Silan apologized somewhat awkwardly, "I'm sorry, Hermione, I've been helping Professor Snape experiment with and improving Potions these past few days, and I forgot your birthday and didn't prepare a gift. If you don't mind, I can make it up to you later."
"Of course I mind. What's the point of a belated birthday present?" Hermione glared at him, raising an eyebrow.
Silan just smiled at Hermione without saying a word.
When Hermione says something like that, it's definitely not because she's really angry, but because she has something else to say.
"You... you can't do anything by looking at me like that!" Hermione blushed a little from his gaze, pretending to be angry as she turned her head away, but actually she didn't dare to look at him.
Silan moved closer to Hermione, staring intently into her eyes, and reached out to grab her sleeve and shake it. "So, what can I do to stop you from being angry?"
"Okay." Hermione smiled, her eyes crinkling, and proudly raised her chin. "My birthday still has a few hours left, and I want you to give me the remaining hours and let me do as I please. That will be your birthday present..."
Towards the end, Hermione seemed a little embarrassed, and her voice trailed off.
"Is that all?" Silan asked.
Hermione nodded firmly. "Your time is the best gift I could ever receive."
"Then I will obey your orders, Your Highness." Silan smiled jokingly and gave Hermione a courtly curtsy.
This is a role-playing game they used to play when they were kids, and now Silan only dares to joke about it when no one else is around.
Hermione instantly got into character, proudly raising her head, hands behind her back, and taking two steps forward before turning back to smile at him, "Hmm... then let's go back to the Room of Requirement first."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Childhood sweethearts have a very peculiar relationship because there are certain things that only the two of them know, like a secret code that outsiders cannot understand.
So even the most ordinary little things from the past, when talked about at the age when they are just beginning to experience romantic feelings, sound like flirting.
The two walked past the window that let in moonlight, their figures appearing and disappearing intermittently. Tinted glass panes were left behind them, their colors reflected in the moonlight. This vibrant moonlight shone on their shadows, transforming the originally dark shadows into mesmerizing hues.
The two shadows chased each other, sometimes folding together on the wall, sometimes intersecting, sometimes near, sometimes far, but more often they merged into one, indistinguishable from one another.
Walking down the street, Silan suddenly turned to Hermione and asked, "How did you know I was in Professor Snape's office?"
"They're saying you've been put in solitary confinement by Professor Snape." Remembering Snape's praise of Silan, Hermione shook her head, thinking these rumors were utter nonsense.
"What kind of ridiculous rumors are these?" Silan, somewhat speechless.
"But Silan, you're really amazing," Hermione exclaimed sincerely. "I heard from Professor Snape that you've even helped him experiment with and improve Potions."
"The professor is still more capable," Silan replied.
Just by noticing a slight improvement in the quality of the Wolfsbane Potion —a clue that wasn't really a lead— Snape was able to work backwards and reconstruct the entire production process, completely refining the Wolfsbane Potion.
This terrifying level of Potions is probably among the best in the entire Wizarding World.
When Silan was experimenting with Improved Wolfsbane Potion, she deliberately controlled [Potion Prodigy] to prevent its Potions- enhancing effects from taking effect.
Otherwise, it would be too strange if the quality of the newly improved Potions were to be raised even higher.
Being too conspicuous is not a good thing either.
Filch, carrying an oil lamp, wandered through the dark corridor.
He would sometimes run briskly, and sometimes stop, straining his ears to listen quietly to the sounds in the darkness, muttering to himself softly:
"These little rascals, don't they sleep at night? If this were before, hmph..."
Filch felt a pang of nostalgia for the old Hogwarts punishments of hanging students up.
In his view, current educational methods are far too lenient and simply ineffective for students.
Especially those two guys with the surname Weasley!
Hermione turned the corner and suddenly stopped. "Oh, right, I have a gift for you."
"It's your birthday today, why are you giving me a gift instead?" Silan asked, somewhat puzzled.
"But nobody said I can't give you a present on my birthday." Hermione winked at him.
With that, Hermione took a small box from her Mokeskin Pouch, held it in both hands, and handed it to Silan.
Upon opening it, I found a watch inside.
A very typical wizard's watch, with twelve hands, but no numbers on the dial; instead, small planets move around the edge.
This requires the wizard to have a certain level of Astronomy knowledge in order to accurately determine the date and time.
