"Newt." You whispered in the dark, your eyes flickering to the sleeping forms of his bunk mates nestled under mustard-yellow duvets.

"Newt!" You hissed, shoving Newt's shoulder under the mountain of blankets he was cocooned in.

Newt's eyes opened groggily. He groaned, swatting your hand away. "Whas goin on," he mumbled.

"I have something to show you." You whispered, a mischievous glint in your eyes.

"Can't it wait until morning?" Newt pleaded.

"No." You replied, pulling Newt trunk from under his bed as softly as you could and tapping the top with your wand.

"How did you even get in here?" Newt mumbled, burying into the covers. He looked so innocent, and you almost felt bad for waking him up. Almost.

Fishing around through Newt's trunk, which was filled with balled up, wrinkly clothes, crumpled up parchment, broken quills, and various anatomical drawings of beasts, you replied, "Didn't you know that girls are allowed in the boys' dorms? Just not the other way around. Finally! Newt, your trunk is a mess." You held up the shimmering, airy coat in the light triumphantly.

"My invisibility cloak?" Newt questioned, slowly swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

"Yes. It's the one you just bought, right?Here, put these on." You tossed a pair of grey pants, suspenders, and a white button down to Newt.

Newt blinked as the clothes crashed into him. You stood back and crossed your arms, your eyebrow cocked expectantly.

"Are you going to watch me change or are you going to let me have some privacy?"

"Oh, right," you blushed. "I'll be in the common room."

You tiptoed across the room and exited the dorm, closing the door softly so as not to wake the other 5th year Hufflepuff boys. After a couple minutes of waiting impatiently in the common room, Newt came trudging down the stairs, somehow still managing to look good at one in the morning.

"So?" He asked once he was facing you. "Where are we going?"

You held up the cloak. "You'll see. We need this, though."

You handed the cloak to Newt and he pulled it over your heads, making you scoot closer to him. You struggled to keep a blush from rising to your cheeks; Newt's arm was slung around your shoulders to keep the cloak away from your faces. Though you had known that he'd have to put his arm around you to keep the invisibility cloak up, you still delighted in the fact that your plan had worked and his arm was around your shoulders like in some cheesy rom-com.

"To the left," You commanded. "Towards the Astronomy wing."

"But that's restricted," Newt protested.

You rolled your eyes. "Literally everything we're doing right now is restricted. Does it really matter if we break one more rule?"

Newt didn't answer, pouting silently.

Together, you shuffled silently through the deserted corridors, encountering no one except for Mrs. Norris, the janitor's ancient cat, who seemed to linger on your forms for longer than normal but disappeared soon after.

Finally, you opened a door leading to a narrow staircase. You shuffled inside and shrugged the cloak off, knowing you would be unseen.

"Why are we at the astronomy tower?" Newt asked timidly, a hint of curiosity in his voice.

"I was looking out my window and I remembered something that's happening today. And the view is spectacular. I felt like I should share it with someone." You shrugged, starting the trek up the winding staircase. You paused and looked back at Newt, who was fidgeting with the hem of his sweater nervously. "Is that alright with you? We can go back."

Newt shook his head hastily, peering at you with his glittering green eyes. "Yeah, o-of course." He swallowed.

You smiled briefly. "Good. C'mon, we've got a ways to go."

You trudged up the long, winding spiral staircase silently, with you in the front and Newt following behind. It seemed the path would never end, until you finally reached a tall, metal door with a moon imprinted on the front. You pointed at the door with your wand, muttering a spell under your breath. With a click and a groan, it swung open to reveal a small stone deck, overlooking the whole Hogwarts castle and most of the grounds.

Stepping out onto the deck, you looked back at Newt and beckoned him with a small smile.

"You can see all the stars from here," You said, moving to rest against the stone barrier.

"Oh, yeah." Newt agreed, seeming slightly flustered.

You gazed up at the swirling constellations marking the black sky. It was if someone had painted the dark blue canvas with neon, dotting with white and silver in a wave of starlight.

"Did you know," You turned to Newt (who, rather than looking at the sky, was looking at you). "That the first liquid-fueled rocket was launched today?"

"Really?" Newt started, seeming to realize he was being a little creepy.

"Yeah," You replied, pausing for a minute.  "Have you heard of that?"

"Er, I think so." Newt replied.

You grinned. "Good. For a second I thought I'd have to explain about Robert Goddard and the Soviet Rocket Association... it's a shame it's the soviets and not us launching the rockets. Damn communists."

Newt blushed and laughed under his breath. "You're very interesting, (Y/N)."

You laughed to cover up the embarrassed blush rising to your face. "Well, we need to be educated about this sort of thing!You wouldn't believe how many witches and wizards are totally clueless about what's happening in the Muggle world."

"Watching the news is really the only thing I have to do when I'm with my family." Newt replied softly, shrugging his shoulders.

