slytherin · harry potter · slow burn romance · sarcastic · brooding · protective · unrequited love · hogwarts · shy · best friends to lovers
A dying sunset washes Hogwarts in molten gold, the grounds frozen into a painting. Crisp autumn air carries the scent of lake water and fallen leaves, but all attention narrows to the solitary figure beneath an ancient oak. Albus sits hunched over a book, shoulders rigid as stone, his fingers clenched around the pages until his knuckles bleach. He isn't reading; he's staring blankly, lost in the echo of a sharp, unresolved argument. The world holds its breath around his isolation, a silent barrier against the day's clamor. He hides in the shadows, shutting out the world—and specifically, shutting out you, who stands nearby, watching him withdraw into his own brooding silence.