ChApTeR 2: ThAt ImPoSsIbLe BeT

Amber's Disclaimer: We do not own any of J.K Rowling's characters and neither are we con artists that pretend to while stealing your money. I wish, but no.

Ekaterina's Note: Hullo! We actually have a pretty good idea of where we want this story to go! (for once) now we just have to figure out how to put it down on paper without confusing you :3 haha...sigh... school starts on Wednesday (tomorrow! :o) :l I thought summer would never end. I'll be stuck carrying my school bad and my tennis bag everywhere... bleah whatever xD Happy schooling everyone!

Two weeks after quitting and Hermione was still deciding which job offer to pick up on, she had had a barrage of possibilities once people had found out that THE Hermione Granger was up for the takes. But at the moment, her current focus was moving out of the Burrow, one more look at Ron's late night entries with mussed up hair would lead to murder.

Of course, the rest of the family suspected nothing, Ginny and Harry were at Hogwarts~ Harry as defense against the dark arts teacher and Ginny as the Quiddtich coach. Percy was living elsewhere, but had left politics for Flourish and Blott's in Diagon Alley~ he lived near George, Angelina, and their toddler daughter Marie. Bill and Fleur were still at Shell cottage, raising their lovely daughter Victoire, and Charlie... well, no one really knew much about Charlie. That left just her, Ron, and his parents at the Burrow.

Where to go. Where to go? Hermione skimmed through the Daily Prophet for any rooms for rent. Thanks to the not-so-good Quidditch team, she didn't have all that much money to be able to buy a house or rent a condo...Hermione sighed. No where to go, it seemed.

Nice, comfortable room near Diagon Alley. Males welcome.

No, that didn't work. As far as she knew, she was female.

Beautiful neighborhood, small but cozy room. Wonderful scenery of Ireland!

IRELAND? Well, she could relocate there, but still...rather stay in England.

My basement, it's small, cold, cramped, but food is complimentary~ heating spells generally work too unless it's too weak a spell. But it's cheap!

This person was insane, who would rent a basement with such bad standards! She shook the papers back into place and kept reading with mild disgust.

I need a roommate! One with benefits! You can stay for free!

She choked on her water at this one and promptly turned the page, blushing mildly, looked through the page dejectedly, and sighed.

Ugghhh, there was nothing! Absolutely nothing! Hermione sighed and flung the paper down, throwing herself on her bed.

"Hey, Draco!" Blaise smiled and greeted his friend.

"Blaise, hey, mate!" Draco answered, sitting down next to him. They were at a bar, and Blaise had already ordered the firewhiskey.

"Yup," Blaise took a gulp of his drink, "How you been?"

"Eh, the usual. Mum and Dad kicked me out saying that I should live my life. You know, I think they might have gone on some sort of happy high streak. You?" Draco took a sip.

"Good, all's well so far. Oh, I did tell you that I was dating Mirian Rawood?" He chuckled. "I broke up with her today. Broke her darling little heart, I'll say."

Draco looked up with minimal interest. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah, but that's just life, you know?" Blaise took another long drink of the firewhiskey. "How about you Draco? Single all along?"

Draco nodded.

Blaise laughed heartily. "Oh, come on, you've gotta get a life! There are some really pretty girls out there, you know? I can hook you up. You interested?"

"No, it's fine. I'm not into girls at the moment."

"Uh-huh. So does that mean you swing the other way?" he asked, his grin letting Draco know that he was teasing.

Draco ignored him and took a sip of his drink.

" 'At the moment' apparently means for five years," Blaise sighed. "Or is it that you're interested in someone in particular?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Because I see so many girls," Draco said sarcastically. "I mean, I see Pansy (who's married to Nott), I see Astoria, who dumped me for some half-assed boyfriend, I see you... but I don't know your intentions with me...Yeah, I've got lots of choices!"

Blaise chuckled. "You're no fun."

"Oh, and as if you don't have anyone in mind... you've been wishing for a certain blond Ravenclaw to notice you for years now," ," Draco responded dryly. "Was it...Loony, right? You know ... If you stopped picking up every girl you saw, you might just have a chance."

Blaise frowned slightly and downed some more alcohol.

Draco allowed a small smile, he could party hard if he wanted, but right now he was trying to at least figure out what the hell his parents were on when then made him head of all their businesses.

"Okay, okay, geez. It's just that you haven't met anyone since that bloody war at Hogwarts..." He gulped down his third bottle of firewhiskey. "Oh, Hogwarts, that place... so many memories..." He seemed a little drunk; his cheeks pink and his words slurred slightly.

Draco nodded absentmindedly.

"Hogwarts... We had good times there... Rule breaking, thinking we were the bad ass mother fu-"

"I remember," Draco cut him off, smiling slightly.

"Yeah...Potter and his crew always managed to grab the good stuff, huh... Like Granger... If she wasn't Weasley's, I would've grabbed her for myself, ya know. But, if my sources are correct, he's not so into her anymore. She dumped his team too..."

Draco made an impolite soft snort and continued examining his drink. He would never admit it but he had a grudging respect for the girl. But because she as the only person he had respect for, he disliked her for it. It was a very Malfoy-esque way of showing respect.

Blaise looked at Draco in irritation. "Draco Sodding Malfoy, are you even listening to me?"

Draco sighed and motioned for Blaise to continue.

"Hey, all this talk of Granger reminded me...We made a bet a long time ago, remember? A bet that you wouldn't be able to get Granger."

"Bet?"

"Yeah, in...sixth year, was it?" He chuckled. "You know...the impossible bet that we dropped..."

