After Marcus protested that her injury wasn't "just a scratch", Hermione and him made their way to the hospital wing.

Hermione didn't mention that Riddle still had her wand, but vowed to get it back by the end of the day through any means necessary.

Hogwarts' matron healed her injury while tutting about 'unsafe lessons' and bade them on their way. Luckily Riddle hadn't gone to the hospital wing as advised so Hermione had time to think of a strategy to get her wand back. Ron was always better at strategies…

A lancing pain crossed her heart and Hermione nearly doubled over. She had ruthlessly pushed down all thought of the future, but now an again a stray thought would come to her that reminded her of everything lost.

Hermione pressed the memory of Ron down again and turned her analytical mind to the present.

She was deemed cunning enough by the sorting hat to belong in Slytherin now so she would have to use that ability to reclaim her wand.

Riddle was Head Boy which meant he had his own quarters so she could try to sneak into his rooms tonight, but that plan was squashed as no doubt he would keep her wand on her at all times and probably would have it warded tight when he was sleeping.

He wouldn't give it to anyone else to look after and trying to use someone else to get it off him wouldn't work because why else would anyone want her wand?

It looked like the only way was too approach him herself and try to take it, not using force, as that tended to escalate between them both, but maybe by bumping into him 'accidentally'?

No, he was too clever for that to work.

Think, think…

He was a Slytherin so maybe a deal could be made. Make him think he was getting a better deal by giving her back her wand?

Yes, that might work, but what could she offer him? He already had all the knowledge he wanted, as far as she knew he had all the trinkets he could ever want…

The diadem. It was after Hogwarts he went to Albania to find Ravenclaw's item.

But could she offer him that information before he was due to find it? What would that change? And could she live with herself knowing that she was helping him on his hunt for making Horcruxes? No, she could not.

She still had plans to find and destroy the Horcruxes and make him mortal if that was possible in this timeline, so she would need to retrieve the Diadem herself and destroy it before it was made a Horcrux.

So she was back to square one. What could she offer him?

They had made it to the Great Hall doors when Marcus turned and grabbed her arm softly to stop Hermione from entering.

"Nyx are you sure you want to go to the dungeons tonight? It's obvious you and Riddle don't get along and I think he might try something again," Marcus said quietly.

"I know but I'll be ready this time if he does. I can't stay with the Gryffindor's all year so I need to get back to my house."

"Okay but if things get too much or anything happens please just come stay with us lions again. You'll see plenty of house rivalry, but as a whole, the seventh years don't usually make enemies just based on which house they are in," Marcus said and while glancing at Riddle and his 'friends' at the Slytherin table through the door.

Hermione thought that was interesting. Maybe the notorious rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin only happened as a result of Riddle and his Death Eaters once he left Hogwarts then.

Hermione surprised Marcus by walking towards the Slytherin table and pushing aside Avery to sit beside Riddle. Avery went to throw her off the bench but Hermione grabbed her knife in warning and Riddle shook his head at the sneering blonde.

Hermione thought he might have still tried to push her off even though she picked up the blunt knife if not for Riddle's intervention.

Riddle eyed the knife in Hermione's hand and pleasantly asked, "Miss Evermore nice of you to finally join your house, would you like the steak?" he said nodding at her knife.

Hermione whipped her head around and felt satisfaction when her braid whipped Avery in the face.

"No thank you, Riddle. Although I would like my wand back?" she answered just as pleasant but with a glare.

"Wand? I don't have your wand," he replied with a smile.

Most of the Slytherins within hearing distance were watching their interaction by now.

Time for the cunning, Hermione thought.

"Oh? Nevermind then I'll just accio it. I think someone must have picked it up for me after class."

Riddle went to clutch his right pocket but stopped in time.

Gotcha.

"How will you do that without a wand?" Riddle asked seemingly unfazed.

"Riddle we both know I am proficient in wandless silent magic," Hermione replied with one eyebrow raised.

Let the Slytherins think twice before trying to corner me, she thought.

"Indeed," Riddle replied with a smirk, "Feel free to summon it then."

What was he playing at? Did he think he could stop her wand sailing out his pocket? No best not to out him as a lair yet.

