A/N: This is less of a drabble as it is a scene of a fanfic I begun writing recently. Before you ask, I haven't reached that point in the story yet (though I already have 12k words in the bank). But, about a week and a half ago, I suddenly knew exactly how I wanted this scene to happen and, instead of forgetting it, I wrote it on notepad and saved it. And, I decided to share it today to see how people took it. It's a bit rough around the edges since I've skipped forward a lot on where I'm currently working on to write this scene - and I did it while keeping details at a minimum since it wasn't important - but I hope you still like it. ;)

For those who want a short description of the story: While Harry and Ginny discuss their future a few days after the Battle of Hogwarts, a few words from Ginny lead Harry to realize he doesn't want to become an Auror and fight for the rest of his life. But, he has no idea what else to do, and how to deal with everyone's expectations. When Ginny ask him what he dreamed of doing before he discovered about magic, Harry answer he wanted to be an astronaut and explore space. So, Ginny tell him to do just that, that with magic, anything is possible. And Harry get very excited. He goes on to recruit George to work with him on a magical rocket to send satellites and people to space and, later, Percy (who no longer work at the Ministry as it left a bad taste in his mouth following Fudge and Voldemort's reigns) to work on the administrative side of things. A few months into Ginny and Hermione's last year at Hogwarts, Harry and George are ready to launch their first satellite: Orbiter-1.


Hermione and Ginny had managed to sneak out of the castle to go to the Three Broomsticks where Harry told them they could see the third launch attempt of Orbiter-1 live.

When they entered, they found that the bar was jam-packed. Clearly, the articles in the Quibbler and the Prophet made the rounds and people wanted to see a launch for themselves. On one wall of the establishment was a very big projector which projected the reflected light of the enchanted mirror, allowing everyone to watch like a muggle would watch television.

"Hermione! Ginny! Over here!" came the voice of Ron. They turned to see him sit with Bill and Fleur. At their table were five bottles of butterbear, two of them still sealed shut for them.

Hermione greeted her boyfriend with a kiss while Ginny sat down next to her big brother. "So, it's a big day today." she said.

"It is. It's their third attempt at putting a satellite in orbit, no?" Fleur asked.

"Yep." Hermione said. "They already did two launches but the rocket failed both time.

"Yeah." Bill winced. "I was there for the second launch since they asked for my expertise in runes to help find out the exact causes of the first launch's failure. It wasn't great to see the second rocket explode on the launchpad."

"Well, hopefully, Harry and George will have it figured out this time." Ron said.

"Yeah, hopefully." Ginny said, turning to look at the projection. By chance, it also happened that it was the moment where an image appeared. "It's him!" she cried loudly, pointing the attention of everyone in the pub toward the video feed.

"Good evening, everyone!" came Harry's voice, who was standing in the middle of the projection like a reporter on a news real. "It is currently seven-o-clock on the fifth of November 1998. Whether from the Leaky Cauldron, Three Broomsticks or Hogwarts, if you are watching this right now, it means you are interested to watch the launch of the first wizard-made satellite into orbit! Hopefully, this time, it will work." he chuckled.

"Now, the launch is scheduled to take place in fifteen minutes. In the meantime, we will talk about our satellite. Orbiter-1, as we call it, is a satellite built by three amazing individuals: Professor Minerva McGonagall, Professor Filius Flitwick and, my very good friend Hermione Granger." he said. Hermione blushed as people around the pub clapped for her. "The mission of Orbiter-1 is to investigate the presence of magic in outer-space. For millenias, wizardkind wondered whether magic was a force of the universe or an energy only available on Earth. Until today, the answer to that question always evaded us. But, no more! Today, we will launch Orbiter-1 and, at once, we will get answers on that ultimate question." There was a pause before Harry said with a tone of amusement "I really hope magic does not exist just on Earth or exploring space is going to be very, very annoying in the future." At his words, many chuckled.

Then George came in the picture. "This is George Weasley," Harry introduced "Who will now talk to you about the Sirius I launch vehicle, the rocket which will sent Orbiter-1 to space. George, take it over." he told his friend before moving out of the shot.

