Even someone as focused as Hermione felt a little uncomfortable with people around.
Her gaze first fixed sharply on Draco's lying figure, her pen hovering above the page for a long time without falling.
Hermione unconsciously softened her breathing, afraid of making a noise that might disturb him.
But then she felt that caring so much was too deliberate.
He gripped the quill pen tightly between his fingers, then forcefully pulled his gaze back to the textbook, but after reading two lines, he couldn't absorb anything.
Yu Guang couldn't help but glance to the side; the light from the fireplace softened the contours of Draco's face.
The soft breathing whispered in Hermione's ear, more alluring than the Transfiguration Spell in her textbooks.
She deliberately turned the pages of the book a little louder, trying to break the excessive silence.
But after finishing, she regretted it, and her ears became even hotter. She simply raised her hand to tuck the stray hairs behind her ears, but when her fingers touched her burning earlobes, she awkwardly withdrew them.
His handwriting in his notes was no longer as neat as before; he would occasionally write a stroke crookedly, and when he crossed it out, he felt a subtle sense of annoyance, yet he refused to move his desk and dared not utter a sound to shoo Draco away.
She was annoyed by this guy's lack of tact, but she just couldn't bring herself to actually get angry.
In the end, he could only let himself be disturbed by this presence so close at hand, and even the incantation he was familiar with had to be recited twice in his mind before he could put it down.
Hermione listened to Draco's breathing gradually even out, paused for a moment, and quietly moved her pen closer to the table, half an inch away from where Draco was lying.
But a few seconds later, she unconsciously moved back, as if afraid that her movements would really disturb you, her brows and eyes full of unconcealed helplessness and awkwardness.
Hermione, her anger rising, clenched her fingers and, as if possessed, reached out towards Draco's neck.
That mix of annoyance and panic made her want to strangle the guy.
As she gestured, Hermione caught a glimpse of two younger students walking by with water cups in their eyes.
The two were also dumbfounded, their eyes fixed on Hermione's hand.
Hermione's hand froze in mid-air, and she even held her breath.
Seeing this, the two students immediately turned their heads away and hurriedly walked away quietly.
Before leaving, they exchanged a knowing, teasing glance, the unspoken smile making Hermione's cheeks flush instantly.
She was at a loss, trying to pull her hand back, when Draco slowly opened his eyes and his gaze fell lightly on her still-held hand.
"What's wrong?" Draco asked, puzzled.
Hermione recoiled as if burned, jerking her hand back and clenching it tightly behind her back, her fingertips trembling slightly, her eyes filled with panic.
She forced herself to remain calm and turned her face away, stubbornly saying, "N-nothing, I just noticed there was some dust in your hair and wanted to brush it off for you."
The words were barely out of her mouth when she realized how forced they sounded, and her cheeks flushed even more. She didn't dare look Draco in the eye at all.
"Oh~" Draco drawled, his tone tinged with a hint of mockery.
He exclaimed as if suddenly realizing something, "Oh, so you were helping me brush off the dust!"
Draco sat up, his gaze fixed on her flushed cheeks. He leaned closer, asking flirtatiously and bluntly, "Tell me, how long have you had a crush on me?"
These words were like a spark, instantly setting Hermione's face ablaze, turning her cheeks and neck bright red.
She glared at Draco, her eyes filled with embarrassment and anger, and after a long pause, she managed to stammer, "Don't talk nonsense! Who has a crush on you!"
Hermione's voice trembled slightly, and her hands unconsciously clenched into fists.
But she dared not lean forward any further, only glaring at Draco with a hint of panic hidden in her annoyance.
Draco, seeing her flustered yet embarrassed appearance, laughed even harder. He simply turned to the side, propped his chin on his elbow on the sofa armrest, and stared intently at her.
"Not a crush? Then why are you staring at my hair and even reaching out to touch me? You can't really be trying to pinch me, can you?"
