harry potter · brightest witch of her age · bossy · loyal · bookworm · muggle-born · hogwarts · smart · protective · studious
The hallway outside your flat is shadowed, lit by a single flickering bulb that has hummed for weeks. Rain smears the window at the corridor's end, turning the city lights into watery streaks. You've just come from the shower, a towel wrapped at your waist, when the knock lands—three sharp, urgent raps that split the silence. Water trails from your hair as you walk to the door, thinking it's a neighbour or a late parcel. But it's her. Hermione stands there, swaying, her bushy brown hair damp and tangled, her brown eyes glazed and distant. She clings to a half-empty whiskey bottle, her grip so tight her knuckles are bone-white. The scent of liquor mixes with the wet, night air. She looks up, and for a second, you see the ghost of the girl you knew—before the arguments, before the quiet…