George took out a small model of the rocket visible behind him and showed it to the camera. "This is the Sirius I. It was developed and built by Harry and I with the goal of sending satellites into Earth's orbit. It's shape is inspired by the infamous V-2 rocket, which was a weapon used by the German muggle army during Grindewald's war. The reason we used the shape is because it is easy to reproduce and help us achieve our goals easier.

"The rocket is powered by a single rocket engine situated at the back." he explained, pointing at the bottom of the model. "At launch, the engine will activate, burning fuel and propulsing the rocket up toward the stars. The rocket will stay alit for five minutes." George then separated the model into two smaller objects. The biggest of the one was the lower 80% of the rocket. "Once the five minutes mark is passed, the rocket will separate into two. The lower portion of the rocket is the first stage. After flying high in the sky, it will separate and change its trajectory to land in the pacific.

"You might wonder why this happens. Well, a rocket is heavy and a heavy rocket is harder to control. So, once we're high enough in the sky, we jettison most of the rocket, leaving the second stage of the rocket which has its own engine." George explained, pointing at the engine of the second stage. "While the engine is not as powerful, the rocket is also a lot less heavy, which mean it is as efficient as the first stage.

"A few minutes after first stage separation will see something else be jettison: the fairing." He grabbed the nosecone of the rocket and pulled it, revealing a miniature satellite inside. "The fairing is only present to protect the satellite from aerodynamic forces as it climb up the atmosphere. But, up there, there is no air to get in the way, so the fairing is released to make the vehicle lighter.

"The second stage will continue to bring Orbiter-1 higher and higher until the satellite reach its orbit. For its first orbit, Orbiter-1 will remain attached to the second stage until we can confirm it entered a proper orbit and will not fall down to the Earth. Once it is confirmed, Orbiter-1 will be released and allowed to start its work on analysing the magic in space."

After George explained the launch sequence, Harry returned and, together, they talked about the trials and tribulations they had to go through to make a working rocket. Then, five minutes before launch, the stream was taken over by Percy Weasley, who would comment over the launch while Harry and George took care of the telemetry.

"T-Minus one minute and counting." said Percy. "All systems nominal."

"This is it." Hermione whispered, feeling very nervous.

"T-Minus forty-five seconds and counting. The rocket is now running on the onboard magical batteries."

"I hope this works." Ginny muttered. "Harry's been haunted by the previous failures."

"T-Minus thirty seconds and counting. The fuel generators are running."

The 'camera' moved from the counter to the rocket itself, which was seen in all of its grandeur on the launchpad. For the first time, wizardkind could see with their own eyes how the Sirius I looked like. It was red with a checkered white patern. It was also very tall - as tall as a building.

"Why is there smoke coming out of it?" Ron asked, concerned.

"Don't worry. It is normal." Bill reassured. "The rocket use runes for everything, including conjuring fuel on the spot - but without the engines burning fuel, the tanks overfill and explode. They let some of the excess fuel escape as gaz while the rocket is waiting for launch to ensure there is no problem." he explained.

"T-Minus fifteen seconds and counting." Percy's voice heard. And here they were. Ginny took a deep breath.

"T-Minus twelve, eleven, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one... ignition!" he said as the engine suddenly powered, shooting a cloud of smoke and flames out of it. Then, the rocket moved up. "Lift-off! We have a lift-off! Orbiter-1 clears the launchpad at seven-fifteen PM Greenwhich Meridian Time!" Percy exclaimed. People cheered as the rocket rose up over the sunset. "Tower clear!"

"Look at it go!" someone in the pub shouted as they watched the rocket gain speed and rise higher and higher.

Through the mirrors, they could hear the sound of the rocket as it rocketed through the atmosphere. The sound of it's lone engine was enough to make Ginny's eardrumbs ring.

"Sirius I is rolling and pitching as it follow the correct path that will bring Orbiter-1 to the stars." Percy's voice said. Just as he said, they saw the rocket pitch down as it went through a cloud.

"One minute into the flight and everything is going nominally." he said. "Orbiter-1 is now five nautical miles in attitude and following it's proper path."

While the rocket became smaller and smaller in the projection, the flames it released became bigger and bigger as the pressure around the vehicle deminished.

