Hi everyone!
This chapter is all Dramione and I had so much fun writing it! I hope you enjoy it just as much as I do! Not going to ramble on up here, but I just wanted to say again how much I appreciate all your lovely reviews, and the continuous favourites and follows. This story isn't even two weeks old yet! It's crazy, I didn't expect my idea to be so well liked
I hope you enjoy the next chapter of the story. Again, any apologises for spelling/grammar errors, I am a fast typer.
Much love xo
Chapter fourteen
Hermione squinted her eyes as she stared up at the stars. They all looked exactly the same- she couldn't even figure out where one constellation began, and the others ended. For the second time, she cursed herself for not paying attention in class, but she was mostly annoyed at herself for not having the slightest bit of interest in the stars.
The height of irony did not go unnoticed.
She could see Draco in her peripheral vision, ogling up at the night sky as if it were the most beautiful thing he had ever witnessed. It was unnerving, but slightly refreshing, to see the once sneering boy looking completely in awe. She never would have guessed in her wildest dreams that Draco Malfoy could even act like that, much less over something as simple as the night sky.
"Have you always been fascinated with stars?" Hermione asked, unable to hide her curiosity. She was suddenly overcome with a desire to get to know the mysterious boy standing inches away from her. Surely there was more to him than the horrible façade he worn for the majority of his life.
"Yeah, pretty much." He replied, his voice breathy and quiet. Hermione was completely caught off guard by how her body reacted to his voice. The hairs on her arms stood on edge, and she felt a tingle somewhere deep inside her stomach. She had never heard him speak so softly like that.
It was just shock, she reasoned with herself.
"I have to say, I have never been interested in Astronomy." She admitted, turning her attention back to the vast sky above them. She still had no idea what it was that she was meant to be looking at.
"Are you trying to suggest, that little miss know it all, in fact does not know it all?"
She didn't need to look at him to know he was smirking. She could feel the smirk radiating off him.
"Don't tell anyone." She found herself saying, surprised that she was standing there joking with her long time enemy. Well, perhaps her previous long time enemy now.
She was still surprised at the whole situation. If someone had told her last year that she would be standing alone with Draco Malfoy, both of them squinting like idiots into the night sky, looking for a constellation she had seen under a spell, and he was actually being nice to her, she would have scoffed.
But here she was, standing under the night sky with Draco Malfoy, looking for a constellation.
Nothing else could shock her now. Surely.
"I won't tell anyone your secret, Granger." Draco whispered, a small grin appearing across his face.
Hermione couldn't help but watch him, astounded by the transformation that a simple smile could do to. His whole face seemed to completely relax; she noticed that little lines appeared next to his grey eyes, and the ghost of dimples near his cheeks. She glanced further down, her eyes lingering for a few seconds on his lips, before she snapped out of it.
"How kind of you." She breathed, horrified when she noticed that her voice sounded raspy.
Hermione cleared her throat loudly, feeling suddenly anxious to be standing so close to him. She couldn't possibly move away from him subtly, not after the huge argument from earlier, after she had made such a big deal about him not coming near her. Her brain was in complete disarray. Never had she felt so completely frazzled; it was if she had zero control over any of her emotions. She felt utterly out of control.
And it was Draco Malfoy, standing so close on her left side, that if she wanted to reach out her hand and touch him-
Nope.
Stop.
Now.
She decided right then and there that her emotions were all jumbled up after the shock of the spell, and mostly, down to the boy next to her proving that he was in fact a human being capable of emotions. Hermione wasn't used to Draco not being a prat, and that's all it was.
"So, how much do you know about Astronomy then?" Draco asked, turning his head slightly towards her. Hermione shrugged her shoulders, not completely trusting her own voice. "Nothing about constellations?"
"No. They all look the same to me if I'm being honest." She admitted, hating the fact that she even had to.
"It took me a while to decipher them too, Granger. Don't beat yourself up about it." His tone was not condescending, but Hermione bristled anyway, prepared for a snidey comment that didn't arrive.
"I'm just annoyed that I haven't figured it out yet."
"Most of us still haven't figured out ours either." Draco answered, rolling his eyes slightly at her.
"You didn't tell me what you saw?" Hermione questioned, turning to face him. His eyes met hers, but she didn't miss the blank mask fall over his face once more.
"Not really much to tell, Granger." He answered curly. Clearly, he was not ready to tell her yet, so she didn't push.
"It's fine. You don't have to tell me. I was just curious."
"Why?"
"Why what?" He had turned his whole body to face her now, leaning back on one leg as he stared intently at her.
"Why are you interested in what I saw?"
"I was just making conversation, Malfoy." Hermione muttered, trying desperately not to glare at him, "You are going to try and help me, so I thought I could maybe repay the favour."
He seemed to relent, his shoulders dropping slightly. She raised her eyebrow at him but kept quiet. "I'll keep that in mind then."
"Okay. So, are you going to explain some constellations to me before I freeze to death?" The temperature had dropped quickly, and Hermione was struggling to stop her teeth from chattering. She pulled the robes around her tighter, wishing she had grabbed her jacket before storming outside.
