A/n: Tada, chapter 14! I hope you enjoy and please leave a comment at the bottom :) Thanks to my beta loveinthemadness! **Not yet edited. And as always, check me out on facebook! The link is up on my profile.

Quitting her pub job was a bit more problematic than Hermione would like to admit. Not only did her boss curse, agree to a pay raise and then even go as vulgar as offering additional services to her if she stayed, but he also held the conversation loud enough for nearby patrons to listen in on. Regulars like Seamus, who caught her arm just as she was about to exit after being called every name possible by her disrespectful boss.

"Why are you quitting?" he asked, his voice calm but his grip rough. "Did Ron find out-"

"No," she replied quickly, though that wasn't entirely true. He hadn't found out about all of it at least. "I found another source of work, one more respectable where I won't feel dirty all the time."

Well, I hope anyway. Malfoy could throw out the Mudblood card every ten minutes for all I know.

"But you can always make more income here," he argued, looking directly into her eyes. "Look Hermione, without you around who am I supposed to talk to?"

She gestured towards the stage. "One of the dancers? They might not be respectable but Tabitha and Gretchen can hold quite educated conversations when they attempt to. Or you could always go looking for another bar if you prefer to go someplace less shady all the time. Think about it, now you're free to go anywhere and get drunk wherever because I'm not longer a concern."

He muttered something to that that she didn't catch and he wouldn't repeat. Giving up, he released her, giving the poor girl a slight shove away from him. "Yes, I suppose your right," he spat, turning away. "You can walk yourself to the floo channel outside then, since you're so bloody right."

"Now Seamus-" she attempted to argue, but he wouldn't hear it. He shouldered one man out of the way in his hurry to get away from her, and she was left standing there, shaking her head.

It wasn't as if she had never walked to the floo channel by herself before in these parts. She always left the pub and walked alone around this time. As she departed from the bar she cringed, noticing the time. It was three thirty-five, meaning that Malfoy would probably have a fit when she connected to his floo. Hastening to a jog, she silently prayed that Ron would still not be home.

"I was beginning to think you had second thoughts about our deal," Malfoy said when she did floo him later. It was nearly four by then, and she could only roll her eyes at him.

"Well, I'm here now, so why does it matter?"

"Oh Granger, you're getting so testy already. Don't have such an attitude, will you? It will make this agreement very unpleasant. Now I've opened the floo network to allow you through, so come over so we can get things in order."

The very idea of going to Malfoy Manor was a bit alarming for Hermione, but she decided she would rather deal with Draco Malfoy at the moment than Ron; at least with the blonde, it was always cruel remarks and sarcastic replies. There was no uneven ground like there was between her and Ron now. Sighing, she snatched up the small bag she planned to bring to the Manor and dared to take the floo network there, thankful that she hadn't gone to the pub to work after all; else her attire would've been less than appropriate.

When she arrived, she was disoriented. The room she stood in was massive, painted with dark green walls and heavy curtains adorned the windows, barely letting in any light at all. She blinked several times before adjusting to the light, noticing that Malfoy stood just in front of her with his arms crossed. Behind him sat a small collection of furniture fashioned in a way that gave the illusion of a living room, but beyond that to the right there was a bed. Shaking her head, she glanced at him.

"What kind of room is this?" she asked, really unsure. It was a partial bedroom, partial living room.

From his position, the blonde glanced at her with astounded eyes and scoffed. "What does it bloody look like, the kitchen? This is my bedroom Granger. Don't act as if you've never seen one. You and the Weasel must have one someplace in the stingy apartment you share."

Here we go again with the Ron comments. "We do," she snapped, gripping the strap of her purse a bit tighter, "But you easily forget Malfoy that my home is not as ridiculously sized as your own. In my home, we have a separate space for where we entertain the guests and where we sleep." She indicated to the misplaced furniture first, then the bed, and it only caused a smirk to spread across his face.

"Well Granger, here those can be one in the same place." She blushed at his comment, which was odd to consider since she did work for unknown weeks in a shady pub, but he didn't comment on her reaction. Instead, he let the topic drop at prior when she chose not to answer, deciding to move things along. "Shall I show you where you will be working?"

"That would be appreciated," she remarked sarcastically.

He nodded, then turned away and began walking. She hurried behind him, following his lengthy strides with her smaller steps. "Now Granger, please keep in mind I am not the only occupant of this Manor. My parents do reside here as well- though in different wings than I- and though we rarely speak it isn't unheard of for my father to make a detour through my part of this house on occasion."

Hermione's breath caught at that. It sounded remarkably sad to live in a home where you literally had whole sections divided out to one person, and yet it was unusual for others to come visit you? Though to actually think that Lucius was there made her blood boil- that man caused more problems than anyone she knew!

"Do you not like it when your father comes this way?" she dared to ask.

"My parents are both on house arrest due to their involvement in the war," he responded, his tone growing icy. "My father is a wretched man who suffered just as much as my mother did during their time in Azkaban. I'm not about to tell you about all my fucking woes Granger, but let's just say they did not come back as the same people."

She clamped her mouth shut. Obviously his parents were a touchy subject, and if she made the blonde angry now he could simply sever the deal, leaving her without any additional income at all now that she had quit her job.

And that's when it hit her; he had told her to quit her other job, and now he would be her only source of income to help her salvage enough money each month to make up for what Ron wasted. If she faltered and didn't appease him with her progress he could stop funding her at any moment.

Hermione suddenly felt extremely trapped, and her stomach hit the floor. He had connived her into becoming a pawn basically, and she felt that had to be his original intent since he insisted that she quit her other job and only work there and the Ministry. Irritation boiled up in her blood as they walked in silence and she was about to give him a piece of her mind when he stopped in front of a door and drew it open, beckoning for her to enter first. Feeling very on edge she only allowed herself to peer in, but what she saw made her jaw drop.

