A cool night breeze swept across the Hogwarts Astronomy Tower, carrying that damp lake smell and chasing off the last bit of leftover sunset heat.
Clear skies tonight—no clouds, just a black velvet curtain dripping with diamonds. Humans drew lines between the sparkles, slapped names on 'em, and called it mythology.
"Look over there. September's prime time for Capricorn," Cho said, sitting right on the edge of the tower like a goddamn lunatic, legs dangling fifty-plus meters above certain death. "Fifty-one stars total. In Greek lore it's Pan, the goat-fish god. In astronomy the alpha star is part of the Ox constellation—specifically Niu Su Yi, the tip of the horn on the cow that got skinned alive by the Jade Emperor for eating sacred rice and causing a three-year famine."
"So… not the Cowherd from the love story?"
"Nope. The actual Cowherd star is Altair in Aquila, across the Milky Way from Vega. And honestly? I'm not a fan of that story."
"Why not?"
"Because the dude peeped on a girl bathing and stole her clothes. That's not romantic, that's creepy as hell."
"I sure hope you're not talking about me. I toss your clothes in the washer, not keep 'em as trophies."
Cho turned, eyes narrowing. "So when exactly did you peep on me in the shower?"
"I didn't peep. I stared openly and proudly. There's a difference."
She huffed and whipped her head away. Swimming is NOT the same as showering, you perv.
"So what's next on Professor Zhang's syllabus?" Lynn asked, leaning back on his palms.
"Huh?"
"You said you were good at astronomy and dragged me up here to 'tutor' me. Otherwise I'm not sitting on a freezing tower at midnight like an idiot."
"Or… maybe in three days it's Valentine's Day and you brought me up here for a dry run?" She smirked.
"Damn, Cho, thirsty much? Trying to get in my pants already?"
"Say that again, I dare you." She twisted his arm hard enough to make a lesser man cry.
"Relax, princess. I just felt bad for your antisocial ass. All you do is hole up in the common room with books. Figured I'd teach you this crazy concept called 'work-life balance.'"
"By making me stargaze?"
"By drowning you in myths. Myths turn into fairy tales. Fairy tales knock kids out cold." She hugged her knees, chin resting on them, voice soft. "When I was little my mom used to point at the sky and tell me these stories until I passed out."
Lynn actually felt something twist in his chest. She remembered what he'd said weeks ago about never having a real childhood and decided to fix it. Sweet as hell.
He wasn't sure he still had the hardware to feel like a kid again—his inner child got murdered a long time ago and the body was never found—but the gesture? Yeah. That hit.
"Thanks," he said, quiet.
"No prob. We finished mine, what's yours? When's your birthday?"
"September 25th, so Libra. Right there." She traced the scales in the sky. "Forty-six stars. Represents Astraea, goddess of justice. Fun fact—the beta star's pale green. Super rare color, even Muggles barely understand why. Wizards? Zero clue. Too few of us give enough of a shit to stare at every single star long enough."
The wind picked up. Cho shivered and scooted closer until her head rested on his shoulder, one hand lazily drawing constellations while she kept spinning stories.
Hours slipped by. When he finally noticed her trembling, he cursed.
"You're freezing and didn't say shit?"
He slid one arm around her shoulders, the other under her knees, and scooped her up bridal-style. Girl was an ice cube.
"Should've spoken up. I've been running hot all day—ate too much spicy crap—so I didn't feel the cold."
"I'm fine," she mumbled into his chest. "Hot tea and I'm golden. I love stargazing, just… can't see jack from the dorms, and coming up here alone scares me."
"Next time we do it in a tent. Same view, zero hypothermia."
"Why the hell didn't you say that hours ago?!" She bonked him on the head.
"I was entranced by your storytelling, okay? Kinda forgot the outside part. Honestly never had the whole 'bedtime story' thing as a kid."
"Not even in the orphanage?"
"Orphanage was more 'hope dinner shows up tonight' than fairy tales. Being the best-behaved kid scored me a hard candy once a week. The rest of the time my stomach kept me awake."
She started to say something soft and pitying.
"Nope. Save it. Still alive, still jacked—proof I can carry your dramatic ass no problem."
"Am I heavy?" She flashed a tiny, dangerous fang.
"Anything over a hundred pounds is either tall or thicc. So which is it?"
"Ninety-one, thank you very much. Guess."
"Can't risk it. Might get murdered."
He floated them down the side of the castle (because fuck stairs), set her gently on the ground inside. Her legs wobbled—pins and needles.
"Little help?" She pouted.
"Red tea, no sugar, coming up. Two minutes, kitchen run?"
"No way, I'm not standing here alone in the dark."
"Our brave, kind, gentle Miss Zhang is scared of the dark?"
"…Maybe a little."
"Fine, piggy-back time." He crouched. She hopped on, arms around his neck, and he levitated them straight to the eighth floor, slipped through the Room of Requirement shortcut, then dropped into the kitchens like it was nothing.
House-elves hooked them up with steaming tea and a plate of crunchy sandwich cookies. Ten minutes later Cho could feel her toes again.
He walked her to Ravenclaw Tower. She knocked, answered the eagle knocker's riddle in like two seconds flat.
"Night, Lynn. Sleep tight."
"Night."
He watched the door close, then headed to Gryffindor.
Common room was almost empty—nearly lights-out. Just a few try-hards scratching away on parchment. And of course Harry and Hermione parked at a table, heads together over textbooks.
"Date over?" Harry asked with a shit-eating grin.
"What kind of absolute moron takes a date to the Astronomy Tower to freeze their nuts off?"
Harry stuck out her tongue. "Fair."
"Cho's trying to resurrect my dead childhood. It's actually working a little."
"Knew she was the best!" Harry crowed.
"Yeah, yeah, rub it in. Bedtime, shorty. Less than eight hours and you'll stay fun-sized forever."
"Will NOT."
She smacked his hand off her head, grabbed Hermione, and stomped off to the girls' dorms.
Boys' dorm was already dark, half the room snoring like chainsaws. Lynn slipped into bed smiling like an idiot.
Real healthy sleep schedule, fellas.