Wisps of white smoke curled up from the cup Hermione had given Lynn, seemingly raising the surrounding temperature by a few degrees.
Looking at the image on the cup, Lynn felt her heart grow a bit warmer as well.
It was a photo of her and Hermione taken outside the Louvre Museum during their previous trip to France.
Hermione had one arm around her shoulder, while her other hand made a peace sign, her smile bright and sunny.
She stood beside Hermione with an expressionless face, but upon closer inspection, one could find a hint of soothed tranquility.
Yes, soothed. At that time, hadn't her emotions just been calmed by Hermione?
Looking at the small line of text appearing alongside the image near the bottom of the cup, Lynn reached out and gently stroked it.
"My promise to you, unwavering until death."
Murmuring softly, the smile on Lynn's lips grew wider, while her eyes gradually became moist.
"Do you like it?"
A slightly raspy voice came from behind, and Lynn's neck was gently embraced.
Feeling the softness and the sweet scent behind her, Lynn blinked and smiled, "Mm, I love it. Thank you, Hermione."
"You don't have to be so polite with me."
Having just woken up, Hermione spoke with a hint of lingering sleepiness and gave Lynn's cheek a light kiss.
The moisture in Lynn's eyes gradually faded, replaced by a flush of red and warmth spreading across her cheeks.
Seeing her face grow redder, Hermione gave a satisfied chuckle, let go, and walked back to her bed with light steps to change her clothes.
Lynn picked up the cup and took a small sip. Well, even though it was just plain water, it didn't feel any worse than the cola she had drunk before.
Carefully setting the cup down, Lynn continued opening the rest of her gifts.
Senior Maranhao had given her a very beautiful cheongsam, likely because she had seen her Boggart before. Lynn's mind worked quickly as her hands deftly smoothed out the cheongsam, placing it on the bed without a single wrinkle.
Like Senior Maranhao, Senior Marietta had also given her a piece of clothing—a very beautiful princess dress.
Looking at the princess dress in her hands, Lynn tilted her head. Her first thought was that she wasn't a princess and didn't have the life of one, so was it really appropriate for her to wear this dress?
But she would probably look good in it.
Smiling, Lynn placed the dress next to the cheongsam from Senior Maranhao. It was as if they had planned it together—the first two seniors giving her a dress and a cheongsam.
Senior Penelope, on the other hand, had sent her an exceptionally gorgeous magical silk scarf.
The moment she saw the scarf, Lynn identified the spells attached to it in her mind.
A Transfiguration Spell that could change its color and pattern, and Alchemy that allowed for simple sensing of surrounding changes.
Making this magical silk scarf was no easy feat. According to Senior Penelope's letter, it seemed she had completed it during her free time over the summer break.
The study points she had compiled had helped Senior Penelope save time, and Senior Penelope had, in turn, spent that saved time on her.
Lynn smiled happily and placed the magical silk scarf securely on the bed.
The remaining gifts were from everyone in Ravenclaw and a large portion of the Hufflepuff Little Badgers—snacks, trinkets, decorations, and all sorts of things.
However, they all seemed to have a tacit understanding—not a single person had given her a book, not even the Little Badgers.
Besides that, there was something else that surprised Lynn: the gift from Harry and Ron.
She didn't know if the two boys had matured or if someone had given them a good idea.
The gift they sent this time showed exceptional emotional intelligence and wisdom, to the point that even Hermione, after changing her clothes, looked a bit surprised.
"This is a joint gift from Harry and Ron?"
She examined the crystal ball in Lynn's hand with some surprise, feeling somewhat shocked by the growth of the two boys.
"Yes," Lynn turned around with a radiant smile, the joy in her eyes completely overwhelming the deadness within them. "That's what the letter says."
"Not bad," Hermione nodded in approval. "Have those two finally grown up?"
"Well, it's about time..."
Hermione muttered softly. After all, in a year or two—or even now, if things moved quickly—Harry and Ron would be starting to date.
If the two of them didn't grow up soon, she couldn't even imagine how "broken down" their girlfriends would be.
Looking down at the crystal ball in her hand, a Castle stood amidst wind and snow, clearly Hogwarts. In front of Hogwarts, several magical little figures were joyfully having a snowball fight.
This scene was exactly the one from their first year, when she, Harry, Ron, and the Weasley Twins had a snowball fight together.
So everyone remembered... they remembered the memories of being with her, they remembered everything related to her... The three seniors remembered her past hardships and Boggart, Harry and Ron remembered the past snowball fight with her, and Hermione remembered the promise she had made.
Even more people remembered things about her; otherwise, why wouldn't there be a single book among her Christmas gifts?
She was a Ravenclaw, after all.
Placing the crystal ball on the table, Lynn suddenly felt that she could understand many things now.
For instance, what she had just thought about—why no one gave her books.
It must be out of care... Whether they knew the truth or not, everyone could feel her desperation and hard work, so they didn't want to do that during such a happy holiday.
They didn't want her to revisit her usual toil and effort. It was a holiday, a festival—happiness should come first.
"Come on, let's wake up Senior Maranhao and Senior Marietta, and then go to the Great Hall for breakfast together."
Hermione tapped Lynn's shoulder with a smile, gesturing toward the two beds behind them where Maranhao and Marietta were sleeping soundly.
"Okay." The smile on Lynn's face faded slightly, but she still walked to Maranhao's bedside with a smile and gently pulled back the bed curtains.
Maranhao was lying in bed, her fair arms and shoulders peeking out from under the quilt, her black hair scattered across the pillow as she slept soundly.
"Senior Maranhao, Senior Maranhao, wake up. It's time for breakfast."
Lynn reached out and gently pushed Maranhao's shoulder through the quilt. From the other bed, Hermione's voice could be heard softly calling Marietta.
"Mm, mm... getting up now, getting up now."
Maranhao answered groggily, rubbed her eyes, and slowly sat up, leaning against the headboard to wake herself up.
Seeing that Maranhao was awake, Lynn took a step back and politely closed the bed curtains, standing aside with Hermione to wait for the two seniors to change.
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/SolyuraMT
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"