After dinner Calla met with Harry to go and sneak to Hogsmeade to speak to Sirius and Remus, seeing as they hadn't had a proper chance to speak to them right after the task. Remus hugged her tightly as they emerged from under the Invisibility Cloak just by the Shrieking Shack. "You both did wonderfully," he told them, beaming. "You terrified me, but I am so proud of you both."

"It was brilliant," Sirius said, grinning, and then went to ruffle Harry's hair. "You flew circles around the dragon, you did, you could have outflown James! Oh, he'd have been so proud to have seen you today, Harry... So proud." She was sure there were tears shining in Sirius' eyes, but a part of her wished he had said that about her. "You're first! First!"

"Joint first," Harry mumbled awkwardly, glancing at Calla, who avoided Sirius and Remus' gaze.

"Oh, that doesn't matter. First!" His smile faltered a little when he looked at Calla, though she could tell he tried to hide it. "You did great too, Calla. The way you snuck away from that dragon, and just in time, too! It was fantastic!"

"Thanks," she said drily.

"I'm proud of you," Remus told her, eyes shining. "You completed the task, you kept your head, and just because it wasn't a big show doesn't mean you didn't do extremely well. It's not about entertaining, it's about intelligence, and I thought the way you handled the dragon was very skilled."

"The judges didn't care about that," she mumbled, quiet so that only Remus could hear.

"Who cares about them? You made it through, Calla, and I know how hard you worked and how scared you were, and that only makes me more proud of you. And this isn't the only task, remember. You just have to focus on yourself, not anyone else." He hugged her tightly. "I'd have been scared stiff if it were me. You were amazing."

His words filled her with a rush of gratitude and affection. "Thanks," she mumbled sincerely, smiling. She made herself smile as she looked to Harry. He had done really well, and even if she was disappointed in herself, that shouldn't stop her from being happy for her brother.

"You could win this thing," she told him sincerely, "you know that?"

"I couldn't have done it on my own," he said quickly, looking slightly alarmed. "I mean, I'd have never had any idea about the dragons if you hadn't seen them first or Hagrid hadn't shown me, and if Remus and Sirius and Professor Moody hadn't all given me ideas."

"Yeah, but you're the one who flew past the damn thing," Calla reminded him, taking a deep breath. "And got first place!"

"Tied first place."

"Only because Karkaroff's a miserable old git."

Harry laughed, but Remus and Sirius both seemed to turn more solemn at the sound of Karkaroff's name. "Yeah, well..." Harry trailed off modestly, but he was flushed from the praise, and Calla grinned.

"I did notice Karkaroff looking rather sour," Sirius pointed out with a frown. "I don't think he was too happy about the way things turned out."

"And he marked us both down," Harry said. "Deliberately. I expect he was furious I didn't get burnt."

Calla smiled weakly. "I thought he just isn't very easily impressed."

"Oh, no," Sirius said slowly. "I quite agree with Harry. Karkaroff didn't look pleased at all with you two, especially that Harry scored as well as Krum, and he was quite generous with him and Fleur."

"That might just be his school favouritism though," Remus said looking between them.

"Or Karkaroff meant for us to get ourselves killed," Harry said.

"Well-"

"We discussed the matter with Dumbledore, and I don't think Karkaroff put your names in," Remus said evenly. "I'm not saying you shouldn't be wary," he added quickly, "but don't hyper-fixate on Karkaroff. Whatever he did in the past doesn't mean he is the same now. Just be careful."

"And don't trust a word the bastard says," Sirius added.

"Yes, that too." Remus sighed. "We ought to get going," he said after a moment, gesturing to himself and Sirius. "And you two get back to school; I'm sure everyone's waiting to celebrate with you both. But promise me you'll both set to figuring out the next task as soon as you can, have a plan by the end of the Christmas holidays at least."

"You can't still set us homework, you know," Harry half-grumbled, but he was still grinning.

Remus smiled, and gave them both quick hugs. "Just promise me you'll be prepared. I do worry about you."

Sirius mumbled the same as he hugged them, and Calla and Harry watched the two of them trundle back to the village and Apparate away. The twins stood together on the hill overlooking Hogsmeade for a moment, Calla watching the sky darken. "So you made up with Ron, then?" she asked, as they started on their own journey back to Hogwarts under the Invisibility Cloak.

"Yeah. He said he reckoned we'd have to be mad to have put our own names in. He thinks someone's trying to do us in."

