Across the Black Lake

"...Crabbe, Goyle!"

"...We...but...there isn't room for three...no, no..."

Just as Crabbe and Goyle stepped into a boat, Draco realized she couldn't get in...

Because there seemed to be room for only two more people in the boat.

Once Crabbe and Goyle sat down, it was a miracle the boat hadn't sunk, never mind letting Malfoy aboard too...

Malfoy certainly didn't want to be separated from her two lackeys.

But the other two students aboard weren't willing to get out and swap places with Draco either.

They had walked faster and reached this boat first through their own efforts. Why should they give their places to you?

Crabbe and Goyle wanted to get out, but the wind was already growing stronger.

The two girls wriggled a couple of times and nearly capsized the little boat, frightening them so much that neither dared move recklessly again...

Getting into fights and such was all well and good.

But once they fell into the lake, all those muscles on their bodies wouldn't be any use at all...

"Hurry up! Stop dawdling!"

Just then, Hagrid's thunderous voice rang out, giving Malfoy another fright and leaving her unable to keep stalling and arguing there.

The main thing was, Miss Malfoy didn't seem to be in much of a position to argue in the rain right now...

"Damn it, damn it, I'm so mad! Why did I dress like this today?!"

Malfoy looked down at her calves beneath her short skirt. They were already soaked.

Her robe looked nice enough, but it had no hood and wasn't rainproof...

As the rain grew heavier, Malfoy looked increasingly bedraggled.

Crabbe and Goyle were fine following her around normally, but when it really mattered, they were utterly unreliable...

In all her dozen or so years growing up, spoiled by Narcissa and sheltered under Lucius's wing, when had Miss Malfoy ever suffered such indignity?

"There's a boat over there. It looks like there's still room...phew..."

Seeing an empty spot nearby, Miss Malfoy had no time to feel aggrieved or sob. She wiped the rain off her face and rushed straight over!

So cold...

Nothing I can do about the cold. If only I'd known to wear nude tights today. I never thought of that before...

Before anyone else approached, Malfoy hurriedly jumped aboard and claimed a seat on the right side of the little boat.

Moisture began spreading over her clothes and legs, the chill constantly eating away at Malfoy's senses.

These were the Scottish Highlands, after all, considerably colder than London, especially with the rain and the strong winds that swept through Hogwarts every so often...

Huh? It seems a lot warmer?

Shivering, Malfoy felt as though the raindrops were no longer pattering down onto her head, making her pause in surprise.

What's going on?

The rain should be getting heavier and heavier. Why has it stopped now?

Lifting her head, Malfoy couldn't see anything except a black robe sleeve held over her head, shielding her from the oncoming downpour...

"Don't move, or I won't be able to keep you covered."

"Uh, okay. I'll thank you for this!"

The voice coming from ahead sounded a little familiar.

Malfoy had no time to think about it. She shivered and curled up.

Although she was no longer getting rained on, this wretched little boat was letting rain in from every direction...

The figure at the very front had already blocked most of the rain, so not much fell on Malfoy and Ron.

But Malfoy was wearing a short skirt today, and she really was a little cold...

The wind kept pouring in. Ron's family was poor to begin with, so naturally he wasn't particularly unused to it.

But Malfoy really couldn't stand it. If Harry hadn't been shielding her from the wind and rain, she would have burst into tears right there.

I don't want to go to this school anymore. I'd rather go back and stay with Mum and Dad.

It's warmer on the right. Move a little closer to the right...

Of course, as luck would have it, Ron also felt that it was quite warm on her left and kept edging leftward...

Caught between them, Harry's face was almost contorted with misery.

What even was all this?!

The situation now was simply baffling.

He had just thought Malfoy looked pitiful, so he had decided to shield her too.

And now, why was she getting closer and closer?

Give you an inch and you take a mile, huh?

But Harry couldn't very well speak up now.

The glasses on his face were completely drenched, leaving him unable to see anything.

More wind and rain kept pouring down his collar through the edge of his cloak's hood, sending a chill right through Harry...

If Harry opened his mouth to speak now, he would surely be greeted by a mouthful of rainwater mixed with lake water rushing in...

Who knew how much time had passed.

Harry felt that his arms were aching beyond endurance, and the biting wind had left his face a little numb.

But he couldn't very well pull his arms back. If he did, those two idiots, Ron and Draco, would probably be soaked through.

His glasses slipped off, but Harry couldn't pull his hands back to retrieve them. He could only hope the surging waters of the Black Lake wouldn't wash them away...

"What shabby glasses. They're so ugly."

Huddled beneath Harry's robe sleeve, Malfoy suddenly saw a pair of glasses drifting straight toward her and casually scooped them up.

She had intended to toss them away, but the more Malfoy looked at them, the more something seemed off.

These look like...

Potter's glasses?!

No wonder the scent around me felt so familiar just now!

Potter...

Putting that together with the familiar voice she had just heard, Malfoy finally remembered something.

Her emotions, which had settled down, surged up again.

She no longer intended to throw away the glasses.

Malfoy lowered her head for another look, then hooked Harry's glasses, held together with transparent tape, onto her vest.

Shabby or not, Potter is so clean that his glasses probably aren't filthy either. As the generous and forgiving Miss Malfoy, I'll reluctantly keep them safe for him for a little while.

This was the safest place, because she would keep her arms folded across her chest, ensuring that Potter's glasses wouldn't be washed away by the lake water.

Still, these battered glasses really do look so ugly...

Thinking of Harry's rosy lips and white teeth, Malfoy didn't know why all those jumbled emotions from earlier suddenly came flooding back.

Those hurtful things Ron had said circled through Malfoy's mind again and again, refusing to leave.

Her sense of grievance was like a volcano on the verge of eruption, ready to burst forth at any moment.

But...

Whenever Malfoy thought of those bad things, the scene unfolding now would always pop into her mind.