Everyone was Partying like crazy now. People were shouting and dancing and going wild. It was only the first quidditch game but we had won it. Gryffindor probably wouldn't have cared that much if it hadn't been for the fact that the team they beat was Slytherin. I however cared, but not as much as the others did. I was busy writing an essay for Slughorn. Of course I wanted my best work and didn't want this game to get in the way. I had gone out and watched it- and it's slimy seeker (who of course, being malfoy, spent more time knocking people off brooms than looking for the snitch). But we had won so the little bugger would lay low for a couple of days hopefully.

I heard someone yelling my name just then, "Hermione? Hermione! Where are you? Have you seen what they did? HERMIONE!!"

Ginny walked toward me and with an exasperated sigh said, " Have you seen what happened to our room? It looks absolutely dreadful. It took me 30 minutes just to clean up my stuff. Somehow someone got into our room and tore it apart."

I looked up with what I am sure was quite an angry look and said, "show me! I'll find out which house has done it! Though no doubt it is the slytherins after we won today."

Ginny said that it couldn't have been a spell because none had been used there recently. We walked up the stairs quickly through the now mob-like crowd and into our dorm. I gasped loudly at what I saw. The room was really a mess. I was in shock. I decided we should go talk to the head girl: Cho. We needed to end the war because it was getting out of hand.

Ginny and I walked to the dorm of the head boy and girl and were astonished to see Draco being yelled at by Cho. Draco didn't even look sorry- just deeply into Cho's eyes. What a sleazebag. I for one didn't want to intrude and turns out neither did Ginny so we left and decided to try and tell Cho later.

As we walked down the hall Cho yelled after us, "Hey wait Hermione. We need to talk. Is after dinner okay?"

I thought for a moment then agreed. I mean so what if Cho wanted to talk to me. I thought I would just put my essay off until the next night. I had no idea that with what was going to Happen There wouldn't be time for anything else for a long time.

And there we were in Cho's room. Apparently Skyler was out and wasn't going to be part of this meeting.

"People have been getting hurt badly in this fight. I bet most of you guys think we don't know about the house-war but everyone does. Even McGonnacal, and she told us this is what is to be done. I know that all of the houses have been in a war and people have been playing nasty tricks on each other for a while now, but it has to stop."
At first I had thought it was a joke. I mean how mean could they be to do that to us? Not to mention that it probably wouldn't work either. It would be torture. At least with him…

" You will have to pretend to fall in love. I know your groaning in your minds right now but we need to make the houses have a reason to treat each other nicely. You have two days before it begins. If you can stop the house-war before then you will not have to do this. Now let me tell you who your match is. Also if any of you tell anyone you will be expelled. Is that understood? Good. now for the pairs."

The next words were gushed like a fountain of sewer water from Cho's mouth.

"Asher from Ravenclaw you will be with Ellisha from Hufflepuff." Asher looked disapprovingly at Ellisha. Ellisha didn't seem to care. She had already snogged every boy on Hufflepuff.

I didn't hear my name, but Malfoy and I looked at each other with great dislike. We hadn't heard our names, but being the only two left we knew who we would be partnered with and did not like the idea at all.

"Draco from Slytherin with Hermione from Gryffindor. All accounted for? Good. Now we shall start in two days. Remember, I will be watching your progress everyday. Goodnight to you all. Enjoy the rest of your time."

Enjoy our time? It was crazy really. Thinking about what she had asked us to do not an hour early mad me shudder. I couldn't even tell Harry or Ron! Ron would think I really liked Malfoy and then he would never talk to me. Let alone ever be nice to me or... I listed off possibilities in my head like I could list facts from Hogwarts, a history. It was overwhelming really. I just didn't like the concept at all. I went to bed wondering what I was going to do.

Over the next two days I tried to convince Harry to tell people there would be no more Gryffindor quidditch team if people didn't stop our end of the war. But Harry said even if he did want to end the war he would not sacrifice the team for anything.

So every time I saw someone pulling a prank: leaving exploding snaps in someone's slippers, dropping baby devils snare in peoples drinks, or even just saying made you look, I would run over undo the thing and then give the person doing a lecture. I could tell people were getting sick of me. Even with all my efforts nothing was changing.

The others efforts weren't paying off either. When Draco told people they should stop the war everyone thought he was joking. At the same time no one would even think about listening to Asher's pleas for it to stop.

In no time the two days were over. Cho pulled us all over in the hallway and reminded us that we needed to start our, as she put it, "Little Project."

I knew all too well that we started today. I had been thinking of a plan and had sent a single rose to Draco with no name to get his friends thinking someone liked him. And if that wasn't enough I said in it this:

Dearest Draco,

Please meet me at the room of requirement at 11:15. Don't bring anyone.

I knew it was corny but I hoped he would get who had sent it. I was hopping to make a plan. I had a bit of and idea but it wasn't great. I was hoping he would have some better ones. Actually I was praying because mine was a little, okay, very see-through. All I had was that I had fallen for him when we went to a party over the summer and were the only kids. I know, I know, it's really dumb but I didn't have anything else. I pushed the ideas out of my head for a while and lay on my bed, it would be my last chance to dream of Ron without feeling guilty. I thought of his sweet face and the hair so fiery you could boil water on it, and his cute dimples and tiny speckled freckles, But mostly I thought of his deep ocean-like blue eyes. They drew me into him like there was no tomorrow. I smiled hugely and before I knew it I was asleep with visions of Ron kissing me lightly on the lips and me, looking into those beautiful eyes.

I showed up at the room of requirement that night hoping desperately that Malfoy would show up. I scanned the pictures on the wall and talked to a portrait of a princess for a little while. She was boring and vain but I was left with nothing else to do until a chilling voice behind me spoke up, "ready to get down and dirty granger?"

"Malfoy!" I said as I spun around with a look of disgust, "we will do no such thing!"

I pointed him into the room and the door had been there for ages because I had opened it half and hour ago. I turned on my heel and walked into the dark room. It was lit by a few candles and had two soft chairs for us to sit in as well as two simmering cups of chamomile tea. I asked him to sit down and followed suit myself. Malfoy had something to say though, "look, if we are going to do this I will be in charge. Also you won't wear your hair all ratty like that, I can't even pretend to not- hate someone with hair that terrible. I'd also like to lay some ground rules, number one, no being rude to me no matter how bad you want to, I of course have to do the same thing if we're going to pull this off. Number two, I want you to do your hair nice, wear nice clothes, and have nice shoes… I think you get the idea. I of course, will also do the same. Number three, you must pretend you are not a mudblood. Everyone already knows you are but if anyone says anything about it, tell them it was a lie to get attention and you are actually pure. This one, for obvious reasons, I will not follow. Understood? Now go to bed."

"Malfoy, you can try all you want, but I will never pretend to be pure, stuck up, disgusting, creature like you! You are not to order me around either. And for your information Cho says we are sharing a prefect dorm!"

Hermione and Draco sat like that, staring, glaring at each other until Hermione stomped away to the dorm she would be sharing with Draco. "Well I have to say that went well, she will be putting her hair up I suppose, that is all that really matters. At least I won't be going with an ugly mudblood."