Hermione grabbed some food from in front of her and began to eat, even though the Slytherins eyed her curious about what she would do. They eventually turned back to their lunch when Hermione made no move to summon it yet.

Hermione watched the boys opposite her in between eating. Malfoy, the Lestrange brothers, and Nott ignored her as they conversed about Quidditch quietly, and next to Riddle, Mulciber and Dolohov were talking about some warding rune, although Dolohov kept glancing at her.

Avery would knock her arm sharply now and again from her other side, while the Black cousins sat on Avery's other side whispering intently. Alphard was a little way down the table and he shot her a small smile when no one was looking her way.

She didn't know much about Alphard apart from he was Sirius' and Regulus' Uncle and was kind to Sirius- having left him money in his will. There was no account of him ever being a Death Eater in the records following the first wizarding war caused by the boy sat on Hermione's right. A potential ally, Hermione thought.

By the end of lunch, students had begun to mill out to their next classes and that was when Hermione decided to make her move. She rose off the bench and bent down to whisper in Riddle's ear from behind him.

"Take my wand again and it will be the last thing you do."

Hermione then reached down and next to Riddle's right pocket summoned her wand and slipped it into her robes. She left the Great Hall without a backward glance. If she did she would have seen Riddle's heated gaze on her the entire time and a dangerous smile at the thought of the challenge.

….…...

The rest of the day passed without incident, Hermione partnered and sat with Marcus for the rest of their lessons and she wondered what would happen when she had Alchemy for the first time tomorrow.

She didn't volunteer any answers in class and the teachers didn't call on her, probably thinking not to overwhelm her on her first day. The work was new, for she had never got to attend seventh year in her time, but Hermione couldn't bring herself to care much about classwork this time around. Her 11-year-old self would have shrieked in indignation, but Hermione knew she had changed a lot from that naive innocent bushy-haired girl.

War had hardened her, and her view of the world was not so black and white. Riddle was still evil of course. She hadn't suddenly viewed him as someone who had the possibility of redemption, nor did she want to attempt to change him. She wanted to rid the world of him. He had already gone too far with his plans for power and she would be a fool to try to steer him away from them.

However, she knew to stay firmly in the 'light' was not going to work this time. The Order in the future was too naive, too trusting and not cunning enough. Dumbledore's plan of sending three teenagers to hunt down and destroy Horcruxes had worked yes, but at the final battle, the light was too fixated on subduing their opponent and not killing as a necessary means to win the battle. Maybe they could have won if Harry had not fallen a second time, but their folly of not fighting ruthlessly led to most of their deaths.

Hermione knew she had acted like a coward and fled the battle, but her self-preservation and survival instinct had grasped her at that moment. She couldn't try to be like Riddle and his Knights in this time, as she had already made him an enemy, so she would have to use her intelligence and cunning to seem like they were starting to get along while plotting his downfall and attaining her own allies secretly.

For Hermione knew there would come a time when lines would be drawn and the war would begin. She needed her own group of trusted fighters behind her when the time came. She would not approach those known to join the Order of the Phoenix, as she knew they would not approve of her strategies and plans. She needed to sway her hand-picked group to her way of thinking and take down Riddle once and for all.

….…...

At dinner, Hermione sat next to Alphard and ignored Riddle's burning gaze that had been directed towards her all day.

"Night," Alphard greeted with a smirk as she sat.

"Star," Hermione replied with her own smirk.

"So Riddle seems very interested in you," he commented loading his plate gracefully without looking up.

"We don't see eye to eye," Hermione replied diplomatically.

"It's only your first day," Alphard said glancing at her with a small smile.

"It seems I make enemies fast," Hermione explained with her own smile.

They started eating in comfortable silence as Hermione glanced around the Great Hall. Marcus was laughing heartily with his friends and Hermione wished she had been sorted back in Gryffindor but she could see the Sorting Hat's logic of putting her in Slytherin.