Before she was aware of what was happening, Draco was leaning over her, his hands carefully placing his jacket over her shoulders. Hermione couldn't help but notice he smelt like cinnamon and berries. It reminded her warmly of Christmas morning. His hand accidently ran across the patch of exposed skin near her neck, and Hermione froze. Her heart began to rattle instantly, and she could feel the blood rushing up to her cheeks. Draco quickly retreated from her, fixing his robe as he cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Thanks, but you didn't have to do that-" She stuttered out, unable to look him in the face. She decided that staring at her shoes was the better option.
"Please, Granger. I was brought up to be a gentleman. If my mother ever found out I had let a girl freeze while I stood nice and toasty, she would punch me harder than you ever could." He grinned down at her. Despite the weird atmosphere between them, Hermione laughed, daring to glance up at him once more. He was smiling at her cheekily, and she couldn't help but smile back at him.
"I hit you pretty good." She smirked as he laughed and rolled his eyes at her.
"That you did. Not more than I deserved though. I was expecting a hex, not a broken nose." He touched his nose as if in memory and shuddered.
"I thought about a hex."
"I don't doubt that." He laughed. "It would have been no more than I deserved."
Hermione felt the shift in his tone. He must have been thinking back to how he had spoke to her, and she watched sadly, as the grin fell from his face. She wanted to put what had happened behind her and start a fresh with him, but she could only do that if he were to be willing also, which was fairly confident he was.
Pullin together all the Gryffindor bravery she could muster, she turned to face him. Draco was back to staring up at the sky. Hermione pulled his jacket around her tighter, the distinctive smell of cinnamon overpowering her sense of smell, marvelling at the soft material against her skin.
"I want to put everything that happened before in the past," He turned to look at her, his expression once again blank, but his eyes betrayed him. Hermione could see his guilt glaring back, hitting her like a sledgehammer. "We could even try being friends?"
"Friends?"
"Stranger things have happened." Hermione mused, her insides reacting instantly when he finally cracked a small grin.
"I wouldn't mind trying to be friends." Draco spoke softly, looking over his shoulder until he met her eyes.
"Right, well friends help each other out- so please help me figure out this stupid constellation before I go mad!" She all but shouted, whipping her full attention back to the stars. She was sure they were making fun of her now.
Hermione heard Draco laugh before he moved in close. He stood directly behind Hermione, so near, that she could feel his warm breath at her ear, as he bent down to her height. He was so close to her that if she had wanted to lean against him, her back would be flush with his chest. She swallowed quickly aware that her mouth had suddenly became dry.
Draco grabbed her hand gently, and pointe it up into the sky towards a cluster of stars in the distance. Hermione could feel her wrist tingling where he held her. She distinctly heard him take a deep breath behind her, and wondered vaguely if he maybe felt the same tingle.
Hermione quickly abolished the thought. She was just not used to him being so close, and that was all.
"Do you see the small cluster of stars there?" His warm breath danced around her air, and she nodded stiffly. "That's Cassiopeia. Did it look like that?"
"No, definitely not that one." She breathed, looking up into the stars with a great deal more interest. "I recognise the name though."
"The Cassiopeia is one of the most famous." He answered, letting of her wrist and stepping back slightly from her. Hermione felt the air swoosh out her lungs, letting her arm fall back to her side.
She looked over her shoulder slightly, but Draco was too busy staring into the night sky to notice.
"Why is it so famous?"
"The constellation is named after Queen Cassiopeia. She was the Queen of Aethiopia and the wife of King Cepheus of Aethiopia. She was rumoured to be the most beautiful woman to ever grace the earth," Draco smirked slightly at her, but Hermione was too enthralled by his story to react.
"But according to legends, the Queen was also very vain and boastful."
"Sounds like someone I used to know." Hermione muttered quietly. Draco narrowed his eyes slightly at her but continued with his story.
"Cassiopeia had let her vanity get the better of her. She began to boost that she was more beautiful than The Nereids. They had heard of what Cassiopeia had been saying, and they quickly became enraged. They demanded that Poseidon punish her for such lies. Cepheus retched out for help, and they were told to sacrifice their daughter to a sea monster."
Hermione hadn't realised she had let out a gasp, until Draco chuckled.
"With great reluctance, they did so. The story gets a little confusing and complicated after that, but legend has it that Poseidon himself placed Cassiopeia and Cepheus in the sky. The myth goes that Cassiopeia was condemned into the celestial pole forever, and spends half of the year upside down as punishment for her vanity. The constellation is known for being a simple of love. Cepheus willingly allowed himself to be placed next to his wife among the stars. Their love is now never ending."
Hermione had forgotten to breath. She was staring at the blonde Slytherin in front of her like he had just smacked her in the face. His whole face at lit up as he recanted the old love story, and she had been completely pulled in by him. Draco finally met her eyes, biting his lip softly as he stared back at her.
"Yo! I have been looking everywhere for you! I got some interesting news about Theo."
Blaise's booming voice from the top of the hill snapped Hermione out her trance, as she quickly averted her eyes from Draco, a flush over warmth taking over her body.
What the hell?