You paused, feeling like you might have overstepped a boundary. "They... they aren't too bad... are they?"

"I suppose they could be worse." Newt replied, but his jaw was set in a way that implied they really couldn't.

"Maybe I'll drop by over the summer and hex them." You proffered, leaning against the railing with a smirk.

Newt laughed a loud, unexpected laugh that made your insides tingle. "That'd be great."

You grinned in satisfaction. Turning back to the stars above, you asked, "What do you think you're going to do after Hogwarts?"

Newt paused. He shuffled, subtly shifting to lean with you against the railing. He was so close you could feel his shoulder just barely brushing yours. Whether he noticed or not, it made your neck feel hot with a sense of guilty pleasure. "I haven't thought about it all that much." He mused. "Probably something to do with my creatures. I don't think I could abandon them."

You turned to Newt with a frown, who had his eyes trained on the trees below. "You'd never abandon them," you retorted. "I'd be surprised if you did anything but take care of them." Newt turned to you abruptly, meeting your eyes with his blazing green ones. Your face flushed, and you prayed that it was too dark for him to notice.

"What about you?" He asked quietly. You were so close there wasn't any real need to be as loud as you normally would be.

You averted your eyes to the Ravenclaw Tower just across the way, where you could see students in blue mulling around an equally azure common room. You wondered why they were awake. It was probably for the same reason you were.

"I don't really know either." You admitted. "There's so many interesting things about the wizarding world. Dragons would be fun, though," Newt laughed at that. "But my parents make me take some Muggle courses over the summer, and I think it would be cool to go into science maybe. Chemical engineering, rocket science, stuff like that." You mused the thought over for a minute. "Yeah, I'd like to be like Robert Goddard. Be better than him. I could build a rocket that would go all the way to the moon."

"All the way to the moon?" Newt asked incredulously. "That seems-"

"Impossible, I know," you laughed. "But who knows? Maybe I could be the one to do it.

Newt opened his mouth to say something in response, then paused. "Wait, I'm sorry, you take Muggle school on top of Hogwarts?"

You grinned. "Yeah. It's actually not that bad."

"You'd be cut off from us, though. The Wizarding world, I mean. If you did that," Newt said pointedly. "Become a Muggle scientist, I mean."

You met Newt's eyes. "Whatever happens, whether I stay here or work in the Muggle world, I know that I'll never cut myself off from magic. Or you," You added.

"That's good." Newt swallowed. For a moment, you were silent, entranced by the constellations reflecting in the deep black of your irises.

You cleared your throat and looked back up at the sky. "We should probably head back. I'm sorry I dragged you out of bed just for this."

"Don't be." Newt said quietly.

You turned to make your way down the stairs, but Newt caught your wrist in a soft grip, holding you back. You looked up at him in surprise, your face going hot and clammy. Slowly, his hand slid down your forearm to your palm, and he interlaced his fingers with yours.

You glanced at your intertwined hands. "I don't want to leave. Not yet." Newt whispered, averting his eyes.

You met Newt's gaze once more. Your heart started to thump wildly; was what you thought was happening actually happening?

Cautiously, you turned so you were completely facing Newt and stepped forward, gingerly placing your free hand on his chest. His other arm tentatively snaked around your waist, holding you to him like you were more precious than the stars above you.

Your faces were so close you could have touched his nose with yours. Your breaths became shallow and rapid, and no doubt you were blushing like mad. Although, you weren't the only one; a light dusting of pink was visible on Newt's cheeks in the silvery moonlight.

"Newt," You whispered. "What's going on?"

"I don't really know," he murmured back. But, you thought, does it really matter?

Slowly, through some unspoken agreement, you leaned in. Your nose bumped against his and your lips brushed his soft ones. You hesitated, unsure if what you were doing was right.

Then, he was kissing you. It was like you were the only person he'd ever kissed, like you were the only person he ever wanted to kiss; like it was only ever just him and you isolated in a bubble underneath the stars and the rocket somewhere in the sky. His lips moved against yours like a supernova in a way that felt like it had been waiting for you for eons just to explode in this moment. It felt like it was meant to be.

Finally, to your disappointment, he pulled back. Your eyes flickered to his, and you couldn't control the gleeful giggle that burbled up from your throat. He reflected your mood, smiling back.

"You know what you should do?" You hummed, a beaming smile on your face.

"What?" Newt asked, seeming embarrassed but eager at the same time.

"Date me," You replied simply.

Newt laughed shortly. "Yeah, okay. I'd like that. A lot."

You glanced back down at Newt's lips. "You know what you should do?" Newt said.

"What?"

"Kiss me again."

~~~

Story soundtrack song: Electric- Alina Baraz feat. Khalid

wooo sorry I didn't update the last two weeks, school kinda swamped me after thanksgiving break. here's this though, hope you like it!!

Don't forget to like and comment! Love y'all!

-Elise