Chapter 37: The Fake Pansy in the Lounge
Draco had originally planned to spend the Christmas holidays back at Malfoy Manor.
But after her grandfather passed away this year, Narcissa has been in a bad mood, so Lucius decided to take her to Switzerland to ski during the Christmas holidays.
"...Stay in the common room during the holidays and don't run around unless necessary." These were the only few words of concern in the letter Lucius sent him.
Of the 365 days in a year, Christmas is the best time to go skiing in Switzerland.
Or rather, you just don't want me to disturb your world of two, right? Draco thought angrily.
But that's okay, he just happened to have some research to do.
Without Hermione's help, the translation of Herpo's notes became extremely difficult.
This little thing alone took up a lot of his time.
Hermione Granger. He didn't know how to treat this clever yet awkward little witch.
First she trusted him, then she distrusted him; then she was cold to him, as if she wanted to draw a clear line between them; then, she blew up the Bludger, as if she was worried about him; then, she planned to visit him in the school hospital; now, she misunderstood him, and seemed to be even more angry with him and more indifferent to him.
This fickle attitude makes him hopeful and full of despair. He occasionally wants to be impulsive but often hesitates at the last moment.
Draco Malfoy, a coward pretending to be arrogant, can only choose to escape.
At the Christmas dinner, the table was filled with delicious food that made almost everyone salivate.
While the students devoured the delicious food, they studied with interest the Christmas trees erected around the auditorium, which were hung with glittering icicles or flickered with tiny candlelight.
Draco ate something reluctantly, not really having much of an appetite. He casually glanced at the Gryffindor table across from him, but didn't see the little girl's face, and he didn't dare to look at her any closer.
Sighing, he left Crabbe and Goyle who were still wolfing down their food, said hello to Blaise and Pansy who were bickering, and returned to the Slytherin common room alone.
The Slytherin common room was a long, low basement with walls and ceiling made of rough stone. A round, green-glowing lamp was hung from the ceiling by a chain.
No different than before.
The only unusual thing was that Draco noticed Pansy furtively rummaging through his ancient Greek exercise book on the carved table in the lounge.
"What are you doing?" Draco said, frowning.
"Nothing, Draco." That Pansy was startled, and her expression was nothing like the Pansy Draco knew.
The real Pansy should still be in the auditorium, arguing with Blaise.
Once this pair of argumentative people start arguing, they will never stop arguing for an hour or so. How could they end the fight so quickly today?
Besides, someone like Pansy Parkinson wouldn't be frightened by such a question as his.
She would only spit out a bunch of sarcastic words arrogantly and rudely, and would never give a reasonable explanation for her behavior - such as what Pansy in front of her was saying, "I'm looking for my extracurricular books."
"Is that your copy of 'The Origins of Quidditch'?" Draco looked at her and suddenly smiled.
There is something fishy about her.
"Yes. That's the one." The fake Pansy was flustered by his confusing smile.
At one point, she was completely speechless and could only nod blankly, pretending to agree.
Merlin, this is becoming less and less like something Pansy would say.
Fake Pansy's obedient, dazed expression was like a cat caught in a mousetrap, making people laugh without realizing it. Draco thought lightly, widening his smile a little.
"I found it, in my dorm. Go get it now," Draco said briefly.
He paused for a moment, with just the right smile on his face, then turned around and led the way, because he found that Pansy didn't even know the location of the entrances to the men's and women's dormitories, and was standing there in a daze - it seemed that she was not from the Slytherin house.
Draco was all too familiar with this little trick.
During that unforgettable dark period in your previous life, you never knew whether the loved one in front of you was a Death Eater in disguise.
All it takes is a strand of hair and a few sips of Polyjuice Potion, and you could be tricked into revealing your deepest secrets to a complete stranger.
However, I didn't expect that in this peaceful era, there would still be people who would play such tricks. Perhaps it was a Death Eater who was used to playing with the Dark Arts, or a Death Eater's child.
