Hermione agreed, though she was still skeptical, and sighed inwardly at how she'd fallen so far.
Back when she had roommates, she wouldn't even let them copy her homework. Now she was going to do someone else's assignments for them.
But then she thought about how well Tom did in class and how quickly he learned—faster than the teachers, even. Helping him with his homework wasn't such a bad deal after all, and most of her guilt faded away.
When they returned to the Slytherin Common Room, Daphne was playing Wizard's Chess with Millicent Bodesi.
Tom didn't interrupt. He waited until Bodesi's queen was captured, then pulled Daphne into a quiet corner and told her about Hermione asking him for tutoring.
Daphne's face fell at once. Her little mouth puckered so much it could have held an oil flask, and she regretted it terribly.
It was all her fault for getting carried away and bragging to Hermione about learning magic from Tom. Now she had a rival.
Tom knew she felt wronged. After all, in Daphne's eyes, she was the one who had actually paid him.
So he told her what Hermione had offered in exchange for his help, then gave her a choice. "If you're willing to do my homework, I'll turn Hermione down."
Daphne immediately waved her hands frantically. "No, no, no! Let her do it! She can write my homework too, all the way until graduation!"
As if. She didn't even want to do her own homework, and she still had to complete the training Tom assigned her.
Add Tom's homework on top of that, and she'd definitely lose it.
Her dissatisfaction vanished in an instant. Galleons and the like meant nothing to a little rich girl like her.
What mattered was that Tom was willing to