Chapter One: The Mysterious Journal

Hermione checked her watch and cursed under her breath. It was a little past 9:30 on a Wednesday night, which meant she was over thirty minutes past her curfew. Sighing, she quickly gathered her books and study materials and stuffed them in her book bag. She should have asked the room of requirements to provide her with a clock that chimed the hour. Oh well. She picked up her bag, threw it over her right shoulder, and left.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she finally made it to the common room without running into a single person. Sneaking in, she breathed another sigh of relief when she saw that Ron and Harry were no where to be seen. She'd hate for them to lecture her for being late, though it was usually the other way around. She ran up to her dorm room and took a look around, confused. There'd been no one in the common room, and now there was no one in her dorm.

Shrugging it off, she threw her bag on her bed, causing some of the books to spill out. A few of them hit the floor and she knelt to pick them up. At first, she noticed nothing out of the ordinary but, as she was putting the books in her bag, she noticed a book she'd never seen before. Baffled, as she'd been with no one since dinner, she took it and flipped through it. Blank. Thinking that was strange, she looked at the cover again. The Journal of Salazar Slytherin was scrawled across the front with gold lettering.

Heart beating fast, hoping it wasn't another journal like the one Harry and Ginny had found in second year, she placed it on the floor and did a few spells she'd learned in book. It didn't seem to be dangerous and it definitely didn't have a memory of a sixteen year old boy hidden within. Hearing the sound of girls coming up the stairs, she quickly grabbed it and hid it in the bottom of her trunk. She turned at the sound of the door opening and smiled.

"Hermione!" Lavendar Brown gushed in her high-pitched, girly voice. "We were wondering where you were."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, pretending to be interested. She still hadn't quite forgiven the blonde for taking Ron away from her, even though she never had him to begin with. It had taken her a long time to even be able to talk to him normally, though she never told him why, and when she saw the two of them together, it still hurt.

"There was an assembly in the Great Hall," Lavendar said, rolling her eyes in disbelief. "Did you forget or something?" Hermione's mouth fell open. She had completely forgotten about it. There was to be an assembly about whether or not there should be extra classes that you could choose to take if you wanted to. It had also been made mandatory, which meant Professor McGonagall would have taken roll call and known that she had missed it.

"I'll be back." Without another word to the other girls, she ran downstairs and into the common room. Sure enough, McGonagall was there.

"Aw, Miss Granger," she said disapprovingly. "I see that you missed the assembly." Hermione blushed a bright red, especially since most of the kids were still in the common room and they were all staring at her.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am," she whispered. "I got caught up in studying and completely lost track of time." She was not going to admit that she had forgotten about it completely. "Though that's no excuse," she added quickly, lowering her eyes to the ground.

"Thank you for being honest, Miss Granger," the teacher said, not as harsh as before. "But I still have to punish you. You can join Mr. Potter in detention tomorrow night, eight o'clock sharp, with Professor Snape." Hermione's head snapped up and she looked at Harry and then back at the professor.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Good." McGonagall turned and left through the portrait. Hermione turned to face her two friends.

"Harry," she began, "why do you have detention?" Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I forgot about the assembly as well," he admitted softly. "I was in the Owlry, thinking, and then next thing I knew it was past curfew. I was rushing back here and ran into McGonagall on the way." He grinned sheepishly. Hermione smiled back and batted his arm.

"Thinking about a certain someone?" she teased. Harry had a huge crush on Ginny, Ron's sister, but was deathly afraid of how Ron would react. Only Hermione knew and by the slight blush creeping up his neck, she was right.

"Who?" Ron asked, completely clueless.

"Oh, no one," Hermione said, waving her hand in a dismissing gesture. "So, are you guys done with your homework for tomorrow." Both boys groaned, causing her to groan. "Let's get to work," she sighed in exasperation. She spent the next hour helping them finish their essays for Potions and Transfiguration. By the time she made it back upstairs, it was way too late to look at the journal. She'd have to do that tomorrow. Crawling into bed, she was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Author's Note: Please let me know what you think. I haven't written in awhile, I know, but this story has been at the back of my mind for a few months and I finally had to get it out. Next chapter, find out what exactly the journal does!