Turning back to the Slytherin table she caught Dolohov's eye and a shiver went through her at the intensity of his gaze. She refused to be the first to look away and waited until he narrowed his eyes and looked away. Another one she needed to keep a close eye on. Riddle was of course top of her list to watch, followed by Avery and now Dolohov. The rest of the Knights were problematic but hadn't done anything to her yet, apart from Cygnus that was present when Riddle and Avery hurt her in her first hour in this time. Although she didn't expect any humility from someone that fathered Bellatrix in the future.

She looked up and caught the eye of the boy sat in front of her. Her breath caught as she looked at a boy who looked like Sirius in his teenage years. Hermione had glanced at him a couple of times during the day, but up close she couldn't believe how similar he was to his son.

Alphard noticed the direction of her gaze and spoke, "Nyx this is my cousin Orion. Orion this is Nyx."

Orion sent her a crooked grin and raised his hand to greet Hermione properly.

"Nice to meet you."

Hermione recovered quickly and had to slightly tilt forward to reach his hand across the wide table.

"Nice to meet you to Orion."

Orion leaned forward to press a kiss to her hand and then released it. Alphard raised one eyebrow at Hermione's slightly flustered state but stayed silent.

"How are you finding your classes so far Nyx?"

"Fine thank you. I have Alchemy tomorrow and I have never studied it before so I'm looking forward to that," Hermione replied regaining her composure.

It was still slightly shocking how much he resembled Sirius, although he had a slightly broader face and longer nose.

"Alchemy is challenging but very interesting," Orion replied.

"Have you studied it before? I thought the course was only available to seventh year students?"

"Yes I'm known to dabble," he grinned again and Hermione was transfixed looking at his mouth.

"Nyx, would like showing to the dungeons? I heard you spent last night with the Gryffindors," Alphard spoke breaking her trance.

"That would be great thank you," Hermione said rising as both Black cousins did.

Orion offered Hermione his arm as Alphard rolled his eyes and they exited the Great Hall, while Riddle sat staring after them with his gaze slightly narrowed.

Not taking his eyes off the Great Hall doors, he quietly addressed the boy next to him, "Cygnus I want you to arrange a meeting with your cousin and brother."

"Yes Tom," the black haired boy replied also staring after the Slytherin trio.

….…...

Hermione stood in the Slytherin common room taking the cavernous space that glowed from the Black lake's murky depths through the large curved windows. The marble and leather looked cold at first, but with the crackling fires lit in every fireplace and the Slytherins milling around talking, the atmosphere was… nice.

Hermione frowned. Nowhere would replace Gryffindor's warm and comforting common room, but she didn't dislike Slytherin's common room as she had thought she would. It suited the students perfectly. No fuss, no clutter, no bright glaring colours. It was quite tranquil and opulent.

Alphard led Hermione to a set of stairs to the right of the large common room that descended downwards, with Orion in tow.

"These lead to the Girls' dormitories. The seventh years' are right at the bottom and I'm guessing someone will have already placed a bed in there for you," Alphard said leaning on the archway, "The girl's bathroom is over there," he said pointing to another archway next to where they were stood.

Hermione made a note to herself that she would have to be dressed properly to use it, as she would have to exit the dormitories and cross the common room. The layout was strange, but Hermione mused that having the bathroom located from the common room and not from their bedrooms would make for easier access for students. No leaving the shower and heading to my room in a towel anymore, Hermione grumbled in her mind.

"The boy's dormitories and bathroom are opposite over there," Orion spoke up and waved dismissively towards the direction mentioned.

"Thank you for showing me," Hermione said to both boys, noticing absent-mindedly how much taller than her they were.

Where Alphard was slightly taller than Orion, he was also leaner. Orion was quite broad, and more muscled than Hermione remembered Sirius to have been. They both had jet black hair and the same silver eyes, that Draco Malfoy had come to inherit, but the rest of their facial features were different. Orion had a strong jaw and thick eyebrows, although not bushy like hers had been as a young girl. Alphard had a thinner face and high cheekbones that he shared with his brother Cygnus, and that would be passed down to Narcissa and Draco. Alphard's nose and lips were thinner than Orion's, but their complexions were the same- creamy and flawless.

Hermione was brought out her observations as they started walking to a set of dark green leather Chesterfield sofas. Alphard sat on one and Orion sat on one opposite. Hermione slid in next to Alphard as Riddle and his Knights entered the common room. He zeroed in on Hermione and walked towards where they were sat.

