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ATHENA stared at the class schedule she and the other Slytherins had just gotten from Professor Slughorn in the Great Hall. She tilted her head in thought as she stared at it.

It was not so bad, she concluded, before looking over at Lucinda's.

"We've got the same classes," pointed out Athena, a confused look on her face, turning from the schedule in Lucinda's hand to look at her friend.

"No, we don't." Lucinda snatched the class schedule from Athena's hand. "You have Arithmancy—oh. You don't."

"I switched it out for Divination last minute," explained Athena, pointing to the schedule. "Professor Cicada was killing me. I started hating the class. And since when have you liked Ancient Runes to take the class? I thought you liked Care of Magical Creatures?"

Students were required to take all the core subjects: Transfiguration, Charms, History of Magic, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, and Herbology.

In addition to these, they had to choose two extra classes from a diverse selection, including Divination, Arithmancy, Study of Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, Magical Theory, and Muggle Studies.

Athena had picked Study of Ancient Runes and Divination for her fifth year.

Lucinda seemed to have done the same, which meant that the two had every single class together, unlike last year.

"I did," mumbled Lucinda, her gaze falling onto the group of boys at the end of the Slytherin table. "But Edward told me Care of Magical Creatures was stupid."

"It is," agreed Druella, who had just walked over to where her friends were sitting in the Great Hall for breakfast and sat down across from them. She put some scrambled eggs on her plate and poured herself a cup of orange juice.

Druella looked up when her friends became quiet and noticed them staring at her. "What? Have I got something on my face?" she asked self-consciously, touching her face with a hand as if trying to clean it.

"No," replied Athena with a shake of her head.

"I liked Care of Magical Creatures, Druella." Lucinda ignored the question and brought the subject back up. She rolled her eyes and stood up, grabbing her bag. "I'll see you in class, Athena."

Druella stared at her departure, frowning in confusion. "What's got her wand in a knot?" she asked as she turned away and looked at Athena.

Athena remained silent, taking a sip of her black coffee while her dark red lipstick stayed perfectly in place.

For the first time, she had tied her blonde hair back into a ponytail, a deliberate choice to avoid seeing its color and the memories it brought. A dark green ribbon, made into a neat bow, held her hair in place.

"Besides, we all have the same class. We've got Potions," continued Druella with a roll of her eyes. Her own blonde hair was styled into beautiful waves flowing down her back, a dark green headband on top of her head holding her hair in place. Her uniform was neat, and her tie was perfectly made, as was Athena's.

The betrothal ring was on her finger for everyone to see. If Druella heard the whispers flowing through the Great Hall about the ring, she seemed either oblivious or careless about them.

Athena applauded her for that inwardly.

She was the same, in fact.

Whispers about her change in hair color filled the Great Hall, and she couldn't understand why it mattered so much to everyone else. Yet, like Druella, she chose to act oblivious and careless.

Athena remained silent. She looked around the Great Hall, where students were eating breakfast, and so were the professors. Her gaze slid to the end of the Slytherin table, where Abraxas and his friends were.

Dorian Nott seemed to say something with a grin, resulting in Antonin Dolohov rolling his eyes, while Cygnus Black clapped him on the back. Abraxas merely shook his head fondly, while Riddle did not even look up from the book he was reading.

Even though Riddle was not joining the conversation, the authority he held over his little group of friends was obvious.

Edmund Avery, meanwhile, had wordlessly stood up after sitting with them for a bit and walked over to the two friends in his own year.

Athena knew who the two were: Marius Mulciber and Titus Lestrange. The two seemed to immediately welcome Edmund as he sat down with them, getting into a hushed conversation.

She snapped out of it when Druella cursed.

Orange juice splashed across the wooden table, spilling onto Druella's skirt. She stood up, muttering a fresh string of curses, then waved her wand with a flick. Instantly, the orange juice vanished, leaving no trace behind.

Athena was too surprised over Druella's reaction to react. Finally, she asked carefully, "What happened?"

"I spilled the juice, Athena." Druella rolled her eyes as if it was obvious—which it was.

"That's not what I meant," replied Athena gently. "I mean what caused it? And why do you seem on edge?"

