Hello hi :). Yes, ANOTHER fic, with Draco and Hermione this time (at least). I know I should be finishing up Years of Your Life and Concerto in G minor, but this idea popped into my head quite a few hours back, and I'm determined to finish it before I head back to university. This is also in response to the popularity to the Secret Romance (not particularly here, that is).

Oh, and there have been things that happened in the books that happen here so I can make it a little cannon. But there's no magic, unfortunately, otherwise nothing would work :P. This is also based on the song Absolutely Zero by Jason Mraz, which I've named the fic after.

Anyway, hope you enjoy it. Harry Potter and the characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and Absolutely Zero belongs to Jason Mraz. I am but a lowly fic writer!

The sun shone spectacularly as the students stepped onto the well-cut lawns, shouting and cheering in celebration. The day of their graduation had finally come and gone, and now the students walked away with their freedom. They didn't care that their formal attire would be soiled as they splashed each other with water from the fountain, or tackled each other onto the ground for a round of playful wrestling. On every face there was joy, relief and celebration. They were finally free, and they could do what they liked in their lives. They had a freedom of choice; if they wanted to continue their lives from their school lives, or forge new relationships, make new discoveries, learn new lessons...Now was the time to seize that opportunity.

Three people in particular stood out from the crowd. Three that had gone through thick and thin, and emerged from it as three stronger people, independent when apart from another, but at the same time strong as a team. Ron had Harry in a half nelson, both laughing so much that they couldn't speak. Hermione watched the two boys, shaking her head and laughing as well. She was as happy as any of them. She passed with the highest mark in the grade, outstripping the second place by a whole ten percent. Hermione was pleased with her effort, and now that she was going to one of Britain's best universities, it made her feel even more proud of herself. It was then when Ginny, who was a year below the trio, came sprinting through the crowd, just as Ron let go of his best friend, and leaped into Harry's arms. She kissed him full on the mouth, unashamed of the jeering crowd around them. Ron didn't look too pleased. Even though he approved of his best friend dating his sister a good few months ago, he disapproved of her very public displays of affection. Hermione always brushed it off. She took Ron's hand and kissed his cheek. He turned towards Hermione, Harry and his sister now forgotten.

"So this is it," Ron grinned at her, squeezing her hand in return. "We're finally free!"

Hermione smiled. "It wasn't that bad, Ron. You make it sound like it was a prison sentence."

"It certainly felt like it," Ron said with an exasperated sigh.

Hermione rolled her eyes. It was all a playful jest, she knew, but sometimes, Ron needed to take life a little more seriously.

"Aw, cheer up, 'mione!" Ron exclaimed. "It's our graduation day. Relax and celebrate. Don't even think about work!"

"But - "

But before Hermione could say anything more, Ron enveloped her lips in his, sweeping her in an affectionate, if not clumsy kiss (she was his first after all), and Hermione did forget about everything, and they were lost amongst the loud cheering and crying crowd.

Now, two weeks later, the three were separated...mostly. Harry had intended to stay in Godric's Hollow and rebuild his parents' house. While that was happening, he stayed at the Burrow with Ron and Ginny's family. Hermione, however, opted to spend her holidays with her parents, as they were away in Australia for most of the year. Hermione stayed in the boarding house, as it was close to the library and the industrious environment worked well for her.

While with her parents, Hermione decided to re-open her e-mail account, as her school e-mail account expired on her graduation day – not that she was using it for any social purposes in the first place: she was so concentrated on her exams, that she all but neglected her social life. Thanks to Ginny, Harry and, of course, Ron, she would have completely disappeared into her papers and never come out again. That was, of course, not the end to her studying. She had already bought her new textbooks for the new semester in university, and gone through the introduction and the first three chapters.

The first course of Hermione's plans to stay in touch with her former school mates was to access her old school's database for any of their existing e-mail addresses. Ginny was the easiest to find, and it would put Hermione in direct contact with Ron and Harry too. Although Hermione would like Ron to have his own e-mail address, she wouldn't particularly need to contact him after the summer as they would be attending the same university together. The very thought excited her, but also made her miss the Weasleys and Harry even more, so she immediately typed:

To: .co.uk

From: .

Subject:Greetings from London!

Hello Ginny!

How are things at the Burrow? The family doing well? Is everyone there for the holidays?

I'm with my family in lovely old London: home sweet home! It's lovely to be with them again, as we got separated from each other for at least six months during the exams. It was all good and well that I booked into the boarding house. If Ernie hadn't shown me that formula, I would not have gotten the Dux scholar award! Anyway, I'm really looking forward to the theater and West End while I'm here, not to mention the lectures and seminars...I'm going to be so busy! Then there is preparation for university in September (I'm so excited!), and I'm determined to impress my lecturers and peers!

Say hello to Harry (how are things with the two of you? Are you still staying together, even though he will be in Albania with Charlie in October?), and please give your mother a large hug. Thank her again for the endless supplies of cakes during exams! Tell Ron that I miss him a lot and that there isn't day that goes by that I don't think about him.

