Dumbledore instantly updated his assessment: her protective instinct took priority over all biological instincts.
"It seems..." he whispered to himself, "Miss Granger is indeed very special to you."
Just then—
"Lia..."
A weak call came from the bed. Hermione's eyelashes fluttered, and she suddenly opened her eyes.
The first thing she did upon waking was sit up, her eyes searching the empty room in panic.
"I'm here."
The white cat by the pillow instantly transformed into human form, tightly hugging her arm from behind and burying her face in Hermione's warm shoulder. Her voice was thick with the attachment of something lost and found, tinged with a sob.
Feeling the soft, warm body in her arms and confirming her presence, Hermione's nerves, which had been tensed all night, suddenly snapped, and tears instantly burst from her eyes.
She suddenly reached back and hugged Lia tightly, her strength so great it was as if she wanted to press her into her own bones.
"That's great... you're okay... you're really okay..."
Dumbledore watched this scene quietly until Hermione's sobbing subsided slightly.
"Miss Granger," he spoke, his voice calm yet with its usual gentleness.
Hermione raised her tear-streaked face.
Dumbledore looked at her, emotions swirling in his blue eyes, which finally distilled into a meaningful sentence.
"Take good care of her. Sometimes, love and protection are a more powerful... restraint than any spell."
These words were like a heavy brand, searing into Hermione's heart. She seemed to understand something, yet also seemed to grasp nothing at all.
She only felt a vast, suffocating responsibility, one she could not yet comprehend, falling onto her shoulders.
After saying this, Dumbledore turned and left.
He still had to find Snape to arrange some things; Lia's situation was even more complex than he had thought.
Soon, the Hospital Wing became lively.
Ron was chased to a hospital bed by Madam Pomfrey, while Fred and George sneakily slipped in, bringing a large pile of prank candies.
"Hey, Harry! I heard you just glared at Quirrell and he caught fire?"
"Hermione! You were absolutely brilliant!"
The twins spoke in unison, but soon, they couldn't laugh anymore.
They found that they couldn't get close to Hermione's bed at all.
Lia sat on the edge of the bed, shielding Hermione completely behind her. That fluffy white long tail was wrapped forcefully around Hermione's waist, as if declaring an inviolable ownership.
Fred, not understanding, tried to hand a Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean to Hermione.
His hand was only halfway there—
"Don't... touch."
A strange, hoarse, cold voice rang out.
It was definitely not Lia's usual soft, sweet voice.
It was more like... a child learning to speak, laboriously imitating a cold adult, every word carrying an uncoordinated cadence and a snake-like hiss.
On the bed, Harry's face instantly turned deathly pale! He had heard this voice before, deep in the Bosque Prohibido, under Quirrell's turban!
Fred's hand froze in mid-air, and he exchanged a "this prank went too far" look with George.
Lia slowly turned her head. There was no trace of human emotion in those deep blue eyes. Deep within her pupils, that faint green halo rotated slowly like the entrance to hell.
She stared at Fred and, in that awkward and hair-raising tone, declared word by word:
"Hermione... is mine."
The air in the entire ward instantly froze.
Hermione was also stunned. She looked at Lia's extreme reaction, then at the horrified expressions of the twins and Ron, and her heart skipped a beat for some reason. But the next second, she suddenly found it a bit funny.
She gently wrapped her arms around Lia's waist from behind, rested her chin lightly on her shoulder, and blew a breath onto her sensitive cat ears, as if soothing a bristling kitten.
"Yes, I'm yours," she said with a smile, her voice full of doting.
The stiffness in Lia's body instantly dissolved. She nuzzled Hermione's cheek contentedly, turned back, and buried her face in the crook of Hermione's neck.
Then, a hoarse, cold whisper, like a snake's tongue, sounded against her ear.
"Always."
The smile that had intended to soothe Lia instantly froze on Hermione's face.
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