Dean stepped out into the open air of the Astronomy classroom, taking a deep breath and looking around. He froze in his tracks when he saw Hermione Granger sitting against one of the walls, scribbling on a bit of parchment. She looked up when she heard his footsteps.

"Hey, Hermione," he called out as he started walking again. He hadn't thought anyone would be here for another half hour, at least.

"Hi, Dean," she said. "You're here...early."

"Oh, yeah, I, uh, guess so," he replied, trying to sound casual. "Just wanted to get a head start on my charts."

Hermione blinked. "I didn't realize you were so interested in this class," she said, straightening. "I came here to get a jump on my charts for this week as well." She beamed at him.

"Cool," Dean said, smiling back. Silence reigned for a full minute before he turned towards his favorite telescoping spot. He could feel her eyes on his back, though, and he blurted, "It's my favorite class!" before he could stop himself.

"I never knew!" Hermione exclaimed. Drat, now he had peaked her interest.

"Yeah, definitely," he said, setting out his equipment. He glanced at Hermione and sighed in relief when he saw that she had gone back to her note-taking. He took his time setting up his telescope, star chart, textbook, and compass. He wanted everything to be in its proper place before he got started.

They worked quietly for the next twenty minutes as darkness continued to fall. Slowly, other students began arriving at the Astronomy Tower and setting up their places. One minute before class was due to start, Dean's best friend Seamus rushed in and haphazardly began to pull out quills, telescope parts, and an assortment of Weasley products.

Dean greeted him before returning his eye to his telescope. Seamus leaned over and whistled as he looked at Dean's chart.

"Blimey, Dean, how'd you get all that done already?" Seamus asked loudly. A few of the other students looked over at the disruption.

"Be quiet, Seamus!" Dean whispered. "You know I always get here early-"

"Don't bleedin' understand it, I don't." Seamus shook his head and turned his attention back to his telescope, which was hopelessly bent, the lens scratched. There was an unexplainable scorch mark on one leg of the tripod stand.

Dean saw Hermione listening to their conversation while trying not to appear too obvious. "You know it's my favorite subject, Seamus," Dean said just loud enough for her to hear. "And you know I get here early because I like to make sure I get my same spot every week."

Seamus just shook his head in wonder and Hermione went back to her work. Dean let out a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding and made the last mark to his chart. Adjusting his telescope ever so slightly, he checked his watch. Good – they still had nearly forty minutes of class time left.

Grinning, Dean looked into the eyepiece. He really did love Astronomy class. It didn't hurt that the girls' dormitories in Ravenclaw Tower were in a perfect position for a little "stargazing", if one had the right telescope.


A/N: Just a short one-shot for the "Favourite Subject" challenge on HPFC. I've never written Dean before, and I hope he doesn't come off as a total pervert - just a regular ol' teenage boy. :) I'm not JK Rowling and unfortunately no one is paying me for writing this ridiculous piece of fiction. This is also completely un-beta'd, so if you see something off, please let me know!