"I remember you already have a watch; perhaps you could swap them," Hermione said, glancing at Silan's wrist. "It's just that this one is brass, not as precious as your gold watch."
Silan took out the watch; it was heavy, and the edges were finely polished, so it didn't feel uncomfortable to hold.
He held the watch up to his eyes and examined it, then turned to Hermione and said earnestly, "This watch was a gift from you; that alone makes it very precious."
Hermione felt her face burning and couldn't help but feel relieved that it was dark.
"Although the materials are ordinary, this watch has a special function." Hermione changed the subject and began to explain to Silan, "It can be set to remind you of times, such as when to rest, when to drink water, or when to eat, so you won't forget."
"Eating and drinking on time is very important," Hermione said earnestly, holding Silan's hand.
"Thanks..."
Before Silan could finish speaking, she suddenly sensed that someone was approaching.
He suddenly reached out, grabbed Hermione's wrist, and with a gentle pull, dragged her into his arms. Then he turned her around, pressing Hermione back against the wall.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked in a low voice.
Silan didn't speak, but simply shook her head, quickly took out her wand, and cast a Disillusionment Charm.
The two figures blurred for a moment, then instantly merged with the stone wall and disappeared.
Filch, carrying his oil lamp, turned the corner. "Hmph, you sleepless little mouse... don't let me find you."
He muttered to himself, his eyes wide, looking in Silan's direction, but he saw nothing.
Somewhat strangely, after going around in circles, they still found nothing.
Filch muttered under his breath, "Damn it. I should have brought Mrs Norris with me; these little mice can't escape her notice."
The sound faded into the distance, and the light dimmed.
Filch walked away.
Hermione nestled in Silan's arms, her heart pounding.
If Silan hadn't braced herself against the wall to keep a distance between them, their bodies would have been almost pressed together face to face.
Even so, Hermione could still easily feel the warmth emanating from Silan and smell the faint scent of Potions on him.
As Silan breathed, Hermione could even feel a tiny, warm current sliding down her neck and down to her collarbone...
Hermione pressed her chest and found that her heartbeat was still quite noticeable. After listening for a while, she couldn't help but laugh.
It sounds like it's not just my own heartbeat.
Silan seemed nervous as well.
"Sorry, Hermione." After Filch had walked away, Silan released Hermione's hand and apologized softly, "I still smell of that Potions on me."
Although he used "Scourgify" along the way, the smell of the Potions was difficult to completely remove with this Spells.
"No, it's nothing, let's go quickly."
Hermione turned her head away, her cheeks burning, and hurriedly straightened her clothes, tightening her collar.
My collarbone is still a little itchy.
Covering her cheeks with both hands, Hermione, like a fleeing bunny, took off running forward.
Back at the Room of Requirement, Silan asked, "There are still a few hours until midnight, all of which are at your disposal. What would you like me to do?"
Hermione said seriously, "I want you to get some rest."
But it's your birthday...
"Forget about birthdays, you've been working so hard, you should get some rest." Hermione looked at him with concern.
After going around in circles, Hermione still thinks more about herself.
Silan thought for a moment, then nodded. "Then I'll take a nap. When I wake up, I'll have a gift for you."
"It's okay if there's no gift," Hermione said.
She thought this was a way for Silan to comfort her.
"A small, insignificant gift, just a token of my appreciation." Silan smiled mysteriously, glancing at a corner of the Room of Requirement.
There were piles of Ferrari fireworks that George and Fred had bought; these were the ones they had finished playing with.
In their words, "They're all freebies; they're neither exciting nor fun."
"Perhaps we can use it," Silan thought.
"Alright," Hermione urged, both exasperated and expectant, "Then you should go and get some rest."
Silan changed her clothes and went to the inner room to rest.
Hermione had originally been outside, but after sitting there for a while, she couldn't calm down, so she quietly slipped into the inner room, sat on the edge of the bed, and watched Silan sleep, resting her chin on her hand.
Looking at the sleeping Silan, Hermione couldn't help but smile, her thoughts drifting away.
"By the time Silan wakes up, there will probably only be one or two hours left today. How is he supposed to prepare a birthday present then?"
"Forget it, forget it, I don't want to think about it."
Hermione looked at Silan: "Haven't I already received the best gift?"
Silan slept for about two hours before waking up.
When I opened my eyes, Hermione was asleep next to me...