Leonard Taylor's name is famous in the wizarding world, but he did not have a person he could call his friend. Although he has relationships with various kinds of people such as famous researchers, aurors who are colleagues of his father, bureaucrats of the Ministry of Magic, excellent healers, etc. they could only be considered as acquaintances through his research. Leo who is fully focused on his research and experimentations did not have any friends of the same age he could play with.
However, Leo did not have any complaints with such a lifestyle, he spent all his time in research by himself. In the first place, he never had friends, so he did even have the notion of being lonely. He concluded that it was fine as it was since he could feel the love given to him by his parents.
But even Leo had a person to talk to.
Leo's daily life is mostly occupied by magic research. Nonetheless, it does not mean that he stays 24 hours in his atelier. As a daily routine, he goes out for a walk, one that also serves to refresh his mind, and visits the nearby library to learn about knowledge other than the wizarding world by reading muggles' literature and learned books. Although it is merely for an hour, he is able to come up with new ideas and methods to deal with stalemate problems by forgetting about magical things temporarily. It serves very well to refresh his mind.
The people who use the library are different every day, but there is always one girl that he would see every time he goes there by himself.
That girl would study in the same place the whole time, from the time Leo would arrive until he left. She probably visits the library as soon as school finishes and stays until the library closes.
Even Leo who's not that interested in strangers remembered how she looked since he would see her every day. As such, seeing the girl studying every day made him interested in what she was studying.
"Hey there, I see you come every day. What are you studying?"
"Hello. It has nothing to do with you. "
The girl sharply replied as if to imply that she had no interest in the other party. That was the first conversation Leonard Taylor and Hermione Granger exchanged.
"I see. By the way, you got this problem wrong. "
Hermione looked at the problem and realized that she had actually made a mistake. While her face became flushed because someone pointed out her mistake, she glared at Leo who suddenly treated her this way despite being the first time they'd exchanged words.
Their first impressions about each other were anything but good.
Since then, Leo would see Hermione studying from time to time, pointing out her mistakes and giving her pieces of advice on how to make her study more efficient. He gradually turned it into a game that he enjoyed. In opposition, Hermione became even more eager in her study to compete against that rude person, drastically improving her knowledge.
Nevertheless, the two of them did not imagine that their relationship would turn into a comfortable one after a whole month had passed.
After one month "What's the subject today? Also, what are your thoughts about the book from last week?"
"I've finished my homework from school, so I'm thinking of studying physics. The book from last week was about the difference in how individuals think. "
"How other people think, huh? I'm not good at that field. I understand it that much. "
"I guess so. I think that in your case, it feels that your mind is heading towards a different aspect. But for some reason, I don't really hate this kind of relationship with you. "
Hermione felt curious because she did not imagine that they would be talking to each other this peacefully despite their first interaction. And now, she does not have any antipathy for being taught by him. She realized that she could only recognize that the other party's knowledge was a few levels higher than her own. Since last month, Hermione felt that she was changing as each and every day passed.
Suddenly, Hermione realized something.
"Oh right, we don't even know each other's names. I'm Hermione Granger. A pleasure to meet you, and I'll definitely exceed you one day!"
"Ah, now that you've mentioned it. Well, it's not like it was inconvenient not knowing each other's names. I'm Leonard Taylor. I'll look forward to that day then. "
And after that, the two's strange relationship continued. And during a certain time, they had the following conversation.
"Why is Hermione studying this much? Don't you have friends to play with?"
"You're really frank aren't you... *sigh* I don't have friends, okay. I don't get along well with the people in the school and I've also been made fun of because of studying. I've had enough of those people, so I decided to study in this silent place. And you who asked that, do you have friends?"
"Now that you've mentioned it, I don't have any either. You're the only person who I got to know who's the same age. "
"Is that so? Would you like to have friends?"
"I wonder. I can't say for sure since I've never had a friend. "
Silence descended between the two. Soon after, the two of them declared at the same time.
"Would you like to be my friend?"
"Would you like to be friends with me?"
The two of them looked at each other with surprised faces. They understood what the other said and shook hands with a smile.
Their relationship turned into friends from acquaintances, and just like that, Leo had the first friend of his life.