"Mom! Dad!" Hermione hadn't seen her parents for an entire term. As Mrs. Granger stroked her head, Hermione reached out and wrapped her arms around her waist.
"I missed you so much..."
"We missed you too." Mr. Granger watched his wife and daughter embrace, a happy expression on his face.
Lin Yue felt Mrs. Granger's warm palm resting on her head. She looked up at her without expression and waited until she and Hermione had separated before politely greeting her.
"Hello, Mrs. Granger, Mr. Granger. My name is Lin Yue."
Her voice was emotionless and monotonous, like a blank sheet of paper, while her expression was stiff as a whiteboard.
The Grangers couldn't help freezing for a moment. The girls were the same age.
Hermione preferred reading to going out with her friends, but she was still a lively child who loved to laugh and play.
But this girl standing before them gave them the impression that she was completely cut off from the outside world.
Hermione chuckled and reached out to take Lin Yue's hand again. Looking up at her mother with an almost pleading expression, she said, "Mom, Lin Yue can stay with us for a while, right? Please~"
Mrs. Granger smiled and tapped Hermione on the nose. "Of course. We'd be delighted to have her stay."
Mr. Granger, standing nearby, smiled and nodded in agreement.
Hearing Mrs. Granger's response, Lin Yue's mind reacted at once. Following the rules of etiquette, she dipped into a slight curtsey.
"Thank you, Mrs. Granger, Mr. Granger."
This child... She was so stiff and formal, but she really did have good manners. Thinking this, Mrs. Granger hurried to help Lin Yue stand straight.
"You don't need to be so formal. You're Hermione's friend, after all. We're happy she'll finally have someone to spend the summer with. Now she won't have to keep company with her books all summer."
As she spoke, Mrs. Granger sighed. Who would have thought that a child loving books too much could become a source of worry?
Lin Yue said nothing in response. Hermione, however, couldn't help twitching the corners of her mouth. Mom, you've got it all wrong...
Just wait. If she didn't stop her, Lin Yue would study even more obsessively than she did.
Since Lin Yue was there, Hermione didn't explain everything to her parents. She decided to talk it over with her mother once they were in the car.
After they left King's Cross Station, Hermione opened the car door, intending to sit with her mother and talk properly about Lin Yue. But she sent Lin Yue to the passenger seat and sat in the back with Mrs. Granger instead.
The car pulled away. Lin Yue stared through the windshield at the street outside and began reciting her Potions textbook in her mind, along with the methods for preparing various potions.
Before getting into the car, they had put all their luggage on the back seat, so she couldn't read now. She could only recite from memory.
Watching Lin Yue's blank stare from the passenger seat, her eyes occasionally shifting, Hermione knew she had gone into study mode again. She was probably reciting another book.
"Ah..." Hermione sighed softly, then tugged on Mrs. Granger's sleeve to signal that she should lean down and listen.
Mrs. Granger raised an eyebrow and bent down, bringing her ear close to her daughter's mouth. What did Little Hermione want to tell her?
"Mom, Lin Yue... Her situation might be a little unusual."
Hermione explained with a conflicted expression. Mrs. Granger paused, her expression growing serious, and lowered her voice too.
"What kind of unusual? Tell me carefully, Hermione."
Hermione pursed her lips and told Mrs. Granger about some of the habits Lin Yue had acquired under her parents' upbringing.
She slept for only one hour a day and spent the rest of her time studying. She could take only three and a half minutes to eat a meal. She had no such thing as free time; she had to spend every spare moment reading and studying.
If she made any mistake in her studies, or if something else took up time she was supposed to spend studying, she punished herself.
As Mrs. Granger listened to Hermione describe these "habits," she fell into a daze.
This was... too unbelievable, too frightening. Were there really parents who treated their child this way?
"When I first found out... Lin Yue couldn't even lift her left arm. Her upper arm was covered in purplish-black handprints, and some were even bleeding."
Even now, Hermione felt shaken as she recalled discovering Lin Yue punishing herself. The sight had been chilling and heartbreaking.
