astronomy • marlene mckinnon

forty three

"Do my eyes deceive me or do I see Marlene McKinnon in the library?" Astraea gave a teasing smile as she sat in front of the blonde who had her head buried in a pile of books.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Not a sight you see every day, I know."

"Not a sight you see any day actually."

Marlene looked up, a frown on her face but her eyes shining bright with joy, "Well in that case, you should congratulate yourself that I'm here because it's all thanks to you."

"Me?" The raven-haired Slytherin gasped, placing a hand on her heart, still smiling, "Whatever did I do?"

"Told me to submit my astronomy report today," The blonde grumbled and turned her head back towards the extremely thick book, flipping a page.

Astraea furrowed her eyebrows, "It was a five-day-long report including daily observations, I told you to start it almost two weeks ago, take your time and revise and then give it to me so that I could compile it together and submit it in our next Astronomy class, which if I may add, is tomorrow."

The Gryffindor girl looked back at her and blinked, "I am aware."

"You didn't do it," Astraea sighed.

"I thought I could just use these books and a week of daily prophets and interpret it all on the last day and so far it's working pretty well."

"Oh yeah?" The Slytherin's eyes darkened slightly, "Which day are you on?"

"I'm really close to finishing the fifth, which is the last."

Astraea almost laughed at that, "Right, carry on then."

Marlene frowned as she saw the slight irritation which flashed across the other girl's eyes as she buried herself in her book bag, returning a minute later a book called 'The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection' in her hand which she slammed on the table, flinching slightly as she did before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

"That's not in our curriculum" The blonde stared at the other girl who opened her book and flipped through the pages.

"I know," Astraea hummed, not looking up. "Extra reading."

"Only you sweetheart," Marlene shook her head in a mixture of awe and shock before she resumed her pending work as the Slytherin looked up, an eyebrow raised as she stared at the girl in front of her.

A small smile was suppressed as the blonde scrunched her nose, flipping the pages of two books at once, eyes flickering between the two before they lit up as she saw something in the book on her right. She took her quill and started writing on the piece of parchment completely unaware of the pair of grey eyes on her. The raven-haired girl had forgotten about the book that lay open on the table, around hundred pages left, as she rested her chin on the palm of her hand and looked at the girl in front of her.

The Gryffindor suddenly looked up and Astraea suddenly looked outside the window, pretending to be really interested in the darkness unfolding outside as she got lost in her thoughts. She slightly jumped as the blonde snapped her fingers in front of her face and Astraea turned her face towards her, raising an eyebrow, "You done?"

"Just finished," Marlene nodded, looking at the other girl sceptically. "What were you thinking about?"

You.

"Nothing," Astraea shrugged, "Just schoolwork."

"We literally go back home for Christmas break the day after tomorrow, and you're thinking about schoolwork," The blonde gave the girl a blank look and received a wink in response. "Are you actually serious right now?"