Ch 10: Divination

Harry wasn't really sure why he kept up Divination since he'd been told often enough of his impending death and it never happened thank. At the beginning of the school term he had been rather miffed to find that instead of sharing the class with Ron he would be partnering up with Draco Malfoy, boy was he pissed at that and at first working together was rather hard. It took a lot for both of them to bite their tongues although this didn't always happen. There were at first a few verbal onslaughts but Malfoy had refrained from drawing his wand even when Harry had.

Malfoy or Draco as Harry was now calling him had called an armistice a few months back and while they didn't trust each other completely they were friends. They both realized that although they came from fairly different social classes they also appeared to have a fair bit in common. They worked well together for the class and both were getting pretty good marks. Now that Harry was partnered with Draco for divination class he realised that he'd have to take the class a little more seriously, he may not have liked the guy in the past or really known him but what he did know was that he was a bit like Hermione when it came to his studies and getting good grades. The class had always been a laugh and making anything up had seemed the best way to go; now however he was noticing that some aspects of the course were rather interesting and to some degree even accurate. As the course of the year continued Harry wondered just how much of Draco's readings would come true. They were both to keep dream journals to be divulged and interpreted at the end of the school year. Harry found Draco's readings to be intriguing; so far they certainly hadn't been anything close to what he had expected.

Draco had been more than uncomfortable at the idea of working with the one and only Harry Potter at first. He rather liked divination and like Harry didn't take it that seriously though he did take it seriously enough to work on getting good grades unlike Harry. He knew his life wouldn't be worth living otherwise, even if it wasn't Granger that was besting him. As the term wore on Draco found Harrys' view towards the subject had changed and was thanking Merlin that he was now taking it more seriously compared to the start of term. He knew the subject could actually reveal a lot about a witch or wizard and he wasn't keen on sharing that with someone who had been an enemy for so many years. He'd always thought it funny and laughed at their professors predictions of Potters imminent demise and wondered if Harry himself had come up with the same results. Like Harry, Draco was soon surprised by what not only his but Harrys' readings actually revealed. Many of Harrys' were darker than he would have expected, they were more like the sort of things he would have expected to find in his own reading considering his family life.

Cartomancy was an area of divination that Draco never would have guessed existed. Sure he knew of Tarot cards as a form of foretelling future events or paths but using playing cards was definitely a new one and one that no-one who didn't already know about it would ever suspect of being anything more than what they were. According to the text;

CARTOMANCY A DIFFERENT VIEW by MALIK JUKER

'It was around 1377 that playing cards arrived from the Middle East to Europe. There have been connections made with China from as early as the 10th Century. The cards as we know them are said to be derived from Islamic cards.

This form of fortune telling was in the past primarily used by gypsies with the cards themselves varying from country to country…..

The more he read about it, the more interesting it sounded. The interconnection of cultures and how long it had been around for, the similarities and differences in each deck of cards was something he never knew since he had never travelled to these far flung places.

There were only a few spreads, one of the most common being also one of the easiest in a nine card spread, they could either do their own or do their partners. Draco and Harry worked together, while one lay their cards the other helped decipher them.

Draco laid out his first three cards which represented the past, they were

a four of clubs,

king of diamonds

and a ten of spades;

Harry watched as Draco lay out his cards and flicked through his text briefly reading the notes. Draco then lay out the next three cards for the present which were

a Ace of spades,

three of hearts

and a jack of clubs.

He completed the spread with his future cards of which were the

five of clubs,

the queen of clubs

and finally the ace of hearts.

Draco waited with quill at the ready to write down what Harry had to relay about his spread.

Harry read "In the past you encountered changes for the worse, there were lies and betrayal involving a very fair haired man who is stubborn and of an influential nature, misfortune and worry will follow, there may be imprisonment and other unwelcome news."

Harry looked up at him when he'd finished observing his reaction. "So how much of that do you feel was accurate?" Harry asked.

Draco was actually astonished at how much of it was accurate, "well, a fair haired man who is stubborn and influential, there is only one person that fits that description and that would be my father. There were lies and betrayal, my father as you know has been imprisoned."

