At Hogwarts, curfew times shifted with the seasons—eleven o'clock in summer, but as winter crept in, it was bumped up to ten.
By the time Qin Yu and Hermione left Hagrid's hut, it was already half past nine.
Sure, Qin Yu was no stranger to sneaking out after hours—midnight strolls weren't exactly rare for him. But if he could avoid breaking the rules, he'd rather not push his luck without good reason.
So, on their way back, Qin Yu kept a firm hold on Hermione's hand, and together they hurried through the chilly night.
"Who knew a bit of carving would take so long?" Hermione said, a little breathless.
"Tell me about it. Hagrid picked the hardest wood in the world—my hands are still sore," Qin Yu replied, shaking his head.
"Mine too. The carving knife almost got my fingers more than once. Look—one time, I even lost a piece of my nail."
The little witch hooked her finger, half-teasing, half-proving her point.
Qin Yu suddenly felt a sharp sting in his palm—clearly, the edge of Hermione's chipped nail was responsible.
He stopped in his tracks.
The little witch stumbled to a halt beside him, looking a bit guilty. "Did… did I hurt you? I wasn't even using any force… just a tiny scratch…"
"Lumos," Qin Yu murmured.
A soft white glow bloomed from his wand, lighting up the patch of ground around them.
He gently took her mischievous hand and inspected it under the glow. Sure enough, the nail on her index finger was missing a corner. The skin was a little raw, but at least there was no blood. Qin Yu let out a relieved sigh.
Still, running his thumb over the jagged edge, he frowned. If he kept holding her hand, he was bound to get scratched again.
Not that he had any tools handy. Using magic? Sectumsempra was definitely overkill—and he'd have to put out the light first, which meant working blind. That could easily end with Hermione losing more than just a bit of nail.
A Repairing Charm? Hardly—nails were meant to be trimmed, not fixed.
He was stumped.
Hermione watched his thoughtful frown, blinked those clever eyes, and seemed to guess what was on his mind. She pulled her hand back.
"This is easy!"
Before Qin Yu could react, she brought her finger to her mouth, bit down on the nail, gave it a few quick nibbles, then inspected her handiwork. Not satisfied, she bit it again, checked, and finally wiped her finger on her robe, looking pleased.
Qin Yu watched the whole thing, speechless.
"I washed my hands, you know!" Hermione said, chin lifted in defiance at his reaction.
"I didn't say anything…" Qin Yu protested, looking innocent.
"Your eyes already gave you away!" she huffed, lips pursed.
"Alright, alright. My thoughts are an open book to the wise Miss Granger," Qin Yu admitted, grinning.
As he spoke, he took her hand again. The newly-trimmed finger scratched his palm, and Hermione tilted her head, giving him a questioning look.
He could only smile helplessly and nod. The nail was still a bit rough, but nowhere near as prickly as before.
Hermione caught his meaning and beamed, clearly satisfied with her solution.
They continued walking, slowing their pace as the castle drew closer, chatting idly.
"Even if you washed your hands, you don't have to use your teeth to trim your nails, you know."
"Got a better idea?"
"Not at the moment."
"Then there you have it."
"I'll think of something eventually."
"Ha! I bet your solution will be the same as mine."
"Hm?"
"It's better for me to bite my own nails than for you to do it, right?"
"Hermione, how can you think of me that way?"
"Just admit it—do you want to bite it or not?"
"...Don't ask such weird questions!"
"Knew it!"
"What do you mean?"
"You just looked at my hand without thinking!"
"No… I didn't!"
"Hmph!"
"What's with the hmph?"
"Qin, you're getting weirder~"
"You're the weird one!"
"Bleh!"
"Alright, that's it. I'm going to bite your finger off tonight!"
"Ah! No, don't!"
"You started this—now you have to face the consequences!"
Their banter quickly devolved into a playful chase through the castle grounds.
…
Not long after they entered the castle, Qin Yu caught up with a giggling, "fleeing" Hermione at the corner of a corridor.
Of course, he didn't actually bite her finger off—he just opened his mouth wide in mock threat, then gave her finger a gentle nibble, declaring her "punished."
He couldn't help but think: her fingers were so soft and delicate, if he really tried, he could probably bite right through them. And using Sectumsempra? That would be overkill.
Shaking off these silly thoughts, Qin Yu led Hermione up to Gryffindor Tower, gave the Fat Lady the password, and the two slipped through the portrait hole into the common room.
At this hour, the place was nearly empty. As they arrived, the last girl disappeared up the staircase.
They didn't linger. Qin Yu gave the little witch a gentle hug, and they wished each other goodnight.
Before parting, the mischievous Miss Granger ran her slightly rough nail along Qin Yu's cheek.
Before he could retaliate with another "bite," she darted away, leaving him glaring after her—utterly defeated.
…
Back in the boys' dormitory, his roommates were still wide awake and chattering.
After all, the holidays had just ended—everyone was brimming with stories and snacks from home. The room was full of laughter and the rustle of wrappers.
Elvis handed Qin Yu some mysterious wizarding treat, and he munched away, listening with amusement as the boys swapped tales.
His well-off roommate, Jimmy, was in the middle of describing his family's trip to North America.
"…We were having a great time, even planned to visit a zoo full of magical creatures, but then we heard about some group called G.A. stirring up trouble—well, not trouble exactly, more like a propaganda campaign. Their slogan was 'Make Magic Great and Great,' MMGG for short. Mum and Dad thought things were getting messy, so we cut the trip short…"
Jimmy sounded genuinely disappointed. He'd always loved magical creatures, and to miss out on such a rare chance stung.
"My dad's department always warns anyone going to North America not to get involved in anything related to the MACUSA, just in case," added Bork, whose father worked at the Ministry's Long-Distance Travel Office.
Qin Yu couldn't help thinking—this G.A. movement must really be making waves if even Hogwarts students were talking about it.
"'Make Magic Great and Great!'—it's catchy, I'll give them that. Wonder if they'll actually pull it off," Wilson joked.
Everyone laughed, treating it as just another amusing topic.
They chatted about all sorts of nonsense, but eventually, as the responsible dorm leader, Qin Yu called time on the "bedtime conference" and herded the boys off to bed.
Lying in the dark, Qin Yu found sleep elusive. His mind wandered to the tasks ahead.
No matter what, mastering magic and getting stronger had to stay at the top of his list.
"Sigh… tomorrow I have to report to Snape. Time to resume those extra lessons he interrupted for the holidays," he thought, silently praying that Snape would go easy on him this term—at least, maybe not try to kill him in every session.
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