---Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything related to him. If I did own Harry Potter, however, Draco and Hermione would have ended up together in the end. That's all I have to say about that.---

How To Lose It All

Chapter One

Draco Malfoy glanced at the table of Gryffindors again, then turned back to his long-time friend, Blaize Zabini. "Do you really think Granger is worth it though?" Draco asked.

"Worth the answers to the N.E.W.T's? Hell yes. You get her, you get the answers," Blaize answered.

"Fine. You're on." Draco shook Blaize's hand and began to formulate a plan on how to get the goody-goody Gryffindor bookworm in his bed. This will be fun, he thought.

Hermione ate her breakfast, rolling her eyes as Harry and Ron talked non-stop about the Quidditch match against Slytherin this afternoon. Stretching her arms above her head, Hermione let out a nice, long sigh. For some reason she had slept through the sound of the alarm on her watch. She assumed it was because she had been up all night cramming for her N.E.W.T's (even though they were over 6 months away).

Rolling her neck to attempt and relieve the tension in it brought Hermione's eyes to the Slytherin table, her gaze running across a certain blonde-haired demon. To her surprise, Malfoy was staring directly in her direction. Even stranger, she could have sworn she saw him smile at her when their eyes met. Shaking the thought out of her head, Hermione turned her attention back to Harry and Ron.

"The two of you had bloody well hurry up or we'll be late for class," she said, grabbing her bag.

"Oh, come on, 'Mione," Ron whined.

"Where are we going Ron?" she sarcastically asked him.

"Yeah, Hermione; it's Potions. It doesn't matter if we're on time or not, Snape will still deduct points for anything he can." Hermione could barely understand Harry's words through his mouthful of food. Thankfully she had known the two long enough to decipher their language of mouthful.

"It doesn't matter. At least Snape won't be able to take off his usual tardy points. Now come on." She rose from the table, giving Harry and Ron a look that could kill.

"Fine. Just let me chug this pumpkin juice," Ron said, grabbing his goblet. Harry did the same, both boys soon joining Hermione. The three of them headed for the dungeons.

Draco watched the Golden Trio exit the Great Hall, and then glanced at his watch. Realizing he too would soon be late for class, Draco left the Slytherin table.

"Don't forget our deal, Malfoy!" Blaize yelled halfway across the Great Hall. Turning, Draco gave one last smirk to his partner in crime. This quest of his would not only be the most fun yet, but it would also be his biggest accomplishment to date.

If Draco could pull this one off, it would most likely break up the beloved Golden Trio. Not to mention, he would have all the answers to the N.E.W.T.S. as well. Smiling to himself, Draco left the Great Hall.

"We need a way to figure out what Malfoy's up to. He's been eyeing the three of us all class," Harry said.

"Maybe he hexed one of us and is just waiting for it to take its full effect," Ron said.

"Add two more toad eyes, Ron." Hermione handed Ron the jar of slimy, glossy toad eyes. "We could make another batch of Polyjuice potion, this time without the cat hair, and see what Malfoy's up to."

"Why go that far?" Harry asked, adding an eyedropper of werewolf's blood. "Why doesn't one of us, well one of you two, just pretend to see the light–-or in his case the darkness–-and let Malfoy think you've realized just how right Voldemort is? It'd be easier to get information from him that way than with Polyjuice potion."

"That would mean one of us would have to become friends with him though. And we'd have to actually be…civil to him." Ron shuddered at his own words.

"Oh, please, Ron. Don't be such a baby. I can do it, easily. I'll let Malfoy hear me screaming at one of you. It'll be perfect. Then when he comes around the corner I'll yell at him too, confessing that I hate you and that I don't know how I could have ever been friends with the two of you." Hermione laughed to herself, Harry and Ron just staring at her. "What are the two of you looking at?"

"It's just…that…you just came up with that," Harry and Ron glanced at each other. "Right?"

"Of course I did. You know I've always been good at thinking on my feet." Seeing their concoction finished, Hermione took the ladle and poured some into a vial. "Tell me where the plan can go wrong? I am the best actor of the group. You can't do it, Harry. That would be too obvious. Ron couldn't stand pretending to be friends with Malfoy. We all know I'm the only one who stands a chance of pulling this off."

"Are you sure about this, 'Mione? I mean, you may be put in some very compromising situations."

"I'll be fine. Besides, with me being Head Girl and Malfoy being Head Boy, we'll be seeing a lot more of each other than I'd like anyways."

"All right. It's settled then. When do we want to put this plan into motion?"

"The sooner the better."

Draco stared at Potter, Weasley, and Granger, most of all Granger. The three of them had been discussing something, and out of nowhere, Granger's face lit up. Whatever it was, she was excited about it. Maybe if Draco could figure out what it was, it could help him get closer to her. He had no idea how he was going to pull off this bet, but he was definitely determined to go through with it.