Hermione picked up the match again, steadyed her wrist, and this time stopped thinking about the bet, focusing only on the match between her fingers.
This time, Hermione's incantation was clear and crisp, and the force in her wrist was precise; the pale golden light of the incantation steadily enveloped the match.
In an instant, the wooden match transformed into a delicate silver needle, which landed steadily in the palm of the hand. The needle was shiny and perfectly formed.
She held the silver needle, her fingertips pausing slightly, and looked up to meet Draco's smiling gaze.
There was a hint of certainty and a touch of smugness in that smile.
Hermione placed the silver needles on the table, turned her face away, and said in a still-stern tone, "Look carefully, it's not that I can't conjure them."
Draco chuckled triumphantly, tapped the silver needle with his fingertip, and said, "Now that you've learned it, shouldn't you fulfill your bet?"
Hermione's fingertips still held a trace of the residual warmth of the spell, and a faint blush spread across her cheeks, thankfully hidden by her hair.
But Hermione still turned her head away, refusing to look at him. At this point, she had no confidence to argue, and could only whisper, "I know."
The response was very soft, but in the empty classroom, Draco heard it clearly.
A smile involuntarily spread across his lips. He leaned closer, resting his hand on the edge of the table, and pretended to cover his ear, saying, "What do you know? I didn't hear you clearly."
Hermione glared at him, a hint of resentment lurking in her eyes. She gritted her teeth and finally managed to squeeze out a few words: " Draco."
As soon as he shouted, Draco's eyes lit up, and a smile spread to his eyebrows.
He leaned forward and called out, " Hermione."
The call was natural and affectionate.
Those two simple words made Hermione's face flush even more.
She hurriedly looked away, raised her hand to gather the silver needles on the table to one side, and pretended to sort through her Transfiguration notes.
"Stop pretending." Draco laughed again, reaching out to gently tap her notebook.
"The bet is done. From now on, we'll call each other by our first names. No backing out." He said, pushing the box of matches in front of her.
"Practice it two more times to solidify your feel for it."
Hermione glanced at him and saw that the playfulness in his eyes had faded, and he was now genuinely serious. Her unease lessened somewhat.
She silently picked up a match and raised her wrist to grip the cane again.
This time, the incantation flowed more smoothly, and a flash of golden light appeared at the tip of the staff. The match instantly transformed into a silver needle, landing steadily in the palm of the hand.
She held the silver needles in her hand, and out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Draco's approving gaze. She coughed lightly and said, "I understand, you don't need to tell me."
As soon as he finished speaking, footsteps came from the classroom door, and several Ravenclaw students walked in, their surprised gazes sweeping over the two sitting side by side.
Hermione paused, instinctively shifting half an inch to the side, only to hear Draco whisper beside her, " Hermione, practice again. Let's see if you can pull your wrist back any lighter."
Hermione knew this guy was deliberately calling her name in front of others, but there was nothing she could do about it.
Her face was still flushed, but she didn't correct his form of address. She simply nodded silently and raised her cane again.
Draco had his Transfiguration class with Ravenclaw, while only his Potions Class was with Slytherin, so Draco had far fewer problems.
The crowd gradually poured into the classroom.
Their roommates were also in the crowd.
Neville, clutching his wand, followed Olivia awkwardly beside her, while Lavender and Parvati chatted and laughed.
" Draco." Neville and his companion happened to sit down behind the two men.
Draco smiled and nodded in acknowledgment.
Next up are Lavender and Parvati.
While Hermione was looking down to put the silver needle into her pencil case, Draco tilted his head slightly and said deliberately, " Hermione, let me see that needle of yours? Don't forget the technique I just taught you in class."
Hermione was caught off guard by the call; Hermione fingers, which were gripping the pencil case, froze abruptly, and her ears instantly burned.
She froze in her seat, silently glaring at him.
Draco, however, pretended to be completely at ease, tapping the table as he waited for her to hand him something—clearly doing it on purpose.
At that moment, Hermione had only one thought in her mind: It's all over, all over, now she heard everything.
Neville, standing behind her, paused, then instinctively leaned closer and whispered to Olivia beside him, " Malfoy actually called Hermione by her first name... without her surname?"
Olivia twirled her quill pen in her fingertip, raised an eyebrow and glanced at the two people in the row in front of her. She didn't say anything, but there was a hint of playful inquiry in her eyes.
The commotion had already reached the ears of Lavender and Parvati behind them.
The two had been listening intently to Hermione, and when they saw that Hermione was blushing and didn't respond, they perked up and immediately huddled together to whisper in each other's ears.
Parvati deliberately glanced at Hermione, mouthing something to Lavender, and the two covered their mouths and chuckled, their shoulders shaking.
Lavender, ever the blunt one, simply turned halfway around, propped his elbow on the edge of the Hermione, and teased Hermione in front of him, saying:
" Hermione, Malfoy called your name, why didn't you answer? What are you two talking about?"
Parvati joined in, grinning as he added, "No wonder you came so early today, huh? So you were practicing Transfiguration with Malfoy? And he even taught you something?"
The two sang in unison, their voices not quiet enough to draw the attention of several Gryffindor students nearby, and even a few Ravenclaw students from the neighboring school turned to look with curiosity.
Hermione's face turned even redder, both embarrassed and ashamed. She wanted to glare at Draco, but he had already turned away.
He was still pretending to tidy up his wand, but the corners of his mouth couldn't be suppressed as he turned up, clearly enjoying the spectacle.
Seeing Hermione looking a bit flustered by the crowd, Neville whispered in her defense, "It's probably just them practicing turning matches into needles..."
Before he could finish speaking, Lavender glanced at him and waved her hand, saying, " Neville, you don't understand. When we practice problems together, who would omit their last name?"
Olivia finally spoke up, "Class is about to start, Professor McGonagall is coming."
Although she didn't openly defuse the situation, she timed it perfectly, and Lavender and Parvati indeed quieted down considerably. Before leaving, they even winked at Hermione, their eyes filled with even more gossip.
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, then turned and stomped hard on Draco's foot.
He grunted, but didn't flinch. He turned his head and whispered in her ear, "A bet's a bet, Hermione."
The warm breath brushed against her earlobe, and Hermione's ear tip tingled again. She pushed him hard, but didn't argue back.
With the bet in place, she could only bite her lip and turn her face away, cursing Malfoy, who had deliberately stirred up trouble, a thousand times over in her mind.
Draco turned to the side, resting his elbow on the back of the chair, and looked back at Neville was sitting upright behind him.
He casually asked, "By the way, Neville, didn't you call Harry and that other guy?"
Neville nodded quickly and explained honestly, "It's called! Ron looked at the time and said there was no rush..."
Draco chuckled softly. "Looks like they're quite confident in their classroom memories."
Hermione raised her eyes upon hearing this, but didn't reply. Instead, she subconsciously glanced towards the back door of the classroom.
There's still a quarter of an hour before class starts, and the front rows are almost full, with only a few seats left in the back corners.
Neville, standing behind Draco, failed to catch the sarcasm in his words and instead offered his opinion:
"Yes! I also think we should have come earlier. The front row of the Transfiguration class has a clearer view, and we can hear Professor McGonagall's explanations more clearly."
He looked at Draco with expectant eyes, " Draco, could you teach me how to turn a match into a needle in class later?"