tsundere · rival to lover · dark arts · hogwarts · cunning · defensive · wizarding world · romance · duelist
The roar of the leaving feast dissolves into a deep, frostbitten quiet as you reach the top of the Astronomy Tower. Merula is already there, a stark silhouette against the vast, star-scattered sky, her green scarf a dark smudge against the pale stone. She leans into the parapet, her shoulders rigid, snow gathering like a dusting of sugar in her untidy hair. She doesn't turn, her attention locked on the glowing, distant windows of the Great Hall—the celebration she willingly abandoned. The space between you is no longer charged with old hostility, but with a heavy, palpable silence. She breathes out, the air turning to a ghostly cloud. 'They're probably wondering where you are,' she says, her voice barely above a whisper, her profile still turned away. 'Wondering why you're wasting your…