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Two Can Dance the Masquerade

"You weren't at the sorting either." His dark green eyes narrowed slightly as he looked sideways at Hermione. "Where were you?"

"I was sitting at my house table, Ravenclaw. My parents went to a meeting to discuss the details of my transfer over the summer holiday, and thought it would be best for me to be sorted then." Hermione inwardly congratulated herself for her quick thinking.

"Ravenclaw, eh?" Tom glanced down at her pin and nodded in approval. "That's respectable enough, though if you don't mind me saying, Slytherin is by far the best house." He smiled teasingly at Hermione, who replied,

"That would be your house then, I take it?" Tom nodded, his smirk never disappearing. Hermione scoffed and held back an eye roll. "Of course, only the best for Tom Riddle."

Once again, Tom's eyes lazily swept over Hermione's svelte body, meeting her reproachable gaze with an even wider grin than before.

"I wouldn't take anything less." Hermione raised an eyebrow at his obvious implication, but otherwise ignored it.

No, you really wouldn't…the vampiress thought, fully aware of how possessively the Head Boy was holding her arm. Many ogling male students passed them, most of whom looked eager to approach the beautiful new student. This would start a pattern. Each time a male did look at her; Tom Riddle would tighten his grip on Hermione's arm ever so slightly and give each male a smug look. This would send them shuffling away, disappointed. It seemed that even at this age Tom Riddle's will had command over many.

Hermione was growing increasingly irate at Tom's blatant show of ownership, and was supremely pleased when an opportunity to rid herself of his grasp presented itself.

A trio of sixth year boys walked past them, all of them nearly drooling at the site of Hermione. Two of them were talking loudly amongst themselves, loudly enough so Hermione need not have her vampire ears to hear them.

"Who's the girl Riddle's walking with?" a short, bespeckled boy inquired, nudging a freckly friend.

"Ben said something about the new girl being a knockout, reckon' that's her?" The freckled one said, turning to face the third boy in the group, who was the tallest and most composed. This boy, who up until now had been eyeing Hermione, finally spoke.

"That has to be her. I've never seen a girl like that before." His gaze traveled to that of Tom Riddle, and his smile morphed into that of a spiteful sneer. "However, our dear Head Boy wouldn't just let any girl be on his arm, he'd have to be getting something in return." The other two boys agreed, those this did little to quell their longing stares. The tall one laughed and sent one last leer at Hermione, tossing with it,

"She must be a tart."

Hermione, disgusted by his comment, ripped her arm away from Tom's and turned to face the boys. Glaring at each with obvious repugnance, Hermione put her hands on her hips and growled,

"Pardon me, but you all must have me confused with someone else, I can assure you that I am no one's tart!" All of the boys seemed dumbfounded that she had actually heard them, much less turn and yell at them. The freckled one even had his mouth open in disbelief.

"We-we-we're sorry!" Stammered the short one with glasses. "We didn't think you'd hear us!"

"Excuse me? You were talking loud enough so that someone on the other end of the corridor could hear!" Hermione seethed, unaware in her fury that she was drawing in a fair amount of onlookers. The three boys had turned quite pale, and were slowly backing away from the vexed siren before them.

"Well, they certainly can hear now."Tom agreed, somewhat amused at the whole situation. He, unlike Hermione, was perfectly aware of the growing crowd, and despite his own delight and watching the scene before him unfold, he knew that he had to take matters into his own hands before things got out of control. After all, he was the Head Boy. Moving to Hermione, he placed a calming hand on her arm, which, unbeknownst to him, only incensed her further.

"Septimus Weasley, I'm surprised at you," Tom took on a false air of disappointment, turning to prey upon the freckled boy first. "Hermione Levana here happens to be in your own house, I would have expected better courtesy from a housemate." He unintentionally received Hermione's attention with this comment. Hermione lost most of her anger in her surprise, and took a closer look at Septimus' robes. He was indeed a Ravenclaw.

Apparently Ron didn't study his Family's history too closely. Hermione smiled a little at this, what anger she had left deflating immediately at the memory of her lank friend.

Septimus blushed beet red and suddenly became very interested in the pattern on his shoes, thoroughly put in his place by the intimidating Tom Riddle.

