When Mrs Granger returned with her ale and ice cream cone in both hands, this was the scene she saw: her once sullen daughter, now wearing a baseball cap upside down, stood behind the boy like a tomboy, the two of them squeezed onto a skateboard, trying to glide forward across the square.
The platinum-blonde boy's expression was lively, completely unlike his previous mature-beyond-his-years demeanour. He was only focused on laughing and shouting, "Swing gently! Keep your feet still!"
Her daughter had one arm around the boy's shoulder, a happy smile on her face. She called out to him with a slightly coquettish tone, "My foot did not move!"
"You are moving! You are dancing on the skateboard like a clown!" The boy laughed even louder as he tried to control the skateboard, exasperated by the girl behind him who had absolutely no self-control. "Hold on tight—"
"I am holding on tight!" Hermione said nervously, resting her head on his shoulder and gripping his clothes tightly with her other hand.
They seemed to have figured out a few tricks, but not many, Monica thought.
She called out to them, "I really do not want to bother you, but this ice cream is starting to drip."
The skateboard stopped. He helped her down, carried the skateboard for her, and walked with her side by side towards Mrs Granger.
"Hermione, I have to apologise. I should not have underestimated you. This skateboard is not as easy to control as it looks," Draco said, a gleam of pleasure in his eyes.
"I am glad you realised that." Her brown eyes shone brightly from the exercise. "But I must admit, I had a lot of fun just now."
Boys and girls were usually very interested in something new. They devoured the enormous chocolate ice cream cone that Mrs Granger had brought and practised for a whilst in the sunset.
Even the habitually arrogant young master of the Malfoy family had to admit that skateboarding was very much to his liking—you had to be very skilful, patient, and even more courageous to skate well.
"First, do not be afraid of falling," he told Hermione. "Second, be decisive and stop where you need to."
Hermione was full of confidence and readily agreed. But once she was on the skateboard, she completely forgot her promise and found herself clinging to him like a sloth. She had never been a big fan of "falling," and usually avoided anything that might lead to her falling.
"Do you remember what I just mentioned?" he asked as he swiped, his tone somewhat helpless.
"Yes! I am following the rules!" she exclaimed.
Obey my foot! That is not how it is at all. However, when the girl's soft, supple body leant against his back, it was hard for him to harden his heart towards her.
So Draco could only take her on skating trips, letting her indulge in her skateboarding passion. When the skateboard sped up, the wind would blow in their faces, carrying the scent of roses. This was the fragrance of flowers that could be smelt everywhere in the small town of Bath.
The direct sunlight and continuous exercise gave their faces a rosy hue, like the sunset in Bath that day—charming and vibrant.
"My dear, Hermione is right, the boy does have a nice smile," Mrs Granger said to her husband, who had come to fetch them, looking at them with satisfaction.
Afterwards, Draco went with the Grangers to a well-known Spanish restaurant in Bath for tapas, as Mr Granger insisted on treating him well to thank him for helping them communicate with the goblins in Gringotts last time.
"Is your family always this lively and cheerful during meals?" Draco could not help but ask Hermione in a low voice as they ate. "Are you always talking about these light-hearted topics?"
"What else?" Hermione said with a smile. "What else can we talk about? Our digestive system is already tired enough just digesting food. We do not want to add any more burden by thinking about serious topics."
Draco raised an eyebrow, having never heard such a view before.
The atmosphere at the Granger family's dinner table was completely different from that of the Malfoy family. At the Malfoy family's dinner table, you often found yourself eating whilst discussing intrigue, power struggles, or strategic manoeuvring, swallowing a bellyful of tactics and schemes along with your meal; at the Granger family's dinner table, they seemed to prefer swallowing certain pleasant topics as side dishes.
For Draco, it was an unprecedented sense of ease. Unlike the Malfoys' way of eating and conversing, which maintained a certain distance, the Grangers displayed a relaxed and casual demeanour and a close and caring relationship.
At the Malfoy family dinner table, the children mostly had no say—unless their parents specifically asked them by name, in which case Draco would give a proper answer; even then, Lucius always thought that listening to the children's opinions was a "waste of time."
But the Grangers were different. They were used to taking turns speaking, without any sense of hierarchy or oppression due to age differences, and an atmosphere of equality permeated the entire table.
No wonder they raised Hermione, a confident, lively girl who bravely expressed her own thoughts.
During their pleasant conversation, Draco quickly learnt more about the Grangers. They were both dentists in the Muggle world—a field incomprehensible to wizards. The Grangers were different from the Muggles he had imagined. He had thought all Muggles were as annoying as Harry's aunt and uncle—stupid, vulgar, and tasteless. But Hermione's parents were not like that.
Mr Granger was very approachable, an art enthusiast who could talk about painting, sculpture, opera, and photography. Mrs Granger was an academic enthusiast, with considerable knowledge of languages such as ancient Greek.
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By the time Draco returned to his suite at the sanatorium, the moon was high in the sky and the breeze was gentle.
In his past life, Draco would never have believed that he could get along well with any Muggle family; however, in this life, he was surprised to find that his harmonious social activities with the Granger family were not terrible at all, and even made him quite happy.
Lying on the soft bed, he unusually did not think about the Dark Lord, Horcruxes, or those nightmarish memories. Instead, his mind wandered, reminiscing about the joy of riding a Muggle skateboard, the sunset, the rose-scented breeze, and the girl laughing behind him... until he drifted off to sleep.