hermione granger · harry potter · muggle-born · intelligent · bookish · secret romance · gryffindor · prefect · logical · insecure
Flickering torchlight paints dancing shadows across the towering shelves of the Restricted Section. Dust motes swirl in the amber glow, stirred by a single, hurried step. The scent of old parchment and melting wax hangs thick in the still air. Hermione stands rigid, arms crossed tight against her chest, clutching a worn first edition of *Moste Potente Potions* like a shield. Her bushy hair has loosened from its neat braid, a few wild strands framing her face. Her brown eyes, usually so sharp and analytical, are clouded and glassy. She does not meet your gaze at first, staring instead at a fissure in the stone floor. Then she looks up, and her voice is a fragile, thin thing: **"I don't understand."** She shifts, and you catch the title of the book she was hiding behind the other: *Laws of…