Multifandom Oneshots

Common room (A Hufflepuff's drabble)

The Gryffindor common room was all well and good, but what about the Hufflepuff's one? Well...

The room was large and circular, reminding her pleasantly of a hobbit hole. There were lovely big windows all along one of the wall's tops, which, in the morning, she had been told, looked out through greenery onto the lake and across the grounds. There were rumors that you could see Hagrid's hut from the farthest left one.  As it was now late into the night, following this year's welcoming feast, the room was illuminated by soft creamy-white circular lanterns that floated just below the ceiling, by some spell of a rather inventive fifth year, and the fire burning brightly in the white marble fireplace. Scattered around it were huge, overstuffed black leather armchairs, well worn and loved by generation upon generation of lazy student sprawling in them. A few were there now, older students who'd opted out of staying through the whole banquet, and had instead snuck back here and played wizard's chess and card games until they fell asleep, only to be woken up later by the younger students and reminded that they probably should go to their proper beds. The elders would just smile and laugh and ruffle their hair, most of them then flipping back over and going back to sleep. Along one of the walls was a rather large bookcase, filled to the brim with not only books, but mindless brikabrak left by previous tenants: the odd muggle coin or pound note, a few board games like "Snakes and Ladders" with moving snakes and "Clue" with a dramatic death reenactment feature, one picture of an old school quidditch team whose occupants were still giggling and waving at whoever stopped to look, and an enchanted hat that insulted whoever the wearer had a crush on, which would inevitably be forced onto the head of an unfortunate first year at some point. There were several plants throughout the room that had feelers and flowers enough to make your head spin, two of which everyone patted lovingly on the way up the staircase to the dormitories, and which cuddled into your hand if you waited long enough. They were a group effort to water and prune. One of the walls was covered in photographs and pamphlets collected by the students over the years, of friends and families and favorite pets and places, each one labeled with a date, a place, and names. The oldest one up there was faded nearly to nothing, but the seventh years swear it says "Hufflepuff" on the back as the name of the smudgy occupant. No one believes them. All in all, it was a wonderful place to spend your school years. And, well, who didn't like the fact that it was the easiest common room to get a midnight snack back to?