Draco Malfoy burst out of the castle. He was fuming. He had just finished up with a meeting with his father, and he did not like what was being said. Draco, of course, was going to follow in the footsteps of his father and be a death eater. He just got finished talking with his father about a task the Dark Lord wanted him to do. He was disgusted by the task. He had to befriend a muggle born. And not just any muggle born. It just had to be Hermione Granger. Why her of all people? Yes, he knew the answer. Anyone could guess the answer. It was because she was best friends with Harry Potter. Why else would the Dark Lord want him to become friends with that piece filth? He was disgusted with this task, but knew he had to complete it. If he didn't, there would be sever consequences. Draco shuddered at the thought of them. He knew Voldemort didn't play fair. If he failed with this task, Voldemort wouldn't go after him. He would go after his family, most likely his mother. Draco couldn't allow his mother to be hurt just because of him. He wouldn't allow it.

Draco took in a deep breath as he walked around the castle grounds. He stopped walking, his eyes immediately falling on a bushy haired muggle born. He cringed at the thought of having to get close to her and act like he actually wanted to be her friend. Why couldn't someone else do this task? Everyone knew how much the two hated each other. This task was going to be very difficult. Draco didn't even know where to begin. How was he going to make up for seven years of making fun of her and making her life a living hell? It was not going to be easy. That much he was certain of. But he needed to do it.

Taking in another deep breath, Draco made his way over to Hermione. He wasn't stupid. He knew he couldn't just start apologizing for everything and tell her that he has had a change of heart. Who would believe that? No one. He had to be subtle about everything. He had to watch what he said and bite his tongue when he wanted to throw a nasty comment out to her or her freaky friends. Draco walked over to her and sat down a few feet away from her. He sat with his knees up, his arms wrapped loosely around them. He stared out onto the lake, trying to think of how this was going to be possible. He closed his eyes for a moment and then turned his head towards Hermione.

"Granger." he greeted with a head nod. He couldn't call her by her first name yet. It would seem to formal and to suspicious.

Hermione turned her head toward him, raising an eyebrow. "Malfoy." she greeted and then turned her attention back to the book she was reading. What was Malfoy up to now? Couldn't he just leave her be? Was that to much to ask? Of course it was. This was Malfoy we were talking about. He set out to make her life a living hell.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting you."

Hermione picked her head up to look at him again. She looked at him, very confused. Did he just apologize? No rude comments yet? Why was he being nice? She threw a glare his way and then went back to reading her book.

Draco looked at her and then looked back out onto the lake. His plan was to just sit here with her, show her he wasn't that bad of a guy. He wouldn't interrupt her reading. He would just sit here and keep quiet and try to keep calm. On the inside, he was dying to say as many nasty comments as she could to her. He was literally biting his tongue to keep that from happening. For the sake of this task, he had to keep his big mouth shut.

After about ten minutes of just sitting there, Draco finally rose to his feet. He brushed himself off and then turned to face Hermione again. He tried to force a smile, but it didn't work out to well. He quickly covered it up with his famous smirk.

"I hope you are enjoying your book. See you around, Granger."

And with that he stalked off, back up to the castle.

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AN: I know that wasn't the greatest, but it will get better. I promise!