Author's Note: Thanks a lot to Evelyn for helping me edit. You may not be an official beta but you did a great job.

Platform nine and three quarters was bustling with people: parents were hugging their children, reminding them to owl regularly, the first years were looking around in awe at the large, red steam engine they'd be riding to the next phase of their lives, and most of the older students were busy catching up with their friends. Amongst all of this, a young girl with long, curly hair was hugging an elderly woman at the side of the platform.

"Gran, I'll write to you every day - you won't even notice I'm gone," the little girl promised as she removed her arms from their tight hold around the woman.

"Write to me once a week – you won't have time for more than that," her Gran replied, wiping the tears rolling down her face with a sleeve. "Do your Gran a favour and look after Severus; something has been worrying him and you are the only one he listens to," she added, creasing her brow in thought for a moment.

The train let out a whistle signalling that it was almost time to go, so the girl kissed her Gran goodbye and boarded the Hogwarts Express.

Hermione Granger was becoming increasingly worried. The train had already left the station but she couldn't locate either Ron or Harry. None of the Weasleys' seemed to have any idea as to where the two could be, not that the twins were much of a help. Finally, she gave up and went to find a compartment. Seeing Neville sitting by a first year in an otherwise empty compartment, she let herself in.

"Hey Neville, how was your summer?" Hermione asked as she settled down.

"Hello, Hermione! It was quite good, although Gran wasn't very impressed with my marks," the round-faced boy replied, looking down.

Hermione smiled and tried to convince him that he would do better this year. She then turned towards the first year who was now staring out of the window.

"Hello, I'm Hermione Granger and this is Neville Longbottom," she said, attracting the girl's attention.

"I am Samantha Sadler," the girl answered with a soft smile.

"So, are you looking forward to starting Hogwarts?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, I've been waiting for so long," Samantha admitted.

As the journey progressed, the three of them developed quite a rapport. It was only after reaching the station that they parted ways; where Samantha followed Hagrid to the boats with the rest of the first years, Neville and Hermione took the carriage.

Severus walked hastily towards the main entrance with a copy of the Evening Prophet in his hand. Samantha was starting Hogwarts today and he'd been waiting anxiously for her sorting the whole day. However, Potter and his sidekick had decided to be their usual arrogant selves and had arrived at Hogwarts in an enchanted car. He was now sure that they were looking for the most idiotic way to die. Next time, he may even decide to help and kill them himself. He knew Samantha was going to be devastated to learn that he had missed her sorting. He would just have to make sure that Gryffindor started the year with negative points.

The sorting was progressing in the Great Hall and Samantha could not help the tears that came unbidden. She had been over the moon thinking that from now on, she could be with Severus throughout the year but he hadn't even come to see her sorting! She wasn't sure what she had done to offend him to such an extent.

Professor McGonagall had to call her name twice to get her attention. Apprehensively, she walked to the front and placed the hat on her head. There was only one thought in her head: 'Not Gryffindor!' The sorting hat kept telling her that it was the most unusual request from someone so suited to the house of courage but she remained firm. Finally, the hat shouted, "Ravenclaw". With a relieved smile, she got up, setting the hat back on the chair, and joined her house mates. She had been worried of alienating Severus by ending up in Gryffindor. Maybe Severus was also worried that she might end up there and, as such, skipped the sorting. She put the thought aside and resolved to go see him, first thing in the morning.

Hermione was excited about her first day of classes and had arrived to the Great Hall before everyone else. As she was walking to the Gryffindor table, a voice from behind her reprimanded, "10 points from Gryffindor, Miss Granger." Professor Snape then made his way up to the head table.

"But, Professor, I-" Hermione started, confused, only to be interrupted again.

"You owned up to your mistakes so you should be prepared for the retribution," the professor snapped without pausing in his stride.

Hermione could not believe her ears! She knew the Professor was talking about the letter she had written at the end of last year; she would have traded a thousand points for his forgiveness and here he was letting her go with only ten points. She looked up to see if pigs had started to fly. Seeing the ceiling of the Great Hall still reflecting the sky outside with no sign of airborne animals, she continued on her way to the Gryffindor table with a big smile and sat down, serving herself some breakfast. As she looked up, she saw the first year from the train ride step into the Great Hall so she waved at her. Oddly, the girl did not seem to notice Hermione waving as she walked up to the head table. Then, she started speaking to Professor Snape. Hermione was surprised, to say the least. A first year from any house other than Slytherin approaching Professor Snape of their own accord must have been a record in itself. She stared at the head table as the Professor spoke to the girl with the gentlest expression she had ever seen on his face, transfixed. It seemed as if Samantha even took a bite of something from his plate. Hermione was so shocked at this that she dropped the spoon she'd been holding from her hands, attracting the attention of the other two occupants of the Hall. Professor Snape looked at her with completely unconcealed venom in his eyes, causing her to jump out of her seat and leave the Hall as quickly as she was able without outright sprinting towards the exit. She was sure that if she shared this incident with anyone, her great-grandchildren would still be serving detention with him.

