"I can't let them down, no matter what the truth is." Hermione's fingers were white from gripping her hands tightly as she walked slowly to Draco's seat and sat down as ostentatiously as possible.
Draco glanced at her and then looked away when he felt the movement around him.
Hermione tensed at the reaction. "Is there a problem?" she asked, her body feeling tight.
"Well, the dean is so powerful, it wouldn't do to have this robe stained with ink,"
Malfoy replied, looking at her robe. "Oh, right, didn't Potter come back with you?" he continued.
Hermione let out a sigh of relief.
"He's still being taught by Professor Snape," she said, almost blurting out the name before catching herself.
Her heart had almost stopped, but then started again at the change in conversation.
"Our dean really cares about Potter," Draco said with a smile, recalling the delicious of his past life and getting goosebumps
. "I guess I'm a victim of BL too," he added.
"How about we get something to eat in the lounge?" Draco asked, trying to relax his overworked brain.
"I think Pansy will be a good way to relax. I want to test my teaching skills today," he thought to himself.
The absence of the two didn't attract much attention, as most students were focused on their food.
They walked through the corridors and eventually arrived at a damp stone wall, behind which was the Slytherin lounge.
"Pureblood," Draco said, and a hidden stone door in the wall slowly opened.
Draco strode in, with Hermione following behind.
This was Hermione's first and possibly last visit to the Slytherin common room.
It was a low, long basement with rough stone walls and ceiling, and round, glowing green lights hanging from the ceiling.
A beautifully carved mantelpiece with a crackling fire in front of them was the only source of light in the room, as most students were still eating in the auditorium.
The fire's light reflected off of the figures of Hermione and Draco, who were the only ones present.
"Old rules," Draco said as he approached Hermione.
"What is he going to do?" Hermione felt her face flush like a cooked crab.
She only remembered that Malfoy and Pansy seemed to always be intimate.
"Well, your face is so red, do you have a fever?" Draco reached out to feel Hermione's forehead.
"No, your temperature is normal," he said, looking at her.
"I'm not going to eat you, so there's no point in pretending to be sick. You have to be careful with these things." He reached out towards her again.
"What the hell is he going to do better?" Hermione's heart was about to burst.
Teenage girls were ignorant of these things, and it was normal to be upset.
"Okay," Draco said, withdrawing his hand.
"I forgot you didn't bring a wand." He touched his chin and looked around before walking over and picking up a regular wand that must have belonged to Crabbe or Goyle.
"This will do," Draco said, tossing it to Hermione.
"Don't be dazed," he added, standing there dumbfounded as Hermione caught the wand.
"What are you waiting for?" he asked.
"Except for your weapon!" A red light suddenly shot out of the tip of Draco's wand and aimed at Hermione.
"Armor protector!" Hermione thought she had been found out, and her heart was in a tangle, but she still subconsciously used the iron armor curse.
The spell was bounced back and disappeared into the flames of the fireplace.
"Not bad," Draco said, his frown easing.
"Your progress is not small," he added.
Hermione took a deep breath and tried to guess the reason for his performance just now.
She was even more embarrassed by the shameful thoughts she had had earlier.
"Isn't this a good opportunity to get to the topic?" Hermione said, flashing her eyes and sounding complain.
"But it's useless to meet a basilisk," she added, her heart heavy at the thought of hearing him say, "It's okay, I can control it."
Malfoy looked at Hermione with strange eyes and said, "You actually care about the basilisk? Weren't you always saying that Dumbledore and I can protect you, aren't you worried at all?"
After hearing this, Hermione regretted it for a moment and felt that she had given herself away.
She began to get nervous again, fearing that he might see through her.
But Draco only said that.
He then added, "It would be really useless if they really encountered a basilisk."
He seemed to be thinking of something and took a deep breath before saying, "The basilisk's skin is very tough. It may have dragon-like armor characteristics, and it can reflect spells that hit it. Its eyes and mouth are its only weak points. It's reluctant, but wizards may only be able to do physical damage to it. A weaker spell may be reflected back." He shook his head.
"But don't worry, the basilisk will only target non-pureblood wizards. You're safe," Draco said.
Hermione's mood was both happy and disappointed.
