Chapter Four

"Raven, I'm sorry!" called Draco, chasing me up one of the changing staircases.

I tried to continue my trek to Charms, but it was difficult to ignore him, especially in one of the most populated areas of the school. Though I wasn't making a spectacle of myself as Draco was, people still gave me sideways glances, and I knew some of them would be very eager to know why I wouldn't talk to him. When I made it up to one of the landings, I whirled around but he was already gripping my forearm and pushing me to the wall.

"Hey!" I snapped as quietly as I could, but I had made him mad by pretending I couldn't hear him since we'd left the dungeons.

"Listen to me," he hissed, "I'm trying to apologize, and that's not something that's easy for me to do."

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to," I snarled, "Now, let me go."

"Not until you forgive me," he growled, his grip on my arm tightening.

I raised my eyebrows, and we stared at each other for a long, tense moment, each daring the other to back down. His eyes bore into mine, but I hadn't done anything wrong, so I found it easy to not look away. Finally, his face softened and his grip on my arm loosened.

"I…I just don't like it when you're mad at me," he sighed, his eyes dropping to my feet.

"And I don't like being mad at you."

"Then forgive me."

"Not until Willow forgives you, and she can't do that unless you apologize to her. And next time, think about what you say before you say it."

Before he could respond, I broke free of his hold and stormed off down the hallway.

It was later that day when the Slytherins had their first Divination lesson.

I had been immensely looking forward to it because anything related to the 'third eye' intrigued me. Besides, I'd been told that I had an aptitude for analyzing dreams – or receiving messages through my dreams. It was mostly smaller things, but it was still there. For instance, when I was a child, I always enjoyed exploring Ashe Manor. One night I dreamt of a secret passage that lead from one area of the house to another. When I woke up, I went to investigate and the secret passage was real.

There were other things such as dream symbols that I could interpret without really thinking about it. So much so, in fact, that my mother and her friends often ask me for my input on their dreams.

It was things like this that made me believe I would thrive in Divination, even though I'd never given any thought to studying it further as a career.

I knew that Draco would be in Divination lesson, but I made it a point to walk alone, something that didn't go unnoticed by my peers. However, in doing so, I was the first to arrive in the classroom.

As soon as I looked at Professor Trelawney, I noticed a brownish, muddy light surrounding her head. It was almost like a haze, and I could notice it better out of my peripheral vision. I had no clue what it was, but I avoided staring out of courtesy.

"Bright, royal blue auras are often a sign of clairvoyance. What you're seeing is my aura," she explained, and I didn't have the heart to tell her that her aura was not the royal blue she believed it to be, "If you're interested, yours is scarlet. That type of aura indicates confidence and creativity. But why wouldn't you be confident when you're the most respected girl in school? And I must say, you're one of my first students to be able to see auras immediately."

"I didn't know I was able to," I defended, "I never have before. Yours is just so pronounced I guess."

"As is yours, dear, but I would advise you to start paying attention to the auras of people you interact with regularly. Now that you know you can see them, perhaps it will become easier to recognize them. Auras can also change colors. Paying attention to them may give you insights to certain people."

"Raven, you're already here?"

I spun around to face Draco as he swaggered into the room with Crabbe and Goyle trailing after him. I wanted to be the bigger person and respond, but I couldn't bring myself to say the words. Instead, I found a seat near the corner of my room. Unfortunately, Draco followed and took the chair across the table from me.

"What the hell, Raven?" his voice dropped to an angry whisper as the other two boys sat at a table near us, "Talk to me! I told you I was sorry. What else can I do? I just want things to be the same between us."

"Look," I began lowly, "I don't like this anymore than you do. I miss you! But you need to learn that saying those kind of things to people, especially fellow House members, come with consequences. Have you apologized to Willow yet?"

"No," he huffed.

"Once you apologize, then things can go back to normal."

"Are you still mad at me?"

"I am irritated that you won't apologize to her, but I'm not angry like I was."

His shoulders relaxed as other students began to filter into the room.

Because Willow was only a second year, she wouldn't be taking this class yet, but all of my other friends from Slytherin had been placed in my section.

Pansy nearly arrived late and had to sit with Millicent Bulstrode – the only student who didn't have a partner. Draco didn't move from his chair, but I decided that I was secretly glad. It felt like we were back to normal, even though I knew we weren't.

I missed him. The distance that had been created between us hurt badly. I missed his hugs, his smiles, and even – especially – the way he would drag me around by my sleeve. I wanted our relationship to be back where it had been, but I needed to be strong.

I needed to defend Willow.

Professor Trelawney began speaking about what we'd be learning over the course of the year once everyone had found their seats. I heard all of it, but I felt as though all of it was lost. It wasn't because I wasn't paying attention. It was because every idea, just the idea, created a spark of excitement. I was so caught in each word that I didn't retain any of the actual message.

When the speech was over, she told us to each grab a tea cup and attempt a basic tea reading with a partner. Draco and I went to the shelf to grab our cups along with our classmates. He grabbed a deep blue one while I took a white one with a blue belle accent around the gilded rim.

As we walked over to the professor so she could fill our cups, I turned mine over a few times in my hand admiring its beauty. I was so interested in the little cup, that I didn't notice Pansy standing right in front of me.

I bumped into her, and my tea cup fell to the ground. If it had fallen two inches to the left, it would have hit the stone floor and completely shattered. However, it fell on the rug instead and only chipped slightly on the rim.

Pansy stooped to pick it up.

"Thank you," I said as she handed it to me, but then I saw Trelawney watching us, her expression unreadable. "I'm sorry."

A warm smile spread over her face as she gently took the cup out of my hands.

"It's just a cup, dear," she replied, filling it with the steaming liquid with her other hand.

I took it back from her, the cup now heated by the tea within, and returned to my seat.

Draco and I sat silently across from each other, sipping our tea without making eye contact. Then I felt his knee brush mine from underneath the table. At first, I thought it was an accident – an easy one to make – but he didn't move his knee from mine. Our legs rested against each other's. He clearly just wanted some reaction, some acknowledgement, but, as much as it hurt, I wouldn't give him any.

When we were done drinking, we swirled the remaining leaves around a few times, as instructed. Then we swapped cups and began reading. I rotated Draco's around, looking at each new image I could see and marking them in the book.

A dustpan.

A lion.

A clasped necklace.

Unbalanced scales.

A wasp.

"Are you ready?" he asked me.

"Yes," I responded, picking up my book. I took some time to flip through it, searching for the first item, "Well, the dustpan means strange news about a friend. There's a lion here that means an influential friend. If you look this way, there's a complete necklace, which means admirers."

I said the last one quickly, hoping I didn't blush. I knew the admirer I just predicted was me.

"This unbalanced scale here means injustice. It's supposed to be predicative of a law suit, I think. And if you turn the cup this way, you can sort of make out a wasp. That means trouble in love."

"Interesting," he commented, "We have the necklace and the wasp in common. You also have an egg yolk, which means being dominated."

"Of course. I've always been oppressed by my father."

"But you've also got a tree, which means changes for the better. A pistol means danger. And a camel, and that means useful news."

"I'm not really sure what to make of all that."

Draco laughed, "Well, at least you haven't got a lawsuit in your future."

"I don't know," I replied, smirking, "If you're involved, it's probably in my future as well."

We went on like that for a while, talking about what lay in store for us in the future.

As we talked, I tried to see Draco's aura. It took me a few moments, but then I could sense it more than see it. If I focused too hard with my eyes, it went away. It was just so faint around the edges of his body, but once I found it, it was unmistakable.

A murky green.