HP: She married Malfoy after becoming an exchange student.

Hogwarts mornings are always shrouded in a thin layer of cold mist, and the wind is especially strong at the top of the Astronomy Tower, whipping up dew and splashing it against the stone railings, creating tiny water droplets.

Draco wrapped his dark green school robe tighter around himself, the silver buttons at the collar jingling in the wind.

The quill in my hand drew crooked lines on the star map—the red dot representing Mars had wandered into Saturn's orbit for the third time.

"Move half an inch to the upper left, then a little more to the side." Elias's voice came from beside him, slightly hoarse from the morning mist.

He stood by the stone railing, a corner of his long, silver-gray hair lifted by the wind, revealing his smooth forehead. The silver astrolabe in his hand was facing the faint light of the east, the markings on the disc gleaming coldly in the morning light.

Draco frowned and did as he was told, the pen tip pausing on the parchment, and Mars finally obediently returned to its orbit.

He glanced at the other person's star chart, where the Orion Belt was drawn straight, with three stars in a line, as if measured with a ruler, and the edges were outlined with fine silver-gray ink, even more precise than the illustrations in textbooks.

Even more eye-catching is the small six-pointed star emblem in the corner, which is occasionally covered by the pages of the book that are blown by the wind, and then reappears when the wind stops, like a seal hidden between the lines.

"You helped me revise my potion notes last night, and you drew this too?" Draco suddenly spoke, his voice slightly distorted by the wind.

Elias turned to look at him, his silver-grey eyes reflecting the outline of the Forbidden Forest in the distance: "Everything belonging to the Reinhardt family needs to be marked." He paused, his gaze falling on Draco's reddened fingertips, "You're holding the pen upside down, no wonder the star trails you drew look like earthworms."

Draco jerked his hand back, and sure enough, the quill pen tip was tilted inwards.

He hurriedly adjusted his posture, but the tips of his ears were burning hotter than his fingertips—Elijas's gaze had lingered on his hands for two seconds, like a feather gently brushing against them, making him feel uneasy.

Behind them came the sound of Harry and Ron arguing. "That's clearly Sirius!" Ron's voice was hoarse from sleep. "Look how bright it is, like Fred's new wand!"

Harry's voice followed closely: "Idiot, Sirius is blue and white, that's Venus!"

Professor Sinister walked by carrying a bronze orb, his eyes behind his glasses pausing briefly over the Gryffindors, his brow furrowing like a spiral nebula on a star chart: "Mr. Weasley, it seems you need to copy the first chapter of 'Introduction to Astrology' three times and properly distinguish between planets and stars."

Ron's face fell instantly, like a pumpkin that had been hit by frost.

Draco couldn't help but smirk, and was about to say to Elias, as was his habit, "Look how stupid he is," when he saw Elias busy adjusting the focus of his telescope. The words rolled around in his mouth a few times, but he ultimately didn't spit them out.

My gaze fell on Harry's side again—on Potter's star map, Venus's position was marked very accurately, but Ron had drawn a crooked flying broom next to it, with the broom handle sticking into Jupiter's orbit.

"Porter's star trails are better than your first one," Elias said suddenly, his tone as calm as if stating a fact about the stars.

Draco's smile froze. He looked down at the "worm-like orbit" on his star chart that had been mocked before, feeling a little embarrassed.

He grabbed a quill and drew a small arrow next to Mars with force, making it more conspicuous than Elias's mark: "I can draw better than him now."

Elias chuckled softly, the wind whipping his long hair across Draco's hand, carrying a cool, refreshing scent, like the aroma of pine forests after a snowfall.

"Yes," he said, a hint of amusement in his voice, "Young Master Malfoy is making rapid progress, especially when someone is watching."

Draco was about to retort when the professor interrupted him: "Watch out! Jupiter is passing through Orion's Belt; this is a rare opportunity for observation!"

He immediately turned his attention back to the telescope, but as he adjusted the focus, he caught a glimpse of Elias's hand reaching out to steady the swaying telescope barrel. The other man's fingertips occasionally brushed against the back of his hand, strangely warming his hand.

Through the lens, Jupiter's stripes are clearly visible, and its four moons look like pearls adorning a blue and white satin.

Draco was somewhat lost in thought. The morning at Hogwarts was cold, but much more lively than the dawn at Malfoy Manor—there was Ron's silly mistake of the stars, Potter's stubborn refusal to admit defeat, and the German boy beside him who always mocked him but would secretly help him hold up his telescope.

The wind picked up again, making the star map rustle.

Draco held down his parchment while reaching out to help Elias hold down the pages that were being blown away by the wind.

Two hands lay side by side on the stone table, fingertips half an inch apart, both stained with silver-gray and dark green ink, the boundaries of which began to blur.

The distant castle bells rang—get out of class was over.

When Draco put away the star chart, he noticed a small serpentine mark next to Elias's six-pointed star emblem—the Slytherin house emblem. The mark was very light, as if its owner hadn't used much force, just a casual stroke.

A gust of cold wind swept by, causing the little snake to throb and thrash about.

"It wasn't wiped off by the wind," Draco thought to himself inexplicably, then realized how strange it was.

He looked up at Elias, who was bending down to put his binoculars into their case; his profile looked particularly gentle in the morning light.

"Let's go," Elias said, turning around first, the hem of his school robe brushing against the stone railing. "Next period is Charms class, and Professor Flitwick hates people who are late."

