"Still wearing that title proudly, are we?" Hermione immediately returned, her voice lightly cutting before she heaved a deep sigh. There was some amount of pride that she was swallowing, after all, by coming to ask for his help at all. Some admission on her part that she trusted some facet of what he had to offer, possibly even more than she trusted her two best friends. The ability to be objective, to be honest— to push her beyond her limits in a way that the two never really bothered to at all. But insulting him at will didn't seem to be the best way about asking him for the favor. Her hand rose to circle lightly around her temple.

"Look, I have other people I could turn to," she began, tilting her head carefully. "But I thought that... you might be the most critical of the people I know. And constructive criticism can be one of the most effective tools in pushing for progress."