Chapter 339: Chapter 339: Bathing and Changing Clothes (Edited)
The room wasn't very large, with a maximum of ten square meters, but it had three fireplaces and a blazing fire that made the room feel like an oven.
However, for someone like Hermione with mild to moderate hypothermia, there was no more suitable place than this room.
Hermione's symptoms were typical of hypothermia: because her clothes were wet, she had lost too much heat, and her body temperature had dangerously dropped. Hypothermia, in simple terms, was being frozen. Contrary to common knowledge, hypothermia was very easy to trigger. In fact, in a specific environment, an ambient temperature of around ten degrees could freeze a person.
Fortunately, Tom noticed in time and knew the method to treat hypothermia; otherwise, the consequences could have been severe.
Treatment for hypothermia involved three aspects: removing the patient from the cold environment, taking off cold and wet clothing, replacing it with dry and warm clothing, and warming the patient with lukewarm water above body temperature or by a fire.
Tom thought he had done the first two points well, although the second one he didn't complete thoroughly.
He placed Hermione on the bed, and she seemed a bit better. Her body had stopped trembling involuntarily, and the blue tint on her lips began to slowly fade.
She lay weakly on the bed, sinking a bit, her chest rising and falling gently with her breath. At that moment, Hermione lacked her usual aura of authority; she looked sick and weak. But precisely this appearance was what worried and made people want to protect her the most.
"I'm sorry," Tom said. He couldn't just leave Hermione like this; he still had many things to do. First, he removed the outer cloak that wrapped Hermione, revealing a black turtleneck sweater underneath.
"It's a garment that suits you very well," Tom thought, impressed by Hermione's good taste. But he leaned in closer to her, looking into her eyes and saying, "If you can move, I suggest you change yourself."
The tip of his nose was almost pressed against Hermione's.
"Let me lie here..." Hermione said on the bed, weakly, trying to avoid the situation.
"No, the clothes are wet. You'll catch a cold," Tom was a man of principles.
"Then do it yourself," Hermione turned her head and didn't look at him.
Tom shook his head, grabbed the hem of Hermione's sweater, and pulled it off in one swift motion, exposing a delicate black bra underneath. Then, while Hermione exclaimed in surprise, he placed his hand on her pants.
Hermione screamed and, with a surge of strength that came out of nowhere, pushed Tom away, jumped off the bed, and ran into the bathroom.
"Tom, you're a pervert!"
"Make sure to take a hot bath," Tom felt relieved.
After entering the bathroom, Hermione curled up next to the bathtub and turned on the hot water tap. Seeing the hot water gush out, Hermione sighed in relief. She stood up, removed her pants, and was left with only her underwear and socks.
Today, the lucky color for the girl was black.
She skillfully unbuttoned her black bra and then removed the matching underwear.
Hermione's hands gently caressed the silk stockings on her thighs: smooth, soft to the touch, and with the characteristic scent of a young woman's skin. Normally, they would be warm due to Hermione's body temperature, but today her skin was cold, and the stockings had lost their warmth.
The best clothes, the most precious things, for the most beautiful person.
Hermione slid her hands down the sides of her thighs, grabbed the heels of her stockings, and removed them completely, first from her right foot and then from the left. Holding the stockings close to her nose, Hermione sniffed them gently, fortunately, they had no odor, just the scent of rainwater. Hermione tossed the stockings on the floor and then removed her bracelet, anklet, and leg bracelet, placing them neatly by the bathtub. Then, she stepped barefoot into the bathtub.
"Ah~" the hot water made her emit a sigh of relief; she felt every pore of her body opening and expanding in the warm water. After a while, small droplets of sweat appeared on Hermione's face, and her whole body warmed up. The hot water in the bathtub restored some color to the young woman's creamy skin.
The hot water rejuvenated the girl.
Her finger slid over her collarbone, moved around her waist, down to the tips of her toes. Every inch of her skin was meticulously rubbed and caressed several times until the blood flowed freely, and her whole body felt relieved.
It was a long bath. It wasn't until she changed the hot water three times that Hermione finally reluctantly left the bathtub.
"The Room of Requirement is a good place. There are no such good conditions in the Ravenclaw dorm room, where one can take a proper bath without restrictions." Hermione truly loved this little magical room. It was the starting point of her adventures with Tom.
