A veil of darkness fell before his eyes, but his other senses became remarkably sharp.
Covering his eyes, the warmth of his palm gradually increased as the silence stretched on, strands of hair with a faint citrus scent brushed against his cheek, tickling him slightly.
"...Hey? Did you fall asleep?"
Hermione muttered somewhat displeased, the pressure of her hand slightly increasing.
"Well, I did black out for a few seconds."
William raised his hand, gently covering Hermione's hand back, finding her hands more delicate than he remembered. "So, can I apply to eat something first? You have to know, if the freshly roasted beef isn't eaten immediately, Dobby would definitely be upset."
"No! Sir, Dobby has long learned preservation magic—"
Immediately, Dobby's high-pitched voice came from the direction of the kitchen, his tone seemingly anxious as if William had slammed a pot onto his head.
"In that case, no."
Hermione straightforwardly refused, but the hint of feigned severity in her tone was barely holding up now. She slightly loosened her grip, but still gently covered his eyes, "Confession results in leniency, resistance will lead to instant fatality—do you know how eye-catching it is to suddenly have another 'you' substitute for lessons? By the way, where did you find that third-rate actor?"
"?"
William was puzzled, he remembered Grindelwald claiming his performance was perfect during work reports, wait, is that old man also faking work logs?
"Even Ron noticed something was off, although he kept guessing you might have an upset stomach." Hermione continued to explain.
William couldn't help but chuckle, alright, Grindelwald probably couldn't perfectly replicate his behavior—his acting might be quite good, but some habits are hard to change. However, as long as Dumbledore isn't openly exposed, everyone can still be one big loving family.
"I was just dealing with...old accumulated business." William said nonchalantly.
"Business? What kind of business would you have?"
Hermione raised her tone, the girl began wildly guessing, "Ministry of Magic? No way, Fudge wouldn't be ordering you around—that's your company's matter? Wait, I thought of the recent news...could it be, are you the one who took down those Black Wizard strongholds?"
"Did you plant a camera on me?"
With that, William grasped Hermione's wrist, pulling her hand away from his eyes.
He looked up at the girl half-leaning against the sofa, who, as he expected, pouted slightly, with a hint of shock on her face, her brown eyes filled with concern. She wore a thick red-gold sweater, her hair slightly frizzy from hiding behind the sofa for too long, making it clear she'd been lying in wait for a while.
"Which one did you guess right? Company?"
"No, it was the extermination of Black Wizards—"
"...no, did you really do that?"
Hermione's eyes widened, her gaze quickly swept over William's body, then attempted to lift his sweater to check his kidneys, but he held her hands down.
"Alright, alright."
Looking at the girl's puffed-up cheeks, William raised his hand and gave a French salute, "Listen to me, I'm not injured, both kidneys are intact, I didn't go to Myanmar...trust me, these matters aren't fairy tales, if you hear them before dinner, too... cough, cough, would waste food."
"Do you think I'm just a crying little girl without anything better to do?"
"Well, wouldn't you..."
"Pa—"
Hermione forcefully slapped her hands against William's cheeks, her eyes slightly squinting, holding obvious threatening implications.
"Okay, all right—"
Hesitating as his cheeks were being squashed, William raised his hand and patted the empty space beside him. Hermione flipped over the backrest and jumped over directly, her eyes fixed on William, waiting for him to speak.
He rubbed his forehead, mentally organizing his words, he decided it was best not to directly mention the "God juicing" happening in the Map Chamber, that was clearly too bizarre—in any case, —
"Do you remember...that despicable Helbo?"
William's summary lasted about half an hour. Suffice it to say, too many things had happened during this time, even just speaking simply made his throat feel somewhat dry. Receiving the warm water Hermione handed to him, William took it and drank it in one go, "So, that's basically the situation, the crisis of the Gods has probably been resolved."
"But the long-dead spirits have returned to haunt us again?"
Hermione seemed to focus on William's final mention of Victor Rookwood, a century-old adversary, which apparently sounded much more relatable than "Gods."
"Pretty much, although didn't manage to capture him, we still seized his tail..."
William rubbed his forehead, an involuntary streak of gloom climbed up his brow, pressing another hand to his chest, the broken Time Turner still jabbed annoyingly. He was indeed very concerned about Victor, who used those two words "prophecy," "error," "correction" to bait him—a sensation far too odd for a prophecy in a magical setting.
"So, what do you plan to do next?"
Hermione apparently asked the question she was most curious about, lifting a hand to help ease William's stand with the massaging of his temples.
"Continue..."
William muttered with closed eyes.
"Continue to apply force?"
At that, Hermione naturally intensified the pressure on her fingertips.
"No, I meant—to continue killing, those poachers operate well beyond Europe..."
William flatly stated something to chill the average person's ear, and even Hermione wasn't exempt, she lowered her head in dejection, "Alright, seems like I can't really help much...""If you really want to help me...maybe after you graduate..."
"I've had six birthdays these two years, I'm about to be nineteen."
"Just because you've had your birthdays many times, doesn't mean... wait, did you use the Time Turner again?"
At those words, William instinctively raised an eyelid then retorted moodily, "if you keep using it that way, I might as well call you a sister...""Nonsense, you're clearly a hundred-year-old geezer, yet I haven't used it again, the Turner has been returned to Professor McGonagall—I finished all my courses, even apparently directly taking the N.E.W.T.s exams is completely not a problem."
Hermione raised both arms, making a flexing motion, making her intention clear, "So, you surely have a way..."
"No, definitely not."
"Look into my eyes... you really are lying to me."
"..."
"Come on, show it! Where is it?!"
Hermione pounced on William, starting to rummage frantically through his belongings, reaching to tug at his pants—
"Wait, wait, how could it be there?!"
But as Hermione silently stared at him, William quickly conceded defeat, raising his hands, "Let me eat some dinner first, I need the strength to..."