Then, to the surprise of nearly everyone, the engine stopped and the rocket separed into two pieces. Few understood they were seeing the staging of the rocket. They looked on in horror, believing the launch had been a failure. But Percy's voice reassured them.

"Instruments onboard confirm good staging. The second stage is now continuing on while the first stage makes it's way to the ocean." he said as the engine of the second stage lit up, shooting strange-looking blue flames. As for the first stage, it seemingly changed directions before firing again, this time changing it's trajectory until it lands in the artic sea. "For those who missed the explanation, this is completely normal. It is easier to put a satellte in orbit with a lighter vehicle. So, the rocket is purposefully designed to separate into two parts with the upper stage continuing on while the first fly back to the ground to land in the ocean, away from the population."

"Good... good." said someone with relief.

By that point, the feed changed to an onboard camera from inside the rocket. "In a few seconds, the fairings will separate, exposing Orbiter-1 to the vacuum of space for the first time." And, just as Percy said, the fairings shot out, revealing empty black space and the curvature of the Earth. "Fairing deployed successfully."

There were multiple gasps of amazement as people saw the Earth from space for the first time. Despite most of it being in the shadows, they could still see the orange curvature where sunset took place.

It took another few minutes before Percy spoke again. "Second stage engine shutdown confirmed. While we won't be able to confirm for another hour, we believe Orbiter-1 is now in low Earth's orbit." he said.

Cheers were heard across the pub. They heard the words and knew it wasn't confirmed, that there was still a chance it would fail. But, they too believed it was a success.

The onboard livefeed stayed on for another hour. A few minutes after the end of the launch, a map of the planet appeared in one corner with a bright red cross pointing over the sourthern lands of Russia, pointing where the satellite was located at that time. Soon enough, it passed over India, then Malaysia and the north of Australia before making it's way over the pacific. It was at this point where Orbiter-1 reached sunrise and wizardkind got to see Earth from space for the first time as the planet under the satellite turned blue.

"This is what Earth look like from space?!" exclaimed one wizard, baffled.

"It's beautiful..." Fleur whispered in amazement. Like Hermione, she has seen muggle pictures of Earth from space in her childhood but it wasn't quite like looking at a live onboard feed.

"It really is." her husband agreed.

As Orbiter-1 reached Britain once more, the news everyone had been waiting for came in. With an excited voice, Percy shouted "It was just confirmed! Orbiter-1 is now in orbit more than 200km over the surface! The launch is a success!"

There was an explosion of cheers and applause in the pub that could be heard all around the village. One of the loudest was Ginny, who yelled "YESSS! THEY DID IT!" while hugging a crying Hermione. Over the livefeed, they saw as the second stage finally released Orbiter-1, allowing it to fly by it's own wings.

"Orbiter-1 is released!" Percy exclaimed.

"Yes, it is!" suddenly came Harry's voice as he joined Percy. "Orbiter-1 is in orbit! Wizardkind is now in space!" he said cheerfully. "To everyone who's listening, we put in the satellite a small wireless radio that transmit back to the ground. Tune your wireless to the frequency I'm going to tell you! You should soon hear the sound of the satellite!" he said before giving the frequency.

At the bar, Madam Rosmerta quickly jumped in the backstore and came back with her wireless radio. Everyone watched as she tuned in to the frequency. For a moment, there was silence. But then...

"Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep..."

"He really did it." Hermione cried in happiness.

"They did." Ron said proudly, rubbing her back. "And your instruments will be the first ones to work in space and figure out what's up there!" he told her, making her blush.

"There's something else." Harry said through the feed, making everyone turn back to it where they saw the satellite float away from the second stage. "We put some very reflective materials on the second stage. With good conditions, which we have, then you should be able to see it as a bright dot of light as it cross over the sky! Go outside and look for it if you can!"

At his words, half of the pub jumped out of their seat and did just that, walking out of the Three Broomsticks to look at the sky. The Weasley group themselves did it and, for a time, everyone tried to find it.

"There!" shouted a voice, pointing toward the south-west sky where a star was seemingly moving over the sky.

"He did it..." Ginny whispered, very proud of her fiance. "He bloody did it. He sent us into the space-age."

Orbiter-1 was finally in orbit. Wizardkind was now in space.