FULL SUMMARY: It's quite obvious that neither Draco and Hermione aren't fond of each other. He's supposed to follow in his father's footsteps, she's the best friend of Harry Potter. The two couldn't be more different. Though stress has come upon Hogwarts at Voldemort's return so house-unity is important. So when Dumbledore creates a tournament, the two are paired together on a team along with 5 others. Now they will compete in tasks such as quidditch, scavenger hunts, and others that require both physical and intellectual wit. Will they set aside their differences and take one for the team?
Author's note: This story is co-written by me and my friend Desi(FantasyDreamer, reallifesucks). She's allowed me to post on my account because she lost hers. Hopefully you will like this story as much as we like writing it. )
Disclaimer: We own nothing.
Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were sitting down in the Great Hall eating. The sounds erupting throughout the hall from the students was nonstop chattering, whispering, and laughing. Dumbledore had said he had wanted to make an announcement and this had gotten everyone wondering about what it was. Hermione could hear many suggestions from people whispering loudly of what the announcement could be about.
Things like "Do you think it's about You-Know-Who?", "Was there a death eater attack?", and "Please don't make us suffer and do some sort of stupid project again" were some of the many sayings that were going around the hall. She had laughed at a few of the other suggestions that had been said but knew that none of these ideas were right.
Dumbledore had told her and Draco what the announcement was since they were the two people he trusted most. Yes, he had really said that. But as in 'the people he trusted most', he meant as in the people he thought wouldn't be telling everyone. He wanted a student's opinion as to whether it was a good idea or not.
Draco seemed to love the idea and Hermione didn't really have an opinion as to whether she liked it or not. It seemed fine since Dumbledore said it would help with house unity, but she wasn't completely sure if he had told them everything there was to this... i idea /i of his. Nevertheless, she agreed to participate since she wanted to help promote Dumbledore's idea if it meant as much to him as it seemed it did.
Harry, Ron, and Ginny kept nagging her over and over again, trying to get her to tell them what Dumbledore had planned. The more Hermione had disagreed, the more determined they got to get it out of her. Harry and Ginny knew not to believe all the sayings that were going around until they heard from Dumbledore or Hermione. But Ron, well Ron was another story.
From what he's heard, he now believed that Dumbledore was going to tell them that You-know-who thinks projects are stupid and was going to make them suffer by doing one with his most trusted death eaters. He was still trying to figure out how he got this but still thought it could and b was /b going to happen.
"I'm telling you Harry, I heard from Parvati, who was told by Padma, who heard from Lavender, who talked to Justin, who heard from Susan, who heard Dean talking to Eloise Midgen, who said that she overheard Dumbledore telling Hermione and Malfoy!" Ron said in one breath.
He could now be seen panting, trying to catch his breath
"Ron that's ridiculous...and a bit confusing. If he told me and Malfoy a secret, he would want no one else to hear it right?" she asked making him nod in agreement, though still confused.
"Well then wouldn't he put up a silencing charm or make sure we were in a secluded area so no one would hear?" Hermione asked with a smirk on her face.
This made Ron say nothing but sit there. He knew that she was right but didn't want to say it which made her smirk even more.
He hated it when she was right and he was wrong about something. Hermione figured he would be used to it by how much it had happened before but he just grew to hate it even more each time it happened. The more he hated it, the more fun she had proving him wrong. She loved to see him when she did and loved just doing it, knowing it would annoy him for being outsmarted.
"Hermione why don't you just put him i and /i us out of our misery and just tell us!" Ginny said laughing after seeing Ron groan in annoyance and drop his head to the table, making a loud noise.
He hadn't meant to hit his head that hard.
"Ow! That hurt!" Ron said in the background of Ginny's voice. He was now rubbing his now rather pinkish forehead, a color that then matched the color of his entire face.
This made Hermione chuckle slightly to herself and cause him to stop and glare at her, even redder than before, before continuing to rub his forehead.
"No, Dumbledore told me about this because he trusted me not to tell anyone, so if I did, he might not trust me again." she said and took a sip of her pumpkin juice.
She knew she was exaggerating a bit, and that he would probably trust her again. Though still, she didn't want to tell them after Dumbledore told her not to.
Harry and Ron just rolled their eyes at this and Ginny made a whining noise.
"Please Hermione! I mean, he wouldn't really know since he's about to come up and tell us!" Ginny said making Hermione look at her and smirk.
"See, you just said it. Dumbledore is coming up in just a moment so you just have to wait a little longer. And yes, he would probably find out if I told you or not." She stated in a matter-of-fact way and turned back to her plate of food and finished up eating.
Over at the Slytherin table they could see Draco talking to the surrounding Slytherins that included Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise, and Pansy. Hermione didn't have a doubt in her mind that he had indeed told his fellow Slytherins about what Dumbledore was going to announce. Honestly, she didn't know why Dumbledore claimed to have trusted him with information that he obviously wanted to be kept secret. Blabbing something he heard only forty-five minutes earlier really showed what you could tell him.
Finally after a few (agonizing for Harry, Ron, and Ginny) minutes, Dumbledore stood in front of the noisy hall of people. He cleared his throat getting everyone's attention. The difference in the noise was now tremendous. With how silent it now was, you one could hear a pin drop, making it simple to tell that he had everyone's undivided attention.
