Who Said I Hated You?

"Ron, what exactly did you say at lunch today?"

In the Gryffindor Common Room, Ron had just reached for a biscuit when Harry pinned down the plate in front of him.

He looked up at his best friend's expression and suddenly felt a little guilty.

"Nothing much. I just told everyone about you fighting the troll."

"How did you tell it?"

"Well, you raised your wand in the corridor and summoned a sun!" Ron grew more fluent as he went. "The troll didn't even have time to scream before it was burned to ashes!"

Harry fell silent for two seconds.

"You told it very well, but wasn't the troll subdued by the professors?"

"Is that the point?!"

"If that's not the point, what is?!"

Ron looked at him with complete seriousness. "The point is, you looked incredibly cool!"

Harry opened his mouth. For a moment, he actually didn't know whether he should thank his best friend.

But looking cool was one thing. Why had even the Slytherin students been smiling so strangely?

At that, Ron's shoulders finally slumped.

"That... you'd have to ask Fred and George."

Over the next few minutes, Harry heard all about the three Weasley brothers' glorious achievements at lunch.

Things that had originally happened for separate reasons had, once the twins strung them together, somehow become a love story with a beginning and an end.

Even more absurdly, what the two houses had ended up arguing about was no longer whether any of it was true, but who had won whom over.

Harry's eyelid twitched as he listened.

No wonder those people had looked at him as though he were a hero who had won glory for their house.

"But don't worry, Harry!" Ron hastily puffed out his chest. "I was the first to stand up against it!"

"Against what?"

"You and Malfoy being together, of course!" Ron answered with perfect conviction. "That's Malfoy! How could I possibly agree!"

Harry had been about to question him further, but then he heard that last sentence...

"Wait, Ron."

"I don't think this needs your agreement."

Ron froze. "...Huh?"

Harry froze too. What had he just blurted out!

A drawn-out voice suddenly came from the other side of the fireplace.

"Oh, George! I knew it!"

"I heard it too, Fred!"

Two identical faces peered out from behind an armchair.

Fred looked at Harry, then at his younger brother, his grin gradually widening.

"It seems our Chosen One..."

George immediately picked up, "Isn't all that eager to deny it!"

"That's not what I meant! We're just friends!"

"Of course!" Fred nodded at once.

"We understand!" George assured him.

Harry looked at them and felt not the slightest reassurance.

The next version was already written all over those two faces!

The Slytherin Common Room.

"Goyle, Crabbe. What exactly happened in the Great Hall at lunch today?"

The two exchanged a glance, and Goyle actually looked a little excited.

"Miss, everyone says you've already won Potter over!"

"What?!"

"Now even Gryffindor's Chosen One belongs to us Slytherins!" Crabbe said delightedly. "Everyone's praising you, Miss!"

Malfoy had been ready to fly into a temper, but at that, she suddenly paused.

Wait, I've won Potter over?

The girl's chin rose a little of its own accord.

"Hmph, of course. That idiot will lose to me sooner or later!"

Goyle and Crabbe exchanged a look of sudden understanding.

"Yes, everyone also says you and Potter might one day..."

"Might what?"

"Get married."

One corner of the common room suddenly fell silent.

The smugness on Malfoy's face slowly froze.

Two seconds later, the girl abruptly raised her voice. "Who-who wants to marry that idiot?!"

The two girls both shrank back.

"Explain yourselves!" The girl's face had begun to redden. "What do you mean, I've won Potter over?!"

And so, the "evidence" the twins had put together made another appearance here.

"Besides, Potter got hurt saving you," Goyle added quietly.

Crabbe checked the young lady's expression and ventured:

"So that's why everyone thinks he must care about you a lot, Miss?"

Malfoy paused.

That dazzling white light in the corridor appeared before her eyes once again.

And that idiot's voice as he told her to close her eyes, the hand that had held hers, and the bandages wrapped around his left arm.

Cared a lot... about her?

"Miss, why is your face red?"

"Shut up!" The girl immediately raised her head, her words coming even faster than before.

She straightened her sleeves again. Only after quite a while did she ask, as though it had merely occurred to her in passing, "Did that idiot Potter say anything?"

"How would we possibly know, Miss?"

"..."

Right, Potter had been with her at the professors' all that time.

But by now, he should have found Weasley, shouldn't he?

What would he say when he heard all this?

Would he immediately tell everyone that he could never possibly like Malfoy?

The girl pressed her lips together. Something else suddenly mingled with the irritation all that nonsense had stirred in her.

"Forget it. I'll go find him myself!" Malfoy turned and left.

As Harry finished setting up the wooden target for practice, the classroom door was pushed open.

Long platinum-blond hair swayed with her steps as the young lady walked almost straight up to him.

"Mr. Potter, you've heard all those rumors, haven't you?"

"I have." Harry looked at the girl's aggressive manner, and the corner of his mouth couldn't help twitching.

"I hear... Miss Malfoy has already won Gryffindor's Harry Potter over?"

"Who-who's won you over?!"

"Oh, so I've won Miss Malfoy over?"

"In your dreams!"

The girl immediately glared at him, finally unable to maintain the deliberately formal tone she had adopted.

"Potter! Have you explained things properly or not?!"

Harry spread his hands. "I've already told Ron, but his two brothers clearly prefer their own version."

"Then go explain it again!"

"How?"

"Obviously..."

The girl opened her mouth and suddenly got stuck.

Harry looked at her.

"Miss Malfoy?"

