Pansy went to sit off to the side, cheeks puffed out. The way her lips were pushed into a high pout and the occasional glare she shot at someone made her mood perfectly clear.
It was definitely not a good one.
In contrast, Hermione's face held a mix of suspicion and relief.
Part of her was clearly questioning what the two of them had just been doing. Part of her was relieved that she had arrived at exactly the right moment. And the rest of it was a faint, unmistakable grievance directed at Draco.
In short, Hermione's appearance had very unfortunately shattered the pink atmosphere that had just filled the common room, leaving behind a long and awkward silence.
Faced with the situation, even Draco did not know how to break it. He lowered his gaze to the book on his lap, turning a page now and then. But the distracted way he flipped through it made it obvious that his mind was elsewhere.
He was clearly pretending nothing had happened.
Ahem.
If Pansy and Hermione had not been so focused on each other, they might have noticed how unusual Draco looked at that moment.
As if trying to act completely normal, Pansy casually smoothed the ends of her hair.
"Granger, what are you doing here?"
"He's the one who told me to come!"
Draco's lips twitched slightly at the sight of the pale finger pointing straight at his nose.
He did not respond, but from the way Hermione stood with her hands on her hips and the edge in her voice, he could clearly sense the resentment and faint hurt radiating off her.
Yet this catlike girl did not voice her grievance outright. Instead, she simply glared at him with jealous eyes, like a little kitten bristling at its owner.
Pansy cut off Hermione's stare.
"Draco asked you to come? Why didn't I know about that?"
"Who knows. Maybe he thought you wouldn't be any help."
"…I'm not in the mood to argue with you right now, Granger."
The one feeling guilty was not just Draco.
Pansy, who had just been pulled away from Draco, was also tense. Hermione's fixed gaze made her feel distinctly uncomfortable.
So much for fair competition. And yet you sneak ahead like that?
That was roughly what Hermione's look seemed to be saying.
Under that silent accusation, Pansy turned her head away.
They had never made any formal agreement about not making the first move. But for some reason, beneath Hermione's unwavering stare, Pansy still felt an inexplicable sense of guilt.
And in truth…
She had done far more than what Hermione had just seen.
Although she wanted to stay and hear why Draco had called Hermione over, Draco had already left everything in her hands. With the Quidditch House Cup about to begin, the team still needed Pansy to make an appearance.
Besides, it was not just that Draco truly did not care much about Quidditch. He had more important matters to deal with.
Especially since the position he had vacated still needed a new player to fill it.
Which meant that, at this moment, only Draco and Hermione were left together.
"So you think something really happened to Lockhart?"
"I'm not sure. But this is enough to prove that we need our own intelligence network."
"I agree. I don't trust that… pervert either."
Hermione's blunt assessment of Lockhart made Draco let out a quiet laugh.
From an ordinary wizard's point of view, Lockhart did look perfectly normal.
Following Draco, the two of them descended deeper into the castle.
Before long, Draco led Hermione away from the Slytherin common room and arrived beneath the Great Hall, near the Hufflepuff common room.
As they walked down the corridor, Draco spoke with Hermione while studying an oil painting hanging on the wall. It depicted a large bowl of fruit.
Compared to the portraits that wandered about and spouted incomprehensible nonsense, this painting looked completely ordinary at first glance.
But at Hogwarts, what was ever truly ordinary?
"This should be the place."
"Mm. It took me a while to find it."
"Then you know how to get in."
"Of course."
Draco knew that if he handled it himself, he could reach the result faster and more easily. But seeing Hermione's eager and slightly proud expression, he chose not to mention Dobby, who would have been the most straightforward source of information.
Yes, this was the location of Hogwarts' underground kitchens. The painting before them was the entrance. Inside worked countless House-elves.
House-elves did not use this entrance themselves. They moved freely throughout Hogwarts using their own form of Apparition, unrestricted within the castle.
That was why many students graduated without ever seeing a House-elf more than a handful of times, some never even realizing they were there at all.
The House-elves were simply too elusive.
Draco stepped aside, allowing Hermione to move forward. She reached up and tickled the pear in the painting.
In the next second, under her careful touch, the pear transformed into a green door handle before their eyes. That handle was the key to the kitchen.
"Well then, let's go in."
As she spoke, Hermione pushed the door open.
Candlelight flickered.
The scent of food filled the air.
The room was vast, with a ceiling just as high as the Great Hall above, and the same expansive area. Perhaps it was designed to accommodate all the House-elves in Hogwarts, because the underground kitchen felt remarkably spacious.
The first thing Draco noticed upon stepping inside was the stacks of gleaming copper pots and pans lined along the stone walls, as well as the large brick fireplace in the center of the room.
Then something else caught his attention.
Four long wooden tables stood arranged in the room, positioned exactly like the four house tables in the Great Hall above. Several steaming main dishes were already laid out on them, giving off an inviting aroma.
Draco rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Are they sent up by House-elf magic?"
It seemed these were tonight's main courses, to be delivered straight through the ceiling and placed in the exact corresponding spots on the dining tables above.
As far as Draco knew, wizarding Charms alone should not be capable of achieving something like that.
Still, while Draco was occupied with his speculation, the House-elves who had been busy working moments earlier had all stopped.
They stared at the two unexpected young visitors with wide eyes full of surprise and nervousness.
It truly looked as though some important figures had arrived to inspect their work.