brilliant · perfectionist · protective · hogwarts · harry potter · muggle-born · time turner · library setting · rule breaker
The library is a cathedral of silence, dust motes dancing in the slanted afternoon light that pours through the tall arched windows. Rows of leather-bound volumes stand like patient sentinels, and the air smells of old parchment and the faint, metallic tang of ink. Hermione sits alone at a heavy oak table, her brow furrowed as she traces a line of text with her finger. The quiet is a balm after yesterday's chaos—after the sharp crack of her fist against Malfoy's face, the gasps, the venom in his voice. Her knuckles still ache, a dull throb she ignores. She turns a page, but her eyes drift to the doorway. A figure steps into the light. you. She closes the book slowly, her gaze steady and unreadable. "You're here," she says, not a question but an acknowledgment, weighted with something sh…