Star Gazing [Open]

[DAMIAN TOBIAS FROUD]

It was a Friday and to say that the blond boy occupying one of the chairs by the Hufflepuff common room fireplace wasn’t tired would be a lie. The fourth year was exhausted but continued reading his transfiguration text, taking care to write key points in a journal resting on the armrest of the chair. The dungeon room was lit with various candles and lamps strategically placed to cast all gloomy shadows away and keep the room warm and bright. The stone walls were hidden behind both portraits of Hufflepuffs of old and wizarding photos that held Hufflepuffs of new, all of which held importance in the wizarding world, as well as yellow and black tapestries that held the crest of the house’s founder.

Damian groaned as he turned the page in his text to discover that he had not yet reached the end of the chapter. He looked into the fireplace at the cheery flames and scowled. As much as he hated homework, mainly essays, with a passion, this particular essay was due first period on Monday morning. He placed his quill down in the crease of his journal before marking his page with a finger and flipping through the book on his lap to find the end of the chapter. Five more pages; just five more and he could wander around the castle before curfew. Flipping back to his marked page, the boy picked up his quill and resumed his note taking.

Two pages later, Damian was back to staring at the fire that continued to crackle away. So annoying, he thought before turning back to his text. He would finish this. He needed that walk. Forcibly, he turned back to his homework until he finally finished. He sighed in relief, stretched his arms over his head and closed his school books, quill marking the journal page of notes. He looked to the clock that rested on the mantle and let a small smile grace his lips. He would have two hours to roam before being forced to make his way back to the ugly yellow curtains that graced his four poster bed.

He took his books to his dorm, dropping them onto his bed, before grabbing his outer school robe and throwing it over his uniform. He made his way out of the dorm and common room respectively before he felt the chill that the dungeons held. Damian tightened his robes around his tall frame as he began to walk, in no particular direction. A few staircases later, the blond boy found himself on the winding stairs that would lead him to the astronomy tower.

Damian didn’t have a real connection to the tower or the class, but he did like to watch the stars in the sky from the balcony there. It seemed that when he wasn’t attending classes, meditating by the Black Lake, or hiding behind pillars from one Professor Trelawney, he was laying on his back glazing at the night sky on the astronomy tower’s balcony. Tonight would just be another night of star gazing, and it looked like it would be a good one from the weather he had seen earlier.

The heavy oak door opened with just a bit of a groan as the Hufflepuff boy slipped inside, making sure to close the door behind him softly. He glanced around and let out a rare grin as he realized that he was indeed alone. Making his way across the room, careful to avoid the various telescopes and models, he made his way to the balcony and leaned against the railing, drinking the brightly lit sky in. The moon was almost full and it was so bright that it might have rivalled the sun on a cloudy day. The stars were out and twinkling with delight, even if muggle satellites occasionally stole the spotlight as they flew across the sky. It was beautiful.

After a few minutes, Damian sat himself on the stone flooring and laid back, getting into a comfortable position to watch the sky until he would be forced to leave. Before the boy knew it, his exhausted body betrayed him and his hazel eyes slid closed, his breathing deepening in sleep.

Tagged: open
Clothes: school uniform
Words: 701

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[HERMIONE JEAN GRANGER]

Hermione was on her Prefect rounds, her duty to ensure no students were outside of their common rooms when they should be sleeping, even if it was a Friday. Curfews were set for a reason and Hermione wasn’t one to go against those rules. If there was one thing she was stringent about it was following the rules, although from time to time she had broken the rules – only for an extremely good cause. Dumbledore’s Army the previous year came to mind, but that had been well worth it and critical to keeping Hogwarts safe. However, for the regular day to day activities and associated rules, Hermione wanted to keep things in order as much as possible. She had already found two third-years attempting to sneak into the kitchens. She had sent them back to their common room, the deducted points noted – she would turn that in at the end of her rounds. It wasn’t like she was trying to making houses lose points but if they broke the rules there was little she could do.

She found herself making her way upwards, patrolling floor after floor until she finally reached the spiral staircase that led to the Astronomy Tower. She made a slight face but proceeded to walk up the stairs. At least it wasn’t Divination, which she couldn’t stand going anywhere near. Anything that didn’t have solid facts to back it up was rubbish in her opinion and Divination was a complete waste of time. She just didn’t see the point of it, but perhaps that was simply because she always sorted through things logically and with a clear-head. Though lately it seemed she was losing focus in certain areas, especially when it came to certain feelings for a certain person, or persons rather. Since when did everything become so complicated? She almost wished it could be their third-year again when there was no confusion on how they felt for one another and everything was strictly friendship. It had all started to change in their fourth-year and now it – it had spun completely out of control.