After turning around, his smile disappeared immediately. He paid close attention to the movements behind him, holding his wand in his hand, ready to attack at any time.
Although, it is very likely that this is a farce.
He could roughly judge from these few exchanges that she was not very old, did not understand the internal structure of Slytherin, and did not even look like a habitual offender.
Obviously, she lacked experience in disguise, and the loopholes in her behavior were as clear as a sieve in his eyes.
This level of disguise and temptation is unlikely to come from a dangerous enemy, but more like a prank by a crazy girl from another school.
The reason why he wanted to take the "fake Pansy" away was because he wanted to find a private place to force a confession from her.
He did not ignore the fact that this "fake Pansy" was particularly interested in his things.
Since his rebirth, Draco has always been cautious. Although he has maintained a certain arrogance that is unique to the Malfoy family, he no longer seeks the limelight unless necessary, and he also tries to restrain his temper and not to make enemies without reason.
Even so, was he being targeted by someone? Could someone have also been reborn and noticed something was wrong with him? He broke out in a cold sweat at the thought of these possibilities.
Regardless of whether this was a prank or not, he had to find out the reason behind it.
"Let's go," he said softly. "It won't take you more than a few minutes."
The fake Pansy hesitated for a moment, but was persuaded by his gentle voice and followed Draco into a gorgeous single bedroom. She saw the words "Draco Malfoy" engraved in floral script on the antique door.
The boy seemed to do something to the door, and it opened in a moment.
"Come in," he said briefly, appearing somewhat casual and completely unsuspecting of her.
Fake Pansy looked at the open door of the dormitory curiously, with a questioning look on her face. She couldn't help but follow him in. At this moment, curiosity overwhelmed her vigilance.
Unexpectedly, as soon as I entered the door, the boy in front of me with a kind smile waved his wand and closed the door.
She was horrified and thought to herself that something was wrong.
The situation suddenly changed, and the boy's smile suddenly faded. He grabbed her collar and pressed her against the door. With one hand, he held the wand steadily to the tip of her nose and asked her dangerously, "Who are you?"
"What do you mean... I don't understand..." she said with difficulty.
His grip was so strong that he showed no mercy to her, and she started coughing.
Oh my God! She had never seen him look so ferocious! He seemed cold and ruthless, even murderous, and for a moment she felt extremely dangerous.
This made her hair stand on end and her heart beat fast.
"I don't know when Pansy became so interested in Quidditch." Draco sneered.
He narrowed his light gray eyes and brought his delicate face closer to hers, trying to find more holes in her nervous expression.
He's getting too close to her! She thought, and her face began to turn red.
At one point, she could even feel his pressing breath. His expression was truly evil, as if he was ready to test the most horrific black magic spell on her at any moment.
She wanted to step back, but behind her was the door to his dormitory. The uneven patterns on the door made her back ache.
Panicked, she couldn't move. The boy she had once thought was gentle at heart was now devoid of any gentleness, filled instead with malice and oppression.
She finally saw his other side - the evil side.
Today, she finally confirmed that her past perception of him was seriously biased.
She was finally sure that he had treated her differently in the past—even when they were quarreling, he had never suppressed her like this. He had never shown any real aggression towards her until now.
Only when she faced someone else's face could she feel his ferocity, his cruelty, and his aggressiveness, and only then did she truly feel a hint of fear.
Only when she was in front of someone else could she feel how rude he could be to others. In comparison, he was cautious and extremely gentle to her.
Why?
Why did he treat her differently from others?
Hermione was puzzled, but she didn't have time to dwell on it. She was almost suffocated.
She has been exposed, and this disguise is meaningless.
She wanted to regain a little dignity before being hurt by his wand, before being strangled by him, or before he got any closer to her.
"Let me go! Draco," she said angrily.
Her voice was no longer Pansy Parkinson's, but Hermione Granger's.
The sound surprised Draco greatly.
He immediately let go of her collar and took a step back, the cold and ruthless look on his face instantly turning into panic.
