Keyhole

Keyhole

Hermione swore quietly to herself as she made her way over to Harry's place. She hated turning up uninvited anywhere, and Harry's roommate made the whole ordeal even more unpleasant. She really hated Malfoy, but she also really needed that Transfiguration book back to be able to finish her paper in time, so there was nothing for it. She swore again. How Harry could accept getting such a roommate she would never understand, but he had just shrugged and said it could have been worse. Worse how? She shuddered thinking of her last visit when Malfoy had come out of the shower in just a towel and immediately started whinging about how she shouldn't turn up unannounced and next time she might just interrupt him when he had one of his gorgeous lovers over and then he would really be upset. She had felt really embarrassed, but Harry had just rolled his eyes and asked her to come in. How did he stand it? Oh, how she missed Ron. If he had been here, instead of living with Charlie in Romania, he would have known what to do about the smug bastard. Like knocking his teeth in, or something.

She stood outside the door, hesitating, when she suddenly got the great idea of looking through the keyhole to see if she really was interrupting something. Then she could just turn around and go home. Maybe try to get the book from the library or something. She bent down and peeped through the keyhole, and...

Oh, my. Malfoy hadn't been kidding about having lovers over. He was currently on the sofa straddling someone's lap, his white shirt halfway down his back, and a pair of decidedly male hands roaming all over him. Hermione stood up, blushing crimson, and was just about to turn and head for the library when she changed her mind. Why should she let that idiot intimidate her? Harry had her book and she needed it back now. Malfoy was his roommate and if Harry was out, Malfoy could damn well be the one to give it to her. She knocked determinedly at the door and waited for it to open.

"One moment..." Harry's voice came from the inside. Hermione just gaped, and a minute later the door opened and Harry, his hair messier than ever, smiled at her.

"Hermione! Come in!" He opened the door wider. Hermione could see the coffee table, which had been empty a minute ago, covered with parchment and books, and Malfoy sitting on the sofa with another stack of parchment on his lap, his white shirt buttoned all the way up and the tie neatly tied.

"We're trying to get that stupid defense paper done," Harry explained. "We might have to pull an all nighter to get it ready in time, I'm afraid." He made a face and gestured at Hermione to come in. She continued to stare incredulously at the scene in front of her and Harry looked at her concernedly.

"Is something wrong?"

"Erm, no, I just came for my Transfiguration book," she managed to say, wondering when Harry had become such a good actor and why he hadn't told her about this. Though it could have to do with the fact that she would never, ever be okay with it, of course. She really hated Malfoy.

On her way home she took the way past the University floo hub to see if there were any fireplace talk times available. She needed to talk to Ron. He would know what to do. He always knew what to do.

* * * *

"Are you really sure, Hermione?" Ron sounded incredulous.

"Yes, I'm sure. I saw it through the keyhole and there were no others in the apartment. It must have been Harry with him." She sounded desperate. "They really were very quick, covering it up. Why would he lie to me? And how do I bring this up with him without admitting to being a Peeping Tom?"

"Oh God." Ron sighed. "What a mess!"

"You could say that again. So, have any good ideas how to go about this?"

"Hmm, maybe. You remember when I told Harry to get one of these keyhole covers to make it impossible for burglars to see through the keyhole if the apartment is empty or not?"

"Yes. Apparently they didn't bother with that." Hermione let out a nervous giggle.

"No. You could point that out to him, and then tell him that I had asked you to check if they had, and... You know." Ron waggled his eyebrows and Hermione laughed. He looked so silly, with his head floating in the fireplace, waggling his eyebrows suggestingly at her. She really, really missed him.

"I will do that. I'll talk to you when I've found out more. I need to write this Transfiguration paper first, so I won't be able to do anything about it until the weekend anyway."

"Good luck!" Ron gave her an encouraging smile. "I mean, it is Malfoy we're talking about here."

Hermione just rolled her eyes at him.

* * * *

When she knocked on Harry's door on Saturday afternoon, she was nervous even though she knew he would be at home and expecting her. She hoped he would be alone, and as it turned out he was. While Harry was making tea Hermione started talking to him about this and that, carefully avoiding the real reason she was there for. She had decided to take that up when she was leaving, in case things got ugly, or worse, embarrassing.

After about an hour of chitchat she decided it was time, and made a flimsy excuse about having to go home and study. Harry didn't seem surprised and followed her to the door, where, as she was about to step out, she pointed to the keyhole and asked Ron's question. Before Harry could answer though, she heard Malfoy's drawl behind her, as he came up the stairs.

"But we have. You don't think I would let him get one of those cheap, Muggle ones, now do you?" He sounded amused. "There's a very clever charm on the keyhole actually. Have a look."

Hermione bent down and peeped, once again, through their keyhole, and what she saw made her gasp with surprise. On the sofa she could see the very same thing she had seen last time she did this. Malfoy, halfway shirtless, squirming on some guy's lap. She let out a giggle of relief and turned to Harry.

"I will tell Ron that he can sleep calmly at night. I don't think any burglar would want to walk in on that."

"I chose the scenario of course," Draco said.

"No doubt about that." She wrinkled her nose, kissed Harry on the cheek and left, feeling very content indeed. She knew Ron would also be relieved when she talked to him later that night.

* * * *

Both men watched her disappear around the corner, and then Draco stepped past Harry and into the apartment.

"She somehow didn't seem to approve of my choice of scenery." He still sounded amused.

"No," Harry agreed. "And I still think I should have been the one on top."

Draco just laughed.