hh_clubs | Astronomy Club: Astronomy Tower Stories VOTING

Activity: Astronomy Tower Stories
Points: 1st/2nd/3rd/Participation Only: 50/40/30/10 points.
Ends: Voting until July 23 11:30pm CDT (July 24 4:30am UTC)
Details: Write a short stories under 200 words about something that might have taken place on top of the Astronomy tower. The minimum word count is 50 words.

ONE

My Mind Is Spinning
"Severus!" Lily giggled as his arms slid around her, tickling her sides. They were secluded in the astronomy tower. Well, Lily had been secluded until Severus had sunk her out.

“I knew you’d be up here,” he said quietly, smiling softly as she turned to face him. Severus always spoke quietly, especially around Lily.

“Oh, yeah?” she challenged, his hands lightly holding onto his robes, “and how’s that?”

“It’s raining,” he said simply, nodding to drops falling around them.

“It is, indeed,” she agreed.

“You like the rain.”

“I love the rain,” she clarified, leaning in to Severus a bit.

“You love the rain,” he reiterated, smiling down at the red-head he’d let himself fall so hard for.

“Yea,” she mused, turning to look out at the grey sky again. Severus’s arms were still comfortably around her waist and she leaned back against him. “So. . .” she murmured. “Why’d you come looking for me?” she asked.

“I didn’t go looking for you,” Severus stated. “I knew you were here . . . I missed you,” he admitted, the smile audible in his voice. Severus titled his head and saw that Lily, too, was smiling as he held her.

---
TWOLook Out Below

The spring air found Harry and Ron yearning for a bit of mischief. Draco’s crude remark to Hermione at lunch the day before had finally pushed them over the edge.
Oddly enough, the prank had been Hermione’s idea. Water balloons were a muggle invention that Draco and his cronies would never expect. It didn’t take much convincing to get the boys to stay up most of the night, diligently filling left over birthday balloons with water.
Finally, the Trio reached the top of the Astronomy Tower. Harry removed the Invisibility Cloak that had concealed their covert ascent and tossed it aside. Hermione was already looking through her brass telescope, finding their targets.
“There!” she exclaimed.
With great enthusiasm, Harry flicked his wand, making one of the larger balloons hover. Before Hermione could duck, Harry sent the balloon flying through the air. It whizzed by Hermione’s mass of curly hair and disappeared.
Only after he had safely landed his broom, dried his soaking robes, and jinxed those present who had dared to laugh at his flustered descent did Draco think to look for the culprit.

---
THREEConniving Plan
While Lily was taking notes for Astronomy in the tower, she felt someone walking up to her.
“Hey Evans! You, me, Hogsmeade. This weekend.”
“Go away Potter! I am taking notes.”
“Just give me an answer and I will be off!”
“How desperatley do you want to go out with me?”
“Madly,” James said slyly.
“I will go out with you if you jump out of the tower.”
“Ok,” he said. James left Lily’s side and jumped onto the railing.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Lily screamed.
“You said you will go out with me if I jump out of the tower”
She yelled, “IT WAS AN EXPRESSION! I DIDN’T MEAN IT LITERALLY?!?!”
“Let’s make a deal”, James said confidently. “If I get off this railing and don’t jump, will you go out with me?”
“YES I WILL GO OUT WITH YOU! GET OFF NOW!”
“Yay!” James hopped off and skipped back the Gryffindor tower. “See you this weekend Evans!”
Lily grumbled, “Yea…see ya…”

---
FOURBreakup

"Michael!" Ginny sighed, looking at her boyfriend.

"Yeah?" he asked, his sadness visible. "What's up?"

Ginny put a hand on her hip. "Really Michael Corner. It has been DAYS now since that quidditch match and still, every night you are up here moping. Why? It's just a sport!"

Michael looked up at her, seemingly overwhelmed. "You just don't get it, Ginny! This sport means everything to me. It's not just a game, it's a lifestyle. It all but defines me."

Ginny just stared at the dark haired boy. "Really? I cannot believe you, Corner. If that's your lifestyle then perhaps I don't belong in it." With a huff, her red hair swirled around her like a curtain as she stomped back towards the castle.

The wind blew gently, tossing Michael's hair. He heaved another sigh and stared up at the stars. Now what?

---
FIVEPonderings of the Mind
He stood at the top of the Astronomy Tower, thinking, planning.

The cold wind blew at his face, causing his usually neat hair to fly in all directions, but he didn’t care. He hadn’t cared about much except his task for a long time.