"I hope you are all enjoying your meal tonight. As you have heard, I have planned a surprise for the students. As you all know, the stress upon Lord Voldemort's return has been upon all the students. To lighten things, I have planned an event, or competition, you could say." Dumbledore said with a smile. Whispers of confusion and strange looks escaped in the hall as he had said this.
"As you have all heard of the TriWizard tournament, I have created something similar to it. No, it is neither as dangerous, nor as rewarding, but it is entertaining. Hogwarts Games, as I like to call it, is a competition between the sixth and seventh years. They will have to complete many tasks in the duration of the competition." he said making more grins appear, some of annoyance.
"As everyone knows, inter-house unity is a matter of importance, especially near these times. That is why the Ministry is supportive of my idea, to push the idea of house unity. Everyone is enabled to participate seeing as how this is very important. I normally would make things like this optional, but as you know, times have come to where we cannot always do what we want. The Ministry is supporting me for another reason because they know how this must be done, they have allowed me to have this competition by having everyone compete. I know this may displease some of you, but to make it more tolerable, the Ministry and myself have decided to make it worthwhile more to your convenience. The winning team will win 300 galleons.
Your teams will be divided with the houses. Each team will have its own dorm to share, to learn more about each other and to learn to get along better." Everyone began to groan, some of the girls giggled with excitement, and some boys began to smirk and howl at this.
Dumbledore smiled with a twinkle in his eye. "No, no. You won't be having boy/girl sharing dorms with each room. It will be like your homes already. Their will be a common room, and sets of stairs that lead to the girls and one that leads to the boys dormitories. You will compete in a series of tasks that involve teamwork or else you will fail. I'm sorry to say, but because of this, there will be no Quidditch. After the tournament is over, we will have a ball to honor the winning team. Know though, that the teams will be divided by me and my fellow colleagues. You should know that some of you have already been chosen." Dumbledore finished with a smile before sitting down.
A lot of the students began to exit the hall after Dumbledore finished his speech. A certain amount of the people perked up in interest at the idea of winning 300 galleons. That money could be used to anything. Hermione knew Ron was already interested when just mentioning the number. Many of the people had already left to discuss this idea in their common rooms after hearing this.
Hermione continued to sit there and talk to the people around her even after Ron had left with Harry. She still wasn't telling anyone what else Dumbledore had told her and Malfoy, though there was no doubt that Malfoy had already blabbed the rest of the secret to his table also. Hearing someone clear their voice noisily behind her, she turned around, glaring at the blonde hair twit who was standing there.
"What do you need Malfoy?" She snapped, somewhat surprised that he hadn't brought along his cronies with him. They typically followed him everywhere, and to see him at the Gryffindor table i without /i them was a feat indeed. A movement at the side of her vision caused her to turn and see Dumbledore walking down to join her and Draco. Confused, she looked rapidly between the two, her eyebrows knitting together.
"Mr. Malfoy and Miss Granger! Just the people I wanted to see. Will you please follow me?" Confused, Hermione nodded quickly and scrambled out of her seat to follow Dumbledore to his office. Falling in step behind Dumbledore, Draco fell into step beside her, and they continued on in silence, thoughts plaguing Hermione as to why Dumbledore needed to see them again. Had he forgotten to tell them something important? Or was it a prefect duty? Or what? Mumbling under her breath, she said nothing and at last they reached the gargoyle to his office. "Peppermint Sticks." Dumbledore said simply, not even waiting to see if the two students would follow him up the stairs.
Hermione hesitated on the first step, till Draco motioned for her to go up first. Shrugging, she headed up behind Dumbledore, skipping steps to keep up with the older man's strides. She heard Draco cough behind her, and she rubbed her nose anxiously. At last, they reached the top and Dumbledore held the door open for her and Draco. Upon reaching his room, two chairs appeared and he motioned for the two to sit down. Once everyone was seated and comfortable, he begin to clear his throat.
Straitening some papers on his desk, he began to speak. "As I told you two before, there is going to be the Hogwarts Game to promote people to get alone inside each house. And as Slytherin and Gryffindor fight the most, I have decided that you two will be the leaders of your group." Hermione opened her mouth to protest to such a ridiculous request, but Dumbledore continued on ignoring her. "There will be six groups total, enough for each group to have a one leader from each house with another. For instance, you two will be the leader of your group, while Harry might be paired with someone from Hufflepuff, and Ronald with Ravenclaw. Any questions so far?" Neither said anything, so he nodded, and looked at his notes. "It seems from what we have so far your co-leaders will be Harry Potter and Pansy Parkinson." Scanning his lists, he nodded in satisfaction. "I just wanted to explain that to you guys. It appears most of the groups leaders will be sixth years since we have more problems with your class than the seventh years. So you guys will be Group Two. You can contact Harry and Pansy and schedule a meeting anytime you like." With that, he dismissed them with a wave of the hand, looking through his papers once again.
With a huff, Hermione stood up and walked out of the office, storming down the stairs. Hearing someone talking to her from behind, she stopped only to see Draco chasing her down the stairs. She crossed her arms impatiently and looked at him, her face contorted from anger from having to be paired with him.