LRAB Chapter 123 Are you dating?
Chapter 123 Are you dating?
When Lyra climbed into the Gryffindor common room, Ron was already gone; he had probably gone to find Harry.
But Fred and George, looking rather unhappy, sat on the sofa facing the entrance to the lounge, waiting for her.
Lyra immediately sensed that someone had provoked the red-haired twins, and that person was very likely herself—
“Ron said Harry was accidentally seen by Malfoy in Hogsmeade—” Fred stared intently at the dark-haired girl who had just returned, his gaze piercing.
“Incredibly, our good friend was there too, standing right next to Malfoy—” George raised an eyebrow.
“But she clearly told us that she was going to discuss the novel with the editor!” Fred jumped off the sofa angrily and shouted at Lyra.
George, standing behind Fred, mimicked Mrs. Weasley's classic hands-on-hips gesture when she was angry, to show his strong support for his brother's resentment.
Seeing George both angry and making funny faces, Leila's lips twitched.
Fred, oblivious to his brother's lifelike impersonation of their mother behind him, widened his eyes and made a menacing face as if to say, "Surrender, little cake! Or I'll mash you into butter with a fork!"
Merlin, are these two trying to make her laugh herself to death so they can inherit her unfinished homework?!
“Alright.” Lyra couldn’t help but laugh. She took out a hazelnut chocolate toffee from her pocket, unwrapped it, and offered it to the red-haired twins with unusual courtesy in exchange for leniency.
“It was just an accident, I swear,” Lyra said with a laugh. “I had just parted ways with the editor when I bumped into Draco Malfoy. We were just chatting casually when we happened to run into Ron and Harry.”
Harry, feeling ashamed after being criticized by Professor Lupin, had already met up with Ron. Both boys were completely absorbed by a letter from Hagrid that Hermione had brought. The news in the letter even made Harry and Ron forget all the unpleasant things that had happened before, and they made up with Hermione.
Unfortunately, it was bad news: Hagrid lost the case, Buckbeak the Hippogriff was to be executed, and Malfoy won a great victory.
*
The evil Malfoy won his case against Hagrid, and Buckbeak will have his head chopped off with an axe by an executioner sent by the Ministry of Magic.
The news spread around the dinner table. Hagrid's distress was indeed sympathetic, but most people didn't pay much attention to it. At most, they would curse Malfoy and Slytherin when they heard about it, and some even thought that magical creatures that hurt people should indeed be punished according to the law.
Hermione had been working very hard to help Hagrid find cases and write arguments, but as the end of the semester approached, she was completely overwhelmed by the amount of homework. Her eyes were all blue, and she was very fragile. She carried a heavy backpack with her every day, and it seemed like she might burst into tears at any moment.
Harry was happy to help, but he squeezed in time to do his homework every day between his arduous Quidditch training sessions, because Professor McGonagall had already warned him about his messy handwriting and the content of his work, while Professor Snape simply gave Harry a big "T".
“Not a P (bad), not a D (terrible), it’s a T (troll)!” Harry groaned weakly. “Is there any chance I’ll pass my Potions finals?”
“Dude,” George patted Harry on the shoulder sympathetically, “T’s really been a bit off.”
“Maybe you should just start preparing for the makeup exam.” Fred didn’t even notice the glare Ginny gave him.
In desperation, Harry covered his face with his Potions textbook, trying to suffocate himself so he wouldn't have to take the final exams.
At the crucial moment, Ron stepped forward.
He took over the case concerning Buckbeak and, when not doing his homework, devoted himself to reading the thick files, trying to find useful information from titles such as "A Study of the Hippogriff," "Domestic Poultry or Monster?" and "The Relationship Between Wizards and Hippogriffs."
“If Mom saw how hard Ronnie was working, she’d definitely be moved to tears,” Fred said with a grin.
George continued, "This is the first time in Ronnie's thirteen years of life that he's been able to get into such a thick book."
Lyra pushed away her two annoying older brothers who liked to tease their little brother to relieve stress, giving Ron some peace and quiet.
After helping Fred and George with their homework, she still had to finish her novel manuscript. The red-haired twins had already gone upstairs to sleep, so Lyra had to stay alone in the corner of the lounge to continue working on her manuscript, but a shadow fell on her desk.
Lyra looked up and saw Hermione, while Ron and Harry, not far away, kept turning around to look at them somewhat awkwardly.
“Hi, Lyra, can I talk to you?” Hermione asked softly, looking exhausted and a little cautious.
"of course can."
Lyra pushed aside the books piled next to her, clearing a space, patted them, and gestured for Hermione to sit down.
“You know, Hagrid and Malfoy lost their case,” Hermione said slowly, gathering her thoughts. “The three of us have been working very hard to help Hagrid appeal, but I think it will be very difficult to overturn the verdict in the end…”
Lyra nodded. She actually thought so too. On one side was a powerful and influential pure-blood family, and on the other side was Hagrid, who didn't even have a diploma, and the magical beast that had indeed hurt someone. It was obvious who the Ministry of Magic would side with.
“But if the other party chooses to drop the charges, Buckbeak will be safe.” Hermione looked cautiously at Lyra. “So I wanted to ask you a question, which might be a bit personal…”
After seeing Lyra nod, Hermione finally asked, "Are you and Malfoy dating?"