A/N:

As the summary states, this is AU. People here go to normal high school, college and the only magic you'll find is the one on TV shows.

This is my first real try at writing a story and I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with it yet, so go easy on me (suggestions appreciated). Also, my life's pretty hectic right now so that might not make it the best time to start a story as I'll most likely update slowly, but I felt like doing it anyway. So, there, you've been warned; now here goes nothing!

Chapter 1

"You do realise this is awfully sudden though, don't you?" she huffed into the phone while simultaneously gripping her brand new notebooks and trying not to drop her hot coffee as she made another attempt of pushing in the key; the blasted door never opened easily when she needed it to, to a point where Hermione was convinced it had a way of telling when she was frustrated and chose those exact moments to act out.

"I know, but.. " he tried to answer but got immediately cut off.

"Harry, you've literally finished moving out two days ago. And I know I said I wanted to find a new roommate, but I was looking forward to, you know, maybe a few weeks to myself?"

"Look, obviously, I can't force you. I'm sure he can afford a new place all by himself, but.. I thought it'd be nice if he wasn't alone for a while. Being separated from your parents.. you know it's not easy." he responded and something about his sad tone struck a chord to Hermione's heart as she sighed sympathetically. She did indeed know how it felt; they both did. But Draco's decision to move out, unlike Harry's and hers, was, as the term 'decision' implied, of his own accord and he was a young adult by now, their situations were hardly comparable. However, the fact was, Harry was her best friend and Draco was a good friend for Harry, so she didn't let that thought dissuade her from making up her mind.

"Technically, you could force me to move out. It's your name on the lease, after all" she smiled into the phone and could physically feel Harry rolling his eyes at the statement.

"Yes, but you'd just buy yourself another apartment and then, forty years from now, when my children are all grown up and Ginny gets bored of me and we divorce, I won't have had you taking care of my place and it'll be all dirty and filled with dust and I'll inhale all of it and die of lung cancer. Is that what you want, Hermione? To put me in an early grave?"

"First off, that's not how you get lung cancer. Also, implying I'll still be single in forty years with nothing better to do than take care of our apartment? Why, thank you, Harry, what a vote of confidence. I thought you were supposed to kiss my proverbial ass and convince me to let Draco move in.. ?" she trailed off, having finally managed to open her door and set her things on the table.

"I would definitely appreciate it, but as I said, I won't push you."

"Thank y-" she began

"Even though Draco has been a great friend this past year; helpful while studying, good cook.. seriously, 'Mione, what more could you want from a roommate?"

"Ah, this is you not pushing, alright" she chuckled. "I'll think about it"

"So that's a yes?" he asked, jokingly, causing her to giggle.

"Bye, Harry. Love you"

"Love you too"

She heard the familiar click as the call ended and smiled at the outgoing nature of her friend. Sometimes it confused her how Harry was always the best version of himself, regardless of how many sticks life threw his way; sure, she grew up without parents as well, after their car accident when she was eleven, but he'd lived without them for his whole life. At least she had her memories, all the special moments spent together.. and she still couldn't bring herself to be as kind as he was sometimes and thoughtful about everyone around her.

She then internally chided herself for thinking negative thoughts, when today was all about new beginnings. Or well, new things, at least; when she woke up she had all this energy that she didn't know what to do with so she rearranged the furniture, went out on a lingerie shopping spree - the one thing she allowed herself to splurge on, not that she couldn't afford whatever she wanted given the money she inherited from her parents, but she didn't want to spend it all like a mindless teenager - came back home, checked the fridge and decided it needed restocking, went out again, this time for groceries and everything else and then decided she hadn't met up with Ginny in a while and set on giving the redhead a call.

As it happened, she was free that afternoon and they had spent most of their time casually conversing about college. They went from boys, to Harry, to Ginny's basketball scholarship, to Hermione's most recently finished book and back to boys; by the end of it, Hermione realised it completely slipped her mind to get new pens and notebooks and, of course, coloured pencils for highlighting different parts of the lectures she'd signed up to attend, so on her way back home she rectified that.

She found it funny enough that Ginny hadn't mentioned the prospect of Draco taking Harry's spot in her apartment, even though she assumed she knew about it. But then again, it was easier to let Harry deal with it so he could play the 'oh-no-he-has-no-parents-now' pity card on her properly. She smiled at that and slowly started giving the idea of Draco moving in with her some thought, while slipping into the bubble bath she set for herself.

She didn't really have anything solid against it; she was never particularly close with Draco, but she knew he'd been a wonderful friend to Harry so she didn't doubt that he wasn't, at the very least, an asshole. Most of her reluctance came from the fact that having a little time off to herself had made a compelling argument back when Harry first announced he'd be moving out, but she supposed having Draco over wouldn't mean less time off - they probably wouldn't even see each other that often, what with going to different universities and all. And if they did see each other often, she supposed it could still be classified as a good experience; she was never really one to do things on a whim.. always rational, always calculated - and she did have her moments every once in a while when she wondered what things she might've missed out on by doing that.

And as the warm water embraced her body, she reached the conclusion that maybe a new roommate wouldn't be such a bad thing. And somewhere along the way, in a moment in time that Hermione couldn't pinpoint exactly, she decided that she welcomed the change.

So that's why, one hour later when she stepped out of her bath fully relaxed, she dried herself off a towel and walked around through the hallway all the way to her bedroom, mentally celebrating the last night she'll be able to do that naked without awkward repercussions, before snatching her phone and shooting Harry a text:

"It's a yes."

A/N:

So.. how was it? Good? Bad? Either way, please leave a review. I promise you'll have my eternal gratitude!