"Bloody hell."

Harry Potter looked up from his Transfiguration essay, glad to have a distraction. "What is it?"

Ron was looking, aghast, at a notice pinned on the Gryffindor notice board. "Fifth years have Astrology with the Slytherins," he groaned. "Just what we need. Another class with Malfoy."

Hermione Granger turned a page in her book calmly. "I'm sure it won't be as bad as you think. Professor Sinastra won't favor the Slytherins, like Snape does."

Ron flopped into one of the chairs in the common room. "She probably will, with our luck."

Harry returned to his essay, sighing. "When's our next Astronomy class?"

"Tomorrow," Hermione, who had memorized the schedule, said promptly. Ron groaned again. "Bloody hell."

The Slytherin fifth years were walking up the stairs to the Astronomy Tower. Draco Malfoy was lagging behind, listening to that bitch Pansy Parkison prattle on about how rich she was, but his mind was somewhere else. Specifically, on the upcoming class. He wasn't worried about how hard it was, because Sinastra's mother was quite close to his father, so good grades were easy to come by. What was bothering him was a certain skinny, black-haired idiot Gryffindor. Having another class with Potter? That annoyed him. Why should he have to look at that stupid face any more than he already did?

"Draco, you're listening, right? You look troubled," Parkinson simpered, brushing his shoulder with her hand.

"Yeah, I'm listening," he said distractedly. Just then, they reached the top of the stairs and the door opened. The Gryffindors were already there, setting up their telescopes and talking to one another. Draco looked around and his eyes landed on Harry. "Hey, Potter!" he called across the tower. "Are you as rubbish at Astronomy as you are at everything else? Because if you are, this class should be a breeze!"

He turned away before the other boy could reply. Pansy Parkinson let out a bark of laughter, as did the other Slytherins. "That was funny, Draco!" she giggled in a high voice. "Shut up, Parkinson," he sniffed angrily. He could feel Harry's hot stare on the back of his neck and quickly went to work setting up his telescope. He was saved by Professor Sinastra sweeping onto the tower, clapping her hands to draw attention. "Sorry I'm late, class! All right, so welcome to the first Astronomy class with these two houses. To business. I'll be pairing Slytherins with Gryffindors to be star-gazing partners for this year. I have a list here."

Protests erupted from both sides of the room. Draco could hear Parkison whine, "I don't want to be with a Gryffindor!" Similar protests came from the Gryffindors. He could see Potter and Weasley (the stupid red-haired bastard...) exchanging looks. Professor Sinastra clapped her hands again and began reading off the list.

"Theodore Nott and Dean Thomas... Daphne Greengrass and Lavender Brown... Graham Hurst and Philip Pye... Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter... Silvia Reedham and Arabella Mason..."

"WHAT?" Draco and Harry said loudly, at the exact same time. The two boys glared at each other, and Professor Sinastra glared at both of them over her paper. "You two are star-gazing partners. Is there a problem?"

"Professor, I can't work with him," Harry said angrily. Draco crossed his arms. "Nor can I with him."

Professor Sinastra narrowed her eyes. "Well, you'll have to work it out. Pairings are final, so unless one of you is going to kill the other, I'm afraid you must get past your differences. Now, get to work. Class, you have forty-five minutes to correctly chart the positions of Venus and Jupiter, and tell me if their alignment is infinite or ultimate."

Draco stalked over to a telescope and grabbed a star chart. "Let's get this over with, Potter," he grumbled.

Harry looked at him, his green eyes wide and realizing. "Yes, Draco. Let's get this over with," he said, then pulled the Slytherin toward him. They shared a passionate kiss, and-

"Mr. Malfoy, you have to actually look through the telescope if you want to finish this assignment," Professor Sinastra snapped. Draco angrily shook himself out of his fantasy and looked over at his partner. Harry was bending over to look at the star chart, looking as though he was suppressing a smile. Scowling and cursing himself, Draco looked through the telescope and tried to locate Venus.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were traipsing down the stairs on their way to lunch. "That was bloody awful," Ron complained loudly. "I'm paired with Goyle. He must be the stupidest bloke on this side of the Earth..." He dropped his voice and slacked his muscles in an impression of Goyle. "Is the moon a planet?"

Harry laughed half-heartedly. He was still thinking about his partnership with Malfoy.

Hermione smiled. "Well, the girl I'm paired with is quite nice, for a Slytherin. Not the most talkative, but that's perfectly fine."

"I can't believe your luck, that you were paired with Malfoy," Ron said disbelievingly to Harry. "Out of all the Slytherins..."

"Yes, that's unfortunate, but maybe this'll be a chance for thw two of you to reconcile," Hermione suggested hopefully, shrugging her book bag higher on her shoulder.

"Yeah, right," Ron scoffed. "That'd never happen."

"You don't know that," she said indignantly.

"He calls you a Mudblood! How can you think he'll change..."

Harry ignored their bickering. He was still thinking about Malfoy. How could he possibly survive the rest of the year with him as a partner?