The next morning Draco arrived at St. Mungo's to find Hermione already waiting for him in the main waiting area. She rose from the chair she was in when she saw him and walked past him back to the fireplace. He followed her silence. They flooed to Diagon Alley and walked through the streets in silence. It was early enough that the streets were still empty but the few people who did see them together gaped at them. Ignoring the stares, the pair made their way quickly to their destination. Hermione walked into Gringotts ahead of Malfoy and approached the goblin sitting at the head of the room. Griphook leered at them until he realized it was Hermione.
"Ms. Granger, good morning," he said then looked behind her at Draco. "You usually keep better company."
Draco glared at Griphook in response and Hermione smiled a little. "I need to access vault 1642 please Griphook."
"Very well," Griphook replied. "I'll take you personally. It would be a terrible thing if something happened to you and your...companion."
Hermione glanced at Draco for a moment before following Griphook.
Great, Draco thought. The goblin is going to kill me.
The three walked into the depths of the bank and a few minutes later, arrived in front of the vault. Hermione stepped out and handed Griphook the key. Draco stepped out behind them, nearly falling when the cart lurched forward. Griphook's lips curled into a grin and, turning his back to Draco, opened the vault. Hermione stepped into the vault and turned to Draco.
"Your gold is on the left," she told him, pointing.
Malfoy walked up to the stack of gold and pulled a pouch out of the pocket of his robe. He dropped about $10,000 galleons in it (obviously having placed an extendable charm on the bag prior to losing the use of his wand) and walked back out of the vault. Hermione stared at his back, puzzled.
"You didn't take all of it," she said. "Would you like me to have it transferred?"
"No," Draco replied curtly and carefully got back in the cart. When she didn't move, he looked at her and said, "Are you coming?"
Hermione looked at Griphook, shrugged her shoulders, and got in. A few minutes later they were back in Diagon Alley with Hermione walking quickly to catch up to Draco.
"Where are you going?" she asked. "Why didn't you take the rest of your money?"
Draco ignored her and kept walking until he reached the Apothecary. Hermione paused a minute before following him in. The store was brightly lit and full of vials, bottles, and other odds and ends. Draco was at the back of the store speaking in a low voice with the owner. Hermione walked up to them and caught the tail end of their conversation.
"It will take a few days to get this order together Mr. Malfoy," the shopkeeper was saying.
"How much for you to have it today?" he asked. "I'm sure you're aware money isn't an issue."
Hermione looked at him curiously. He looked a great deal like the pureblood aristocrat she knew and hated, even sounded like it too. Draco was obviously buying something in the Apothecary, something he wanted urgently enough to have that day, perhaps something for his mother? Or for Blaise. He'd dragged her to the bank with him but that was probably because he needed the money for whatever it was. What was he doing?
"An extra $1,000 galleons," the shopkeeper told him. "And I will have the entire order ready and delivered wherever you need it."
"Excellent," Draco replied, dropping the pouch on the counter between them. "This ought to cover it all. See that the bag is returned when the items are delivered."
Not bothering the count, the shopkeeper slipped the bag into his pocket. "Where shall I send everything?"
"St. Mungo's," he said, making sure he avoided looking at Hermione. "To the care of Healer Hermione Granger, no one else."
Hermione's mouth dropped at the sound of her name. Ingredients, she realized. He'd spent nearly 10,000 galleons on ingredients.
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy," the shopkeeper said. "A pleasure doing business with you."
The shopkeeper disappeared into the back of the shop and Draco walked passed Hermione and out the door. Hermione stood there for a minute, stunned, before she rushed out after him. She had to run but she caught up with him outside The Leaky Cauldron.
"Malfoy, wait!" she shouted.
She nearly collided with him when he stopped and turned around.
"Why didn't you just tell me what you were doing?" she wanted to know.
"Would you have used the money?" he asked angrily. "Would you have ever used the money?"
"No," Hermione replied. "It's yours."
"Given to you, to use, for your research," he snapped. "It's just money, does it really matter that it came from me?"
"No," Hermione told him hesitantly. "But you didn't want me to have it, so I didn't feel like I should use it."
"Well you have it, so bloody use it," he shouted at her and stormed into The Leaky Cauldron.
Flustered, Hermione started after him when she heard someone call her name. She turned to see Neville walking towards her. Torn between greeting her friend and going after Draco, she stayed where she was. Then, deciding it might be best to let Malfoy have some time to cool off before they saw each other that afternoon, she turned and smiled at Neville.
"Hello Neville!" she said brightly.
"Hi Hermione," he replied. "I was just going to meet Harry, Ginny, and Ron for lunch, are you joining us? They said they'd invited you."
"Yes, of course," she answered. "I must have missed their owl. Where are we going?"
"Cho's opened up a restaurant here," he told her. "She's saved us a table."
"That sounds wonderful!" Hermione replied and giving one last look over her shoulder in the direction Malfoy had gone, linked her arm through Neville's. "Lead the way."