Samantha was a Ravenclaw. Severus could not believe his ears. He wouldn't have loved her any less for being a Gryffindor but it would have put her in direct contact with Potter and the boy was nothing but trouble. Ravenclaw was the most neutral house and she would be very much safe there. He had been so overjoyed that he had all but forgotten about Miss Granger's presence. The clatter of her spoon brought him out of his wandering thoughts and he automatically glared at the girl. If the students found out that Samantha was his god-daughter, she would be utterly estranged from her peers. He would have to be more careful from now on.

Hermione had been eagerly waiting for their DADA lesson. She had read all of Professor Lockhart's books and was highly impressed. The man was a genius and always had a cool head in a crisis. It did not hurt that he looked like a model out of a fashion magazine. She was sure that the lesson would be just as impressive. When the class turned out to be a complete disaster with the Professor releasing the pixies on them and then running away, she convinced herself that it was just jitters with it being his first day of teaching. She desperately wanted the Professor to succeed, or else the boys would have something else to taunt her with.

It was the first weekend of the term. Students normally preferred to lie in. Severus had thought that meeting Samantha early in the morning for a walk around the lake would be safe, but his luck was just not co-operating. Both the Gryffindor and the Slytherin Quidditch teams were out practicing. He could vaguely remember signing some permission form for Flint. He decided it would be better to walk back while all of them were still on the ground, arguing. He knew that Samantha was getting frustrated with all the secrecy and vowed to find a way of meeting her regularly without any interruption. He had a feeling that Miss Granger had seen them already.

Hermione was sitting alone in the library, thinking about Malfoy calling her a 'Mudblood'. She knew that he was an arrogant prat but it had hurt all the same. Hagrid had been right; she was better than any of them, she thought as she tried to concentrate on her studies. With Harry and Ron both in detention for fighting with Malfoy, she had thought to catch up on her homework. She was just about done when she saw Samantha enter the library. This time, the girl did notice her and came over.

"Hey, how are you doing? Mind if I join?" Samantha inquired, placing her books down.

"Sure," Hermione replied as she pulled out one of the Lockhart's book to re-read. She saw Samantha looking at her curiously.

"Something the matter?" She asked, genuinely curious.

"Oh, nothing. It's just, don't you find Professor Lockhart a little queer? I mean, his books are all filled with stories of his heroism but in person, he seemed so vain and frivolous," Samantha admitted as she busied herself with a couple books and some parchment.

Hermione was flabbergasted. Everyone seemed to have a vendetta against the poor Professor. "I'm not sure what you mean," she stated, coolly.

Samantha just smiled at her and confided, "Even I think he has a cute smile."

For the first time she could remember, Hermione Granger was left speechless. Samantha was far too perceptive.

From then on, Hermione and Samantha could often be seen together in the library. Even Severus had noticed the growing closeness between the two. He was not sure how to react to this development. He just wanted Samantha to stay as far away from Potter as possible. The boy was bad news. But Miss Granger was a hardworking student who would, no doubt, be a good influence. This year, he had made it a point to be less critical when marking her essays. He would give her the grades she deserved and he made an effort to keep his comments constructive rather than derogatory. In class, however, he was just as harsh as ever. She was a muggleborn and showing any interest or favour towards her would be tantamount to declaring his allegiance, a risk he could not take.

The Great Hall had been all decorated with bats and carved pumpkins for Halloween. Samantha was enjoying the feast, immensely. It was after she were done with dinner and was walking towards the exit that she saw Severus approaching.

"Miss Sadler, a word please," he commanded rather formally, then turned to walk out as she followed him. Once they were out of earshot, he drawled, "I was wondering if you were privy to the whereabouts of Potter, Weasley and Miss Granger. I could not help but notice that they were missing at the feast and, given their penchant for trouble, I admit, I am slightly worried."

"As far as I know, they were supposed to attend the death day party of Nearly-Headless Nick," she offered as she followed the students out of the Great Hall.

