Setting aside whether Snape was actually a tsundere, Hermione could at least tell one thing now: they seemed able to sit down and talk face-to-face instead of continuing the wizard duel from moments ago.
She glanced at Draco.
Although she found it hard to believe that Snape, who had looked ready to kill them just a moment ago, could suddenly cast aside his hostility, Hermione still put away her wand since Draco had said so.
Now, she was actually rather curious about what was really going on with Snape...
In any case.
Once both sides lowered their wands, the murderous tension from earlier vanished as well.
Especially when she saw the relaxed expressions on Draco's and Snape's faces. It was truly hard to believe that, not long ago, they had still been enemies trying to kill each other.
Snape in particular.
The malevolent magic that had filled the air before still lingered, not yet fully dispersed...
...
As the two of them looked at each other, Draco took a step forward and pointed at the stone floor beneath his feet. Then, three stone chairs carved with intricate patterns rose up from the ground.
Whether this counted as part of Draco's aesthetic was anyone's guess.
The three stone chairs were not only finely made and pleasing to the eye, but even had cushions on them.
Beautiful, while still taking comfort into account.
In a certain sense, Draco really did have a refined sense of leisure...
Snape, who made no move to stop him, raised an eyebrow. "Not bad Transfiguration. If this were my class, I would certainly give you ten points."
That Snape-style dark humor made Hermione glance at him with a strange expression.
It was the first time she had ever seen Snape like this.
In fact, if you ignored the venom in his words, you would notice that both his way of speaking and what he chose to say often carried quite a bit of depth and implication.
Just like the words Snape had suddenly spoken during the battle earlier.
They had been deliberately suggestive.
It was because of those words that Draco realized Snape had not truly wanted to kill them, but had some other purpose.
As for the reason...
"He probably wanted to test our magical strength?" Draco shrugged, voicing his guess.
Snape did not seem inclined to explain. He simply sat down in one of the chairs and looked at Draco in front of him.
"We have no extra time to waste now, do we?"
"..."
Hearing that, Hermione rolled her eyes in speechless exasperation.
As if that fight just now had not been a waste of time?
...
After the three of them had each taken a seat on the stone chairs Draco had Transfigured, Snape finally looked coldly at Draco...
"No matter what you are planning, you had better stop all of it immediately. After that, I will find a way to send you out. Of course, only the few of you."
"Send us out?"
"There is no need for me to spell it out. You should understand, shouldn't you?"
"So... there's no time left?"
"Who knows? After all, we are dealing with the capricious Dark Lord."
Hearing Snape's words, Hermione, who seemed to have understood something, also realized the seriousness of the situation and quietly tugged at the corner of Draco's robe.
This had to be related to his identity as a Dragontongue, didn't it?
Although she had known this was bound to happen, as time passed, her original worries had slowly eased. She had even started to cling to the faint hope that things might not reach such a terrible point.
But now it seemed that matters were still moving in that direction.
Understanding what she meant, Draco patted Hermione's small hand, then looked at Snape across from him...
"What about Godfather?"
"..."
"I think the reason those people didn't attack me at the first opportunity must be because Godfather made some kind of deal with that Dark Lord, right?"
"..."
What if the terms of Snape's deal with Voldemort were not based on his identity as Headmaster, but on Draco Malfoy's safety as the most basic foundation of trust between them?
And once that deal lost its effect.
What would happen to Snape?
After all, Voldemort's patience had already been worn away during all the time he had spent waiting to be resurrected...