𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆

Chapter 8

Only Another Beginning

Chapter 8

Green flames surrounded him, tickling him slightly and engulfing him in pleasant warmth until he saw the outlines of Hermione's living room furniture appear in front of him. It was still early and the sunbeams of a sunny and warm autumn's day fell into the east windows of the big and cosy room that was stuffed with tall book shelves on almost every wall.

“Hi Harry,” he heard Hermione’s voice from inside the kitchen. “I’ll be with you in a sec.”

Other than in his flat, Hermione's kitchen was a separate room but connected to the living room by a pass-through and so she must have heard him flooing over. Harry sat down on the big, dark brown leather sofa that looked both antique and modern, but this morning he didn't take much time admiring the well placed decoration of Hermione's lovely flat but instead felt himself lingering somewhere else with his thoughts. He had been in quite a wonderful mood ever since last evening, but despite the smile that remained on his lips for longer than usual he couldn't help but still wonder why Draco had slept with him. In fact he was a bit worried that the other might confuse attraction with gratitude.

“Here I am – sorry to keep you waiting,” his friend interrupted his thoughts. She had a plate in her hands with, considering the delicious smell, freshly baked muffins. As Hermione sat the plate down on the small table in front of the couch she smiled at Harry, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and then sat down next to him. “How are things with you?”

Harry looked at her with a slight frown that, however, didn't look really unhappy. "Great, but didn't you want to tell me something a bit more important?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, laughing softly. “And here I was thinking that you could already have guessed.”

But Harry only looked at her questioningly, not quite knowing what she was on about.

“Malfoy and your idea of a second chance, silly?” She laughed. “Honestly, sometimes I wonder what’s on your mind. You were the one so adamant about it just a few days ago.”

Harry still didn't quite understand. "Err… yeah well, that's what I'm talking about. Didn't you want to tell me the result of the whole thing?"

“That’s what I’m just doing now, aren’t I.” His friend grabbed a muffin from the table and bit into it. “Mh… well,” she continued after swallowing. “Timothy wasn’t really that opposed to the idea after we had a little talk about it. I’m still waiting for last news on that topic, but as it looks there’ll be a hearing to see if we can ‘rehabilitate’ the banned Death Eaters.”

Now the tension Harry had been really aware of crumbled in him and he felt himself sigh in relief. Smiling, he reached out and took one of the pastries for himself. But before he bit into it, he stopped. "That's wonderful. We have to tell Draco. Oh Gosh, I can't wait to see his face."

“However,” Hermione interrupted him with a warning glance, “we should wait for that owl first. To have certainty and a date and all that.”

"Yeah, you're probably right," Harry agreed, half disappointed that he had to wait longer to see Draco's reaction. "You suppose it's coming soon?"

“Patience was never one of your stronger suits, was it,” Hermione grinned and resumed eating her muffin. “So what about the two of you? Still getting along without relapsing into insults and fights?”