Severus was not surprised to find the three trouble makers at the scene of commotion; Filch's cat was apparently petrified, making the man frantic with worry. The message on the wall, however, did alarm him. He was aware that some of his Slytherins used that foul word regularly, but to be written so boldly across the wall with Mrs Norris hanging next to it as an open threat was beyond anyone he could think of. He was well aware of the legend of the 'Chamber of Secrets' and prayed to all that was mighty that it was just a legend because the alternative was unfathomable.

He knew that the three Gryffindors were at the 'Death Day Party' but it was also plain as day that there was something they were hiding. 'Moronic idiots', he thought as he attempted to blackmail the information out of them, threatening to ban Potter from Quidditch. Unfortunately, Minerva jumped to the rescue of her cubs immediately. He was now convinced that Gryffindors were incapable of perception and understanding. Even Minerva, with all her intellect, thought that he was trying to get to Potter. Apparently, last year's fiasco had not been enough for them to realise that the boy needed to be watched constantly.

He was incredibly annoyed and that fool, Lockhart, offering to brew the Mandrake Restorative Draught made him snarl loudly.

"Excuse me, but I believe I am the Potions Master at this school," he had sneered icily, bringing all the nonsense to an abrupt halt.

For the next few days, Severus was busy trying to observe all the students in his house. He was convinced that this had been the act of a Slytherin and once he found the culprit, he would skin them alive. Samantha had come to him asking all sorts of questions about the Chamber and its legend. She had also been worried about Miss Granger's welfare. Severus, himself, was concerned about the girl; he knew she was responsible and intelligent but with Potter as her best friend, she drew more attention than anyone else of her birth. The fact that she was the top student in her class made matters even worse.

It was the first match of the season: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. Severus was sitting in the stands with the rest of the teachers, as usual. The match was progressing normally when all of a sudden, a bludger decided to make Potter its singular target. He had never seen anything like it and tried all kinds of counter-curse, but was not able to maintain his concentration with all the commotion around him. After a very aggressive chase between the bludger and Potter, the boy somehow managed to catch the snitch. He fell from his broom immediately afterwards, though, and was unconscious as he hit the ground. All the staff rushed to the pitch. Satisfied that the boy was not in mortal danger, he walked off. There were enough people present to coddle the boy.

Samantha was waiting for him in his office. She looked like she had been crying. He immediately went and hugged her. "What's the matter? Did someone hurt you?" He asked, concern evident on his face.

"No, not really," she replied, softly. "Severus, many of my housemates and even a few of the Gryffindors think that you are the heir of Slytherin. There is a lot of speculation, and you and Malfoy seem to be the favourites," she mumbled, sniffling.

Slowly, he wiped her tears and looked her in the eye. "Samantha, it does not matter what others say. You know that I have not been doing this and that is enough," he reassured her, wrapping his arms around her once more. "Come. I will make you some tea." He guided her through to his chambers and once she'd selected a place to sit, had a few sips of her tea and made herself comfortable, she spoke again.

"You know, Hermione is trying to find out more about this. She has a brilliant plan!" With this, Samantha told Severus about Hermione's idea of making the Polyjuice Potion. The older girl had shared it with her only yesterday, and she had been excited to think that if they found out who was guilty, then no one would talk badly of Severus. It was only when she saw Severus' expression that she realized her mistake.

"You are not going to punish her, are you?" She began, sceptically. "I mean, I did not tell you all this as a student to a teacher and anyways, I think this is a brilliant plan," she added, rather smugly.

"You think so, do you?" He murmured with an amused expression. "I may not actually intervene. Seeing the three of them trying to botch the potion will be enough satisfaction." It was his turn to sound smug.

"It's not that difficult to brew. I've helped you with it. I'm sure Hermione can accomplish it," Samantha argued.

"Is it? And how is Miss Granger to procure the ingredients? Not from my private stores, I hope?" Now Severus was openly smiling as Samantha squirmed. "I won't interfere on one condition: that you promise me not to drink whatever concoction they brew. I don't want you to spend the rest of your year in the hospital wing," he allowed as he ushered her out.

Hermione had poured all her concentration into getting the Polyjuice Potion done; she had been working on it in every spare moment she got. Samantha had also shown a lot of interest in the project. Hermione had told her about it as she had been inconsolable on hearing some of the students in the library mention that Professor Snape may be the heir of Slytherin. The Ravenclaw had proved to be an asset as she knew exactly where the boomslang skin would be in Professor Snape's private stores. Hermione was a little surprised at this but had not questioned her. The girl even knew how to prepare the ingredients to perfection. Maybe she was just great in potions and hence, closer to the teacher. The fact that she was not a Gryffindor and from an old wizarding family may have factored in to the Professor decision to be cordial to her, Hermione mused. She wished that he would look past such prejudices and maybe appreciate the hard work she put in. She had been trying extremely hard in his lessons and her essays were no longer covered in sarcastic remarks. However, she was yet to receive any appreciation in class.