The only problem was: Killing the old coot.

How could he do that?

It was impossible to think of a plan that Dumbledore would fall for. And despite his earlier cockiness that it would be done fast and simple, he now realised the weight of the task set on his shoulders.

As the days passed, he’d gotten increasingly nervous. He’d even spent a pretty penny on that cursed necklace Granger had pointed out in Borgin and Burkes.

That had been a disaster.

What was he going to do now?

There wasn’t much time left.

---
SIXForbidden Love
Sixth-year Gryffindor Minerva McGonagall knew that she could never let her friends know what she did every new moon (when the light was most remote). For one thing, the guy she was sneaking off with was more than a year younger than her. For another, he was a Slytherin... and not even a pureblood! Yet she found Tom's smile intriguing, which was why, each month at the new moon, she met him at the top of the Astronomy Tower for a protracted snogging session; each time being more delicious than the one before.

---
SEVENFun in the Dark

Oliver was already waiting when Percy reached the top of the stairs. "No one saw you come up?"

"Not that I could see, at least," Percy replied, trying to find Oliver in the darkness. They found a few weeks ago that the Astronomy Tower was deserted on Saturday evenings, and had adopted it as a sort of meeting place.

"Well, then we should have some privacy," Oliver whispered, his voice now coming from the other side of the room.

"Oh, come on, Oliver, do we have to play this game every time?" Percy pretended to be frustrated as he flailed his arms around in the darkness, trying to get his hands on the boy who was avoiding him.

"You know you like it," Oliver replied and just then he smacked right into Percy's left arm, which he had ducked to avoid, but missed his timing.

Percy quickly wrapped his other arm around Oliver and wrestled him to the ground. Oliver lay there for a moment on his back, Percy positioned over him with a smile on his face. "Now it's my turn," he whispered and planted a passionate kiss on the other boy's lips.

---
EIGHTShooting Star

"Come on, Ash. Just a little further."

"We're going to get detention," she protested.

"Not if we don't get caught," he grinned.

Ollie could feel her hands trembling in his as he lead her to the edge, and he couldn't help but smile. How many times had he taken her up on his broom? More than he could count. It didn't matter, though, she was still afraid of heights.

"It's okay," he coaxed. "I've got you, Ash. You know I won't let anything happen to you."

His arms circled her waist as they neared the parapet. He saw her glance down before her arms wrapped tightly around his frame.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he questioned as he nodded up to the sky.

"Yeah," she agreed adjust her gaze so that it was focused on the sky rather than the ground.

As they stood there with the light of the full moon beating down on them, he found himself wondering if she knew how beautiful she was… if she knew how much he loved her.

"Hey, Ash," he murmured.

"Yeah, Ollie?" she answered still staring at the stars.

"I lov... Look! It's a shooting star!"

One day, he would work up the courage to tell her. Tonight wasn't that night, though.

---
NINESneaking Up The Tower
"Shh," James instructed his friend in a whisper. "If you make that much noise, we'll be caught in about two seconds."

"Sorry," his best friend, Sirius, replied but he didn't look that sorry.

As they reached the top of the Astronomy tower, James took out his wand and tapped the box-bench twice, muttering under his breath. The top sprang open and he reached in and pulled out a bottle.

"Come on guys!" He whispered, grinning and shaking the bottle as they all gathered around him. "Moonshine on top of the Astronomy tower, how perfect is that?"

---
TENAfter Hours

“We’re going to get caught,” Scorpius hissed.

“You’ve said that a dozen times already,” Rose whispered back, “And it hasn’t happened yet.”

She skipped up the last few stairs and they found themselves at the top of the Astronomy Tower. Scorpius, only a few steps behind his Gryffindor friend, returned sulkily, “Well it’s true. We are. What is it you needed to show me?”

She turned and smiled at him as he walked over to join her, “Ta-dah!” She waved her arms impressively towards the star speckled, night sky.

Scorpius gave them a quick glance and then turned his eyes back to Rose, “Really? You took me all this way to look at some stars? I see them once a week in Astronomy.”

“No, I took you all this way to do this.”

And then she kissed him.

And Scorpius decided that it was worth the midnight climb up hundreds of stairs and he didn’t really care if they got caught after all.

