Last time:
Hermione ran her hands over her face and sighed, "Fine, but while we live together, we split the cost of everything and as soon as you're custom to the muggle world, you find your own flat."
"sounds like a plan to me." Draco replied.
"Fine, lets go" she waved, feeling like she's just adopted and abandoned puppy.
Now:
GRINGOTTS...
"Remember Granger, Try not to faint when you see my vault." Draco said smugly, never missing the chance to show someone up, even if that someone was helping him out.
"I'll do my best Malfoy." she said with a sarcastic roll of the eyes.
Hermione was quite well off herself since her parents died, she just, unlike Malfoy, didn't flaunt it. They made their way to his vault first, which he quickly cleaned out, knowing his father was going to hit the roof when he found out Draco was living with Hermione Granger as a muggle.
They then preceded to Hermione's Vault.
"Don't worry Granger, I'll help you out a little with money considering you are helping me." He said smugly.
"Malfoy...I am really not worried about money." she said with a smirk.
"Hey, your a Gryffindor, Gryffindor's don't smirk, only Slytherin's."
"Well this Gryffindor does, now move aside so I can get my money."
Draco moved over and watched as the vault was opened, preparing to see cobwebs and moths. However, when he stepped inside, he glanced around with his mouth wide open.
"WHAT THE HELL? I thought you were poor?" Draco yelled in a shocked voice.
Hermione laughed, "Far from it Malfoy, far from it."
They went back to the front, closed out both accounts, then exchanged the money for muggle currency before heading to muggle London to find a flat, they only have a few hours of daylight left and had plenty of stuff to do.
When they walked into the rental office, A tall, pudgy man came to the front and greeted them.
"May I help you young folks?" the man asked in a pleasant voice.
"Yes, we are looking to rent a two bedroom flat with preferably two bathrooms and plenty of space." Hermione answered.
"I think we have a few available, follow me and I'll pull the listings."
Hermione and Draco followed the man through the tiny office and into a small room. The man sat behind his desk and started typing on the computer, sorting through the listings to find any matches. Draco turned to Hermione with a puzzled look, "Why is he beating the poor box with his fingers?"
Hermione threw her hand over her mouth to stop the giggle, "It's not a box Malfoy, it's called a computer, it stores information, allows you to search for anything you want, you can even use it to buy things."
Draco raised an eyebrow, but remained quiet.
"I have pulled 3 flats that have what you want and 4 flats with two bedrooms and 1 bathroom, is that acceptable?"
"Yes it is, and can we look at them tonight?" she asked
"Certainly, we will just hop in my car and will be off."
Hermione and Draco followed the man to his car and climbed in. Draco had heard about cars, but had never been in one, so he was more then happy to sit in the backseat. They drove for about 10 minutes until they reached the first flat.
"This is a two bedroom two bath, shall we take a look?"
Hermione looked around and noticed the neighborhood was less then desirable, "Actually, I think it would be best to just move to the next."
Draco tilted his head to the side and leaned forward, "Whats wrong? We didn't even look at it?"
The agent started laughing, "Mr..."
"Malfoy"
"Mr. Malfoy, she has chosen to move on as this neighborhood is what some may refer to as the ghetto, and probably not the safest place."
Hermione turned and gave him the, 'I'll explain later look'.
The drove for another twenty minutes before stopping in front of a tall white building. Hermione did her scan and gave the man a nod.
"This one is two bedrooms two baths as well, dishwasher, washer/dryer hook ups, new appliances and new carpet."
"Sounds good, lets have a look." she said with a smile.
The three left the car and made their way into the building, up to the second floor. The man unlocked the door and went inside, followed by Hermione and Draco. The first thing they were met with was brand new, bright pink carpet. Draco gave Hermione a horrified look at the brightness, "Please tell me we aren't staying here? It looks like a pixie threw up on the floor."
Hermione laughed, "No... the carpet is a bit much, but we need to look around quickly then politely decline."
"Thank Merlin" he sighed
Ten minutes later, they were all three back inside the car and heading to the third rental. It was already starting to get dark, and they needed to get a place tonight. Luckily, the next was only about 4 blocks away.
"This one has two bedrooms, one bath, but is the largest of all of them. It has the washer/ dryer hook up, new paint, new carpet and a patio with a spa."
"Sounds nice, lets have a look."
They got out of the car and walked up the little brick walk way to a small gate that was guarding the grounds. They walked all the way down to the end, passing a total of four doors before stopping at the fifth. The man opened the door and led them inside.