The moment Crabbe's swelling solution exploded, Severus was sure that it was a ploy to distract him. He had been waiting for something like this from the moment he had learnt about Miss Granger's Polyjuice plan. He had kept his eyes firmly on Potter and Weasley as he gave a deflating draught to all those affected by the explosion. But the two had not moved from their seats at all, the entire class. It was only when he saw Miss Granger re-enter the classroom in his peripheral vision that he realised his folly. The girl had more guts than he gave her credit for; he had never thought she had the nerve to do the actual stealing. Had it been the other two, he would have been dragging them to the headmaster's office by now, he admitted to himself. However, with Miss Granger at folly, he could pretend to be ignorant.

Lockhart had been getting on Severus's nerves for a long time. The man was a fraud and his generally pompous attitude left a sour taste in Severus' mouth. The duelling club presented the perfect opportunity to teach the fool a lesson and he had grabbed at it. He had only planned on humiliating the idiot. Pairing Potter with Malfoy had, admittedly, been for his own amusement. What had followed had been beyond anything he could have imagined: Potter was a Parseltongue. This was a revelation he had definitely not been prepared for. He was sure he had not known anyone but the Dark Lord to possess the skill.

Severus knew that Voldermort had opened the Chamber of Secrets as a student. He also knew that he was the heir of Slytherin; over the years Albus had shared much of the Dark Lord's history as well as the Headmaster's own deductions with him. When the attack on Mrs. Norris had occurred, he'd hoped that it was just some student trying to spread a scare. The attack on Colin had worried him and he knew that even Albus was convinced that the Chamber had been opened. They were both, unfortunately, lost as to the 'how'. Now, with Potter talking to snakes, he was not sure what to expect.

Samantha was in a good mood as she joined Severus for their walk together. "What has you so cheerful?" He grumbled as they walked around the lake.

"It's just that, with Harry Potter being a Parselmouth, everyone thinks that he is the heir of Slytherin. You should hear the stories people can make," she chirped with a smile.

"And you are happy about this because…?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Well, they're not talking about you anymore. I don't care if they think Harry Potter is the love child of 'You-Know-Who' and a giant cobra," she replied. Her comment made him smile. If only she knew, he thought. Well, Lily had only asked him to keep her daughter safe. Bringing about any kind of sibling harmony was not his job. He was not going to admonish Samantha for choosing him over Potter.

There was another attack and this time, the Hufflepuff boy, Justin, was petrified, seemingly confirming everyone's suspicion about Potter. Severus knew that this time, Potter was innocent, but he was worried nonetheless. If the Dark Lord had anything to do with the Chamber being opened, he was sure that Potter would be a target. It did not matter what blood he had. Severus was actually hoping for Miss Granger's plan to succeed. He knew that Malfoy was not guilty but the boy may know something.

With Samantha gone back home for Christmas holidays, he had no way of finding out when the 'Golden Trio' would be executing the plan. He was also worried that they may end up brewing poison and killing themselves; Miss Granger may be intelligent but the potion was far too complicated for any second year.

It was after the Christmas dinner when he was relaxing in his quarters that he received a floo call from Madam Pomfrey. Apparently, something was seriously wrong with Miss Granger. Severus's heart skipped a beat; he was now sure the girl had boggled up the potion and poisoned herself. He should have put a stop to this at the very beginning. It was with these self-berating thoughts that he entered the hospital wing. One look at Miss Granger, though, and all his fears were allayed. He could not help himself as he started laughing. The girl was red with embarrassment. He assured Madam Pomfrey that he could easily brew the potion to get the girl back to form and was about to leave when a thought struck him.

"10 points from Gryffindor, Miss Granger. For not knowing the difference between human and cat hair," he smirked as the girl gaped at him.

Hermione could not believe her ears. Professor Snape knew exactly what was wrong with her and had not demanded she be expelled. He hadn't even given her a detention – just taken ten points. She was not sure what to make of this.

It wasn't until the beginning of February that Hermione was able to attend her classes again. She had immediately written a note to Professor Snape thanking him for his help in her recovery and for not telling the headmaster. She had been excited to see the diary of Tom Riddle, thinking that it might lead to some answers, but it turned out to be a disappointment. She had thought of asking Samantha about revealing spells but the girl had been very busy helping Madam Sprout with the mandrakes; she had a special gift with plants. Hermione, herself, excelled at the subject, just like any other, but she did not share Samantha's passion.