"And you two, I'm ashamed to call you fellow Slytherin's. Eldred-"The short one looked very nervous at being addressed personally by Tom Riddle, "you'd do well to behave better in a school where your own father is teaching. As a matter of fact, we were just on our way to Professor's Worple's class, weren't we Hermione?" Hermione felt some of her anger flare up again at Tom Riddle's casual use of her name, but turned the anger towards that of poor Eldred Worple instead.

"Yes, we were, Tom." Hermione agreed, putting slight emphasis on her escort's name. "I don't think that the Professor would be very pleased at all to hear about this."

"Not at all." Tom agreed, shaking his head mournfully before addressing the last boy. This last boy, unlike his two cohorts, He stood his ground, giving off the impression that he wasn't completely afraid of Tom Riddle, though one could tell he was still wary.

"As for you, Ulysses, I'll deal with you later." Dangerous promise glinted in Tom Riddle's eyes, and Hermione saw the boy named Ulysses visibly gulp. "Let's go, Hermione. No use in dealing with these cretins for a moment longer." He once again held out his arm to Hermione, who once again took it. Damn. She gave the trio one last glare for good measure before allowing herself to be lead away.

"I'm terribly sorry about all that." Tom said to her once they were out of earshot of the boys. "But you'll have to excuse them. They aren't intelligent enough to behave any better." Hermione nodded her head in ascent, having come to this conclusion by herself.

"I know better than to take the words of adolescent boy's to heart, believe me. It's just that…" Hermione shook her head in frustration, and continued, "I'm appalled that anyone would behave that way. The least they could do is disguise their true feelings by keeping their mouth's shut."

"There are few people who will exhibit that courtesy to you, especially since you're already causing quite a stir in the gossip mill." Tom replied, smirking a little. "And I can say with absolute certainty that your tongue lashing of Septimus Weasley, Eldred Worple, and Ulysses Greengrass will have circulated the entire castle by supper time." Hermione moaned loudly, which just made Tom even smugger.

"Relax, Hermione." At the sound of her name being uttered from his murderous lips Hermione stiffened. Tom, taking note of it, decided to play the gentlemen yet again.

"Is it alright if I call you by your given name? It's generally a habit of mine to call my friends by their given names." Tricky Bastard. Friends indeed…

"So long as I may call you Tom, that is. It's only fair." As the vampiress had expected, the devil's mockery of smile just expanded.

"Hearing you speak my name is more enchanting than a Veela's song." Tom gave her a cheery wink, completely aware of how outrageous his compliment sounded.

Hermione couldn't help herself. His atrocious endearment was so utterly ridiculous; she had no hope of attempting to stop herself from bursting into laughter. She wrenched her arm away from Tom's yet again, though this time it was an attempt to stifle her loud laughter, those this technique proved ineffective.

The newly made Ravenclaw was now nearly tipsy from all the laughter, as she needed no breath there was no reason for her uncontrollable laughter to subside. While Hermione was trying her best to regulate her 'breathing', she failed to notice the temporary lapse of Tom's smirk and a strange glimmer of desire and malevolence in his eyes as he watched her. But it was only for a moment before Tom Riddle put his pompous smile back in place, leaving no trace of his true emotions.

Finally, able tone done her laughter into an occasional chortle, Hermione looked up at Tom, who looked thoroughly pleased with himself, and sassed,

"Are you this amorous to all the girls you meet, Mister Riddle?" Hermione gave him a coy half smile, and knew he had bought it instantly when his smirk grew even cockier.

"Only to the pretty ones, Miss Levana." Hermione snickered once more before regaining her composure.

"Getting back to the point at hand, how far exactly is it until we reach the classroom?" She asked curiously.

"Just around the corner, actually. It's on the third floor corridor." And, sure enough, there it was. Once inside, Hermione noted that the room had a more gothic atmosphere than it had ever had with any of her previous Professors. It was full of medieval artifacts that looked to be straight out of a muggle horror movieand all the curtains were drawn to give the room a would be eerie feeling. However, the room's potential dark effect was lost on Hermione, as there was an oddly large amount of talking students in the room.

