After Defense Against the Dark Arts had ended, Hermione didn't even glance at Riddle, who she knew was watching her. Instead of heading directly to Potions, she stalked down to her dorm her mind steaming with suppressed rage. She didn't even notice the looks other students were giving her as she pushed people in the hall. Some of them were looks of shock that turned into looks of anger and disgust. No one wanted to be touched by the "filthy Mudblood". But she didn't notice, nor care. The only thought that was running through her mind was: pensive.

"Cunning," she barked at the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room. The wall slid open, revealing the green and silver decorated room. No one, but a few sixth years was there, all which were on their breaks. Not one of them looked up from what they were doing as she hurtled up the stairs and down the hall to her room. Her door was nearly ripped of its hinges as she flew in, her wand already drawn and at her temple. Hardly bothering to look for the Pensive (which she had placed in a secret location after putting the memories of the battle with Voldemort into small un-breakable bottles), she quickly called for it. It came it her in a blur of colors, flying instantly into her hands.

"Bloody bastard, thinking he can enter my mind," she growled to herself as she placed memory after memory into the swirling silver mist. After each one had played, she conjured up more of the un-breakable bottles she had used for their previous ones. "Don't know who the hell he thinks he is. 'Dark Lord' or not, he has no right. I'll show him-" She placed each memory into a bottle, sealing them magically. Anyone who tried to get into them to view their contents would need a sample of her blood. It was crude magic, borderline Dark to have a spell include blood. Only when the intentions were good, did the magic not take some of your life force. Hermione placed each bottle into the magical safe she had made the day before and locked it. "Let's see you find anything in there now." She hissed as she slammed the door behind her.

&&

Tom was bewildered as he watched the Mudblood enter Potions, ten minutes after the bell had rang. Her face was slightly red, but she was still like he had observed- collected and composed. He watched as she spoke to Professor Slughorn, who nodded in understanding as she fed him an explanation to her lateness. The old man nodded to her once again, and she flashed him an appreciating smile before walking to an empty seat at the back of the classroom.

He felt her angry gaze land on him as she sat down, and smirked. But his smirk soon died down as he thought about the memory he had seen. No one else had been in the Room of Requirement while he had been there. He had the suspicion that she had been hiding under and Invisibility Cloak, if she had been there at all. He recalled the small gasp he had heard come from a corner of the room. Someone had been there, he was sure of it. And Granger had a memory of what had happened. She had definitely been there.

"Good morning class!" Slughorn said happily as he waddled around the room, looking at each and every one of them. When his eyes passed over Tom, he smiled and winked. He then turned back towards the front and stood in front of a large black cauldron. "Today, we are going to be partnering up. You will be making Imore Tanium," A jolt of excitement went through Tom's body. Imore Tanium… that would be useful. He glanced around the room and noticed the Gryffindors and Slytherins in the class glaring at each other. He smirked, knowing that Slughorn, who prized him, would never place him with a Gryffindor. "Now, when I call your name, stand and sit next to your partner." Producing a list of partners, Slughorn glanced down the list and began to read of the names: Avery and Nott, Peter Parkinson (a large pug faced boy) and Jeremiah Flint (a roguish boy with thick arms that could crush a tree, and beady black eyes), Armies Black (another dark haired boy who was quiet and sullen) and Adam Weasley (an annoying Gryffindor that always seemed to eat everything in his sight during meals), Eileen Prince (a black haired girl with cold black eyes and a small hooked nose) and, much to Tom's disappointment, Granger. After that announcement, he had lost interest in the pairs, mainly focusing on the things he had observed in Granger's mind. He only looked up when Abraxus sat down next to him.

He looked at the other boy from the corner of his eye, noting happily that he had only set down his possessions before striding up the isle to get the ingredients. This gave him time to observe Granger, who was also sitting at her table – waiting for Prince to return with the ingredients. Her head was also bowed in thought, her curly hair falling down her shoulders to obscure her face. She held a quill in her hand, which she tapped against the desk in a steady rhythm.

How had that memory been in her mind? He had been so sure that no one else had been in the Room of Requirement; so sure. But yet there he had been, regaling his plan to his Death Eaters in her mind. It just didn't add up.

