[Sorry, treasures!!!! I set the timer wrong!!!! This was from last night!!!!]
After the first tutoring session ended, the members of the D.A. looked at Lia in a completely different light.
It was a complex mix of awe, inquiry, and even threads of fear.
Their impression of Lia had leaped from "Hermione's cute companion" to "an unfathomable master of combat."
Lia felt extremely uncomfortable under those gazes; as soon as they returned to the dormitory, she immediately crawled into bed and covered her head with the quilt, leaving only a large, fluffy tail twitching uneasily outside.
"Alright, alright, you worked hard today, my 'tactical consultant'."
Hermione chuckled softly, sitting by the bed with the fresh scent of moisture after a bath.
Hermione chuckled softly, sitting by the bed with the fresh scent of moisture after a bath. Her fingers skillfully slipped into the quilt, running through Lia's silver hair, which was as smooth and soft as moonlight, combing from the top of her head down to the tense back of her neck, finally resting on the sensitive base of her tail and gently kneading it.
"Purr... purr..." Lia let out a series of satisfied sighs of comfort, her tense body gradually relaxing. She poked half of her flushed little face out from under the quilt, her sky-blue eyes watery, looking at Hermione with a hint of grievance and expectation.
Hermione understood the plea in those eyes. She leaned down and kissed her tenderly yet firmly, using her own scent to dispel the coldness and violence Lia had picked up from tapping into Tom Riddle's memories. "What? You want it already?" Hermione's lips pressed against hers, her voice low and tinged with teasing.
Lilia shyly averted her gaze, but her tail honestly wrapped around Hermione's wrist.
Hermione said no more. She first went to meticulously clean her hands with a Scouring Charm, then returned and pulled the heavy bed curtains shut.
In that tiny world, only their gradually merging breaths and heartbeats remained.
In the days that followed, the atmosphere at Hogwarts became increasingly eerie.
Dolores Umbridge was like a crazed, spreading vine of pink poison; her "Educational Decrees" were plastered all over the Castle like toxic fungus.
Perhaps because of Lia's merciless warning that time, she didn't dare lay a hand on the students herself anymore, so she insidiously used the students' power to restrain other students.
She officially established the "Inquisitorial Squad," a group of students personally selected by her, mostly from Slytherin.
They were granted the power to patrol, dock points, and even record disciplinary violations. For a time, the atmosphere in the corridors became tense and oppressive, as if someone might jump out of the shadows at any moment to give you a detention.
Draco Malfoy, as the leader of the Inquisitorial Squad, was arrogant to the extreme. A shiny silver "I" badge was pinned to his chest, and he strutted through the Castle like a crab patrolling its territory, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.
One day, in the corridor leading to the library, they blocked Hermione and Lia, who were on their way to look up some information.
Lia was lying lazily on Hermione's shoulder, her snow-white long tail hanging down leisurely, the tip of it swaying gently with Hermione's steps.
"Granger," Malfoy began in his usual drawl, his eyes maliciously sweeping over Lia's snow-white cat ears and tail. "According to the High Inquisitor's latest regulations, Hogwarts prohibits bringing aggressive magical creatures onto campus. I'm docking twenty points from Gryffindor, and this 'pet' needs to be temporarily confiscated for inspection."
Crabbe and Goyle let out a schadenfreude snicker, cracking their knuckles as they closed in.
Hermione didn't even lift an eyelid.
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