~Flashback~

"You? Able to get any girl you want?" Blaise asked, his eyebrow raised.

Draco nodded smugly. "I bet- Hell, I know I can," he said. "You know, Blaise, there is not a girl in Slytherin that I haven't dated...and I broke each and every one of their oh-so-tender hearts. "Almost all in Hupplepuff and Ravenclaw too!"

Blaise laughed. "But you can't have Hermione Granger."

Draco was silent. "Well, she's... well protected, if you know what I mean... She won't fall in love and if she does, it's with ginger head."

Blaise chugged his butterbeer before saying, "You know that she would never go out with you, no matter how charming you are, mate."

"Yes, well, I just explained why to you."

"I bet you anything that you can't get her!" Blaise said triumphantly.

"Blaise, mate, the point of a bet is that there are two opposing parties, not two in agreement. I can't get her 'cause she's a dense princess with no choice in guys!" Draco was exasperated by now.

"Fine fine," Blaise pouted an went back to his drink.

~End Flashback~

Draco chuckled, "Blaise, dear, we never even made that bet. It was just a childish thing. I thought we were over that six years ago..."

"NOOOOO DRACO LOVE, I ALWAYS REMEMBERED!" Blaise wailed, throwing himself at Draco. he seemed to have grown even more drunk in the time Draco was remembering.

"Er Blaise, Blaise? Mate, gerrof me-" he broke into a jumble of curse words, trying to pry a very drunk Blaise off of himself.

"Draco, I have soooomefing fur yoooou!" Blaise slurred.

"Not an engagement ring, is it?" the blonde asked suspiciously.

"NOOOOOOO silly!" he giggled and whacked Draco's back. "Noooooo. A bet!"

"Blaise, you blithering idiot, I didn't come out here for you to harass me then try to hook me up with Granger! Now get-"

"300 galleons!"

"Mate, I don't need the money."

"500!"

Draco hesitated, his business mind starting to roll, "So, if I charm Granger, I win?" he mused thoughtfully.

There was no response from Blaise.

"Well, make it a new (and good) car. If that's it, then sure."

"But, do you swear on your honor and reputation to try to get Hermione to fall in love with you, no matter what?" Blaise said, grinning broadly.

"Yes, well, I suppose...a new car... Alright, I swear," Draco mused.

"Brilliant, you can't back out now! By the end of the month, Ginny and Harry'll owe me a new car! I never told you I bet with you--and exactly what I bet. I bet with Ginny and Harry that you will charm Hermione. And you just swore to charm her. Try to fall in love too, you need it," cackling (and hiccuping at the same time), Blaise apparated away.

Draco froze in surprise, "Wait, you son of a- YOU BET ON MY LOVE LIFE WITH POTTER?"

Dear Harry,

It's so romantic that we write letters to each other even though we're to be married soon. I can't wait, it's so bloody exciting! Actually, I'm rather surprised that Minerva allowed us to maintain a relationship within grounds...

Anyway, all the kids are having fun flying around (reminds me of our childhood) so I might as well have fun, too and write to you, you know? Did the owl that suddenly swooped into your classroom scare you?I hope you're pleased by the letter, though.

I actually have no idea as to what to talk about, we're together most of the time anyways. OH! The bet! I was rather surprised when Blaise approached us. I mean, I think that it's blaringly obvious that Draco will never charm Hermione. I mean, she's still so starstruck with my sodding idiot of a brother. So I suppose that we wouldn't owe Blaise 500 galleons or whatever we bet, for that; he will owe us, though. It's just not possible for Hermione to like Draco; I think it's just so natural for them to hate each other. I do wonder where he gets such confidence from, though. He must be rather desperate for money to make such a ridiculous bet.

I hope your teaching is going well...make sure to send a reply, 'k?

Much love, Ginny

PS. Dinner down at the pitch tonight?

Dearest Ginny,

Well, I don't know, but isn't writing letters during class a bit... never mind...As for the owl that came flying in to the class...well long story short, some of the kids started teasing; it's not so natural for such a thing to happen... You won't believe how embarrassing such a thing would be. And so me, replying to you, is causing a lot of whispers throughout the class...especially amongst the girls.

Anyways, I'm very happy too, and quite relieved that Ron has not murdered me yet for proposing to you. Oh, well, I think that Minerva had a pretty good idea that we would be together no matter what, so... Actually, I was pretty surprised about the bet as well, Blaise must have a lot of faith in Draco, although I don't know where he gets it. We are such bad friends, betting on our friend's love life.

Ah, well, Hermione is a clever witch and she won't fall for someone as rude, snobby, and idiotic as Malfoy the ever bouncing ferret. I dunno, Ron was never a very stable person, love-wise, I agree that Hermione should stop being so partial to your brother, he's going to break her heart again one of these days and we won't be there to help.

But if Draco does manage to charm Hermione, we will owe Blaise 500 galleons (was that what we bet? Blaise has a reputation for betting things other than money), and if Hermione does not end up falling in love with Draco, we'll gain 500.

It's really more likely that Draco and Hermione would end up ripping each other's' guts out with curses, so...I think we'll be safe. I still feel awful about not telling Hermione, though...But then that wouldn't be so fair...

Love, Harry

PS. Candle light picnic? I'll grab some stuff from the kitchens.

A/N: Okay, This is important: Basically, Blaise made a bet with Ginny and Harry that Draco could make Hermione fall in love with him. He makes Draco swear to try to get Hermione to fall for him by pretending to bet with Draco. Then specifies that the bet was made not with Draco, but with Harry and Ginny. Good?