Hermione instantly liked the place, the walls were a creamy beige instead of stark white, the carpet was a deep midnight blue and the place was indeed, very large. The kitchen was a good size with a built in dishwasher, electric stove, a large, side by side fridge and black and white tiles.
"What do you think?" she asked Draco
"It's no manor, but I guess it's alright." he answered
"This is the best one out of the list, I have seen the others before and this one is the one I would recommend." the man added.
Hermione took another glance around and sighed, "As long as we can move in tonight, then I'll take it."
"That wont be a problem." the man said with a smile.
Hermione and Draco went back with the man to fill out the necessary paperwork so they could get started.
"Would you like me to find a moving company for you belongings?" the man asked once the papers were signed.
"No thanks, I'm just going to rent a truck and get my things on my own." She replied, earning a weird look from Draco.
Very well Ms. Granger, Here are the keys and I hope you like the place."
"I'm sure I will." she said with a smile and shook the mans hand.
Hermione and Draco made their way outside and started walking towards a place she knew of that rented truck out.
"Why not let him find people to move stuff for you?" Draco asked, "I mean, I know you are bossy but I'm sure they would do what you asked."
Hermione turned to Draco, "Let me ask you Malfoy, Have you heard about my parents?"
"Yes, but I don't see what that matters." He answered honestly.
"Well let me tell you, I need to get some things from my parents house, and I would prefer not having total strangers go in and ask a million questions that I cant answer for them."
"Like what?"
"Like why there are blood stains everywhere, or why it hasn't been cleaned up... I have my reasons Malfoy."
Draco merely raised an eyebrow
"You'll see when we get there" she whispered, really not wanting to talk about it anymore.
An hour later, Draco and Hermione had pulled up in the truck in front of her parents house. The house was dark, the yard over grown slightly, and held a feeling of tragedy in the air around it.
Hermione turned to Draco, " If you are squeamish in anyway, I suggest you stay out here."
"I've seen bloodstains before Granger, I'm sure I will be fine." he said dismissively.
"It's not just bloodstains Malfoy," she said quietly, " When the deatheaters killed my parents, they placed some kind of spell on the place, the blood wont clean up no matter what we've tried and... a person with magical abilities can see the house how it looked the day I found them, including seeing an image of their bodies...Just trust me, if you cant handle death then stay out here and I'll move everything out."
"I can handle it Granger, lets just get going." He replied, still not understanding the full gravity of what she was saying.
Hermione nodded and got out of the truck, followed by Draco. They reached the front door and Hermione paused, readying herself to see the scene that replayed in her mind over and over for months. Draco seemed to noticed her hesitation, but kept quiet, he had no idea what they were going to see. Hermione finally let out a deep breath and pushed the key into the lock, closing her eyes, she pushed the door open and walked inside, not paying the slightest bit of attention to Draco.
Hermione walked as far as the living room and seemed to freeze, to the normal person, bloodstains could be seen on the walls and carpets, but to a magical person, they could still see the blood and bodies, as if the entire scene was a muggle photograph of that night that couldn't be removed.
Draco stood next to Hermione, gasping to himself at the sight in front of him. Furniture was over turned, all personal belongs were broken and smashed into bit and pieces and in the center of the room, was Hermione, covered in blood as she cradled her parents bodies, frantically looking for any signs of life, begging and pleading for them to come back and be alright. Draco finally pulled his eyes from the scene to look over to Hermione, who was standing with her head down as tears dropped from her eyes.
"I have tried to get this to end, but it wont, I've tried to have it cleaned, but it wont, they wanted me to see this every time I came here. I cant sell it, I cant live in it, I cant do anything but stay away from it so I don't think about it." She said quietly.
Draco wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her away from the living room, "Lets just get what we need so we can get out of here, you don't need to see this anymore then you already have."
Hermione chuckled, "Is Malfoy concerned... about me"
"Don't think so highly of yourself Granger, We just have a lot to do and I don't think it's good for you to see that."
Alright, alright," she smiled, " I just wanted to grab the stuff from my room and the bed in the guest room so we have a place to sleep, and remember, don't use any magic to do it or you'll end up in Azkaban."
"Azkaban?"
"Do you know nothing about the law?"
"Not much, just they want me to marry or live as a muggle." he said with a shrug
Hermione shook her head, "Lets just get the stuff and I'll explain everything to you when we get back to the flat."