A/N:
QLFC, S7R1
Pride of Portree BEATER 1 – prompt: Write about making a mountain out of a molehill.
Additional Prompts: (color) cream, (object) telescope, (word) expectations
Word Count: 1068
Get Over It
There were a million things that Hermione Granger wanted to experience in a lifetime. She wanted to see the Seven Wonders of the World, she wanted people to protest for S.P.E.W. as well as dedicate their effort as much as she has, and she wanted to find a constellation that was just hers for the taking.
The cream-colored, medium sized box that sat perfectly perched in front of her brought her a third of the way there. Behind this silky coating of the box lay the most perfect gift she felt her parents could have ever sent her. She had asked for one for years, and now she finally had it. This telescope would help her find the most secret star to place her name. She untied the crimson bow carefully in fear that she might disturb the peaceful slumber of her new, shiny, metallic friend. She wanted it to be perfect in every way. She had the highest expectations of this telescope and knew that it would gift her the perfect star.
She lifted the cream lid of the box slowly and smiled at the neatly folded tissue paper. Her mother always did know how to wrap a present. Folding back the thin layers revealed, aside from her wand, her most prized possession. The sleek metal was cold in her hands and caused a chill of excitement to rise from within her. Goosebumps formed on her forearms, and she giggled in anticipation for her night beneath the stars.
Between the unfolding and setting up, she sighed in contentment as her gaze lingered on the telescope. She was so close that she could taste success. She had no idea how much she had wanted this until she was moments from it. The tension increased when she unfolded her map to the stars. She had been working on this map for months, and now she could finally do her proper research. She inched her way closer to the eyepiece to make sure she had it set up properly. The moment the chilly metal touched the outer sector of her eyes she heard someone behind her clear their throat.
Irritated, she turned to see the most infuriating platinum blonde hair attached to an even more infuriating wizard.
"Is that the best you could find? I've got twenty more at home that are ten times better than that rubbish," he smirked, leaning against the archway.
"Naturally," she replied, rolling her eyes in the process.
She redirected her attention back to the telescope before being interrupted once more.
"What do you think you'll find up there?" Draco asked as he looked up at the darkening sky that was quickly filling up with thousands of stars, "a couple of stars or extra credit for Astronomy?"
"Yes. Perhaps while I'm looking for my star I could find you a clue," she hissed, adjusting the scope and leaning in for her first gander at the sparkling sky.
"Your wit is getting faster," he noted.
She ignored the urge to roll her eyes again and looked down at her handwritten map instead. Then she glanced back through the lens to adjust it once more. She thought she had seen something next to a documented constellation but sighed in defeat when his voice boomed through her ears once more.
"Is that a handwritten map?" he asked, disgust forming in his voice.
"Yes," she answered shortly.
"The printed ones are so much easier to read. It just shows how someone from a pureblood family thinks compared to one that isn't,"
"Not all of us can have things handed to us, Malfoy. Some of us actually have to work for what we want,"
"I work for what I want!" he defended.
"Right, I forgot how much effort goes into holding a silver spoon," she glared at him.
The uncomfortable silence settled between them as they stared at each other. Rage and irritation blended with the silence but that always made it worse. It gave it too much time to build up before an eruption of poor judgement and unnecessary insults echoed through the courtyard. Hermione rolled her eyes, shook her head, and brought her attention back to her waiting telescope. She went to lean forward to view the stars through the lens, but an unwelcome hand covered the eyepiece.
"What do you want?" she shouted as she stood up to meet him.
Draco Malfoy always knew how to make her mad, and he didn't have to try. Her cheeks turned crimson with anger, and the rest of her matched the cream gift box that littered her surroundings.
"I want you to take it back!" he argued.
"Since when do you care what I say?" she argued back.
"I am not spoiled!"
"I beg to differ!" She shouted, turning away sharply to pick up her telescope.
She wanted to relocate to a different spot that wasn't even close to where he was. All she wanted to do was look at the stars and search for her one. He had managed to ruin the one time she had to herself. Then again, he always ruined something for her. She almost tripped over the gift box but managed to pull out her wand to clean it up.
"You are an impossible know-it-all. You think you know everything about everyone. You don't know me at all,"
"I am not a know-it-all! You are a bratty child who always has to get your way. You can call your father all you want, but it won't change who you are!"
She wasn't sure where that came from. They stood there for a good minute before anything was said and before any breath revived their reality.
"This is your opinion of me?" he asked.
He was still livid. You could practically see the metaphorical smoke coming from his ears and, even though she felt bad for saying it, it didn't make what she said any less accurate.
"We've gotten in bigger arguments before. We've called each other worse things. You're going to let some ridiculous insinuation of personality get your scales flustered? I daresay you're losing your touch. How disappointing. You really are an impossible braggart," she huffed, hurrying off with her telescope in hand.
He always had to make something out of nothing. That was the most frustrating part of it all. Maybe their next disagreement will be a bit more eventful.