Dramione: Skills for life

3.The second task

Hello again student! I presume your first task went okay? Everything painted nicely? I hope so, because now it's furniture! Except there is a catch this time. You each have a budget, the same budget. So, that may be a good thing for you apartment dwellers, but for you mansion residents this is great budgeting!"

"Okay, so now I'm going to explain how the money is going to work. We are going to use galleons, knuts, and sickles. Except ours are charmed and cannot be used in the real world, and real worlds cannot be used here? We wanted to avoid confusion." giggled Tori. They all glanced at each other.

"So, on to budgets! Drum roll please!" She was met with silence so she pushed on. "You're budget is 500 galleons!"

Hermione's eyes bulged slightly. "You guys all have accounts that you will access from inside. Just tap the item you wish to purchase with your wand, and it'll be up front. Shop with a cart at the grocery store. Alright! We're done here today. The night is yours, go shop, have fun! What ever you don't spend you keep in your account."

She waved her hands and the group dispersed. Hermione looked at Draco.

"So, uh before we go rampage through the store, I think we should think about what furniture we need. 500 galleons isn't a lot, so we need to plan." said Draco. Hermione looked up, shocked.

"Draco Malfoy, you never cease to amaze me. But yes. Okay, so we need a couch for the living room, a dining room table, perhaps a muggle tv?" suggested Hermione.

"What size bed were you thinking for our room? I'd say a king will fit. If it doesn't a simple shrinking spell will work. And I think we should leave the spare bedrooms empty or just get a crib and bed. Simple."

Hermione nodded. "Yes. Come on."

The newly 'married' couple walked into the store, which wasn't very big so it seemed crowded with all the Hogwarts students. They walked over to the bed. It was a king and included bedding, a simple blue silk spread. It cost seventy nine galleons. The mattress only cost seventy galleons by itself. Hermione bit her lip and walked over to the separate bed spreads. These came with two pillow shams, matching sheets, and a blue silk comforter. It cost eight galleons.

"We should get them separate, to save money." said Hermione. She tapped it with her wand, and it disappeared.

"Now, we can you get up two four pillows? I'm going to go look at a couch." said Hermione. Draco nodded. Hermione walked over to the couches. Harry was there, sans Ginny.

"Hey." greeted Hermione. Harry smiled at her.

"How's rooming with Malfoy?" asked Harry, rubbing his hand along a leather couch.

"We haven't really roomed together yet. Ask me tomorrow if he's alive." joked Hermione. "No, but seriously. He's surprisingly quick to agree. Must be the remorse. How your home?"

"Lovely! We had fun painting it. Makes me long for a real house with Gin." sighed Harry.

"Soon." replied Hermione, before turning to a standard size dark brown couch that would go nicely with their beige walls. She tapped it with her wand. It cost fifty galleons, bring the so far total to one hundred and twenty nine galleons, without Draco's purchases.

"I got us four pillow that cost ten galleons. I also got a child sized bed for twenty galleons, and a crib for fifteen galleons. It comes with bedding. I also figured we could use some light fixtures, so I got us three identical lamps for sixteen galleons."

I spent that much time on the couch? Hermione shook her head. "Why didn't you confer with me?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "I see you picked out a couch without me. Don't call the kettle black Granger."

There was the Draco she knew, thought Hermione. "That's one item you knew I was getting. You got five extra items."

"Actually we agreed on the bed and crib."

"Oh shut up." snapped Hermione.

"Lets just get the damned dining table so we can be gone."

"You're forgetting the television." replied Hermione.

"Oh yes, all the asinine Muggle things." said Draco icily.

"Of course you think Muggle things are asinine. Almost as asinine as Voldemort and the Death Eaters were." snipped Hermione. Draco's mouth formed a hard line and his eyes turned stormy.

"Sod off Granger." spat Draco, before he stomped angrily to the tables. Hermione walked past a coffe table, simple and cheap at five galleons. She tapped it. Draco had already rapped his wand on a mahogany table that could seat six. It came with matching chairs for thirty.

"Come." snapped Hermione. She didn't wait for him as she walked to tv's. There was a flat screen fifty five inch for eighty galleons. Hermione tapped it.

"All we need now is a night table for each side of the bed." said Hermione bossily. She walked over to the tables and picked the first two she saw. It cost ten galleons.

"We're done." said Draco snappishly. Hermione rolled her eyes. They walked to the front, a bit confused as to what to do. It looked like a regular cash register, with a scanner. Hermione hesitantly scanned her wand and Draco did his. A screen popped up, showing all their items. It knew their wands were connected. It said their total was 319 galleons. Hermione nodded and pressed a button that said continue.

Your purchases will be found at your home. Thank you!

Current Balance: 121 galleons

Hermione checked her watch. It read seven, dinner ran til seven thirty

"We can go to the grocery store tomorrow. I don't want to have to deal with it right now. We can eat in the hall tonight and get our trunks and such."

Draco sighed and nodded. Hermione led the way to the main square and into their circle.

"There's no place like home." murmured Hermione, shutting her eyes. She felt a lifting sensation and when she opened them she was at the Quidditch Pitch. She strode up to the castle and inside. Her stomach rumbled as she smelt dinner. The Gryffindor table was full of students, minus many of the seventh and sixth years. She spotted Ron and walked over to him, leaving Draco to the Slytherins.

"Hi Ron!" said Hermione as she put a bit of roast and mashed potatoes on her plate.

"Hey. Bloody hell, shopping was terrible. Lav is bloody nuts!" complained Ron. Hermione laughed.

"How much did you spend, if you don't mind me asking." asked Hermione tactfully.

"A whooping four hundred and seventy three galleons." groaned Ron. "Lavender said she didn't want a single room unfurnished. We ended up needing to save the east wing for later. And bloody hell, this is all fake!"

Hermione nodded. "We still have over a hundred left, but we have a small place. I like it though. Now, I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm dog tired. I'll see you tomorrow."

Hermione made her way into Gryffindor tower and up into her dormitory. A sense of wistfulness came over her when she saw her old four poster. She shoved the feeling of nostalgia aside and shrunk her trunk. She made sure nothing was left behind as she returned to the front gates. She walked through the dark to the Quidditch pitch.

"Lumos." said Hermione, as she tried to find the circle. The wand illuminated it and she stood in it. The familiar feeling came and she was in their town. She walked up her street, thankful it was short. She was tired and wanted to crawl into their new bed, despite hating the person she would be sharing it with. The light weren't on when she got inside, so she assumed he wasn't there. She saw that the furniture was in its rightful places, which surprised her. She went into the bedroom, happy to see the bed. The closet was empty, so she expanded it slightly to fit both their trunks. Hermione opened her and extracted a pair of comfy flannel pajama bottoms and an old t-shirt. She shut off the lights and pulled back the covers. In an instant she was asleep.