"How about a mixture of all four skills?" Celia Corbin suggested.

"I think we need something simple," Hermione said.

"We should have thought of this beforehand," Fabien said.

"Indeed, Professor Lang," Professor McGonagall said. "But as we haven't we need to think of something with a matter of urgency. I think Professor Granger is correct, it needs to be something simple."

"Their talents are so different!" Celia said. "Albus is far more studious than Ella but she'd beat him easily at flying."

"That isn't our consideration," Professor McGonagall said. "We need something that doesn't favour either of them."

"I could come up with something to do with Herbology?" Neville suggested. "Identifying plants or something?"

"That's a possibility," Professor McGonagall nodded. "Any other ideas?"

They all looked at one another for a moment until Fabien answered. "How about having to cast Charms whilst riding a broom?"

"Can we find out what tasks they'll be doing in the main competition?" Celia asked.

Professor McGonagall sighed. "I think we may have to sleep on this and decide first thing tomorrow morning. Can you all be back here straight after breakfast?"

They all nodded and left the Headmistress's office. Hermione called goodnight and walked a little way along the silent corridor.

"Hermione!"

She turned quickly to find Professor Sarrington, the Arithmacy professor, hurrying towards her.

"What's the matter, Ruth?"

"One of the parents wanted a quick word with you. He's been waiting while you were in the meeting - I hope that is okay?"

Hermione didn't need to ask who the parent was. It was Draco, of course. "Of course. Where is he?"

"In your office - it's Mr Malfoy."

"Okay - thanks Ruth. I'll go straight there."

She hurried down to her office and found Draco sitting by her desk. He turned when he heard her enter and without bothering with any preliminaries he launched into his questions.

"What have you decided they have to do? Who will mark it?"

Hermione shut her door slowly and came round her desk, taking her seat and then folding her arms in front of herself.

"Have you really waited for me just to ask that? You must have known I wouldn't have been able to tell you what was discussed."

"You can't tell Ella what was discussed but what difference does it make if you tell me?"

"You don't really need to ask me that, do you?"

"I won't tell her!"

"Surprisingly, I know you won't but that doesn't change the fact that it would be looked upon as favouritism if anyone found out," Hermione explained.

"How can it be favouritism? Towards the competitor of the child in your house?" Draco asked. "Tell Potter as well then! I obviously won't tell Ella - I want her to win by her own merits."

Hermione rolled her eyes at his persistence. "Draco, I can't tell you..."

"Draco?" he interrupted her. "Did you just call me Draco?"

Hermione managed to look bored, despite feeling slightly shocked at herself for calling him by his first name. "I thought it was part of the truce?"

Draco didn't look convinced but he let the it drop. "So, as part of the truce, please tell me what was decided."

"No..."

"Bloody ridiculous! Why are Gryffindors so ridiculously moral?!" Draco shook his head angrily at her and she held up her hand to him.

"Stop it! Before you say something we'll both regret!" She leant forward. "I shouldn't tell you but as you're being so annoyingly pushy I might have ignored my morals for once and given in."

"Might of?"

"If there was anything to tell."

"What do you mean?"

"We couldn't decide on anything - we've been sent away to sleep on it," Hermione enjoyed telling him this because she could see it take the wind straight out of his sails.

"Five professors couldn't come up with a decent idea?" Draco asked, his voice conveying what he thought of this.

"Neville suggested something to do with Herbology..."

"Herbology?!" Draco spat the word out. "Are you kidding me?"

Hermione shrugged. "I know, it's not great."

"It's awful! Is that the best you came up with?"

"Fabien suggested testing their magic skills whilst riding a broom - it plays to both their strengths."

Draco shook his head. "Merlin!"

"So, I could be making better use of this time to think of something," Hermione nodded to the door but Draco shook his head.

"You don't need to think of something because I have a brilliant idea," he said.

"Really? Just like that, you have a brilliant idea?" Hermione asked, sceptically. "How surprising that you consider everyone else's ideas terrible and yours so brilliant!"

"Do you want to hear it or not?"

"Do I have a choice?"

Draco leant back in his chair. "We could set them a task to charm a wand."