Unless, he thought, She had been there the whole time, but… how?

His dark green eyes swept over her, and then flickered around the room. Only when his gaze washed over the chalkboard did it strike him.

Imore Tanium. The most powerful invisibility potion on Earth. The potion used to make Invisibility Cloaks. Granger must have been in the room before him, and, knowing that he was coming inside, had hidden herself underneath an Invisibility Cloak; shielding her from his view! It all made perfect sense. And then the small gasp he had heard come from a corner of the room, obviously it had come from her. She had been startled at what he had said, and had been unable to keep back the terror she felt.

A slow sneer began to form on his face as he turned his eyes away from the answer before him, and the problem that still needed an answer. Prince had returned to the working area and had settled down to work, completely ignoring Granger. The other girl didn't look too happy about this, but did not push the subject. Instead, she silently handed the hook nosed girl ingredients and occasionally glanced around the room. Only once did her gaze flick towards him, but then it quickly turned away.

Something jarred his elbow, breaking his train of thought. Angrily, he turned and found a frightened Abraxus handing him a jar of Pickled Beetles. The blonde had just returned from bringing the ingredients needed to make the complex potion, and had obviously been unaware that his master had been deep in thought. Taking pity on him, Tom merely threatened that if he ever interrupted his thinking again, he would suffer the consequences at the next meeting. Having said that, he began to work on chopping up the beetles and placing them in the cauldron in front of him.

&&

Ashwinder Eggs… Pickled Beetles… Asphodel Root… Bicorn Horn… Hermione ran the list of ingredients off in her head as she watched Eileen Prince prepare the potion. Daisy Roots… Fluxweed… Hellebore. The list continued, but at that moment something in Hermione clicked. Eileen Prince. Snape's mother. The woman she had researched and dubbed the "Half-Blood Prince" in her sixth year, was her potions partner. Of course she had been struck by a sense of familiarity, but she had clearly forgotten who she had been.

Sure enough, the hooked nose and cold black eyes should have been a dead giveaway. Hermione had spent more than five years with her old Potions Master in this very dungeon, and one in the old Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. And even she should have been able to see the similarity between mother and son. The physical appearance was one thing, although she did think that Snape looked more like his father, but the other odd tidbits should have pointed it out sooner. For one, the look of disgust and contempt the girl had given her upon discovering she was to be her potions partner, all because of her blood. And then there was the fact that Professor Slughorn seemed to have made her name sound like it was a revered Goddess. Hermione knew that she had been a great Potions maker, which was where Snape got his natural talent, but never that good. It reminded her of whenever Slughorn had said his name in her time, like he deserved to be recognized as Eileen Prince's and Tobias Snapes' son.

There was also the stony silence that lay between the two of them. For all the time she had been his student, Hermione knew that Snape preferred the quiet over the loud hustle and bustle that normally filled other classrooms- with the exception of Professor McGonagall's. Apparently, so did Eileen. She had not spoken to Hermione once, nor asked her for any help. Instead she had taken it upon herself to do the whole assignment, and leave Hermione to do nothing. It was completely new to her, being the only one competent enough, besides Draco Malfoy, to be able to finish a potion correctly. She had always been needed to do the whole thing, not sitting in the background and watching someone else do the work. It was completely new, and totally unwanted.

Deciding that the silence had gone on long enough, and that she should be helping as well, Hermione opened her mouth and cleared her throat.

"Um… excuse me, should I not be helping as well?" She asked in a soft, quiet voice. Instantly she regretted ever opening her mouth. As soon as she had uttered the first syllable, the other girl had stiffened and slowly turned her head to glare at her. She looked just like Snape when he was angry, the way her eyes had hardened to two points of black ice, and how her jaw had begun to clench with suppressed fury. For a moment it felt like she had broken some sort of unspoken rule, a rule which had seemed to keep Eileen's world in perfect balance.

A moment went past where neither of them spoke, before Eileen turned her head back to the simmering potion. She had not even answered the question, much less told Hermione she could do anything.

