This was a trick he had learned from Dumbledore—it was quite handy.
Glenn picked up his cup and took a sip of water. "Hmm," he nodded, showing agreement with Draco's words.
"Ugh, boring," Draco rolled his eyes, plopping down on the sofa across from Glenn. He grabbed a cup and started drinking as well.
Neville cheerfully opened the large box on the table, revealing a beautifully decorated birthday cake.
"This is a birthday cake Draco and I prepared for you and Hermione," he said, placing plates on the table and handing out small forks. He pointed to the smaller boxes beside them. "And these are the gifts we got you. You can open them later. But where's Hermione? We thought you two would be together."
"She went to celebrate with her friends. She'll be here soon," Glenn replied calmly.
"Tsk, how could she leave you behind and go off on her own? Really, Hermione!" Draco teased, completely oblivious to the mischievous glint in Neville's eyes and the faint smirk playing on his lips.
Oh, that was definitely mockery.
"Sounds like you're quite dissatisfied with me, leaving Glenn behind and going off on my own. I really must apologize," came Hermione's cold voice, laced with a hint of displeasure. Draco broke into a cold sweat as he felt something round pressing against the back of his head.
Thankfully, it wasn't cold.
Good, it wasn't a gun.
It was probably Hermione's wand.
...
Good? Good my foot!
Wands are just as dangerous, okay?!
Accompanying the young girl's voice was an irritated meow.
Crookshanks, who hadn't appeared in a while, was cradled in her arms. The flat-faced cat was glaring at Draco with evident displeasure, seemingly standing up for its owner.
Wait, how could a cat's face so clearly convey displeasure?
"What's wrong? Do you have a problem?" Hermione smiled, but her laughter was ethereal—like the chilling sound of an indescribable entity echoing through a dark, frozen forest. It sent shivers down one's spine.
"Ah, ahaha! Of course not," Draco laughed awkwardly, raising his hands in surrender. "No problem at all. It's only natural for you to want to spend time with your friends first. I was just joking—sorry, I apologize, please spare me, I won't… I won't do it again!"
The little girl huffed, withdrawing the wand from the back of Draco's head. She cradled Crookshanks in her arms, bypassed the stiff young dragon, and greeted the grinning Neville before plopping down next to Glenn.
Glenn reached out and rubbed the cat's head. Its fur was still as smooth as ever.
"All done on your end?" Glenn handed Hermione her glass of lemon water. "I thought it'd take a bit longer."
The girl took a sip of the lemon water and rolled her eyes. "Parvati and Lavender practically shoved me out of the Gryffindor common room as soon as they heard I was coming to see you. They barely even wished me a happy birthday. Can you believe it?" Hermione patted Glenn's leg in mock frustration, complaining with a hint of grievance. "I didn't even get a bite of my own cake!"
"It's fine. It's just cake. Neville and I got one for you two here. Go ahead and eat," Draco said, shooting Neville a glance before pushing the cake toward Hermione. Neville, catching Draco's plea for help, sighed but stepped forward to start cutting the cake for everyone.
"You'll probably have another proper cake-cutting later tonight, right? So we won't make you light candles and blow them out now. Let's just have a simple celebration," Neville explained.
Finally, Hermione's face softened into a happy smile.
Draco, seeing that the girl seemed to have let go of her earlier grudge, breathed a sigh of relief. He exchanged a glance with Neville and chuckled.
"Glenn, Hermione, happy birthday!"
"Alright, thank you for the wishes~" Hermione replied with a smile, accepting the slice of birthday cake Neville handed her.
There was no denying it—having her good friends celebrate her birthday made her genuinely happy.
Glenn felt the same.
This was the first time someone other than his family had celebrated his birthday. Although he didn't usually care much about birthdays, for some reason, he felt quite cheerful today.
...
"Well, we'll be heading back now. But before that, once again—happy birthday!" Draco and Neville waved goodbye to Glenn and Hermione as they left the Room of Requirement.
The four of them had spent a pleasant time together, chatting endlessly about everything from casual topics to studies, from studies to amusing anecdotes. Although Draco often inadvertently became the target of everyone's irritation, it was all in good fun.
No scheming, no conflicts of interest. Watching Hermione sharpen her retorts against Draco's jabs while Neville played the peacemaker, Glenn felt an indescribable sense of comfort.
It was a feeling he couldn't quite put into words, but he liked it.
Some things were quietly changing without anyone noticing.
"Let's go, let's go already," Hermione grumbled, but the smile on her lips betrayed her true feelings.
"Are you happy, Hermione?" Glenn asked suddenly. The girl, already used to his abrupt questions, wasn't taken aback. She turned to him with a smile.
"Of course," she said. After a pause, she added, "Though it'd be even better if Draco could keep his mouth shut and Neville could be a bit braver."
This time, Glenn nodded in agreement.
That little dragon, once he got going, had a knack for launching verbal attacks on everyone in the room. Even Glenn, with his usually steady temperament, had almost lost his cool.
Draco's ability to provoke others was simply too strong—and it seemed to grow stronger as his own skills improved.
Perhaps it was time to prioritize teaching Draco defensive spells, like Protego or Impedimenta.
Initially, Glenn had planned for Draco to develop as an agile fighter, but for some reason, he suddenly felt the need to equip him with some self-defense skills.
Better to train his resilience sooner rather than later, Glenn thought silently.
Poor Draco had no idea what kind of hell awaited him in the future. Truly, congratulations were in order. Congratulations indeed.
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