The girl who had only just come to understand her own feelings naturally didn't want to be separated from the boy she liked for even a moment.
And this kind of ambiguity was also the most sensitive, most emotionally fragile stage.
Did he miss her? How was he doing? Had he forgotten about her? Whenever she had nothing to occupy her, these thoughts would loop endlessly through her mind.
And longing swept over Hermione, who had only just parted from him earlier that day.
Or rather, even she herself hadn't expected the feeling to come rushing in so suddenly.
This was probably what spring felt like...
Pulling her gaze back from the window, Hermione shook her head slightly and curled herself up, her thoughts drifting.
Come to think of it, now that she was already in her fourth year, this wasn't her first time coming home for the holidays.
Yet every time she returned from Hogwarts, she couldn't help but feel that life without magic was terribly inconvenient.
If she could use magic, a few simple Charms would be enough to tidy up her room. She also wouldn't have to drag her luggage up to her second-floor bedroom with so much effort.
Without thinking, Hermione squeezed her slightly sore arms.
"It really does take some getting used to."
Almost every trip back to London repeated the same routine.
But this time, beyond the usual sigh of habit, there was an extra strange emptiness lingering in her chest.
And her next bit of muttering quickly revealed the reason for it...
"Honestly… we've barely been apart, and I'm already missing that awful guy? Get a grip, Granger!"
Annoyed as she was, Hermione rolled onto her side, one hand resting over her heart. In the end, her gaze still drifted back to the only window in the room that faced the outside.
That window, where she could see the moon, was the very spot where a Hogwarts owl had once delivered her acceptance letter...
...
The Granger family lived in a suburb on the outskirts of London.
There were no towering skyscrapers like in the city center, nor any bustling nightlife, but the residents here could enjoy the sounds of insects and birds from nature itself.
Less splendor, more peace.
What was worth mentioning was that, in Hermione's neighborhood, owls could sometimes be seen, creatures that really shouldn't have appeared here at all. Even more curious was how regularly they showed up...
It was still far from a normal bedtime.
Lying on her bed, Hermione could occasionally hear the television downstairs, along with her parents talking. From farther away came the intermittent sound of cars passing by the house.
It was hard to imagine that not long ago, she had relied on candles for light, and there had been no television at all in her daily life to pass the time...
'At this hour… I should be training magic control in the Room of Requirement.'
Instinctively, she raised her hands and lightly waved them through the air. Her rosy lips opened and closed soundlessly, as if silently reciting a Charm she had practiced countless times.
As though doing so might let her return to that Room of Requirement, and see the pale golden figure standing beside her, guiding her patiently.
Of course, because of the rules forbidding young witches and wizards from using magic outside of school, Hermione couldn't actually draw on her magic and was only pretending.
But it was precisely because of this little gesture that she suddenly found herself missing that bad guy again...
'What is he doing right now? Is he eating properly? He didn't get so absorbed in reading that he forgot the time again, did he? And will he even remember to write me a letter…?'
Thinking about him, Hermione puffed out her cheeks in a sulky pout. The very next moment, she was rolling around on the bed again, flustered and shy. In this bedroom that was unmistakably Hermione's, she perfectly embodied a girl caught up in the worries of youth...
...
Just as Hermione was rolling around, her small ears suddenly twitched, as if she had caught some faint sound.
Her unfocused gaze instantly sharpened, locking onto the nearby window. Her little feet, which had been kicking idly in the air, quietly settled down.
"Could it be…?"
Tap tap tap!
That was exactly it.
With the rhythmic tapping against the glass, Hermione sprang out of bed as if she'd just won a prize, hair in complete disarray from all the rolling around as she rushed to the window.
"Wolf! Did Draco send you? Come in quickly, I've even prepared your favorite fresh carrots."
If they weren't fresh, this picky owl wouldn't touch them at all.
In other words, Hermione recognized at a glance whose owl had appeared outside her window.
It was easy to tell. Aside from those brown eyes she liked so much, barred owls were an extremely rare sight in Britain. They were mainly found across the Atlantic, and Britain wasn't a place where they normally appeared.
And this rare owl in Britain was precisely the one Draco used to deliver his letters.
The very same owl Hermione called Wolf...
"Hoot!"
"Thanks for your hard work, Wolf. Come in and rest properly. I'll need you to take my reply later."
"Hoot!"
With its round little head and the patch of white feathers on its chest, the owl named Wolf was undeniably adorable. And thanks to that fondness carrying over from its owner, Hermione happily stroked its feathers.
Wolf was smart enough to lift its foot, making it easier for Hermione to take the letter.
Once the letter was removed, Wolf hopped aside to enjoy a plate of delicious fresh carrots...
...
Hermione took out her letter opener and carefully opened the letter Draco had sent.
From how cautious she was, anyone might have thought she was opening this year's report card.
In any case.
After gently setting the letter opener aside, Hermione's brown eyes followed Draco's neat, elegant cursive line by line. The further she read, the brighter her eyes became.
Under the moonlight, the girl lowered her head over the letter, a smile blooming on her face that even the moon itself couldn't compare to.
"So soon?"
"But… Romania is so far away… No, if we use wizard methods, that distance isn't really a problem."
"Then I need to start preparing too."
"Wait! This has to be kept secret. I can't let Mum and Dad get involved in this."
"The reason… what reason should I use?"
As she wrote her reply, Hermione muttered softly to herself.
The silly grin on her face made Wolf, who was chewing on a carrot nearby, tilt its little head in confusion.
Those big eyes seemed to be saying that this new mistress looked a bit… foolish.
Hermione, writing away with all her focus, had no idea she was being silently judged by an owl...