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English
Series:
Part 3 of A New Start
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Published:
2014-04-18
Words:
1,130
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1/1
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4
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43
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Next Step

Summary:

Draco and Hermione move in together.

Notes:

This was written for misdemeanor1331 as a birthday gift!!

Although this is just a one-shot, I wanted to establish a background for Hermione's new role after quitting her old job. I've set it so that Hermione took about a couple of years off work to give back to the Wizarding community and she has just come back to the Ministry.

Work Text:

After hours of endless meetings, stupid bureaucratic paper-pushing, and dealing with her insane subordinates, Hermione was extremely ready to call it quits.  Ever since she had accepted a new position in the Magical Law Enforcement division, her days had gotten very long.  After quitting her old job at the Improper Use of Magic Office with Draco, she had floated around for a year and a half, not completely settling down to one job.  Nothing had really called her name and so she got involved with some philanthropies and started to translate The Tales of the Beedle the Bard. However, when Harry had asked if she wanted to be one of his deputies for the MLE, she accepted.  Although giving back to impoverished children and families that were still recovering from the War was truly amazing, she was ready to return back to the workforce.  After six months on the job, she sort-of wished she didn't have to deal with the Ministry's bureaucracy but alas, anywhere she went, paperwork was inevitable.  Good thing she enjoyed that sort of organization for the most part though.  

Grabbing her coat off the hook, she finally stepped out of her office and made her way to the Floo.  Once there, she briefly thought about heading home but could not resist going over to Draco's home instead.  It had already been a few days since she had last seen her fiancé and it would be nice to at least get to see him in the morning. 

Stepping out of the fireplace in the living room, Hermione tiptoed towards Draco's bedroom at one in the morning, suddenly feeling an urge to snuggle next to Draco and maybe even go a step further. She opened the door and silently slipped into the room. She moved to the bed and glanced at the blond wrapped up in the blankets. She pushed back the covers and cuddled next to him, reveling in the heat radiating off him. Soon, she was snoring lightly as she fell asleep, the long day finally catching up to her.

Early next morning, Draco stirred awake to see his fiancée lying beside him. "Hey," he said softly as he stretched his arms out. "I didn't know you were coming over.  I would've tried to stay up."

"I missed you," she mumbled as she wrapped her arms around him. "It was a really long day and I wanted to see you."

He leaned over and pecked her cheek lightly. "Well, I'm not opposing to waking up next to you," he said with a light chuckle. "I like having you here."

"It would be strange if you didn't like me." She giggled then pushed herself up and leaned over and peppered kisses along Draco's jaw. "Want to make up for not being awake last night?" she whispered throatily.

"Definitely," he mutters as he flipped her over onto her back. He tugged on her blouse that she had worn to work the day before and finally slipped it over her head.

---

"That was a great way to wake up," Draco said with a sigh as they laid on the bed, absolutely spent. "We should do this more often."

"We could do this whenever we want," Hermione hinted not-so subtlety, "if I was here more often."

"You actually want to move in?" Draco asked in a surprised tone. "I thought you said you weren't ready and wanted to wait until after the wedding."  He shook his head.  For the past six or so months, he had been asking her to move in, especially after Hermione started working at the MLE, because after spending such long hours at the office, she barely had any time for dates or anything.  At least if they were under the same roof, they'd be able to spend a little time together.  

"It seems right," she admitted. "We've been practically living together anyway and I like bring with you, especially since we don't see each other at work anymore.  I miss you a lot."  Knowing how much Draco valued his beauty sleep, she always felt bad asking him to see her after work but also knew that he wouldn't be able to resist surprising her with a late dinner every few nights or so and honestly could not wait for that.  

"Okay," Draco agreed with a smile on his face. He'd been ready to take this next step in their relationship for awhile now but now, she was too.  Who would've ever thought that Draco wouldn't be the commitment-phobe in a relationship?

---

Due to being a war hero among other things, demand for Hermione's flat was very high and she had received an offer that was well-above market value almost immediately, letting her move into Draco's larger flat within a few weeks.

"You have too much stuff," Draco grumbled as he watched Hermione bring in yet another load of things from her flat.  He took some of the items out of her hand as she stepped out of the Floo.  "Maybe you should consider downsizing."

"I need all these things," she said as she grabbed back her books from his hands.  "These are only the things I need on a daily basis.  Be thankful that I didn't bring everything and left some things in the storage unit."

"Do you really need these things?" he asked. He pulled out a random book out of the growing stack and glanced at the cover. "What use could you possibly have for our sixth year Arithmancy book?"  He flipped through the pages with a groan.  "Why didn't you burn this immediately?  This subject was awful!  You know, it's not too late to destroy this one."

Hermione yanked the book away from him and shot him a glare.  "Arithmancy is a beautiful subject," she retorted.  "I might even have to bring the rest of my textbooks here. It's not like you don't have the room anyway," she added, knowing that there were plenty of empty shelves in Draco's study.  Although Draco was also very intelligent, he just didn't have the same passion for books as she did and plus, the Manor's library was also filled with books so it didn't make too much sense to have a collection at the flat too.

"Please don't do that," he begged.  "Or else, I'll start to feel like I'm at the library.  That would not be good while I'm writing new legislature for improper magic use.  I'll remember the horrific times at the Hogwarts library and just to put the poor kids out their misery, I might have to start letting them do magic during holidays."

Hermione just slapped Draco's arm.  "You're so awful!" she moaned.  "It wasn't that bad!"

Draco just smirked. "Eh, you love me. Or else you wouldn't be moving in."

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