He wasn't lying when he said he had his own potion lab in here, was he?

The place was just as large as their potion classroom at school, and every ingredient imaginable lay labeled on shelves, drawers, and there were even cupboards that held Merlin knew what! It was astounding to think he had such an amazing resource at his disposal, at any point in the day.

"This is the lab," he said, walking forwards when she decided not to. As she saw him entering though, she hurried after, her bookworm mind eager to look at the books she could see lining the wall.

"Once we have set up a new plan for when we will meet, you'll have access here whenever you arrive. Come here, and work. Don't dally in the halls or search the other rooms, because not everything here is as magical as this. I will pay you each week based on how many hours you have worked. If you work four hours for four days a week, each day you come, you'll roughly make the same amount you were at your job working five hours a day. I'll pay you minimum wage, considering that here you can't get additional tips just for having a pretty figure."

She glanced sideways at him. He stayed on topic for what they were discussing, but he kept throwing in little tidbits that didn't belong in the conversation. Telling her that she got money for having a nice body and that some of the rooms might be dangerous really weren't things he needed to be pointing out just then, so why was he?

"I suspect that you still have the salve sample I gave you?" She nodded. "Good, then use that to go off of when you make the new one. And please, don't expect me to use any of your trials unless they are near perfection. I don't want to have my skin scorched off because of a minuscule miscalculation."

"You're paying me," she snapped, glancing up at him, "And I take my work very seriously. I would not attempt to leave any marks on your skin unless it truly was an accident."

Draco cocked an eyebrow. "Well, let's hope so."

They discussed a few more vague topics, deciding that she would come over every Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Sundays after her Ministry job to work roughly four hours, or more if she really preferred. He would not stall her from finding a cure to his dilemma, after all. He would pay her the money every other Friday, but would compensate her that coming Friday because he felt that she needed it.

"You've been griping about your minimal finances for ages, Granger; just accept the fucking pay advantage. It won't do to have you backed up in bills and then have to bid you goodbye because you and Weasley lose your apartment. The money will at least hold you over until the next paycheck- or at least, I would hope."

She bit down on her lip, holding back the next retort she had. She didn't like his attempt of pity money, because obviously it meant that he didn't think she could even survive a week without the additional funds.

Prick.

"You'll take the money at the end of the week," he said, ending the discussion when she didn't throw out a counter argument. "I think that's all we need to discuss for now. The floo is open to you to get here when you need to, but otherwise attempt to try and not disturb me."

"It's not like I want to spend all of my free time in your company either, Malfoy," she replied sarcastically.

"Wonderful, then I shouldn't see you more than needed. I suppose you best be off then, I don't expect you to attempt to start today. Get used to it and come back Monday with a clear mind. You might also consider getting yourself some decent sleep as well, you look quite worn."

"I don't need your advice, thank you." She knew she looked fairly tired, but she couldn't help it. Ron had scared her just a bit the night before, and she still wondered what would go on between them when and if he came back.

He held up his hands in defeat. "It was only a friendly suggestion. Your Ministry co-workers may wonder what you do when you leave if you always look so bloody tired."

Hermione didn't argue that because he had a point. Occasionally she would get questions or odd looks about how worn she looked, and sometimes people would even send her home. She couldn't help it though, not with Ron being the useless lazy arse he always was. He brought in no money and spent all that she earned- it was a constant struggle
for her to keep any funds. It was an unfair trade.

"I'll see you Monday," she relented, and he nodded in return. The git was actually being semi-kind, giving her a bit of time with which to get ready and set her affairs in order before starting her employment. She couldn't help thinking how uncharacteristic that was, but as they went back into the hall she noticed he was scowling, gripping his arm as though he was in pain.

"Are you alright?" she asked, pausing there as he slammed the door shut and leaned against it. The blonde truly did look bothered, but as she reached out to help him he slapped her hands away.

"Chipper," he grunted. "Why don't you see yourself out Granger? I'll just rest here-"

"Oh, don't even go there Malfoy. Just because you deem me to be lower than you does not mean that I buy your lies. It might squash your pride a bit to let me help you, but I'm fairly certain from the appearance of pain that I see here that you will not work to get back to your bedroom, and will rather rest here on the ground until you feel better. Am I wrong?"

He didn't argue, just shoved her off again. She huffed, frustrated with the moron but her mind could not just leave him there to suffer. Besides, this gave her the fabulous opportunity to observe what the pains really did to him.

Without waiting for him to comment again, she pulled out her wand and took a step back, using it to levitate him. When he realized what she was doing, he scowled but didn't argue as she rotated his body to lie down and moved them down the hallway.

"This room?"

"One more down."

Entering into the room, she hurried to set him on the bed. He let out a loud grunt when he touched the sheets, despite how lightly she placed him on the bed. Pocketing her wand again, she reached out again to roll him over, but one arm jutted out and shooed her away.

"I can handle it from here. Just get out, Granger."

"Malfoy-"

"Out!" He hissed and curled in on himself, and slowly she backed away. She wondered how he planned to cope with this, until she reminded herself that he had been doing it long before they crossed paths as adults. That mark had been with him for ages.

The uninjured arm reached up, searching for the handle to the side table drawer. Attempting to help, she reached over and opened it for him. His hand flew in and snatched up a bottle, containing the same substance he had given her; the salve.

"I told you to get out," he said, clumsily undoing the cap. When she finally saw him applying the treatment she turned to go.

"Sorry I lingered Malfoy," she snapped sarcastically, "Merlin forbid that someone might actually wait around to ensure that you survive." With that she threw the powder into the fireplace, calling out her apartment. As the flames erupted she missed the confused expression playing on his face. Her words would echo in his head all night long.