Hermione was taken aback by her father's question, then couldn't help but laugh. She shook Crookshanks in her arms and tilted her head deliberately, saying, "Dad, it's me, Hermione."
Mr. Granger was completely stunned. He quickly stepped forward and gently ruffled her hair.
Touching the soft, caramel-colored curls, he finally realized what was happening, his eyes filled with surprise and astonishment:
"Is it really you? My goodness, Minmin, you've changed so much! I almost didn't recognize you."
He circled Hermione twice, praising her repeatedly:
"You look so beautiful! This hairstyle suits you perfectly; you look completely different."
Hermione blushed slightly at her father's praise and pursed her lips shyly, "I just got a new haircut."
"It's not just a simple haircut," Mrs. Granger said, stepping forward. " Draco designed and cut it himself, and even mixed a special hair dye Potions."
Mr. Granger looked at Draco, his surprise turning into admiration. "Impressive, impressive."
"Your skills are even better than those of a professional stylist. Thank you for making our Hermione look so beautiful."
"Of course." Draco nodded slightly.
Crookshanks was being held in someone's arms, meowed in dissatisfaction, thinking to himself: Here we go again!
So nobody's paying attention to me? I'm a pretty cat too! Besides, you only picked me up briefly to appease me.
They're chatting again now.
Humans really are visual creatures!
As it spoke, it wriggled its body, jumped down from Hermione's arms, and slowly strolled to the dining table, squatted by the chair, and eagerly awaited lunch.
"The food is ready. Come and wash your hands and get ready to eat!" Mrs. Granger said.
The group headed towards the kitchen, with Hermione linking arms with her father and telling him about the fun they had while getting their hair done.
Draco carefully bundled the thick stack of styling tips and hairstyle diagrams, which were almost like a small booklet, and solemnly tied it to the leg of his pet snowy owl.
As soon as the owl took on its load, its wings suddenly dipped down, and it tilted its head to gently peck at Draco's cuff with its beak, letting out a dissatisfied "coo-coo" sound.
"It's so heavy! Are you trying to kill me with exhaustion? I quit!"
Draco looked at the tantrum owl, raised an eyebrow helplessly, and reached into his pocket to pull out a large bag full of premium owl treats.
It contains dried rat meat, honey-preserved nuts, and nutritional pellets specially supplied by Magic Ranch.
The snowy owl perked up immediately upon smelling the fragrance, nuzzling his fingers with its round head.
The strike sentiment from earlier vanished completely.
It held the bundle of letters firmly in its mouth, flapped its wings to adjust its center of gravity, and stood spiritedly on the windowsill, waiting for the order to fly to Diagon Alley immediately.
Draco gently patted its back. "Go on, when you get back all the snacks are yours."
The owl hooted merrily, flapped its wings, and soared into the sky, more than twice as fast as usual.
Hermione watched from the side, laughing and teasing, resting her chin on her hand:
"So owls are pragmatic too; they'll do anything for good food."
Draco turned and walked to her side, smiling. "After all, even Magical Creatures know to work hard for good stuff."
"Like me, I only want to devote all my energy to the people I care about most." Draco then turned the conversation to Hermione.
Hermione's cheeks flushed at his blunt words, and she hurriedly pretended to tease Crookshanks at her feet, "Who, who asked you to put in the effort? I don't care."
Crookshanks was lying on the carpet licking his paws when she suddenly reached out and scratched his chin. He impatiently flicked his tail, internally cursing:
Here we go again! They're clearly overjoyed, but they have to be so stubborn! What did I do to deserve being your shield?!
Draco smiled but didn't expose her little quirk.
At this moment, Mrs. Granger came out of the kitchen with the last dish, greeting us with a smile:
"Come and eat! The food's getting cold if you keep talking!"
Mr. Granger had already pulled out a chair and sat down, waving warmly to Draco: " Draco, sit here, make yourself at home."
Draco politely thanked her and sat down next to Hermione. As he sat down, he subtly moved his chair closer to her, which earned him another furtive glare from Hermione.
During the meal, the Mr. and Mrs. Granger kept putting food on their plates, and the conversation kept circling back to Hermione's new hairstyle.
As Mr. Granger sliced the roast chicken, he couldn't help but praise it again:
" Draco's skills are truly exceptional. I doubt you can find many stylists in the entire Britain Wizarding World who are better than you."
"Dad!" Hermione said, biting her spoon, "He only does it occasionally, don't praise him so much it makes him feel superior."
"That's just the truth," Mrs. Granger interjected with a smile, serving Hermione a bowl of vegetable soup.
"From now on, Hermione's hair can be taken care of by Draco. It looks good, you can rest assured, and it won't cost any money."
"I'd be more than happy to, even for a lifetime."
Hermione nearly choked on her soup, quickly covering her mouth and coughing. Hermione gently kicked him from under the table.
Crookshanks jumped onto the empty chair next to him, stared at the grilled fish on the table, and meowed in dissatisfaction.
Hey! Can you stop focusing on your romance?! Where's my fish?! If you don't give it to me soon, I'm going to reveal your secret!
Draco casually cut a small piece of boneless fish and placed it on a plate, pushing it in front of Crookshanks, finally calming the sulking cat down.
The lingering aroma of lunch still filled his mouth when Draco gently took Hermione's hand and said expectantly, "Come back to the Malfoy Manor with me."
"Now, right now?" Hermione asked nervously.
Her first reaction wasn't to refuse, but to quickly turn around and rush back to the mirror in the living room.
Then she carefully combed through her hair, smoothing out the stray hairs and touching the curls.
They didn't even spare a single strand of hair behind their ears, afraid that it might be messy or look bad.
Draco leaned against the doorframe, watching her nervous expression, and comforted her:
"Don't worry, I made it myself, it looks perfect. I just wanted my mother to see it, I'm sure she'll love it."
Hermione, still not entirely convinced, turned around in front of the mirror twice to make sure her hairstyle was still perfect and beautiful, before taking a deep breath and squeezing his hand tightly:
"... Let's go then. But... but you're not allowed to say anything out of line!"
Draco laughed, put his arm around her waist Apparition.
The next second, the two landed on the carpet at the magnificent entrance of the Malfoy Manor.
Hearing the noise, Narcissa came out of the living room.
When her gaze fell on Hermione, she suddenly stopped in her tracks, her eyes instantly filled with amazement.
Lucius followed closely behind, and a look of surprise crossed his face when he saw Hermione.
Hermione's cheeks flushed under their gazes, and she instinctively shrank behind Draco, greeting them softly, " Mr. Lucius, Mrs. Narcissa..."