Summer vacation was a rather boring time, especially when your girlfriend loved studying. Bing Huan lay listlessly on the sofa, watching the girl beside him study with intense concentration.
"Min, pay some attention to me. Your boyfriend's about to die of boredom."
Hermione gave him a helpless look and replied without raising her head. "You said the exact same thing fourteen minutes ago."
"Come on~ You've reviewed it ten times already. That's enough~"
"Correction: I'm not reviewing my textbooks. That's what I'm doing this afternoon. Right now, I'm reading Grandpa Nicolas's alchemy notes."
"..." This was definitely the decision Bing Huan regretted most that summer. When vacation had just begun, the two of them finished their homework and discussed going out for a bit. As long as they stayed in Europe, Bing Huan's late-stage Golden Core cultivation would let them get back the same day.
After visiting several countries, Hermione suggested visiting Newt and his wife, as well as Nicolas and his wife. They were, after all, elders of Bing Huan's. Things had gone well at first, until Hermione entered Nicolas's private library. She brought back nearly every book Nicolas thought she could borrow, and since then, she'd spent her mornings studying on her own and her afternoons reviewing her textbooks.
They'd originally planned to visit China, but when they brought it up, they learned that some of his elders were in seclusion while others were busy. Hermione had assumed they didn't like her and were deliberately avoiding her, but Bing Huan's Mistress Liu Yan and Senior Sister Qing Yi immediately asked for Hermione's contact details. As soon as they added each other, they called her on video to tell her not to overthink it.
They even sent things over every so often. The jade bangle Hermione was wearing now had been prepared by Bing Huan's birth mother for her future daughter-in-law. Whenever Bing Huan called them these days, the first thing they asked was, "Where's Hermione?"
Bing Huan glanced at the calendar. It was already July 30. "Min, have you got Harry's birthday present ready?"
"Of course. I just need to write the card before dinner, then an owl can deliver it. It'll arrive at Harry's place in the evening, so the Dursley family won't notice."
Bing Huan rubbed his chin. "But it can't go on like this, with Harry sneaking around to celebrate his birthday in the middle of the night. We'll make it up to him with a cake when we see him, but it won't be on his actual birthday."
"Then what do you suggest? If you send one of your cakes by owl, it'll be ruined. A store-bought one would hold up, but you think those taste awful."
"What about sending it with a one-use Flying Sword?"
"Are you trying to kill him, friend?" Last year, when school started, Bing Huan had used a one-use Flying Sword to send Mr. Weasley's enchanted car back. When Mr. and Mrs. Weasley returned to The Burrow, all they found in their garden was a crater three meters across.
"..." (scratches his cheek)
"Unless you can go to Privet Drive and make one for Harry there."
Bing Huan: ⌓‿⌓
"What are you scheming now?"
Bing Huan sat up and shook his head. "It's only an idea for now. I'm not sure it'll work, so let's send the present as usual. So~"
"Don't even think about it. No way." Hermione saw what Bing Huan was getting at and turned her back to him.
"Aw~" Bing Huan rested his head on Hermione's shoulder from behind, looking at her pitifully. "Just help me put it in the card~ Am I not your dearest boyfriend anymore?"
"You can be not, temporarily." (expressionless) "Besides, whenever someone has a birthday, you're always busy running around. Why can't you spare a little time to write a card?"
"This is how I get out of doing work!" (⁎⁍̴̛ᴗ⁍̴̛⁎)
"..."
The next evening, Hermione stood outside the Dursley family's house with Ginny, staring speechlessly at five boys. Bing Huan had given Ron and the Twins a heads-up the day before, along with Draco, who had been receiving tutoring. Now they were all dressed like Muggle special forces.
Black suits, white shirts, and sunglasses. Fred and George each carried a large bag stuffed with party food and decorations. Hermione crossed her arms. "It's great that you can throw Harry a birthday party, but shouldn't you consider the Dursley family? They don't want Harry to have too much fun."
"Don't worry. We've got this." Fred took out a packet of green sweets.
George added, "Once they eat these, they definitely won't wake up tonight, and there won't be any side effects tomorrow morning."
"Good plan. So how are you going to get them to eat these suspicious sweets? Your greedy cousin might be easy enough, but the other two are adults."
"Listen up, so-called assassins~" Bing Huan adjusted his sunglasses. "The most important thing is infiltration, and the most important part of infiltration is not getting caught. So we'll have to take out anyone who spots us.
"We'll climb in through the window, knock them all out, pop a sweet into each of their mouths, then put them in their bedrooms."
Hermione pressed a hand to her forehead, feeling her frown lines nearly disappear.
"Don't let this happen again!"
"Move out!"
The five boys crept up to the door and listened. The three Dursleys should still have been in the living room watching television. Bing Huan kicked the door open, and Draco and Ron charged inside, shouting. (They'd cast a barrier around the area to avoid disturbing the neighbors.)
"FBI, open the door!"
Dursley: !
Petunia: ?!
Dudley: ┌(.Д.)┐
Before they could react, Bing Huan hit each of them once, and George shoved a sleeping sweet into each of their mouths. When Hermione and Ginny came in, the Twins were carrying the sleeping family of three back to their bedrooms.
Hermione frowned at Dursley. "Is he all right?"
Fred said, "He's pretty energetic."
George added, "Judging by how he reacted when we barged in."
"I mean right now!"
"Hey~" Bing Huan came out of the living room holding a party popper. "You don't trust me to handle things? I guarantee they'll only be unconscious, not hurt. Besides, the father and son don't sleep very well, so we're actually helping them get healthier. All right, we still have to decorate before Harry comes out."
They couldn't take out their wands for fear of drawing trouble from the Ministry of Magic. Luckily, there wasn't much to do. The main things were the cake and dinner. Bing Huan turned on all four burners and darted around the kitchen like a monkey. An hour later, the seven of them stood outside Harry's bedroom.
"Knock, knock, knock."
"..." Harry looked toward the door, puzzled. Usually, when Aunt Petunia or Uncle Vernon knocked, they did it much louder and accompanied it with an impatient shout.
"Knock, knock, knock."
Harry thought it was strange. He took out his wand and cautiously opened the door a crack. Suddenly, the door burst open, everything went dark, and a hood was pulled over his head.
"Who are you?!"
The "robbers" didn't bother answering Harry. They just urged him down the stairs from behind, careful not to let him fall. Harry thought he must have been kidnapped. Had his handsome Chosen One looks really become that obvious?
As he stepped over a threshold, Harry figured he was in the dining room. Suddenly, they pulled off his hood. The sudden light made it hard for him to open his eyes. Once his vision cleared, he saw all the friends he'd been longing for standing in front of him.
Ginny looked at him shyly, and Hermione gazed at him "fondly." The five boys stood to the side in their suits, putting on a show.
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