I wrote this for a science project, thus all the references to space. Just to clear anything up XP Also, I know I haven't written for a while, but I hope to start up again. Reviewing would be nice, but I'm too lazy to pester for it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hermione, Ginny, or the cosmos. That's the King's job. Na naaa, na na na na na na na, Katamari Damacy…
Clunk. The sound echoed throughout the near empty library as Ginny threw down her quill. Then, exasperatingly, she said, "I just don't get it!"
Ginny's companion, Hermione, glanced up from her feverish writing. "What don't you get?"
"This homework assignment. Professor Sinistra wants us to do an essay on our solar system – very specific, that one," Ginny ended sarcastically. Hermione pushed aside her books and parchment, scooting closer.
"Okay," she started, "everything in the Universe is made of matter and energy. Matter is made up of atoms, and the density depends on how packed together the atoms are –"
Ginny interrupted with an, "I'm not stupid. I know all that, but I need stuff on our solar system."
"It never hurts to review." Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment, then continued. "Do you know how our solar system came into being?"
"No. I was sleeping in class. Why they make us learn so late at night I'll probably never know! Lucky it was dark enough so Sinistra couldn't see me," Ginny smirked.
Hermione huffed indignantly. "They make you learn so late because they want you to get a first hand experience with observing the night sky and placing the space objects correctly on charts! You need to pay more attention…I can't always help people. Now, how do think the solar system was made?"
"Um, God pushed a button?"
Hermione slapped her forehead. Ginny heard a mumble that sounded suspiciously like 'Why do I bother'.
Looking up, the bushy haired girl took a deep breath to calm herself. Then she tried again. "Have you ever heard of the Big Bang theory?"
"Yeah. Doesn't it state that the Universe expanded from a huge explosion?" asked Ginny.
"Yes!" Hermione looked relieved. "That was about 15 billion years ago. Now, our solar system is thought to have been created about 5 billion years ago from a cloud of gas, ice, and dust, a nebula with a dense nucleus. It began to collapse in on itself and the matter in the center condensed, creating lots of heat. It burned the hydrogen atoms making a nuclear-fusion reaction. The other dust and gas matter formed the planets and other debris (which orbit the sun) and the nuclear-fusion reaction resulted in the sun."
Ginny stared. "Uh, okay, one moment…" She grabbed her quill (which hadn't moved from where she'd thrown it) and began writing furiously. As she wrote she wondered aloud, "The sun is a star, right?"
Hermione looked pleased. "Right. It's a main sequence star. Do you know how the sun is fueled?"
Ginny paused her writing and said, "Psh, no."
"Well," Hermione started, "I'm not going to just tell you everything, so go find a book on our solar system and look it up."
Grumbling, Ginny pushed out her chair and stalked off toward the shelves full of books. Hermione grabbed her homework and continued writing. Ten minutes later she jumped as a book was plopped onto the table. Ginny followed it, sliding into her seat. She opened the book and read:
The star our nine planets revolve around,
more commonly known as the sun, is fueled
by a process called fusion. When the many
hydrogen atoms it contains are put under high
temperatures and pressure, they fuse into
helium atoms. Energy is then released and shows
in the form of light and heat on our Earth,
energies we need to live.
Ginny looked at Hermione and said, "I suppose I need to write all this down too?"
"All of it…" Ginny grinned. "…in your own words." Scowl.
When she finished writing this bit of information, she flipped through the book a bit more. "What about this?" The redhead showed Hermione a page in the book. "It says Newton's three laws are 1) An object at rest stays at rest unless acted upon by an outside force, 2) Force is equal to mass times acceleration, and 3) For every action there is an equal but opposite reaction. The first one refers to gravity, right?"
Hermione looked to be in Heaven. "Right!"
Ginny continued writing her essay. After a few minutes of silence… "Hermione, will you at least tell me about how many solar systems are in our galaxy?" The question was asked right out of nowhere and was spoken with such sincerity that Hermione couldn't help but smile and answer.
"Scientists aren't really sure, but they estimate many billions of them in the Milky Way. That kind of goes with the fact that they estimate 200 billion stars in our galaxy. As I'm sure you know, stars are made of gases that are held together by their own gravity. When seen from Earth, they might be in a group called a constellation. They take the shape of an animal, mythical figure or object. Then of course there are planets, which are actually larger than comets and are seen by the reflected light of a star. Comets are solid bits of debris with very large comas, or clouds, and a tail that shines brightly when near the sun."
Ginny smiled maliciously and said, "I knew my irresistible charm would make you slip!" As Ginny dove into her parchment yet again, Hermione proceeded to repeatedly bang her head against the surprisingly hard table.
Time passed by quickly as the two girls finished up their work. In no time at all Madam Pince was shooing them out of her library. As they packed up, Ginny asked, "What exactly are black holes? I've always wondered where they lead to or what happens if you get sucked into one."
"Black holes are the final stage in the life-cycle of some stars," Hermione answered. "The star collapses on itself and forms a mass so full of gravity, not even light can escape its clutches. Nobody knows for sure what happens if you get sucked in."
"Oh. I get it all now!"
The two slung their bags over their shoulders and left the library. As they made their way to the Gryffindor common room, Ginny said, without pausing in her step,
"Hermione?"
"Yes Ginny?"
"…You read too much."
BOOM