"Professor Granger! Professor Granger," a voice called out from down the hall.

Hermione turned around to see one of her third years barreling toward her. She had quickly become accustomed to being called professor, and in the almost two months that she'd been teaching she found that she loved it more than she had ever expected. She loved seeing students faces light up when they got a spell right, or when a struggling student finally grasped a concept that had been alluding them. Most of all, she loved her students. Most of them, that is. There were some in the older years who gave her attitude, having known her as a student, but for the most part she got the respect deserved of a Hogwarts professor.

"I did it! I practiced all night and I finally got it!" the child in front of her exclaimed proudly.

"That's brilliant, Millie! I knew you would," she replied, smiling warmly. Millie Loftis was a bright witch but transfiguration was proving to be quite a difficult subject for her. Hermione had taken to giving her a private lesson here and there and had quite a soft spot for the girl.

"Thanks Professor," she said smiling broadly, before running off to dinner.

Hermione, on the other hand, was heading to her office to finish up grading some work for her sixth years. She had just settled in and began reading the first paper when Ron appeared in her doorway.

"Thought I'd find you in here," he said playfully, leaning against the doorframe crossing his arms. His tone was playful, but there was a hint of something else in there too. Sarcasm, perhaps?

She looked up, and smiled tentatively at her boyfriend. She wanted to be excited to see him, but lately most of their conversations ended in a fight. She knew he was having a hard time adjusting to life after the war, what with losing Fred and all, but frankly she was too, and he didn't seem to have much consideration for that. Nor did he seem to care that she had a job that she had to do.

"Yes," she said, "I just came in here to grade some papers."

"Well, I've come to bring you to dinner and I won't take no for an answer," he said. The smile still played at his face, but his ears were reddening. A sure sign that anger was close to the surface.

"Ron," she said gently, "I'm sorry, but I have to get this done tonight."

He sighed and stepped further into the room. Before he could say anything, she continued.

"You know that Thursdays are the busiest day of the week for me. Besides, we spent all last night together, it's not like we don't see each other."

She could almost see the gears working in his head, the temper straining to come out. He took a deep breath, seemingly getting control of his temper.

She also let out a breath. Maybe there wouldn't be a fight tonight.

"Besides, I know for a fact that you have a transfiguration assignment due tomorrow," she said winking, trying to sound playful, but really trying to encourage him to do the work.

"I'd rather be with you," he purred, coming up behind her and rubbing her shoulders.

"Me too," she sighed contentedly as he worked on a knot on her shoulder, "but we both have work to do tonight. There's always tomorrow,"

So far he hadn't done a single assignment for her class. She'd tried bringing it up but he always brushed her off with a joke about not needing to do the work when your girlfriend was the professor.

She wanted to believe he was joking, but the longer he went without turning anything in the harder it was to believe. But it was just so absurd to think. No one else, not even her closest friends, expected or got any special treatment. She'd wanted to ask him outright for awhile, but she didn't want to start a fight. She didn't want to rock the boat on an already stormy sea. But tonight something within her told her that she couldn't let it go on any longer. Steeling her nerves, she spoke up.

"Ron, you haven't done a single assignment for my class," she said pushing away from him, and turning to face him.

Ron chuckled in her ear, pulled her up and wrapped his arms around her.

"Just mark me down for an O like usual," he said against her neck.

Wait...what? Was he being serious?

"What are you talking about?" She asked, pushing him away.

"The grades you've been giving me," he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He reached for her again, but she stepped out of his reach.

"What grades? Ron, you're going to fail my class if you don't start doing your homework," she said.

"You can't fail me," he laughed, "I'm your boyfriend."

She looked at him dumbfounded. He truly believed that he could skate by because he was her boyfriend. She felt like she'd been slapped in the face. When had she ever even hinted at that? Sure she had helped him with his homework occasionally over the years, but she had never outright cheated. He knew how seriously she took this. She would never jeopardize it over favoritism. She thought he knew that. She thought he knew her.

"Do you not know me at all?" She exclaimed.

He looked at her, finally realizing she was upset.

"Calm down, Mione. It's not that big of a deal," he said, annoyance coloring his voice.

"It's cheating Ron," she said, crossing her arms, "how can you expect me to do that?"

"It's not cheating, it's just giving me a break. I still do the classwork. What's the big deal if I don't do the homework?"

"The big deal Ron, is that it's wrong. I thought you knew me better than this,"

His face turned red in anger or embarrassment, she wasn't sure which. Probably both, knowing him.

"Why do you even care?" he spat. "You aren't even a real professor. You're just a filler until they can find somebody better."

Her eyes filled with tears. She had told him that in confidence. He always knew exactly what to say to hurt her the most. He used his temper as a weapon and called it standing up for himself. In that moment, she knew she couldn't do this anymore. She couldn't keep walking on eggshells trying not to make him mad. She couldn't let someone who supposedly loved her use her own insecurities against her.

Things had been rocky between them for a while. The whole time if she was being honest with herself. It was time to end it. She could suddenly see that clearly.

"We're done," she said quietly, "Leave."

"You're going to break up with me over this?" he asked, shocked.

"No Ron, I'm breaking up with you because you don't know me at all," she said.

His face turned redder than she had ever seen it and his whole body tensed. For the splittest of split seconds she wondered if he was going to curse her or hit her. But she knew in her soul that however bad his temper was he would never physically harm her.

"You'll regret this Hermione," he said, storming out. He slammed the door so hard that she wondered if the wood cracked.

Once he was gone she fell into her chair and sobbed.