Hermione was about to retaliate but stopped because it only took her a moment to acknowledge that it was a very good idea. A problem popped into her head. "What about Ella? Won't she have an unfair advantage, given that you own a wand shop?"

"She's never charmed a wand in her life and to be honest, she's taken absolutely not interest in what I do. If anything, it probably slightly favours Potter as it leans towards academia," Draco explained. "I'll get Chantal to set the challenge so it's completely fair."

Hermione looked at a point in the corner of the room for a moment, loathe to tell him that she thought it was an excellent idea. Perfect, in fact. She twisted her lips and gave into it, speaking quietly and reluctantly. "It's a good idea."

She watched as Draco's face spread into a wide grin. "Sorry? I didn't quite hear you."

Hermione sighed. "Yes, you did. I said it was a good idea."

Draco wriggled his eyebrows. "So, what time is the meeting in the morning?"

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Everyone had agreed that Draco's suggestion was a really good idea. Hermione was torn between feeling grateful they had such a good tie breaker and annoyed that it had been his idea. Somehow, she had ended up being put in charge of it and yet again she was going to have to work with Draco.

He had brought Chantal with him and introduced her to everyone. She was a beautiful girl with deep blue eyes, auburn hair and a wide, easy smile. She and Hermione sat down straight after the meeting to discuss the task. Draco had left, just to make sure that there could not be any accusations of favouritism.

"I will give them both a wand. They will be asked to identify the wood and core; after which we will ask them to do the spell which bonds the two. It is très avancé - quite advanced magic for their age but it will be a good test," Chantal spoke perfect English, with the odd French word inserted into it. She had a deep, French accent.

"It sounds perfect. Thank you for doing this," Hermione said.

"It was Draco's idea but it is a good one - bonne idee," Chantal said. "The competition sounds like it is very good for the children. I would have loved the challenge!" Chantal smiled. "The other child involved in the tie break is Harry Potter's son, n'est-ce pas?"

"Yes - so it should be an interesting competition."

"Do you know if Harry Potter will be here to watch?"

Hermione raised her eyebrows, surprised. "Yes, he is coming to watch."

"I would like very much to meet him," Chantal said. "It is a great pleasure to meet you as well, bien sur."

Hermione gave a little chuckle. "Thank you - I'm sure I can introduce you to Harry although I'm not sure how impressed Draco will be with it!" As she said this, she realised it was a bit too honest to a women she had met less than an hour ago so she was pleased when Chantal rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Ah - that old, silly rivalry! It is a fight over something long finished - fini!" she said. "Draco is his own worst enemy sometimes," she frowned. "Did I said that correctly?"

"Perfectly, " Hermione grinned. "Harry and Draco are their own worst enemies and I suppose I'm guilty of it too."

"You are all clever, talented and brave wizards. It is a pity to be fighting with each other."

"You're right!" Hermione agreed. "I think things are improving - especially because of the children."

"That is good, tres bien," Chantal nodded her head. "Draco, he has had enough of sadness. He needs things to be easy now." Hermione felt as if she was being let into a confidence because Chantal had obviously been there when Astoria had died. Having said that, she didn't feel she could ask Chantal to elaborate. As it turned out, she didn't have to because Chantal continued. "It is good that he is involved with the school again. His ideas to bring the craft of wand making to school children was an inspiration, but malheureusement -unfortunately - he wasn't interested in seeing it through when Astoria and the babies died."

Hermione knew her face giving her away but she couldn't help it. Astoria and the babies? She decided to be honest. "I'm afraid I don't know what happened. I only heard what everyone else did, something about Dragonpox."

"Yes, she had Dragonpox..."

"I don't think Draco would want me to know this," Hermione interrupted her, her guilt over riding her curiosity.

Chantal waved her arm dismissively. "It shouldn't be a secret! You are schooling his children, it is necessary that you know. It is thanks to Astoria that we have our wand shop. She was fascinated by wands and everything about them and it was her interest that sparked Draco's."

"Oh." Hermione was surprised by Chantal, who seemed to not be in awe of Draco at all. She seemed to have a very astute assessment of him and yet when she spoke, it was with affection.

"I think that is why he lost interest and enthusiasm when she died - apart from the shock, of course. Astoria was pregnant with triplets..."

