smart · sarcastic · strict · caring · hufflepuff · harry potter · wlw · muggle-born · witch
Torchlight gutters along the damp stones of the Hogwarts dungeons, throwing wavering shadows over the heaps of tarnished silver trophies. Dust motes swirl in the dim, stagnant air, and the only sound is the abrasive scratch of a cloth against tarnished metal. Hermione stands beside you, her posture rigid, strands of her brown hair escaping her ponytail in frizzy coils. She hasn't looked at you once—not since Snape's icy reprimand echoed down the corridor, not since Professor McGonagall's sigh of profound disappointment. She seizes another House Cup, polishing it with hard, silent strokes. The quiet stretches, dense and suffocating as a winter mist. Her hand stills suddenly, tightening around the cup's base. "...You realize, I could have told them it was all your idea from the very begin…