---
ELEVENThe Black Lake
Everybody in the castle was fast asleep, only one of it's inhabitants seemed to be out of bed on this early spring morning. Albus Dumbledore was leaning on the railings of the Astronomy Tower, enjoying the view of the lake. It has been a while since he has had the time to come up here and enjoy the solitude.
The place always held a special meaning for him, no one could ever know about. It reminded him of his childhood. The fresh woody scent reminded him of the forest near Godric's Hollow, the smooth lake, which glimmered emerald green as the sun shone upon it, reminded him of his eyes, the way they shone in all it's mighty mischief that seemed to charm him instantly.
He sighed deeply and gazed up at the sun, letting it dry his face and a thought suddenly stirred his tired mind. He marveled at it for a moment, then smiled bitterly at his own sentimentality and with one last glance at the lake made his way back to his office. He had work to do.

---
TWELVEAt Home

He found it strange that, for being surrounded by more people than he had ever encountered at one time in his life, he felt so utterly alone. It seemed as though he existed in some mottled grey, in some void between the two worlds that was only accessible by him. His Sorting had alienated him from his family, and the letter expressing their displeasure of such an outcome had alienated him from his house, though he expected such ostracism to be only temporary. He couldn't be so lucky regarding home.

He'd stayed after his Astronomy lesson that night because, lying beneath the stars that shone so brightly above him, he could pretend that he was still among his family and accepted, loved and appreciated for who he was.

---
THIRTEENBonga Bonga Boof

It was a clear cool night when the small group of students, all hailing from different houses, gathered in small throngs at the open observatory at the top of the Astronomy Tower. Above, in the dark cloudless sky, the stars twinkled brightly and formed the same constellations that had been admired for centuries. At the call of the Hufflepuff prefect, the students massed as one group and formed a uneven circle, just as a slight gust of perfumed wind picked up. At around about the same time, each student bent knee and sat mostly Indian style, and waited for one to be chosen. It was Neville this time, and those who had came from Gryffindor gave him a small cheer of encouragement. Neville pushed himself up to stand with a wide grin on his face and gave his fellow housemates a celebrative fist pump into the air before getting ready to move. At the signal, Neville walked around the circle swiftly, pressing his hand down onto fellow student's heads, and called out with a clear ring to his voice:

"Duck! Duck!....GOOSE!"

---
FOURTEENSilence Is Golden

"Draco, we really shouldn't be up here," Hermione whispered and looked around. The cool night breeze played in the curls of her brown hair. Everything seemed to miniscule from the top of the Astronomy Tower, and as she looked up at the brilliant night sky, her spirits seemed to soar.

"Granger," Draco whispered softly behind her as he put his hands on her waist, nuzzling the nape of her neck. "Has anyone ever told you that you worry far, far too much?" His lips left a warm trail on her skin. Without realising, Hermione took a deep breath and closed her eyes, her body suddenly relaxing.

"All the time," she smiled and turned around, her eyes opening to look at him. "But then again," she continued slyly while reaching up and running her hand through his blonde hair. "They also tell me that you're the scum of the earth and Ron always keeps telling me that he wants to shove his wand up your-"

"Granger," Draco interrupted her and pulled her in close. "I think you better shut up." And he leaned in, kissing her firmly on the mouth, erasing every single argument she could have possibly made against that.

---
FIFTEENPadfoot Comes Up With the WORST (Best) Puns

Remus tilted his telescope in the direction of the seventh planet, trying to focus the powerful Space Seer 4 on the pale dot in space. He was distracted by the snicker he heard behind him, and turned, a glare on his wolfish young face. Sirius pretended to busy himself with his own telescope, a monstrous grin still playing on his lips.

"I suppose this is the part where you make a hilarious joke about my anus?" Remus asked. He knew what to expect of one of his best friends. He knew that Sirius could not let a Uranus opportunity slip by.

"You know me too well," Sirius replied. "But seriously, I was just thinking about how someday, I'd like to go to that planet..."

Remus deadpanned, waiting for him to finish.

"... And claim Uranus for myself," Sirius sighed mock-dreamily. As Sirius raised a hand threateningly with a trajectory toward Remus' arse, the professor walked by. She shot them a strange look and they dissolved into silent laughter. The teachers generally got the sense that they were flirting with each other. Sirius found this hilarious, even more so because he never denied it.

He adored midnight astronomy lessons with Remus.

---
SIXTEENHBP INTERLUDE

"AVADA KEDAVRA."

Snapped out of his silent reverie, Harry looked around belatedly, blind eyes searching the darkness for -

"Really, Potter, you make it too easy." Oh. Great. Malfoy. "One would think there wasn't an evil overlord with a nine-thousand galleon reward hanging over your scarred, rather unbecoming, not to mention untidy head."