"Triplets?!"

"Yes - her Grand-mere was a triplet. Draco was very busy with the shop but they were both very pleased when they found out. She contracted Dragonpox which, as you know, is a normally harmless disease, but it affected the babies and that in turn affected her. She couldn't fight it," Chantal cleared her throat and Hermione could tell she was upset having to repeat the tale. "So, she passed away and all the babies... une telle tragédie."

"How awful!"

"At first, Draco had to deal with the children, of course, but even as they seem to recover a little, he didn't. His interest in the shop was nul - zero and it hasn't improved very much, even after all this time," Chantal paused and gave a little grin. "Until now! This is the most he's participated since Astoria died. Dealing with the faulty wands and now this. It is a very, very good thing. Très bonne chose."

On hearing this, Hermione felt something she never thought she would towards Draco - she felt compassion and the tiniest bit of affection. "No wonder he didn't want to continue with making wand making," she said, almost to herself.

"Ah-ha!" Chantal said. Hermione noticed that sometimes she sounded more French than others."See, it is sad, tres regrettable but life must go on, as you English say. I have been trying to encourage him but he has lost the ferveur - enthusiasm." Hermione was absorbing all this new information, feeling that she had been told a confidence. Chantal nodded and pointed at the wands and parchment. "The task is ready."

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

You could hear a pin drop in the Great Hall. Albus and Elladora were seated at the far end with their instructions, test paper and a wand in front of them. Chantal explained the task and then handed over to Professor McGonagall who told them they had 15 minutes to complete it.

Albus picked up his sheets enthusiastically, Ella picked them up as if she was supremely bored and Hermione watched them with interest. Ella spent a lot of the time frowning, her eyes glaring malevolently at the wand.

"She would do better if she smiled," Chantal said to Draco and Hermione, who was sitting directly in front, pretended she hadn't heard. She waited for Draco to snap nastily at his partner who was daring to question his child's behaviour but it didn't come.

"Having to concentrate for this long will be killing her," he answered. "Hence the frown."

Harry was seated next to Hermione and he leant close to speak quietly to her. "Do you think Albus can do this?"

"Of course he can. He's very good at interpreting instructions."

"What about the magic?"

Hermione looked over at her friend and then reached across and squeezed his hand. "It's advanced but I think he can do it."

"What about him?" Harry indicated Draco, who was seated directly behind them.

"What about him?"

"How do you know he hasn't been giving his daughter secret lessons? This was his idea after all."

"No, Harry!" Hermione said but she was stopped from saying anything else by Draco leaning forward and speaking quietly to them both.

"No, Potter," Draco said, icily. "They're using my idea because Granger and her pals couldn't come up with any decent one's themselves..."

"Excuse me..." Hermione interrupted but Draco just continued over the top of her.

"So, before you imply that I'm trying to manipulate things, get your facts straight!"

"Suddenly a model citizen, Malfoy? Somehow I don't believe that!" Harry answered, his voice rising a little.

"Harry..." Hermione tried again to get a word in but she was ignored again.

"Well, I could never live up to you, Saint Potter. Pious, virtuous, flawless..." Draco's tone was totally sarcastic and then suddenly he grinned. "Pity your offspring seem to have a few less than perfect genes when it comes to charming wands..." His eyes were over Harry's shoulder, focused on the children across the room.

Automatically, they all turned to where he was looking to find Albus, waving his own wand frantically at the other wand he was supposed to be charming. It was jiggling in the air, obviously not charmed correctly and Albus looked pale and upset.

"Oh no," Hermione said and Harry stood up.

"What's he doing?"

"He needs to reverse the charm he's just done and start again," Hermione said, pulling Harry back to his seat. "Don't panic, he'll get it in a minute."

She was right. A moment later, Albus seemed to get control again and he managed to lower the wand to the desk before bending over the instructions again. Harry turned back to Draco.

"You were saying?" he said, pointedly. "Albus isn't perfect but he's worked out the problem and is now fixing it. At least his wand seems to be magical rather than a dead stick, still on the desk."

"Harry! You are really not helping..." Hermione said.