Purplish-black handprints, and some of them were bleeding?! Mrs. Granger, a dentist and a doctor who understood a little about such things, drew in a sharp breath.
This child... She cared so little for her own body! And the most infuriating part was that her parents had taught her to disregard it.
"After that, I forbade her from doing it again. I also made her sleep six hours a day. Thankfully, she's still willing to listen to me."
Hermione spoke with relief. She was relieved that Lin Yue could still respond to the outside world, and that she could listen to what Hermione said.
"Well done." Mrs. Granger gently stroked Hermione's head.
"Does she plan to stay with us without her parents knowing about this?"
Mrs. Granger had already begun quietly working out how she and her husband would deal with Lin Yue's parents if they knew.
In any case, they certainly wouldn't send Lin Yue back. Given what they had taught her, Mrs. Granger had no doubt that if they returned her to her parents' "care," her body would eventually give out.
At Mrs. Granger's question, Hermione fell silent for a moment, then lowered her eyes and answered.
"Her parents have passed away. That's why I invited her to stay with us. Otherwise, she'd have to stay in a hotel."
"They've passed away?" Mrs. Granger was slightly surprised, then quickly recovered. How should she put it... It was probably for the best that they were gone; at least they couldn't keep tormenting the child.
She and Hermione really were mother and daughter. They even thought much the same way about this.
"You did a wonderful thing, Hermione." Mrs. Granger affectionately pinched her daughter's cheek. "You can invite her to stay with us during Christmas and other holidays, too. At the very least, she shouldn't have to spend her time off alone in a hotel."
Hermione might not have realized it yet, but judging by what Mrs. Granger had observed at Christmas, she definitely had a bit of a crush on Lin Yue.
If that was the case, as her mother, she ought to make some plans for her daughter. She could use Christmas and the summer holidays to give Lin Yue and Hermione more time together and help them grow closer.
It would also let Lin Yue experience more of the Granger family's home life. Then, when Hermione eventually pursued her, things would surely be much easier.
Mrs. Granger was already planning ahead for the confession Hermione might make years from now.
"Mm!" Hermione nodded vigorously, beaming with happiness. Her parents were always so supportive of her. It made her heart feel so full.
It felt wonderful to have someone backing you up, someone you could always rely on, no matter what.
"Oh, Mom, in a couple of weeks Lin Yue wants to rent a villa and have me and a few other classmates stay there with her. We can all get together and have fun. You'll let me go, right?"
Hermione gazed pleadingly at Mrs. Granger, looking like a kitten begging its owner for a treat.
Mrs. Granger smiled and shook her head, reaching out to tap Hermione's nose. "Of course. I'm happy you want to go out with your classmates. Why would I stop you?"
"But Lin Yue's paying to rent the place?" Mrs. Granger hesitated. "Does she have enough money?"
Though this was the children's decision and plan, and she and her husband shouldn't interfere, she was still worried Lin Yue might have some difficulty affording it.
Hermione nodded, unsure what expression to make. Lin Yue's parents had treated her so badly and instilled all those harmful habits in her.
But they had provided her with every material comfort. It was so... contradictory.
"Her parents seem to have left her a lot of money. She said she has as much money as she wants."
Mrs. Granger was taken aback by Hermione's words. It made no sense at all.
Judging by the way Lin Yue's parents had treated her, as Hermione had described, Mrs. Granger had no doubt they hadn't considered Lin Yue their child at all.
They had treated her like a machine, constantly feeding her knowledge and pushing her to develop herself. Given the pressure she'd lived under, surrounded by nothing but study, it was no wonder Lin Yue seemed so stiff and emotionless.
If she was always immersed in studying, how could she develop rich emotions or respond to the world around her?
But if Lin Yue's parents had treated her as a machine, they wouldn't have left money behind for one. They hadn't cared about her physical or mental health; why would they care about her material needs?
Clearly, that was impossible. Whatever the reason, the money probably hadn't come from Lin Yue's parents.
