Pansy's sudden appearance.
Neither Draco nor Hermione was remotely prepared for it.
The moment they heard that light, airy voice full of resentment, both of them jumped, and at the same time felt that guilty unease of being caught in the act.
Draco, shameless as ever, managed to keep his... ahem, expression under control.
Hermione, on the other hand, nearly bit her tongue when Pansy appeared.
But very quickly, after that initial guilt passed, what filled Hermione instead was annoyance at being interrupted...
In fact, if this had been the old tsundere Hermione, the moment Pansy showed up, she would definitely have slapped away that large hand that had left her body weak, then shoved Draco away without a word.
Then, after putting some distance between them, she would have acted as if nothing had happened at all, as if that girl who had just looked so utterly at his mercy had nothing whatsoever to do with her...
That was what Pansy had assumed too.
But what happened next took everyone by surprise.
Now that Hermione had already "broken through" her own barrier, under Pansy's gaze she did something utterly out of character. She wrapped her arms around Draco's neck and flashed a huge, triumphant smile at the newly arrived Pansy.
It was a bright, dazzling smile.
Her eyes curved like little crescents when she smiled.
If not for the provocation in Hermione's eyes, and the dark look on Pansy's face, one might really have thought that smile was sincere, instead of a deliberate attempt to needle Miss Parkinson in front of her...
A slightly trembling body.
A face full of disbelief.
A chest rising and falling with anger.
Those three lines were enough to describe Pansy at that moment.
Seeing that Hermione not only had not let go, but had actually become even bolder, Pansy instantly bristled like a little animal whose tail had been stepped on...
Grabbing Hermione by the arm, Pansy ground out through clenched teeth, "Hey! Granger, get away from Draco right now!!"
"Get away? I still have things I need to discuss with Draco."
"Do you take me for a three-year-old? Discussing things is one matter, but do you really need to stick your whole body to Draco while you do it?!?"
"Yes."
"?????"
Pansy marched right up to Hermione with heavy steps, bickering with her while also trying to pry Hermione's hands off Draco's neck.
But the more agitated Pansy became, the more excessive Hermione's smile and movements grew, as if she found the whole thing a wonderfully amusing game.
Caught between the two girls, Draco silently enjoyed the soft, fragrant closeness pressing in from both sides…
…
With the O.W.L. results out, it was now time for Draco and the others to finalize their class schedules for the coming year.
This year's studies were different from before, when you could simply choose whichever classes you liked.
Starting from sixth year, if your grades did not reach a certain standard, you could not take the more advanced N.E.W.T. courses.
Take Neville Longbottom, for example. Because he had only received an "Acceptable" in Transfiguration, he would not be able to continue into Professor McGonagall's advanced N.E.W.T. class.
Even though Neville Longbottom wanted to continue, Professor McGonagall still refused him.
That meant Neville Longbottom's achievements in Transfiguration had reached their limit. Without the talent for it, he would only ever be able to conjure a few needles for the rest of his life.
That was exactly why O.W.L. grades mattered so much.
And it also showed just how remarkable Hermione was for earning nine Outstandings, and how much greater an advantage she held over everyone else...
Mm... at the very least, that meant she could choose nine advanced classes.
In any case.
After breakfast, Hermione caught up to Draco and waved a schedule packed full of classes at him. "You chose Defence Against the Dark Arts too, right?"
"Hmph!"
The one who answered for Draco was Pansy, who was staring at Hermione from beside him.
Apparently still angry, Pansy did not deny it, but she did pout at Hermione.
That guarded look in her eyes made it seem as if she suspected Hermione might pull something like yesterday again.
Little did she know that after Hermione returned to the Prefect dormitory that day, she had rolled around on her bed in embarrassment several times. Every time she closed her eyes, she would think of what Draco had done to her.
Her face had turned red.
Her thighs rubbed together restlessly.
Naturally, Hermione had lost sleep that night.
And if you looked closely now, you could still faintly make out the slight dark circles under her eyes...
Draco, who had no good way to comment on the quiet battle between the two girls, simply headed for the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.
And so the three of them, still relatively peaceful along the way, slowly arrived at the classroom on the fourth floor of Hogwarts.
The moment they stepped inside, it was immediately obvious that the classroom now bore Snape's taste and style.
The curtains on both sides were drawn tightly shut, not a single ray of sunlight allowed through.
Only the dim candlelight barely maintained the room's illumination.
Honestly, the dark atmosphere made it feel as if they had somehow wandered back into Snape's old Potions classroom...
Even more in line with his nasty sense of humor, there were now murals on the walls that had not been there before. Every one of them depicted people in agony, savage wounds, and bizarrely twisted bodies.
As Draco and the others sat down, the young wizards from all four houses were all twisting around in their seats to stare at those gloomy, terrifying murals.
One thing worth noting was that Harry Potter, not far away, was the only one staring fixedly at Draco, who had just entered the room.
It was as if those murals were not nearly as interesting as Draco was…
…
In the eerie classroom, Pansy and Hermione, who had been glaring at each other, both unconsciously edged a little closer to Draco.
Only after feeling the sense of security Draco gave off did Hermione turn with curiosity to look at the strange murals on the wall...
She frowned in discomfort. "These paintings... aren't they a little too realistic? It's like..."
Before Hermione could finish, Pansy said the rest for her. "It's like they really happened."
Pain.
Bloodstains.
Screams.
Although the paintings had not been enchanted, the people in them still conveyed their pain and struggle to everyone present.
For young wizards who had never come into contact with darkness, that was very hard to take.
The more timid students had visibly gone pale after only a few glances.
And that eerie silence only started to ease when Snape appeared, his black robes swishing behind him.
Much as they hated to admit it.
Compared with facing those terrifying, sinister murals, these young wizards would much rather face Snape standing in front of them...