"I'm not on edge!" denied Druella immediately as she grabbed her bag and shook her head, forgetting to mask her emotions as she did so. Her brows were furrowed while her lips were pursed—a sign of definitely being unedge.

Athena watched her friend leave, then shook her head. She took another sip of her black coffee before standing up and deciding to head to the Potions classroom finally, knowing she couldn't bother eating breakfast after looking into the mirror that morning.

The Potions classroom was welcoming as Athena stepped into it. She walked to the end of the classroom—where most of the fifth-year Slytherins already were.

The opposite side was where the Gryffindors were, who seemed to all quieten down immediately after Professor Slughorn walked into the room with his usual excitement.

Athena sat down in an empty seat—the table in front of her having a cauldron on it—and put down her bag on the floor after taking out her potions book. She flipped through the pages as she listened to the professor starting to talk.

"Welcome, my dear fifth-year Slytherins and Gryffindors!" Professor Slughorn beamed, his round face alight with enthusiasm. "I trust you're as excited for Potions this year as I am! With O.W.L.s on the horizon, I do hope you'll pay closer attention—some of you, I daresay, might need to focus a bit more than others." His jovial laughter filled the room, landing on the glowering figure of Lyall Lupin. "Ah, Lupin! If you could channel some of your energy into potions like your friend, Fleamont Potter, I believe you'll improve in no time!"

Lyall Lupin—a Gryffindor boy with sandy brown hair—rolled his eyes and muttered something to Fleamont Potter, who was sitting next to him and laughed quietly.

"This year, in an effort to make all of you ready for your upcoming O.W.L.s, I have assigned you all partners."

All the students in the classroom groaned, sharing looks of horror.

"In an effort to keep the peace, I've decided to pair students within their own houses this year," Professor Slughorn announced, a knowing smile spreading across his face as he saw their interest pique. "So, Gryffindors will work with Gryffindors, and Slytherins will partner with Slytherins." He then reached for a roll of parchment from his desk, cleared his throat dramatically, and began to read the names, his voice resonating through the room. "Lyall Lupin and Fleamont Potter. Abraxas Malfoy and Cygnus Black—"

Athena tuned him out and turned to the side, where Lucinda was scribbling on a piece of parchment. She turned to her other side and watched Cygnus leave Druella's side to go to Abraxas's.

"—Druella Rosier and Lucinda Avery—"

Athena tried not to sigh and clenched her jaw instead, knowing what was coming next. She still hoped, though. Hoped that she was wrong, as Professor Slughorn read out the other names of the partners, before it finally reached hers—

"Athena Malfoy and Tom Riddle," Professor Slughorn finally finished, rolling up the parchment and sliding it into one of his desk drawers. His eyes sparkled with excitement as he clapped his hands, watching the students move to join their partners.

Athena watched as Riddle made his way to her with the same annoyance she felt. She rolled her eyes when he put his bag on the floor before sliding into the empty seat next to her.

"I do not like this, either," scoffed Riddle after noticing her rolling her eyes.

Just to annoy him, Athena rolled her eyes for the second time.

His scoff again made her feel satisfied.

"The decision to pair you two took a bit of debating," Professor Slughorn explained, noting the dull expressions on his brightest students' faces. "However, your constant competition over marks and grades would only distract you from your O.W.L. preparations. By working together, you'll support each other instead of butting heads." He gave a reassuring smile, hoping to lighten the mood.

"I'll smash his head into the cauldron instead," mumbled Athena.

Riddle's sharp glare fixed on her, a sneer on his face. "Not if I smash yours first."

"Making this a competition too?" Dorian Nott grinned as he passed by the two, getting the ingredients he needed for the potion he had to make with Antonin Dolohov.

"Shut up, Nott." Riddle clenched his jaw, eyes showing the anger he felt. His hands tightened around the potions book he was holding.

Athena wordlessly stood up and went to grab the ingredients by the cupboard near them. Her eyes stopped on her brother, Abraxas, who was beside her as he did the same.

Abraxas, after noticing her, leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Be on your best behavior with him, Athena. And try your best not to bring attention to yourself."

