But she quickly restrained herself and began to cooperate with him, her expression extremely serious, even showing a hint of student nervousness.
"Then... I'll owe you for now?"
Draco walked up to her, bent down, and placed his hands on the back of the sofa on either side of her, encircling her in front of him.
"You can pay in advance... but we have an unwritten rule in our academy," he leaned closer to Hermione, admiring her flushed cheeks, "If you can't afford the tuition, we can accept... payment in kind."
Hermione's cheeks flushed bright red. Embarrassed and annoyed, she pushed Draco's chest. "Be serious! Professor Malfoy! I really want to learn! Don't joke like that!"
"Alright, I'll be serious for once." Draco's smile didn't fade at all. He straightened up, walked to Hermione's side, and sat down next to her, the sofa sinking slightly under his weight.
"Alright, since Miss Granger is so eager to learn, then this professor will make an exception and give you a free introductory lesson." Draco snapped his fingers, and a parchment and a quill flew from the other side of the desk, landing steadily in his hand.
"How about we start with ' Legend '?"
Hermione's eyes lit up instantly, and she nodded obediently, sitting up straight without realizing it, placing her hands on her knees, and striking the pose of a good student listening attentively.
Seeing that she wasn't blinking, Draco picked up his quill and quickly scribbled a few lines on the parchment.
Then unfold the paper in front of her and arrange it neatly.
"Come on," Draco pointed to the first line of the paper, "I'll read a sentence, and you repeat after me. The tones in Chinese are very important; mispronouncing them can completely change the meaning."
"Okay." Hermione nodded solemnly, completely focused, as if she were about to face the ultimate oral exam for OWLs.
"I love you," Draco murmured.
"I love you?" Hermione repeated uncertainly.
Draco's eyes lit up, as if tickled by a feather, and a surge of immense satisfaction and pride welled up inside him.
But he suppressed a laugh, his expression remaining calm and composed, and simply replied in Chinese, "I know!"
"Huh?" Hermione was taken aback again. She didn't understand what "I know" meant. Was it a comment on her pronunciation?
"Nothing," Draco quickly switched back to English, spouting nonsense with a straight face, "I mean... you pronounced it correctly,"
"It seems Miss Granger is indeed very talented in language learning. Come on, let's review it again, and make it clearer!"
Hermione, unsuspecting, repeated herself even more earnestly, trying to pronounce each syllable accurately. "I love you."
Hearing her confession in her unique tone, Draco was overjoyed, but he remained outwardly calm.
She gave a soft "hmm" as a sign of approval.
Then, pointing to the next line on the parchment, he continued teaching:
I will always belong to you alone.
"I will always belong to you alone." Hermione was completely absorbed in studying, diligently imitating the words as she recited.
"Hmm, not bad."
Draco, seeing that she had completely fallen into the trap, could barely suppress his smile. He pointed to the last line, the finishing touch he had just added:
"The last line is the climax; it should be filled with deep emotion. Come on— Hermione will only Draco for the rest of her life."
Hermione, caught off guard, stared at the words, then carefully composed herself and read them aloud in a recitation-like tone:
" Hermione will only Draco in this lifetime."
Her little face was still tense from being so focused.
But Draco was actually laughing his head off inside, though luckily he managed to control his facial expressions like an Oscar winner.
Try reading it aloud in a row. See if you can remember it.
Hermione nodded obediently, looked at the three lines on the parchment, and carefully read them aloud:
"I love you."
I will always belong to you alone.
" Hermione will only Draco in this lifetime."
She read very slowly, trying her best to pronounce each word accurately.
After she finished reading, she looked up at Draco.
It seems to be asking: Am I pronouncing it correctly?
However, just as she looked up at Draco, waiting for his evaluation, the string of logic in her mind seemed to finally snap into place, albeit belatedly.
Hermione looked up abruptly, meeting Draco's eyes, which were already crinkled with laughter. The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt.
Wait a minute... hasn't some self-serving individual once again smuggled in their extremely possessive... personal declaration?!
At this moment, Hermione's good student expression froze, her eyes gradually narrowing, a mixture of doubt, realization, and embarrassment flickering within them.
" Draco Malfoy!" Hermione exclaimed, suddenly realizing, "What are you teaching me?! This isn't even the lyrics to ' Legend '! You big liar!"
"Hey, how could you call that lying to you?" Draco couldn't hold back any longer and burst into laughter, doubled over, and spread his hands innocently as he tried to defend himself.
"I'm going to teach you some of the most practical Chinese phrases!"
"I'm not learning anymore! You're doing this on purpose! You're being indecent!" Hermione puffed out her cheeks even more, snorted, and turned her face away, refusing to look at his smug expression.
"No, no, no, I was wrong, I was wrong, okay?" Draco quickly stopped laughing, leaned closer, and softened his tone.
"This time I'll teach you properly, I swear. Actually... those few sentences just now, translated, meant..." Although she was still turning her face away, Hermione's ears involuntarily perked up.
"I love you..." Draco explained to her.
Although she already had a rough idea, Hermione's face still burned when Draco translated it so bluntly in English. She turned sharply and glared at Draco:
"You... you are such a scoundrel!" She couldn't think of any more words to describe Draco's despicable behavior.
However, Draco was not annoyed at all; instead, he smiled even more brightly and reached out to pinch her puffed-up cheeks.
" Draco isn't bad, Hermione doesn't love him."
Hermione's face turned even redder, practically steaming!
She wanted to argue, but felt that arguing with this scoundrel would only embolden him, so she forcefully slapped away Draco's hand that was pinching her cheek, stood up, and made as if to leave.
"Are you going to teach me or not? If you don't, I'm not learning!"
"Teach, teach, teach!" Draco quickly reached out and grabbed her wrist, gently pressing her back onto the sofa. He also dropped his joking expression and became a little more serious.
He knew that if he continued teasing her, this competitive and shy little witch might really get angry and then go off to study those dry linguistic tomes herself.
Draco sat down again next to Hermione, thought for a moment, then reached out and gently placed his hand on Hermione's head.
"Alright, how about this!" Draco said, "Since you're so eager to learn, I'll let you understand it instantly, okay?"
"Hmm?" Hermione asked, puzzled.