Astoria → Draco Malfoy

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

"million little stars"

Draco covered her eyes with his hands, "it's a surprise," he said as he guided her into the Room of Requirement. He had been working on it for days, ever since Astoria had been in the Hospital Wing. Draco had read countless books, he had even consulted Professors, and eventually, he had created the perfect spell.

Similar to what he had been able to do in the common room, Draco had projected an image of the stars on the ceiling. He had created a makeshift muggle Planetarium, plastering the glowing images across the rounded roof of the Room of Requirement.

"So, I remember you mentioned how you hadn't a chance to attend Astronomy Club much this year, and then that night a few weeks ago," he trailed off, grinning at the memory. "I remember you said you wanted to see the stars, but the sky wasn't that clear...so I made it clearer." He removed his hands from her eyes, "happy birthday Astoria." He took a step back, his eyes locked onto her as she took it all in.

"Oh Draco!" Exclaimed Astoria as she looked up, catching a glint of the sparkling stars in the corner of her eyes. "This is wonderful," she felt emotional, feeling a tear already forming in the corner of her eyes.

He took her hand once more, leading her onto the picnic blanket in the middle of the wall. Once they were both relaxed, he lifted his arms to the sky, "look, that one is called Draco," he grinned, pointing at the blue-white stars and tracing them. "It looks like a dragon, or a serpent... and I did some reading-"

Astoria laughed, "of course you did, I'm assuming on just the star with your name?"

"Obviously," he chuckled, "it's supposed to be the guardian of the star that never moves-"

"The celestial pole," Astoria finished for him.

"Yes, and in muggle Greek mythology, they believed that the pole was the doorway between the mortal world and eternity, so Draco protects it. They used to believe that the dragon was a was a Laden, a monstrous beast with a hundred heads chosen by Hera to guard the golden apples of immortality. These apples grew in the garden Hesperides, beyond the River of Time in the land of death."

"Did you learn all of that, for me?" She glanced over at his smug looking face with a grin.

He nodded, "I thought I should at least try and impress you, considering you already know about the stars - I learnt about the best constellation."

"Best?" She quizzed him, "I wouldn't say so. I prefer Cassiopeia," she took his hand, reaching up to the sky and pointing at the 'w' shape in the sky. "It's made up of Epsilon, Ruchbah, Gamma, Schedar, and Caph." she traced the smaller stars with her dainty fingers. "You know, it was named after Queen Cassiopeia?"

Draco nodded along, he had no idea, but Astoria appeared so enthralled, encapsulated by the stars and it filled him to the brim with pride. "Who was that?" He asked her, simply wanting to hear her talk again.

"I'm glad you asked," she smiled brightly, and to him, she outshone the stars. "Cassiopeia was the wife of King Cepheus," she moved her hand to the top of the constellation, "see that right there? It represents him. Anyway, she boasted that she was more beautiful than Nereids - these are sea nymphs and Poseidon, the God of the sea, he wanted to punish her for it. Poseidon sent Cetus, a sea monster-"

"Where's that one?"

Astoria led his hand to the bottom of the cluster, "see those, right there?" She traced the monster's body, "that right there is his head, and then this," she followed the shape, "is his body. So then, Cetus ravaged Cepheus' kingdom, so they called for help. In order to appease Poseidon, she had to sacrifice her daughter - Andromeda."