Harry rolled his eyes. He wasn't in the mood for this. The entire reason he'd even come up to the Astronomy Tower tonight was so he could be alone. "I was just leaving, Malfoy."

"Not so fast, Potty." Malfoy took a step forward into the moonlight, and Harry could just make out the irritation shadowing his face.

"The next time you and your little fanclub feel like spreading complete lies about me and my house elves, think twice. I'll have you know that I have never, ever done anything like -" Draco stopped mid-vehement-expression, noisily drawing in a breath through his nose, jaw clenched. Eyes fixed narrowly, he shook his head at Harry once in a slight twitching motion, turned sharply and swept away.

Harry blinked, paused, blinked again. Malfoy was obviously losing it. He silently vowed to watch him even more closely from then on. Once again.

---
SEVENTEENMidnight Stroll

The night that Filch had caught Harry and Hermione in their first year, he had been lurking near the astronomy tower. After reporting them to McGonagall, he quickly strode back to the tower and nervously patted his hair before turning into a side entrance and knocking on a hidden door.
"Argus," a lofty and mysterious voice descended upon him, giving him chills. "I knew you would be delayed and waited up for you."
"Excuse me, my dear Sybill, students out of bed. But all that matters now is that I am with you."
And with that, Filch swept through the door and closed it behind him with a soft click. The smell of a warm apple pie dessert and scented candles wafted through the air behind him, and slowly disappeared as the night wore on.

---
EIGHTEENA Long Fall
It was a long Thursday night, and the twins had been creeping around the castle as usual, when they'd stumbled upon none other than Draco Malfoy, wandering around the top of the Astronomy tower.

"What's he doing here anyway?" Fred mused.

"Nothing good, that's for sure," George said flatly.

"Let's push that Malfoy kid off the tower!" Fred smirked with glee.

"Oh, I'm totally in for this!" George nodded fervently.

The twins crept over behind the oblivious boy, walking as quietly as shadows. Malfoy was already standing dangerously close to the edge, which was none too high.

"Count of three," whispered Fred, so quietly that George almost didn't hear him.

"One, two, THREE!" The twins chorused the last number together, leaping out of the shadows and thrusting Malfoy over the edge. Malfoy was so astonished he uttered a short, girly scream before tumbling into freefall over the edge.

"Haha, good luck to you, sucker!" George laughed. Malfoy was in for a very long fall.

---
NINETEENFor sods sake.
Ron clung to the roof of the astronomy tower and sincerely hoped that someone figured out he was up here. He'd had a bloody terrible argument with Percy and had gone up onto the roof of the astronomy tower to clear his head. And then, yeah, he'd been startled by an owl flying particularly closely, Hedwig he hoped, he'd slipped and here he was, clinging to the edge of the astronomy tower. What a rubbish day.

---
TWENTYStarlight, Starbright

It was damp and rather cold. Sometimes he hated how easily his human skin would shy away from it and get all goosepimply and shivery. Fur was much, much more fun in the rain. Especially when it made him smell musky and generally wet. He loved the smell of wet!

But right now, he was human and not a dog. He couldn’t revel in the mildew smell of it all, couldn’t roll around in the mud until his hair was caked in it and Remus would demand he take a bath because wet dog was gross.

Remus…

He sighed and leaned further out the Astronomy Tower window, gazing up into the pounding rain. Even if it was gloomy, he could still make out some of the stars between the patches of clouds. Grey eyes alighted on one in particular. His star. The “Dog Star”. Sirius.

It was his constant. When his rotten family was too much… Or, when one of his closest friends was laid up in the hospital ward because he’d been stupid and let a certain secret slip to their greatest foe… the star would always be there, twinkling at him. It never judged him. It was his.

---
TWENTY-ONEBlackholes
The night sky was completely clear tonight – something he hadn’t expected.

Tonight was a night for him to give up his search, to accept that yes, his father had been a worthless muggle, and his mother, perhaps, a more so worthless witch. This is a sky that should see his acceptance and fear it. It should hide from him.

He will outlive them all. His useless parents (who are not his parents). The teachers of this school (whose minds are so weak). The stars and planets in the sky (he smirks when he thinks of how many of them are already dead – only clinging to the lingering magic of their light).

Yes, this tower will open onto the grounds he will one day tread without any doubt of his immortality. Whatever it took, Lord Voldemort’s dark eyes will drag Death out from its place and tame it – with all the soul he had.

Join the club, explore the Universe.