The girl gritted her teeth. "I don't know!! Just figure something out yourself!"

"All right, all right." Harry finally couldn't help laughing. "There is one way."

"I'll tell them that Miss Malfoy actually hates me and wishes she'd never have to see me again."

"Who said I hated you?!" Malfoy practically blurted out.

The classroom suddenly fell silent.

Malfoy froze, and the smile at the corner of Harry's mouth stopped too.

They looked at each other, neither immediately saying anything.

The shadows of the trees outside the window swayed gently. Footsteps came from the corridor, then quickly faded away.

The girl's cheeks slowly reddened.

Merlin above, what... had I just said?!

She had only thought Potter's wording was going too far!

What did he mean, never wanting to see him again?

Then what about her duels, and their agreement to practice magic together?

Yes, that was exactly what she meant! Yet those reasons that usually came so readily wouldn't come out now, not a single one.

Normally, Harry would probably already have been pressing her with a smile.

But now, those lighthearted jokes suddenly carried weight.

He watched the girl's face grow redder and redder. The words were already on his tongue, yet he couldn't get them out.

She didn't hate him.

As that thought passed through his mind, he actually felt rather happy. He even wanted her to say it again.

When his eyes met those gray-green eyes again, even the tips of his own ears grew hot.

Now, Malfoy wasn't the only one at a loss for words.

Harry gave a dry laugh. "Well... let's practice."

"Right!" The girl nodded almost immediately. "I came here to practice magic!"

"Mm, we can't waste time."

"Of course!"

One lowered his head to adjust the wooden target he had already set up, while the other hurriedly opened her textbook.

Both suddenly became exceedingly serious, as though even a moment's delay would leave them unable to finish today's practice.

Under cover of turning the pages, Malfoy stole a glance at Harry.

Potter's ears seemed to be red too.

Wait, why was he blushing too?

Didn't this fellow always love to keep teasing her at times like this?

Could it be... The girl abruptly lowered her head.

Stop thinking. Practice! I'm here to practice!

As it turned out, practicing wasn't so easy either.

Harry had two wooden practice pieces move slowly while Malfoy practiced her aim twice.

The first streak of spell-light skimmed past the edge. The second was actually a little off as well.

Harry looked at the targets. The corner of his mouth had only just moved when the girl immediately turned toward him.

"That was just an accident!"

"I haven't said anything yet."

"You wanted to!"

"All right, all right, I wanted to."

When it was Harry's turn to practice the Shield Charm, the girl raised her wand and used a little spell commonly used for practice at home, sending out a streak of light with only a slight pushing force.

Harry instinctively glanced at her. By the time he raised his wand, he was already half a beat too late.

The not-yet-formed shield gently dispersed, and his sleeve swayed under the push.

[Wand movement delayed.]

Malfoy narrowed her eyes. "Potter, were you distracted?"

"No, I wasn't!"

"Then why was your Shield Charm slow?"

"I only just learned it. I'm not practiced enough yet."

The girl looked at him for two seconds and finally recovered a little of her familiar smugness. "Hmph, it seems I'm still better."

"Yes, yes, Miss Malfoy is the best."

Once the words left his mouth, both of them paused slightly.

Then Harry steadied himself again, and the girl raised her wand as well.

This time, the spell struck the shield and bounced lightly away.

Harry did not step back again, steadying his wrist the way the professor had taught him.

[Successful spellcasting, proficiency +1.]

Their practice finally began to get back on track.

The two continued taking turns, occasionally arguing over their positioning or correcting a movement.

But whenever their eyes met, they would still both pause, then look away.

By the time Harry closed his notebook, the sunlight by the window had slowly shifted to the other end of the classroom.

"Shall we leave it here for today?" He put away his wand. "Wood's got training scheduled for tomorrow."

"Quidditch?"

"Yeah, the first match is coming up."

Malfoy paused as she gathered her books, then suddenly looked up.

"Wait, Potter, your first match is against us Slytherins, isn't it?"

"That's right."

The girl immediately lifted her chin. "Good. This time, I'm going to watch you lose with my own eyes!"

Harry looked at her and sighed with feigned regret.

"Now that does hurt a little. I thought you'd at least cheer for me."

"In your dreams! I'm a Slytherin. Why should I support a Gryffindor like you?!"

"Fair enough." Harry nodded. "We are opponents, after all."

Malfoy suddenly faltered.

She remembered that high-speed turn last time.

In an actual match, if someone else crowded in beside him...

The girl's gaze unconsciously fell on his left arm.

"I don't care!" She gave a light huff, then could not help adding, "But, Potter, you're too slow to shift your center of gravity when you turn. If you fly like that in a match, you could easily fall."

Harry looked at her, a smile slowly forming. "Is Miss Malfoy worried about me?"

"Who's worried about you?!" The tips of the girl's ears began to burn again, and even her words came faster. "You're someone I've beaten!"

"If you fell off in the very first match, wouldn't that make beating you seem like no great achievement?!"

Harry watched her, then nodded with a smile after a moment.

"So that's it. Then I'll be sure to do well and not disappoint Miss Malfoy."

"Who-who expects anything from you?!" The girl gathered up her textbooks and stalked angrily toward the door.

There were few people left in the corridor.

The girl took a few steps forward, then suddenly stopped.

Wait!

I came to see him today to clear up the rumors!

And not only did I fail to clear any of that up, I even spent the whole afternoon with him?!

Malfoy slowly tightened her grip on her textbooks, her cheeks growing hot again.

That blasted idiot Potter!