning at her lack of action. She was not used to teachers frowning at her and she found she did not like it one bit. That decided it, she was going to use Snapes method, time be damned.

She set to work brewing the potion. Every time she added an extra stir or crushed when instructions said to cut she could see a sad smile on Slughorns face while Tom smirked into his cauldron. She narrowed her eyes at him and continued to work. Her competitiveness was going to be the ruin of her.

As the potions began to simmer Hermione looked over at Tom, "why do you two keep looking at me like that?"

Tom looked up, slightly confused, "Like what?"

She huffed, "Like I failed. I don't like it, I don't fail."

He gave her a mix of a smirk and a patronizing smile, "Hermione it's okay I'm sure it turned out passable. Besides potions isn't usually a witch's strong subject. "

She could feel her face get red, a red she was sure rivaled any one of the Weasleys.

She opened her mouth to argue but Slughorn got the classes attention first, " You should be done now! I'm going to come around the room and assess each of yours, making notes as I come along. Once I have finished with your potion you may vanish it and wait for the bell."

He started on the other side of the room, leaving Hermione to stew. She knew this time was not a progressive as her own but she did not like being patronized because she was female. By the time Slughorn got to her, she was still red and just as angry.

Slughorn started with Tom, "My boy! Not that I expected any different but your drought is perfect! Clear textbook example."

Tom smirked lightly at Hermione as Slughorn rounded the desk to hers. He sent her a small smile before he looked into her cauldron. When he did, however, whatever comment he was about to say seemed to stick in his throat. He looked slightly confused and pulled a leaf from his pocket. As he placed on into her potion it immediately crumbled and turned into nothing. It was far stronger than the textbook version.

He looked up at her in surprise and smiled widely, "My dear! I dare say one drop of yours would kill us all. You clearly have the mind of a potential potions master. My word, well done Miss Granger, absolutely well done!" He made a few marks and smiled again as he walked to the front of the class. She vanished her potion with her wand and smiled sweetly at Tom, who seemed to have dropped his sad smile for a thinly disguised glare.

The bell rang and everybody filed out. They were one of the last ones to leave the classroom. Slughorn stopped her to offer his congratulations again before they left.

Tom huffed slightly as they walked, "What did you do to your potion?"

Hermione smirked a little. He wasn't going to just let this go. It was still worth it, "Potions happens to be one of my favourite subjects. Having been homeschooled offered me the chance to experiment a little more. Sometimes during those experiments, I found better alternatives to textbooks."

He studied her as they walked to their next lesson, charms. This walk was decidedly less chatty. They reached the classroom and again sat together. The teacher, Professor Gigglehawk, started the lesson.

As they went through there day, Tom became increasingly annoyed with Hermione. She bested him in every class. She didn't think it was a good idea but that competitiveness was coming out again. He walked with her to each class and sat with her but the false nice mask was almost gone. He was getting aggravated. By the time dinner rolled around they sat and ate in complete silence until finished. He then showed her to the common room. Once inside she showed her where the dorms were and left. She smiled to herself. She failed at not painting a target on her back but she did get under his skin and that was almost as good right now.

She entered her dorm and took in her surroundings. Where the Gryffindor dorm was bright and cozy with light woods and red and golds, the Slytherin was dark and sophisticated with dark mahogany woods, greens, and silvers.

She spotted her bed easily, it was the only one of the four that had nothing on it. She sat down and took out her beaded bag. She unpacked the school contents and clothing into the wardrobe beside her bed. She had just finished when the door opened and three girls walked in.

The ringleader was a tall girl. Her dark hair and dark eyes reminded her of someone, she just couldn't put her finger on it, "Hello I am Druella Rosier." Hermione nodded in hello. That's right this was Bellatrix mother that's why she looked familiar.

The girl beside her also dark hair and dark eyes, her eyes, however, seemed wild like one false move and she'd kill you," I am Walburga Black, pleasure." And this was Sirius' mother, the crazy woman that screamed obscenities at her from her portrait on the wall, lovely.

The third girl standing in the doorway was different. Where the other two were imposing and intimidating, she was inviting. She smiled at Hermione and she found herself giving her a genuine smile back. She was tall but in a willowy way, pleased to meet you, Miss Granger, I am Philomena Lovegood."

Hermione's eyes bugged out a tiny bit. She had no idea a relative of Luna's was in Slytherin.

Hermione introduced herself to them again and made small talk as they all got ready for bed. The lights dimmed and each girl drew the curtains on their bed closed. As Hermione turned to her side she sighed, the last thought going through her mind is how long this year was going to be.