Chapter 6

Hermione was frantically racing around her room trying to find her coat. She slung her scarf loosely around her neck, threw a hat on her head and picked up her bag slinging it over her shoulder.

"Coat," Draco said holding it out for her and smiling.

"Thanks," Hermione said snatching it and with a quick smile and wave running out of the door. She had just received a note from one of her professors to come urgently to her office.

Upon reaching her teachers office door, Hermione took a deep breath and knocked.

"Come in," came the reply. She quickly pushed the door open to find Madam Dolby sitting behind her desk waiting for Hermione to enter. "Ah, Miss Granger. Come in, take a seat."

"Now Miss Granger, I have called you because I have some concerns about your recent homework on the best diagnosis spell. You seem to have given some false information. This is not a standard that I am use to from you and I wanted to speak to you about it."

Shocked Hermione just stared bewildered at her teacher. She had completed the homework that her teacher was talking about on the day when she had to go out with Lucy, Blaise and Draco. She had tried to quickly finish it. She had not had time to proof-read it before handing it in.

"Professor I-"

"Now Miss Granger, you are my best student of all time and I do not want to be the reason for the drop in your GPA. So I am giving you a chance Miss Granger. You are to write an essay for me on the greatest wizard to have ever walked this Earth. However there is a slight catch. I want you to question a 1000 people on whom they think is the best and why," Madam Dolby finished triumphantly. Hermione was shocked into silence. All she could think was 1000 people. 1000 people. 1000 PEOPLE!

"Yes Madam. For when would you like me to hand it in?"

"Well. We can't make it too easy can we? Let's see. Seeing as today is Wednesday, you can hand it in for Friday. Don't forget Miss Granger. This will get your grade up," she said smiling. Hermione hated Madam Dolby. She was the only one of her teachers who was not impressed with her quick mind and was constantly cutting off marks for her homework. Not once had Hermione managed to get full marks from her class, medicinal theory.

"Yes Madam. I'll be sure to bring it to your office on Friday afternoon," Hermione said turning to leave.

"Oh no my dear. I expect to find your essay in my office when I come in the morning," she said smiling sweetly. Though to Hermione it was anything but sweet.

"Yes Madam," she repeated yet again and left the office quickly before Dolby had anything more to say. She leaned against the wall outside the office. How on Earth was she going to question a 1000 people and write an essay in just 2 days?

She quickly rushed back to her dorm. She had to find Lucy.

Lucy was in her room trying to find something to wear for her date with Blaise tonight. She was more than excited and happy. Things with her and Blaise were going smoothly. They were about to go on their third date. Everything was completely and utterly blissful. She heard a knock on her door and quickly rushed to answer it hoping it was Blaise. When she saw Hermione standing there looking panicked, she was a little startled.

"Mi? What's wrong?"

"Oh Luce. It's Dolby. She's given me this ridiculous assignment and I have to do it by Friday." Hermione then went on to tell Lucy the exact details of the project.

"Ok. Let's get started," Lucy said immediately jumping up. They both quickly rushed to Hermione's room. Draco who was lying on his bed playing with a football sat up when the girls ran in.

"Hey, what's going on?" he questioned. Lucy quickly told him, while Hermione rushed around the room gathering quills and parchment.

"Do you want me to help?" he asked.

"No Malfoy!" Hermione snapped and she grabbed Lucy by the arm and dragged her out to get started. Lucy looked at her incredulously.

"Mi what's wrong with you? We need all the help we can get," she said.

"I don't have time for explanations Luce. We have to get started," Hermione said pulling Lucy by the arm. She didn't know why she was refusing Draco's help. But she knew that it was along the lines of admitting defeat though to what she was not absolutely certain about at this particular time.

An hour later, Hermione had managed to ask a 100 people while Lucy had only managed 50. They were getting nowhere. As much as Hermione tried to keep the questions and answers short, people just either wanted to talk for ages, or didn't want to take part. Frustrated, but determined, Hermione continued. By the end of the day, they had managed to ask 500 people which was only half way. But the time was getting late and hardly anyone was left to question. Defeated, Hermione made her way back to her dorm alone. Lucy had left 2 hours earlier for her date with Blaise.

She walked into her room quietly expecting Draco to be asleep only to find him with the guy who worked the café that they all hung out in.

