The Stars Aligned

Chapter 17

January 21, 1996

"What's that?" We were sitting cross-legged on Pansy's bed as she held up a small mirror and applied some makeup, and she was side-eyeing my bracelet curiously.

I blushed faintly, the charms clinking as I held out the bracelet for her to see. "Draco got it for me for Christmas." I remember how Ginny let out an enormous squeal when I had shown her. When she had screamed at me that he loves me, I corrected her by telling her about his ill-defined relationship with Pansy.

Her eyebrows rose and she clicked her tongue. "Very pretty."

I think of Pansy marching up to Draco and crashing their lips together after class in October. I think of Draco telling me that he rejected a Ravenclaw girl because of me and our project, but also because of Pansy.

And then I think of the beautiful girl sitting across from me who let me sleep in her bed when I was drunk. The girl who gave me a hangover potion and earl grey tea in a pretty teacup. The girl who has shown me immense kindness. The girl who defended me in front of Ron.

And I can't bear to hurt her.

So I said assuringly, "Don't worry, Pansy, we're just friends."

Yet touching the stars cannot compare to how I feel when I am with Draco.

Pansy winked, picking up a small brush and dipping it in pink powder. "I'm not worried."

I suddenly realize that their relationship must be perfect if she's not worried at all, and my stomach dropped.

I watched as Pansy dabbed the tip of the brush across her cheekbones, leaving a light pink shading in its place. "How did you learn to do all of that?"

I saw her eyes glaze over in the mirror. "My mum. And years of practice."

"Ginny usually does that for me, I have no idea how to do it."

Pansy snapped the mirror shut, her eyes wide. "Oh! I have a book all about cosmetics." She dove across the mattress and fumbled through her nightstand, pulling out a thin book with black leather binding. She crawled back over and placed it in my hands. "Here. You might learn something."

I held in my laugh as I slipped the book in my bag. I know I won't use it, cosmetics don't interest me in the slightest. "Thanks."

She fetched a tube of pink gloss from her bag and took off the lid. "Make sure to read it," she added, winking. "Maybe it'll impress a special someone."

I felt heat rush to my cheeks. "Like who?"

Pansy shrugged, smearing the liquid across her sensuous mouth. "Anyone you fancy, Granger?"

Blonde curls over quicksilver eyes. A cigarette between two pink lips.

I shook my head. "No."
___

"I found it!" I exclaimed, circling the word over and over with my quill.

We were sitting on the edge of the Astronomy Tower again, looking out into the horizon as the sun quickly approached it's slumber. We had been coming here more often than the library. The night air and the natural light of the moon and stars had become my favorite workspace.

Draco looked up from his parchment. "Found what?"

I couldn't get the words out fast enough. "Mallowsweet. How could we have missed it? It's perfect. The prediction properties are exactly what we need to complete the potion. This mixed with two stems of shrivelfig and five leaves of nettle-"

His eyes lit up. "Will make the projected words clear and add more simple phrases-"

"And reorder it into an understandable analysis!" I finished for him, beaming from ear to ear.