Hermione was completely unaware that a pair of pale grey eyes were watching her as she tilted her head back to catch the snowflakes.
Draco certainly saw her.
The girl against the light by the corridor looked like a dream created by Merlin in a trance.
The fine hairs in her hair were clearly visible in the snow. She was like a kitten that had wandered into the snow, full of curiosity from head to toe. A few snowflakes clung to her fringe as they fluttered in the wind, unaware of their presence, and her eyes shone brightly as she gazed at the sky.
Her arms, which stretched out into the corridor, were smooth and slender, without any marks.
The way she tried to gently touch the snowflakes was both fragile and adorable.
That fragility that makes you reluctant to touch it, that endearing quality that makes your heart ache. Draco stared at her, a faint sadness welling up inside him.
This is another side of Hermione Granger that I rarely get to see.
An innocent and joyful appearance. A precious appearance.
Stop thinking about it. Do not bother her. As long as she can keep smiling, nothing else matters.
Let her read her books peacefully and happily.
She loves books the most, does she not?
The snow intensified, falling softly and covering his lonely face, choking his stagnant heart.
Suddenly jolted awake from yesterday's memories, Draco withdrew his gaze and turned his attention back to the noisy and bustling courtyard.
The students were laughing loudly in the courtyard. The Weasley twins had charmed several large snowballs, making them chase Quirrell around and eventually hit him on the back of his head, causing the students watching to burst into laughter.
Finally, Quirrell, embarrassed and furious, covered his head with his turban and announced that he would deduct points from the Weasley twins and sentence them to detention.
"Wait, why do you not make the most of your talents?" Draco quickly caught up with the brothers ahead and struck up a conversation with them.
The Weasley twins, clearly unconcerned about their impending detention, were engrossed in discussing Lee Jordan's prized possession, a giant tarantula. Hearing Draco's voice, they stopped talking and glanced at him simultaneously.
"Let me see, is this not the Malfoy kid?" Weasley on the left said with interest.
Weasley on the right grinned at him. "Good job! We heard everything Ron told us..."
"You were a great help in the last match!"
The two brothers, arms around each other's shoulders, asked, "So, what does make the most of your talents mean?"
Draco, savoring the snowball that had just hit Quirrell on the back of the head, gave a short, mocking laugh.
"What I mean is, you have real talent for pranks. Why do you not come up with some funny little gadgets? Or even open a joke shop?"
He still remembered the large quantity of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder he had anonymously ordered from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes in his past life.
Quite clever products, and they were indeed quite useful, although they were not used for anything good.
"Like Canary Creams that can turn people into canaries when they eat them, fake wands, sweets that make your nose bleed..." Draco racked his brains to recall some of the products the Weasley brothers had developed in his previous life, gesturing to explain to them, feeling rather foolish.
Such behavior was clearly not something a noble Malfoy should do.
But the effect was remarkable. Upon hearing this, the Weasley twins' nonchalant expressions vanished, and they quickly exchanged a glance.
They were clearly very interested in this.
"We do not know what you mean by that," one of the Weasleys said, feigning indifference.
"A Slytherin's advice is often ill intentioned." Another Weasley looked at Draco probingly, as though attempting to discern the true thoughts beneath his cold exterior.
"And, if we may be so bold, although you have some connection with our brother, the Malfoys and the Weasleys have never been on the same side," the Weasley twins said in unison.
"I understand. However, I personally admire your sense of humor. So this will be my personal investment and has nothing to do with my father." Draco handed them a piece of parchment with some preliminary plans and cooperation agreements written on it.
"You can take a look first, and contact me if you are interested." Draco smiled at them with feigned nonchalance, then turned and left.
"Has he gone mad?" Behind him, the brothers' faint voices of surprise could still be heard.
"He truly has gone mad..." came the sound of turning the parchment, spoken with a hint of awe.
Draco had always planned to spend his Galleons on various investments, rather than letting them rot in Gringotts. While the Malfoy family had substantial wealth, they could not simply squander their inherited fortune.
A qualified Malfoy must know how to make gold work for him, so as to ensure the family's continued prosperity.
In the magical world, he could not make any big moves lest his parents discover his schemes. Especially in areas where his family had already ventured, he could not afford to touch them. Otherwise, a single action would have far reaching consequences, and Lucius would soon discover what his son was attempting.
Draco did not want his parents to know these things. Sometimes, it was not best to say everything, even to one's parents.
Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes would be a highly profitable and discreet investment in the wizarding world. He had already seen the Weasley brothers succeed once, and, most importantly, no one would believe that a Malfoy would invest in the Weasleys.
He also planned to invest a portion of Galleons in several properties in the UK within the Muggle world. In the future, he would gradually venture into the currency and stock trading markets.
The Dark Lord had always looked down on Muggles, which meant that investments in the Muggle world were safer than investments in the wizarding world.
Regarding the properties, he planned to use part of them to collect rent and convert the rest into safe houses. Like having multiple hideouts, these undisclosed houses could provide temporary shelter should danger arise.
There was nothing surprising about it. Respect for pure bloods did not mean blindness to the benefits of the Muggle world. For the Malfoy family, investing in the Muggle world was nothing new.
Needless to say, over the centuries, the Malfoy family had acquired countless Muggle lands in Wiltshire, nor need it be mentioned their close ties with Muggle royalty, and the fact that the family had no shortage of paintings, gold, antique furniture, and all kinds of jewelry. Just to name a few of their assets in the Muggle world would take days, even those within England alone.
As for the wizarding world's rumor that the Malfoy family had successfully invested in Muggle currency and financial markets for centuries, Draco knew perfectly well that the rumors were true, despite the Malfoy family heads' vehement denials after the enactment of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy.
How could wealth channels and networks accumulated over nearly seven centuries, from the eleventh century to 1692 when the International Statute of Secrecy was formally implemented, be lost overnight? They were simply transferred from the open to the covert.
To this day, the Malfoy family still held substantial Muggle currency. When the principal was large enough, simply allowing wealth to accumulate interest became a perfectly reasonable and secure income. Moreover, it was only natural that the Malfoy family's wealth was tied to Muggle currency in some way, allowing it to grow along with inflation in the Muggle world.
Anchoring, what a pleasing concept. Draco thought that if those impoverished pure blood wizard families had seized any opportunity during those three hundred years of isolation to observe the soaring prices in the Muggle world, they would not have declined so drastically.
Draco only learned of these circumstances after his father went to prison and he attempted to help the Malfoy family by handling some of their household affairs.
The fact that a large portion of the immense wealth supporting a pure blood wizarding family was derived from the Muggle world was perhaps the most ironic thing of all.
However, for any Malfoy, the clinking of gold coins in his pocket was the most beautiful melody. It was a family tradition. Making gold was not shameful.
Therefore, when Draco of this life considered investing in the Muggle world, he felt no psychological burden and did not feel any shame about a pure blood wizard lowering his status.
That said, Draco was not certain if the Weasley twins would have the foresight to agree to his investment plan.
What was certain was that the brothers were causing trouble for Quirrell because they felt Potter had been treated unfairly.