It was like a sleeping dragon had suddenly awakened. The young Slytherin students who had been sneaking glances in Draco's direction quickly lowered their heads, frightened by the look in his eyes, as if afraid he'd set his sights on them next.
As the saying goes, a shift in position brings a shift in presence.
Draco might not be fully mature yet, but as the next head of the Malfoy family, every word and action of his naturally carried the weight of that title. So it was no surprise that the younger students reacted this way.
Especially when Draco's expression was downright intimidating...
Pansy and the others, being close friends who spent time with him every day, didn't feel the pressure quite as strongly. To them, Draco didn't seem all that scary.
Even so, they could tell—Draco was definitely angry.
That made Pansy curious. Who had the guts to go out of their way to provoke someone like Draco?
...
If Draco had only just heard about the point deduction...
Then Hermione, being a Gryffindor, had definitely known much earlier. She had also figured out, long before Draco, why Professor McGonagall had shown up in the Forbidden Forest last night...
At the moment, Hermione was also in the dining hall. Though her condition was much better than Draco's, there was still a faint tiredness visible on her otherwise adorable face.
She had deliberately chosen a corner seat at the end of the Gryffindor table, somewhere quiet and out of the spotlight. Sitting across from her were Harry and Ron, both looking awkward and uneasy.
Hermione had a whole list of questions waiting for them...
She forcefully set her cutlery down.
"Why?"
That sharp, almost piercing gaze of hers, coupled with a tone laced with quiet anger, left Harry and Ron—already feeling guilty—momentarily speechless.
'So we've been found out...'
Harry exchanged a glance with Ron, then braced himself and spoke up quietly.
"Uh... Hermione, what do you mean?"
"I think you know exactly what I mean. Or are you seriously trying to treat me like I'm stupid?"
"Cough, cough!"
Flushing red under Hermione's glare, Harry gave an awkward cough, clearly trying to get help from Ron.
Unfortunately for him, he seemed to forget that based on his track record, Ron wasn't exactly the best teammate...
"You didn't get into any trouble, right? But Harry and I got a full hundred points taken off!"
That twisted logic—like they were the real victims—made Hermione stare at Ron in disbelief. She honestly couldn't understand how his mind worked.
Had he even considered how she felt, seeing Professor McGonagall walking toward her in that moment?
She'd been so terrified, she thought her soul might leap out of her body!
"What's that supposed to mean? Are you saying this was all my fault?"
Hermione's rising anger drew the attention of nearby Gryffindor students, which made Harry, who didn't want this to blow up any further, start to get nervous.
"Ron didn't mean it that way, he just... just..."
Just what, exactly? Even Harry had no idea how to cover for Ron.
While Harry struggled to come up with something, it was Ron who lost his temper first.
"How were we supposed to know you'd be there? We didn't know you were following us!"
"I really didn't think you two would actually go that far. You used that thing when you were eavesdropping outside the hut, didn't you? Merlin, I should've known."
The "thing" Hermione referred to was the invisibility cloak Harry had received anonymously as a Christmas present.
Worth noting—if it had been an ordinary cloak, Draco would've spotted them easily. The only reason the plan came so close to failing was because Draco had too much faith in himself.
But then, something clicked for Hermione.
"No... no, that can't be right. Draco hadn't revealed his plan yet that day. So you... you heard it from me!?"
The more she thought about it, the worse her expression became.
No wonder Harry and Ron hadn't visited Norberta again afterward. And yet, they kept asking her questions about her in private. It all made sense now.
Pretending to care about Hagrid, when all along they were trying to deal with Draco.
The realization that she'd been used—and had nearly helped trap Draco—filled Hermione with a flood of guilt and anger. Her face went pale, and the exhaustion from a sleepless night made her vision blur slightly.
Still, clinging to a sliver of hope, Hermione asked quietly...
"Why would you do that? What good could it possibly do for you?"
"We were just worried about you."
"Worried? About me?"
"You can't trust Death Eaters. Harry and I would never hurt you."
"Draco isn't—"
"His entire family are Death Eaters. Everyone in the wizarding world knows that!"
"Enough! I can decide that for myself!"
Hermione snapped, shooting to her feet and glaring at Ron, who was still eager to badmouth Draco.
Ron stood up too, not backing down an inch.
"Alright, calm down, both of you. Yes, we were wrong. But Hermione—we just wanted to blow off some steam."
Harry's voice was sincere, enough to make Hermione frown and look over at him.
Seeing her reaction, Harry went on.
"Hermione, you can't deny we've never had a good relationship with Malfoy and his lot. Telling Professor McGonagall... we just wanted to get back at him a little. We weren't trying to expose Norberta."
Hermione let out a sigh and sank back into her seat. It wasn't that she agreed—but she just didn't know what to say anymore.
"…At the very least, you owe Draco an apology. I'm sure he's figured it all out by now."
What's wrong is wrong. To Hermione, that meant Harry and Ron should be the ones apologizing.
If Draco heard her say that, he'd probably laugh and call her a fool.
As if such a suggestion would ever work...
"You're joking, right? There's no way that's happening!"
"Hermione, I know we messed up, but just stay out of things between us and Malfoy, alright?"
The fact that even Harry said that left Hermione deeply confused.
"I don't get it, Harry. You don't have any real reason to be this hostile toward Draco."
"No—Harry's on my side. We're mates!"
Hermione ignored Ron's smug interruption and kept her gaze fixed on Harry, whose eyes seemed to drift evasively.
It gave her a headache just thinking about it...