A/N: Welcome to my new little project! I have quite a few things in the works but I've got a lot of this done already so I'm putting it out there. This shall be Dramione, but romance won't brew for a few chapters yet. This shall be my first work with the pairing but I do intend to keep them as in character as possible. Do enjoy!

Disclaimer: Alas, I do not own Harry Potter. However, I believe it to be in good hands with Ms. Rowling and I'm merely pinching a few bits for myself.

Hermione Granger grumbled heavily under her breath as she watched her professor shamelessly praise a snarky blonde haired pain in her rear. Of course his potion would be perfect and so much better than hers and Slughorn would fall over himself at the possibility of a protégé. She huffed and began tidying up the ingredients strewn across her desk, muttering about a world of injustice. Now Hermione didn't have an overly deadly reaction when anyone in the world bested her academically but having the ever big headed Draco Malfoy receive such lavish compliments was just unacceptable. Storing her unused items, she returned to her station and gathered up her personal belongings, remembering rather triumphantly how Harry had outclassed Malfoy in their sixth year. Although, that was two years ago, Malfoy had a lot on his mind and even Harry had a considerable amount of unauthorised help. Merlin, she despised that book…

"Granger? Granger…? Granger!" A slim hand came into view in front of her face and she blinked as the boy continued waving enthusiastically.

"Yes. I… what?" The impeccable and irritating features of the Slytherin Prince himself filled her view and she inwardly sighed. Nothing good was going to occur, of that she was sure.

"Oh, good, you are in there. I thought that crammed brain of yours had exploded and you'd turn into a female version of Weaslebee." Her glare didn't subdue his self-created amusement so she turned away and buried her nose in a book. Why was his face deceptively attractive when his personality resembled a troll? After a moment of quiet he resumed speaking in that frustratingly silky voice of his.

"Granger, I think it's time for an… understanding between the two of us." Hermione's gaze immediately snapped up from her potions textbook to the boy lingering at the edge of her workstation. His height had always made him tower over her ever since their third year but she felt extremely small and vulnerable as her eyes met the steely grey of his own. Abruptly standing from her chair, her brows furrowed as she contemplated him while in turn his expression hardened. All traces of his earlier humour vanished as he seemed to prepare himself for a long and difficult discussion.

"An understanding? Did you hurt your head on the short journey from your desk?"

"Now, now, hear me out." 'Fat chance, why would I do that?' came into her head instantly. Almost like he sensed this mental response, he huffed a sigh before leaning forward on the table and distinctly encroaching on her personal space. "I'm sure you are aware that this new project we're about to start for Potions is rather tricky. Combined with the fact that this is your least confident subject, I thought I would be generous in offering my assistance." The brunette witch stood dumb-struck for several moments, her mouth marginally agape while Draco smirked cautiously but smugly.

"W-what?" She managed to choke out once she'd recovered herself.

"I'm offering my talented services for this project." He restated, raising a thin eyebrow in mild irritation at having to repeat himself. Hermione had half an idea to ask him to pinch her to check she wasn't asleep but thought of his expression at such a request and discreetly snorted at the notion.

"What do you want in return? If I decided I actually needed any help, let alone from you."

"Clever Granger. Of course you wouldn't buy into me doing this out of the goodness of my heart." Sniggering, he flopped down lazily into the seat beside hers. "Alright, I need something from you in return." Her eyes narrowed dangerously, her gaze flickering over him.

"And what is that exactly?"

His proud façade fell for half a second and he glanced around them cautiously. Hermione ended up copying his movement, suddenly nervous about what he was planning on proposing. "You happen to be… talented… and I need that. I'm scraping an Excellent in Arithmancy and I require a tutor that can get me an Outstanding."

"Your first choice is me?"

"Take it as the only compliment I plan on giving you. Why settle for decent or even great when I could have the best?"

"The best…?" She repeated dumbly. "I… well… we'd have to work together…"

"Yes, that is the general idea." He retorted exasperatedly.

"But…I'm a Mudblood." The venom in her use of the derogatory term made him flinch which she easily noticed but his expression was entirely unreadable. "No matter how good I am academically, surely you wouldn't want to sully yourself with my presence, let alone my cooperation."

"Funnily enough, I couldn't give a toss about what's in your veins. I care about what's in here." Leaning closer, he tapped her temple but her only reaction was to blink in surprise. It was hard to comprehend Draco Malfoy willingly touching a 'lesser being' and yet she was positive such a thing had just occurred. "I need that big know-it-all brain of yours, Granger. What do you say?"

"I…well…really?"

"Only you would make things this difficult. Yes. Really. We can help each other." Obviously trying to get some sense into her head, he shook her shoulders and it seemed to manage something as she slowly began to nod.

"Okay. We… We can do this. You're right."

"Naturally." He muttered, relaxing back into his seat.

"But we have to behave civilly at all times." Hermione demanded, ignoring his mumblings although she understood clearly. "I won't help you if you're going to be an arse."

"I swear. I need this to work too. We're both adults and we've lived through a bloody war. I think we can handle a couple of school projects."

"Precisely."

"So, Wednesday evening for starters?" He asked, twirling her quill casually between his fingers. Hermione's mind went blank and not because she'd forgotten her schedule. Malfoy, ex-death eater and Muggle-hater extraordinaire was planning on spending time with her, studying with her and assisting her with her schoolwork. He was willing to give up his self-titled 'valuable time' for a Muggleborn he frequently labelled 'beneath him'. Had hell frozen over? This was surely going to be an experience to remember.

"Yeah, okay. Library at seven?" She answered with false confidence that he seemed to accept.

"It's a date."

What? Did he just…? No, not possible. Hermione, you must be hallucinating.

However, she definitely wasn't imagining his signature smirk as he swept out of the classroom and down the dungeon corridor, leaving her flabbergasted and frozen.

A/N: That's chapter one! Be sure to follow for more if you enjoyed and leave a review if it so tickles your fancy. I'm planning on making the chapters 1000-2000 words so I can hopefully update regularly and the next chapter should be up in a couple of days.