Getting slightly annoyed, she opened her mouth once more. "Excuse me. I asked you a quest-"

"Quiet." A dangerously soft voice said.

Shocked, Hermione stared at the girl before her. "W-what?" She asked.

Eileen turned around. "I said, 'Quiet'. I need to concentrate." She spoke in the same soft voice she had spoken in before, and Hermione noticed yet again another similarity between her and Snape. Both had the same soft, yet deadly, voices. Like a blade a covered in silk that could tear it at any moment.

"I-I'm sorry, I was just merely asking you if I could do something." Hermione retorted, her voice quavering a bit. It was completely uncanny how much Eileen Prince acted like her son.

Eileen's eyes flashed. "Well don't." She said coldly and then turned to start working again.

Taken aback, Hermione could only sit there for a few minutes in complete silence. But then the defiant edge in her personality, one which she used quite a lot with Harry and Ron, came forth. Soon she was over her shock, and standing next to the cauldron. Annoyed and irritated at being ignored she glanced at the board and read the next line of instructions. She knew that Eileen had done the previous ones, so without looking at her partner once, she reached across the desk and picked up a bowl full of decapitated caterpillars. But before she could place some in the cauldron, Eileen's cold voice asked coldly:

"What do you think your doing?"

Hermione didn't even look at her, but said in an evenly cool voice, "I am putting in the caterpillars inside the cauldron and then stirring it so that the potion will begin to turn silver. And then you will put in the crushed Salamander tail." She glanced up to see an expression of cold fury placed on Eileen's face.

"No. You won't." Eileen said before reaching out a pale hand and trying to snatch the bowl of decapitated caterpillars from Hermione's hands. Furious with the girls' refusal to let her do anything, Hermione tugged the bowl towards her; but Eileen wouldn't have it. Soon they were both tugging at the bowl, scattering caterpillars everywhere.

Only when Professor Slughorn appeared next to their cauldron did they let the bowl go.

"Girls. Girls! What in Merlin's name are you doing?!" he shouted at them. Frightened, Hermione dropped the bowl of caterpillars into the already bubbling cauldron. Instantly, a large cloud of smoke erupted and filled the classroom with the smell of rotten eggs and decomposing caterpillar bodies. The class began to cough violently, most of them gagging on the smell.

"Now look what you've done!" Eileen shrieked.

"Me! You are the one who did this. If you had let me do some-" Hermione began, but was interrupted with Slughorns shout.

"Quiet, the both of you!" His face was slightly purple, and no longer was he the jolly man that had greeted her in both this time and hers. He looked more like an angry walrus who had just had his favorite fish stolen by another walrus, than like the teacher she had come to like. "Now, I would like one of you to calmly tell me why you two were fighting over a bowl of caterpillars."

Eileen began to open her mouth, but Hermione beat her to it. "Well, you see Professor, this wouldn't have happened if Prince," she threw the other girl a dark look. "Hadn't decided that she should be the one to do all the work. I was merely trying to get the potion over and done with, but obviously I was unable to do that. Prince couldn't stand the thought of me messing up her perfect potion."

Slughorn looked slightly taken aback as he looked at one of his favorite students. "Ms. Prince, is this true?" The other girl didn't answer, but merely glared at Hermione. Slughorn looked back at Hermione and then sighed. "Never," he said. "In all my twenty years of being a teacher here, have I ever met a student who - on her first day in my class – has caused me to give her and another of my students, detention. Tonight at eight o' clock."

Eileen looked scandalized. "Professor! Please recon-"

Slughorn sighed. "I wish I could reconsider, Ms. Prince. But both you and Ms. Granger were in the wrong about this." He turned a stern eye upon Hermione. "Is all of this understood, Ms. Granger?"

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

Slughorn smiled slightly. "Good," he looked around at everyone else. "Finish up everyone. I will be inspecting your potions to see if they are the desired color soon." With that said, he waddled away from the two girls, and began to inspect the cauldrons that had already turned silver.

Hermione sighed and looked down at the ruined potion. Instead of the light blue it had been, it was now a violent orange. Just like Ron's room. There would be no way to save it.

