Flowers That are Looked At

It was an empty room, Hermione Granger reflected, as she stared at her new bedroom in her new flat at her new school. Everything was new today--everything, that is, except for Hermione herself. At seventeen, she realized that she hadn't changed a great deal since she was eleven, except perhaps to grow taller and gain the curves that always come with womanhood. She'd cut her brown hair over the summer holiday after her last year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but it was still insufferably curly and prone to frizzing on rainy or humid days. Consequently, she most often wore it pulled back into a ponytail or bun to keep some control over it. She had a pair of glasses that were meant for reading, but she never wore them. Someone had once told her that her brown eyes were "nice", so she tried to hide them as rarely as possible.

It was August 29, and Hermione had just finished moving into her new flat at the International Wizarding University. She had yet to declare her major at the University, largely because she had no idea what she wanted to do with her life. One of her best friends from her time at Hogwarts, Harry Potter, was attending Auror training at the Ministry of Magic's Elite Corps. It was an intense training; he'd be there for three years, but Hermione had no doubt that he would accomplish a lot. After all, he had defeated one of the most evil wizards of all time during their seventh year at Hogwarts. Harry had been accepted almost immediately to the Elite Corps, as had the third member of their group of friends, Ron Weasley.

But Hermione was avoiding thinking of Ron. She absently walked over to her bed and smoothed the bedspread, trying to distract herself. Her parents had helped her move in at eight o'clock that morning, determined to get an early start, and had left shortly thereafter. They had it in their minds that it was now the time for Hermione to be independent--and, being dentists, they also had appointments later that morning. Eventually, there would be three other people sharing the flat--another girl and two boys. She only knew who the girl was: an American witch by the name of Elizabeth Nalani. Elizabeth was half-Muggle and had called Hermione on the telephone during the summer to discuss what colors they would use to decorate their bedroom. After deciding on a spring-like theme of yellows, purples and greens, Hermione had discovered that Elizabeth hailed from Hawaii. She had a very friendly voice, but that was all Hermione had found out over the phone. It seemed she would simply have to wait for Elizabeth to arrive to learn anything more about her.

Her train of thought was interrupted as she heard the latch in the front door click and open. One of her roommates had arrived, and Hermione hoped it was Elizabeth. It had been a long time since she'd had a close girl friend and she was eager to find that closeness in Elizabeth. That in mind, Hermione stood and walked out of her bedroom into the living area where the front door was. "Hallo?" she called uncertainly. The new roommate was bent over some luggage in the doorway, but was clearly male. "Hi, I'm Hermione Granger--one of your roommates. What's your name?"

The new roommate stood, and Hermione felt a curious heavy sensation in her stomach. "I should think you'd know me, Granger," Draco Malfoy smirked. "It hasn't been that long since we graduated."

Hermione couldn't respond to him. She was still in shock over him just being there. He, too, had not changed very much since their graduation from Hogwarts. His silvery blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail that grazed his shoulders and his peaked face still looked at least mildly ferret-like. He was regarding Hermione haughtily through icy grey eyes--eyes that she couldn't read, no matter how hard she tried. Draco had noticed her staring and laughed aloud. "What's the matter, Granger? In complete and total awe over my beauty, I suppose?"

She snapped back to reality. "You're not one of my roommates. You can't be," she stated unconvincingly. "Your family lost their fortune when your father was killed."

Draco's eyes narrowed briefly as if recalling the moment, but it was so brief that Hermione might have missed it. His haughty smirk returned. "It was held in a trust for me until I turned eighteen. That was last May, Granger."

"Well, congratulations," Hermione replied, not sure what else to say. A moment of awkward silence passed. "Well...welcome to the flat."

"Thanks," Draco answered, ungratefully. He began hauling his luggage through the door. "Are you the only one here so far?"

Hermione nodded. "Besides you, that is." She couldn't believe she was enjoying small talk with the one person who had made the last seven years of her life completely miserable. She forced herself to continue the conversation. "What are you majoring in here?"

"Healing." Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Don't look so surprised, Granger," Draco told her, a more genuine smile coming to his face. "In order to stay out of Azkaban, the Ministry of Magic made me choose a field of study that was actually helpful to society. Professor Snape gave me a stellar recommendation as far as Potions went and Flitwick seemed to think that I had a talent for Charms. And after that meeting with Dumbledore after Potter's heroic salvation of humanity...well, Healing just seems to be the field for me." Draco suddenly whipped out his wand and pointed it at the luggage in the doorway. "Mobiliarbus!" he exclaimed, and the luggage floated past them into his bedroom. "How about you, Granger?"

Hermione sighed. "To be completely honest, Malfoy, I have no idea. I'm just studying for the sake of studying right now."

