Good Omens

Chapter Three

The week leading up to training was spent using her considerable savings fund to buy everything that she had left behind her in the UK. This meant re-stocking her wardrobe with clothes, buying new books and quills and other necessary items. The wizarding strip in Melbourne City was called Merlin's Lane and was well stocked for the majority of her needs.

She walked past a pet shop, her arms laden with bags and paused. There was a little ginger kitten sitting in a display of the window and her heart clenched.

Her own ginger cat, Crookshanks, passed away peacefully in his sleep some four years before and she missed him terribly. The kitten mewed at her and she went to take a step towards the shop before remembering herself.

There was no way she could buy a kitten while still living with her parents.

"If you're still here in a few weeks when I'm all set up, I'll come back for you," she whispered, knowing that the kitten couldn't hear her anyway.

She continued on her way, checking out the shops as she walked past. Her whole body felt different in the week being there. She now had a sense of purpose, something to look forward to and it was so invigorating. There was now a bounce to her step and she was starting to feel more alive and herself than she had in years.

She had thought about calling Harry and telling him about Malfoy but realised that if she did that, she could not only compromise him but also her chance of an exciting new career. So she decided to leave it for now. What good would it do anyway? Besides that, she was a little angry at him for lying to all of them for all this time. Not just about his job, but about Malfoy as well.

I mean, it's not like we would have gone off tattling to death eaters, she thought spitefully.

As she re-entered muggle Melbourne, she walked down the hill towards a shopping precinct. A noticeboard of a real-estate agency caught her eye and she turned back. There was a flat for rent, in the city. A top floor apartment with roof access to a shared community garden of sorts. She knew she couldn't stay at her parents forever, and with the job in the city, she could get more exercise by walking to the ministry instead of apparating. There was no point in delaying the inevitable.

She took down the number of the agent and decided she would call them later.

***

The apartment had three bedrooms, a spacious and airy living room area and an open kitchen, with large windows overlooking the city. The rent was well within her range as well, and after filling in the paperwork with her mother's details, confunded the agent into believing she was Monica. She would have had too much trouble otherwise as she didn't have a muggle job and income.

Her parents were over the moon that she had decided to move more permanently, even though they would miss her in their spare room. She knew that she couldn't impose on their independence, but promised she would be there every weekend she could for dinner. It felt good, knowing that she could visit them whenever she wanted, rather than only being able to chat over the internet.

Hermione looked around her new bedroom, mentally measuring and arranging imaginary furniture. She had wooden floorboards beneath her feet, the walls surrounding her was painted a dark teal green. This room also featured a reasonable sized rectangular black framed window, that let in a considerable amount of natural light. She preferred this over candles or artificial lighting and she could picture herself having a late morning lying in bed and taking it all in.

Knowing she needed furniture quite urgently, Hermione decided to take a trip back into Merlin's Lane. There was a tiny old shop there, hidden away between an overbearing apothecary and an overflowing bookstore, that sold miniaturised furniture for easy transport that she would only have to then perform an 'engorgio' spell on. She would never had noticed it, had she not checked out the stands of sale items out the front of the bookstore first. She had a quick peak inside and tucked the bit of knowledge about the store into the back of her mind for when she needed it.