Summary: During an Astronomy assignment, Draco yearns to confess his feelings to the brightest witch of their age, but stargazing will have to do. - — 8th Year Hogwarts.

Rated: K

Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort

Tag: Pining/Longing

Shooting Stars

The school grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had been blanketed with the midnight blue starry sky for several hours now, and it was a great time for the first Astronomy lesson of the year.

Despite his namesake, Draco Malfoy loathed this class. It was just too easy; having at least ten generations of the Ancient House of Black family name origins and meanings drilled into his skull from a young age played a large part in it. The barely contained panic he felt crawl throughout his body when he walked up the steep, winding stairs to attend the class was not pleasant, either.

The blond kept to himself during the lecture and instruction and finished his chart with an agonizing amount of time left. Leaning against one of the metal railings, Draco killed time by gazing at the galaxies above.

Seeing a streak of light shoot across the darkness, a silent wish was made.

The hand that nudged at his arm had Draco all but jump out of his skin. Turning around to send a few choice words at the incompetent classmate, he choked back the nasty comment when he saw a mass of frizzy brown hair and light brown skin.

Wish answered.

Hermione Granger looked apologetic for startling him. Grey eyes wandered over the other students before looking back at her. His heart raced, wondering the reason why she was there.

"Professor Sinistra offered extra credit if we could find the student who had the chart that connected with another's," she explained. "Do you mind if I take a look at yours?"

Not sure how to respond, Draco simply shrugged and handed her his star map. Folding his arms over his chest, he skimmed over hers to distract himself from admiring her scrutinizing the charts, wondering if he should finally tell her something he had held onto for a long time. Before those words could form, he noticed a mistake and kneeled down beside the brightest witch of their age.

"You named these two stars wrong," Draco pointed out, keeping poised. "Eltanin is this one, and Edasich is here."

Hermione glanced over while he explained, shaking her head in disagreement. "No, I'm pretty sure they're correct."

"I think I would know the names of the stars from my namesake," he retorted; sounding sharper than intended.

The witch sent a look his way before peering over at his star chart. Draco noticed a simple ring perched on the hand she traced with and felt a heaviness in his chest and a lump form in his throat. It was too late.

"Looks like ours match, I got the tail," Draco noted, trailing a finger down the tail of the dragon constellation on his chart, then across hers that connected. "And here's the head."

She placed a finger over Ursa Minor on her chart, carefully matching the part of it on his. A quiet laugh escaped her, its sound slightly eased the ache in his chest. She pulled her wand from her pocket to quickly change the names around.

"Quite the coincidence, isn't it?" Hermione observed, looking to Draco.

He met her gaze, a smirk creeping over his lips. "It is. I had the honor to correct the brightest witch of our age."

The witch rolled her eyes, but the smile that lit up her honey brown eyes said she found the jab amusing. "Don't get used to it."

Looking to the sky once more, Hermione scanned the heavens. "It's a beautiful sight, isn't it?"

Draco looked from her to the sky in time to see another shooting star fly by. He wondered if she saw it as well when his eyes rested back over to her.

"Yes, it is a breathtaking view."

Originally Written For:

The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition

The Harry Potter Fanfiction Competition

Word Count: (Per Google Docs) 624

Originally Written: October 2017