Disclaimer: Not all events are chronological to the actual Harry Potter story. I will be picking up my story during Hermione and Malfoy's fourth year at Hogwarts (during the Triwizard Tournament). I do not own HP or any of the characters. I am so far unsure on how far this story will go, as it will be one of my few serious fanfictions; I will most likely take the feedback that I receive and decide if I want to push it farther than I have planned so far. Please review and let me know what you think! I hope that everyone enjoys!

Chapter 1: Back to School

Hermione Granger was excited for her fourth year to begin at Hogwarts. She was excited at the beginning of every year, of course, but this year would be one of the most spectacular yet. Thanks to her studious reading habits, she was already well read on the topic of this years' big event: The Triwizard Tournament. She knew that she would not get the opportunity to witness something like this again in her lifetime, so she was prepared to take full advantage of it. In addition, her and her classmates would finally get to start preparing for their O.W.L.'s!

Over the summer break, she got the chance to spend a great deal of time with Harry and Ron, as well as become closer to Ron's sister, Ginny. They had attended the Quidditch World Cup together (that had been quite the ordeal), and Hermione had been at the Weasley's for a large part of the remainder of their break. Hermione was now packing up her things for the upcoming year at Hogwarts, and in the morning she would be leaving for Platform 9 ¾ to board the Hogwarts Express. She had already visited Diagon Alley and purchased all the necessary school supplies for her fourth year classes and was excited, as she had heard from older students that classes really begin to start more interesting and challenging material in the fourth year.

Hermione double checked her list of things to pack in her trunk, and once she was certain that she had everything she needed, she took one last satisfied glance at her luggage before going to sleep.

Draco Malfoy awoke to the sound of his mother knocking on his door.

"Come in," he called out irritably.

"Good morning, Draco." Draco's mother looked around his bedroom and noted his half-packed luggage for school. "You need to get ready. We will need to leave soon for King's Cross. I will send up one of the house elves to finish packing, since you obviously neglected to do so last night."

"Good morning to you, too, Mother," Draco replied sarcastically. His mother gave him a hard look before shutting the door behind her as she left. Draco got out of bed and went to his bathroom to begin getting ready.

Draco had enjoyed his summer; he spent some time with his cronies from school (he did not really think of them as 'friends'), Crabbe and Goyle, and had liked being able to sleep in a few extra hours each day. He had even managed to find a fun girl to have a fling with; nothing serious, of course. That simply was not his style. The sex was good, though. He was, like most people, sad to see the end of summer.

Great. Here we go again. Another year ahead of living far from home with a handful of idiots who only keep me mildly entertained. I guess the Triwizard Tournament should be interesting, but not enough that I want to be at school all year to witness it.

Draco showered quickly, then stepped out and began dressing for the day. He wore black slacks and a t-shirt that clung to his biceps and flaunted the muscles he had gained over the summer. Whenever he had entered his bedroom, his trunk had already been packed for him by a servant and carried downstairs so he was able to grab the things he needed to carry on his person and then head downstairs where he would find his mother.

When they arrived at King's Cross, Draco stepped onto the platform and began searching for his mates. He was able to find Crabbe and Pansy Parkinson, and they found a good car on the train to ride in, assuming the rest of their group would find them. Eventually, they did and as the train took off they began catching up with each other on their summer breaks.

"So, Draco, what did you do on your break?" Pansy asked Draco. Draco inwardly rolled his eyes. It was no secret that Pansy was very interested in Draco. He, however, was not interested. He had dabbled a bit when they were second years together, but she was searching for love and that was not something he had to give, even before he had lost his virginity at the end of second year. They made out a couple of times and the girl had become obsessed. Now, Draco shuddered at the thought; she truly was ugly in the worst of ways.

"Little of this, little of that. Mostly I spent time at the manor with my family. I trust you had a good break," Draco responded with little interest.

"Oh, it was fantastic. My family and I went on vacation to America and visited a few of their major landmarks, like the Grand Canyon and the Rocky Mountains!" Pansy was overly exuberant in her response. Any amount of attention from Draco brought out her inner psychopath, in his opinion. It was best to just let her ramble and nod along until she stopped talking. This is exactly what Draco did, occasionally making comments with Crabbe and Goyle, who were actually listening to what Pansy was saying, mostly because neither of them could get a date if they tried.

As the train neared the school, Draco decided to go and change into his robes. After he did so, he passed by a compartment with a very familiar voice coming from within.

"Oh, don't be foolish, Ron. They only let wizards over 17 in the tournament. It is awfully dangerous. Besides, you would not make it past the first round with how bad you are in your studies."

Draco would recognize that annoying voice anywhere. Hermione Granger, or as he preferred, the Gryffindor Mudblood. He thought he might surprise them and say hello, in his usual manner, so he opened the door to their carriage.

"Hello," he said with a smirk. "I thought I heard you three in here."

Ron rolled his eyes. "What do you want, Malfoy?"

"Oh, nothing. I just overheard your brilliant plan to become a Triwizard champion and win over the girl of your dreams. It's really too bad that she shot you down before you could even try." He winked at Hermione and laughed at his own joke. Ron looked infuriated and Hermione blushed from embarrassment.

"Shut up, Malfoy. Go bother someone else," Harry interjected. Ron threateningly held up his shabby old wand that was passed down from one of his elder brothers.

Draco smiled in triumph and before shutting the door said, "Enjoy your ride. If Ron gets into the tournament, this could be your last with that old hunk of wood."

As Draco walked away, he was feeling very confident and content. The most excitement he gets from attending Hogwarts is tormenting his three adversaries Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Nothing else provides him with as much joy as watching the bewildered looks on their faces when he makes some comment meant to demean them.