"Sounds like you," Draco reflected, following his luggage into his bedroom. Hermione watched his retreating form, then turned around and walked into her own bedroom. She hoped that Draco would leave her alone, at least until their other roommates arrived. Unfortunately, it seemed that he had a different idea. Hermione had no sooner sat down on her bed than Draco came sauntering in, scrutinizing her and the room. "You should have been an interior decorator, Granger. You've set up this place rather nicely. I especially like the bouquet on the dresser. Something from Weasley, I suppose?"

Hermione swallowed a growing lump in her throat. "Ron and I broke up this summer," she responded. "The flowers aren't from him."

"Oh. That's too bad," Draco stated, seeming at least a little sympathetic. "What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Alright." Draco walked over to the window and touched the white curtains. "What's your roommate's name?"

"Elizabeth Nalani," Hermione responded. "She's from Hawaii."

"Never been there. Sounds nice, though. Anyway," Draco seemed bored with the entire conversation. "I'd better unpack. My roommate is from somewhere in Europe--not sure where, though. He'll be here soon." With that, Draco swept out of the room, leaving Hermione confused and concerned. She didn't want to believe that Draco Malfoy was actually capable of being nice, but it seemed quite possible that he had changed some. Still...she didn't trust him.

It was only fifteen minutes later when the front door opened again, and a heavily accented male voice called out, "Hello? Is anyone here?" Hermione hurried out to the living room to see a handsome (though short) young man with dark hair and olive skin standing in the doorway. He smiled at her, revealing perfectly white teeth. "Hello, miss. I am Angelos Santorini; you must be one of my roommates."

"Hermione Granger," Hermione introduced herself, grinning broadly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Angelos."

"The pleasure is all mine," he replied warmly and met Hermione's brown eyes with his almost black ones. "Is anyone else here?"

"I am." Draco sauntered in from the bedroom. "Hallo, I'm Draco Malfoy. You must be Angelos."

"That I am," Angelos answered, smiling. "Here all the way from Greece."

"Wow, where in Greece?" Hermione asked, trying to be polite. Draco gave her a cross look, but she ignored him.

"My family lives just outside of Athens...on my mother's side, we are all witches and wizards. My father is a...how do you say...he is a Muggle, and so are the rest of his family. We mix very well," Angelos explained, laughing. "I apologize. My English is not very good."

"It's fine," Hermione assured him. Draco seemed a bit put-off by the fact that his roommate was not a pureblood, and Hermione found this particularly amusing.

"You two must both be from England," Angelos guessed. "It is in your accents. Did you both attend Hogwarts?"

"That we did," Draco answered, his voice drawling in a bored way. "Same year and everything."

"I am not surprised. Since we are in England and all, it is only fitting that two of my three roommates would be English!" Angelos laughed. "Which room will I be in?"

Draco took over and led Angelos to their bedroom, and Hermione could hear them discussing their schooling. Angelos, she overheard, had attended Mount Olympus School of Magic. The school placed a lot of emphasis on Divination (Hermione groaned inwardly), and a lot of the students went on to study the field at the University of Divination at Delphi. His older sister Maria was in her second year there.

Eventually, Hermione decided to go back to her room and resume the wait for Elizabeth. An hour later, she decided to read while she waited. Two hours later, she'd finished the book and was still waiting. She picked up another book and felt her eyes drooping. A knock on the door woke her, what seemed like moments later. She opened her eyes to see Angelos standing in the doorway, smiling at her.

"Draco and I were wondering if you wanted anything for lunch. We were going to order sandwiches from a nearby shop, if you are interested," he offered. Hermione rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock she'd placed on her bedside table. It read 12:34.

"Lunchtime already?" she asked, and Angelos nodded. "Oh...um...I guess I'll have a roast beef sandwich and chips, if they have them."

"Alright. I will tell Draco," Angelos agreed and Hermione managed a reasonably good smile at him. She sat up as he left the room, wondering when she'd fallen asleep and how long she'd been out. A moment later, she emerged from her bedroom, her hair brushed and her clothes relatively neat. Draco was sitting in the living room and nodded at her.

"You would never know that you'd been sleeping," he commented. "I sent Angelos out to get the sandwiches. He seems to think that he can navigate this town without help."

"And you let him?" Hermione asked, feeling cranky and annoyed. "He's going to get lost."

"No he won't. I charmed his wand to lead him directly to the sandwich shop. He'll be fine." Draco laughed. "You really don't like me at all, do you, Granger?"

Hermione didn't answer, but instead walked into the kitchenette area and opened the refrigerator to get a can of butterbeer. "Do you want one?" she asked, holding the can up. When Draco didn't answer, she closed the refrigerator and sat down at the kitchen table. She opened the can with a satisfying popping sound and, after drinking deeply for a moment, looked at Draco again. "Has Elizabeth shown up yet?"