"This is all your fault." Eileen's angry voice accused her.

Hermione glared at her. "Mine? You're the one who wouldn't let me do anything. This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't tried to take the damn caterpillars away."

Eileen's eyes flashed. "You shouldn't have touched them in the first place!"

Hermione laughed coldly. "What? You didn't want your precious potion ruined by my Mudblood filth?"

Eileen looked startled for a second, but the expression quickly changed into a cold sneer. "Exactly."

Hermione rolled her eyes. Satisfied that the girl was silent Eileen turned on her heel and began to try and save the wrecked potion, leaving Hermione to envision dark things happening to Snapes mother.

&&

"I hope you will both remember that fighting is not the wisest thing to do in a Potions Classroom," Slughorn said pleasantly as both Eileen and Hermione strode from his classroom, both covered in thick layers of dust. "For one, it's very dangerous, and it will also get you in trouble." He winked at them, which caused Hermione to smile and giggle a little bit. Eileen just stood there in stony silence, her face like a mask. Slughorn smiled at them. "See to it that it doesn't happen again."

"Of course, sir." Hermione said softly. Eileen merely nodded.

"Good!" Slughorn said jovially. He then glanced down at a watch the covered his thick wrist. "You had best be off now, wouldn't want Hawkins to catch you two out of bed would we?" Hawkins was the caretaker of the time. Hermione had yet to run into him, but she knew that he was supposedly nothing like Filtch.

"No, Sir. Good night!" Hermione called after her as she turned towards the Slytherin Common Room, Eileen already ahead of her. The dungeons were beyond cold at night, causing her breath to fan out in front of her. She walked along in silence, occasionally glancing at the tapestries and portraits that lined the walls. The tapestries had the Slytherin crest upon them, while the portraits were of previous Headmasters and Headmistresses that had been in Slytherin. Phineus Nigelius was among their numbers, with the same goatee and hair as in her time. He was sleeping soundly, and didn't even stir when she walked past.

Eventually she came upon the entrance and spoke the password. The stone wall opened and she walked through, not even bothering to glance around to see if anyone was around.

But as soon as a cold voice rang out behind her, she wished she had.

"Enjoy detention, Granger?"

Whirling around, Hermione was met with the sight of Tom Riddle sitting in front of the fireplace. He was only a couple feet away, but she was close enough to see the flames flickering in his cold eyes. He appeared to still be in his school uniform, although it was absent of the silver and green tie.

Hermione sneered at him. "What do you think Riddle?"

He sneered back, but it was a thousand times more sinister. "Forgive me, I should have asked 'how was detention with Prince?'"

She shrugged and then looked at him with mock astonishment. "Really, Riddle. One would think you care about how my detention went."

He laughed and stood up. The laugh sent a chill down the entirety of her spine, making her shiver. His footsteps were light upon the stone floor, giving him the appearance of weightlessness. He reminded her of a snake, which was what he was, a snake that was coiled up and waiting to strike at any moment.

Suddenly he was in front of her, his dark green eyes boring into her own. Startled, she stepped backwards away from him and nearly crashed into a corner table. She blushed as she straightened the items that lay on it, not looking at Riddle.

"Frightened, Granger?" He asked silkily.

She dared a glance up at him and asked defiantly, "Why should I be?"

He chuckled. "There are many things you should be afraid of Granger."

She laughed coldly. "Are you one of them?" He merely smirked at her. "Because I'm not frightened of you."

His eyes hardened. "Then that's a mistake on your part."

She raised her chin. "Why should I be afraid of you?"

A strange glitter filled his eyes. "I think we both know the answer to that." He stepped closer to her, placing his hand almost directly over hers. She flinched visibly and hurriedly moved away from him, withdrawing her hand as if it had been burned.

"Sorry?" She asked, putting up an air of confusion. She knew what he was talking about though. He was trying to get her to admit that she was afraid of him by bringing up what she had seen in the Room of Requirement. Decidedly it wasn't the best move, but it was the perfect opportunity to find out more information.

He sneered at her. "There's no use playing innocent, Hermione."