Athena pulled away and coldly replied, "The only time a man can tell me what to do is when I am dead."

Abraxas opened his mouth to shoot back a reply but was cut off by her leaving with the ingredients already in her hand. He bit the inside of his cheek in an effort not to make a scene at her blatant disrespect and instead focused on getting the ingredients from the cupboard.

The potion they had to make was Sleeping Draught—a potion that induced a deep sleep.

Athena laid the ingredients onto the table she now had to share with Riddle: lavender, valerian root, poppy seeds, hellebore, and honey.

"What's the honey for?" Riddle's brows furrowed as he picked up the vial of honey before turning to her. "The book does not mention honey."

"It is an optional ingredient. It's used to sweeten the potion and enhance the flavor," scoffed Athena as if it was obvious. She grabbed the poppy seeds and valerian roots.

She began by finely chopping the valerian root and grinding the poppy seeds into a fine powder. Meanwhile, Riddle wordlessly readied the cauldron and read the instructions in the potions book, then followed them as he added the powdered hellebore to the ready cauldron.

The two worked together in silence, their movements precise and coordinated with each other.

Professor Slughorn seemed to notice the same thing but kept quiet with a satisfied smile on his face. He had known that two of his brightest students—if they could put their rivalry aside—would be a better pair than being alone.

And when the potion was finally finished an hour later, the Professor awarded the two students by giving Slytherin thirty points, which made the Gryffindors either groan or sigh in exasperation.

Dinner that night seemed lighter. Athena knew it was because Lucinda and Druella seemed to have made up after or during Potions. The other classes that day passed by in a blur, while Athena's thoughts kept drifting back to that Potions lesson.

The fact that her and Riddle's potion was better than everyone else's was no surprise. However, the fact that the two worked together perfectly on it, their movements as if they predicted the other's, was the biggest surprise.

Athena did not know if Riddle was thinking the same thing. In fact, she had barely seen him all day aside from during classes.

Her gaze slid to the end of the Slytherin table, where her brother and his friends were—but not Riddle.

She opened her mouth to ask her friends where he could be but realized how that would sound, so she immediately closed it and looked away. With a shrug, she put a spoonful of treacle tart in her mouth and focused on her friends.

"—I'm just saying that, technically, we do not need school. As children, we've had private tutors and can continue to do that," Lucinda argued, trying to prove her point.

Athena shook her head, disagreeing. "Actually, not all of us had private tutors."

Both her friends forgot their debate for a moment to look at her in shock. She shrugged and put another spoonful of treacle tart in her mouth before continuing, "What? My parents focused on Abraxas and brushed aside my education until I was eleven and sent me to Beauxbatons so they could focus on him even more. Except for dance lessons, that is. I was forced to learn the waltz and all the other dances by a private tutor."

Druella opened her mouth and closed it a few times, seeming like she did not know what to say. But knowing that Athena hated pity, she turned to Lucinda again. "Not everyone had private tutors, Lucinda. Only some purebloods did, and Hogwarts is not only for education but also for the experience. Are you telling me you would rather do nothing at home except study and not have any company nor fun?"

"What fun?" Lucinda pointed her spoon at her friend. "What fun, exactly, do you have here, Druella? You think Quidditch games are 'improper for us ladies to watch'?"

"She's right," mumbled Athena.

Druella rolled her eyes and ignored them.

As dinner wrapped up half an hour later, a buzz of chatter filled the Great Hall, gradually transforming into the sounds of chairs scraping against the stone floor as students began to rise.

Athena could not wait to reach her bed, where a new book she had eagerly picked up from Diagon Alley was waiting for her on the bedside table.

But just as she was about to join those heading toward the doors, a piercing scream shattered the evening's calm, causing everyone to freeze in their tracks.

Lucinda's eyes widened, her breath hitching in disbelief as she gasped along with the crowd.

Athena instinctively followed her gaze, her heart racing and a chill creeping up her spine.

There lay an unmoving student, crumpled on the ground. On the wall, above the student, sinister letters loomed, stark and ominous against the ancient stone.

"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir... beware."