hot chocolate | d.m.

06. feelings i dont understand

December 7th

"How many pairs of Christmas earrings do you have?" The tall blonde asked, looking at the small gingerbread men hanging from her ears. The two teens were sat at the same table in the back of the library as before, but this time the energy was different.

"Um, I believe 22," the brown eyed girl replies, looking at review questions to ask Draco for astronomy. His eyebrows raise at her response. Who needs so many? "Ah okay, Draco, describe a supernova," Winnie spoke, looking up at him expectantly.

His lips set into a small frown, "We went over that in October." Winnie raised her eyebrows at him slightly, telling him to answer. "It's a type of star right, like a really big one?" He asks hopefully. The frown lines on his face coming into play when she doesn't praise him and just shakes her head no.

"It's an explosion of a star," she tells him sincerely, not once making fun of him for not knowing simple answers. He groans and runs his hand through his hair before propping his chin in his hand.

"Explain the process? I assume we have to know it," Draco murmurs, preparing his quill to take notes once again. He had filled two pieces of parchment already, but he was actually understanding things the way Winnie taught him.

Winnie nods, looking into his eyes. The blue-gray always caused a slight halt in her breathing. "Well, supernovas are huge explosions of stars that essentially kill them. It either happens at the end of its evolutionary stages, like death comes at the end of a humans life, or a white dwarf star gets triggered into a runaway nuclear fusion. These explosions are massive, destroying the whole star, and lighting up so much they can appear as the size of a galaxy," Winnie summarizes. Draco jots all of it down, still amazed that this was all just stored in her head.

"How do you just have all this memorized?" Draco mutters as he finishes up his notes.

Winnie shrugs, eyes focused on how fast his hand moves as he writes. "My father has been teaching me about astronomy since I was seven. It's something we both love," Winnie says, a smile creeping on her face as she thought of her father. She missed her parents and couldn't wait to see them for Christmas. Visions of past years invaded her brain, she loved her family so much.

She didn't notice Draco's look, too caught up in her thoughts before looking back down to her book. Draco wished he could say such things about his father, he wished they had bonded over things. The two were very opposite, Winnie was ecstatic to go home for break, but Draco was dreading it. His mother was the only thing he was really going for.

"Do you want to take a break?" Winnie asked, noticing Draco's furrowed eyebrows as he looked at the table. His eyes snapped up and momentarily she caught some emotion in them. It was hidden before she could figure it out.

"Uh, yeah. I feel like my brain is packed," Draco says, glancing at his watch, it was 8:26.

"So, are you going home for Christmas?" Winnie asks. Draco leans back in his chair and loosens his tie around his neck. He was still in his school uniform whereas Winnie was in an oversized hoodie and leggings.

"I am, you are as well, right?" Draco says unimpressed at the thought of home. Winnie watches carefully as he rolls up his shirt sleeves.

Winnie shakes her head and looks back up to his face. "Yeah, I'm excited to see my Mum and Dad again," she says fondly. A small smile comes to Draco's features and it makes Winnie's heart melt.

"Your parents obsessed with Christmas like you are?" Draco really wished he knew why she loved it so much, but she probably had a very different Christmas experience than him. Malfoy Manor was basically the same at Christmas time as it was year round. Lucius did allow his mother one huge tree in the sitting room and some light decorations though. Every Christmas since he could remember his best suit was put on and he ran around the house with his mother while she made sure everything was in perfect order for Lucius and his huge Christmas Dinner party that all prestigious pure blood wizarding families attended. Family time wasn't all that important in the Malfoy home on that day, but Narcissa always made the morning dedicated to showering Draco with gifts and making their own breakfast together.