She smiled at him. "What would I be playing innocent about, Tom?" She shuddered inwardly at the use of both her name, and his. It sounded so foreign, coming from her mouth. His name was like poison.

His eyes flashed once more. She could practically see the wheels turning in his mind, thinking up new ways to trap her. And then the air around him changed from coldness, to mock pleasantness.

"Let us skip this part, shall we? You know that I was in your mind today. I know it as well." He said calmly, once more stepping closer.

Anger instantly rose up in her. "Yes, you were. And you should know that I don't appreciate my mind being invaded like that." She snarled at him.

He smiled pleasantly at her, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "Yes, well… I shall remember that next time."

"I don't think there will be a next time," she growled at him. "Unless you would like to see what your next life looks like."

He chuckled, but ignored this statement. "Isn't it funny that I found something in your mind that should not have been there?" He asked, stepping closer, forcing her to take a step back.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She snapped.

"Oh, I think you do." He said softly, stepping even closer. But she could not back up any farther. She had stupidly backed herself up against the wall, with no way of escape, and he was coming closer. She nervously glanced around for some way to escape, but didn't see one. Slowly, she turned her head back towards Riddles direction, but was once again met with his cold eyes. The world seemed to turn to slow motion, like in the movies she liked to go see with her parents over Summer Vacations. The ones where the hero was about to get shot, and you could see the bullet shoot from the gun. And then when it was all over, the world returned to fast pace.

She watched in slow motion as a slow smirk grew on his face and a hand reached towards her hair. She watched as one of his fingers snared one of her curls and wound it around his finger. And then he was leaning towards her ear.

"You seem afraid of me now." He hissed, tickling her ear with his hot breath.

This statement brought the world back to fast pace. Angrily she turned her head to meet his amused eyes, and said through gritted teeth, "I am not afraid of you, Riddle."

Once more his eyes flashed, but this time it wasn't with anger or amusement. The "emotion" that had crossed his eyes had been something completely unidentifiable to Hermione. It puzzled her, but she chose to ignore it, and instead focused on what Riddle was beginning to say.

"What did you hear in the Room of Requirement?"

The question startled her, but she masked it. "I have no idea what you are talking about, Riddle."

All patience disappeared from him, as did the pleasant air surrounding him. "Didn't we get past this part, Granger." He seized her arms. "I know you were there. I saw it in your mind, and I heard you gasp. Now I want to know what all you heard and what you were doing there."

Hermione stared at him, her face scrunched up in pain. His grip was like iron hands with claws, his fingernails were digging into her arms. "What is it with you and man-handling girls, Riddle?! This is the second times you have placed your hands on me," She hissed at him. "And what makes you think I would tell you what I was doing in this… Room of Requirement?"

His grip tightened. "I am not one to be trifled with, Mudblood. You will tell me what you were doing there. Or you will suffer the consequences."

"You can't do a thing to me, Riddle." She said, laughing in his face.

"I can do more to you than you think," He hissed. "I am Lord Voldemort."

She stared hard into his eyes. "You are nothing more than a fake."

Rage filled his eyes. She instantly recognized that she had gone too far. He looked murderous, with his normally pale skin even paler and his eyes flashing red. Wait. Red? She thought, looking closer at his eyes. Indeed, his eyes were flashing red. A chilling wave of horror crashed over her as she realized what this meant.

He's created a Horcrux…

A gasp left her lips, and instantly she was shoving him away from her. She must have put a little more force behind it, for he nearly toppled over. But instead he regained his balance, but his rage seemed to intensify. He made his way back to her, but she didn't notice at all. She was too busy rubbing her shoulders and forearms where he had touched her. Chills were erupting all over her body as she stuck herself into her thoughts. She had hoped she could stop him before he was able to make a Horcrux, make it so that he was not immortal. It was not comforting knowing that she was already too late, that one of the monstrosities he called pieces of his i soul /i had already been created. It was not comforting knowing that she had no idea what it was - although she had a pretty good guess.

He had already become even more of a monster. And it was already becoming too late to do anything about it.

A/N: Sorry that it's been so long since I last updated. I forgot to post this chapter after I was done, so... Sorry!