The next day, Hermione woke up early again. She was happy, until she faced her neighbor's room. She remembered then the unbearable company she'd had last night.

But it all came together when she turned around, and got a good look at her new room setup. It was much better now: mirror in place, clothes tidy, and right too.

She didn't care if she was going to spend only a month there, she wanted to spend a month in a place that matched her style.

She then took a bath that took much longer than necessary. She put on the after-shower robe, and then she stepped out of the bathroom and looked to the side-

"Shit, how could I forget?"

Her neighbor's face made Hermione blush with embarrassment at her own attire, and she immediately did the first thing that came to her mind: she got down, and sat on the floor. She wouldn't even get up to go close the damn window.

"Shit".

...

Draco had just woken up. He was still yawning when he started to feel hungry. He was rubbing his eyes and had just gotten out of bed to go to the kitchen, when by a misfortune he looked to the side.

Granger was there, wearing nothing but a pale pink robe, which, by the way, wasn't even indecent, as it covered almost her entire body, and had the hair wet.

She had just gotten out of the shower, that was very much clear, and she was very embarrassed.

That crazy woman, instead of closing the window, or going back into the bathroom, bent down and never got up. At first he thought she had fallen, but he soon dismissed that possibility.

He frowned and decided to ignore it. She left the bedroom and walked to the kitchen, where he grabbed his breakfast and began to eat.

He was going to visit the city with the new private tour guide at ten o'clock. It was already eight, but Draco was starting to consider staying at home.

Soon, he changed his mind. Getting to know the city should be something pleasant, and that was the whole idea of this month: to be a pleasant one.

Seeing places wasn't exactly his kind of fun, but that's what people usually did when they got to know a new country, wasn't it?

Wearing Muggle clothes was the worst part. They didn't have the slightest sense of style, but it was hard for something not to look good on him, even those hideous robes.

Slowly, he finished eating and went back to his room. That bathtub was wonderful, he had to admit. Big, though not as big as he'd like, but it was very comfortable.

After the shower, he arranged his hair as usual, to the right side, and he couldn't forget the perfume he always wore.

It was almost time when he was finally ready. He was supposed to meet the guide by the lake, and he went there, arriving a few minutes early. He expected the person to also stick to the schedule.

"Good morning" it didn't take long to hear his voice "Mr Draco Malfoy?".

They had already visited most of the intended places, most of them really interesting, to be honest, and they were in the last one, a museum, when he heard a noise nearby, and turned his head to look.

Unbelievable.

Granger was there, a few steps away from him, bent over, picking up her belongings from the floor and putting them back in her bag.

Among the belongings, Draco wasn't able to identify much, as she was picking them up so quickly, but he could see a small, pocket-sized book that had fallen open, and it made him stifle a laugh.

Draco pursed his lips to try to remain serious in front of his guide as he explained to him about the museum, but now all he could think about was why Granger had a little book of sexual positions in her bag.

He'd never imagined that she even thought about sex, and even less she would actually have sex. But after knowing the kind of stuff she carries, it was inevitable to imagine the scene.

He turned his head once more, she was already on her feet, her face red with embarrassment, looking at a painting.

Draco noticed the outfit she was wearing: pants, boots, and several coats. Was she always cold? Alright, it was winter, and it was considerably cold there, but not half as cold as she made it seem.

He crossed her arms and brought a hand to his chin, returning his attention to the guide, still trying not to smile.

Granger walked past them minutes later, not even looking in his direction. She was entering the second part of the museum, where he had already been.

The guide finished talking and Granger still hadn't come back. Draco returned to his house after 1:00pm, hungry, and decided to have lunch elsewhere, refusing the lunch offered by the tourist service there.

The restaurant he had chose was very close to his house. He'd passed by it earlier, and the appearance attracted him.

The food wasn't that good, though. He made an effort to eat until he was not hungry anymore, paid the bill, and left.

He bought some wine on the way home, and when he arrived, he went straight to the first glass, leaving the empty glass on the counter.

He went to the bedroom to change clothes, and decided to check if his neighbor had the window open. She hadn't. He closed his again, but the thought of her in sexual situations had once again invaded his brain.