"What about the changes for the worse? Do you consider where your life is at the moment and where it's headed for, for the worse? Do you regret the fact that you are on the side of light, is this a change for the worse?" Harry asked almost accusingly.

Draco didn't hesitate to answer, "I wondered that same thing myself at first when it all came to pass but now I can honestly say that is not a change for the worse."

Harry nodded at Draco's' response.

"OK, let's see what it says about the present, will we?"

Harry continued looking again at the text.

"You'll encounter an emotional conflict so you'll need to be cautious and not say something you'll regret. Things are coming to a head, be aware of obsession and death though they may not be linked. You will find a reliable friend in a dark haired youth."

At the last line read Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise wondering if Draco was wondering the same thing.

Draco looked incredulously at Harry at the same time 'was that prediction saying what it sounded like it was saying?' he thought

"Well I think death is inevitable considering the direction all our lives are heading in at the moment wouldn't you say?"

Draco didn't feel the need to talk about the rest of the prediction, he knew he was already experiencing the emotional conflict and it was in all matter of areas not just with changing sides, but his family, the way he was brought up and his beliefs and mostly one muggle born which he currently lived with. The more he got to know her, the more he found that she was exactly the opposite of what his father had always taught him to believe. Okay so, so far Draco's cards were spot on which was a rather scary thought, were his future cards going to be just as accurate? He wondered.

"So what does it say for my future?" Draco asked,

Harry took a deep breath reading over the text deciphering what he was about to relay, it would certainly be interesting to see this come to pass.

"You will make new friends who will help you. There's a start of a romance and love involving an attractive, self-confident woman with dark hair. Your home will be filled with love and a successful marriage" Draco grinned

"So things are going to look up for me then?" that's good. "I wonder who the woman is and when I'll meet her?" he asked rhetorically.

Harry shrugged "maybe you already know her"

"Well at least I know it's not Pansy". Draco finished;

Finishing off his notes Draco set down his quill, he'd write the report later.

"Well Harry, let's see what the cards have to say about you." Draco declared.

Again Harry took a deep breath for once he was actually taking this divination business seriously, if his reading turned out as accurate as Draco's then obviously his attitude to the subject was going to have to change. Harry put down his text while Draco gathered the cards together and handed them over; while Harry shuffled Draco pulled out his text. Harry gingerly laid his cards -

A two of spades,

Jack of diamonds

& nine of hearts,

Represented the past.

Jack of hearts,

Nine of spades

& ace of spades

Harry looked at Draco as he lay the last card down to see if he too realised they had now both laid the same card in the present too bad he'd already forgotten its meaning. Draco only raised an eyebrow obviously surprised. All that remained was the future now; he could only hope it would be good.

Seven of Spades,

Ten of hearts

Two of hearts

When he'd finished his spread he waited, it was Draco's turn to take a breath.

"There was a separation of some sort, you've faced gossip and deceit and been through some difficult changes. There was a relative, maybe a fair haired youth who was unreliable or who you had a dishonest encounter with. Lastly the nine is the wish card where dreams come true"

Draco looked at Harry who appeared to be somewhat shocked.

"So?" asked Draco

"Well the separation is obvious since my parents died when I was a baby, gossip seems to be never ending wouldn't you say, especially where Skeeter is involved, everyone has always speculated about me without even knowing the facts…(Draco felt slightly bad at this point, he knew what Harry was talking about after all he himself had been guilty of spreading rumours and lies about the other wizard without having all the facts)… my family if you can call them that have been both dishonest and unreliable both with me and towards me. I think coming into a world I had no idea about was a difficult time although the best time in my life so far. I guess that getting away from my family and having friends was a dream come true, this whole life I'm living here is a dream come true" Harry finished sighing. "Well let's see what else the cards hold for me!"

Draco nodded and returned to the text in his hands and Harry again took up his quill.

"You're going to encounter some emotional conflict, obsessing over something and facing death. Things are coming to a head and for now you will have a run of bad luck making you feel depressed and low in energy. There is destruction and deaths and a close friend will be involved, you're likely to feel extremely anxious… (Draco looked up at Harry grimly) … doesn't sound great sorry mate."