However, when Hermione rose from the mist, she realized an embarrassing fact: she had no clean clothes to change into, and she didn't want to touch the pile of wet and dirty clothes on the floor.
Fortunately, next to the bathtub, there was a small wardrobe. Hermione opened the wardrobe door and found a perfectly folded set of clothing in front of her.
Hermione stretched out the clothes and was surprised: should she really wear this outfit? But if she didn't put it on, it seemed like she had no other choice...
And if she thought about it carefully, this outfit didn't seem to have any problems. After all, there were only two people in this room, she and Tom. Plus, the cat ears looked furry and quite cute.
...
[Mission Accomplished, Mystery Reward Delivered]
Tom saw the message.
"Oh?" Tom raised his eyebrows; it was an unexpected surprise. He had forgotten about it until the system mentioned it. As for the mystery reward, he was looking forward to it.
While Hermione bathed in hot water, he remembered the Patronus he had summoned today. What happened today was truly special. Two Patronuses merging into one, becoming a more powerful Patronus. That was unprecedented! It wasn't like in Yu-Gi-Oh, where you could fuse two monsters. He didn't know if this was common or only worked with Hermione. It was yet to be confirmed.
But they might have to give the spell they used together a name since it had never been done in magical history.
What name should it have? Tom was undecided. He definitely couldn't call it the "Patronus Fusion Technique," that name wasn't good, and he didn't want to have any association with the word "fusion." But then it would be hard to find a suitable name since it was indeed the fusion of two Patronuses.
Suddenly, in a flash of understanding, Tom came up with a very fitting word.
"Symbiosis." That fit the situation perfectly! Tom gave his Patronus Charm with Hermione a new name.
As for why his Patronus took on the appearance of Hermione's Patronus, he finally understood the reason: his Patronus was probably a Boggart, capable of mimicking and transforming into the appearance of other people's Patronuses. And with no other Patronuses present, it maintained the misty form... it was a very unique Patronus, after all...
While he was lost in thought, the bathroom door opened, and a fragrant aroma wafted out. Then, the sound of heels softly tapping on the floor was heard.
Hermione emerged from the bathroom in the new clothing she had found.
"Does this outfit look good on me?" Hermione asked.
You look incredibly good! Tom responded with his own eyes.
Hermione wore a short black dress with balloon sleeves that gave her a touch of elegance. She swapped her women's shoes for plain black flat-soled boots, with no protruding or messy laces. The outfit was simple, allowing her fair and delicate skin to shine. Additionally, she had a pair of cat ears on her head, with black and fluffy fur that added a certain cuteness to Hermione.
Hermione looked like a black and white kitten with white front paws and black hind legs, slender but not fragile, flirtatious but not arrogant.
She took step by step toward the edge of the bed where Tom was, leaned over, and looked at him.
"It seems you've warmed up," Tom said, averting his gaze and shifting a bit to the side, making space for Hermione.
"Hmm," Hermione made a noise and rubbed her head against Tom's chest like a cat before leaping onto the bed and sinking into the soft blankets.
"To bed!" Hermione even attempted to jump a bit, creating a fragrant breeze.
"Hey! At least take off your shoes before getting on the bed!" Tom protested as he saw Hermione was actually wearing her shoes on the bed. He then watched Hermione get into her own bed, only poking her head out, with some rustling sounds. Her dress and boots were tossed aside.
Hermione wrapped herself tightly in the blanket, wriggled a bit and changed positions, lying on her side face to face with Tom. She looked at Tom's lips, her small mouth slightly open, gently biting her lower lip, her eyes seeming to be filled with an autumn pond.
At that moment, their faces were very close, almost touching, Tom could even feel Hermione's warm breath. He felt his heart racing, hot blood flowing.
"Your skin is really beautiful..." she said in a very soft voice, then actively kissed the corner of Tom's mouth.
"You're the prettiest girl at Hogwarts," Tom said, took a deep breath, and tried not to respond to Hermione. Instead, he extended a finger and pressed it against her forehead, pushing her away slightly. "Go to sleep quickly! You're already quite tired today."
He attempted to retract his hand from the bed, but Hermione grabbed it and tugged, but he didn't move. He looked at Hermione and realized that the girl seemed to be asleep, so he let Hermione hold his hand, and together, they intertwined their fingers and fell asleep face to face.
