The Ten Labors of Draco and Hermione

Note: Hey, it's me, evilrabidplotbunnies. Please read and REVIEW! You know you want to… It'll make me update sooner!

Okay, so I am currently in the process of editing this story, starting from the beginning and working my way to the last few chapters so far. So, if you find some things that don't correspond with one another, please, please bear with me as I try to sort things out. There will be no major changes in the plot of the story; just a few errors will be fixed and lines added. Oh, and I'm also fixing a few chapter titles. Thanks for your patience!

Disclaimer: This world belongs to J. K. Rowling, but maybe I will inherit it when she dies.

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Chapter 1 - The Fight

"DRACO, YOU BLOODY GIT!" (A/N: Don't you love my opening line of my story?) Hermione Granger yelled from halfway across the Charms classroom. She threw a copy of Advanced Potions at Draco Malfoy, who ducked just in time.

"HA! YOU MISSED!" Draco yelled gleefully, that is, until another book hit him right in the face. "OOF!" he exclaimed, falling over behind a desk.

"Now, now, stop that!" Professor Flitwick said, attempting to get the two students' attention. "Now, really! I said stop!" No one heard him. The Gryffindors and Slytherins were excitedly watching the fight, cheering for the person of their house.

Hermione couldn't even remember how the fight had started. There had definitely been some insults, name-calling, and such, but she forgot what had compelled her to begin pummeling Draco with assorted school supplies. Draco, on the other hand, forgot exactly what he had said that had enraged Hermione so much that even Harry and Ron could not hold her back from murdering him.

"STOP!" Flitwick yelled at the top of his tiny and fragile lungs, but he was ignored. The students formed a circle around Hermione and Draco, blocking anything from view.

Just then, Professor Snape entered.

"WHAT IS THIS NONSENSE?" he roared. The crowd immediately dispersed, revealing an angry Hermione, frantically throwing punches at a whimpering Draco.

"CEASE THIS DISPLAY OF MADNESS AT ONCE!" Snape commanded in his very Snape-like way.

The display of madness ceased.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" Snape asked in a highly dangerous tone that made poor Neville, an innocent bystander, nearly pee his pants.

"Well," Hermione tried to explain, but got a deadly glare from Snape.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor for arguing with a teacher!" Snape said.

"But-' Hermione tried.

"And another twenty for talking back!" Snape said. The Gryffindors groaned. The school year had just begun, and, thanks to Hermione, their house points were already in the negatives.

"You two, come with me," Snape said. "You're going to see the headmaster about this at once!"

Hermione was dismayed. She was a good student, one who constantly followed school rules (to some people's annoyance) and got good grades all the time. She couldn't stand being in trouble. Hermione felt annoyed that she had lost her temper with Malfoy, who was just being his usual self. But then again, the look of terror on Malfoy's face when she was about to punch him was absolutely priceless. Well, actually, it was worth approximately fifty galleons.

The two of them walked up the staircase to Dumbledore's office, Hermione, resisting the urge to start beating up Malfoy again. Hermione pushed open the door and went inside, followed by Draco.

"Professor, I-" Hermione began.

"Take a seat," Dumbledore said.

Draco and Hermione sat, Draco scooting his chair as far away from Hermione as possible, until Dumbledore gently glared at him.

"Severus," Dumbledore said.

"Yes, sir?" replied Snape, eager to see some severe punishment doled out to Hermione and some lesser punishments for Draco.

"You are free to go."

Snape faltered. He desperately wanted to know what sort of punishment the two would have.

Dumbledore looked at Snape, implying that it was time for him to leave.

"Yes, sir." Snape turned around and left Dumbledore's office. He proceeded halfway down the stairs, then silently went back up and laid his ear upon the door like a teenager about to happen upon some juicy secret.

"Yes, I know what the two of you have been up to, damaging school property, hurting your fellow students (Dumbledore gestured at the number of bruises that covered Draco's usually pale face), and, wasting enormous amounts of class time, all because of hatred for each other," Dumbledore began in a solemn tone. "It is not unusual for these things to happen between members of different houses, but I recommend that they cease at once."

Hermione looked down at her feet, feeling ashamed of herself. Draco looked at the ceiling, trying to ignore Dumbledore.

"I do believe that the only way to reconcile the two of you," Dumbledore continued, "is to give you some form of punishment to ensure that this sort of violence will never occur again."

Hermione's eyes widened. Draco looked a slight bit apprehensive.

"So, as your punishment, I'm going to sentence you to…" Dumbledore thought for a while, and started smiling, "…to accomplish ten tasks set by each other."

Snape snickered from behind the door.

"WHAT! I have to do ten things that Granger says?" Malfoy shouted, eyes widening in horror.