"Important thing to know about Professor Worple-"Tom pulled out a chair near in the front of the classroom and nodded to Hermione to take it, seating himself in the chair left of hers. "He has a strange obsession with vampires and anything that could be related to them." Tom grimaced slightly, turning to the curtain covered window. "He's gotten worse this year. All the same, he's competent enough, and head of Ravenclaw, so he'll love you." Tom leaned back in his chair, and began to observe the gregarious behavior of his fellow classmates with a small sneer.

"Why are there so many people in here?" Hermione queried, she had never seen this amount of people in a Defense Against the Dark Arts class before.

"Oh?" The Head Boy's attention snapped back to the witch on his right. "The staff here at Hogwarts are more lax of us Seventh years, and don't seem to mind if those with a free period come to socialize. This year the Slytherin's and Ravenclaws are paired mostly together, so we don't have to deal with those obnoxious Gryffindors as much." Hermione stiffened in her seat. It was second nature for her to defend her old house, particularly against the King of Serpents.

"Certainly not all the Gryffindors are that bad, are they?" Hermione questioned in her most curious of voices, determined to keep her anger below the surface. Tom shrugged.

"Most likely not, no." Hermione would not have been surprised if her jaw had dropped. Never, not even in her wildest imagination, had she expected the future Lord Voldemort to say something remotely…dare she say it, fair.

"However, all of the Gryffindors that I have dealt with on a regular basis, the Seventh year ones, have all been the pinnacle of unpleasantness. There are two of them over there." Tom nodded his head towards a blonde girl and another with short brown hair, both of whom were standing a few desks away with their backs to Hermione. The blonde was talking to a Ravenclaw girl with two long black braids, which Hermione recognized as one of the girls who had ignored her the previous night in the dormitory.

"The blonde's name is Sophie Althof. She's a pure blood, wealthy, popular, vain, and Head Girl to boot." Tom gave Hermione another lavish smirk. "She also hates anyone that's remotely pretty, typical for most girls of our age, if I'm not much mistaken." Hermione sighed, but had to agree that that was indeed true.

"Her "best friend" is the girl with the short hair. Her name is Betty Rivera, and is all the things her deity Sophie is, though one begins to wonder why she was placed in Gryffindor. She would be helpless without Sophie, mostly because her intelligence level is lower than that of a Flobberworm." Hermione tittered a little at that. She wasn't too concerned about the ignorant; she had dealt with those kinds of people her entire life.

"And last and perhaps least is Elsie Granger." The vampire understandably perked up at the mention of her 'former' last name. "Elsie's a muggle-born from Germany, and if I recall correctly her parents fled to England because of that Muggle dictator, Hitler. Sophie really only lets her stick around because she'll do all their homework." Tom's lip curled into an unpleasant scowl. "She has no pride." He looked back at Hermione and patted her on the back. "I'm sorry that you have her as a housemate, you'd best hone your skills at ignoring your peers, and it'll save you many headaches."

Little did the Tom Riddle know, Hermione was already putting that particular skill into practice.

Interesting! I never knew that there was ever another Granger at Hogwarts. Even after that time I went back and read a list of students in the same graduating class as Tom Marvolo Riddle…Merlin's pants, Hermione! I really had nothing better to do that year, didn't I? Well, I might have, but someone had to go and summon a basilisk…Hermione glared daggers at Tom who wasn't paying any attention to her at the moment. He was busy observing his fellow students in their natural habitat.

"No…" Tom suddenly groaned. "Granger, don't tell Sophie…no…Granger, why must you continue to torment me?" He groaned again, and for the second time that day Hermione was taken aback at his unlikely human tendencies. Who knew that Tom Riddle would grumble about such a trivial matter? Sure enough though, he was right. The girl named Elsie had seen Tom and nudged Sophie, who turned to look at Tom, smiled, and began to walk towards them.

If Hermione had any breath, she was positive she would have gasped.

Sophie Althof was beautiful. Her skin was the color of crème and completely unblemished, and she had a charming blush on her cheeks. Bright blue eyes and elegant arched eyebrows completed her lovely face, which was framed with shimmering golden locks that fell to her shoulders in an unnaturally perfect wave. Sophie must have known she had an irresistible face, for she kept it unobscured by tying her bangs back with a fine red ribbon.