Look at him now, he's completely different from just now! Hermione thought to herself as she loosened her collar and gasped for breath.
"Hermione? What the hell are you doing?" He scratched his platinum hair unexpectedly, his expression quickly relaxing, as if he had seen a ghost. "Why are you facing Pansy's face? Did you drink Polyjuice Potion?"
"Of course! What else do you expect?" she sputtered, feeling humiliated by his accurate revelation of her modus operandi. "Draco, I didn't know you were so rude to people!"
"I didn't know that a good student was so bold as to trespass into the common room of the outer courtyard." Draco's temples were throbbing, but he tried to calm himself down.
Merlin, what did he just do to her? Pushing her against the door! And grabbing her collar, trying to suffocate her!
Didn't I hurt her? He was in a state of confusion, but he tried to remain calm on the surface.
"You overestimated girl, are you afraid that Gryffindor will win the house cup this year?" He tilted his head, looked at her neck, crossed his arms, whistled, pretending that he was not embarrassed, or not worried about whether she had any marks from his strangulation.
Hermione was obviously fooled by his nonchalant look.
She said unconvincedly, "I had planned everything! If you hadn't come back suddenly——"
"Have you made plans? Did you know Pansy will be back soon? She'll be accompanied by at least three other Slytherin students." He said lazily.
"Don't try to scare me..." Hermione stared at him suspiciously, and her momentum began to fade.
He stopped talking, just staring at her neck. Seeing her face quickly flush, his mood suddenly brightened, and he said in a malicious voice, "If you don't believe me, go out now and see if they won't take you to the dean of this hospital and let him deduct 50 points from you."
"Even if you're right," Hermione said stiffly, "I... I won't thank you!"
"You're welcome." Draco automatically silenced all her words except for "thank you", almost making the little girl fall over in anger.
"Don't be angry." At this moment, he suppressed the smile on his face and asked her gently, "How did you pretend to be Pansy? Where did you get her things?"
"During the Quidditch game, when she came over to check on your injury, I secretly pulled a strand of her hair..." Hermione frowned and straightened her messy collar.
Draco was speechless.
Merlin! He was already seriously injured at that time! He still thought she was worried about him!
Unexpectedly, instead of caring about him, she was obsessed with pulling other girls' hair!
"Very good!" Draco sneered, feeling a little irritated. "May I ask what on earth you were planning to do in the Slytherin common room? Trying to steal some souvenirs?"
Hermione Granger, she's hopeless! How come she's the same as him when he was a child?
"Oh, actually, I was looking for your Herpo's notebook. I remember it mentioned basilisks and stuff." Hermione was desperate, her neck stiffened, and she admitted it straightforwardly.
"Do you think I would place such important books randomly?" Draco laughed in anger.
The book lay in the tiny emerald green dragonhide storage bag he always carried with him.
His dazzling smile left her at a loss for words. She could only snort arrogantly and glare at him.
"Then, since you are so curious, so curious that you are willing to spend the cost of a high-level potion like Polyjuice Potion, why don't you come and ask me directly?" He asked regretfully, thinking that she was simply wasting a gift - that was Polyjuice Potion!
The next second, he suddenly realized that she didn't trust him.
She would rather use a roundabout method like Polyjuice Potion than walk up to him and simply ask a question.
Merlin, he simply couldn't understand this little girl's train of thought! Draco's expression gradually turned cold.
"How can I ask? You're so tight-lipped, acting so mysterious all day long, and yet you know so many things no one else knows!" Seeing his stern face, no longer as kind as before, Hermione's emotions also became agitated, and her tone became sharp. "The most suspicious thing is your ancient Greek parchment filled with dark magic vocabulary! I really regret helping you translate it! Not long after, the Chamber of Secrets was opened!"
"So, this is how you define me? A dark wizard with ulterior motives?" Draco pulled a smile that was uglier than crying.
She wasn't wrong. In his past life, he had indeed been a "deadly" Death Eater, Draco thought despairingly.
