Authors note >o I want to dedicate this chapter to Rootbeer who is the bestest! I cannot wait to read more of your welcome to he11 story...when you write more...hint HINT

To Jaru...where ever you are...

And to Tara, who I feel bad about because I was not supposed to mention something and did...but I believe that she has forgotten about it and never read it anyway! I keep checking everyday to see if she commented and nope, no new ones!

Story note, I have a few new ideas and even though I write ummmm "special feelings" or smut or whatever you want to call it, into story's rather slowly, this one has had a new developement in my mind and will contain it, but writen in my lovely emontional way and not in Puppy chans lovely smutty way...oh I wish it could be like hers!

So Tara I am sorry! Forgive me! And enjoy the next chappie! Comments give me Joygasms! (batman and robyn reference) lol

Hermione was in shock. First she had to attend seven years with the ferret boy, he had been a perfect, then Head boy, and all the planning and meetings that that entailed with their rounds, and the big graduation dance, then she had to tutor him in charms and now they were going to have to work on this well whatever it was together.

Harry and Ron tried to console her the next morning over oatmeal and toast.

"Its not really all that bad." Said Harry unconvincingly. Hermione just gave him a look and he gulped and turned imploringly to Ron.

"Well, I hate to be the one to admit this…and don't either of you dare repeat this but Malfoy…. he is…. umm you know." Ron trailed off and let his eyes wander.

"What?" both Hermione and Harry inquired at the same time.

"Well how should I put this…. a big insufferable git for one, but a big insufferable git who gets good marks." Ron looked as if he had just vomited up these last words and he continued as Hermione poked her oatmeal listlessly.

"Whether it's because of his father, and the teachers either being afraid to fail the ferret or if it's because heaven forbid, he is actually smart." Harry coughed on his dry toast.

"You cant be serious can you Ron? Conniving and sneaky yes but he is not intelligent at all!" Harry was grinning.

Ron argued, "I am not trying to sound like I want to join the Malfoy fan club, but my point is Harry, does it not seem like someone would have a better chance of passing this inter-house class thing if they were paired up with someone like Draco, instead of someone say like Crabbe?" Harry frowned.

"Alright! I get it now. So Hermione complain all you want about him, just don't expect the two of us to be pleased when we are still in school twenty years from now." Harry said dejected.

Hermione laughed. "Oh alright! I will help you two all that I can about this "thing", but you have to agree that it will be more pleasant with the people you ended up with then with Malfoy…I mean come on! He is everywhere! I wake up he is in our common room, he is the last person I see before I go to bed, I am in more then half my classes with him and now with this tutoring…ahhhh." Hermione trailed off as the boys looked at her expectantly.

Hermione's mind scattered for a cover of some type. "Oh look the owww…ls." Thankfully, any suspicious babbling that she was about to do was covered up but Colin's Newspaper being artfully dropped into Neville's oatmeal, splattering him while he gaped around looking confused. Her slip up had been completely forgotten.

Harry and Ron laughed good-naturedly and stood to help clean up the luckless boy while Hermione's smile waned. She took that moment to look up to see the particular Slytherin watching her like a hawk.

Well she thought almost cheerfully, she would only tell everyone his little secret if he made them fail. But by then we would both be labeled idiots…maybe she could appeal to Dumbledore, there was no was she was going to spend another year in school while everyone else went on the fight. Especially with what she had been working on these past three years.

Her discovery would not be wasted, even if she had to cheat to pass and prove that she could cooperate with the darker house.

Draco was not impressed. He had even gone to the head master and pleaded not to be put with the head girl for this rather important project. Dumbledore had simply laughed and replied with, "Why would you not want to be working with the person in the school with the highest marks? All you have to do is get along and work together and it's a free ticket to passing."

What Draco could not say was that he had a big problem with both of those things. He did not even bother trying to get along with her anymore, well he had tried but if you were to have seen this, you would not believe that he had, with his tempter the way it was.

Although Draco, on a knife's point, would never admit that he had tried getting along with the mudblood. That alone could ruin his reputation forever. It was not like he had to worry though; she would always give him an excuse to be horrid. Her retorts and biting remarks truly did rival his own where in the other two of the golden trio just kept on about him being a wanker, and worthless and such.

Draco knew that he was far from worthless and so did Voldemort. He sometimes had to hold that information back when fighting with the three Geekateirs. The information that the dark lord had told his father how much he wanted to have Draco in his army of Death eaters was enough to make even Crabbe and Goyle try to hide under their beds. Which they had much to Draco's sadistic humor. They had both gotten stuck.

For such big guys they really were cowards.

But the thing was that he was too. No one knew it really, except for those stupid few "brave" Gryffindors. His father and the Dark Lord had both agreed that until he was no long under their present headmaster that he would have to wait to get the Dark mark till after he gradutated and Draco was not looking forward to this at all. Lucius had told him that he was to spy on everyone, especially Albus and report in letters what was going on. He had been doing this for years, and his father was pleased with whatever simpering little details that Draco had supplied and sometimes made up.

