Chapter 288: Chapter 288: Hermione's 15th Birthday (Edited)
The sun shone through the glass window onto Miss Granger's face. The gentle autumn daylight caused her delicate eyelashes to flutter slightly. Then she opened her eyes and, letting out a groan, unconsciously tried to get up and wash herself, but she remembered that it was Saturday and she didn't have to wake up early for class.
This was undoubtedly a blessing.
But she felt like she had forgotten something. She took a moment to clear her mind and remembered that today was September 19th, her birthday.
It was her fifteenth birthday, and the third one she was spending at Hogwarts. Previously, her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Granger, would wake her up in the morning with a kiss, put her in a pretty new dress, and take her to the kitchen for a sumptuous breakfast. After breakfast, there would be a whole day of fun: Disneyland, Universal Studios, a picturesque place somewhere on the English countryside. They even took her skiing.
None of this was available at Hogwarts. If you had enough friends, maybe you would receive some gifts on your birthday morning, but that was it, after all, neither Professor McGonagall nor Professor Snape could grant a student permission to skip their duties for their birthday.
Hermione, for her part, had few friends, so she didn't even receive morning gifts, but she didn't feel lonely either because she knew someone would remember her birthday.
Tom gently scratched Crookshanks' chin and listened to the large ginger cat purr in satisfaction. Crookshanks hadn't been very calm lately, always trying to sneak out of Ravenclaw Tower. Today, Tom caught the big cat in the common room.
Crookshanks tried to be friendly, but it was in vain, that Yoder guy wouldn't let him be at all, so he had to postpone his plan.
Crookshanks has an innate ability to sense suspicious and unreliable people... or animals. This ability is inherited from Crookshanks' Kneazle ancestors. This cat-like magical creature can give birth to eight kittens in a litter and can crossbreed with ordinary cats to produce Kneazle hybrids. Some wizards live with Kneazles or hybrids and use their powers to stay safe. Mrs. Arabella Figg, the squib who lived next to Harry, had some mixed-breed Kneazles.
From the moment he saw the mouse called Scabbers, Crookshanks took an interest in him. His instincts told him that he should keep a close eye on the mouse and preferably kill it. He has made a great effort to achieve this, but the mouse has the two-legged, red-haired beast to protect him, and his owner, Hermione Granger, doesn't help him, but rather restrains him, which is a real problem for the cat!
Thinking about this tires Crookshanks out. He chose to lie on his back and let the dark-haired one named Tom stroke his fur, which was quite comfortable.
But after a while, the dark-haired one's hand stopped, and Crookshanks raised his head and gave him a dissatisfied look.
Tom: ...
Crookshanks' gaze, he understood it completely! This is not having a cat, this is raising a prodigy! Luckily, as long as Scabbers didn't show up, he wouldn't be very active.
With a flattering smile, Tom tried to tie a small piece of paper around Crookshanks' neck.
"Please, pass this note to Hermione on my behalf," Tom said as he slipped a small piece of herring into Crookshanks' mouth.
With the herring as a reward, Crookshanks felt motivated and, with a lazy glance at Tom, he got up, gave him a swat on the rear, and slowly entered Hermione's bedroom. Although he was just a cat, he knew exactly what Tom was thinking: a two-legged, black-haired male beast looking to mate with his owner!
He snorted disdainfully. He despised Tom's behavior: in the world of cats, mating doesn't take that long. Approach her, smell her, greet her, and get it on! What's the point of going through all that?
But when it came to his owner's reproduction, Crookshanks was in favor of letting the two-legged dark-haired one mate with Hermione, only that one was more pleasant! If the ginger one had mated...
Just thinking about it made Crookshanks furious.
Tom had no idea about Crookshanks' emotional drama, he just dressed up and sat calmly in the common room, waiting for Hermione to come downstairs.
At that moment, Hermione was in bed.
Yes, even a hardworking girl like her, after two weeks of intense classes, was feeling a little overwhelmed. This morning, she wanted to enjoy a good sleep. After all, it was her birthday, so she could always take a day off.
Suddenly, however, she felt a big ball of fur in her arms. She knew Crookshanks had returned. But today Crookshanks was a little restless and kept pawing at her chest until she opened her eyes.
When Hermione opened her eyes, she saw the note on Crookshanks' back and clicked her tongue lightly, feigning complaint: "You little troublemaker, you don't let anyone rest...".
But despite her complaint, her body was honest. Hermione quickly got up, freshened up, changed clothes, and left the bedroom. By that time, her roommates were still asleep.
As she left, as if remembering something, she grabbed a small bottle next to the door and sprayed her body twice.
Tom waited for a while in the common room and then saw a grumpy Hermione. Today, she had her hair loose, as usual, the same wizarding robe, a pair of gray stockings, and a pair of small brown leather shoes. Underneath, she was completely concealed, not even her neck was visible.
"Good morning, Mr. Yodel, how can I assist you?" Hermione asked with a serious tone.
"Miss Granger, may I ask if I have the pleasure of inviting you to have breakfast with me by the lake?" Tom replied in all seriousness.
"Of course," Hermione said gracefully, extending her hand, but at the last moment, she couldn't hold it in, and they both burst into laughter.
"Come on, let's go to the Black Lake." And so, hand in hand, they left the castle, strolled during the dawn, and finally arrived at the shores of the Black Lake.
The distance from the castle to the Black Lake was not much, but it wasn't close either, and Hermione was so tired by the time they reached the lake that she yawned, but quickly covered her mouth. But Tom noticed it anyway.
"Tired? Sit down." Tom found a flat rock, cleaned it, and sat down with Hermione. Then he pulled out a bunch of fancy things from his bag, which was under an undetectable expansion charm.
