HP: Light as a feather
For tenar10r The one where Professor Snape finally tells Hermione she did something right in front of the class and/or tells Draco what a prat he is in front of the class.
HP, 170-ish words
She balanced the drop of venom on the dragon’s scale and held them steady, tracking without watching as Snape worked his way around the room. Minor explosions or whistling shrieks and in one case, probably Neville, limpid silence punctuated by the slither of Snape’s robes marked his path behind and around her, but she held the scale patiently. She waited until his robes sucked the light away from her peripheral vision and dropped the laden scale into the mix, stepping back as the potion chirped twice, then shimmered and turned blue.
She glanced up. He was as dour as ever, the corners of his mouth in a disapproving line, his eyebrows furrowed as he glared down the length of his nose at her. He pulled a feather, the soft grey mottling identifying it as that from a mourning dove, from his sleeve with a flourish, then trailed it through the silver cauldron, then touched it to his lips.
“Not entirely unacceptable, Granger,” he intoned and she pressed her heels together to keep from dancing.
HP, 170-ish words
She balanced the drop of venom on the dragon’s scale and held them steady, tracking without watching as Snape worked his way around the room. Minor explosions or whistling shrieks and in one case, probably Neville, limpid silence punctuated by the slither of Snape’s robes marked his path behind and around her, but she held the scale patiently. She waited until his robes sucked the light away from her peripheral vision and dropped the laden scale into the mix, stepping back as the potion chirped twice, then shimmered and turned blue.
She glanced up. He was as dour as ever, the corners of his mouth in a disapproving line, his eyebrows furrowed as he glared down the length of his nose at her. He pulled a feather, the soft grey mottling identifying it as that from a mourning dove, from his sleeve with a flourish, then trailed it through the silver cauldron, then touched it to his lips.
“Not entirely unacceptable, Granger,” he intoned and she pressed her heels together to keep from dancing.