Hermione and the others arrived at the Great Hall, where the Greengrass sisters were already waiting in matching black tracksuits.
"Cho isn't here?" Astoria looked around, her face full of confusion.
The four girls exchanged knowing glances, then all chuckled softly.
Lavender rolled her eyes at the ceiling. "I'm guessing she was 'temporarily' called away by some older Hufflepuff boy."
Parvati gently nudged her with an elbow, her eyes brimming with amusement.
Cho and Cedric's sweetness as a couple was practically an open secret throughout the school. On such a sunny afternoon, it was only natural for them to find somewhere quiet to be alone.
Astoria nodded her little head, half bewildered and half wistful, then left the castle through the heavy oak doors with the others.
As they passed through the Entrance Hall again, the "Warning Notice" bearing the Ministry of Magic crest was still posted in the most conspicuous spot on the notice board.
The students were no longer gathered around it. Just then, Draco hurried over from a corridor on the other side.
Crabbe and Goyle were not trailing behind him. His steps were hurried, his pale face expressionless, and he carried a silk-wrapped bundle in one hand.
His gaze swept quickly over the notice board without any obvious change in expression. He then hurried toward the stairs leading to the dungeons, his figure swiftly swallowed by the shadows at the entrance.
The girls left the castle. The Black Lake had a unique charm in winter, its surface covered in a layer of gleaming thin ice like an enormous matte mirror, reflecting the gray-blue sky and the castle's silhouette.
"Let's begin." Hermione performed a few simple warm-up exercises, stretching her legs and arms.
They began jogging along the lakeshore. Hermione naturally took the lead, her strides steady