At this moment, Hermione had not a shred of defense left in her heart toward Kyle.
Furthermore, when she heard the question Kyle had asked, those corresponding, unbearable memories instantly surged back up from the depths of her mind, playing through rapidly like a slideshow frame by frame inside her head.
This made reading them immensely convenient for Kyle.
Inside Hermione's memory, the thrilling scenes playing out left Kyle dumbfounded, his blood boiling.
So... was his Konan this experienced at playing wild?
No wonder he always felt like his head had a greenish tint to it whenever he stepped out of the room that day—it turned out that wasn't just his imagination after all?
Unacceptable. He needed to read through this memory meticulously with a critical eye; this was vital criminal evidence of Konan cheating on him.
When Konan arrived at Hogwarts with the Beauxbatons delegation, he could pull out this memory as courtroom evidence to severely judge this female goblin.
Right at that moment, the little Beaver's voice rang in Kyle's ear, interrupting his wild train of thought.
"Kyle, why are you having a nosebleed?"
"Huh? Am I bleeding?" Kyle raised a hand to swipe beneath his nose, and his hand genuinely came away smeared with a streak of bright crimson.
A faint, vibrant green light rich with the breath of life flared on Kyle's hand, and a Healing Spell instantly staunched the steadily welling blood.
"It's nothing, it's nothing. Probably ate too many spicy peppers these past few days..." Kyle said while using Aguamenti to wash his face with clean water. "Er, it might also have something to do with staying up late."
Hermione didn't suspect a thing, pulling out a handkerchief to carefully wipe the water droplets from Kyle's face.
"Even if you're quite proficient in healing magic, you still need to pay attention to a regular sleep schedule."
Faced with the little Beaver's admonition, Kyle naturally agreed with every promise in the book. "Yes, yes, yes..."
Of course, whether he would actually put it into practice was another story; come nighttime, he would continue his cultivation sessions just the same.
Sensing the perfunctory tone in the boy's voice, she couldn't help but reach out her demonic claws toward the boy who had turned back to tackle his meal enthusiastically, pulling Kyle's head right back around.
Looking into the amusement dancing within the boy's handsome, heterochromatic eyes, the words perched on Hermione's lips abruptly transformed into—
"Um, Kyle..."
"What's wrong?" Seeing the little Beaver's hesitance, a possibility flashed through Kyle's mind.
Could the little Beaver be about to make a full confession for leniency?
"I heard that Professor Dumbledore and Lord Grindelwald used to..." Hermione's voice grew softer and softer, the flush on her face that hadn't yet fully faded spreading outward once more, "...made a... Blood Pact?"
If her hearing hadn't been sharp enough, Kyle would almost have missed the term Hermione muttered at the very end.
A Blood Pact?
The exact same thing his two dads had signed?
Averting her gaze from the boy's inquiring eyes, Hermione looked away evasively, gripping the handkerchief in her hand tightly.
"You want to forge a Blood Pact with me?" Kyle's eyes curved into deeper crescents than before.
Faced with Kyle's gaze, the little Beaver involuntarily lowered her head, holding back for ages before finally gathering her courage to nod with an almost imperceptible micro-gesture. "Mm..."
When no response came from Kyle after a long wait, the little Beaver panicked. "If you're not willing..."
Kyle smiled and pulled Hermione into his embrace, resting his chin atop her messy bush of hair. "I promise you."
Hermione froze for a second, then raised her head in overwhelming joy, planting an irrepressible chomp right on the boy's lips, momentarily forgetting the fact that this was the crowded Great Hall.
"Ahem!" Just as the two of them were generously spreading dog food across the room, the sole single dog in the Akatsuki organization coughed with dissatisfaction. "Mind the public impact!"
George wore an expression of profound depression.
Ever since Kyle also escaped singlehood, his days within the Akatsuki organization had grown increasingly difficult.
Never mind the dog couple—no, the young couple Cedric and Cho.
At least the two of them acted lovey-dovey over at the Ravenclaw table, allowing George to practice the art of out of sight, out of mind.
Later on, Fred and Angelina got together. That wasn't too bad either, seeing as Fred still cared somewhat about his twin brother's feelings.
Yet ever since the little Demon Lord and the little Beaver made their official announcement, George suddenly realized something was terribly wrong.
Kyle ran over to their long table every single day to act lovey-dovey with the little Beaver, and Fred and Angelina had also gotten bold, starting to dish out dog food right alongside the Kyle-Hermione pairing.
These two pairs of dogs—no, canines... wait, no.
These two pairs of lovers: one pair sat right beside George, another pair sat directly across George's table, and not too far behind them near the Ravenclaw table were Cedric and Cho doing the exact same thing.
If Harry turned into Harriet, or Ron turned into a green onion—either one of them changing would have sufficed.
Even without transforming, as long as the two of them started exchanging flirtatious glances...
Then George could truly be said to be besieged on all sides.
Kyle cast a glance at George, who was already stuffed full from eating dog food. "George, you're hardly a kid anymore—do you honestly plan on spending all seven years at Hogwarts as a bachelor?"
Ron and Fred, sitting right beside George, burst out laughing in unison.
Even Ginny covered her mouth, letting out a series of "giggle, giggle, giggle" laughs.
Hearing Ron's laughter, Fred—who had been chatting with Angelina just moments before—let his voice drift over with an eerie chill.
"Ron, out of everyone here, you're the last person with any right to laugh," Fred's words struck like a sharp dagger straight into Ron's young, fragile soul. "At least George has actually hugged a girl before; you probably haven't even touched a girl's hand."
When Fred mentioned that George had hugged a girl, he was referring to back during a Quidditch match when all the players on their team had been knocked unconscious by Bludgers courtesy of Kyle, the demon who dominated the skies. After landing, George had carried Alicia Spinnet to the hospital wing in a bridal carry.
Such physical contact was an entirely normal matter, but at least he had carried a girl before, and in a bridal style at that.
Hearing Fred's words, Ron looked like a duck whose neck had been squeezed; his laughter vanished instantly, alongside the smile on his face.
That cuts too deep, bro.
Seeing Ron's expression, the rest of the group laughed even harder.
Though building one's happiness upon another's misery wasn't the kindest thing to do, they simply couldn't help themselves.
Listening to the piercing laughter ringing in his ears, the veins on Ron's forehead throbbed violently.
He leaped up from his bench with a sudden slam.
"Who says I've never touched a girl's hand?! Last Hogsmeade weekend at the Three Broomsticks! When Madam Rosmerta handed me my drink, I touched her fingers!"
Because of his sudden agitation, Ron's voice was exceptionally loud, drowning out even the general din of the entire Great Hall.
The Great Hall plunged into abrupt silence.
Everyone: "..."
After a moment of silence, uproarious laughter erupted across the entire Great Hall, filling the air with a cheerful atmosphere.
————
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