Chapter 2

"Granger!"

"Malfoy!"

They both sneared at each other."Ah, that's right I believe you both know each other so no introductions needed." Mr. Buttons said taking a step back, he could feel the friction in the air.

They both turned to him and said in unison,"I want a reassignment!" Realizing what they just did they glared at each other. Mr.Buttons brought out his wand,"Jinx!"

They both were opening their mouths to protest more about the arrangement and shut them so quickly he could almost hear their teeth click. The jinx curse was totally childish but Mr. Buttons didn't want to hear their nonsense.

"Now you to behave yourselves like good children, try not to kill each other. You need to cooperate to stay alive in that vast forest. Keep your eyes open." With that said he left the room.

Hermione, not wanting to be the first to speak and get the wrath of the Jinx, she picked up the legal pad from her desk and began scribbling. Draco, curious, walked closer just as she lifted it up for him to read. His eyes scanned down the page and he nodded. She held her hand in the air and counted with her fingers. 1...2...3...

"I HATE YOU!" They said together breaking the Jinx curse.

Then again in unison."THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!...MY FAULT! They glared at each other and stood quietly saying no more. Hermione breaking the silence,"How is this my fault Malfoy? I didn't ask to have a loathesome bleached ferret on an assignment with me!" She smiled at her insult.

"Why you little filthy Mudblood!"He shot back."If you weren't such a Miss Know-it-All, busy body, you wouldn't have gotten this job and then I would have never been called to escort you through some flaming muggle forest!"

"Do you think I got to choose who came with me? NO! Do you think I like this? NO! Would I much rather have another come along for the ride? Merlin YES!"She started pacing behind her desk again talking to herself."Why couldn't they have sent Harry? or Cho? or even Neville? I would have even felt safer with him than I do with him! I can't trust a low life like a Malfoy!"

"Hey I'm standing right here Granger you filthy nit!" He was almost about to jump over the desk and hit a girl for the first time in his life."Don't you dare bad mouth my family's name!" He raised his face shaking it at her.

"Then answer my questions. Why in the bloody hell did they send YOU?" She stopped pacing and slammed her hands down on her desk as she yelled.

"Well for starters, your precious little Potty is in America doing undercover work for their ministry and even though I know they would never assign Longbottom such a dangerous task, he wouldn't have come. His little miss is having her kittens soon and he wouldn't miss it for the world!"Disgusted at the thought of little Neville's running around making messes of things.

Hermione smiled, she had almost forgotten that Neville's twins were going to be born soon. She looked down at her desk calendar turning to the next month. She had circled Rachell's due date in red. She would have to remember to send them a gift. She had been so busy with work that she had missed the baby shower.

"What in the bleeding hell are you smiling at?"

She snapped out of her thoughts and back to Malfoy hell."Thinking about being in the middle of nowhere with an untrustworthy maggot like you for two months." She said to him calmly.

"Yeah well as least its in the middle of nowhere and no one will see you with me. I don't think I could stand the embarressment of being associated with a nasty Mudblood like yourself."He said smuggly.

"Yes and at least in the middle of nowhere I could kill you, hide your body, and no one would ever be able to find you!"She cocked her head to the side thinking,"That is if anyone actually cared about you to look."She smiled as she saw his face contort in anger.

He counted to ten in his head. He wouldn't let her get the best of him."You know Granger you could always quit your job now and save us all the trouble of this stupid quest."

"Not on your life Malfoy!"

"Hmph...It was worth a try." He sat in a chair scanning the room. Books and papers were strewn about the shelves and floor. He picked a book off the floor, ' Mysterious Artifacts and Documents', he threw the book back on the floor."Ever thought about hiring a maid Granger?"

She looked around the room,"What? This isn't that messy its rather cleaner than usual." She stacked some books and papers together and then went back to staring at the map.

He coughed in disbelief,"If this is what you call clean then I'd hate to see your living quarters!"

"Well as a matter of fact you will be doing just that so follow me." She grabbed a bag and threw the map and a few other belongings in it and strode through the door.

He grimaced and stood up to follow her. He followed her down the hall to an empty fireplace. She got into the middle of it grabbing some floo powder on the way and threw it to her feet while saying her destination.

"Victoria Heights!" With that she disappeared.