Have You Decided If You Want to Be My Partner?

"Then you'll have to see for yourself!"

As he spoke, Ivan took Hermione's right hand, placed his wand in hers, pointed it at himself, and whispered.

"Legilimency ~ (Telekinesis)"

With Ivan's disembodied voice, Hermione felt her consciousness sinking rapidly, as if she had fallen into an abyss.

Dimly, she saw herself practicing magic with Ivan in her first year, and the secret passageway that the three-headed dog was guarding… as well as the memories of their third year travels through time and space.

Reliving every moment of their acquaintance from a different perspective, reliving the joys and sorrows of it, Hermione suddenly understood why Ivan was so neglectful of writing letters, seeing through his troubles, and understanding what he was trying to say, an experience unique to the two of them and irreplaceable.

Waking from a multitude of memories, Hermione opened her eyes and looked at the blond boy in front of her.

"So who else am I going to invite?" Ivan asked with a smile.

Hermione, unable to contain her joy, stepped forward and hugged Ivan tightly, and her confusion was instantly swept away, replaced by a hazy, cloying feeling.

Ivan also folded his arms around the girl in his embrace, enjoying the freshness and energy of her youth, and the sweet smell of her hair.

They held each other so tightly that they could hear each other's racing heart. It was fast, but it was also steady, and you couldn't help but feel intoxicated by it.

"Ah, I forgot the most important thing! There's something I haven't told you…" After hugging for a long time, Ivan finally relaxed a little and said solemnly.

Confused, Hermione looked up groggily, her brown eyes questioning.

"That's…" Yvonne deliberately drew out the word, waiting for the little witch to get anxious before speaking softly. "I like you, Hermione!"

Hermione's face went scarlet, the colour spreading from her cheeks to her ears, and it was some time before she was able to stammer, "Me too!"

"So, have you decided if you want to be my date?" Ivan asked immediately.

"Of course!" Hermione whispered, not wanting to look Ivan in the eye, and burying herself in his arms.

Yvonne didn't really hear him, but she was understanding enough not to ask Hermione to repeat herself. She even felt guilty.

He could feel Hermione's love for him, but the memories he showed her were carefully altered.

After all, he had too many secrets to share and had to deal with them with falsehoods.

Meanwhile, George, who was playing the accordion behind Ivan's back, felt as if his hands were going to break. He thought Ivan would be able to get the job done in ten minutes at most, but they had been holding each other for almost half an hour, and he showed no sign of letting go.

On the other hand, Fred wasn't idle either. He kept waving his wand and sprinkling brilliant spots of light into the air. Other than that, he had to adjust the light and shade of the candles to liven up the atmosphere.

Both secretly regretted their actions.

Isn't it too cheap for them to charge a Galleon? They should have charged by the hour!

… .

Early on Christmas Day, Harry went to the Great Hall for breakfast and was surprised to find that his two best friends seemed to have come to their senses after a night's worth of thinking, and were no longer hiding like they had been in hide-and-seek.

No, more intimate than ever!

Harry was acutely aware of Ivan and Hermione's never-ending hold on each other's hands, even when they were eating, and if he didn't know better, he would think that their hands were glued together by some powerful magical glue.

Uncomfortable to be alone, Harry wondered if he was disturbing them by sitting there.

"Willpower is also a powerful force, and if you are determined not to show me a memory, the magic will automatically form a force of resistance and drive me out…" Ivan sat on the corner of the Gryffindor table, flipping through his notes and explaining the techniques of Occlumency to Hermione.

Hermione listened attentively to Ivan's account of the events of the previous day. She was no longer averse to Ivan's attempts to access her memory.

After all, she had checked Ivan's yesterday, so she did not mind sharing her most private memories with someone she liked.

Today, she also practices Occlumency in order to better assist Ivan in his magical studies.

Hermione did not try to hide anything about her meeting with Luna the previous evening.

When she heard Hermione mention Luna giving her the notebook, Ivan was surprised, but also grateful.

Having established his relationship with Hermione, he found it inappropriate to practice Legilimency with Luna, as it was too intimate.

If he had to explain himself to Luna, Ivan would not know how.

"By the way, Ivan, do you know what Luna likes?" Hermione asked suddenly.

"Why do you ask?" Yvonne looked at Hermione in surprise.

"It's Christmas, remember?" Hermione glanced at him, then went on. "I was going to give Luna some presents, to thank her!"

"She was quite fond of the odd things, like an excellent storybook, little props with magical effects, well… with dirigible plums, woven wristbands, rare insect specimens, that sort of thing," said Ivan, after a moment's thought.

It was one of the things he used to give Luna for the holidays.

From the replies, Luna seemed to like them all…

Hermione considered this for a moment, finding it difficult to decide, then looked at Ivan and asked again, "What are you going to give her this year?"

"I'm going to give her a protective ring!" Ivan hesitated. He didn't want to hide anything from Hermione, so he told her the truth. "Luna told me that she's going to the Forbidden Forest to look for Crumple-Horned Snorkacks this Christmas. I'm afraid she's in danger…"

As she spoke, Ivan watched Hermione carefully, afraid that she would mind.

However, Hermione was not concerned about the protective ring that Ivan was planning to give her, and was worried about Luna's safety, as the Forbidden Forest was not a safe place to be, otherwise Dumbledore would not have warned everyone to stay away from it.

Not to mention Hagrid's penchant for keeping "cute" magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest, which he almost stuffed Norbert into.