Seeing that he remained silent, the little girl stood with her hands on her hips, tears welling up in her eyes, and said fiercely, "Since that is how you feel about me, why bother with me? Why care whether I live or die? Just let me be Petrified! You can have some peace and quiet and have more fun with your pure-blood wizard friends!"
Draco watched the mist welling up in her eyes, and was further provoked by her sharp tongue, his reason nearly vanished.
He stared intently at her with his pale grey eyes, his expression a mixture of irritation and dejection. His thoughts, spurred on by the situation, blurted out, "Fine! I was the one who meddled! I should have just left you there, watching you turn to stone would have been too painful for me—"
He realised what he was saying halfway through his sentence and snapped his mouth shut like a clam closing its shell.
Now it was Hermione's turn to slowly open her mouth.
She looked at the boy in front of her in surprise and noticed that he was blinking nervously, and his cheeks suddenly turned red.
"Draco," she said softly, watching the boy turn sharply around and pretend to examine the giant squid outside the window.
"Draco, are you worried about me?" she asked with a smile, looking down at his reddened ears, and felt her gloomy mood suddenly brighten.
"Draco, did you not just say that you would be heartbroken if I were Petrified?" she asked him triumphantly, noticing his ears turn bright red.
"I did not say anything," he said hastily, ashamed to admit the rubbish he had just uttered.
"I heard everything!" She suddenly realised that she was speaking with a grin on her face, and she could not be angry with him at all.
The giant squid perched on a corner of the window, watching the blushing boy staring at it with a rather bored expression.
Oh! You clumsy and boring boy, why are you staring at me? Look at her! It swayed its body impatiently, its thick tentacles scraping against the dormitory window with a grating creak.
"Ugh, that sound is disgusting," Hermione and Draco complained in unison.
"It is not usually this noisy. It usually just lies on the glass roof of the common room, sleeping soundly." Draco could not help but laugh as he watched the giant squid's tentacles flailing about.
Hermione was smiling too.
Although Draco was not sure why she was laughing, at least she was not wearing a long face any more.
"Stop arguing, all right?" Hermione's face flushed slightly, her eyes sparkling. "I have realised there are a great many misunderstandings between us."
"All right, let us make peace. I swear, I am absolutely not the heir to Slytherin, nor did I open any evil Chamber of Secrets." He mustered his courage to look at her, a hint of gentleness in his voice.
"I know. I do not want you to be an heir at all. But the rumours, and some of your actions, have made me worry—though now it seems like it might all be a misunderstanding." Hermione fidgeted with her newly grown brown hair, staring at the giant squid. "Were we not ridiculous when we were arguing just now?"
"Perhaps. We should have talked things out a long time ago, instead of being so busy arguing." He chuckled softly. "Are we not quite alike? Equally stubborn and awkward..."
Hermione rolled her eyes and added, "Just as sensitive and proud."
"That is right." Draco smiled slightly. He lazily sat down on the armchair by the window, tapped the round table with his wand, and conjured a pot of steaming tea. "All right, we are even, let us not laugh at each other. Sit down and have some, the noise is making my throat hoarse."
Hermione sat down in the armchair opposite him, with wisps of steam rising from the black tea in front of her. Through the steam, she could see Draco's pale grey eyes.
Those eyes had just got so close to her that they had forced her against the door.
Those eyes were just staring intently at her, openly expressing their concern for her.
If I were Petrified, would he not celebrate like other Slytherins, but instead be "heartbroken"?
This realisation brought her a slight joy, but also a touch of shyness.
She turned uncomfortably to look out the window at the depths of the water, and suddenly realised that she was at the bottom of the Black Lake—inside Slytherin—in Draco's private dormitory.
The noise coming from outside the dormitory was becoming increasingly impossible to ignore.
The Slytherin students finished their feast and poured into the common room like a green torrent.
Draco walked over, opened the door a crack, and peeked out.
His face darkened, and he locked his door, then cast Anti-Disturbance and Silencing Charms on the room again.
"They have had another after-dinner party in the common room—always so boisterous." Draco shrugged knowingly. "There are too many people outside. I am afraid you will have to wait until the party is over before you can sneak out of the common room."
"I think so," Hermione said dryly.
She had now fully returned to her original self, holding the cup with both hands and sipping the hot tea cautiously.
"Would you like some milk?" he asked. It is close to midnight, and drinking tea on an empty stomach is not good.
"Oh, all right. Thank you." She pushed the cup over and watched his slender fingers lift the milk jug and pour it for her. She noticed that the silver milk jug had an intricately patterned emblem with an "M" on it, like a family crest.
"By the way, where did you get your hands on this Polyjuice Potion? It is not easy to make," Draco asked with interest.
"I made it myself." Draco's surprised expression clearly pleased Hermione, who proudly raised her chin and said, "It took me a month."
"Well done, very talented." Draco could not help but complain, "You could have just asked me directly."
Hermione muttered a couple of words in protest.
"So, did you get the answer you wanted?" Draco asked again.
"Most of it, but we do not know anything about the Basilisk yet." Hermione's face was burning from the steam of the hot tea.
Draco waved his wand, summoning a thick book from a desk in the distance.
"Look here, it contains what you want to know."
This was the book Draco had read during last year's final exams; it contained descriptions of the Basilisk.
"Oh—now I finally understand why you were so sure there was a Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. And all those panicked spiders and Hagrid's roosters that got killed, now we have our answers." After reading the book, Hermione suddenly realised, "If you connect all this information, it is only a matter of time before you guess that there is a Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets."
"Now, I am not a bad person any more?" Draco asked irritably.
"Of course not! I have never thought that way," Hermione said in a sweet voice. This pleased Draco greatly.
He kept a haughty expression, but his hands honestly picked up the teapot and refilled Hermione's cup with hot tea. "You had better think of it that way."
"So the question comes back again: how exactly does the Basilisk move around?" Hermione said. "Given its enormous size, how can it hide so easily?"
"Not only that. I have heard that Hogwarts Castle underwent renovations. I suspect that some Slytherin descendants hid the location of the Chamber of Secrets back then. However, whilst the Chamber of Secrets was hidden, the Basilisk's freedom was not restricted. To this day, it can still roam freely and come and go as it pleases. How did it manage that?" Draco pondered, then poured himself some tea.
"Draco! I think I know how that Basilisk moves." Watching the tea slowly pour from the spout, Hermione had a sudden inspiration. "Pipes! That Basilisk moves through pipes!"
Draco opened his mouth and looked at her in surprise.
Her brilliant idea... is damnably flawless.
"Yes! Very likely. The castle is full of pipes, and even after the extensive renovations, they remain indispensable, crisscrossing the entire castle." Draco gave her an approving smile, a surge of excitement at suddenly solving a mystery welling up inside him. "Hermione, you truly are the most intelligent witch amongst your peers!"