Hermione was so caught up in her thoughts as she entered the Astronomy Tower, checking for anyone, that she didn’t even notice the Hufflepuff boy sound asleep on the floor until she nearly tripped over him. She looked down in surprise and then crouched next to him, nudging him in the shoulder. ”Oi, wake up.” she said quietly, her wand ready to use a spell to wake him up if necessary. It was possible he had been up here before curfew and had simply fallen asleep, but he needed to get back to his common room. If a professor caught him he would certainly lose points and she knew, from experience, sometimes you could fall asleep somewhere you didn’t plan to. How many times had she worked late in the library, fallen asleep, and then hurried back to her common room so she wouldn’t get her house in trouble? The boy looked young, most likely a third or fourth year perhaps, but she didn’t know his name off-hand.

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[DAMIAN TOBIAS FROUD]

The water was cool against his bare skin as Damian floated in the inlet by his Aunt's cottage. The moon was full and bright, lighting up everything around him in a silver glow. Without looking, he knew that the blue haired maiden floating next to him, just as at peace as he was, was Rae Lyn taking in some moon rays before she would slip her selkie skin back on and disappear into the sea for her own home. Suddenly, but gracefully, she stood up in the water and leaned down over his still floating body. She smiled before leaning down further and pressing her lips to his. The boy, stunned, didn't move. Rae Lyn took her lips away and moved to his ear.

"Wake up."

Damian's eyes snapped open as his sweat covered body shot itself into an upright position, the sudden lack of oxygen in his brain causing him to groan and his body to slump out of it's rigged state. He knew, without a doubt that Rae Lyn's strange behavior had been nothing but a dream. Besides, as beautiful as the selkie was, she didn't hold the same attraction as some of her male counterparts.

Now calmer than he had been when he had woke, he regained his senses and remembered where he was. Then he felt the presence of another person. Looking over, he glared at the girl who had woken him up. He knew her alright, who in the school didn't? The girl who was the infamous Harry Potter's left hand, and only left because the red headed boy was the right. Hermione Granger, Gryffindor prefect.

"Good evening, Miss Granger. Come for a bit of star gazing?" He said, knowing full well that it would probably get more points deducted from his house if he was in fact out past curfew. "The sky is quite right for it now, and its not so cold that you'll freeze either."

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[HERMIONE JEAN GRANGER]

Hermione was a stickler for the rules, though there had been the rare occasion where she had broken them, but only when the cause was absolutely necessary, such as their previous year. She had lost track of how many students she had taken house points from, even her own house, who had broken the rules or strayed out past curfew. The rules were there for necessary reasons, and they weren’t meant to be broken unless there were severe exceptions. It wasn’t that Hermione wanted to be hard on everyone or be seen as someone who wouldn’t let anything slide because she honestly wasn’t, but she firmly believed that as part of her Prefect duties, she had to uphold them. So even though the boy might have just been star gazing and fallen asleep, she had to keep up the role that she had been given. Though in this case she really wasn’t going to take away house points. It looked like he had legitimately dozed off and so she was more apt not to be as harsh.

”No I’m afraid not, as it’s past curfew and you should be back in your tower. If you head there straight away, I won’t take points.” Hermione offered him a hand to help him stand, smiling softly. ”Though you are right when you say it’s a perfect time for it. I would suggest doing it from your dormitory however, less chance you’ll be caught by one of the professors, another Prefect, or Jeeves,”[/color] She chuckled quietly. ”And if you haven’t had the opportunity of running into him yet, it’s best to avoid it if at all possible.”[/color] She, Harry, and Ron had ran into him at the most inopportune times, and it never failed that he tried to cause trouble for them. However Hermione was getting to the point where she could threaten him with retrieving the Bloody Baron if need be, or speaking with Professor Dumbledore. She’d rather not go to that extreme if necessary and so she just simply tried to avoid him.

Her thoughts drifted to Harry and Ron, whom she knew were in the common room, at least they had been when she had left for her rounds. She wouldn’t put it past them to go somewhere, but she hoped that tonight wouldn’t be that night. She was still concerned about Harry not getting the sleep he needed, what with the nightmares and everything else he was dealing with, and Ron was being especially difficult, and confusing at the same time. It might not have been especially cold that night, but Hermione couldn’t help but shiver a little when she thought about that connection that Harry still had with Voldemort. It disturbed her, and yes, she’d admit it, it frightened her as well. To have Harry so closely linked with the Dark Lord’s mind, who knew what could happen. After everything Harry had seen, was the Dark Lord aware? Hermione wasn’t so sure…she’d think he would have used the link to his advantage by now if he was. Hermione chewed on her lip thoughtfully as she fell into deep thought.
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