The candles in the room automatically extinguished, leaving only a faint glow from the charcoal in the fireplace. The room gradually darkened into the night.
Although the Room of Requirement was quiet, it didn't mean that other places were equally tranquil. Dumbledore's office was quite lively.
"Ridiculous!" Professor McGonagall slammed her fist on the desk, causing a small silver cup on the desk's surface to wobble.
"Dementors entered Hogwarts so brazenly. If I didn't still have my eyes, I would have thought they had transported me to the Three Broomsticks public restroom with a Portkey," Professor McGonagall said with an extremely angry look. "Dementors... Hogwarts... Albus-"
Dumbledore raised a hand to indicate she should calm down for a moment. "I know, Cornelius will give us an answer."
Sparks of anger flickered behind his half-moon spectacles.
"How is Harry?" he suddenly asked.
"He's still alive," Snape replied from a corner.
"He's recovering in the infirmary, his teammates are with him," Professor McGonagall added. "But his broom lost control, it seems to have headed for the Forbidden Forest and collided with the Whomping Willow. Pomona went to retrieve it... Maybe Filius can fix it..."
"Poor boy," Dumbledore shook his head. "He will need some time to come to terms with all of this."
"Potter's business is irrelevant, the Patronus of the young couple is much more interesting than the young Potter's sad story." Snape didn't want to hear anything more about Harry once he knew his life was intact, now he was more concerned about the two magical Patronuses he had just seen.
This statement and his attitude irritated Professor McGonagall, but she also had to admit that Yodel and Granger's performance on the Quidditch field was truly worth discussing.
"Usually, Patronuses don't transform into the shape of magical creatures," Snape said calmly. "But just now, it's clear that Mr. Yodel and Miss Granger had conjured identical three-headed dog Patronuses, and their Patronuses fused, which was unusual."
Dumbledore didn't respond immediately, lost in thought.
...
The next morning, several items of clothing were thrown onto Hermione, waking her up.
"They're already clean, change quickly, let's have breakfast." Tom found a mirror and combed his hair as he spoke to Hermione, who was still in bed.
"Hey! These are my underwear!"
"There's a washing machine in the bathroom!"
"How dare you wash socks and underwear together!?" Hermione showed a surprised expression.
Tom: ???
What's the difference? Don't you just put the clothes in the washer, buzz, and take them out? Why do we have to wash underwear and outerwear separately?
Hermione was a little annoyed, but luckily the clothes were dark. She consoled herself with this.
"You're not going to wear them, are you?" Tom asked, looking at the "wild" outfit.
"Why not?"
"Of course not! The only person who can see this outfit is me!"
"The condiment has become arrogant..." Hermione muttered as she pushed Tom into the bathroom and closed the door, not letting him out until she changed clothes.
"Come on, let's eat!"
A door suddenly appeared in the hallway. After opening, two figures stealthily emerged from behind the door and headed for the dining hall.
The people who came out were Tom and Hermione.
Chapter 340: Chapter 340: The Accusation (Edited)
"Sigh, that outfit was really beautiful, it's just a pity it doesn't have a tail." After leaving the Room of Requirement, Tom remembered the stunning "wildcat" attire Hermione was wearing.
"What are you thinking...?" Hermione gently tapped Tom, her outfit didn't have a cat's tail, so she would need an additional accessory to get a cat's tail. She casually discovered that these tail accessories should be classified as "accessories," and Hermione was sure she would never wear one.
Tom had no idea about accessories. But mentioning the tail reminded him of Harry's cousin.
"Hermione, did you know that Hagrid made a pig's tail out of Dudley's rear end, Harry's cousin, when he picked him up?". He shared this little gossip with Hermione.
"I would never let you give me a tail!" Hermione exploded like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
Tom: Eh?
"And where's Crookshanks?". Tom, confused, quickly changed the subject. He remembered Hermione took him to the Great Hall before the match and gave him a "lucky cat's paw," but then he didn't see Hermione bringing Crookshanks to watch the game.
Seeing that Tom didn't mention the tail, Hermione felt relieved. Even if it was Tom, he couldn't do something so exaggerated; it would be too embarrassing!
Once the topic changed, she could seriously answer Tom's question.
"Take Crookshanks to the match? No, I can't do that! It's raining so much outside! And even if it weren't raining, we shouldn't bring a cat to such a crowded and noisy place. Cats are prone to stress. Although magical world cats might be a bit hardier."
