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Tuition Money	By : cpetnm Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 53022 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 8
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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“Miss Granger, may I have a word with you.”
Hermione looked at her Obscure Potions professor as she prepared to leave the lab. She made her way to the lanky, serious potions master after the majority of the students had vacated the room.
“Yes, Professor Giovanni?” she asked as she approached his desk.
He looked to be in his thirties and had long brown hair he wore in a low queue. She could admit he was a handsome man, ruggedly charming like Bill Weasley. The professor had been complimentary of her first completed potion, which took fifty-eight steps done over a five-day period.
“An assistant position has opened up in the student potions lab. Might you be interested?”
Hermione knew those positions were generally reserved for upper level students. It would be a great job, but Draco had asked her not to work for the duration of their agreement.
“Would you allow me to think about it and give you an answer during class on Wednesday?”
Professor Giovanni looked at her with a confused expression. “That would be fine. Do you currently have a job?”
“Well, yes, in a manner of speaking. But my, um, employer may be amenable to allowing me to do this as well.”
Gathering up his books, the professor began to walk toward the classroom door. Hermione walked alongside him.
“Alright, Miss Granger. Let me know.”
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“Absolutely not,” Draco said as Hermione told him about the opportunity to work as a potions laboratory assistant.
Hermione reigned in her flaring temper, tamping down the desire to storm out of the room.
“Malfoy, this job pays well and that would help me next school year. I could save up quite a bit for next year’s tuition.”
“Between your classes and our social commitments, you don’t have time for the lab assistant job. Be reasonable, Hermione.”
Draco knew he was making her angry, but he didn’t care. Yes, things between them had changed, but he felt that their original deal still had to be honored. How would she feel if he changed the terms of their arrangement?
“I am reasonable, Draco. Don’t patronize me.” She gave him a scathing look and left the room.
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The clock was making its way toward midnight and Hermione had still not come to bed. Draco had used Nox on the lights and had attempted to fall asleep, but their disagreement had bothered him. He knew it was pragmatic for her to want to save for the next school year, but if he got his way, she would continue to live with him and he’d happily pay her tuition.
He finally rolled out of the comfortable bed and made his way to her office. He knocked and let himself into the space he’d carved out for her when she’d first moved in. She was working on the Defense Against the Dark Arts presentation she was due to give in a week.
“Come to bed,” he said, walking to stand behind her chair.
He rested his hands on her tense shoulders. He hated when she ignored him. He wished she’d let her anger out by yelling at him or drawing her wand. This icy behavior made him feel like he would wake up to find her gone from his life, without a backwards glance on her part.
Hermione wanted to be angry with him, but he hadn’t done anything to warrant her current frustration. He was right: they had an agreement and mid-way through she was asking him to change it. His lithe fingers pressed into her tight muscles and she found her eyes closing and a sigh escaping her lips.
“I’ll read your presentation in the morning, if you’d like,” he offered, continuing to massage her shoulders. In his heart, Draco knew Hermione was more than capable of completing her studies, participating in their social obligations and working part time, but he was loathe to give up their time together.
“Okay,” she said quietly and let him lead her to bed.
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The next few days passed with Hermione treating Draco cordially, but with a bit of distance. She had told Professor Giovanni she wasn’t able to take the job at the current time, but asked him to keep her in mind for the following school year. The professor had seemed surprised by her refusal, but said he respected her commitment to her current employer. It had pained Hermione to reject his offer.
Hermione was learning most potions masters had the serious demeanor of Severus Snape, sans the insulting tirades. Even though she’d had to refuse the offer of employment, Hermione wondered if she might be a good potions mistress. It would be challenging work and she could use her penchant for research and inventing to contribute to the field.
Professor Giovanni had said he’d be happy to discuss what it would take for Hermione to start on the path to becoming a potions mistress. The professor knew other departments would be gunning to get the brilliant witch to join them and it would be quite the coup if she became his protégé.
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The day of Hermione’s presentation was grey and wet. She had hurried home from her afternoon Ethics in Magical Law seminar to relax before she dressed for the talk she would give to her peers and professors.
Draco got home a few minutes after she did, hoping they could talk before she began to get ready. The strain between the two of them had solidified over the past few days with Hermione doing her coursework in her office until late into the night. She claimed to be inundated with essays and reading, but he knew she’d disliked letting her professor down. He’d had Professor Giovanni the previous semester and quite liked the young potions master. He was fair, thoughtful and a good teacher.
He found Hermione in the kitchen, making tea. “Hey. How was your day?”
“It was fine. Yours?” She was searching through the cabinets for the bag of orange spice tea she’d picked up the last time she’d gone grocery shopping. Draco spotted it at the back of the shelf and handed it to her.
“Thank you,” she said, skirting around him to get to the steaming kettle.
He sighed, wanting some indication she’d forgiven him. “Do you think we could talk before you start getting ready?”
“Do you want tea?”
“Uh, yeah, Earl Grey, please,” he said, sitting at the counter and watching her prepare their drinks. She was dressed in a creamy white sweater dress with tall leather boots. Her long hair was plaited in a French braid and hung down her back. She didn’t wear much makeup, but her lips had a pink stain that highlighted her wholesome beauty. She truly was a stunning girl.
