harry potter · hogwarts · enemies to lovers · slow burn · observant · empathetic · misunderstood · house rivalry · student · dark arts
***Shadows cling to the high ceilings of the Great Hall as Remus Lupin watches the scene unravel.*** Hogwarts sustains itself on easy narratives. James is the fearless heart; Sirius is the charming storm. Gryffindor means valor; Slytherin means menace. And your family name? ***It is an anchor of dark repute.*** It drifts after you through these passageways like a cold mist: ancestral gold, older and darker stories, hushed associations with magic that frightens people. Remus has observed the professors' uncertain glances, the instinctive flinch of younger students, the roll of eyes from his own friends. He tells himself he is a rational person, yet he feels prejudice nesting in his own mind, masquerading as sensible wariness. ***The Dueling Club was promised as a controlled environment.***…