Tom's question made Hermione realize that she apparently didn't have much knowledge about raising cats. So she gave Tom a brief explanation about stress in cats. But remembering Crookshanks' usual behavior, Hermione also had some doubts about whether magical world cats would be the same as Muggle pets.
Seeing Crookshanks running wildly and hunting everywhere, even in the common room, and escaping when she wasn't paying attention, wouldn't he be a stress-prone animal in an unfamiliar environment?
"The non-magical world has raised cats somewhat distortedly. These animals are excellent predators, or rather, killers, but it turns out they've made them as fragile as glass bottles." Tom couldn't help but comment.
"Yes, that's true, but..." Hermione wanted to delve deeper into this topic, but suddenly stopped for some reason.
"Oh my God..." Hermione covered her mouth and exclaimed in surprise.
Unlike wizards, the non-magical culture had a significant influence on Hermione. Until now, when faced with something shocking, she was still accustomed to calling on God instead of shouting "Merlin" like wizards.
Tom followed Hermione's gaze and saw Crookshanks crouched at the end of the hallway, with a white pigeon under his paws.
Hermione rushed over in a panic – she remembered that Tom had a white messenger pigeon!
She didn't dare to imagine how she would face Tom if her cat ate Tom's pigeon. And if Tom wanted to punish Crookshanks, what should she do?
As she approached, Hermione could clearly see that under Crookshanks' claws was a dead pigeon, with its chest bloody and feathers scattered on the floor.
Hermione extended her trembling hand and lifted Crookshanks.
"Tom, I'm sorry, I..." She wanted to give an explanation for Crookshanks but couldn't utter a single word.
"Wait," Tom knelt down, carefully examined the dead pigeon, and found out that it wasn't his pigeon at all.
"It's just a misunderstanding." Tom gently stroked Hermione's hair to reassure her.
"Really? You're not trying to console me?" Hermione asked cautiously while holding Crookshanks, like a child who made a mistake.
"Of course not." Tom reassured Hermione and Crookshanks, who was completely bewildered. "Our Crookshanks is very clever; he wouldn't attack birds that have owners, right?"
Crookshanks meowed twice, as if agreeing with Tom.
"Alright, let's go back to the common room and put this little creature back where it belongs." Tom said, controlling the poor pigeon's corpse with a levitating spell and throwing it out of the window, leaving the "crime scene" clean and tidy.
"The common room, yes, let's lock up this little beast first." Hermione said fearfully.
At that moment, just as they were passing in front of Gryffindor's common room entrance, the door slammed open.
With a grunt from Sir Cadogan, a figure darted out of the door.
It was Ron, holding a sheet and coming into view of Tom and Hermione.
"Perfect!" Seeing the two, Ron stopped for a moment, also surprised. He didn't expect to encounter Tom and Hermione so early at the common room entrance.
How had they gotten here? Then, Ron's gaze fell on Crookshanks in Hermione's arms, with bloodstains on its paws and around its mouth.
Ron understood immediately. His face turned red all of a sudden.
"Look!" He roared, holding a corner of the sheet in front of Hermione. "Look!"
He pressed the sheet's corner under Hermione's nose.
"Ron, what...?" Hermione didn't understand what was happening and instinctively took two steps back, showing her confusion.
"Scabbers! My Scabbers!" Ron tried to step forward again, but Tom stopped him. Taking advantage of Hermione's retreat, he positioned himself between the two, keeping them apart.
He saw something red on Ron's sheets, something that looked like blood.
"It's blood! Scabbers is dead!" Ron shouted. "He's dead! Do you know who did it?"
"No, I don't know." Hermione's voice trembled, the intelligent woman had a vague idea of the answer.
"It was your damn pet!" Ron tried to advance, but Tom pushed him back. Then, Neville, who came out of the common room, also embraced Ron, preventing him from rushing and causing a bigger conflict.
"He still has blood on his paws and mouth! Why were Yodel and Granger, Ravenclaw students, in front of the Gryffindor common room so early? Because they were looking for that beast you keep, the one that entered the dormitory and ate my Scabbers! When they found him, I guess he hadn't finished eating Scabbers yet, right?" Ron struggled and shouted at Tom and Hermione.
Faced with Ron's accusations, Hermione's eyes turned red, and a few tears rolled down her cheeks. She was extremely frightened.
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