A/N: Decided to write another chapter. Enjoy! Read and review!


"Malfoy?" Hermoine turned around, surprised. Her astonishment quickly turned into disgust. "What are you doing here?" She asked. "You do realize this is Muggle property, don't you? I thought this kind of thing was bellow you."

"What, talking to filth?" He questioned. "That's just something I have to deal with, whether I want to or not. After all, I'm talking to you, aren't I?" Hermoine ignored his last comment.

"Why are you here, Malfoy?" She repeated. "I highly doubt you went all the way here just to insult me."

"Smart-ass as always." He said tonelessly. "If you must know, I work here."

"You're joking."

"Afraid not, Mudblood." He glanced at the bookshelves. "As far as your comment about me going 'all the way here,' as you put it, the Malfoy estate is actually quite close to here. As mentioned before, Muggles, unfortunatley, cannot be avoided." She frowned. She lived near the Malfoys? That was a fact she did not like to think about. She alphabetized the books in front of her, taking out a few that didn't belong in the section and putting them in a pile next to her. After a few minutes she realized Malfoy was just standing here.

"Do you plan on helping me anytime soon?" She asked aggravated. He sneered at her.

"Mudblood Granger, asking for help? I thought you were too perfect for that."

"If we're co-workers now-assuming that you were lying about that-I don't really have a choice. And you shouldn't be talking, you're the one always cowering the back of someone bigger and stronger then you, relying on them to keep you from getting hurt-"

"Oh, don't pretend as if you understand me." He snapped at her. "Just because I'm not an idiot enough to go waltzing into danger like you Gryffindors doesn't mean I'm-"

It was her turn to cut him off. "Going off about school rivalries again, Malfoy? Why don't you just give it a rest? I'd be perfectly fine co-operating with other houses, but you lot are so stubborn about it."

"With good reason." Malfoy muttered, though Hermoine didn't hear him. Or at least, she pretended she didn't. She examined his clothes: a turquoise button down shirt, green denim pants and hiking boots. She held back a laugh.

"Nice clothes." She said, raising an eyebrow at him. He glared at her.

"It's not my fault you stupid Muggles dress so weirdly." He replied stubbornly.

"You might think it's weird, but I felt the same way about wizards when I first went to Diagon Alley." She sighed, and noticed what he had said. "Why did you call me a Muggle? I'm a witch, even if my parents aren't."

"You might as well be." He responded.

"That doesn't answer my question, Malfoy." She pointed out. "I don't understand why you're such a blood fanatic; what have Muggles done to wizards that are so bad?"

"How about burning us to stakes?" He offered.

"Oh, that didn't harm us, and you know it!" She told him. "It's like all prejudices: stupid and pointless."

"Well, since you've got it all figured out, why are even asking me? I thought you knew everything?" He looked at the pile of books she had made. "What're those?" He asked.

"They're books that were placed in the wrong section." She answered. "And I never claimed to know everything, you made that up. I just like learning. I honestly don't see what's so bad about that."

"It's not the learning that's annoying, it's the fact that you insist on rubbing how smart you are into other people's faces." Malfoy replied.

"But I don't try to!" She told him. "Unlike you, I actually attempt to act decent to other people!"

"Look, Mudblood-"

"Don't call me that!" She snapped and marched to the front of the store.

Mark looked up from his desk and saw her. "Everything okay?" He asked. "I heard someone yelling back there."

"It's nothing... Nothing important, anyway." She assured him. "Malfoy and I were having a disagreement about something, that's all."

"You two know each other?" He asked. She nodded.

"We go to school together. We're in the same year." She answered. "Unfortunately." She added a moment later.

"Don't get along?" He asked.

"You have no idea." She sighed.

"Say, does he always dress funny? He was wearing a robe yesterday when he came in." A robe? Did he not care at all about the Statute of Secrecy?

"Uh, sort of." She answered slowly. Malfoy's wizarding clothes would definitely have seemed 'funny' to Mark. "Oh, sorry, I should get back to work. I doubt Malfoy's doing any work."

"Well, I'm trusting you to make sure he is." Mark instructed her. Hermoine nodded. "Also, keep the arguing to minimum."

"Of course." Hermoine said, and then turned around and walked back to the bookshelves.

"Had a nice chat?" Malfoy sneered. The bookstore was small, so he could've heard her voice easily from where he was sitting.

"You need to work if you want to get paid." She pointed out to him. "In the Muggle world, there are no House Elves to do your biding."

"I don't have a House Elf, thanks to your friend Potter." He told her. "And though it may shock you, I actually am capable of doing work." He gestured to the pile, which was now half the size as it was before. He looked at her. "Though it pains me to ask... Can you help me, Mudblood?"

"I will if you agree not to call me that." she responded.

"Fine." He agreed, though she could tell it was unwillingly. "What do we do when we're finished?"

"We move on to the Fantasy section." She answered. "Whether you like it or not, Malfoy, we're going to have to work together for the next couple weeks."

"Trust me, I'm aware."