♕ two

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"We have Astronomy first," Ginny declared through a mouthful of breakfast.

It was their first day of classes. The energy in the room was palpable as kids all over the Great Hall began to compare schedules. Hermione and Ginny had almost every class together since, technically, they were in the same year, now that Hermione was repeating her Seventh Year. Ron and Harry were still asleep in their dormitories, but Hermione had wanted to get a head start on the day.

Astronomy was okay, but it wasn't her favorite subject. She found Professor Sinistra to be rather flighty. Besides, they shared that class with the Slytherins. Good for nothing trouble makers who always did their best to disrupt class. It would be a miracle if they even got anything done this term, what with Malfoy and his cronies being idiots all the time. 

Ginny's voice broke her from her angry thoughts.

"After Astronomy we have Care of Magical Creatures, then double Herbology with the Ravenclaws," she announced. "I suppose that's a decent first day." 

Hermione nodded in agreement. She quickly willed herself to calm down as Ginny shouldered her bag and prepared to leave. As long as she didn't let them get to her, they would have no effect on her. 

Right?

But as they entered the Astronomy tower, Hermione's feeling of dread grew. She took her seat next to Ginny, who seemed perfectly at ease, and tried to avoid looking at the door. A couple minutes later, Ron and Harry ran in, disheveled and clearly tired. But they waved cheerily at Hermione and took their seats at the next table over. The bell chimed softly and a few stragglers trickled in- Professor Sinistra began to hand out star charts. 

"Oh, crud," Ginny whispered sadly. Hermione shared her sentiments. 

Everyone knew that star charts meant partner projects. Projects were nice, but it usually meant Hermione would be doing all the work while her partner did nothing. Professor Sinistra also never let her students pick their own partners- they were always assigned. Hermione had gotten stuck with some nasty people in the past.

"To begin the term, I thought it would be best to give you a group project," the Professor said cheerily, oblivious to the apparent disappointment of the room. 

"I'm sure you all recall Professor McGonagall's speech from last night's feast," Sinistra continued. There were a couple nods from around the room. 

"Well, the Headmistress has got the right idea, if you ask me! There's so much house division nowadays, it's as if we're not even a united school! And that is certainly not what the school's founders intended. So..."

Hermione braced herself for what was coming next. 

"I have decided to pair up Slytherins, with Gryffindors."

A collective groan rose from the class.

Professor Sinistra ignored the boos and cleared her throat loudly. 

"The pairs are as follows. Potter and Grennitch," she announced. Harry shrugged and made his way over to a rather mean looking Slytherin girl with an awful lot of piercings throughout her body.

"Weasley and Parkinson." Ron grumbled and trudged across the room over to Pansy, who crossed her arms in distaste.

"Finnigan and Zabini."

More eye rolls. 

"Bulstrode and Patil."

Pavarti whimpered slightly before timidly heading over to sit next to Millicent Bulstrode.  Hermione felt her palms begin to sweat. The remaining Slytherins available were not an agreeable bunch. 

Why, wouldn't it be funny if-

"Malfoy and Granger," Professor Sinistra announced.

Hermione froze. Her eyes widened. She suddenly forgot how to breathe. 

Draco Malfoy. Her partner.

Ron and Harry's eyes were wide. Hermione's hands shook as she slowly made her way over to the other side of the room, keeping her head trained determinedly at her feet and avoiding eye contact with Malfoy at all costs. But when she sat down, she couldn't help but risk a quick glance at him. 

His face was an unreadable mask. 

Her stomach began to churn. 

The two said nothing, but the blood was rushing in Hermione's ears and she could barely hear as Professor Sinistra finished reading off the partners. Even as the rest of the pairs began getting their assignments and planning their projects, Hermione and Malfoy sat in stalk silence. The tension was so smothering it was almost unbearable. 

"Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy!"

Professor Sinistra's cheery voice broke the silence. Hermione jumped a little and Draco blinked quickly. 

"For you, I assign the constellation Cygnus. Now, let go of your inhibitions and explore the magical realm of space!" She floated past their table and up to the front of the room, leaving Malfoy and Hermione alone again. Hermione clenched her fist and spoke to herself silently. 

