BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!
Hermione half jumped out of her skin as her alarm clock blared. Still half asleep she punched it into silence, desperate not to wake her neighbours. Despite what some may think, Hermione Granger was not a morning person. She did love her small two-bed flat but the architects were from an era that had yet to realise the benefits of sound proofing. Fumbling out of bed, Hermione stepped over her fallen lamp as she pulled an old hoodie over her faded Gryffindor pyjamas. Now she could refocus her efforts on obtaining coffee. She later blamed this lack of caffeine on why she hadn't registered her unexpected guest until she was over half way to the kitchen. She, of course, had seen him as soon as she opened her door.
'MALFOY!' Hermione screeched, causing him to jerk awake, just as she had moments before (although this time he bore no mind to the neighbours). One minute he was draped over Hermione's coffee sofa, the next, Malfoy was huddled on the floor, in shock from his rude awakening. Quite understandably, he would like it to be noted, as he had been so deeply unconscious he surely would not have awoken for several days. 'What in Merlin's name are you doing here!?'
'Wha'?' he slurred though the hazy mist of sleep that was yet to clear. His eyes whipped around the room in a desperate attempt to get his bearings, 'What am I doing here! What are you doing here?'
'I live here you arse!' Hermione continued to scream, paying no attention to his wincing. How dare he break into her home in the middle of the night and then question her on why she was there! Despite her fury, Hermione's curious mind was beginning to wake up to the mystery of why Malfoy would indeed do such a thing. She hadn't seen him in the years (having made no effort to keep touch since Hogwarts).
'You live with Blaise?' Malfoy asked in a tone that made no effort to hide his level of shock and bewilderment. No wonder, Hermione thought, as he had put two and two together to make six. If Hermione was honest with herself, he even almost sounded betrayed.
'No!' Hermione renounces the mere idea that she could cohabiting with her co-worker. He was lovely but, in Hermione's mind, had rather questionable taste when it came to interior design. 'He lives next door.'
'Shit,' Malfoy profaned as he jumped up as if he had been burnt. He grabbed his shoes, which were strewn across the floor. It was at this point that Hermione noticed his distinct lack of a shirt… 'Sorry, wrong window!'
'Wrong window! What do you mean 'wrong window'?'
'If I explain, you will laugh at me, and rightly so,' he confessed almost sheepishly as he prepared to make a speedy exit. He was, however, making a show of checking his person for his wand and wallet as if to avoid acknowledging the person in front of him. 'Saying that, it would make a nice change from the shouting.'
'I'm not-'
'Yes, you are,' he interrupted, 'and I am more than a little bit hung over, so it would be much appreciated if you would please lower your voice. Especially if I am going to be forced to explain this bizarre situation.'
'Fine,' Hermione said more softly, 'Explain.'