"Black, Black, Evermore," he greeted as he gracefully sat very close to Hermione.

Hermione shifted closer to Alphard who was glaring at his brother Cygnus, who had sat next to Orion smirking. Avery sat on Orion's other side while the rest of the Riddle's boys took a sofa and plush armchairs nearby.

"How was your first day?" Riddle asked Hermione while leaning back with an arm over the back of the sofa. Hermione felt her lift slightly as Riddle fingered the end of her braid. She jerked away and turned to face him.

"Fine," she spat.

Riddle tsked and grinned, "Still haven't learned any manners I see."

Hermione scoffed and turned to listen to Cygnus provoking Alphard by commenting on a letter he received from their father, who Hermione remembered was Pollux Black.

"Our father is sending me the new Comet 260 for being one of Slytherin's Chasers third year in a row," Cygnus gloated.

Alphard rolled his eyes and drawled, "Good for you."

Cygnus bared his teeth and snapped back, "Yes he is very proud I play Quidditch for my house. What is it you do again Alphard? Oh yes experiment with your little runes and read books."

Alphard leaned back and crossed his arms and smirked at his older brother, "Yes well I'm not first born so why does it matter? You're the one taking over the family business and will be married off once you leave Hogwarts so I'm free to do as I wish."

Alphard then turned to Hermione and continued, "Our lovely mother decided to pop out an heir and a spare one after the other, and then our dear sister Walburga was born five years later. Truth to be told I think mother's lover accidentally knocked her up."

By the time he had finished talking, Cygnus looked to be barely holding on to his rage. He glanced at Riddle and Riddle shook his head and Cygnus composed himself.

"Don't talk about our mother like that," Cygnus spat.

"Sure," Alphard drawled.

The tension all round was thick so Hermione decided to go inspect her dormitory. She slowly stood up, gave a small wave to Orion and Alphard and began to walk towards the girls' staircase when she felt someone following her. She descended the stairs and listened for footsteps, although she couldn't hear anything, she knew Riddle had followed.

Why aren't the stairs turning into a slide?

Hermione nearly jumped when a voice from behind her answered, "Oh is that what happens in Gryffindor? We are trusted so no enchantments are placed on our dormitories," came Riddle's drawl from very close behind.

Hermione spun round to see him with his arms crossed leaning on the wall next to her.

"What do you want?" Hermione bit out.

He must have read my surface thoughts, she concluded. As she struggled with occumulancy, hiding surface thoughts were extremely difficult since a mind wasn't invading hers she couldn't use her technique of pushing back.

"Why don't you like my Evermore?"

"Oh, I don't know… who was it that ordered Avery to assault me after Crucioing me?" Hermione mused tapping her chin in mock thought.

Riddle suddenly advanced on her and Hermione started backing down the steps.

"You hit me after one sentence," he growled out.

"Maybe I just don't like your face," Hermione spat as her arms grabbed onto the stone wall to stead her backward descent.

Riddle suddenly rushed towards her and pushed her into the wall with his hands pinning her against it by her shoulders.

Hermione bit back a wince at the jagged stones digging into her back and glared defiantly up at Riddle.

Just as Riddle was about to speak again, a gorgeous caramel skinned girl rounded the corner and stopped two steps below them.

"Tom what are you doing down here?" she asked in a slight accent.

Riddle released Hermione and stepped back before answering, "Just helping the new student find her way around," he replied with a friendly smile.

The girl raised an eyebrow and looked at Hermione critically, "Well I can take it from here and show her the dormitories."

Hermione gave the girl a grateful look as Riddle replied, "Thank you, Valentina."

He turned and swept up the stairs as Hermione walked towards the girl.

"Hi I'm Nyx Evermore," Hermione said holding out her hand.

The girl raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow and knocked Hermione's hand away to lean in and air kiss both her cheeks.

"I'm Valentina Zabini. Come with me and I'll show you our dormitory."

Valentina spun and her long skirt flared slightly as she strode back down the steps with long legs.

Hermione followed and they reached a door with the word Seven wrote in emerald green calligraphy.