He took off his clothes, except for his underwear, and lay down on the bed, a sly smile on his lips.

...

Hermione was frustrated about her vacation. She had an unsustainable neighbor, and every time she tried to go out, something went wrong.

It was so cold that day, so cold, that the tip of her nose hurt. She regretted having left the house, with all that snow, because she also had to walk, at times.

The museum was the first place she went, and also the last. She left the house late, and that's where she managed to get.

But by a misfortune she managed to drop her bag, which with the extender spell, fit much more than expected, and the noise was enough to make her feel embarrassed.

Moments later, when she went to see the second part of the museum, she passed by someone she hadn't seen before: Malfoy.

He was with another man, apparently the same age, or slightly older. She could hear him saying something about the museum as she passed them, and guessed he was a tour guide.

Private? She thought. It had to be Malfoy's thing.

Because when she considered a guide, it would be along with several other tourists. For a moment, she wished she had a private guide, too.

She returned home not long after, frustrated once more. She lay down on the bed before even thinking about having lunch, for despite her hunger, she was very tired. She took off her boots, and stood there for a while.

Then, she remembered the incident that occurred in the morning, after her bath. Had Malfoy seen much? Had she got to the floor in time?

Instinctively, she covered her face with her hands, still lying down. How could she have been so careless? She would have to redouble her attention on that window from now on.

She had lunch after a while, and thought it would be nice to go and see the lake, as it was the only outside place she could go at the moment. And she always loved seeing that lake. It brought her such good feelings.

...

Draco watched as she left. Or rather, he watched as she passed toward the lake. He was sitting on the couch in the living room when he saw her through the window.

Honestly, it surprised him that Granger was taking a month off by herself. He didn't remember seeing her alone many times.

Both at Hogwarts and after Hogwarts, the few times he saw her in the newspaper - because she didn't follow that crap anymore - she was always accompanied by the same people: Potter, and all five hundred Weasleys.

She even dated Ronald Weasley, he'd heard, but apparently the relationship was over. Not that Granger wouldn't be capable to have fun alone, but when you're in a relationship, usually it's normal for you to want to travel with your partner, not alone.

Bored, Draco went to the kitchen to get another glass of wine. That wine was good, but not the best he had ever tasted. He was halfway through the bottle when he started to feel sleepy, eyelids tired.

It was already dark when she returned. She was smiling to herself as she passed back to her house, and he wondered why.

...

Hermione was glad because she wanted to be. This month was supposed to be great, but it was being a disappointment, and it shouldn't stay that way.

She decided to hold on to the little things, for example, the lake was now almost completely frozen over, and soon, she would be able to see children and adults ice skating.

She enjoyed seeing people having fun. It was as if they wanted to be like this all the time.

Hermione thought that everyone would always have fun if they could. Nobody ever stops wanting to play, but with age, life starts to charge us with things. We need to act seriously, make difficult decisions, be mature.

She sighed at the thought of it, and then smiled, wondering if she couldn't skate someday herself.

Upon reaching her room, Hermione opened the window to find her neighbor's already open. He did it just to tease, sure. But then she had an idea.

She went downstairs again and went to his house, like the other night, but this time he took a little longer to open the door.

"Malfoy!" she called, as she began to think he was ignoring her on purpose.

"What do you want here again, Granger?" his voice was so irritating, it gave the impression that he was too lazy to speak.

Malfoy opened the door and had an expression that showed complete and pure boredom.

"Well, I guess…" she hesitated. She wished she hadn't gone there "I think we should set some schedules".

"Schedules?" he made a face like she was crazy, which pissed her off.

"Yes, schedules," she reaffirmed, "I'll take the nights. You can take the afternoons, and the mornings. I'm giving you extra because I know you won't take it so easily, so you can take-."

Malfoy put his hand in front of her, making her stop talking.

"What are you talking about?".

"Isn't it obvious?".

"I'm sorry to inform you, but no, it's not at all obvious. You come here at this hour, talking about splitting time, how do you expect me to know what you mean?"