Draco followed behind him, clutching the star map marked with two symbols, his steps lighter than when he had come.

The wind was still blowing, but it wasn't so cold anymore; even the shadows of the trees at the edge of the forbidden forest seemed to nod at him.

He thought that he should remember to wear thick gloves for the next astronomy class—not to keep out the cold, but to… prevent Elias from seeing his frostbitten fingertips again.

----------------

The early morning wind from the observatory made people shiver, but the spell class classroom was as warm as spring, and sleepy people were dozing off.

Professor Flitwick stood atop the stack of books, raising his wand and waving it lightly: "Look closely—Yugadiem Leviosa!" The feathers on the podium rose into the air, swirling in the sunlight.

Hermione raised her hand like lightning, tapped her wand lightly, and her feather hovered steadily in mid-air.

"Two points for Gryffindor!" The professor had barely finished speaking when Ron's feather smacked Harry on the head, eliciting laughter—he had mispronounced the spell again.

"Watch me." Draco waved his wand, this time not trying to be brave, but instead following Elias's "success story." Sure enough, his feather floated up steadily and even spun in a beautiful circle.

Elias raised an eyebrow, letting his three feathers, which had successfully floated up, surround Draco's feathers to form a rotating ring.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the feathers, casting dappled patterns of light on the tabletop, like a sprinkle of gold dust.

"Fancy and frivolous," Draco retorted, though his smile didn't quite fade.

Ron's voice came from next door again, trembling with tears: "It fell again! The feather thudded onto the floor once more, kicking up a cloud of dust." Frustrated, he grabbed his red hair and slammed his wand on the table: "This damn spell is useless!"

Hermione leaned closer, still clutching the parchment filled with notes: "Ron, you mispronounced it. It should be 'Yugadimurle Viosa,' with the emphasis on 'Vio,' and the wrist should be—"

"Shut up, you know-it-all!" Ron jumped up, his voice booming through the classroom. "Nobody asked you to tell them what to do! Who do you think you are?"

Hermione's face turned pale instantly, her knuckles turned white as she gripped the parchment, and a fleeting tear flashed in her eyes.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end she just bit her lip, turned around and sat back in her seat, her shoulders trembling slightly.

Harry tried to persuade Ron to stop talking, but Ron glared at him fiercely: "You think she's annoying too, right? Like a buzzing bee!"

Elias let the swirling feather land gently on the table, his silver-grey gaze sweeping over Gryffindor before returning to Draco.

"It's not easy to explain a spell so clearly." His voice was very soft, like snowflakes falling on a feather. "If it were me, I might not have the patience to repeat it three times."

Draco paused, his fingers gripping his wand. He had indeed been inwardly mocking Ron's clumsiness and, incidentally, despising Hermione's "meddling," but Elias's words made him realize that "Miss Know-It-All" wasn't entirely wrong.

But then again, how did this guy know what I was thinking? Could Elias be a "know-it-all" too? Thinking of this, Draco stole a glance at the silver-haired boy.

"Tch, who wants you to repeat yourself three times?"

"Hmm," Elias replied noncommittally.

Draco, feeling awkward, glanced at Hermione again—the girl was staring down at the table, her curly hair obscuring her face, revealing only her tightly pursed lips, as if hiding a bellyful of unspoken grievances.

"Weasley," Professor Flitwick tapped the podium, his tone warning. Ron reluctantly picked up his wand, but deliberately straightened his back, making it clear that he would not accept any help.

Hermione drew a line on the parchment with her finger, the tip of her pen almost piercing the paper.

Draco suddenly felt listless. He let his feather float up, this time not to bump into Elias, but simply to hang quietly in mid-air.

Elias looked at Draco's unusually well-behaved appearance, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly. With a flick of his finger, one of his feathers slowly floated over and hung side by side with Draco's feather, like two birds perched on a branch.

"Focus," he whispered, "You're still half an inch off in terms of rotation angle."

Draco's attention was immediately drawn back. As he adjusted his wand, he inexplicably remembered the tone of Hermione's voice when she recited the spell—it was indeed clearer than Professor Flitwick's demonstration, with even the stress points clearly marked.

When the bell rang, Hermione hurriedly left with her schoolbag, not even noticing the feather falling to the ground.

Draco looked at the lone feather, then at Elias, who was leisurely packing his things, his long silver-gray hair hanging over his shoulders, looking incredibly relaxed.

"Hey," Draco picked up the feather, "her stuff."

Elias looked up, his eyes reflecting the feather in his hand, shimmering with tiny sparkles of light: "Then go and return it."

Draco didn't argue, but turned and chased after her. In the corridor, Ron was still complaining to Harry, "She's just too proud..."

Draco frowned, and when he stuffed the feather into Hermione's hand, he didn't say anything sarcastic, just gave a vague "uh-huh".

When he returned to the corridor, Elias was waiting for him at the top of the stairs.

"I didn't expect you to pay me back."

"Just doing it on the spur of the moment." Draco turned his face away.

"Hmm," someone chuckled softly.

"?!?!" Draco turned around instantly, staring at Elias, his eyebrows twitching. "What are you laughing at?!"

Elias raised an eyebrow, amused by Draco's remark.

"Hmm..." Elias leaned against the wall, seemingly deep in thought.

Draco stood still, staring at him silently.

After a long while, the silver-haired boy straightened up. He seemed genuinely puzzled. "Someone's very well-behaved, Draco. Do you know who it is?"