"I didn't say that." Hermione felt a little uneasy at his extreme conclusion.
There seemed to be some hurt emotion revealed on his face, which instantly cooled down her sharp and intense anger that was on the verge of bursting into flames.
"But, according to your wild thoughts, you just accused me of opening the Chamber of Secrets?" Draco narrowed his eyes and looked at her. Pansy's face was gradually returning to look like Hermione.
"Don't misinterpret my words. What I mean is that you are indeed suspicious. You once hinted that the cat was just the beginning, and then Colin Creevey, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Nick were petrified one after another. Is this a coincidence?" Hermione raised her face and said proudly.
"I was just trying to remind you to be safe! How could you think of me like that?" There was a hint of disbelief in Draco's tone.
Hermione's eyes flickered, but she refused to back down. "Also, what about that out-of-control Bludger? Do you dare to say it wasn't your house-elf who did it? I've been keeping your secret all this time..."
"Let me remind you, that was entirely Dobby's own decision. I didn't ask him to do anything! I was completely unaware of it before! Besides, I was the one who was injured. I was the one who broke thirty-four bones. Harry was still there, fine." Draco snorted, feeling a dull pain in his bones, heart, and brain.
Hermione's expression suddenly became a little strange.
There seemed to be a kind of heartache in her eyes, but due to the backlight and shadows, Draco couldn't see it clearly.
"Since you doubt my intentions, why don't you tell Harry what you heard? Why do you keep the secret for me?" He put one hand on the door panel and moved closer to Hermione, trying to look into her eyes clearly.
"I don't want you to be misunderstood by him! Of course I know you have no idea..." Hermione felt a little uncomfortable with his approach.
His light grey eyes were bright, his nose tip was almost touching hers, and his warm breath was light and refreshing on her face.
She suddenly realized that her heartbeat was incredibly fast. She pursed her lips and pressed her back against the door, hoping to alleviate the symptom.
Draco was still studying her eyes, his gaze making her uneasy. She shrank, clutching the door. Her heart threatened to burst out or even fall under his approach.
Her arrogance subsided a little, but she did not give up struggling.
Hermione remembered a bit of evidence to refute him. She asked him calmly, "You know the inside story of the Chamber of Secrets, but you won't tell me. What about this matter?"
"Didn't you tell me that Harry was a Parseltongue? Don't say you didn't guess it, she's the smartest girl in the grade!" Draco retorted.
He was clearly arguing with her, but he couldn't ignore her gradually brightening brown eyes. Moreover, a faint scent of green apples was gradually emanating from her hair.
She smells good.
Why the hell was he always paying attention to all this nonsense? How could he possibly focus on the argument?
"I'm just guessing! After you told him, he... worried every day... afraid that he would be the heir of Slytherin." Hermione stammered with her petal-like lips, speaking with some difficulty. It was obvious that her thoughts were a little confused.
"I think... he has the right to know everything about himself." Draco pouted, staring at her, his tone involuntarily slowing down.
"But—" Hermione hesitated.
"The facts are the facts, they can't disappear just because you try to avoid them. He'll have to find out he's a Parseltongue sooner or later. I told him because I hope he can protect himself, or at least hide himself well and not talk to snakes in public, lest the gossipy Hufflepuff students talk about him!" A hint of anger flashed in Draco's gray eyes.
"Why... do you think the monster in the Chamber of Secrets is a basilisk? No one says so except you... Even Professor Binns... can't say for sure what kind of monster it is!" Hermione tried hard to analyze his words with her confused brain and grasp the key points.
Draco choked.
He couldn't explain it.
Is he going to say that this was a trick he had tricked Ms. Grey into giving because he wanted to destroy the Horcrux?
Or, has he been reborn and experienced all these things before?
"This is just my reasonable guess." He couldn't maintain a tough attitude at all. He guiltily let go of his hands that were pressing on the door panel, turned around and walked a few steps, and began to study a Grindylow that was slowly swimming past the dormitory window.