"Malfoy, I'm talking about the windows!"

He frowned slightly, then understood what she meant, and leaned against the door.

"No" he said simply.

"What do you mean, no?"

"No. Look, that window belongs to the house I paid to spend a month in. So if I want to open it at night, I'll open it at night, understand?"

"But I said you can have afternoons and mornings! I also need to open my window!"

Malfoy rolled his eyes.

"Granger, you're seeing trouble where none exists. Just open it whenever you want, and I'll do the same, it's not like I've never seen you."

For some reason, Hermione started to feel her face heat up with embarrassment.

"But seeing me here isn't the same as seeing me in my room."

He sighed, suddenly realizing how stubborn she was, and how much time he was wasting there.

"I've already seen you in your room," she informed him, "I've even seen you in a pink bathrobe, so if you'll excuse me."

Hermione went completely red in the face, and she didn't even know if it was embarrassment or anger anymore.

"Okay" she stopped him from closing the door "I'll have half the night. Not until I go to sleep."

"What if I happen to want to sleep with the window open?"

"So..." she was thinking, but didn't come to any plausible conclusion.

Hermione watched as Malfoy formed a smirk on his face, and didn't quite understand until he said:

"If your problem is shyness, you don't have to. After seeing what you carry in your bag, I don't think much else will surprise me about you."

"Wha-" she broke off as she remembered the incident at the museum.

He was there, of course. But how could he have seen what was in the bag? Had she not caught on fast enough? And what could he have seen that was so surprising, other than… obvious!

The damn sex position book she'd gotten from Ginny Weasley.

Hermione had been carrying it around in her bag since the other witch had given it to her, without ever having opened it, as her relationship with Ron ended a few days later.

With the undetectable expansion spell, she often forgot what was actually inside of it, and some things she carried only out of habit, as was the case with the little book.

Now, Malfoy had seen it, and deduced God knew what from the information.

"I don't know what you're talking about" after all, it could be anything else, right?

He leaned closer to her, and whispered, covering part of his mouth with his hand, in feigned confidentiality:

"I already know you need a book even to choose the best positions when having sex".

She dropped her jaw, and swallowed hard. Anything she said now about it would surely reveal more than she wanted to about her sex life.

She might just not say anything at all, but then he would assume what he had said was correct.

"You're wrong," she said "about anything you think or assume about me. You don't know me, and I don't want you to, and that's why I came to suggest a schedule, but you're simply unbending!"

She turned her back and went to her house, stomping hard. Leaving was actually a way of not having to deal with the embarrassment, but she still wouldn't leave her window closed all the time, it wasn't fair!

...

Draco had found the look on her face hilarious when he'd mentioned what he'd seen. As if her deepest secret had been revealed. And he didn't doubt that, for a person like her, the deepest secret of all life was really just a book.

She had left super stressed, and he had an idea instantly. Since she refused to close her window, he could play around a bit, and see how far she could go.

He went up to his room, not before getting another glass of wine, and checked to make sure her window was open. He watched until, seconds later, she appeared, looking unfriendly.

Looking away quickly in order to pretend to be oblivious, Draco took off his shirt. A spell warmed the room even with the cold wind blowing in.

Just then, he looked back at her, who was already looking, and smiled. She turned her back, and started fiddling very intently with something on the other side of the room. Obviously, she was just disguising.

Seconds later, she looked again, and he nodded, moving even closer to the window. He saw when she also approached hers, and asked, in a tone of voice that betrayed anger:

"What you want?".

Draco let out a small laugh.

"What do I want? Let's see, you're the one who came to my house twice, and you're the one talking to me now."

She clicked her tongue impatiently.

"If you're going to leave the window open, at least get dressed."

"Calm down Granger, I'm in my room, and I like to sleep like this. Is that a problem? Why? I'm not going there, don't worry. Just don't look."

"How irritating you are, Malfoy!"

"I'm not doing anything".

Without further words, she dropped the matter, and went to sleep, apparently, or just lay down on her bed, and he lost sight of her. But it was already worth it.

Granger was being a fun part of his trip.