"Boo!"

Hermione jumped and quickly turned around to see who had surprised her.

"Pansy! You scared me!" she said with her hand on her chest, trying to calm her heart.

"Guess what?!" Pansy asked, huge smile on her face. It still amazed Hermione every time Pansy smiled; her face would light up, and the effect made her look stunningly beautiful, to Hermione anyway. She had a hard time reconciling this happy girl with the bitter, hardened girl she had met a month ago. Though she would like to think it was largely due to her influence, she could not be certain. She was never quite sure where she stood with Pansy. She assumed that one day, Pansy would become as disgusted by her as she still was about the country and their chips (of all things).

"What, Pansy?" Hermione complied.

"I'm moving into our room today!"

"We're moving you into our room," Hermione corrected. "I hate moving boxes."

"Oh," Pansy said softly. "Well, if you don't want to help…"

"Stop it. Don't be silly. Of course I'm helping," Hermione told her with a wave of her hand that barred arguments. "It would just be nice if we had some boyfriends to do the moving for us."

"Well, I can understand that. Maybe someday," Pansy smiled, a little tightly. Her face got brighter at a new thought. "I can't wait to sleep in our room!"

"Yes," Hermione agreed. "It will be glorious… Almost as glorious as the sandwich this bloke will ask for, I'm sure. I'll let you get back to it." Pansy stuck out her tongue at Hermione before asking the customer what kind of sandwich he would like. Ever the mature couple of friends, they continued to stick their tongues out at each other even as they continued doing their assigned work.

That is, until they were giggling too much and Filch, their manager, called out, "Hey, you two, get back to work- or I'm not letting you borrow the van!" The customers looked appreciative at the exclamation, as most had been irritated or confused about what was happening between the employees.

Hermione quickly stuck her tongue out one last time before returning to restocking the digestives. Filch tsked but otherwise let it go.

After work, Hermione skipped over to the parking lot behind the deli. They had asked to borrow the van to move Pansy's furniture from her old dormitory to their new room and luckily Filch had agreed to let them do so.

Their new room was tiny. They had bunked the beds and moved in Hermione's things the day before. Hermione claimed the top bunk, and Pansy would have the bottom. There was only one dresser, one closet, and one bookshelf, although they thankfully had two desks. Space would be tight, but as long as they got along well, it would be enough.

Hermione turned the key into the van and smiled again. Actually, she was unable to stop smiling, because she was so excited about their new room. As she drove over to Pansy's dorm, she thought about how much had changed since the first time she had met her.

Although Pansy was still very quiet and often seemed pretty brooding, Hermione knew she was a good laugh and rather enjoyable. They would have the best times.

As Hermione drove up to the dorm, Pansy waved her down. "What took you so long?" she asked in between hard breaths.

"Seriously? Did you run all the way over here just to beat me?" Hermione asked. They had gotten off shift around the same time, and there was no way Pansy could have gotten there first walking.

"No, I would never! You are simply far too slow," Pansy laughed, holding her side and trying to catch her breath subtly.

Hermione shook her head with a quiet laugh. "Alright," she gave in. "You win this time, but I bet I can still move more boxes than you!"

The two girls ran inside as quickly as they could and began to move boxes. Pansy had a decent amount of things acquired, but it was soon in the van and over to their room. After all the boxes had been moved into the room and the van returned, the two girls lay on the rug exhausted.

"Phew," Hermione sighed. "I think I can conclusively say that I moved more boxes than you."

"No, you didn't! Don't be ridiculous! We carried the same!" Pansy pushed herself up to sitting on the floor.

"Well, sometimes I carried two- or five- at a time," Hermione stated.

"You liar," Pansy smiled. She then moved her arms out and fell face forward onto Hermione's stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

"Ouch!" Hermione exclaimed. "What was that for?!"

"For telling lies, obviously," Pansy rolled her eyes. She left her head nestled on Hermione's stomach. "And now, you shall be my pillow as punishment for your treachery."

Hermione quirked an eyebrow but did not respond. They lay in silence for a little while, and Hermione began to stroke Pansy's hair. Pansy sighed in contentment.

"This is the way life should be," Pansy proclaimed.

"How so?"

"Perfect room, fantastic ceiling, lovely roommate… it just doesn't get any better. Now that I've got you all to myself- do you think you could do some vacuuming tomorrow?" Pansy quirked her eyebrow.

"You horrid little snot!" Hermione said with a barely concealed smile. She playfully pushed Pansy's head off her stomach and rolled on top of her.

"Ha!" she exclaimed. "Now who has the power?"

"Er- you?" Pansy replied. "I could overturn you easily though."

"Oh, could you?" Hermione challenged. "I doubt it." She pushed down on Pansy's shoulders lightly. Pansy quickly grabbed onto Hermione's arms and threw her weight to the side. Sure enough, she had turned them around.

"Oh, it's on!" Hermione exclaimed with a laugh. The two girls began playfully wrestling on the floor. One could only gain supremacy for a few seconds before her victory was upset and turned into defeat. Eventually, they both tired out and lay panting on the floor, sides touching.

"Draw?" Pansy questioned.

"Draw," Hermione agreed. "We are too well-matched."

"Very well-matched indeed," Pansy affirmed.