[Monday, September 26th, 2016]
It was the first clear night in days, so Hermione took advantage and made her way to the observatory. She was a bit nervous that Draco would actually be there but was happy when an assistant greeted her by the entrance instead.
"Professor Granger!" The assistant must have been a student by the way he greeted her. "The main telescope is currently in use by a few students, however I don't think Professor Malfoy would mind you using the one on the second level in the connecting building. Unless you'd prefer to wait?"
"Oh, that's quite alright, I don't want to take away any time from the students, I just wanted to reacquaint myself with it. I haven't used a telescope in some years."
"Certainly, let me get you the key. The staircase is just down the hall."
Key in hand, she walked a few steps into the hall and took a thin flight of stairs to the second level which had a much shorter height than the first floor. She was happy to have some privacy but was confused to find the door was unlocked.
When she entered the office it wasn't what she expected. At first it was dark so she searched for a light switch. When she found it, the space lit up and she was surprised to see it was much smaller than hers. There were some seats and a sofa in the corner where a newspaper lay discarded.
She walked past the desk and couldn't help but take notice that it was barely decorated with any trinkets. Papers and parchment were stacked on one corner while the rest of it was practically empty, except for a calendar and a cup of… pens. Not a quill in sight.
Hermione reminded herself that she came here with a purpose. She found the space in the back dedicated to the telescope and was surprised at its size. The one in the classroom was nearly twelve feet tall, and nothing like she had ever worked on before, but now she stared at this four foot telescope and was quite perplexed.
Learning to use the one at Hogwarts had taken some getting used to, but she was confident she'd need some kind of manual to operate this one. She looked around for any indication of a book or a procedural list. What she found was a table with even more scope and lens options.
Hermione was determined to try. Instead of reinventing the wheel, she decided perhaps she'd just take a look at whatever it was currently pointed at and then work from there.
She stood before it, careful not to move anything, and bent over to look into the eyepiece. She had hoped it was pointed at a planet or a star or anything really, instead she just saw black. Hermione checked to see if maybe the cover of the lens was still on, but it was hanging on a chain at the end. She peered through the eyepiece once more before deciding to play around with the settings.
"You should probably open the window first."
Malfoy's voice had her nearly toppling the entire telescope over. Quickly she lunged for it to stop it from falling.
"Careful, it's not like I can find this model at Diagon Alley." he said, rushing to check on it.
"Well you frightened me, what did you expect?" she angrily moved out of his way as he put the telescope back in place.
"I didn't expect to find someone in my office at this hour, that's for sure," his tone was flat and unreadable.
"There were students using the main telescope–" Hermione tried to explain.
"So you broke into my office!?" he raised his voice, finally turning to look at her with a wild look in his eyes, as if she had done something worse than try to use a telescope. She half expected him to call her a mudblood. Memories of a time she had nearly forgotten surged forward. The thought of them made her shudder and instantly regret coming here tonight.
"No, I'm sorry," she muttered and searched for her bag. She needed to get out of there. "Your assistant gave me your key. It was open– nevermind, I'll just leave." She reached for her bag on the floor, feeling his hand wrap around her wrist before she could grab it.
"Wait," Hermione looked up at him and for a split moment she thought he looked just as surprised as she was by the action. Regret washed over his face.
"I'm sorry."