At this point, Hermione was so embarrassed that she started to stammer, "I... I just grabbed it... It's your fault for being so close and getting in my way!"
Draco, noticing her flushed face, exclaimed in surprise, "Really? Is it possible that my presence here has made you so flustered that you can't even concentrate on your book?"
These words hit the nail on the head, and Hermione's face instantly turned even redder.
She stood up abruptly, then, as if remembering something, gripped the textbook on the table, glaring down at Draco with a voice that was both urgent and annoyed:
"Stop flattering yourself! Who's flustered? It's you who's making noise and preventing people from concentrating!"
As he spoke, he deliberately raised his hand and scribbled across the pages of the book twice, making a rustling sound, pretending to be impatient.
Draco tilted his head, looking innocently puzzled. "But I didn't say anything; I was sleeping."
These words landed lightly on Hermione's lips, leaving her speechless and unable to utter a word.
The annoyance from before resurfaced on her face, and her fingers gripping the textbook tightened and loosened.
She glared at Draco, her earlier arrogance gone. "Even if you're asleep, you're still in the way! It's annoying to look at you, how can I concentrate!"
He turned his face away as he spoke, but he didn't dare to actually look away, his eyes glued to Draco out of the corner of his eye.
Draco propped himself up on his arms and leaned closer, deliberately lowering his voice to tease her, "So even when I'm sleeping, I'm still so noticeable that Miss Granger is so annoyed she can't read?"
As soon as I finished speaking, Hermione's ears twitched again. She raised her hand to push her away, but then pulled it back a split second before it touched my sleeve.
Hermione bit her lip, her cheeks still burning red, but she forced herself to raise her voice and retort, "If you keep babbling on and on, I'll make you leave!"
As he spoke, he pointed to an empty space to the side.
Draco raised an eyebrow and chuckled, teasing her deliberately, "What if I don't leave?"
These words struck a nerve with Hermione, who gritted her teeth and said, "Then... I'm leaving!"
She grabbed the notes and textbooks from the table and stuffed them haphazardly into her schoolbag, her movements so hurried and forceful that she even swept the quill pen to the edge of the table.
Seeing that she was serious, Draco immediately raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, I was wrong, I was wrong, I won't say it anymore, alright? You just study hard and don't bother cleaning up."
As he spoke, he reached out and picked up the quill pen she was about to drop, handing it to her.
Then Draco added a nonsensical, slightly goofy, soft remark, "I didn't snore just now, did I?"
Hermione froze, her hand gripping the backpack strap hanging in mid-air. The anger on her face hadn't faded, but this nonsensical remark left her speechless.
Her cheeks were still flushed, but she glared at Draco fiercely, then snatched the quill and slammed the book open again. "Enough with the nonsense! Go to sleep!"
Although the words were harsh, the matter of leaving was not mentioned again.
Draco chuckled to himself, but obediently lay back down on the sofa.
After this little incident, Hermione took a deep breath, gripped her quill tightly, and forced herself to fix her gaze on the Transfiguration Spell in the textbook.
Through persistent effort, she successfully ignored the shallow breathing beside her and suppressed the restlessness in her heart.
Occasionally, a student would walk past the fireplace, their gaze always lingering between Hermione and Draco on the sofa.
The occasional whispers and suggestive glances that drifted over would still make her pause, her pen poised.
Then my cheeks started to feel hot again, and the irritation I had just suppressed resurfaced.
Helpless, Hermione bit her lip, ignoring the stares and gossip, and ran her fingertips across the page to mark the key points, silently reciting the essentials of waving the wand over and over in her mind.
And so, with sheer stubbornness, she managed to draw her attention back to her books.
When someone passed by again, she simply moved the textbook closer to her, half-covering her face, focusing her gaze intently on the words, no longer glancing around out of the corner of her eye.
Gradually, everything around her became the backdrop for her studies.
I focused on this and an hour and a half passed in the blink of an eye.