Dramione: Skills for life

2~ 1st task

Hermione scurried along with Harry and Ginny.

"This is awful." mumbled Hermione. Harry nodded sympathetically.

"I'm sorry Mione. Crash at our house. If he does anything to you, I swear to Merlin." muttered Harry angrily. Hermione smiled in spite of herself.

"Okay class, here we are!" shouted Tori.

They were in the center of the quidditch pitch.

"Where exactly is here?" muttered Parvati.

"You see this marker?" asked Tori, gesturing to a large circle in the grass. "This is your portal. When you step inside, it immediately takes you to you're new town. Just say There's no place like home and bang! You're there!"

"So, squeeze in squeeze in. A little crammed, oh well! Say it on 3! One...two...three:"

"There's no place like home." chanted the class. Most of them anyway. Draco stood on the edge sullenly. All of a sudden the quidditch pitch disappeared! They were brought into a town square.

"This is the town Magic." giggled Tori. "It has the functions of a real town. Over there is the grocery store. Over there is the department store, and that is the home goods store."

It looked like a strip mall, without a parking lot.

"Now, forewarning, you cannot use Muggle or Wizarding money. We are giving you money, it hasn't any value in the real world. So don't try and cheat. These building over here are where you will be working. Okay! Now, houses! I need all the apartment people here, mansion here, and then houses here." There was a shuffle as they grouped.

Hermione stood by Draco, Knipe, Turpin, Parvati, and Seamus. Harry and Ginny were with Luna, Neville, Blaise, Padma, Theodore, and Hannah. Ron was left with Lavender, Pansy, Goyle, Susan, and Terry.

"Okay. So, do you all still have your housing slips?" asked Tori.

It was Neville who tentatively raised his hand. Hannah laughed and held it up.

"Okay. So if you look now, you'll have addresses on them. Mansions are located on Lilly Pond Lane, Houses on Homestead Avenue, and apartments on Skid Row. For the next hour, take a look at your new home. I want you back in town square then for your first assignment!"

Hermione frowned at the term Skid Row. She moved alongside Draco, who was equally upset.

"We're located at 9302 Skid Row." sighed Draco. They walked up the street and came up three different apartment complexes. 9302 was the middle one, in both size and location. The mailbox was glowing, so they opened it. Inside was a letter and a key.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy

Congratulations! You are now the proud owners of your very own apartment! Now, in this is your home. You are not renters. So, for the four months we want you to know that your are required to pay bills for electricity, water, and house. If your fail to do so, you will go into debt which will severely harm your grade. You need to pass this class in order to complete your schooling. Much luck!

Headmistress McGonagall.

"Here we go." huffed Draco. They opened the door, which led to another door. It needed a key. Hermione handed Draco the key. He turned the lock and the door swung open. Anticipation swelled as they saw the door at the top of the stairs.

"Here goes nothing." mumbled Hermione as she climbed the staircase, Draco on her tail. She assumed it was the same key that opened it, so she turned the doorknob. The door swung open. Hermione gasped.

"Oh my." said Hermione. She stepped inside carefully. The door opened up to the living room to the left, a closet to the left. Next to the closet was a long hallway. On the first left was the kitchen, across from the master bedroom. The other two bedrooms were at the end of the hallway. A bathroom was between the kitchen and a bedroom.

"Uh, Granger?" said Malfoy. Hermione walked through the kitchen, which opened to a small dining room that connected to the living room.

"What?" snapped Hermione, then she saw it.

"The hell is that?" snapped Draco, referring to a mural of sorts. Right next to:

"A hole in the wall!" gasped Hermione. It was as if someone has punched the wall and gone through the plaster.

"This must be the new project." sighed Hermione. "A fix it."

Draco pulled out his wand. "Wait!"

Hermione shook her head. "We shouldn't do anything until we ask. Speaking of asking, where is all the furniture?"

"There isn't any." pointed out Draco. Hermione rolled her eyes. They decided to just go back to main square, seeing as there wasn't anything else to do. The pair walked slowly. It seemed like everyone was going to the square. It also seemed like Tori was waiting for them, expecting them.

"So, I think you're all here. I assume you all noticed things wrong."

"We have no furniture!" shouted someone.

"My lawn is like a forest!" shouted Ron.

"Okay. So yes, none of you have anything in your apartment and you all have a DIY project, which is your first project!" cheered Tori. She was always exceptionally happy.

"DIY means do it yourself." She added, seeing some confused glances. Groans chorused. "Now, I'm going to explain the rules and directions. Okay so on this particular project, no magic. None. This DIY is do it yourself. You are also going to be faced with painting your homes. That you can use magic on, don't want to poinson you with the fumes! Ha! So, you are all going to be sent to the home goods store to pick up what you may need to fix it. Meet back here before three o'clock and we'll discuss furniture. Good luck!"

Everyone sprinted from there to the store. Hermione ran over to Draco.

"Do you know how to fix the hole in the wall?" asked Hermione nervously.

Draco smiled wryly. "Something little Miss Know-it-all doesn't know? But yes Granger, I do."

Hermione's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"We need plaster, a scraper, and dry wall. Come." Hermione followed him dutifully. They grabbed their materials and hurried back to their home. She pulled the key from her pocket and got them inside.

"You start on this, I'm going to duplicate our keys." Hermione extracted her wand and muttered a simple spell. Another key appeared. Just to be safe, she pushed it into the lock and turned it. It worked.

"Done." said Draco. Hermione's mouth gaped as she saw the smooth wall.

"How?"

"Granger there are a lot of thing you do not know about me." laughed Draco. Hermione scowled.

"Well, we need to start painting now." sighed Hermione, glancing around the empty apartment.

"Okay. What colors are you thinkning?"

"Well, perhaps a light to medium brown for the living and dining rooms. A bright blue for the bathroom and a sunny yellow for the kitchen." suggested Hermione. Draco nodded.

"Sure. For the other two bedrooms I'd say we don't. We can decide when we get the kids. How about our bedroom?"

Hermione blushed faintly. "How about a pale blue?"

Draco smiled and nodded. "Sure."

Hermione was taken aback by his lack of disagreement. She motioned for him to follow her. The duo pulled out their wands.

"I'll do these two walls, you do these." said Draco. Hermione nodded. It only too them an hour to do the entire house to their specific liking. Hermione and Draco looked at each other.

"Draco, I know that these next eighteen weeks are going to be hard, but can we just attempt to get along? For the sake of both of our sanities?" sighed Hermione. Draco himself sighed.

"Granger, I know you hate me, but yes. I would rather like to get along. It'd be tough being roommates with someone who I didn't."

Hermione smiled faintly and nodded. "Now, it's time for furniture!"