Hermione sat next to him, taking a sip of her tea. “What did you want to discuss?”
Her expression was calm, almost professional, as she regarded him. He wanted to shake her out of this forced civility, but he knew a few hours before a big public presentation wasn’t the time to accost her. So he did what he should have done when she told him about the potions lab job instead of shutting her down as he did.
“I’m very sorry I didn’t consider your reasons for wanting to take on the job Professor Giovanni offered you. You’d be able to run circles around the brightest students even holding down five jobs. I know that.” He stopped to look at her and noticed her eyes were suspiciously bright. Draco took her hand and rubbed his thumb over her palm. He was glad she let him touch her. It had been a few days since she’d accepted any physical contact from him. “The two of us have been through so much in the past few years, you more so than me. I wanted you to have a year where you could focus on what’s in front of you instead of worrying about your safety or your finances.”
“I…appreciate what you’re saying and you’ve been so good to me the past few months, but I do need to think about the future, Draco. I don’t have the luxury of not planning ahead.”
“Does that future include me?” This was really the crux of his concerns. Would she want to be with him if she didn’t need his help?
“Of course! But I’m not your responsibility. If I can stand on my own two feet, I need to do so.”
“But if we’re together, why shouldn’t I help you? If one of your friends was in need and you had the means to help them, wouldn’t you?”
“If they accepted my help, then yes, I suppose I would help them.” She stopped to carefully consider her next few words. “There’s an inherent imbalance in this situation because of our arrangement. If we didn’t have this contract between us, I would have taken that job in a heartbeat. Your opinion would have been taken into consideration, but ultimately the decision would have been mine.”
Draco had never wanted to give as freely as he did with Hermione, nor had he ever been in love. He could admit it was a confusing situation for the two of them. It didn’t seem possible he could alienate her with his generosity.
“I’m at a loss,” he confessed. “It would be hard for me to watch you struggle with your finances when I could help you.”
“I will let you help me with certain things, but not everything. I know it must seem strange, but it makes me feel proud to know I paid for something I value.”
Draco pulled her off her stool and put his arms around her waist. “Why do you have to be so bloody independent?” She leaned into his arms, enjoying the comfort she’d denied herself the past few days.
“I get it, Granger. I do.” And he did. He understood she wasn’t a Pure-blood princess like the girls he’d grown up with. She didn’t expect a wizard to fund a lavish lifestyle.
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Draco stood in the back of the large meeting room and listened to Hermione finish the question and answer portion of her presentation. She was a deft hand at answering questions in her knowledgeable, sincere manner. He’d worried the crowd would be small due to the horrid weather, but the room was full. He saw several witches and wizards holding copies of her book.
A brawny dark-haired wizard stood to ask her a question. “Miss Granger, it’s no secret you’re dating a man who fought for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. How could you date a man who would have rejected your place in the wizarding world?”
Even knowing this question would come up, Draco felt the blood drain from his face. His lovely Hermione, never one to back down from a challenge, confronted the question like the lioness she was.
“I fought this war with the hope that I would be accepted in the wizarding world. Although Mister Malfoy was taught to reject people like me, he overcame his prejudices after seeing the hateful, irrational actions of Voldemort and his followers. He shared valuable intelligence with members of The Light at the risk of his own safety. Mister Malfoy continues to help in the recovery efforts and has graciously allowed me to direct where some of his fortune is used. We’ve come to terms with our pasts and I can honestly say I trust him implicitly.”
A few curious faces turned and looked at him, then turned back to the engaging young woman at the front of the room. An older professor asked a question, clearly trying to get the discussion back to Hermione’s book. Draco could not have been more grateful.
He tried to pay attention to the remaining questions, but his mind kept going back to what she’d said about him.
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Hermione finished signing the last book and bid goodnight to the remaining staff. She found Draco sitting at the back of the room, reading through an Arithmancy text. He looked up as she approached, giving her a big smile.
“Hi, love. Can I take you out to dinner?” He wrapped his arms around his exhausted witch and kissed the top of her head.
“That would be brilliant. I’m starved.”
“You were bloody amazing,” he whispered into her hair.
“Thank you. I couldn’t have done it half as well without your help,” she murmured.
“Too true,” he said magnanimously, leading her out of the room.
“Prat,” she said, laughing.
The dean of the Defense Against the Dark Arts Department watched young Miss Granger and her handsome beau as they left the room. As an Auror during the First Wizarding War, she’d fought against Voldemort’s Death Eaters. They were nightmarish wizards, made even more horrible by their fortunes and access to power. It was clear Draco Malfoy loved Hermione Granger. Mathilda thought it must have been unbearable for the youngest Malfoy to have been thrown in with the type of witches and wizards she knew followed Voldemort. She was glad Miss Granger had given him a chance to prove his worth, even when most of wizarding society wanted to write him off. They would be good for each other, much like her Magnus had been for her when she’d been an angry, lonesome young Muggle-born witch.
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