Sophie sashayed right up to Tom Riddle's desk, and boldly sat on its corner, crossing her legs so that her robe slipped a little to reveal a glimpse of shapely legs.

"Hello, Tom." She cooed. "How was your summer?"

"Insufferable. And yours?" Tom asked politely, putting on his gentlemen's demeanor.

"Terribly drab, I'm afraid. It did perk up a bit when I received this, though." Sophie fiddled with her head girl badge, which she had conveniently placed right over her left breast. Hermione was seriously thinking of telling Ulysses Greengrass that she had found the true tart.

"Congratulations, Sophie." Hermione could see that he was literally biting his tongue to keep back a snarky remark. "Have you met Hermione yet? I'm sure the two of you would get along famously." This is the reason why I hate you, Tom Riddle.

Sophie tossed her golden hair over her shoulder and slide a little further onto the desk. A tiny frown appeared at the corner of her mouth as she saw that Tom's new acquaintance wasn't just any ordinary looking girl. Hermione, tired of the awkward silence that had overcome them at Sophie's evaluation, held her hand out to the blonde.

"My names Hermione Levana, pleasure to meet you Sophie….?" Best to pretend like Tom hadn't given her the quick quotes on her. She gave Sophie a smile and stretched her hand out even further. Sophie raised one fine eyebrow and gave Hermione a calculating look before daintily accepting Hermione's hand. After a brief moment she released Hermione's hand and placed hers right in front of Tom Riddle.

"So you're the new girl the whole school's been buzzing about. I'm so glad I finally got the chance to meet you." And she sure sounds like she means it, Hermione thought acidly.

"Why did you decide to come here?" Sophie wondered, and although the question was ordinary enough, the way Sophie said it implied that she wished Hermione hadn't.

"Well, my parents thought it'd be good for me to have a real school experience instead of just buying the books and having me memorize them." Hermione chuckled slightly. Her parents didn't make her memorize the books, she did because she liked to.

"You're a pure-blood, then?" Sophie remarked, drumming her nails upon the desk. Tom, who had leaned back in his chair, abruptly brought it forward again. The clatter startled both the girls, and he mouthed an amused 'sorry' to Hermione before situating himself again. This time, his posture was more alert, telling Hermione that he was awaiting a response.

Hermione frowned, but found an answer that didn't conflict with her background story.

"Does it really matter?" Sophie looked affronted and Tom folded his arms, not in anger but in silent contemplation. "It's all just blood. When it comes down to it, it's really all the same, isn't it?" Sophie rolled her eyes and gave a huge sigh, obviously hoping to bring Tom's attention back onto herself. When it didn't work, she gave another sigh of exasperation and hopped off the desk.

"Betty, Elsie, come over here. I want you to meet someone." Sophie called out to her friends, sending Hermione a smirk. Sophie's eyes had a malicious gleam to them, not unlike that she had seen in the eyes of her ex-nemesis Draco Malfoy.

The two girls immediately strode over at Sophie's command. Both girls were attractive, though neither on the scale as their leader. Elsie had thick hair separated into two large, long braids that fell to her waist from over her shoulders. She had very strong, sharp features, evidence of her nationality. Betty was the very opposite, sporting a smaller, more slender frame. She had short, page cut brown hair with bangs so long they nearly covered her eyes.

"Hey, Tom!" Betty chirped, giving him the silliest curtsy Hermione had ever seen. Elsie just nodded.

"Is this her, then?" Betty asked rather rudely, folding her arms and sizing Hermione up from her sitting position. Hermione was getting tired of the witch brigade inquisition.

"If you mean the new girl, it couldn't possibly be me. I'm the only seventh year that you've never seen or met before, here and now talking with you. It must be someone else." Hermione suggested to the girl. Tom chuckled. Sophie huffed. Hermione could see Elsie hiding a smile. Poor vapid Betty just looked confused.

"Yes! I am 'the new girl'! But please, call me Hermione, or at the very least, Levana." Hermione exclaimed agitatedly. She stood up from her chair gracefully and moved over to Betty and Elsie. Hermione discovered, to her delight, that she was taller than both Sophie and Betty, and was approximately the same height as Elsie. She offered Betty her customary handshake, but Betty merely started at it, arms still crossed. Elsie, however, took her hand and gave it a hearty shake.