"Humm the Gryffindors just have it wrote as a number," Hermione mused out loud.

Valentina let out a surprised quiet laugh and replied, "Maybe it's easier for them to read, the savages," she said with a wink and a small grin.

Hermione didn't expect to get along with any of the Slytherin girls, so she was surprised by how much she liked Valentina already and her dry sense of humour. They entered the room and Valentina led her to a bed in the far corner, which had an empty chest of drawers next to it.

The room was long and rectangular. It had a door far down the room, directly opposite the entrance, and the bed was in a line next to each other with a set of drawers separating them. The single four-poster beds were draped with thick green velvet and the bedding was made up of emerald green silk covers and silk cushions. On top of each set of drawers was an ornate Tiffany-style lamp, mosaicked with different shades of green in patterns of flowers.

There weren't any windows but the room felt just as opulent as the common room and the deep colours were relaxing. And once again, Hermione was surprised that she actually liked it.

"That door there is our shared wardrobe and changing room. We take it in turns to use, so don't take too long in there or Druella might scratch your eyes out," Valentina said smirking.

Hermione could see aspects of Valentina that Blaise Zabini would inherit in the full large lips, dark hair and statuesque height. She would be too old to be his mother so she could be his grand-mother or some relation on his father's side if Zabini had been his father's name. Hermione wasn't sure about Blaise's lineage, although she had heard the rumours his mother was dubbed the 'Black Window'; killing off all her husbands when she had secured their land and gold.

Hermione sat on her soft silk bed while Valentina sat on the bed next to her, which Hermione assumed was hers.

"What can you tell me about Riddle's friends?" Hermione asked cautiously.

"I'll tell you if you tell me why Riddle cornered you like that," Valentine quipped back with a sideways smile.

"Deal."

"Riddle rooms with Avery, Cygnus Black, and Abraxas Malfoy. Alphard Black has a room with Mulciber, Rodolphus Lestrange and Cantankerous Nott. The others are Rosier, Druella's younger brother, who shares a room with the other Lestrange brother Rabastan. They are sixth years like Orion Black who seems to like you already," Valentina said with a smirk before continuing, "and Antonin Dolohov is a fifth year."

"Humm and what are they like?"

"Well, you'll want to steer clear of Avery, Mulciber and Nott. They are notorious for pursuing many girls and not caring about studying. Rodolphus, Rosier, and Alphard tend to keep to themselves and are quite clever. Cygnus has been betrothed to Druella since they were in nappies and he dotes on her, and he's very arrogant. Abraxus is very much into politics but doesn't really care about much else. Rabastan is a flirt, like Orion, and they are both close friends who are always getting into trouble in class for messing around I hear. I don't know hardly anything about Dolohov apart from he is Russian and has a violent streak," Valentina said ticking off the boys on her fingers.

"And the Slytherin seventh year girls?"

"Ah ah ah. Tell me why Riddle followed you first," Valentine said waggling her finger.

"We don't get along and he was trying to intimidate me."

"Understatement of the decade," Valentina snorted. "Everyone can see how much you two have clashed in just one day. What started it?"

"It might have been when I punched him in the nose," Hermione said smugly.

Valentina sat up a little straighter with a wide grin, "Can't say I blame you. He has the Professors eating out the palm of his hand and most of the students here."

Hermione liked Valentina even more.

The door opened and immaculately dressed girl with bright blue eyes and artfully coiffed black hair entered followed by a tall, willowy, pale, icy-blonde haired girl and a short, stocky girl with brown hair.

"And here are our dorm mates," Valentina said with a shark-like grin. "Girls this is Nyx. Nyx the viper is my lovely friend Druella Rosier. The tall one is Lysandra Yaxley and the short and ugly one is Gertrude Bulstrode."

Druella sneered at them both while Gertrude growled. Lysandra smirked at Valentina and threw her robe at her while Valentina laughed.

Valentina caught it and grinned, "Liz stop hanging around with those two idiots and join me and Nyx. We outnumber them now."

Valentina lowed her head and looked at Druella and Gertrude while licking her lips.

"Val one of these days I'm going to stand back and laugh when these two 'idiots' finally get revenge," Lysandra replied with a cultured accent and rolling her eyes.

