New Beginnings

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Draco sat up in bed, gasping. A loud bang had woken him. After another thud, Draco wrenched open the bedroom door. A cushion thwacked him in the face.

'What the hell, Granger?!' Objects littered the floor outside his room.

'All your shields meant I couldn't knock,' Hermione shrugged. Draco smirked as she realised he was only wearing boxers.

'Like what you see?'

'What?! No, I just...get dressed, you're learning to make pancakes.'

'Sure you wouldn't rather I stay like this? So you can check me out some more?'

'I was not checking you out! I was just...do you want breakfast or not?!'

Draco sniggered as he threw on a pair of jeans and a shirt. Purposefully leaving the shirt unbuttoned, he strutted into the kitchen.

'So, crepes or American pancakes?' Draco leaned against the fridge, grinning as Hermione blushed at his bare chest.

'I was thinking crepes, that OK with you?' She busied herself in the cupboard, slamming ingredients onto the counter.

'Sounds great,' Draco caught the box of eggs before she banged them down.

'Oops, thanks,' she said, ruefully.

Hermione showed Draco how to measure the ingredients using digital scales. He was fascinated by their accuracy, repeatedly prodding it until Hermione smacked his hand away with a spoon.

'Now whisk,' she handed him an electric whisk. 'Just put it in the bowl and press the button.'

Holding the whisk gingerly, Draco switched it on. He yelped as it whirred and spun, dropping it onto the counter. Hermione doubled over with laughter at his horrified expression.

'You did that on purpose!'

'It was too funny not to,' she gasped. 'Here, I'll show you.'

After Hermione demonstrated, Draco reluctantly tried again. He grimaced as batter splattered his hand.

'Ok, done. Now, get a frying pan. No, not that one. No...look where I'm pointing. Yes, OK. Lightly spray it with cooking oil. Come on, a bit more than that!'

Hermione showed him how to turn on the hob and warm the frying pan. He ladled batter into the pan, watching nervously as it bubbled.

'Alright, it's time to flip it!'

'...What?'

'Watch, with just a flick of the wrist, you flip it...like so! Ta-da!'

'...that is so not the most efficient method.'

'Enough with your logic, Spock! This is more fun!'

'Who?'

'Never mind. Your turn. Go on, it's easy!'

Draco flipped the pancake too hard and it missed the pan. Hermione howled as it smacked into the floor. Draco huffed, pouting.

'Go on, try again. Just one more.'

This time Draco was too gentle. The pancake folded over in the pan instead of turning.

'Dammit!'

'It's fine, really. Here, turn it with the spatula instead.'

Draco's mood improved as they sat eating the stack of pancakes with lemon and sugar.

'These are really good,' he mumbled.

'All your doing,' Hermione grinned. 'Compliments to Chef Malfoy!'

As Draco washed the dishes, Hermione prepared dinner in the slow-cooker.

'I'm off to the cinema with some girls from class this evening, so if you're back before me just dish yourself up some. Don't mess with any of the settings!'

'Yes, boss,' Draco nodded, meekly. 'Have a nice time!'

*****

When Hermione came home, she found Draco drinking Firewhisky out of the bottle.

'Are you ok...?'

'Sure! Am jus' havin' me a drink. Isn't that what sexy single men do on a Friday night?!'

'By yourself...at home...?'

'Well, maybe you should join me,' he slurred, waving the bottle at her. 'Is less pathetic if I'm drinkin' with a beautiful witch!'

'You think I'm beautiful?' Hermione teased, giggling.

'No! I mean...if I squint a bit you could be passable...' The Sneakoscope whistled in Hermione's bag. 'That damn spinning top!'

Hermione shoved Draco's legs off the sofa and sat down. She pushed away the bottle as he offered it again, wrinkling her nose at the smell.

'What's this?' She pulled a crumpled newspaper out from under the coffee table.

'No!' Draco lunged for it and toppled onto the floor. 'Don't-'

'Power couple Astoria Greengrass and...and Ronald Weasley...announce their engagement...'

'I tried to stop you,' Draco sighed as the paper trembled in Hermione's hand.

Hermione lurched to her feet, knocking Draco back off-balance.

'Where you going, Granger?' He dragged himself onto the sofa, peering at her in the kitchen.

Hermione slumped into the cushions next to him, a tub of ice cream in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. She handed Draco a spoon and they dug in.

'We're too good for 'em,' Draco announced, waving a spoonful of ice cream at Hermione.

She nodded as she drank deeply from the wine bottle.

'He never deserved you. An' she couldn't handle all this,' Draco jumped up and started swaying his hips.

'I don't think anyone could handle that!' Hermione giggled, throwing a cushion at Draco.

'You know what we need?!'

'More wine?' Hermione squinted down the neck into the empty bottle.

'No! Well, yes. But also, music!'

Draco tottered over to the radio as Hermione opened another bottle.

'Dance with me!' He cried, dramatically offering his hand to her.

'What? No!'

Draco grabbed her by the waist and slipped his hand in hers. Stumbling and tripping, they spun around the tiny apartment. Laughing hysterically, they collapsed onto the sofa.

'You were engaged to her, weren't you?'

'Sort of,' Draco swigged the last of the Firewhisky. 'T'was meant to be an arranged marriage.'

'What happened?' Hermione handed him her bottle of wine and they took it in turns drinking.

'The War. The Greengrassesesess....they no longer wanted their pure, sweet, innocent youngest daughter marrying a Malfoy.'

'Did you love her?'

'No...but I think I could of. Y'know, eventually.'

They drank in silence for a while.

'She isn't my type anyway. She's too...blonde!'

'You're blonde!' Hermione laughed, pushing him off the sofa. She squealed as he dragged her with him.

'Oof!' He grunted. 'You need to lay off the pancakes!'

Hermione swatted him with a cushion, then leapt to her feet. Draco chased her around the room, before pinning her against the kitchen counter. Hermione stared up at him. He felt as though he was drowning in chocolate as he gazed into her eyes.

Without warning, Hermione tickled him. He squealed and tripped over. Draco sat on the kitchen floor, watching Hermione sprawl victoriously across the sofa. Part of him was glad the moment was gone, but only a small part.