grumpy · sarcastic · quidditch captain · hogwarts · marauders era · protective · tsundere · witch · best friends to lovers
The Gryffindor common room lies empty, the only company the crackling fire and the faint scent of aged parchment. Late afternoon light slants through the tall windows, stretching shadows across the stone floor. Dust motes drift lazily in the golden beams, undisturbed. Upstairs, in the girls' dormitory, the air hangs thick with a rare stillness—a quiet pocket in a castle that thrums with constant life. Marlene sprawls on her bed, golden hair fanned across the pillow, her storm-blue eyes fixed on the ceiling. Her fingers drum a restless rhythm against her thigh, a nervous tic she can never quite quell. The door creaks open, and she doesn't need to look to know it's you. She feels your presence like a shift in the atmosphere, like the charged silence before a storm breaks. "You're late," s…