House: Ravenclaw

Word Count: 1319

Category: Bonus

Bonus: [HoH's Headcanon] Malfoy becoming domestic without realising. Suddenly one day he accidentally washes the dishes without magic, having walked from work, and metaphorically curses Hermione's name.

Prompt(s): [Speech] "Wait! Don't you want to know my response?" "I already know what you'll say."

AU - Obviously, as they didn't go work in the muggle world after.

Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy had been working at the same event planning company for about a year -The Ministry of Magic wanted groups of wizarding folk to keep watch over muggle civilians after the war, in case any Death Eaters had escaped. In this short time, the two had begun to share habits with each other, despite being enemies in the past.

They had played it safe at first, ignoring each other in the hallways at their job, or making small talk occasionally in attempts to seem like regular muggles. But then, one day, around seven months after they had started at their job, their boss decided to pair them together for a big event. A wedding. The worst part for them was that they would have to plan it together, in and out of work.

Draco had offered to get together at his place, it being familiar to him and nothing there would cause any distractions. He knew for a fact Hermione owned a Kneazle which would most likely crawl onto both of them, and he also knew a cafe or anywhere social would result in endless distractions from the planning. So they had agreed to meet at his flat every day after work.

The first night Hermione came over Draco had been surprised, as she had offered to cook dinner for him, which he accepted with great caution. However, she hadn't done anything to the food, and it was surprisingly delicious. They worked while they ate, and then after Hermione offered to clean the dishes.

But what surprised Draco was how she cleaned them. She cleaned them the muggle way, without any magic at all.

"What on earth are you doing Granger?"

"Washing the dishes, Malfoy."

"You know it would go much faster if you used magic, right?"

"We've been assigned to act as muggles, which means doing things the muggle way. Without magic." Draco hadn't had a retort for that. It was true, they had been instructed to pose as muggles and to not draw suspicion to themselves. Besides, it wasn't him who had to clean the dishes, so he let it pass.

This procedure had slowly grown into a sort of routine for the two of them; go to work in the morning, figure out parts of the event during the day, and then go to Draco's after work. Hermione opted to be the one cooking dinner most nights, although there were some nights they would order take out, being too tired to cook anything herself. But, no matter what, Hermione insisted on washing the dishes by hand.

This event planning had lasted around a month or two and, once it was over, though neither would care to admit it, they missed each others company. Greatly. So, a week after they finished the project, Draco had trudged over to Hermione's desk, trying to ignore the staring from their other, muggle co-workers. He knocked on the wall near her desk, grabbing her attention and gathering his courage.

"Hermione, do you want to come over for dinner?" He had asked it in a tone just above a whisper, as to make sure his words evaded the ears of the nosy co-workers stationed nearby. He waited for a second, as Hermione's shocked face was something he didn't want to miss. And then he started walking away, much to the confusion of Hermione and the muggles that surrounded them.

Hermione paused in shock, leaving Draco to continue walking away. Him knowing that she would most likely agree, in his mind it was a waste of time to stay and wait for a reply.

"Wait! Don't you want to know my response?"

"I already know what you'll say," came the soft response of her companion, his voice fading out as he walked further and further away. Though no one could see his face, those who knew him even slightly knew he had a smirk on his face. Especially Hermione.

After work that night Draco had walked home alone, starting on cups of tea, knowing Hermione would show up sooner or later. He sat down at his kitchen table, sipping his tea waiting till Hermione showed up. Sure enough, not even ten minutes later, Hermione knocked on the door.

"It's open!"

Hermione walked in with a bag of chinese take out in her hands, rushing over to the kitchen table to set it down.

"Took you long enough."

"Well I'm sorry, I didn't get a time from you when you walked off earlier."

"Our usual time, obviously."

"What time is 'the usual' time? We just walked back here after work each night."

"Touche." Hermione giggled and started plating the food, glad the Malfoy was her friend now. It was quiet the silence stretching for around a minute before Draco started sipping his tea very loudly. Effectively breaking the silence that hung around the room. He found he started drinking his tea loudly when he got impatient, the louder he sipped the tea the more impatient he was. At first he had told himself he just like teasing the brunette, but he found it was a habit he had formed over the year.

"Oh be quiet already, I'm plating as fast as I can."

"Not fast enough."

"Oh shut up blondie."

"I'm wounded."

"Not badly enough to get you to stop talking."

This type of playful banter was common at these dinners, the two not even realizing they were getting along until they started laughing about it. The banter sometimes getting too unbelievable to continue on with. Hermione was usually the one to start the laughter, breaking the dialogue between the two, Draco soon following suit. It was a routine, a habit, something they were comfortable with. It was normal, and it made them feel safe.

They made small-talk while eating, discussing what events they were each planning, another wedding for Hermione, and a small birthday party for Draco. If they weren't making small talk they were getting ideas from each other, helping with the other's event. And once they were done eating Draco cleared the plates, put them in the sink and started washing the dishes himself.

Without magic.

Hermione picked up on this, staring in awe for a few seconds before bursting into a fit of laughter. Draco looked at her curiously, wondering what she could be finding so very funny at this time of night.

"Look who's not using magic." Hermione said between giggles, her laughter increasing as Draco stared horrified at his hands. His hands that had been in the soapy water only seconds ago.

"Hermione bloody Granger..."

"Never did I think I'd see the day when Draco Malfoy used a muggle technique." Hermione was desperately trying to stop her laughter, her sides aching.

"What kind of sorcery is this?" he demanded as Hermione burst out laughing again, falling to the floor and clutching at her sides. Draco tried to fight back a smile at the sight of her. Years ago he would have laughed at her, mocked her if he saw her like this.

But they were friends now, as hard as it might have been to imagine. Draco wondered what Harry and Ron would think, seeing their friend hanging out and being so chummy with their enemy. He would pay to see that, but that got him thinking.

He had picked on Hermione the most in their years at Hogwarts, called her awful names. He'd made fun of her blood status, and used his privileges to get under her skin. But despite all of this, she had forgiven him, told him it was all ok. He had changed and that's what mattered to her. So if Hermione Granger, the person who had been tormented most by him, would forgive him. Would the other members of the trio find it in their hearts to do the same?

Would they be willing to give him a chance?