"When did knowledge become the original sin? Aren't you even more suspicious, since you love academics so much?" Draco asked with his back to her, facing the Black Lake.
Hermione was silent.
She was finally freed from the door panel by him, but she had lost most of her fighting power.
"Do you know that if you don't let Harry follow the voice, it makes you look suspicious, like the 'mastermind who doesn't want others to interfere'?" she asked weakly.
"Am I going to advise him to rashly follow something so dangerous and get petrified, or even die?" Draco turned around and said impatiently, "Speaking of which, you should be the most careful! Don't act rashly alone or go exploring in other colleges! Aren't you afraid of running into it and getting petrified by that damn thing?"
"What do you mean I should be the most careful? Because I am a Muggle-born student, I should be more careful than others? Because the basilisk will only target dirty Muggle-borns, not noble pure-blood wizards like you, right?" Hermione asked coldly and sadly.
"Hermione Granger, you know nothing!" Draco stared at her, irritated to death.
The reason you should be most careful is not because you were born a Muggle, but because you have been petrified in your previous life!
Now that Justin Finch-Fletchley has fallen, the next student to be petrified is you!
You are of course the most at risk and should be the most careful!
But how does Draco explain this?
At this moment, seeing that he remained silent, the little girl angrily put her hands on her hips, tears welling up in her eyes, "Since you think so much of me, why bother with me, why bother with my life or death? Just let me be petrified! You can also have some peace and quiet and have more fun with your pure-blood wizard friends!"
Draco looked at the mist in her eyes, and her sharp words squeezed him, and his rationality almost disappeared.
He stared at her with his pale grey eyes, irritable and frustrated, his thoughts spurred out, "Fine! I'm meddling! I should have left you alone, and it would have been heartbreaking to see you petrified—"
Halfway through his words, he realized what he was saying and suddenly closed his mouth 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 found that he was blinking nervously and his cheeks suddenly turned red.
"Draco," she whispered, watching the boy whip around and pretend to study the giant octopus outside the window.
"Draco, are you worried about me?" She asked with a smile on her face behind his back. Looking at his red ears, she felt her gloomy mood suddenly brighten up.
"Draco, did you just say that you would be heartbroken if I were petrified?" she asked him triumphantly, and saw his ears turn red.
"I didn't say anything," he said hastily, ashamed to admit the nonsense he had just said.
"I heard everything!" She suddenly found herself grinning as she spoke, not being able to be angry with him at all.
The giant octopus lay in the corner of the window, looking at the red-faced boy staring at it with boredom.
Oh! You clumsy and boring boy, why are you always looking at me? Look at her! It swayed its body impatiently, and its thick tentacles scraped across the dormitory window, making a harsh creaking sound.
"Oh, that sounds disgusting." Hermione and Draco complained in unison.
"It's not usually this noisy. It usually lies on the glass ceiling of the common room and sleeps soundly." Draco couldn't help laughing as he watched the giant octopus fiddling with its tentacles.
Hermione was laughing too.
Although Draco wasn't sure why she was laughing, at least she no longer had a stern face.
"Stop arguing, okay?" Hermione's face flushed slightly, her eyes sparkling. "I've discovered there are a lot of misunderstandings between us."
"Okay, let's make peace. I swear, I am definitely not the heir of Slytherin, and I have not opened any evil Chamber of Secrets." He mustered up the courage to look at her, with a hint of tenderness in his tone.
"I know. I don't want you to be an heir at all. But those rumors and some of your actions make me care - although now it seems that they may all be misunderstandings." Hermione tugged at her newly grown brown hair uncomfortably and stared at the giant octopus. "Wasn't the way we argued just now quite funny?"
"Maybe. We should have talked it out a long time ago instead of being so stubborn." He chuckled. "Aren't we quite similar? Both stubborn and awkward..."
Hermione rolled her eyes and added, "Same sensitive and proud."