Mrs. Granger gently stroked Hermione's hair but didn't share her suspicions with her.
This was Lin Yue's own business, after all. She could tell them herself if she wanted to.
The car finally pulled into the Grangers' garage. Lin Yue got out and looked blankly at the detached house in front of her. Then she went to the trunk and took out her and Hermione's suitcases, one in each hand.
"Thanks." Hermione took her suitcase and gave Lin Yue a bright smile.
Lin Yue nodded, her voice as calm as ever. "You're welcome."
Carrying their suitcases, she followed Hermione and the Grangers into the house. Lin Yue instinctively lowered her head, careful not to look around someone else's home. It was impolite, her mind told her.
"Here, Lin Yue. You can wear these slippers. They're new." Mrs. Granger smiled warmly and set a new pair of slippers by Lin Yue's feet.
Lin Yue hurriedly looked up at her and mechanically thanked her. "Thank you, Mrs. Granger."
"You can call me Auntie." Mrs. Granger looked at Lin Yue with sympathy. The girl's voice had no inflection at all. How badly had she been suppressed before?
Lin Yue took off her shoes, stepped into the slippers, and followed Hermione into the living room with her suitcase.
Hermione pointed at the stairs nearby. "My room is upstairs, and the guest room is upstairs too."
Then she looked at Lin Yue expectantly. "Do you want to stay with me, or in the guest room?"
She'd get to share a room with a friend! And that friend was Lin Yue! Just thinking about it made Hermione happy.
Lin Yue looked at the expression on Hermione's face and quickly analyzed it.
Was that an expectant expression? Judging by her tone and demeanor, she was hoping Lin Yue would share her room.
Say yes and stay with her, an idea surfaced in the depths of Lin Yue's mind.
Lin Yue nodded. "I'll stay with you. Is that okay?"
"Of course!" Hermione happily wrapped her arms around Lin Yue. "I'll get you another blanket in a little while."
Lin Yue thanked her in her flat voice. "Thank you."
Mrs. Granger watched the two girls interact, feeling both comforted and heartsick. She reached out to pat their heads again, then spoke warmly to Hermione.
"Take Lin Yue upstairs first. There are blankets in the cupboard in your room."
"Okay!" Hermione replied happily, pulling Lin Yue upstairs.
The two girls each carried a suitcase and clattered up the stairs.
The Grangers watched them with concern but didn't step in to help. Children needed to learn to do things for themselves; their parents couldn't help with everything.
Upstairs, Hermione took out her key and unlocked her room, which she hadn't been back to in an entire term. Seeing how dusty it was, she rubbed the back of her nose awkwardly.
"Looks like I'll have to clean up."
Ever since Hermione was ten, her mother and father had taught her to sweep and mop, put on a duvet cover, and make the bed. After that, they had never cleaned her room for her or even gone inside. They had given her the key to her room, too.
As they explained it, children grew up and needed their own private space. Even as parents, they shouldn't enter their children's private space. Besides, it was a good way to teach her to look after things herself.
So whenever she came home for the holidays, Hermione still had to tidy her room herself.
Lin Yue turned to Hermione and asked in her flat voice, "May I take a closer look at your room?"
Hermione paused. Wasn't her room already right in front of Lin Yue?
But when she turned to look at Lin Yue, she realized that after asking, Lin Yue had lowered her head and was staring straight at the floor. She hadn't looked anywhere else.
Hermione felt a little sad. She set down her suitcase and gently hugged Lin Yue. "Of course you can look. There aren't so many rules about manners in our house. Relax a little, okay?"
Following her usual habit, Lin Yue instinctively copied Hermione's movement and hugged her back, giving a soft reply.
She lifted her head and carefully examined the bedroom from over Hermione's shoulder. Lin Yue quickly assessed it in her mind: the floor needed sweeping and mopping, the windowsill needed cleaning, the sheets and duvet cover needed changing, and the desk needed wiping down. At her usual speed, it would take fifteen minutes in total.
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