The next morning as Hermione lay in bed, she had a few moments of ignorant bliss before she remembered she would have to find Draco that morning and organize a time for them to meet. She knew he was going to make the whole thing very difficult, simply because he could. Any other student in Hermione's situation would simply give in, but she couldn't fail potions, because if she failed 6th year potions, she wouldn't be allowed into 7th year potions, and if she couldn't get into 7th year potions she would never succeed in life and it wouldn't be worth living any longer. She got up and ready, and went down to breakfast to find him.

As she entered the great hall, she spotted him immediately over at the Slytherin table surrounded by the usual suspects. His thick-skulled camarilla. She took a deep breath and walked confidently over to them, head held high. As she walked up the table, every head followed her, curious as to whom she was seeing. When she passed Pansy Parkinson, she stuck her leg out, but Hermione saw it coming and hopped over it.

"You lost, Granger?" She inquired. Her and her friends all cackled like a bunch of hags. Hermione ignored them, and tapped Draco on the shoulder.

"Malfoy, about the potion, can you meet me some time today to begin planning?" She asked.

"Granger, what do you think this is, coming over to me while I'm eating my breakfast, have you no manners?" He said, and his friends all guffawed moronically.

"Draco, cut the crap, can you meet me or not, I'm not failing because of you."

"Look fine, Granger, meet me in Conference Room One tonight at 7." He said, and Hermione nodded and walked away. "Don't be late!" He called after her, and his friends began to laugh again. Hermione grabbed some toast and left the great hall. "Well, that could have been worse" She thought to herself as she walked out the great oak doors and into the grounds. The cold morning air hit her hard and she shivered and pulled her robes around her tightly. She walked down the rolling grass, and towards the Quidditch pitch. She wasn't really aware of where she was going, she just really needed to get out of the castle for a while. She soon found herself sitting in the stands of the Quidditch pitch. She had sat there for a while, just thinking about school work, and a new book on advanced jinxes which had just come out, when 7 green and silver streaks shot across the sky. She forgot the Slytherin Quidditch team were practicing today. She was just about to get up and leave, when she saw Draco fly past. She had never really noticed before what a superb flyer he was. With his body flat against his broom, it seemed like he controlled it with his mind. He had caught the snitch within moments of it being released. As he flew around the stadium, Hermione seemed entranced by him. He was so agile and alert. That boy really could fly. "He could only be second to Harry in the whole school" she thought herself. Before she knew it, she had sat and watched their entire training session. She scolded herself for wasting time when she had so much to do! She gathered herself and made her way out of the Quidditch stadium and up the lawns back to the castle.

After an afternoon of getting up to date in all her subjects, Hermione set out for Conference Room One where she would be meeting Draco. When she arrived, to her surprise, Draco was already sitting there with his books and things out. She knocked on the door although it was already open, and walked in, closing the door behind her.

"Ah well, glad you decided to join me, Granger. Still getting over the excitement of your morning, no doubt?" Draco smirked. Oh no, had he seen her watching him?
"I don't know what you mean, Malfoy" Said Hermione as she got her things out of her bag.
"Come now, I saw you at our training session this morning. You couldn't take your eyes off me, Granger!" Said Draco, raising an eyebrow.

"Come off it Malfoy, you cocky git. I was merely…" But she couldn't quite manage what she was doing.

"You were merely what, hmm? I know what you were merely doing. You were merely watching in awe as you admired my Quidditch talent." He said. Hermione couldn't believe it. Draco had hit the nail right on the head, but she couldn't let him know this. Why, his neck would break under the weight of his enormous head if he knew.

"You're arrogance never ceases to amaze me. How can one person love themselves so much!?" Asked Hermione, as she raised her hands in the air. She couldn't see how she could stand two more months of this ego, it was suffocating her. 'Anyway… Have you made any progress on the project?"

"Ey, way to change the subject Granger, you know I'm right" Said Draco, as he put his feet up on the table and rocked back in his chair. "But as a matter of fact, I have. On the little list you gave me, you told me to 'finely slice liver of bat and simmer until golden brown, then freeze' well I did that last night, I also took the liberty of getting these from Snape." And he reached into his bad and pulled out several little air-tight jars. Hermione looked closely at the labels.

"Eye of Hrok? Root of Ginelipook? You got these from Snape? That's amazing! The rest of the groups have to find and harvest these things themselves!" She scanned the rest of the labels. There were many things she was sure most of the other groups would have trouble finding. "This is amazing. We have such an advantage…"

"Well, you don't think I wanted to fail do you?"

"Well yes I did actually. I should have known you'd have some scheme brewing in your head."

"Well, let's get to work shall we?" Said Draco, and he began to read the book in front of him about different ways to boil Skrewt Liver. It was funny, Hermione didn't seem to detest him so much now, he was actually being bearable. He'd followed the instructions she'd given him, he'd even gone out of his way to find things that would really help them with this project. After a while of reading he looked up at her.

"I don't get this. Why can't we add the Jingleberry seeds and the Skrewt liver at the same time?" He asked.

"Because, the acidic content of the Jingleberry seeds make the balance in the Skrewt liver uneven. After we boil the Jingleberries the acid levels drop and then they're find to add."

"Oh… I get it now. Thanks Hermione." Said Draco and he looked back into his book. Wait a minute, had Draco just thanked her? AND did he not just call her Hermione? He usually referred to her as "Granger". She was beginning to think Draco was different when not surrounded by his cronies.