Chapter 289: Chapter 289: Breakfast at the Black Lake (Edited)
As Hermione looked on in astonishment, Tom pulled out a small box filled with ingredients and a small frying pan.
Tom took out two slices of fresh bread from the ingredient box, each slice nearly an inch thick. Next, he pulled out a pre-made egg mixture with a few tablespoons of evaporated milk - evaporated milk is actually "thick" milk, the product of distilling milk to remove some of the water, about half the amount of water in fresh milk.
"I read the recipe in the newspaper. This dessert is called Lost Milk, and it's for stress relief." Tom was aware of Hermione's condition, and unlike him, Hermione had always maintained the highest level, which meant she wasn't lazy in class.
How could it be? They were enrolled in eleven classes this semester, and the pressure was so great that they needed to use a Time-Turner to attend their classes on time. If you take all the classes seriously, you can't afford it. Hermione is in a state of "overwhelm," while Tom is able to cope because he is lazy. There was no persuasion, but Tom could help Hermione by doing something to alleviate her stress.
For example, a calorie-filled dessert.
Tom placed the bread slices on an iron tray and poured a well-beaten egg batter over them, letting the slices soak in the egg mixture. At the same time, he propped up a small frying pan on the ground and looked at Hermione. Hermione understood and used her magic to create a flickering blue fire. The flame licked the bottom of the pan, gradually heating it. Tom added a pat of butter, watching as it melted, transforming from a soft yellow lump into a liquid with a million tiny bubbles. When the creamy aroma wafted up, he added the bread slices, which had already absorbed a good amount of the egg mixture.
"For dishes with evaporated milk, you should use the lowest heat, otherwise it's easy to burn." Hearing his words, Hermione lowered the heat and guiltily watched the bread slices in the pan; luckily, they weren't burnt.
There was a distinct aroma in the air as the butter and egg mixture came into contact and made a sizzling sound. After about thirty seconds, Tom pointed his wand and the bread slices flipped, revealing their golden sides.
"Wow!" Hermione's eyes turned into stars. "It looks incredible!"
Tom did the same, frying the other side of the bread slice until it turned golden, frying all sides so that it maintained its shape. Once the slices were done, he served them on a small plate, drizzled with sweetened condensed milk. As soon as the first slice was ready, Tom grabbed the second one from the pan and saw that Hermione had already levitated the slice onto the plate and was nibbling on it.
"This dish isn't finished yet..." Tom said helplessly.
"Eh?" Hermione panicked like a kitten caught stealing food, thinking it was done, but the bread slices were only halfway through.
What a mess, Hermione was a bit annoyed.
"It's alright, I'll make another slice," Tom said, seeing Hermione's expression. How could he say something serious? He would simply make another slice with the leftover ingredients. As he did so, Hermione stood by his side, watching him make the dessert and carefully eating the fried bread slices.
Tom stacked the two condensed milk-coated slices on top of each other and, with a small spoon, pressed a hole into the fluffy toast, filling it with the "milk" that Tom had boiled earlier. The drizzling milk, the essence of the dish, wasn't just any milk but a sweet paste made from a mixture of butter, evaporated milk, and condensed milk, slow-cooked. Tom warmed the "milk" slightly, poured it into a small well, creating a pool of milk, and topped it with a thick layer of cocoa powder, and the calorie bomb was complete.
He handed the dessert, which looked like a chocolate cake but was actually a burst sandwich, to Hermione on a plate and said, "Happy birthday, love Hermione" (This phrase is in French).
Hermione burst into laughter. "Where did you learn French? And that pronunciation is really weird!"
Although Tom's pronunciation of the word "Hermione" was indeed the French pronunciation. Since the "H" is not pronounced in French, many names can sound strange. The name Harry Potter, for example, is pronounced by the French as Alain Bauhet.
Hermione grabbed a teaspoon and gently pressed it against the dripping milk sandwich. The milk flowed out of the pool, and Hermione took a bite. It was so sweet that her eyes turned into crescent moons. After savoring the dessert, she said to Tom, "Merci, mon chéri" (Thank you, darling) and then said with a serious face, "This reminds me, you have never pronounced my name correctly."
Tom: ?!?
What? Isn't it Hermione?
"Her-mee-nee?" he said tentatively.
"No!" Hermione glared at him, looking a bit inflated. "Listen, it's Her-my-oh-nee."
Tom: ...
He was starting to understand everything.
The name Hermione, derived from the ancient Greek god Hermes, was also mentioned in Shakespeare's play "The Winter's Tale." But none of that mattered; Hermione just sounded drunk, talking a good game but actually trying to get Tom to say the words...
"Her-my-oh-nee," he pronounced her name as Hermione had.
"That's right," Hermione nodded in satisfaction. "You've known me for so long, and you can't even pronounce my name properly. You must be punished!" She gave Tom a stern look. "Boy, you need to be punished..."
Her eyes drifted off. "Then I'll punish you by cleaning my mouth!" With that, she leaned in close to Tom. Tom could smell the shampoo scent in her hair, see the long lashes of her eyes and her lips so soft and the rosy color of a peach, and smell the cocoa powder at the corner of her lips.
After a while, Tom kissed Hermione and wiped the milk from the corners of her mouth, and together they ate the remaining dripping milk.
After breakfast, Hermione rubbed her slightly swollen belly, blushed a little, and fell back into Tom's arms. She felt as if Tom had slipped a small box into her hands.
"Open it."
Hermione obediently opened the box and saw a silver bell and a gold chain lying peacefully inside.
"Is this...?" At first glance, Hermione thought it was a necklace, but she soon realized that something was amiss, and when she saw where the chain was supposed to be attached, a blush spread across her face.
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