"So, Miss Brightest Witch of the Age. Where do we start?" Draco asked suddenly, sitting up in his chair. Hermione whipped around, surprised. 

"Excuse me?" 

Malfoy coughed. 

"Uh, sorry, I just-"

"Assumed I would do the whole project for you?" Hermione said coolly. Malfoy looked taken aback. 

"Uh, no, I-"

Hermione slammed her textbook on the table, effectively shutting Malfoy up. She rolled her eyes and began to read. Of course, lazy pompous Malfoy wasn't planning on doing any of the heavy lifting. There was way she was going to be forced into doing all the work. 

"How about I scan the book for notes, since, of the two of us, I'm the only one who can read, and you copy down notes. Sound good?"

Draco nodded silently and pulled out a roll of parchment. Satisfied, Hermione turned back to her reading. 

"Cygnus is associated with the myth of Zeus and Leda in Greek mythology. This constellation was first cataloged by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century."

"I've heard of Ptolemy," Draco said suddenly. Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"You have?" 

Why on earth was Malfoy offering up knowledge? Was he going to make fun of her? Was he about to make a joke at her expense? Hermione prepared herself for the worst. 

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure he thought that the Earth was at the center of the universe, and that all the heavenly bodies circled it. People believed that for hundreds of years, until the theory was proven incorrect by some other astronomer in a later century. We should include that in the project somewhere."

Hermione was speechless for a moment.

"Or whatever," he mumbled quickly, ducking his head and resuming his scribbling. 

Hermione turned back to the book. But she couldn't shake her surprise at Malfoy's response. There was no scathing tone, no offensive remark, no evil laugh. 

"Uh, okay," she said quietly. "That's actually really good."

Draco looked up.

"You think?"

Hermione relaxed a little. 

"Yeah, totally. I didn't even know that about Ptolemy," she admitted. Draco feigned surprise. 

"Bloody hell, do I know something that Miss Hermione Granger doesn't?" 

Hermione narrowed her eyes. 

"Don't get used to that feeling, Malfoy, it won't happen again," she retorted. Malfoy laughed a little. His eyes flitted quickly up to hers and Hermione couldn't help but feel their warmth wash over her. 

Who was this sitting in front of her? It certainly wasn't the Malfoy she'd loathed for years. 

She hastily turned back to the book as a blush began to creep into her cheeks. 

"The swan symbolizes grace and beauty on many levels," she resumed, willing the blush to recede. 

"In Roman mythology, the swan was sacred to Venus. In most cultures and religions, the swan is known to be a symbol of not only music, gifts and poetry, but it is more commonly associated with, uh..." Her sentence trickled to a stop. 

"What is it?" Draco asked, peering over Hermione's shoulder. Before she could snap the book shut he caught sight of the sentence and began to laugh, while Hermione rolled her eyes. 

"Yes, very mature, Malfoy," she rolled her eyes. He stopped laughing, but the grin stayed on his face. 

"Are you really that much of a prude, Granger?" he joked. "It only said love. That doesn't mean anything." 

"I know full well that it doesn't, but did you read the rest?" she asked stubbornly. Draco shook his head, his expression curious as Hermione opened the book once more. 

"The swan is more commonly associated with love. Any two people found in the presence of a swan, or a picture of a swan, are believed to be struck immediately by Venus's power and destined to fall madly in love." Hermione pointed to the glossy picture in the book, the picture of a swan, which Draco eyed nervously.

"You're being ridiculous, Granger," he scoffed. 

His eyes darted back and forth, from Hermione to the picture of the swan.

"Okay, Malfoy," Hermione shrugged. "But when you find yourself head-over-heels in love with me, I'm going to say I told you so."

Draco laughed. "Please Granger, you'll be the one to find me irresistible. And trust me, it will have nothing to do with the swan."

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "The day I become attracted to you will be the day that Ginny stops calling Ron gingerpubes."

Draco frowned. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

Hermione laughed. 

"It means it's never gonna happen," she said with a slight smile. 

Draco shrugged and shouldered his bag of books when the bell rang from outside the classroom. 

"See you around, Granger," he said, giving her a mock salute. Hermione smiled quietly and saluted back, gathering up her books and taking one last look at the swan on the page, who seemed to be giving her a small wink of encouragement. 

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