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“You cannot move in here,” Draco Malfoy said firmly, avoiding eye contact with his best friend. “It would never work.”
“Why not?” Hermione Granger asked, from her seat opposite him on his couch.
“Because,” Draco replied, petulantly, staring at the mug of tea in his hand.
“Really, Draco?” Hermione chided him, poking his leg with her foot and she hugged her own mug to her chest. “You have to give me a better reason than that. Why can’t I move in? Why can’t we live together?”
“Because we haven’t known each other that long,” Draco replied, finally looking up at her, ignoring the way his heart skipped every time he looked at her.
“We’ve known each other since we were 11,” Hermione pointed out, smiling at him. “And we’ve been best friends for five years.”
“We argue all the time,” Draco tried again, shifting on the couch so that he was facing Hermione fully. “It drives our friends crazy.”
“We have spirited debates that we both enjoy,” Hermione countered, still smiling. “And if we live together, we’ll be able to have them in the comfort of our own home which will annoy our friends less.”
“It will make dating impossible,” Draco offered. “People will automatically assume we’re together and people will get jealous.”
“So we’ll explain to them the situation,” Hermione replied with a shrug. “Probably shouldn’t date people who don’t understand us.”
Draco groaned with frustration and tilted his head back against the couch cushion.
“Come on,” Hermione said quietly, scooching towards him with every word. “Why can’t we live together? We already spend most of our time together. You have a ton of space in this ridiculously large four bedroom flat. We would save money because we could just hang out in our space with our friends instead of meeting elsewhere.”
Hermione stopped when she was directly next to him. He lifted his head, startled she had moved so quietly and quickly, invading his space. She set down her mug and took his from him, setting it down on the coffee table next to hers. She looked at him, questioningly, and he couldn’t help but stare back into the familiar, warm brown eyes.
“Give me one good reason why we shouldn’t live together,” she pressed. “One good, real reason. Why can’t I move in?”
“Because I don’t want you to live here,” Draco exploded, jumping from the couch and moving away from Hermione. “Because I don’t want to live with you. I can’t.”
Draco winced as he took in Hermione’s stunned expression.
“I-,” Draco tried, before running his hand over his face. “That came out wrong. I just…I don’t think we should live together.”
Without a word, Hermione stood from the couch and walked passed Draco to the front door.
“Where are you going?” Draco asked, a feeling of panic rising in his chest.
Hermione didn’t answer, she simply took her coat off of her hook next to the door and put it on.
“Hermione, please,” Draco said, moving towards her. “Just let me explain.”
“I think you’ve said quite enough, Draco,” Hermione replied quietly, her tone conveying her barely contained pain. “I’m sorry I brought it up. I won’t ask again. Since the idea of sharing a space with me repulses you so much.”
“Hermione that’s not it, I-“ Draco tried, but stopped as Hermione slung her bag over her shoulder.
“Goodbye Draco,” Hermione said, her voice barely audible.
Draco could feel his panic take over as Hermione reached for the door handle. She managed to open the door slightly before Draco rushed over and slammed the door shut.
“Let me go, Draco,” Hermione said, staring down at her hand on the doorknob. “We have nothing else to say to each other. I asked for a reason why and you told me the truth.”
Draco stared at Hermione, willing her to look at him. She seemed to sense what he wanted, she could always sense what he wanted and she looked up at him, hurt across her face and suddenly he couldn’t contain the words anymore.
“I lied,” he said, watching as confusion mixed with the hurt on Hermione’s face. “I lied to you.”
“Draco, what are you talking about?” Hermione asked, taking her hand off the doorknob and looking at him.
“Hermione, I want to live with you,” Draco said. “I want that.”
“I don’t understand,” Hermione replied, and Draco could see her trying to make sense of what he said. “You just said…”
“I know what I said,” Draco cut her off. “I know what I said and none of it was true.”
And suddenly, he couldn’t stem the flow of words leaving his mouth.
“I want to live with you. I want to spend every day with you. I want to argue with you in this apartment. I want to have our friends here and we host them together. I want people to assume we’re dating. I want all of it.”
Draco paused, taking a deep breath and looking at Hermione, who was staring back at him with an unreasonable expression. Fuck it all to hell, he thought. Cards on the table.
“I want all of that because I’m in love with you, Hermione Granger,” he said, maintaining eye contact with her as his heart beat out of his chest. “I am in love with you, I have loved you for years, and I want everything with you.”
Hermione stared back, she opened her mouth once, then twice, but no words seemed to come out. She put her hands over her face and turned away from him and Draco felt the panic return. She was his best friend. She was everything. What had he done? He was pulled out of his own thoughts as he saw that her shoulders were shaking. Shit, he’d really done it this time. He stepped towards her and put a hand on her shoulder. She spun around and he realized she wasn’t crying, she was laughing. Hard. With tears streaming down her face. Embarrassment overtook him and he wrenched his hand away.
“I think you should go,” he said, curtly, turning away from her.
But he was stopped with her hand on his arm. He allowed Hermione to turn him back so that he was facing her. He looked at her expectantly, as she wiped tears from her eyes.
“You are,” she said, pausing with a half laugh, “an absolute idiot.”
“Excuse me?” Draco replied, his tone indignant. “I just told you that I’m in love with you and you respond with name calling?”
Hermione grinned in response, positioning herself directly in front of him. She took his hands and linked their fingers together.
“Now it’s my turn,” she said, beaming up at him. “Listen to me. You are an idiot. I’m an idiot. We are both idiots.”
Draco raised an eyebrow at her words but felt the flutter of hope in his chest as she smiled at him so he said nothing as she continued.
“I had it all planned out,” Hermione explained. “I would convince you to let me move in, you would see how well we worked together as roommates, we would merge our lives together and after six months, after everything was working and we were completely tied together, I would tell you how I felt. How I’ve felt for the last few years.”
“How do you feel?” Draco asked, leaning down so that his forehead was on Hermione’s. “How do you feel about me, Hermione?”
“I love you,” she said, nudging his head with hers so that he lifted his head and looked directly into her eyes. “I love you, Draco Malfoy.”
With that, she surged forward, releasing their hands, throwing her arms around his neck, and kissed him. Draco wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tightly to him as they kissed. Time spun out and Draco lost himself in the feel of Hermione’s lips on his. After seconds or hours, he really wasn’t sure, they parted and Hermione wrapped her arms around his waist, burrowing into his chest and he rested his chin on top of her head. They stood here, content to simply hold each other. They stayed that way until Hermione pulled back and looked up at Draco.
“So?” she asked, a massive grin on her face.
“You can move in here,” Draco replied, with a laugh. “Preferably today.”
“Well,” Hermione said coyly, stepping out of Draco’s arms and holding out her hand. “I can think of something else we can do first.”
Draco laughed as he slid his hand in hers and she led him down the hall to the bedroom.
Two days later all of their friends received an invitation to a housewarming party:
Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy
Cordially Invite You to a Housewarming Party at Their Home
1991 Flammel Road, Penthouse
Tomorrow
“I knew it” and “I told you so’s” will not be accepted at this time.