The next day Hermione got up early. She showered and changed then went out of the common room. When she reached the Gryffindor Table at Great Hall, she saw Harry and Ginny there. She sat down beside Ginny Weasley and whispered, "Can I talk to you later?" When Ginny said yes, Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.
She was just about to have her second bite of toast when she saw Ron gobbling up his food like there was no tomorrow. She put her toast back on her plate, sttod up, and said, "Ron, your disgusting way of gobbling up your food has made me lose my appetite".
She beckoned Ginny and they both went out of the Great Hall. After a few mintues of walking, they stopped, and Ginny asked, "So Hermione, what did you want to tell me?". "Well, you've heard about that project Snape assigned to us, right?" Hermione said. When Ginny nodded, Hermione continued, "Well, you see, Malfoy is my partner"
"Yeah, so? I know he's evil and all, but it's not something to get really worked up about" Ginny said and Hermione continued. "Well it actually is. You see, last night, we were working on the project. After a while I stood up to get another book from my room. While I was going back to the work table, I didn't notice that part of the rug was clumped up. I tripped and would have fallen if Malfoy hadn't seen me. He caught me before I fell over. And you know the strangest thing about it? Well, he didn't let go until I told him to. Then, when he bade me goodnight, he called me Hermione, not Granger or anything else".
"Whoa. That is strange. Is it me, or did the world turn upside down last night?" Ginny said. They continued talking until Hermione looked at her watch and said, "We'll continue this later. It's only five minutes before the first classes start". And after saying their goodbyes, the two girl went in opposite directions.
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It was around seven o' clock and Malfoy and Hermione were working on their project, neither saying a word about that little "incident" last night. After thirty minutes, they were done with the research and were preparing to make the final copy. Since they started working, they talked civilly. Until the time to decide on what format to use came.
Hermione, after looking at few papers, said, "I think we should stick with the usual one because I think that Snape's misleading us. "You know, trying to make us use another format when the right one is the usual one".
But Malfoy countered, "Oh, no. Believe me, I know Snape more than you do, and I know it's another format. Snape hinted and I think its this one", while holding up a piece of parchment.
They kept on arguing until Malfoy placed his hand over the parchment which held the research items, his trademark smirk plastered on his face once again. He said, "You aren't getting these unless you follow my format". hermione tried to get the parchment but Malfoy's grip on it was too strong.
In the middle of their little tug- of- war, they suddenly knocked over the ink bottle, and in surprise, they dropped the parchment. Ink spilled all over their hard work.
It was all gone, Hermione thought, then she faced Malfoy and said angrily, "What the hell did you do that for, you slimy, ferret- faced and pathetic excuse of a human!?!". " Me?!? You were the one who knocked it over, you beaver- toothed mudblood!" Malfoy shot back in furious tones, anger written in both their faces.
They continued bickering for around ten minutes more. Hermione suddenly yelled, "That is it! I have had it with you! I knew ever since Snape assigned this very stupid, very idiotic Potions project that we'd end up passing it individually. From now on, I work on my own version and you work on yours, got it? How I will enjoy seeing you getting zero for a very bad work done"
"Fine! For once you give a sensible suggestion. And I should say the same for you. Have a lot of fun getting zero!" Malfoy sneered tauntingly.
They both climbed up to their bedrooms in furious strides, not bothering to clean up the mess. They both went inside their room, slamming the doors as loudly as they could.