"My name is Elsie Granger, Hermione. I'm also in Ravenclaw." Elsie's voice was heavy with a German accent, despite the fact she must have lived in Britain for at least seven years. "I am sorry I ignored you last night, I was having quite the tiring day, yet all the same it was quite callow of me." Hermione couldn't have cared less now; at least Elsie had the decency to apologize. She gave the German girl a sincere smile, deciding to give a friendship with this one a try. Hermione wanted nothing to do with the other two. Judging by the looks they were giving her right now, the feeling was mutual.

Sophie grabbed Elsie's arm away from Hermione and linked it with her own. Betty was already on her other side. The blonde gave Hermione one last scathing look before flashing Tom a dazzling smile.

"Well, the bell will ring any minute now, so if you don't mind, I'd like to say goodbye to my girls." Sophie gave Tom a little curtsey between her schoolmates before swinging them around, the three of them cutting a swath through all the other students.

"Downright charming that lot is, wouldn't you agree, Hermione?" Tom crooned, watching Hermione sink back into her chair with a deep sigh.

"As charming as a horde of dragonesses in heat can be, Tom." Hermione groused. "Though, that Elsie wasn't so bad. What's wrong with her?"

"The company she keeps, for one. And that was just the good side of Granger that you saw today. She's as two-faced as they come, Hermione. Don't forget that." Of course not, Tom Riddle. After all, I have absolutely no reason to mistrust you.

Hermione was grateful when the bell rang not a minute later. At least half of the room's occupants exited, and the rest took their seats. Hermione was surprised at how well everyone seemed to be getting along with each other; apparently there was a lot less rancor between the Slytherin's and Ravenclaws than the former and the Gryffindors.

"Welcome, students, to your very last year of Defense Against the Dark Arts." Came a male voice from seemingly nowhere, causing the class to turn about in their seats, looking from its origin. Everyone but Tom Riddle, that is, who sat in perfect contentment, Hermione nudged him.

"Where's his voice coming from?" She whispered. Tom leaned towards her until he was a breath's distance from her ear. With a soft hand he tucked a loose curl behind her ear.

"He's hiding under an invisibility clock near the back if the room right now, deciding what student he should scare." He murmured. Hermione gave him an incredulous look. Tom just smiled. "Professor Worple does this every year, and though you'd think everyone would be on their toes by now, he manages to terrify someone nearly every time. It's quite amusing, really. I only time it hasn't worked was in my second year, when he tried the technique out on me." Tom gave a haughty laugh. "He's secretly resented me ever since, I'm sure."

Questioned answered, Hermione leaned away from Tom and sat back in her seat. The room was now silent say for a few whisperings. Hermione sat very still and concentrated on that area of the room

Tom was right. Hermione could feel the presence of a wizard back there. And he was moving closer. The Professor was now winding his way through the desks, though where exactly Hermione could not tell by instinct alone. So she sniffed the air.

That did the trick. The invisible figure she had concentrated on smelled of old robes and candles. He was very near now, only a desk away. Hermione slowly turned her head in tune with the Professor's movements, so that by the time he had stopped walking and stood beside her she was facing him.

Worple clapped before removing his invisibility clock, smiling brightly at Hermione as he did so. He, like his son, was rather short with glasses, and had a mess of straggly brown hair, almost looking like he had been electrocuted.

"Bravo, Miss! Bravo!" He had begun to clap again. "Did everybody see that? That was amazing!" Everyone in the class seemed to be in shock. It had been a few years since someone had thwarted the Professor. Hermione caught Elsie's eye from behind her, who gave her a congratulatory thumbs up. Tom looked vaguely impressed, and nodded his head in honest approval.

"Looks like we've got ourselves an Auror in training." He was still smiling with a crazed sort of excitement, and it was only now that Hermione remembered what Dippet had said about him. Oh dear.

"Has everyone here met Miss Hermione Levana?" Worplequestioned the class. Only Benjamin, who looked to be blushing again, Elsie, and Tom answered yes. "Well, then, I'll just have to give you a formal introduction, won't I?" No, no that won't be necessary.

