Moaning Myrtle looked left and right, then drew out a strange laugh, "Oh--this time it's not crying, it's blushing!"
She floated around Hermione twice, then tapped Hermione's burning earlobe with her finger, deliberately leaning close to her ear and winking:
"Let me guess, is it related to that blond heartthrob from before? I heard all the commotion in the Great Hall just now— Malfoy, choose one, choose Hermione!"
Moaning Myrtle winked at Hermione as she spoke.
Did he embarrass you? Or are you already thinking about him?
Hermione blushed even more when her secret was exposed.
She hurriedly raised her hand to cover her face, pushing Moaning Myrtle away in embarrassment and shame. "Don't talk nonsense! That's not true at all!"
Moaning Myrtle was pushed half a foot away, but she laughed even harder, swinging her legs in mid-air in the washroom:
"I'm not kidding, your face is as red as an apple! This is much more interesting than when he made you cry last time~"
As soon as she finished speaking, there was another three soft knocks on the door, unhurried and gentle, and Hermione's heart skipped a beat again.
Hermione panicked, putting a finger to her lips and whispering urgently, "Don't speak!"
Before Moaning Myrtle could retort, Draco's voice came from outside the door. He asked, " Hermione, are you in there?"
Hermione's mind went blank for a moment, and she blurted out, "I'm not here!"
No sooner had she finished speaking than Moaning Myrtle broke free of her grasp, floated to the door, clung to the doorframe, and deliberately shouted, "She said she's not here!"
As he spoke, he winked at Hermione inside the door, looking like he was enjoying the drama, which made Hermione stomp her feet in frustration.
Hearing this, Draco, who was outside the door, couldn't help but chuckle as his voice drifted through the door. He asked, "Oh? Who was answering me? It couldn't have been Moaning Myrtle answering for you, could it?"
Moaning Myrtle laughed even harder, floating behind the door and clapping her hands. "Oh dear, you guessed right! But—"
She deliberately dragged out her tone, tilted her head, and winked at Hermione.
"This handsome young man came specifically to see you. Are you sure you want to keep hiding?"
Hermione, inside the door, blushed crimson, glaring at Moaning Myrtle with a mixture of anger and embarrassment, and stubbornly retorted:
"I wasn't hiding! I just... I just didn't want to talk to him!"
Draco's laughter drifted in through the door. "You don't want to talk to me, but you deliberately respond to my words? Hermione, your hypocrisy is quite cute."
"Who, who's lying!" Hermione raised her voice in a panic, but it still carried a hint of uncontrollable unease.
"Get out of here! I need to study!"
"Studying?" Draco paused, then there was a light knock on the door. " Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom isn't a good place to study. Come out, I have something to tell you."
Moaning Myrtle seized the opportunity to fan the flames, floating to Hermione's side and whispering, "Listen, listen, she has something to tell you! She's definitely going to confess her feelings to you! Hurry up and open the door, don't keep the handsome guy waiting~"
Hermione's cheeks burned even hotter from her teasing, and she glared at her fiercely again.
In the end, she took small, hesitant steps toward the door, placed her hand on the doorknob, hesitated for a long time, and then bit her lip and whispered, "You... you can say what you have to say outside the door!"
Draco, standing outside the door, chuckled softly, his tone becoming more serious as he said, "Some things are better said face-to-face."
Moaning Myrtle chimed in from the side, "Open the door! Open the door! If you don't open it, I'll open it for you!"
He then made a gesture as if to turn the doorknob.
Startled, Hermione quickly grabbed the doorknob, took a deep breath, and flung the door open a crack, peering warily at Draco outside. "Go ahead and say it, I'm listening."
Draco looked down at the pair of eyes peeking through the crack in the door, eyes that held a mixture of embarrassment and wariness, and the smile in his eyes deepened.
"I was teasing you in the Great Hall earlier, I apologize."
Hermione was taken aback, not expecting him to apologize so suddenly. The blush on her cheeks faded slightly, but she still stubbornly insisted:
"I... I didn't take it to heart at all!"
Despite saying that, he subtly loosened his grip on the doorknob.
Moaning Myrtle floated behind Hermione, craning her neck to say to Draco, "An apology isn't enough! You need to coax Hermione!"
Draco glanced at Moaning Myrtle, who was joining in the fun, then looked at Hermione peeking through the crack in the door, and asked with a smirk, "So, how do you want me to appease her?"
Hermione was taken aback by the question, her cheeks flushing instantly. She hurriedly pushed the door shut and muttered, "I don't need you to coax me! You should just leave!"
Just as the door was about to close, Draco gently placed his hand against the crack, his voice drifting in through the gap. "Weren't you supposed to be supervising my cleaning?"
Upon hearing this, Hermione inside the door froze instantly.
Moaning Myrtle chuckled from inside the doorway, deliberately raising her voice, "So there was a cleaning arrangement too! Hermione, this is important business; we can't just let a handsome guy get away, can we?"
Hermione's cheeks burned even hotter at what she was told, and she bit her lip and let out a muffled groan.
Draco loosened his grip on the doorknob, and the door was gently pushed open a little, revealing half of her flushed cheek and her wide, staring eyes.
"Who let him get away... I was just afraid you'd forget about the important matter!" Hermione retorted.
"Don't worry, I've come looking for him. But the overseer is hiding in the washroom. I can't exactly clean the door, can I?" Draco shrugged.
Moaning Myrtle leaned close to Hermione, winking and whispering, "That's right, that's right, go out and supervise! We can't let him slack off!"
Hermione was rendered speechless by the two's coordinated attack and could only glare fiercely at Draco.
Finally, she could only clutch her backpack strap tightly and slowly walk out of the washroom.
After coming out, she tilted her chin up and pretended to be serious, saying to the front, "Let's go! Don't try to slack off, we can't leave a speck of dust behind!"
Draco watched her feigned composure masking her underlying panic, a smile spreading across his eyes. He stepped aside and gestured for her to proceed. "As you command, O Overseer."
Hermione's ears burned again at his words, but she had to keep a straight face.
She gripped her backpack strap and took two quick steps forward, deliberately keeping an arm's length distance from Draco, saying sternly, "Stop talking nonsense and get going."
Despite saying that, Hermione unconsciously slowed her pace, glancing furtively at the shadow behind her, afraid that Draco might actually fall behind.
Moaning Myrtle floated at the doorway of the washroom, resting her chin on her hand as she watched the two figures walking one after the other.
The blond boy walked slowly, deliberately following the rhythm of the girl in front of him.
The girl stood ramrod straight, yet the tips of her ears were a dazzling red.
One feigned anger, the other smiled, and even their backs exuded an ambiguous and inexplicable tension.
Moaning Myrtle swung her legs and giggled. At this moment Moaning Myrtle, forgot to cry because of the interaction between the two.
She called out to their retreating figures, " Hermione! Make sure he scans you a couple more times! Don't be fooled by his face!"
After shouting, he muttered to himself, "It's obviously interesting, but he has to pretend. Young people like that..."