Draco's eyes flashed over to Ella who had still yet to charm her wand. "Better to do it right than quick," Draco drawled. "Maybe we should ask Weaslette what she thinks of your quick is best technique?"

The implication of Draco's words was obvious and Hermione felt her temper snap. They were acting like children! She leant towards Draco, her eyes flashing at him angrily.

"Don't do this! Why are you doing this?"

Draco looked her up and down. "Doing what? He was the one who suggested I was trying to cheat."

Hermione sighed loudly. "For Merlin's sake!"

"Oui!" Chantal agreed. "Hermione is correct! Il est infantile!"

"Thanks!" Draco said to Chantal who shrugged.

"Vous agissez comme des enfants!" Chantal slipped into her native tongue and it was obvious Draco understood her perfectly. He had obviously learnt French since leaving school. Hermione had no idea what Chantal had said but she had no problem interpreting the tone which told her that Chantal did not approve of how Draco was behaving.

"We are not acting like children!" Draco retaliated, unconsciously providing an interpretation for Hermione and Harry.

"Yes you are!" Hermione insisted and Draco turned back to her. "What about our truce?"

"What truce?" Harry asked and Hermione sighed.

"Good question, Harry," Hermione stared at Draco challengingly. "What truce?"

The hall suddenly burst into applause and they all turned back to the children to find Albus holding his newly charmed wand and casting a spell with it. There was a huge smile on his face.

"It would appear we have a winner! Albus Potter will take the fifth place." Professor McGonagall said and there was more applause. Harry had jumped to his feet and was clapping loudly and Hermione joined him. She watched the happiness on Albus' face with almost the same pride as Harry but it was tinged with sadness for Ella who was sitting dejectedly behind the desk, her chin resting on her palm.

"I think that ends our argument, Malfoy!" Harry said, loudly and Hermione glared at him before turning to look behind her. Expecting a seething Draco she was surprised to find that his seat was empty and Hermione looked at Chantal.

"Has he gone? Because she didn't win? He's just gone?" she asked, unable to keep the disapproving tone from her voice. No matter how Draco might feel, his daughter must be feeling worse and he could have at least stayed to help comfort her. Chantal's expression was sad but also a little judgemental. It wasn't until she spoke that Hermione realised she was the one who's behaviour Chantal was judging, not Draco.

"You should all let the history go," she said, her usually perfect English grammar slipping a little. "He has not gone, Hermione, regardez la." She nodded her head back over Hermione's shoulder to the children. Hermione turned back again and found that Ella was no longer sitting dejectedly on her own. She was still sitting behind the desk but she was now being held by her Father, her arms around his neck as he hugged her.

Hermione felt a wave of shame, firstly at how they had all just behaved and then her totally unfair accusation when she thought that Draco had just left. He'd left to go straight to comfort his distraught daughter and he was now unashamedly doing so, in front of everyone in the hall.

As she watched she saw Harry at the front of the hall - she hadn't even noticed he'd gone. He went to pat Albus on the back and give him a quick hug, that Albus shook off, embarrassed. When Hermione saw Draco move towards Harry and Albus, she went to step forward, sensing trouble. She then felt Chantal's hand on her shoulder stopping her.

"Non, Hermione. It is not necessary," she said.

Draco led Ella over to Albus and pointed at him, indicating that Ella should shake Albus' hand The children shook hands quickly, obviously embarrassed at being made to do this but without any malice.

Harry stood and watched and Hermione, from the distance she was away, willed him to not throw Draco's attempt at being civilized back in his face, especially as Draco was now shaking Albus' hand himself! She sighed with relief when she saw Harry lean closer to Ella and pat her on the shoulder. She bit her lip, remembering this was Harry Potter and that he was one of the kindest people she had ever known and she shouldn't have worried. The one she should worry about was Draco and he had just proved to her that he had changed.

"Ce sont des hommes stupides!" Chantal said from behind her and Hermione turned around to find her smiling. "Do you need me to interpret that for you?" Chantal asked but Hermione shook her head.

"I think I'm okay with understanding that one!" she said. "At least the men and the stupid part!"

I enjoyed writing this one! Nothing like a Potter/Malfory spat to liven things up! x