Harry was quiet for a moment as he digested what he'd just been told "well, what's there to say about that? I think it's pretty obvious what it's about. Besides I've been facing death for years. So how much worse is my future going to get?"

Draco looked back at his text and read "you're going to either loose a friendship or a friend. There is also an unexpected burden and a warning against sorrow and losses. There is a good change for you and with it happiness, success and prosperity and maybe an engagement or partnership of some kind."

He put down the book and looked up at Harry again. Harry was still scratching away with his quill and without looking up Harry spoke…

"I wonder which of my friends will die…"

Draco was secretly wondering the same thing and hoping to Merlin it wouldn't be Hermione. Harry was solemn "…I'm not surprised that there are warnings of losses and sorrow, especially with the war so near, but then there looks to be a positive outcome so I guess that means I'll survive"

Draco nodded once again - he was rather glad this wasn't his lay of cards.

Harry left Draco so they could both write their essays; he would be back soon enough for another tea reading. They needed to do them monthly, for now he had to think more about what the cards had revealed. Harry wasn't so surprised really, he knew his destiny and knew it wasn't going to be any good, he knew there'd be pain and loss, how could he not when he was to face Voldemort. Pretty much every reading he'd had in divination over the years, whether serious or not had pointed in that direction. Even the tea readings this school year hadn't been the most positive. So far he'd had 'a bush' which meant a new friend or opportunities as it turned out he was now becoming friends with Draco; ' a shoe' was a change for the better, which he was figuring also related to Draco as was the time he got the 'snake' which was an enemy but also wisdom. He got that when he found he was to be partnered with him in the first place. He'd had an 'owl' which meant gossip and scandal and really that was nothing knew he was always being gossiped about. Then he'd also got a 'question mark' which was a need for caution, that was just before Christmas when he went after another Horcrux, there was also 'a raven' for bad news and at that time he'd learnt that Death eaters had attacked. The worst one was when he got a sword the omen of arguments and that was about a month ago when Ron had found out about his friendship with Draco, it had taken some time for Ron to cool down but now he was also working on a friendship with the blond. Usually there was more than one symbol in the cup, so readings could vary; however so far Harry's had been pretty straight forward. He could only hope they'd improve but didn't think that would be possible until after his defeat of Voldemort, if he survived. Some of his dreams had been disturbing but so far they'd learnt that didn't always mean what you saw and they were to decipher them at the end of the year nearer to their N.E. to see what had come true so far and then what will, though dreams were usually more about the present. Harry was surprised at what Draco's cards were revealing and had a feeling that it might involve Hermione; if it did he still wasn't sure how he felt about that.

Draco sat for a while after Harry had left looking over his notes and contemplating what the cards could mean, it had certainly been a lot more positive than he thought it would be and had been taken aback at how dark Harry's reading was. If anyone's was to be dark he thought it would have been his future. As much as he had wanted the change he didn't know if was really going to happen; now it looked like it just might. The idea of love, romance, a happy home life and successful marriage were something he never thought would happen; after all it wasn't exactly what his parents had. It was obvious to him who his new friends were and he couldn't help but slightly hope that Hermione was the dark haired women, but he wouldn't get his hopes up. As for his tea leaves over the months they had been varied, last month like Harry he'd got the sword and had argued with Hermione, it was the worst fight they'd had in a long while and he missed talking to her at the time. He found birds which meant good news and that was just before he found out about his mother and sister; he too has also had a bush and was now friends with Harry or at least fast becoming friends with not only Harry but the rest of the trio as well. He thought at first that when he saw a baby that it meant he was going to become a father but was relieved to find that it just meant small worries and in fact he did have a few at the time. He had an 'axe' that meant overcoming difficulties and he'd sure done that, he had an hourglass once which meant he needed to make a decision and that was over giving up his contact with his family and going to the light. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that he was stuck inside that gave him the better than expected reading. He wondered if they'd continue to be relatively positive or if once the battles started if it would all become depressingly negative and maybe his life wouldn't be as happy as the cards made out. He knew that it could all change too readily but hoped that at least that would be the same. His dreams hadn't been much of an indication of much so far and what he had dreamt of hadn't meant anything more than what they had been about at the time.