Hermione realised where Narcissa, Andromeda got their beauty looking at Druella. Bellatrix was just plain ugly, in Hermione's opinion, so she guessed she must have inherited more of the slimy Cygnus. Druella had thick black hair styled in the popular wave the 40s favoured. Her skin was porcelain and blemish-free. She had full blood-red lips and her bright blue eyes were sharp and framed by dark eyelashes. Her nose was long and elegant and her high cheekbones, paired with her pale skin, made her look slightly vampiric.

"Nyx…What sort of name is that?" Druella said still sneering.

"What sort of name is Druella?" Hermione quipped back.

"One passed down through generations in the female line of the noble house of Rosier," she spat back.

Hermione rolled her eyes, a Pansy Parkinson of this time was all she needed.

Lysandra approached Hermione and shook her hand and then pushed Valentina over to sit beside her on her bed.

"Nice to meet you. You can call me Liz if you want. I hate it, but Val calls me it so I suppose you can too," Lysandra said with a bemused smile at her friend next to her.

Hermione smiled back, "Nice to meet you."

"Are you coming to harass the younger boys in the common room with us?" Valentina spoke up with a grin. "It's hilarious to see them stutter and go all red when we talk to them."

"Sure," Hermione replied.

Better to hang out with Valentina and Lysandra than Riddle and his gang, or stay in the dormitory with the still sneering Druella and menacing-looking Gertrude.

The three girls rose and exited the room without a backward glance and headed up the stairs as Valentina chatted to Lysandra about her family's villa in Italy.

Riddle was now solely sat with his Knights. Orion, Alphard, Rosier, and Rabastan were nowhere to be seen. He raised an eyebrow as Hermione followed the two girls to a group of younger boys who Valentina whispered to her were fourth years.

"Hello boys," Valentina greeted with a smirk and dropped gracefully to sit beside a spotty nervous boy with glasses.

They immediately stopped talking and stared at her and Lysandra, completely ignoring Hermione. Hermione just rolled her eyes and took an armchair as Lysandra sat in a chair next to her and watched Valentina.

"How were your summers?" Valentina asked tilting her head to the side and flashing a mega-watt smile at them one by one.

As Valentina predicted, all she got was stutters and a few of the boys turned red in the face. One boy closest to Hermione looked like he was having a stroke. Hermione felt a little bad; faced with Valentina's exotic beauty it would be a little intimidating for any boy, never mind a young one who was starting to take notice of girls for the first time.

Hermione glanced at Lysandra to see her rolling her eyes but smirking. The bravest of the group finally spoke up clearly from the group.

"I holidayed in France with my family. How was your summer, Valentina?"

Valentina's smile turned into a devious grin as she answered, "Oh I spent it in Italy sunbathing mostly."

Most of the boys' eyes started to glaze over with the mental image they were probably creating.

Valentina laughed and nodded to Hermione and Lysandra her work was done for the night and rose. The trio walked away and say by themselves in a secluded corner by some grand dark wood bookcases as Valentina laughed again.

"Now on to think who my next victims will be," she said with a devious glint in her eyes.

"Val please it's the first week back, can you stretch your dastardly plans out for the whole year and not drive me to drink?" Lysandra voiced in exasperation.

"Oh like you need an excuse to drink Liz," Valentina shot back grinning.

"Speaking of…" Lysandra said as she reached into her school bag and discretely pulled out a bottle of firewhiskey.

She conjured three crystal tumbles with her wand and tipped in a generous amount of the whiskey in each glass. She handed a glass each to Valentina and Hermione and said, "Bottoms up ladies," before knocking it back in one go.

Hermione sipped her drink and looked around the common room. She caught Riddle's gaze as he looked at her from the other side of the room. He smirked at her when he noticed the glass in her hand, so Hermione tipped it back and swallowed the rest in one gulp. She hissed as the whiskey burned down her throat and settled into her stomach.

Lysandra gave her a smirk before topping up her own glass and then Hermione's.

"I like a girl who can drink. Good choice bringing her in Val."

Valentina beamed and shrugged, "I can spot potential a mile away."