"So what do you think made Dumbledore the greatest wizard to have ever lived?" Draco questioned making notes on a piece of parchment. Hermione stood there with her mouth hanging open.

"Well he ran 'Ogwarts didn' he? That school was worth shi' before Dumbledore came weren' it? 'e was brilliant weren' he?" the man answered with his cockney accent.

"Yeah you're right," Draco said nodding. "Alright, thanks Frank. I don't have anything else to ask you," he said smiling at the man.

"Alright son. I'm off now," he said and left smiling and nodding politely to Hermione who was still standing by the door gawping.

"Are you gonna stand there all night Granger?" Draco asked smirking to himself while he carried on writing on the piece of parchment infront of him.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Well, eventhough you said you didn't need my help, I still took the liberty of helping you and have asked 450 people myself and wrote half of your essay for you," he said walking over to her, holding out the parchment that he had been writing on. Hermione took it and began to read the page and a half that he had written. She was impressed. Not only had he answered the question thoroughly, he had also provided tons of evidence to prove his answer. She looked up at him. Draco was standing a few feet away with his hands deep in his pockets watching her expression. Her face broke into a huge smile and she launched herself at him and hugged him tight. Draco was so shocked he nearly fell from the momentum of her launch. All of a sudden she realised what she was doing and with an awkward pat on his back, she pulled back, her cheeks flushed. He reached up to scratch the back of his neck and wouldn't meet her eyes just like she wouldn't meet his.

"Thanks," she said looking at anywhere but him.

"You're welcome. I'm just gonna go..Blaise," he mumbled and left the room quickly. Hermione couldn't stop the small giggle that left her lips. She couldn't believe how sweet he had been. And she couldn't believe that she was thinking Draco Malfoy was sweet. They had both come a long way since that first apology. But there was no time to think further about her budding relationship with Draco. She needed to get some rest. Tomorrow she still had to question people and there was half an essay that she needed to finish.

Draco left the room with his heart pounding. He had been floored when Hermione had shown such a deep sense of appreciation to him. He never would have expected this kind of relationship to bloom between them. He had most definitely not expected his heart to beat a mile a minute though. He was at a loss and had no idea what to think. He needed a walk. A long one that meant he wouldn't have to go back to the room for a couple of hours.

When he eventually returned to their room, he found Hermione tucked in her bed sleeping soundly. He sat at the edge of his bed lost in thought yet again. Just watching her was doing funny things to him. He had the sudden urge to grab her and kiss her and kiss the crap out of her. He quickly shook his head to rid himself of thoughts like this about Hermione Granger. Stripping down to his boxers, he jumped into bed and willed himself to fall asleep quickly.

The next morning, Hermione woke up at 7:00am. She still had 50 more people to question. She showered quickly, got dressed and went to Frank's cafe. There were many students there who wanted an early start. She chose a point to begin and promptly started asking her questions.

She asked 49 people and was in search of her last victim when she felt a light tap on her shoulder. Turning round, she found herself face to face with Jake. He smiled sweetly down at her and said; "So I've heard that you have some questions to ask the student body. Mind if I become one of them who answer?" he asked smiling in a god-like manner. Hermione blushed furiously and nodded her head. Jake sat down at the table that she was sitting on and laced his hands together on the table.

"Ok I'm ready. Shoot," he said.

"Erm..ok..So there's only two questions so it's not really a questionnaire," she said laughing nervously.

"That's fine, fire away."

"Ok. Question one. Who would you say was the greatest wizard to have ever lived?"

"Merlin."

"What?"

"Merlin."

"Wow..That's a really different response. Usually people say Dumblerdore..Or Voldermort."

"Who's Voldermort?"

"Erm..What?"

"Who's Voldermort?"

"The Dark Lord? Surely you must have heard of him."

"Nope..Sorry. My parents sent me to America for a few years and never really told me why. I never asked either."

Hermione looked at him stunned. Who hasn't heard of Voldermort?

Erm..Ok..So Merlin you say?"

"Yep."

"And why do you think he is the greatest wizard?"

"Well he's the sorcerer that was in the legend of King Arthur wasn't he?"

"Yes. So you think he's the greatest wizard because of the legend-" she stopped talking abruptly when Jake started laughing loudly. Hermione giggled nervously and without humour.

"What's so funny?" she asked smiling shyly.