Another few weeks had passed by the time Harry and Draco got together for their latest tea leaf readings. Both hoped that they would be positive, it would be the last for a couple of months because next month would see Draco going to stay at Hermione's home for the last part of his muggle studies class. They were both in the lounge room preparing their tea when Hermione came in fuming and plonked herself down conjuring up herself her own cup of tea. Both boys knew there was no need to ask what was up, she would tell them soon enough and sure enough she'd no sooner taken a sip of her tea and she was telling them all that had just transpired between her and Theo. They had just argued over the fact that she spent so little time with him; they had fought about before but this time Theo had decided that he wasn't going to take it any more especially once she told him she would be going home at the end of the month for a month of muggle studies, he couldn't understand why she needed too but then she told him she would have a pureblood witch or wizard at home with her, he accused her of keeping secrets from him , of course she couldn't admit he was right so she had yelled back at him about obviously not trusting her and he then agreed and broke it off between them agreeing she walked away and now here she was having tea with the two of them. Both boys were secretly happy but of course neither would tell her, both having their own reasons too. Harry and Draco both said they were sorry to hear the news, but Hermione knew from looking at them that they weren't really. Instead she smiled and nodded, then noticing that she had finished her tea Harry spoke "Hermione, I know you don't believe any of this divination stuff but how about we do your tea leaves and see what we come up with for a bit of fun?" Hermione didn't look like she was going to go for it so Draco spoke up "yeah, come on Hermione we have to do ours for class anyway so have some fun, there's no harm in it"

Hermione knew what she would normally have said and no doubt so did the boys but she decided to have some fun as Harry and Draco said it's not like it would come true anyway. She did what the boys told her and Harry took her cup in hand in order to study it, he looked closely and was surprised at what he did find, one symbol looked a bit like a wasp and the other looked like a parasol, he then gave the cup to Draco while he looked up the meanings and Draco found what he thought looked like a parasol and an aircraft,

"So what did you come up with Harry?" asked Draco

"I saw a wasp which foretells of romantic problems and a parasol which tells of a new lover"

Harry looked up at Hermione and grinned

"What?"

Harry continued grinning

"So who's the new lover?"

Hermione just shook her head

"Now really Harry, why do you insist on believing this drivel?"

"Hermione how could you not? Romantic problems... does that not sound familiar?"

"It's all just a coincidence and nothing more" Hermione firmly stated before she turned to Draco. Draco tried hard not to laugh, he'd done that a bit this year and it was a rather pleasant feeling and he knew he was happy. He wondered how Hermione would react when he told her what he'd seen; he knew Harry would find it funny.

"Hermione I also saw the parasol but I thought the other symbol looked more like an aircraft which can mean a journey and you are doing that by going home you know"

"I think you boys are just seeing what you want to see. So what do you boys have then?"

She watched them as they studied their leaves and waited for their interpretations. Harry was the one to start;

"I have a fan which means flirtation (he said this with eyebrows raised) I also have a heart which means pleasure, love and lust; sounds like things are on the up for me..." he said with a grin,

Draco laughed "well at least one of us appears to be getting some"

Hermione shook her head in disgust. "I don't think I want to hear anymore, I'm going to the library to read."

Once she had left Draco turned to Harry "Is that really what you got in the leaves?"

Harry nodded "...and also a vase which is a friend needs help, that'll probably be Ron. So what do your leaves have for you?"

Draco leaned forward with his text in hand "I have a lamp and from its position it means secrets revealed..." he glanced at Harry and Harry asked with a grin "secrets hey? So what are you keeping from us?"

"Nothing important I assure you, my other symbols are a kite which is wishes coming true and a hawk which is jealousy, I wonder what I'm going to get jealous over?"

Harry shrugged; it was time for him to leave, they both had more studying to do. It would be over a month before they did their next reading and that would be just before their N.E..