Valentine's Day was soon upon them. Samantha had never really understood the importance of this day. Both the adults in her life were single and hence, this day was just like any other for her. She could not believe the ridiculousness of Lockhart; why anyone would want dwarves to carry their love notes was beyond her, and all those pink decorations were just disgusting. She looked at the head table to see Severus staring at the DADA Professor with a murderous expression. She couldn't blame him - if this was what celebrating love meant, then she was sure she would end up single.

Hermione could not believe what she was hearing: Hagrid had opened the Chamber of Secrets. She knew he had a fascination for dangerous creatures but this was incomprehensible. Hagrid would never hurt anyone knowingly – she was sure of that – but monsters did not always obey their masters. She just hoped that no further attack would happen so they could all pretend to be ignorant.

It was only when Harry heard the mysterious voice again on the day of the match that Hermione made the connection. It was so obvious, she could not believe she hadn't noticed earlier! The Chamber of Secrets could be opened only by the heir of Slytherin and Salazar Slytherin had been a Parseltongue. She rushed to the library to research deadly snakes.

Samantha was about to leave the library when she saw Hermione rush in, flushed and excited. Samantha waved at her.

"Hey, not coming for the match?" She asked the girl.

"Samantha, I think I have the monster from the Chamber of Secrets figured out." Hermione filled Samantha in with all the details. Both the girls started looking through books to find out what exactly be residing in the Chamber. It only took them a few minutes to locate the information. Walking towards the staff room with the intent of revealing what they'd found out, they left the library, a looking glass in each of their hands'. The last thing they remembered was big yellow eyes before all consciousness left them.

Severus was devastated. Samantha had been petrified. He had been so bothered about Potter that he had not paid enough attention to her. He was holed up in his lab working on the Restorative Draught. He did not care if Potter got killed. It was only Samantha he was worried about. The boy went looking for trouble all the time while his Samantha was a model student. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that, for a moment, he did not notice the floo call summoning him to the staff room. Not sure of what news would await him, he hurried out of his private laboratory and rushed to the staff room.

Ginny Weasley had been taken into the Chamber. Well, the girl was mousy and spineless. She would have been easy pickings for the monster. The Weasleys' had always antagonised the Death Eaters with their Muggle-friendly attitude. This was surely retribution from whoever was behind all of this. He had no way to help the girl and sitting here was wasting time, he may as well work on the potion. He was contemplating escaping to his lab when that fool, Lockhart, arrived with the stupidest grin on his face. Severus could not help but mock him. He was surprised to see the other teachers backing him. It seemed that the fool had managed to beat even him in unpopularity amongst the teachers.

The Draught was complete. Severus was in the hospital wing helping Madam Pomfrey administer it when he saw Ginny Weasley arrive, dishevelled and supported by his youngest brother, and followed by Lockhart. He was so shocked to hear their story that he even forgot to deduct points from Gryffindor. Potter still seem to have his luck as he had, yet again, survived the Dark Lord. Samantha was also back in the world of the living. Lockhart ending up in St. Mungo's mental damage ward was just the icing on the cake. Everything was back to normal in Severus' world.

It was the last day of term and Samantha was sitting with Severus reflecting over the whole year. "Ginny is quite a nice girl. I had thought she was little shy but I think it was the result of the diary," she commented, casually.

"I just want you to stay away from all those foolhardy Gryffindors. None of them have even an ounce of common sense," Severus insisted, with a worried expression on his face.

"Come on, Severus. They're not that bad. I may see your point about Harry and Ron but Hermione seems quite well balanced to me," she retorted as she got up to leave. "It's almost time to go to the train station. I'll see you at home," she said as she kissed him goodbye.

Severus was about to leave when an owl came to him with a letter. This time, he had an idea who the letter was from and sure enough, Miss Granger's writings greeted him as he opened the letter.

Professor Snape

I just wanted to thank you for the restorative draught. I don't know what else to say with all the trouble I keep causing you. Thank you once again.

Hermione Granger

He placed the letter in his drawer with her other letters. It had taken him ten years to receive his first note of thanks from any student and now he had received three in two years. He smiled as he slid the drawer closed again.

A/N In the original story it is Penelope Clearwater who gets petrified with Hermione. I just thought that if Samantha was the one with Hermione it may strengthen their bond.