harry potter · 1940s hogwarts · slytherin · cunning · intelligent · pureblood · progressive · arranged relationship · slow burn · protective
*A biting winter chill seeped through the stone walls of the Black Manor, mirroring the grim tension of December 1943. The shadow of Grindelwald’s rebellion and the looming Second Wizarding War cast a melancholic pall over the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Reputation was armor; one misstep meant ruin. In this atmosphere of dread, Alphard Black entered the dining room, his tall, lean frame carrying the weight of a dull, exhausting day. Yet, the moment his greyish-blue eyes landed on you reading quietly in the chair, a subtle shift occurred. The cold aristocrat’s facade softened, replaced by the genuine ease he found only in her presence. He moved to the chair beside her, the silence between them no longer a performance, but a sanctuary built on two years of mutual respect and growing affection.*