"Come on then Miss Levana! Stand up!" Hermione compiled, but very slowly and reluctantly. Once standing she gave Worple an awkward smile. He surprised her by putting a fatherly arm around her shoulder and marched her to the front of the room. Once there, he spun her around so she faced the entirety of the classroom, all of whom had their eyes locked upon her. Like last night at the great hall, a few whistled, which just stockpiled her embarrassment to a nearly unbearable amount.

"Go on, then." He told her expectantly. "I'm sure they're all curious to know you." Hermione sighed, evading eye contact with the few people she knew.

"Hello, everybody." She mumbled, playing with the sleeve of her robe. "My name is Hermione Levana, and I transferred here from home schooling." Hermione gave a shaky smile to Worple, and tilted her head towards her seat. He ignored her.

"Aren't you all excited? A Transfer student, you know it's been a score or two since Hogwarts has had one." Hermione made brief eye contact with Riddle, who graced her with a sickeningly annoying smile. I'll smack that grin right off your face, Tom Riddle.

"Miss Levana, you may return to your seat for now, but I do hope that you won't hesitate to volunteer in the future? This class has a lot to learn from you." He implored, that mad smile still plastered on his face. Hermione nodded timidly, never taking her eyes off that deranged smile of his.

"Excellent, my dear, Excellent!"Hermione traipsed back to her desk at high speed, avoiding eye contact with everyone and everything. A few of the students were laughing, some catcalled again. The vampire sat rigidly in her seat and stared at her hands, knowing full well that her debonair neighbor still had that blasted smirk on his face.

"Yes, yes, it's all very amusing." She snapped at him. "Best get it out of your system now before making a fool of yourself later."

"What, Hermione? I have nothing to get out of my system." Tom assured her, giving her an innocent smile.

The rest of the period went by without incident. Professor Worple seemed to be as just as enthusiastic about his class as he was with vampires, so Hermione had a hard time hating him for making her an exhibit. The class course for the year would focus mostly on strong defensive, healing, and to Hermione's surprise, offensive spells. 'These are dark times, very dark times. Grindelwald's only getting stronger, and you need to know how to protect yourselves.' Was what Worple had said somberly when he informed the class that there would be more than 'defense' this year. There would, of course, be a review of dark creatures and non-verbal spells for the N.E.W.T. examines.

Professor Worple was still going over the finer points of his course plan when the bell rang. All of the students were slow to leave, as the room's atmosphere made one a little sleepy.

"Miss Levana?" Worple called to her acrossthe chatter of the other students. "May I speak with you for a moment please?" He motioned for her to come over to him.

"Advanced Potions next?" Tom asked her as they made their way to the front of the room. Hermione nodded.

"I know the way to that class though." She informed him with a pleased expression. "Thank you for showing me the way to this one." Hermione felt odd, giving genuine thanks to Tom Riddle.

"Anytime, Hermione. I'll save you a seat." He gave her a dashing wink before leaving her with Worple, meeting up with another Slytherin boy at the door. Elsie looked to be waiting for her, but Hermione motioned for her to leave, gesturing towards the professor. Worple waited for everyone to leave before speaking.

"Miss Levana, I don't know where to start." He had lost his maniacal smile and eccentric air, and had replaced it with a much more mellow spirit. "I don't know how I can possibly express my condolences over the loss of your family." Hermione's dipped her head sullenly in thanks.

"I really can't imagine how horrible it must have been. Waking up as a vampire, feeling that vengeance and bloodlust, and all of that grief. You are a very brave young woman, Miss Levana, and strong. Not just any fledgling vampire could take down her creators." Worple placed his hand on her shoulder and looked into her blank eyes.

"If you ever need to talk to anyone about it, you can always come to me." Hermione nodded again, though she had no intention of going to him. "And I'm not just talking about what happened, I'm also talking about your vampirism. While I happen to know quite a bit about it, I have an acquaintance I think you'd like to meet." That got Hermione's attention.

"Who?" She said wearily. Acting depressed wasn't terribly hard to do. All she had to do was remember…

"His name is Sanguini, and he has been a vampire for nearly a century. Sanguini is a very intelligent, apt vampire who could help you ease into the transition." Sanguini…he's the vampire in my book. And at Slughorn's party, he was there. I can't rememeber if I met him or not, I was a little distracted at the time. All I can remember was that Eldred Worple was there. Bloody idiot.