"I have to do ten things that Malfoy says?" Hermione raised her voice as much as she dared. It didn't take a genius to figure out that no good could come from this arrangement, which was convenient, for Draco wasn't exactly a genius.

"That would be correct," Dumbledore said, very amused. "And you are forbidden from ordering the other to do something that will physically harm a human being or is exceedingly dangerous, or ordering him or her to perform more tasks."

"I'm still not doing it," Draco crossed his arms and frowned.

"Oh, I think you will," Dumbledore said, with a twinkle in his eye. "For until you complete all ten tasks, you two will be chained together. But, you will only be chained during weekdays; on weekends, you are separated and do not have to complete any tasks. Draco, your first task will be tomorrow, Hermione's first task the next day, your second task the day after, and so on and so forth. Good luck!" Dumbledore said, hastily making his way towards the door, worried that he might be the target of a brutal attack from the two students, by the murderous looks on their faces.

"Wait, Professor," Hermione said, trying to find a way out of this. "Is there any other punishment that we might do instead?"

Draco nodded his head hopefully. The idea of being ordered around by Hermione didn't seem very appealing at all.

"Well, yes, there are," Dumbledore said in consideration. "But I think this one will suit the two of you better. The two of you will need to make a list of the ten tasks and give them to me so I can review and approve them by tonight before dinner. You two will only be chained together from the start of breakfast to after dinner. I believe all of your classes happen to be together, and you can return to an empty classroom during your breaks. And, do not attempt anything on each other while the two of you are being chained, or else there will be serious consequences. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," Draco and Hermione answered. They were in for a rough time together. If they had any idea of what would happen during the next few weeks, Hermione would have hung herself and Draco would have… complained a lot.

"As of right now, the two of you will be chained," said Dumbledore, waving his wand and muttering a spell.

Hermione glanced down at the chain.

"Sir? May we cast an invisibility charm on it, so that… well…" Hermione began.

"So we aren't assaulted with ten thousand questions as to the nature of the chain," finished Draco.

"You may," replied Dumbledore. "In fact, I will do it for you." Hermione had begun to take out her wand, but put it back inside the pocket of her robes.

Dumbledore waved his wand again, and the once golden chain became invisible. Hermione, however, could still feel it there, and tugged on it.

"Ouch! Watch it, Granger!" Draco said, annoyed.

"Sorry, Malfoy," Hermione replied absent mindedly. Apparently, the chain was shorter than she thought.

"If you don't mind, I have things to do, so I must ask the two of you to please leave my office," Dumbledore said, returning to his desk.

Hermione and Draco left the room. Suddenly, on the way down the stairs that led from Dumbledore's office, Hermione realized something that surprised her and troubled her a great deal: she had apologized to Draco Malfoy.

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In the Transfiguration classroom, Draco and Hermione were busy making their lists. Hermione let out a snort of laughter while writing number eight on her list. Draco looked a bit apprehensive and tried to peek at the list.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked, looking up.

"Nothing of your concern, Mudblood," Draco replied, adding the finishing touches to his list. However, he was having trouble coming up with the final task. He had many humiliating ideas, but none that were perfect.

After a moment's consideration, Draco thought of something and wrote it down. He had finished his list.

"Done yet?" Draco asked her impatiently. He was becoming slightly uneasy, knowing that his reputation would go down the drain if anything utterly humiliating happened to him. In fact, it would end up at the bottom of the sewer next to some disgusting rats and who knows what. But let's not go there… yet.

"Done," Hermione announced, putting away her quill and rolling up her parchment. The two of them walked to Dumbledore's office and gave him their lists, before heading off to dinner.

The two of them tried their best not to trip anyone on their way to the Great Hall. After all, walking with a chain on your wrist and being connected to someone you absolutely hate takes some getting used to.

Finally, they made it to the Great Hall, having tripped only seventeen people and two teachers. Oh, and Mrs. Norris, let's not forget that.

"What do you think you're doing?" Harry asked angrily as Draco took a seat next to Hermione.

"Umm…" Draco faltered, unsure of whether to tell him of his and Hermione's "assignment".

Draco looked at Hermione, who shook her head ever so slightly.

"We've been assigned by Professor Dumbledore to sit at each other's tables for the next few weeks as punishment," Hermione replied casually.

Harry gave a small and understanding nod.

"All right, but why do I have to sit at the Gryffindor table? Why can't you sit at the Slytherin table instead?" Draco hissed to Hermione.

"Okay, we'll do that at breakfast!" Hermione snapped. This was the worst day of my life, Hermione thought, So far. She thought bitterly. Who knew what kinds of things Malfoy would force her to endure? Well, at least she could have her revenge on making Malfoy do the things that she wrote down…

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