Draco sighed. "No, not yet. Though if she lives in Hawaii, I doubt we'll be seeing her before supper...tea time at the very earliest."

"That long, huh?" Hermione couldn't pretend to be interested in making conversation with Draco anymore than he was with her. They sat in silence until Angelos returned with the sandwiches.

"Sorry, Hermione. They did not have chips at the sandwich shop...I hope you do not mind," he apologized, putting a paper bag down in front of her. Hermione shook her head vaguely.

"No, that's fine. I think I'll do well with just the sandwich for now." She opened the bag and pulled the sandwich out, but didn't start eating. Angelos had gone into the living room and sat down on the couch next to Draco. He handed Draco another paper bag.

"Tuna, right?" Angelos asked and Draco nodded. "No pickles, right?"

"Right, right, very good." Draco pulled a pita bread sandwich filled with tuna fish out of the bag and bit into it. "Not as good as the ones at home, but still good."

It was a decidedly uncomfortable meal. Angelos seemed content to eat in silence--perhaps he just had a lot to process, coming to this new culture--but Hermione and Draco were simply not speaking to each other. When she'd finished her roast beef sandwich, Hermione threw her trash away and announced, half to the air, that she was going to read some more and to please come and get her when Elizabeth arrived. Angelos said something through the food in his mouth; Draco just kept eating.

***

"Hermione?"

It was a voice outside of her bedroom door, definitely female and definitely American. Hermione laid her book face down on the bed and looked at the clock. It was almost midnight. Still, she stood and opened the door, excited that her roommate had arrived at last. She was shocked, to say the very least, at the girl standing in the doorway.

"Hi! I'm Elizabeth Nalani!" she chirped happily. She was a little shorter than Hermione, probably standing at about five-foot-five. She had chin-length black hair and beautifully tan skin, but what was shocking was to see that two sections in the front of her hair were a bright shade of purple. She was of slight build and had dark, almond-shaped eyes that sat behind a pair of cute and chunky black glasses. She also had an eyebrow ring. Looking down, Hermione also noted that she was wearing a denim miniskirt, a thin white t-shirt and torn fishnet stockings under chunky black boots. Hermione blinked at her.

"Um...hi. I'm Hermione," she finally said, reaching out her hand to grasp Elizabeth's. "It's wonderful to meet you at last, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth smiled, revealing sparkling white teeth. "Call me Lizzie. Everyone else does." She stepped into the room, followed by marching suitcases which soon began to unpack themselves and arrange a variety of things around the room, including several dashboard hula dancers and Hawaiian leis. "I guess the boys decided to get to bed--they left a note for me on the kitchen table saying to make myself at home. So I did." She held up a can of butterbeer.

"Ah." Hermione still wasn't sure what to make of Elizabeth--or Lizzie, rather. She sat down on her bed, carefully. "So why are you here so late?"

"Oh, it's only two in the afternoon in Hilo now," Lizzie explained, setting her can of butterbeer down on the free dresser and bending over to search for something in one of her suitcases. "It's still yesterday...I left right after lunch--I apparated."

"Oh." Hermione wondered what on earth she was looking for. She watched until Lizzie finally emerged, bearing a beautiful white lei made of what appeared to be tuberose. She walked over to Hermione and smiled at her pleasantly.

"Aloha, Helimione," Lizzie said softly, gently putting the lei around Hermione's neck and giving her a friendly kiss on each cheek. "It's tradition. I didn't know your name in Hawaiian, so I just made it up. Mine's Elikapeka. Not very romantic, if you ask me." Lizzie suddenly sobered. "I really hope that we'll become friends. I don't know if I'm very easy to live with, but...well, I would really like to be your friend."

Hermione was touched. "Thank you," she whispered. "I hope so, too."

They smiled at each other briefly, and Lizzie went back to the suitcase. "I brought along leis for the guys, too. What are their names?" she asked, producing a bright red lei and a pale blue--almost silver--one.

"Angelos Santorini and Draco Malfoy," Hermione answered. Lizzie giggled.

"Anelo and..." she was overtaken with a fit of giggles, "...Dlako."

Hermione laughed, too. "I think the red one would be great for Angelos. Draco is more of a silvery person."

"I'll remember that."

Lizzie stood and went to place the leis on the kitchen table, while Hermione sleepily changed into her pajamas and got into bed. She felt terrible taking the lei off, but simply hung it on her bedpost, hoping that it wouldn't dry out too quickly. She was almost asleep when Lizzie sneaked back in.

"Hermione? I just wanted to let you know, before you start worrying about your lei drying out...they're charmed to keep blooming forever."

And that was the last thing Hermione heard before she fell asleep.