"You're laughing?" Hermione's voice was slightly muffled—Wayne's collision had made her bite her tongue.
Now, she was on the verge of tears from the pain.
"This little… friend," Wayne said, studying the fuming Hermione, his grin widening.
"I haven't even held you accountable yet, and here you are playing the victim?"
"Then let's settle this—whose fault was it, really?"
Wayne placed Hogwarts: A History into his trolley before turning back to look at the little girl.
"Just now, I was squatting on the floor looking for books. I didn't move at all—I simply stood up straight. There's no way I could've bumped into anyone."
"Unless you deliberately stood right next to me and stuck your head out, that's the only way I could've hit your chin."
"Tsk tsk…" Wayne eyed Hermione suspiciously as her face flushed red. "You're not trying to pull a scam, are you?"
"Scam? What do you mean?" The little girl's brown eyes were filled with confusion—she'd never heard the word before.
"It means swindling, extorting, faking an injury to demand compensation," Wayne explained simply.
Hermione immediately bristled.
"Nonsense! I'd never do something like that!"
"I—I just saw this book too, and I didn't expect you to grab it first."
"Then why were you standing so close?" Wayne asked, still doubtful.
Hermione answered as if it were obvious. "This book is a bit dirty. If you put it back, it would mean you didn't want it. Of course, I'd keep a close eye on it."
"Oh, so that's how it is." Wayne nodded in understanding.
He picked the book up again and waved it in front of Hermione. "Want it?"
Hermione nodded eagerly, looking at him with hopeful eyes.
She thought Wayne was going to give it to her, and her gaze softened considerably towards the boy.
Her impression of him instantly soared.
Wayne grinned and pointed at his face. "Do I look good?"
Hermione nodded reflexively. At eleven years old, calling a boy "handsome" was a stretch—children this age were better described as cute or pretty.
And Wayne was the prettiest child Hermione had ever seen, with features even more delicate than a girl's.
"Then who do you think is better-looking—you or me?"
"Um…" Hermione hesitated.
But for the sake of the book, she decided to be honest. "You are."
"Hmm, that compliment makes me very happy." Wayne's smile vanished as he turned and pushed his trolley away.
"Since you told the truth, I'll give you a tip—the next batch of Hogwarts: A History will arrive before term starts. You'll be able to buy it then."
Hermione was stunned. Seeing Wayne walk off, she hurried after him.
"You're not giving it to me?"
"Why should I? I got it first, so it's mine."
"Then why did you ask me those questions?"
"Can't I conduct a social survey?"
"You—!"
Hermione fumed, finally realising she'd been played. She could only watch helplessly as Wayne went to check out.
Modern Magical History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, Breaking Up with a Ghost… These were all books she wanted too.
Hermione's eyes reddened slightly. Due to the exchange limit on Muggle currency, even if she squeezed her entire term's allowance into five Galleons, it still wouldn't be nearly enough to buy all the books she desired.
How she wished she could be like this boy, free to buy whatever books she pleased.
Feeling the stare boring into his back, Wayne smirked inwardly—he'd deliberately teased Hermione just for fun.
Then, an idea struck him.
He asked the cashier to have the rest of his books delivered home by owl, keeping only Hogwarts: A History and Hundreds of Herbs and Fungi with him.
He turned back to Hermione.
"Want to read them? I can lend them to you."
Still wary from being tricked earlier, Hermione eyed Wayne cautiously without responding.
Unfazed, Wayne continued, "Free borrowing is out of the question, but if someone were willing to pay a rental fee, I might consider it."
Upon hearing this, Hermione's interest was visibly piqued. "How much?"
"One Sickle per hour."
Hermione frowned. "That's too expensive. At that rate, I'd be paying you one Galleon and seven Sickles for a single day—"
"Who said anything about lending it for a whole day?" Wayne pulled out a pocket watch to check the time before adding, "I'll be having afternoon tea at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour later and might read for a bit. Two hours at most."
After much hesitation, Hermione finally nodded. "Deal!"
As they walked towards the ice cream parlour, the two exchanged names. The young witch, meeting a fellow Hogwarts first-year for the first time, chattered incessantly the entire way.
Wayne responded with the occasional "oh yes" or "mm," though he didn't seem bored.
"Lawrence, you bought so many books at once—it must have cost dozens of Galleons," Hermione suddenly said with envy. "You must come from a wizarding family, right? Could you tell me what life is like for witches and wizards?"
Attending Hogwarts to study magic was an exhilarating yet daunting prospect for Hermione. Fiercely competitive, she feared she wouldn't adapt well and would fall behind her peers raised in magical households, ending up at the bottom.
Wayne shook his head. "I wasn't born into a wizarding family."
"Impossible," Hermione retorted immediately. "Even if you exchanged the full seventy-Galleon limit, the leftover couldn't exceed thirty Galleons after buying essentials. There's no way you could afford all these books otherwise. I saw you pay—it was a hundred and twenty Galleons!"
Wayne remained unruffled. "There's a limit on pounds, but not on gold. I exchanged gold for all this."
"What?!"
Hermione's eyes widened. "Y-you—exchanging gold for Galleons? That's absurdly extravagant! How could your parents possibly agree?"
Wayne replied calmly, "My parents died long ago. I'm an orphan."
Hermione fell silent.
She realised she'd never experienced a day when her emotions fluctuated so drastically.