Draco made his way back to his own car, and sat down with the fellow Slytherins inside. For the remainder of the ride, Draco sat and made light conversation with his friends.

Hermione and her friends arrived at the Hogwarts Castle and stepped off the horseless carriages. The ride had been enjoyable for them, despite Malfoy's intrusion. They were excited for the feast they knew awaited in the Great Hall as they were all famished. They entered and sat at the Gryffindor table and awaited the entrance of the first years.

When they entered, Dumbledore allowed Professor McGonagall to begin the sorting ceremony. At each new addition, the Gryffindor students cheered and they each found a spot somewhere at the full table. It was hard for Hermione to believe that it was only four years ago that she was in their position. She welcomed each new Gryffindor with a smile and a wave. The other houses also cheered profusely for their new students.

Before the feast could be revealed, Dumbledore made mention of the Triwizard Tournament that would be taking place this year. He made a big deal of welcoming the two visiting schools, the Durmstrang Institute and the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. Hermione was interested in the new additions, but not necessarily impressed with any of their looks. She shot an annoyed look at the boys; Harry was fascinated by the Quidditch champion, Viktor Krum, and Ron was ogling at the Beaxbaton's girls. Once the new additions were seated, Dumbledore laid out the rules for the tournament, making sure all the students know the age limitations as well as the magnitude of the tasks ahead of each champion. After Dumbledore welcomed them himself, he revealed the feast and the students began excitedly digging in.

Hermione filled her plate with roast chicken and potatoes, as well as a variety of vegetables. She watched in slight disgust at the boys around her overfilled their plates three times until the desserts appeared on the table. Hermione helped herself to some treacle tart and apple pie. Her friends, miraculously, were still able to polish off two plates of desserts each until they were finally full. As Dumbledore stood to make his goodnight speech and send the first years off with their House Prefects to the dormitories.

Hermione split off from the boys and said goodnight as she went up to the girls' rooms and went up to her bed. Excited for classes to begin the following day, Hermione quickly went to sleep and got a good night's rest.

The week began as expected, and Hermione attended each of her new classes with a positive attitude and anticipation for the year to come. On Tuesday morning, Harry and Ron were grumbling about something at breakfast in the Great Hall.

"What are you two going on about? You aren't already overloaded with schoolwork, are you?"

"No, Hermione, although it isn't hard to do whenever you don't get half the assignments done over summer break, like someone we know," Ron replied pointedly. "We were talking about the fact that we have Potions with the Slytherin's today. Potions is bad enough with Snape teaching. On top of that we have to deal with Malfoy and his little gang."

Hermione looked at each of them in turn, then said, "I hope you don't plan on using that as an excuse to do poorly in class. I deal with the same issues every year and I still get top marks. Sure, Malfoy sucks, but when you are in class that should not affect your performance." Hermione wholeheartedly believed this; she never let anyone or anything interfere with her studies. "Just relax. Potions with Slytherin and Snape is nothing new to us. Think of it as a necessary evil."

The boys groaned in response and rolled their eyes in Hermione's direction. She, unbothered, got up and went to the library to do some light reading before class.

She went to History of Magic, where most of the topics covered she was already well versed in from her summer reading, as Ron had predicted that morning. Afterwards, the boys and she walked to potions together. Hermione sat near the front of the class, where she was partnered with Dean. Harry and Ron, of course, sat as far back as they could to avoid as much of Snape's and Malfoy's attention as possible. They would never have sat near her, because Malfoy was only a few feet away, at a table to Hermione's right and one row behind her. She did not let it bother her, and she actively participated in the class as much as she could.

After Snape dismissed the class, she quickly gathered her things and then stood to see where Harry and Ron were heading now that classes were finished for the day. However, in her haste, she was not paying much attention and ran headlong into—Draco Malfoy.

"Hey!" Startled, Malfoy whipped around with anger in his eyes, which quickly turned into a smirk. "What's this? In a hurry, Granger?" Hermione looked down and tried to walk past, but Malfoy blocked the aisle to keep her from moving. "Don't run off so quickly. You're looking good this year, Granger; you're really starting to…fill out." Hermione's face turned bright red and she tried again to push past him. This time, he let her go, laughing obnoxiously with Crabbe and Goyle who had been standing beside him. She caught up with Harry and Ron who looked concerned but urged them not to make a scene. They walked out of the classroom and back to the dormitories, where Harry and Ron questioned Hermione about her wellbeing until, even more embarrassed, she made an excuse to go to the library for the rest of the afternoon.

Draco watched Hermione run to Harry and Ron with a malicious glint in his eyes.

"Run away to your little girlfriends!" Crabbe called out, laughing stupidly.

"Aw, poor mudblood!" Goyle exclaimed, mocking the sound of a baby crying.

"They're gone, idiots. They can't hear you anymore." Draco shut down his 'friends' with a look of contempt. Although they were his only friends, he really believed they were complete dimwits.

Draco continued out the rest of his day with a nagging feeling in the back of his mind. He kept reliving the moment that Granger had run straight into him. For a brief moment, he allowed himself to think that he had meant what he said, about Granger looking good this year. This is the first time I have thought she looks somewhat decent. That horrible bushy hair has been tamed and her curves are becoming more prominent. Can I really find her attractive? She does have some fire in her. Truthfully, ever since she slapped me last year, I've felt compelled to…. What am I saying? How dare that filthy mudblood put her dirty hands on me? Disgusting.

Yes, Draco Malfoy had had a moment of weakness and admitted to himself that Hermione was, in fact, attractive. Although he quickly squashed the idea with defiance, the thought had been there, and Draco could not forget it subconsciously. However, at dinner that night, Malfoy decided he needed a distraction from these foreign thoughts.

"Crabbe, Goyle," Malfoy demanded their attention. "I want to play a prank on Granger…" he said with an evil smirk.