The thing was that Draco did not want to be a Death Eater, although he longed to get revenge of some type on Weaslebee and especially Scarhead he would rather do it on his own terms. He would rather see them horribly embarrassed or see them crushed on the Quidditch pitch by him. He found there was more satisfaction in seeing them suffer then just simply killing them or anyone for that matter.

For some odd reason he could never think of a fitting revenge for the female of the trio. She was a worthy advisory and much to his dismay he respected her because of her hard work and determination and her clever banter. But for the life of him he could not get along with her!

He hated being indebted to her also. Draco was rather confused about this entire Charms tutoring fiasco. Yes he had needed tutoring here and there; his parents were tyrants when it came to marks so as soon as he was slipping in anything,up popped another lame tutor that made him go back on track.

Never before had he had problems in Charms and he did not know what worried him more. That he was failing the course in his NEWTS year or that he could care less.

O o O o O o O o O o O o O o O o

That night the seventh years arrived to the appointed lecture hall in the castle to attend their first lesson of what was here on in called, "Outer House Cooperation Class" otherwise known by the students as "The Class-that-died-from-boredom" or as called by Draco, "naptime".

It consisted of various trust exercises like catching your partner as they fall backwards. Harry's face before Crabbe fell on top of him was priceless, and so was the night in infirmary, to Draco at least.

Another project was to sketch your partner. Ron was slapped after he had shown his meager scribbling to Millicent who thought that he was making fun of her.

So far Hermione and Draco had gotten through the little assignments fine, even though for some reason Hermione had been shaking when she caught Draco. He assumed it was because she was either afraid that he would fall on her like the big oaf Crabbe had done to Weaslebee or that he would jinx her if she dropped him on his ass.

On the other hand, his palms had gotten all sweaty when it was his turn to catch her and he did almost drop her and she squeaked so he let her shakiness pass him by.

She had only taken sly looks at him as she sketched while the both of them were sitting across from each other on the floor like all the other groups. The point of this assignment was to get people to see the other as a person and not as their house. Personally Hermione just thought it was an excuse for Dumbledore to get to sketch a really reluctant Professor Snape who looked if possible more sullen and sarcastic then normal as he boredly scribbled out Albus on his page. It turns out that Albus had done a very amusing caricature which was rumored to have been posted in the staff lunch in room, where all the teachers could see until the bulliten board had mysteriously disappeared. There had been an Unromovable charm on the picture but not on the board.

Draco kept trying to peak at her sketch and she quickly hid it against her chest. He raised an eyebrow and said, "Well I don't think you would like it if I sat on your picture but the idea of my face there is rather frightening."

Hermione gaped like a fish and then fumed, "Alright, no fighting, no peeking, I will show you when I am done."

He nodded and started scribbling without looking at her at all. Ten minutes later Dumbledore stood and announced to exchange sketches. Draco instantly grabbed hers from her and stuck his behind his back.

"Hey!" Hermione squawked.

"Now, now! No fighting, no peeking. Now let me see…." He continued to pick apart her entire drawing, saying that she had made his nose too long and his hair too dark. Hermione was bristling, because she had tried even though she knew she was not very good at drawing.

Arms crossed she was not looking at him until he said, " I like it." Softly.

She turned to see his eyes look at her earnestly. "Would you mind if I kept it and you signed it?"

Again Hermione was gaping as she nodded and wrote her name in the bottom corner.

"But you sounded like you hated it!"

Draco shook his head. "Its called critiquing, just because it may have many flaws, "he grinned here, "does not mean that I don't like it. Its original, and well, here now you critique mine…." He became pink around the ears and shoved his notebook into her hands.

She opened her mouth to berate him and her words got stuck in her throat. Here was not one sketch of her but many tiny ones. All the pictures were depicting her different expressions of annoyance, laughter, malice, and boredom. The larger one was of her shy face with her notebook clasped to her chest and a shaded blush on her cheeks.

He had captured her perfectly and she was amazed.

"Draco" She looked up to see him looking at her expectantly.

"Yes? Come on tell me, I know they are horrible but we only had like ten minutes and you kept moving so much." He looked rather ashamed.

"They are wonderful!" She said laughing. "And to think you did that in that short of time without even looking!"

"You were watching me eh?" He snickered.

"Well of course I was you twit! I was drawing you!" She smiled.

"Could I have this?" He interrupted her, his confidence returned, "How much will you pay me for them?"

She stood angrily, "I was just joking, only I want this one." He tore off the one of her blushing.

He handed her the page without even looking back and said as he left the room, "See you tomorrow, I think I have that charm down now, Professor Granger." Her name was said in sarcasm and she was left confused.

He had signed his initials and the date, even before he had given it to her. Like he thought that she may want it to have before she had even seen it.

Hermione went to bed with a headache from troubling thoughts.