"That's right." Draco smiled slightly. He lazily sat down on the armchair in front of the window, tapped the round table with his wand, and conjured up a pot of steaming hot tea. "Okay, it's the same, no one laughs at each other. Sit down and have some, the noise is making my throat burn."
Hermione sat down on the armchair opposite him, with the steam rising from the black tea in front of her. Through the steam, she could see Draco's light gray eyes.
Those eyes had just gotten so close to her that they pushed her against the door.
Those eyes had just been staring at her, openly expressing their concern for her.
If she were petrified, wouldn't he be "heartbroken" instead of celebrating like other Slytherins?
This realization made her feel slightly happy and a little shy at the same time.
She turned her head uncomfortably to look out the window at the depths of the water, and suddenly realized that she was at the bottom of the Black Lake - inside Slytherin - Draco's private dormitory.
The noise coming from outside the dormitory became increasingly impossible to ignore.
The Slytherins finished their dinner and poured into the common room like a green torrent.
Draco walked over, opened the door a crack, and peeked out.
His face darkened as he locked his door and recast the anti-disturbance charm and silencing charm on the room.
"They're having another after-dinner party in the common room—always a rowdy affair." Draco shrugged with familiarity. "There are too many people outside. I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the party is over before you have a chance to sneak out of the common room."
"I think so," said Hermione dryly.
She had now completely returned to her normal self, holding the cup in both hands and sipping hot tea in a reserved manner.
"Would you like some milk?" he asked. It was not good to drink tea on an empty stomach so close to midnight.
"Oh, okay. Thank you." She pushed the cup over and watched his slender fingers pick up the milk jug and pour it for her. She found that the silver milk jug was engraved with a complex emblem with the letter "M" on it, like a family crest.
"By the way, where did you get the Polyjuice Potion? It's not hard to find." Draco asked with interest.
"I made it myself." Draco's surprised expression obviously pleased Hermione. She raised her little face and said proudly, "It took a month."
"Well done, very talented." Draco still couldn't help but complain, "You could have asked me directly."
Hermione grunted in dissatisfaction.
"So, did you get the answer you wanted?" Draco asked again.
"Mostly, but we don't know what the basilisk is about yet." Hermione's face felt a little hot from the steam from the hot tea.
Draco waved his wand, summoning a thick book from a distant desk.
"Look here, there's what you want to know."
This book was the same one Draco read at the end of last year, and it contained a description of the basilisk.
"Oh—now I finally understand why you were so sure there was a basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. And those panicking spiders and Hagrid's chickens that were bitten to death—now we have the answer." After reading the book, Hermione suddenly realized, "If you put all this knowledge together, it's only a matter of time before you guess there's a basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets."
"Now, I'm not a bad person?" Draco asked unhappily.
"Of course not! I never thought of it that way," Hermione said in a sweet voice, which pleased Draco very much.
His face was arrogant, but his hand honestly picked up the teapot and refilled Hermione's hot tea. "You'd better think so."
"So the question is, how does the basilisk move?" said Hermione. "Since it's so huge, how can it hide so easily?"
"Not only that. I heard that Hogwarts Castle was once renovated. I guess at that time, some descendants of Slytherin hid the location of the Chamber of Secrets. However, although the Chamber of Secrets was hidden, the basilisk's freedom was not restricted. To this day, it can still roam around and come and go freely. How did it do that?" Draco pondered and poured himself some tea.
"Draco! I think I know how the basilisk moves." Looking at the tea slowly pouring out of the teapot, Hermione had an idea. "Pipeline! The basilisk moves through the pipe!"
Draco opened his mouth and gave her a look of surprise.
Her idea was... damned flawless.
"Yes! It's very likely. The castle is full of pipes. Even after large-scale renovations, pipes are still indispensable and are spread throughout the castle." Draco gave her an appreciative smile, his heart filled with excitement as if he had suddenly solved a mystery. "Hermione, you are indeed the smartest wizard among your peers!