She was relieved that Draco was not controlling the basilisk, but she was disappointed that she hadn't found the truth.
She asked, "But what about Neville? The a member of Longbottom family was petrified."
Draco gave her a suspicious look. "You're acting strange today. Don't you usually care about these things?" he asked, before continuing,
"He must have had other reasons." His words were vague and made Hermione even more suspicious.
"How could he know there are other reasons, isn't it..." Hermione didn't want to think about it anymore and changed the subject.
They continued to talk, but Hermione's doubts only grew deeper.
Draco's answer made her more suspicious.
She even thought, "Is he hiding something from me, even though he's supposed to be one of the closest people?"
Suddenly, there were footsteps outside the door. It must be the other students returning.
Hermione estimated the time and realized that the effects of the potion she had taken would soon wear off.
She needed to find an excuse to leave. But the more she thought about it, the more at a loss she felt.
Just as Hermione was trying to come up with an excuse to leave, something happened.
"What did you just say?" Draco asked a female student who had just come in.
"I said that I heard Professor Lockhart was near the girls' bathroom and that he seemed to have found clues about the basilisk there," the female student replied, her expression admiring.
Now, Lockhart was like a savior to the students, giving up his rare Christmas holiday to take risks for their safety.
A male teacher wandering in the girls' bathroom was definitely suspicious enough that he needed a good excuse.
"The opportunity has come," Draco thought excitedly.
Riddle was finally getting his chance.
He grabbed Hermione's shoulder and said, "I have to go. Stay here and don't go anywhere."
Hermione's ability to come up with stories in her head was powerful.
Before she knew the truth, any little action could make her come up with the wrong "truth."
In that moment, Draco looked like Hercules to her, desperately trying to cover his weaknesses and making her heart race again.
But she composed herself and said, "Okay."
Draco quickly stood up and ran out of the room, but the excitement on his face was interpreted differently by Hermione.
"I need to stop him," Hermione thought to herself.
"Professor Lockhart is also there."
After a while, when Draco had left, Hermione hurriedly left the Slytherin common room without even changing her clothes back.
She was afraid that there would be another victim and didn't think to report the incident to other teachers because she trusted Lockhart.
Perhaps she also had a bit of selfishness, hoping that if someone did get lost, only a few people would know about Draco's remorse and he wouldn't be fired.
As Hermione walked through the dim corridors, the walls still had the words etched into them from when the basilisk had harmed the students.
She was very anxious and made her way to the bathroom where the crying Myrtle was.
Suddenly, she heard Malfoy's voice saying unfamiliar syllables that reminded her of the strange words Harry had spoken on stage.
This made her even more confused: "Does Harry have anything to do with this?"
She shook her head, convinced it was just a coincidence and that Harry was probably being trained by Snape at the moment.
Not much time passed before the sound stopped and Hermione rushed into the bathroom.
She found the crying Myrtle sitting on the water tank of the innermost toilet bowl, trembling. Hermione couldn't help but think that ghosts shouldn't be capable of feeling fear.
"Third!" Myrtle said weakly. "You're the third person to come here today."
Her voice was full of fear and it seemed as if she was recalling some very unpleasant memories. "What happened to them?"
Hermione asked urgently, needing to hurry. If it had been any other time, she might have offered a comforting remark to Myrtle, but now was not the time.
Myrtle pointed to the pool in front of her. Hermione rushed over and examined it thoroughly, inside and out, and even checked the water pipes underneath. "This faucet never lets out water," Myrtle said, her tone suddenly becoming happier.
"What about the two people who were just here?" Hermione asked, her face full of fear again.
"They both said some things to the faucet that I didn't understand...and then it happened..." Myrtle let out a scream, rose into the air, turned upside down, planted her head into the toilet, splashed water on Hermione, and then disappeared.
Hermione had no choice but to try and imitate the sound she had just heard. It was a very strange sound, like a snake hissing.
Suddenly, the faucet emitted a dazzling white light and began to rotate rapidly. The pool also moved, slowly disappearing from view to reveal a thick water pipe that a person could fit into.
Would a Gryffindor be afraid of danger? Of course! No one is not afraid of danger, but would they back down from it?
That answer is also obvious. Hermione entered the pipeline without looking back.