Author's Notes & Disclaimer: At the bottom as per usual for one of my fics

"Malfoy?"

"Way to state the obvious, Granger."

"What are you doing here?" she hissed.

"I came to talk to you."

"Me?"

"I don't stutter, Granger. Yes you."

She crossed her arms and glared at him.

"So talk already."

"Not here. It's too risky. Someone could see me hovering out here."

She rolled her eyes.

"What is this about, Malfoy? Why should I want to talk to you?"

"It's about the unity project. Meet me in the kitchens in 15 minutes." And without another word he zoomed off. Hermione ran to the window, intent on telling him to shove off but he was already out of sight.

What could he possibly have to tell her about the unity project? It was too bizarre that he had appeared at her window in the first place. She shouldn't go—that much was certain. But she was curious. And what if it was something dangerous? If Malfoy had something planned didn't she owe it to the rest of the participants to try and find out what it was and stop him?

She was still thinking thoughts of this nature when she arrived at the kitchens 20 minutes later. The house-elves were delighted with the late night visit and set out a multitude of snacks and hot chocolate for them before retiring to a back room. Hermione and Draco waited in silence until they were gone.

"You're late," was his greeting.

"Oh I'm so sorry your majesty. I was so honored to get a royal summons that it took me twice as long to get here as I found myself needing to stop and pinch myself every five minutes. I was so sure it was a beautiful dream, you see." Her words dripped with acid.

"Whatever, Granger. Look, we need to talk."

"So I gathered. What is it?"

"It's about the unity project."

"I saw you twenty minutes ago, not years Malfoy. I am capable of remembering that far back."

"You don't have a partner." He stated.

For a moment all she could do was stare at him. Why had this possibility not occurred to her? If it had she was sure she would not be sitting here.

"Oh god. This is what this is about? You got me out of bed to taunt me about it? You couldn't wait until tomorrow to give me a hard time?"

She got up, clearly intent on leaving but before she could his hand reached out and snaked around her wrist. She was about to insist that he release her immediately but his words stopped that thought as well as the one about leaving.

"I don't have a partner either."

Hermione collapsed back onto the bench and Draco let go of her, convinced she was going to stay.

"You can't be serious." She said after a long pause. He quirked his eyebrow at her. "You can't be suggesting that we work together?"

"Give the girl a cookie. That's exactly what I'm saying."

She did in fact reach down to pick up a cookie and began nibbling on it.

"So?" he practically shouted in his impatience.

"Why me, Malfoy? Surely you had plenty of offers."

He shrugged his shoulder off-handedly. Hermione shook her head.

"Oh no. You're going to have to do a lot better than that."

"God, Granger. Are you always this difficult?" He got up and began to pace. She merely raised her eyebrows and took another bite of her cookie. As he thought out what he was going to say Hermione took the opportunity to question herself.

What exactly was she doing here? Was she actually trying to get Malfoy to convince her to work with him? It was insanity to even be thinking of working together!

"Yes, I had other offers. But none of them were suitable."

As explanations went it was incredibly lame.

"Yeah, that clears things up. Good job. I'm leaving."

"What do you want me to say?" he exploded.

"What makes me suitable?" she shouted back.

"Aauugghh!! Fine! The other offers I had were ones that involved dark rooms and snogging and I wasn't interested. Are you happy?"

"What does that have to do with me?"

Draco seriously doubted the wisdom of this whole debacle. He pinched the bridge of his nose. Were those damn House points worth this aggravation? Yes or no? He had to decide in an instant or else she was really going to leave.

It was yes.

"I want a partner who cares about getting the House Points and the extra credit as much as I do. You care about the House Points." He said it like an accusation. "And I know you care about the extra credit, probably even more than I do."

His words tumbled around in her mind. She let the thought of her and Malfoy working on a project together actually take root in her brain. What were the reasons they shouldn't? For starters they hated each other with the fire of a thousand suns. That seemed to be the most compelling reason. Then of course there were Ron and Harry's reactions to consider. But depending on the scope of the project she could handle them. She could use the reasons Malfoy had just given her for her argument to them.

Oh lord! She was already justifying the decision like it was made!

"Okay girl, slow down," she told herself, "Let's assume for a minute that you actually agree to this nutcase's idea. What would be the benefits?"

She pondered that thought seriously.

Well there was the obvious in the form of the House Points and the extra credit. Then there were the other intangibles like being role models. Maybe they really could affect change?

"If we don't kill each other first," she reminded herself. But you've been sitting here for a while now and aside from some harsh words you've been borderline civil to each other, the part of her brain that was thinking of the positives pointed out.

She laughed aloud at that thought.

*********************************************************************************************************************************************************

Disclaimer: Well my Magic 8 Ball told me to check back later so as of this moment I own nothing, sadly.

Author's Notes: Thank you portion:

Legaloslover: How funny that you said that…because it's true. I re-read it and within moments of posting it I changed the genres and then I read your review which made me think I did the right thing. I will switch it to romance first once the romance actually happens. Thank you for being willing to read and be constructive…I appreciate it. Just a weird side note:  why'd you spell Legolas' name wrong?

Venus Smurf: I adore you, you know that, right? I almost passed out when I saw that you had reviewed this story! I am humbled that you would consider it! Thank you so much for your show of support. I really hope this story become as rich as it is already in my head. You are just so amazing and anytime I read one of your reviews I just get sunny, so thank you, thank you, thank you. Hope the spring break goes well!