Hermione was so embarrassed by their laughter that she stomped on Draco's foot and muttered in annoyance, "It's all your fault!"
Draco wasn't angry even when he stepped on her foot. Hmm, shy Hermione, angry Hermione, embarrassed Hermione —they're all adorable.
With another shot, Hermione decided to prove herself and save face. Jack delivered a powerful forehand smash that flew straight to Hermione's backhand corner.
With accurate judgment, Hermione moved swiftly, took a large step, and narrowly saved the ball with a one-handed backhand!
The high-quality ball landed between Jack and Becky.
"Good shot!" Jack exclaimed.
Unfortunately, they had to return the ball hastily again.
Seeing this low-quality return, Hermione looked at Draco, thinking that he should be able to volley it now.
Then this young master started showing off again. He wanted to hit a backhand smash, but he didn't control the power well. He pressed the racket face down a little bit, and the ball hit the net directly.
"Net down, 0-40, Jack / Becky has set point." Tom's voice rang out emotionlessly.
Hermione was speechless.
Seeing Draco's regretful expression, Hermione felt utterly exhausted. Hands on her hips, she looked at the sky in despair. "I understand."
"What have you figured out, honey?" Draco burst out laughing.
"I understand now. Teaming up with you means I not only have to be responsible for baseline defense and desperately save the ball, but I also have to constantly worry about when you'll suddenly become elegant and miss the chance."
"It's alright, honey," Draco comforted her. "It wouldn't be right for us to shave their heads, we have to give them some hope. Look, they've scored three in a row, they're so happy."
Hermione was so angry she almost choked.
Just as he was about to retort, Jack retorted, "Hey, doubles isn't singles; it's about teamwork. You can't just win if you want to."
"Exactly!" Becky chimed in, " Draco, we're leading by three points and have set point now. You guys aren't letting us win, are you? We earned it through our own skill!"
"Did you hear that!" Hermione chimed in.
Then, continuing his stern warning to Draco, he said, "Seriously, or I'm not going to team up with you anymore!"
Although these words weren't particularly hurtful, Draco still obediently nodded in agreement. "Understood, my dear wife. I promise to fight seriously, prioritize teamwork, and never again let elegance ruin the game."
"Hmph, you better be!" Hermione reluctantly accepted his insincere promise, walked back to the baseline, and got into position.
Then I told myself: Don't get angry, don't stoop to this childish person's level, play well, and win the game!
However,
Although Draco verbally promised to fight seriously, his mischievous habit of teasing his wife wasn't so easy to shake.
In the following rounds,
Their teamwork was nothing short of disastrous.
Hermione kept her baseline defense in mind, running hard and trying her best to return every ball. Draco also stopped doing those difficult trick shots, but he seemed to move freely at the net, seize opportunities, and switch positions with ease.
Sometimes Hermione anticipates that her opponent will shoot diagonally and moves in advance, but Draco happens to move to the same position to cover for her, and the two almost collide, resulting in a gap in a straight line.
What's even more infuriating is that Draco always appears completely innocent after each "mistake," leaving Hermione frustrated and unable to vent her anger.
" Jack / Becky win the first game," Tom announces.
Hermione was exhausted after just one game. She was panting and glared at the instigator with murderous eyes.
Sensing the murderous aura behind him, Draco touched his nose, walked over, handed her some water, and said guiltily, "Honey, have some water. We still need to work on our teamwork."
Hermione took the water, gulped down a large mouthful, wiped her mouth with her arm, and said through gritted teeth, "Teamwork?! Tell me, what were you thinking with those few shots just now?! Were you just looking at the scenery?! Or did you think those two were playing so badly that we needed to let them win?!"
"I was thinking about that ball earlier. You were running so fast, I thought you were going to steal it, so I let you have it. I didn't expect you to miss it. Next time I'll definitely steal it!" Draco earnestly 'explained'.
She spoke with such seriousness, and her reasons sounded Diadem, but Hermione didn't believe a word she said.
This man must have done it on purpose.
I want to see her get furious!
But Hermione had no choice but to threaten:
"Next game is our serve! You, you better, play well! Otherwise you'll be in trouble when we get back!"
"Yes, madam." Draco stood at attention.
When it was their turn to serve, Hermione stood behind the baseline, calmed herself down, and told herself to focus on the game.
However, she knew her serve wasn't very powerful, so she wasn't aiming for a direct score; she just hoped Draco would behave normally.
"Thwack!" The regular serve landed on Jack's backhand side.
Jack easily returned the ball and hit it towards Hermione's forehand. Hermione returned a cross-court shot, creating an angle, and Becky returned the ball to the middle.
The ball returned to a position Draco could easily handle.
"At the net, intercept!" Hermione, fearing Draco might pull some trick again, couldn't help but whisper and urgently give the order.
"Thwack!" The tennis ball flew precisely through the gap between Jack and Becky, hit the sideline, and bounced out of bounds.
"15-0," Tom's voice rang out.
He scored? Unexpectedly, Draco didn't show off; instead, he followed her instructions and achieved the desired effect?
Hermione was stunned. She looked at Draco in disbelief, and Draco winked at her.
Although she knew he was mostly faking it, the clean and decisive score was still pleasing to the eye. Hermione's tense expression eased slightly, she coughed, and praised him:
"... That was a good shot."
Upon hearing this, Draco perked up and said smugly, "I told you, when I get serious, nobody can stop me."
Hermione: "..." Her mood, which had just eased, instantly tightened again. She knew it, she absolutely couldn't praise this guy!
Its tail can wag to the sky!
"You're getting all cocky after I just gave you a compliment?" Hermione rolled her eyes at him, but a smile involuntarily crept onto her lips.
Well, as long as I get points, that's good enough.
At least when he's in good form, his abilities are reliable.
This little incident seems to have flipped a switch.
In the following matches, although the teamwork was still not perfect, at least it wasn't as disastrous as the first game.
For the most part, Draco actually obeyed commands obediently, although his movements remained elegant and composed.
While there might still be some unnecessary tricks during interceptions, the targets are clear, and the attacks are no longer random and indiscriminate.
As the game progressed into the middle, the back-and-forth exchanges became more frequent and the pace more intense. Before they knew it, the two players had become accustomed to each other's movement, shooting rhythm, and prediction of the landing point.
Hermione was secretly surprised.
I no longer need to give orders verbally.
Then it should be their turn to fight back.