HERMIONE'S POV:
I got tired of sitting and staring at the fire and I was too awake to go back to bed, so I stood and walked out of the common room, heading in the general direction of the astronomy tower. I hadn't meant to end up there, but I did.
I entered hesitantly, only noticing the shape of a tall boy backlit by the starlight coming in from the window he was staring out when I closed the door shut behind me and he turned around, wand in hand.
"Oh its you, Granger." Draco said, lowering his wand.
Hermione was surprised to find that she wasn't surprised that his voice was actually gentle and inviting instead of his usual snarky-ness.
"Draco? What are you doing up here?" I asked, taking a step closer and squinting, trying to force my eyes to focus in the darkness.
"Couldn't sleep, wanted to do some thinking without anyone interrupting."
"Oh, I'm sorry," I said, not sure why I was apologizing for walking in on his thinking. "I'll leave and-"
"No!" he said, grabbing my wrist gently and pulling me back into the room. "Stay." he said, sounding very friendly, a major change from the jerk he had been last week.
I almost smiled.
I stepped forward and walked to the wall, sliding my wrist out of his warm hand smoothly and nonchalantly. I leaned against the side of the windowed wall and looked out at the stars.
I heard him walk forward hesitantly.
"You see that bunch of stars there?" he said, pointing out at the sky in the distance over some tall mountains.
The black night sky was speckled with millions of brightly shining stars. The gaggle of stars he was pointing out looked like an isosceles triangle whose top wasn't connected.
I nodded.
For once, I didn't know what it was. I was fairly good at astrology, but this was a constellation I was unfamiliar with.
"They call that one Equelleus. It's Latin for 'little horse'." he said, almost in a whisper.
"When I was a little girl, I always wanted to be a star." I said, not having meant to say that out loud.
"Why?" he asked, curiously without a hint of amusement. He seemed to honestly want to know.
Glad that the darkness was heavy enough to hide my blush, I figured I may as well tell him why.
"I wanted to shine so bright that everyone on Earth would look up and admire me and make wishes on me. And I would make every wish come true." I said, staring up at the stars and recalling my childhood when my mother would sit by my bedside and watch the stars with me. We would play a game where we had to name the constellations. Each night, she taught me a new one and we would make up stories for each constellation and when she tucked me in at night and left, I would keep staring out at the stars, wishing to be in the sky with them. To shine.
"That's quite sweet." Draco said, sounding very out-of-character.
I nodded, not knowing how to respond to that statement.
DRACO'S POV:
Her story made me think of when I was a child and I would stand at the window when I was supposed to be asleep and watched the stars and tried to remember the names of each one.
"I used to watch the stars when I was little, too." I told her, wondering if we had been watching the same stars at the same time and thinking about that connection… Then quickly dismissing the thought, knowing it was ridiculous.
Hermione looked surprised. "Really?" she asked.
I stuck my right hand in my pocket, then used my left hand to trail along the side of the wall as I walked closer to the window.
"Yes. When I was supposed to be asleep, I would run up to the window when I thought nobody would notice and I would watch the stars. I was completely mesmerized by how shiny and how magical they looked, sitting in the sky where I couldn't go. When I heard my father's footsteps outside my bedroom door, I would race back to my bed and pull the covers up over my head, pretending to be asleep. If my father ever found out… Well, I don't know what would happen, but I'm sure he wouldn't have approved." I said, getting lost in the story and remembering laying in my little bed, my small palms sweating with nervous wondering if my father had known that I had been watching the stars or if he still thought I was asleep. He never caught me, but it still scared me to think what might've happened if he had found out.
"That's terrible." Hermione said, looking at me with sympathetic eyes.
I got lost in them for a moment and when she looked at me like I was crazy, I sighed and said, "So how is the whole Ronald situation going?"
She kind of jerked and stood up straighter.
"What's wrong?" I asked, looking at her worriedly.
Why did she make me like this? Protective and sensitive and… Everything I've never been.
"You called him Ronald."
"That is his name isn't it?" I asked innocently, knowing full well that that wasn't what she had meant.
She seemed to give up and said, "Yes, it is."
She stared out the window.
"Well, we talked just a few minutes ago, actually. He asked if I hated him. I told him I didn't, I couldn't. Then he said that he didn't know what he would do without me. Then he said 'I mean, for help with homework.' and I told him to go to sleep; he really looked terrible. But before he went to sleep, he kissed me on the cheek. I don't think he knows he did, though. He seemed too tired to really be in control of what he was doing."
When she said he had kissed her, even on the cheek, anger built inside me. It was irrational, but I didn't know how to stop it. I tried to cover it with a different emotion, though the anger brought a light flush to my cheeks.
"Did he now?" I went for amusement.
I was good at covering up emotions. I should be, living with someone like my father.
She bought it. "Yes. What is it to you?" she asked.
I was curious about my interest in her as well.
"I don't know." I answered honestly. "I guess I kind of consider you… My friend." I said staring at the floor, not wanting to see it if she rejected me.
"Oh. Well… Okay." she said, obviously at a loss for words.
She hadn't said she thought of me as a friend, but at least she hadn't said that I wasn't her friend. That meant there was room for improvement.
"Hermione?" I asked, making her jump a little.
"Yes?" she asked, sounding slightly breathless.
"Do you hate me?"
HERMIONE'S POV:
The sound of my name coming out of his mouth gave me more pleasure than it should have. I jumped a little at the sound.
"Yes?" I asked.
He hesitated a moment, still staring at the floor. Then, keeping his head tilted downward, he looked up, his gray eyes filled with a light that made them silver.
"Do you hate me?"
The question made me think of Ron, but I thought about the question for a moment.
"I don't know. I used to think I did, but you seem like you've changed. I don't know if I can actually trust you, but I would like to. So I guess… No, Draco, I don't hate you." I said, unsure of why I kept being so honest and open with him. I felt too comfortable around him for my own good.
I was still looking in his eyes and he had a strange intensity hidden deep in his eyes. Realizing that this should have been extremely awkward, I blushed and looked away, a small smile coming to my lips that was out of my control. I could feel my heart eating hard against my rib cage and started wondering if he could hear it. It was like a thousand bass drums pounding in my ears.
I turned so I was facing the window straight on. I felt Draco move forward to stand like I was, left hand on the wall, head tilted up looking at the stars brightening the sky.
I felt his pinky pull on mine, pulling it closer. When it came, he slid his fingers in between mine. His hand was soft and warm and felt good against my cold one.
My breath caught in my throat and I shivered, a tremble that had nothing to do with cold (though it was very cold in the room).
"Are you cold?" he asked, not waiting for an answer before he started pulling off his jacket. He set it over my shoulders.
It was warm and I gave in, leaving it over my shoulders. I used cold as an excuse to keep the jacket on.
"I should probably go back to sleep." I said, feeling the effects of sleep deprivation creeping up on me.
"Yeah, me too." he said, turning away and heading for the door.
He held it open for me and I handed him his jacket. He started to say no and make me keep it, but before he could say a word, I said, "What would I tell everyone?"
He paled and nodded, taking the jacket back. He walked me all the way to the door of the Gryffindor common room then waved timidly ad turned away, walking toward the Slytherin common room.
I opened the door and came up short, seeing Ron standing in the doorway, staring at me with an accusatory glare.