"I would love to meet him, Professor." Hermione smiled at Worple, who returned it with a bright grin of his own.

"Good, because I've already told him about you." Worple's smile was back. "He seems very interested in meeting you. We'll have to arrange a date." He looked at his watch.

"I'm afraid that you're going to be a bit late for your next class, just tell your teacher to talk to me about it if they give you a hard time." Worple waved goodbye to her before throwing his invisibilty clock back over himself, and sneaking to the back of the room.

"Goodbye, sir." Hermione said, snorting a little at the Professor's erratic behavior.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Like Worple had predicted, Hermione was indeed late to Potions. She came bursting into the room typical of her fashion, and began to apologize profusely to the Professor.

"I am so sorry, Professor, I was in Defense Against the Dark Arts and-"

"My dear! Calm down! It's quite all right! Tom explained everything to me."

The understanding sound of Slughorn's voice made Hermione relax immediately. In the back of her mind, Potions always equated to Snape, even though he hadn't even taught her class last year. Slughorn was no longer bald, instead he had a fine head of Straw colored hair. Apart form hair color and a lack of wrinkles, Horace Slughorn looked no different. The Potion's professor gave a hearty chuckle and smiled at Hermione.

"Better now?" Hermione gave him a nod, and began to search the room. She found Tom Riddle sitting by the same Slytherin she had seen him leave with, along with a few other students that filled up the table. Hermione had almost forgotten that Tom Riddle was the most popular boy in the school. Looking around, Hermione could see no empty seats, since this class contained all the Seventh years in advanced potions.

Hermione sniffed. That meant Sophie was here. Sure enough, she was sitting across from Tom, her blonde hair shining in the torchlight. Elsie was sitting near her as well, but it seemed Betty hadn't made the cut to get in the class.

"Uh, sir?" Hermione asked shyly. Slughorn looked enchanted by her bashfulness.

"Yes, my dear?" He replied friendly. "What can I help you with?"

"There's nowhere for me to sit…"

"Ah! I think our young Mr. Riddle saved you a seat." Slughorn winked, and stage whispered to her. "He had to fight off all the rest of the girls to keep that seat, but I can see why now." Hermione smiled in thanks, and rushed to the back of the room, where Tom had indeed had his arm draped across an empty seat. Hermione gratefully took the seat, muttering a quick 'thanks' to Tom.

"I did say I would save you a seat, didn't I?" Tom said slyly, not removing his arm from the neck of the chair. "I nearly had to hex Sophie to make sure you got this seat."

"I wish you would have." Hermione quipped. "But then again, I would have missed it, so perhaps it's best that way." She didn't look very convinced by her words, and neither did Tom.

"Getting back to what we were discussing before Miss Levana's grand entrance-"

Slughorn smiled encouragingly at Hermione, showing that he was amused, rather than irritated. "As you're about to find a partner to brew it with, can anyone tell me the main ingredients required to brew a decent Draught of Living Death potion?"

Several people raised their hands, among them Hermione, Tom and Elsie, but they were all beaten by a scrawny looking girl sitting at the opposite side of the room, who's hand had shot up faster than a snitch.

"Miss Eruditon? Please enlighten us." The Potion's teacher said jovially to the girl who had raised her hand so fast.

"That would be Asphodel, Sopophorus Beans, Valerian Roots, and Wormwood." The skinny girl receited, folding her hands on her desk primly.

"Correct! 10 points to Hufflepuff, Miss Erudition." Slughorn beamed proudly at girl.

"It's not like sweet Rosie has anything better to do but read her textbooks over the summer, they're the only things that can stand to look at her." Sophie whispered cruelly to the table, ilicinting a few laughs from their table. Elsie gave Sophie a quick smile before looking away with a slightly repulsed face. Tom just acted like he didn't hear anything. No one bothered to come to the defense of the scraggly looking girl.

Hermione grinded her teeth together and flexed her fingers.Though the Erudition girl hadn't heard what Sophie had said, Hermione knew that she must have in the past. Hermione knew, because she had been in this exact same position her entire time at Hogwarts. This made Hermione more infuriated with Sophie than she had been at that rude Greengrass boy.

