"Ok," she said, out of nowhere. Draco looked over at her, baffled. He tried to remember the last thing they'd said, before focusing on studying.

"Ok, what? Were we talking about going in for dinner?"

"OK, I'll apply. To the program you suggested."

Draco could only stare at her. "You will?"

She nodded. "Yes.

"I thought you'd decided against it."

"Please don't tell me you've changed your mind. Because now I'm excited about the program. It really does have-"

"I haven't changed my mind," he said, cutting her off. "You're going to apply?"

She nodded. "Yes. I was thinking of starting tonight. Have you figured out where – and how – you're going to apply to university?"

His grin could have lit the whole castle. "Ages ago. I got the Headmistress to arrange documents for me. I'll have to take their entrance exams. S.A.T., I think it's called. But if I can do well enough on that to manage, I should be alright."

"Have you looked into those at all?"

He nodded. "The Maths won't be easy. It's nothing like arithmancy. Very different. But I've been studying."

"Have you?" She eyed him suspiciously. "I wouldn't have thought you could study without me knowing it."

"I'm Slytherin. We're very good at doing things on the sly."

"I see," she said, shifting closer to him. She leaned back against his chest, relaxing into him as his arm came around her. "I'm really excited about this."

"You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that."


Fall, Boston

"It's . . ." Draco looked around the tiny dorm room, "small."

"It's a dorm." Hermione was altogether less surprised by the room.

"And I'm sharing this with another person?"

"You wanted the real muggle experience."

"For some reason I thought I would have more space after Hogwarts," he muttered.

"It's not that bad. It's probably still more room than at Hogwarts. Look, you've got your own desk and everything."

"I've adjusted to the Room of Requirement."

She snorted. "I'd suggest you readjust then, and quickly, because this won't be anything like it. And you'll have to be careful not use your magic or mention magic, or Hogwarts, or anything along those lines."

"Yes, I know."

"Would you like to come back and see my place again?" she asked, shooting him a cheeky grin. She only laughed at his glare. "You could always change your mind. With your N.E.W.T.s, I'm sure they'd take you."

He shook his head. "No, I want to do this. Did I show you the classes available?"

"Yes," she said. "Nearly a dozen times now."

"I'm taking a Computers class!"

She laughed out loud. "How can you be as excited about Computers as I was about Charms?"

"It's exciting! I want to learn how they work. Do you think we'll take them apart?"

She made the mistake of trying to hold the laugh in, and nearly broke all of her internal organs. "No," she said. "I do not. It's Introduction to Computer Applications. You probably start with how to turn it on."

"Oh. Well, that's probably just as well."

"Probably."

"When do you meet your roommate?" Hermione asked.

He actually looked nervous. "Tomorrow, I think. His move in date was a bit later than mine."

"I imagine that was for the best too."

He smiled to himself as they walked toward the door, hand in hand.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Draco."

"I was just wondering how it'll work if you come over. Do you think we'll really put a tie on the door, as they do in the movies?"

Torn between hitting him and laughing, she compromised and did both. "I think you'll probably just come to mine, since I have my own apartment."

They walked out the door. Draco glanced up the hall and back down it, watching families move their freshman in. "Yeah, but look what I get."


A/N Short, I know. Next one will be longer.