Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling

Hermione stood at the kitchen bench chopping vegetables. The simple task allowed her mind to wander. It still felt odd to her to be out of Hogwarts, the three of them finally making it to the end the previous year. They had all graduated with excellent grades but had decided to take the equivalent of a muggle 'gap year', living for a year in the muggle world before re-entering the wizarding world to train for their chosen professions. Hermione, Ron and Harry had decided to take a flat together in London and had been living together for three months already. Things weren't always smooth, but they got along fairly well. With all of them working separate jobs, they never really had much time to see one another anyway.

As Hermione nicked her fingernail with the knife she was using to chop the carrot for the soup she was making, she cursed herself for insisting that if the three of them wanted to live in the muggle world, they had to do things the muggle way; cooking, cleaning, public transport, everything. It had been hard at first, especially for Ron, but they were starting to get used to it. Hemione wasn't the greatest cook, but even she couldn't ruin a simple soup. Surprisingly it had been Harry that turned out to be the culinary master of the three. But due to his odd hours working in a bar he was hardly home during the conventional cooking hours.

Hermione heard the front door open and close and one of the boys returned to the flat. Hermione presumed Harry was working that evening, so guessed that it was Ron that had just gotten home. She heard the footsteps move down the hall and stop as something was thrown into the boys room, landing with a soft thud. Because of high price of renting in London and the friends' modest incomes they had had to settle on a two bedroom flat, Hermione with her own room and the boys sharing the slightly larger room across the hall. After sharing a room for so long at Hogwarts the boys said they didn't mind, but Hermione still felt guilty having a room to herself. But she'd rather feel guilty then share with either Ron or Harry. She could hardly walk past their room without cringing at the mess. Occaisionly she gave into the no magic rule and ran her wand over the room simply to avoid having to look at the chaos they called a bedroom.

Hermione turned to greet Ron as he entered the room, but to her surprise it was actually Harry that walked into the room.

'Hey mione' he greeted her. Hermione claimed to hate that nickname, but they boys knew she secretly liked it. 'What are you cooking?'

Hermione returned his smile and teased 'Soup, not that you're getting any. After all, I am the one that's been slaving away over a hot stove all afternoon'

'Sorry to disappoint you mione, but looks like all you've done is chop up a carrot and some celery so far…' Harry replied.

Hermione laughed. 'Oh well, I tried'.

Harry jumped up onto the bench next to where Hermione was chopping and sat watching her while they chatted about their days.

After the terrible ordeals Harry had gone through during his time at Hogwarts, culminating with his draining defeat of Voldmort in his seventh year, he had decided that it was time to relax and enjoy life. As a young man Harry was quite capable of turning the heads of females of all ages. His well-defined muscular body was thanks to his many years as quiddich seeker and he had let his dark hair grow out so it playfully flopped over his eyes. As a natural step from broomstick riding he had purchased a second hand motorcycle and constantly wore a black leather jacket with his faded jeans. Working behind a bar seemed more play than work to Harry, as there was always a constant stream of girls to flirt with. Harry had become quite the ladies man, always having a girl by his side, but never the same girl for longer than a week. Hermione didn't really approve of it, but felt it really wasn't her place to say anything and decided that he deserved to have some fun after the last intense seven years.

'So what are you doing home so early? I thought you were working tonight?' Hermione enquired.

'Yeah I was supposed to be, but I ended up doing the day shift because Lara called in sick'

'Hmm Lara…blonde hair, tall, girlfriend number, what? 374?' teased Hermione.

'Ha ha, very funny. And it was 375'

Hermione laughed and shook her head, returning her attention to the vegetables. After a few minutes she stopped to rub her neck.

'Damn. Sitting in front of a computer all day is not good' She complained

'Here, let me see what I can do' Harry got down from the bench and walked behind Hermione to rub the muscles in her neck, 'How's that'

'Less talk, more massaging'

'I'll take that as a 'good'', as Harry worked his hands over Hermione's neck he noticed the smoothness of her skin. Hermione hadn't changed much since Hogwarts, but she had learnt how to enhance her appearance with the minimum of effort. She knew the right cut of clothing to compliment her petite shape and could control her hair with dollop of frizz-free serum and a bit of moisturizing conditioner. A swipe of mascara and a bit of lip gloss and Hermione was quite presentable. She was a naturally pretty girl and was showing signs of becoming a beautiful woman. Harry thought about how he hadn't had a girlfriend in a while (well, a week and a bit) and how close Hermione was right now. He slid his hands down Hermione's arms and covered her hands with his. He lowered his head and kissed the side of her neck. Startled, Hermione whipped around to face Harry with a confused expression. With his arms still on either side of her, Harry leant towards her and with a smile kissed her lips. From an automatic reaction Hermione returned the kiss, but her thoughts were racing through her mind. As Harry's tongue pushed through her lips and sought her own tongue her brain screamed for her to stop, but her body wasn't listening. Instead she leant into Harry, wrapping her arms around his neck. She wasn't sure if this was what she really wanted and didn't think that it would be good for their friendship, but at this point she didn't care. She was tired of analyzing every move on her life and figured one little kiss couldn't hurt. Or two...

Twenty minutes later with the soup no closer to being cooked Hermione caught sight of the clock and realized that she had to leave now or be late for her yoga class.

'I have to go…'

'No you don't' Harry replied

'Yes, I really do' Hermione reluctantly pulled away. 'Oh god, the soup! I completely forgot'

'You go, I'll finish it. You'll just have to pay me back for it later'. With a wink Harry turned around to finish chopping the vegetables.

'You're a star Harry Potter... We can pick up from where we left off when I get back'

'Sorry mione, but I've promised to meet some people tonight, but a friend is having a party tomorrow night if you want to come. I'll leave the address for you, meet me there at nine?'

'Oh, um, sure thing. You don't want to meet me here first?'

'Nope, work. Sorry'

'Sure, ok. See you at the party then…'

Harry turned to give Hermione a peck on the cheek. 'Have fun at yoga while I slave over the stove'

Hermione laughed as she walked down the hallway to her room to collect her things before leaving. Trying not to think about all the complications of their kiss, Hermione couldn't help wonder if it was actually something she wanted. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't noticed how attractive Harry was and hadn't once or twice thought what it would be like to kiss him, but that was only natural. She'd had similar thoughts about Ron and many other boys. But it was nice to be the one receiving the attention for once. After sharing a room with Lavender and Pavarti and hearing them gloat about all the boys infatuated with them, she enjoyed the warm feeling of being wanted. Anyway, it was just a bit of fun that wouldn't hurt anyone.

Right?

This is just the first chapter, hope you enjoyed it! Next up, the party and Ron finds out

Please R and R so I can make improvements