Missing you all very much.

Much love,

Hermione xx

She hit send with a satisfied smile. She hoped Ginny would reply to her soon. Much as she was excited and had a lot of things lined up for the summer, she was still pretty lonely in London. Curious to see who else she could contact, Hermione went back the list of contacts and scrolled down until she stopped at one particular name.

Draco Malfoy.

There was always rivalry between Draco and Harry whilst they were at school together, and thus Draco had disliked Ron and Hermione by association. Ron was firmly on Harry's side, sneering about the tall, blond boy every chance he would get. Hermione would always keep quiet and stay busy: she wanted no part in this. But in their final year, the boys matured and didn't fight as much as they did in the past. Hermione even spent time in Draco's company, albeit briefly, and she found that she rather enjoyed it. She found herself thinking what he was doing with himself in the future...and if he was in London for the summer.

It took Hermione a few minutes deliberation but finally she conceded and slowly started to type out a message.

.

From: .

Subject: Hello

Hi Draco,

Hermione paused. What was she going to say? Why was she even doing this? She might embarrass herself. Maybe Draco didn't want to speak to her again. Well, Hermione told herself, that he could just ignore the message and not reply. She wouldn't take offense. Would she?

How has your holiday been so far? I hope everything is well with your family. I'm spending time with my parents in London. Are you in town? Maybe we could have some coffee and catch up a bit.

Anyway, get back to me soon.

Hermione.

She hurriedly tapped send, before she could change her mind. She pushed herself away from the keyboard, and promptly craved a cup of tea. A deep, warm, shamed feeling crept inside her chest. She wanted to hide in the corner the moment she sent it. But why? What was the harm in it? What did she have to lose? Absolutely Zero. Exactly, she told herself, and she confidently put on the kettle, whilst extracting a textbook to keep her mind off the subject.

Draco folded up the last box and pushed it into the storage cupboard. His boldest move yet: moving into a condo in London, far away from his parents' mansion, away from his father's disapproving glares and his mother's constant mollycoddling. Now he was truly on his own, other than a smallish monthly payment from his mother: a condition to which Draco agreed to when he walked out of the house. That, and a laptop, linked to unlimited Internet access. He presently opened the laptop, watching it boot up whilst sipping top-quality filter coffee.

It immediately opened up his e-mail account, popping up that it received two new messages. One from Zabini Blaise, his best friend from school. He was still in the country, something about a big family reunion. Draco scanned the long e-mail from Zabini with his cold grey eyes, intending to reply to it later. The other e-mail was a surprise to Draco. It was from none other than Hermione Granger. Who would've thought. Granger and Draco were not the best of friends, indeed, Draco had a long-lasting rivalry with Harry Potter, one of Hermione's best friends.

But Draco couldn't help but think back to the day in library. As his grades were important to him – and his father – he spent an average amount of time in the library. He was always a bright kid, but never did his best. He didn't want that kind of attention any more, despite his father's demands. Hermione was also in the library, as always, surrounded on all sides by thick books that no one had even wanted to touch. Curious, Draco made his way to her, dropping his satchel unceremoniously to the ground. Hermione looked up distractedly, and Draco distinctly remembered that her eyebrows were raised in surprise.

"Malfoy," she said cautiously.

"Granger," Draco replied pleasantly and seated himself opposite her.

"Can I help you?"

"Need a study partner? You look lonely."

Hermione looked lost for words. Draco had to hide back a smirk. Nothing explained his change of heart towards his rival's best friend; maybe it was because he matured, Draco himself didn't know. But what he did remember was the pleasant afternoon they spent together. He had this in mind as he clicked reply and started typing.

Hermione had successfully taken her mind off of the situation regarding the e-mail to Draco Malfoy. She was curled up on the sofa with a cup of tea and her sociology textbook on her lap. She was so focused on her book, she didn't hear the prompt from her PC that she had mail. It was only her mother who told her that dinner was ready, did Hermione finally extricate herself from the sofa and think to check her e-mail again before heading to dinner.

To her delight, she received a reply. From Draco Malfoy. Shouting to her mother that she would be having dinner a little later than her parents, she excitedly read through his reply.

To: .

From: .

Re: Hello.

Evening, Ms Granger.

It's a pleasant surprise to hear from you again. The last I saw you was buried in your books. I only hope that you're actually taking a holiday from them.

To this, Hermione flushed, feeling slightly guilty about her sociology text book still lying open on the sofa.

To answer your questions: my holiday comprised mostly of moving my possessions into a condo in the city. London, by mere coincidence. It would be my pleasure to accompany you for coffee or whatever beverage takes your fancy. I heard from a friend of mine that Cafe Divine is a good place. Meet you there Saturday afternoon? Two o'clock?

See you there.

Draco.

Hermione found her heart palpitating in her chest as she speedily typed her reply. She had five days. Okay, she could deal with this. Calm down, Hermione. You have time. But for the life of her, she had no idea what she was going to wear!

So let me know what you think of it. Reviews make me happy. Hope it's not too bad...

Signing off

Caneater