Hermione Granger enjoyed her classes, she truly did. If she hadn't been sorted into Gryffindor it was pretty obvious to everybody that she could've gotten into Ravenclaw with her thirst for knowledge, her work ethic and her genuine enjoyment of her lessons. One of her favorite classes was Ancient Runes which was interesting and gave her a good challenge. However, there was something about that lesson that gave her a headache just thinking about it, an anomaly she couldn't quite figure out.

That anomaly came in the form of one Perseus Riddle.

He was intelligent, alarmingly so. First in every of his classes without even trying that much (something Hermione was rather annoyed about), always answering each question asked by the professor with an ease she wishes she could have. It was strange really, in runes he could always be seen sitting at the front with a group of Ravenclaws and a few Slytherins with an easy going smile in his handsome face and a quip ready in his lips. Around his circle of friends (Malfoy and the others) in public he was always a bit standoffish and cold. He never once spared a glance for her or even spoke to her yet in class he remained an almost respectful distance knowing the bad blood between her friends and his.

Strange, considering he was a Slytherin and none of them ever gave up an opportunity to tease the Muggleborn.

And now, against all odds, they were partners for an assignment to make a presentation on the uses of runes in a real life scenario.

Needless to say Hermione was nervous (she was also kind of worried about the glares that she was getting from the rest of the class who were also staring at Riddle with a kind of strange longing).

Standing up from her desk and placing her quills and books back in her bag she slowly made her way to the right side of the class where Perseus was lounging in a desk, the seat besides him empty. Hesitantly she stopped by the table and stared at the Slytherin "if... if you have a problem being paired with me then you.. you should say so now, I won't work with an unwilling partner" Hermione tried for a confident voice, stammering slightly when those piercing sea green eyes were directed to her.

"I suggest you sit now Ms. Granger, I'd rather not cause the professor any hardships but if you yourself have a problem with this partnership then I could hardly care less if you decide to find another suitable for you.. besides, I think everybody else is taken" with an eyebrow raised the boy leaned back and reached down for a book in his bag as Hermione's eyes scanned the classroom. He said was right, all the other students were already starting to work on the project. With slight hesitance Hermione placed her bag on the table and sat next to the Slytherin who was already taking out parchments and placing a heavy tome on the table in the space between them.

The next few minutes or so went by in relative silence. Both students worked diligently, only exchanging a few words to point out a certain thing or to discuss what they wanted to find. They had agreed to do research on how runic magic could be used in healing. When the class ended Perseus waved his hand and Hermione watched with envy as his belongings easily levitated back into his bag.

"The presentation is due in two weeks, I suggest we meet in the library after lunch when we're not busy. Are you free tomorrow?" the raven haired boy asked as he stood to leave the room "u-um I think I am?" Hermione stuttered, surprised that the Slytherin was willing to work with her outside of class. The other boy merely nodded "good, meet me in the table by the section on history, its usually deserted so we'll be able to do the assignment in relative peace" with that, Perseus strolled out the classroom without a second thought and Hermione was left behind with a bewildered expression.

How strange indeed.

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The next week or so were spent in a whirlwind of books, parchment papers and ink stained fingers. The Slytherin and Gryffindor met up every few days to work on the assignment (without their friends knowing of course) and it became such a normal occurrence between them that one might say that they were in civil terms. Make no mistake they weren't actually friends of course, merely acquaintances who didn't mind each others presence in order to get good grades. Hermione still didn't like how vicious and cold he was to others (and she was also still wary about his last name) and Perseus have made it clear on his distaste of her friends and -to a certain degree- her status as a muggleborn. But still, Hermione was finding out more about the boy that made her more curious about the enigma that is Perseus Riddle.

She found out that both his parents were Greek (this somewhat lessened her suspicions about his lineage) and that the reason why the other carried copies of their textbooks in Greek was because the Slytherin found it easier to read. Due to the fact that he was also fluent in Latin (honestly who the hell is this guy) this made their work so much more easier since many of the books on Runes were written in it.

Percy himself was also finding it less annoying when the girl would groan to him about the idiot tendencies of her friends (Ron in particular was a favorite topic of hers). The pair surprisingly worked well together and when they presented their work (Percy did most of the talking since he was much more charismatic and the other students -most of them girls- hung on his every words like they were spoken to by god) they both got perfect O's to Hermione's delight and Riddle's satisfaction.

At the end of the lesson that day the Gryffindor came up to the sea green eyed teen before he could leave the class, Riddle merely raised an eyebrow and gestured for her to hurry and get to whatever point she was trying to make "working with you wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, one could say its been.. a pleasure" the other girl huffed out before crossing her arms.

Smirking, Perseus started to walk away "trust me Ms. Granger.. the pleasure's all mine" and with a wink the boy left behind a wildly blushing Gryffindor.