As soon as the car started, Hermione, who was sitting next to Harley, spoke up with a look of concern on her face, "Harley, you've been living in a girls' school and have had almost no chance to interact with boys our age, so you might not know much about them..."
Harley was a bit speechless. What was going on today? Even Hermione was becoming neurotic.
She chuckled and replied, "Hey, Hermione, aren't you just like me? You've been studying at a girls' school this whole time and haven't had contact with boys either—"
Before Harley could finish, Hermione frowned and interrupted her with an exceptionally serious and solemn expression, retortng, "That's different! I used my summer vacation to read dozens of books on adolescent psychology; I know the inner thoughts of boys this age like the back of my hand!"
Harley pursed her lips, feeling like she had heard the phrase 'back of my hand' somewhere earlier this morning.
Hermione continued, "According to those books, for boys our age, over eighty percent of what's in their heads is how to make friends with good-looking girls—and once they actually succeed in meeting someone they like, they often don't know how to cherish them... So, you must be careful and cautious; don't let those guys trick you!"
"Oh, Merlin's pink thong—"
Harley sighed helplessly and then gave Hermione a bitter smile, saying, "Hermione, please get a grip on the situation, okay? We're both only eleven years old!"
Hermione said with conviction, "It's precisely because we're only eleven that it's the most critical time—the body hasn't fully matured yet, and one is easily influenced by various negative factors, leading to strange ideas sprouting in the mind and falling into endless trouble... This period can definitely be called one of the most dangerous stages in life!"
...Fine, you've read more books, so you're right.
Harley didn't really want to get bogged down in this topic with Hermione, so she had a sudden brainwave and showed a sly smile, teasing, "Hermione, you just mentioned that boys this age usually like to make friends with girls who are outstanding in appearance and graceful. For you to be so caring toward me all of a sudden, could it be—"
Midway through her sentence, Harley deliberately drew out the final sound, as if trying to keep her in suspense.
Originally, Harley just wanted to make a joke, teasing Hermione about whether she thought Harley was as beautiful as a flower and was afraid Harley would be too popular at Hogwarts and neglect her, poking fun at Hermione's pettiness before taking the chance to play around with her.
However, to Harley's complete surprise, as soon as she finished speaking, Hermione's cheeks instantly flushed with a crimson hue as vibrant as the sunset, extending all the way to the back of her ears, and even her gaze began to flicker and drift.
At this time, Mrs. Granger was sitting in the driver's seat focusing on driving, while Lily sat quietly in the passenger seat.
Only Harley and Hermione shared the back seat in the entire car. Seeing Hermione's face suddenly turn peach-pink, the atmosphere in the car instantly became subtle and incredibly strange, as if a hard-to-describe ambiguous air was permeating the space.
Harley was caught off guard by this sudden turn of events. The second half of her sentence was stuck in her throat; she couldn't move forward or back, and for a moment she didn't know what to do. The scene immediately fell into an embarrassing stalemate.
Mrs. Granger, focusing on her driving, didn't notice the situation in the back as she concentrated on maneuvering the car through the narrow streets of London. Lily, noticing the odd atmosphere in the back, didn't make a sound; instead, she watched the show with great interest, not expecting her daughter to be so popular. It's good to be young.
Hermione originally thought her little secret had been seen through by Harley. While comforting herself that this was a normal phenomenon in Great Britain, she was also looking forward to how Harley would respond after understanding her feelings, but she didn't expect Harley to stop halfway through.
After waiting for a long time without the final verdict, Hermione peeked up, only to find that Harley had at some point leaned herself against the opposite window, as if suddenly drawn by the alleys of London, and was intently studying the streetlights flying past.
Hermione gritted her teeth in anger—this little brat, playing with me again!
At this time, Hermione didn't know that this was just the beginning of her displeasure today.
The car drove smoothly all the way to King's Cross Station. There were still over thirty minutes before the 11 o'clock departure, so there was plenty of time.
Lily walked ahead with her arm linked in Mrs. Granger's, constantly telling interesting stories that made Mrs. Granger burst into cheerful laughter from time to time.
In sharp contrast to them were Hermione, following behind with a gloomy face while pushing her luggage, and Harley, also pushing luggage and standing to the side, seemingly studying the station's wall bricks but actually absent-minded.
Harley secretly pondered that if they kept this up, Hermione would probably give her the cold shoulder all the way to Hogwarts. It seemed she had to take the initiative to talk.
After some careful consideration, Harley said softly, "Hermione, once we get on the Hogwarts Express, let's pick a carriage toward the back. I heard the end of the train is usually quieter and has fewer passengers; maybe no one will bother us the whole way—that way, you won't have to worry about annoying boys coming to talk to you."
After saying this, Harley stole a glance at Hermione to observe her reaction.
Sure enough, Hermione clearly understood the meaning behind Harley's words, knowing that this was actually the other party giving her a way out.
Hermione hesitated for a second, then immediately pushed her trolley two steps to the side to get closer to Harley and gave a low hum of agreement.
Harley let out a long breath; it seemed the crisis was averted.
Fortunately, she had already agreed with Cho that she would find a carriage at the back of the Hogwarts Express to sit in (mainly fearing it would be awkward if she ran into Miss Malfoy, since she was bringing the Muggle-born Hermione and couldn't go to the Malfoys' exclusive carriage for their meeting). If Cho wanted to find her, she could just go to the rear carriages.
Lily, who was talking to Mrs. Granger, keenly sensed the subtle change in atmosphere between the two behind them and couldn't help but raise her eyebrows—she never imagined that little Hermione, who usually acted so rational and calm, would actually drop her prejudice and approach Harley so quickly just because of a simple word of comfort... This was just too much love.
If things continued to develop like this, it would be difficult for little Hermione to ever have a chance to turn the tables in the future!
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