"Did you ever think-"Hermione bristled, drawing in Tom, Sophie, and Elsie's, attention, "that maybe she prefers is that way? Books, the normal ones anyways, never argue with you. You can escape to a whole new world; let yourself get lost in wonderful fantasies. And let's face it, "Hermione made eye contact with Sophie, "there are some things in this world that wouldn't be missed."

Hermione flipped her hair over her shoulder much like Sophie had to her earlier, and leaned back in her chair, so pleased with herself that she didn't even care that Tom Riddle's arm was nearly around her shoulders. The boy in question was staring at her with a strange expression on his face.

"Yes, Tom? What is it? " The sound of her voice brought Tom back to the now. He shook his head slowly, almost admiringly, but when he looked back up at her his old smirk was back in place.

"Nothing. Care to partner up?" Truthfully, no, as much as she loved the boy sitting next to her, she always had preferred to work alone when it came to schoolwork. But, Slughorn had implied that he expected them to work in pairs…

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Tom Riddle turned out to be the most talented potion's brewer that Hermione had ever met, his prowess exceeding that even that of Snape's. By the end of the period they, along with the Rosie girl and her partner, had the only lilac colored potions. Slughorn, delighted to have two perfect potions, gave all four students 20 points to their respective houses.

Hermione was struck with a sudden idea. Looking about and seeing that Tom was putting their items away, Hermione reached inside her robes, and pulled out her empty ebony flask. She filled it to the brim, wanting to take as much potion as she could. Satisfied that this would keep Elsie and her other roommate asleep that night before she could brew more, Hermione hurriedly put it back into her robes and performed Evanesco on their remaining potion.

"Excellent job today, Miss Levana." She jumped at Slughorn's sudden presence, which just made him give another deep chuckle. Hermione decided that all the Professors had banned together in attempt to see who would embarrass her the most.

"You and Tom make a lovely pair; you know. I'd be pleased to see that kind of partnership more often." It was one potion… "As a matter of fact, I'm having a little get together here next week, and the two of you should come together." Hermione smiled, though inwardly cringed. The last thing she needed was for Slughorn to play matchmaker…

"Sounds lovely, Professor." Slughorn patted her on the shoulder before going over to talk to Rosie. Hermione assumed he was giving her the same invitation.

"I was wondering how long it was going to be before he invited you to the Slug club." Tom began, having returned from the supply cabinet. "I half-expected him to give you one the moment you stepped foot in this class." With a wave of his wand he summoned his book bag, slinging it around his shoulder in anticipation of the bell.

"What exactly is the 'Slug Club?" Hermione asked, knowing Tom would be curious if she did not ask.

"It's a group of students who Slughorn feels have the strong potential to succeed, have powerful connections in the Ministry, or are remarkable in some way or another." Tom conveyed a look of great satisfaction.

"I was at this for school for a mere day when he first invited me." Hermione let Tom's boast go without remark, as the last time she had dealt with Slughorn the same thing had happened to her. He really does have a knack for picking them, doesn't he?

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At last, the day was over.

The majority of her classes passed in the same manner as her first two. Tom would walk with her to their classes and flirt with her throughout them. If she hadn't known any better, Hermione would have thought he might have genuinely liked her. But know better she did.

Slipping the Draught of Living Death into Myra's, her other roommate, and Elsie's pumpkin juice had been far easier than she had anticipated. All she did was sit across them at the evening meal and point her wand under the table, mutter a quick spell, which promptly sent them both running as fast as they could to the nearest lavatory. No one noticed her slip the potion in their goblets, as it merely looked like she was reaching across the table for a treacle tart.

The girls had become drowsy after the first sip, after two both were yawning; the third left them barely awake. Claiming that they were going to turn in early, both the girls left the table halfway through the feast, nearly tripping over nothing several times. Hermione helped walk them back to their dormitory and made sure that they didn't faint before they got into their beds. Since no one else was in their dormitory, no one saw her leave it. Nothing saw her walk, almost casually, up to the Seventh floor. Nothing saw her dim the torches, and pace the hallway three times, before revealing a hidden door in the wall. Nothing saw her enter this door, which disappeared the moment she clicked it shut.

Nothing, that is, but a pair of smoldering green eyes, the light of dying torches making them seem almost red in the night light.