"Oh I'm sorry. I was just pulling your leg. Of course I've heard of Voldermort and of course I don't think Merlin is the greatest wizard," he said still laughing and grinning cheekily at her. This time Hermione couldn't prevent the laugh that escaped her lips. For a minute there she had started to think that he was the biggest moron in the world. I suppose it's good that he has a sense of humour.

"Ok so seriously. Who do I think is the greatest wizard of all time? No question about it. Dumbledore. He was the only one that You-Know-Who ever feared. Even if someone as powerful as You-Know-Who had feared him, then there must have been more to the elderly wizard than meets the eye right?" he asked smiling at Hermione again.

"Yes. Definitely." Hermione said. "Ok that's all I need to know. Thanks Jake," she said. Saying his name out loud for the first time felt like she was signing her name over to the devil.

"Glad to have been of help Hermione," he said drawing out her name and not making any move to get up. "So what do you have to do now?"

"Well, I have to write an essay. Then I'll be free," she said doing a small jig in her seat.

"Sounds great," he said laughing. "Not the essay part, the being free part," he added quickly. Hermione laughed with him.

"So can I ask you a question now?" he asked smiling at her unfazed. At Hermione's nod he continued dropping his gaze to the table. "What would you say if I was to ask you out for next weekend? I know you have to finish your essay and stuff for this weekend and I'm not going to be at school next week, you know, during the week and I was wondering if you wanted to go out. Next Saturday maybe?"

Hermione was at a loss for words. She definitely wanted to go out with him but she didn't want to seem too eager so instead she said: "How about I let you know later?" smiling at him and picking her things up she stood.

He looked up at her a little surprised but happy none-the-less that she was considering.

"Yeah sure. I'll be waiting then," he said smiling at her and also standing up. Hermione gave him one last smile and walked out of the café. She then went ahead and did a small jig and let out a small high pitched scream. Then laughing to herself she proceeded to go back to her dorm to finish this damn essay and be free!

Draco was tired of yelling. He had been shouting himself hoarse for the last hour and a half and was tired of it. He had been sleeping peacefully in his room when he had been woken up by loud and incessant knocking. He had gotten up quickly and pulling the door open had come face to face with an annoyed Cindy. She had claimed that she wanted to see him and had pushed her way into his room and plopped herself down on Hermione's bed. Draco, who was still angry about her little 'request' from the other night had just become angry at the sight of her and had tried to kick her out to no avail. In the end he had resorted to shouting but she was still not budging.

"How many more times do I have to fucking say this? Get the fuck out of my fucking room!" he yelled yet again.

"And how many more times do I have to say it Draco. I'm not moving," she said smiling sweetly at him which only sparked his anger even more.

"Look Cindy. Don't you get it? I don't want to be with you anymore. You used me. You used me for my money. I thought you were different. But you're not. You're just a stuck up spoilt little bitch who uses people for her own gain!" He had started off the sentence calmly but had ended up shouting again.

"This relationship will never be over Draco," she said smiling at him and going over to him. "I'll never let you go my darling," she said snuggling up to his chest. He grabbed her upper arms and roughly pushed her off of him.

"It's finished Cindy. Done!"

Just then, the door opened and Hermione walked in to find Draco shaking Cindy by her arms and yelling at her. Draco and Cindy both turned to look at her with surprised expressions. Hermione gaped for a few minutes and pointing at the door she mumbled: "Erm..you're busy. Ok I'll just..." and walked out shutting the door quietly behind her. Draco let go of Cindy's arms and shaking his head, he sat down on his own bed.

Sighing heavily he said pleading, "Why won't you just go?"

"Because I know that you're only saying all this from anger Drackie. So, I'm going to leave you to calm down. Then we'll be back to normal. I don't want you to do something that you'll regret," she said making Draco snort in disbelief. "I'll see you later ok? Try to calm down babe."

When she closed the door Draco grabbed his pillow and screamed into it then flopped down on his bed. How the fuck was he ever gonna get rid of this psycho? Then suddenly it struck him. Like a bolt of lightening. He had the perfect plan. All he needed now was to find Hermione! With that he raced out of his room.

Hey everyone! So here's chapter 6! Hope you'll like this one..Let me know what you all think..happy reading and thank you to all of you who have added me to your alert and favourite lists and have left a review! Greatly appreciated! xxx