"He's probably right," Calla said darkly. "And he took his time figuring it out, he's been a prick ever since our names came out that goblet!"

"Yeah, well, we're alright now. He's my best mate, I can't stay mad at him."

"I can."

Harry chuckled. "No, you can't." He bumped her shoulder gently. "It doesn't bother me."

"I think I'd hold more of a grudge if it were me," she said.

"It's Ron though," he pointed out. "He knows he was wrong now."

Calla smiled, shaking her head. At least her brother was happy, even if she was still annoyed that their friend hadn't trusted them. "Well, I am glad you've made up. It was getting awfully dull watching you mope all the time."

"I didn't mope!"

"Yeah, you did," she giggled as they went back towards Honeydukes, pulling the cloak over themselves again.

It was only when they had almost reached the end of the passage, and Calla was checking the map for any rogue teachers who might spot them, when Harry asked her, "Are you alright?"

She stared at him. "Yeah. Course I am." Calla narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"I - I noticed you did struggle a bit." Calla stopped walking to glare at her brother, who quickly tried to backtrack. "I only meant, well, you got really hurt and your spellwork didn't seem to work great and I... Didn't really know what was happening?" He trailed off awkwardly, and Calla turned away from him, cheeks blazing. "I was just worried." So he thought she'd been struggling, did he? Thought her spells weren't working? He was right, but she wished he hadn't said it, especially since she'd been working so hard.

"I'm here, aren't I?" she said eventually. The judges must have picked up on the fact not all her spells worked, that she'd had to keep improvising, and that was why she'd scored so low. She hated the fact that Harry had noticed, and hated even more that he'd pointed it out. She suddenly felt rather sour; how had he done so well with a half-baked plan that she knew he'd only come up with the day before, and she'd been working so hard the last few weeks to try and get a handle on the magic she would need to use, and yet it felt like she'd still barely made it out of that arena with her life? Was it really just a matter of her over-thinking things? Harry had picked up on her failures, too.

He insisted on walking her to the Ravenclaw Tower, where she answered the eagle's riddle sullenly, gave her brother a tense smile and slipped inside. The common room seemed to have been packed full of Ravenclaws, all grinning. There was a small fireworks display going on in the corner of the room, orchestrated by Luna Lovegood - who appeared to have an iron dragon scale in her hair. Calla couldn't help but grin as her friends cried their congratulations - though not without earning a couple of glares from more studious older students - and Daphne and Padma came over to hug her again, and someone had managed to get a radio to work and it was playing the upbeat music of a band Calla had never heard of, but it still cheered her up considerably.

"Everyone wants to know what's in the egg!" Isobel said excitedly, with a tight hold on Calla's arm. She was beaming, eyes lit with interest. "Open it, would you?"

"I don't know about just yet," she said awkwardly. She'd wanted to open it privately to figure it out on her own, but now more people had crowded around her.

"Come on, Potter," Lisa said, grinning. "We've all been waiting ages."

She looked around at everyone's eager, excited faces, all of them looking at her, and felt herself give in. "Alright. Give me a minute, I'll go get it."

She'd left the golden egg on her bedside table earlier, next to the small model of the Ukrainian Ironbelly, which was curled up on top of it and snoring softly, little puffs of smoke coming from its nostrils. It was almost sweet, but would have been a lot sweeter had Calla not been picked up and almost killed by a real-life Ukrainian Ironbelly only a few hours before. She gently moved the model off of the top of the egg and then took the egg itself, carrying it down the stairs to great cheers from her housemates. She beamed. "Go on, then!" called a sixth year boy. "We want to see!"

Hands shaking nervously, Calla unlatched the top of the egg and it fell open, a bright light shining from within. There was a second of nothing but silence, and then the egg let out an awful, high-pitched screaming sound. Multiple people startled and clasped their hands over their ears, and Calla cringed back away from the egg, nearly dropping it in her shock as she tried to ram it shut again. "What the bloody hell was that!" Isobel cried, wide eyed. "God, it sounds like something's dying!"

"It sounds like a cat!" said a second year girl, looking very concerned. "You're not going to have to fight a cat!"

"Don't be stupid, Bella," huffed the boy beside her. "It must be some sort of other creature. A griffin!"

"Griffins don't sound like that," Isobel told the boy with a roll of her eyes. "Open it again, Calla, let's hear it."

There were disgruntled murmurs from within the crowd, but much as she hated the sound, Calla obliged. There was a group of people all now leaning forward curiously, though they cringed away again when the same wailing came out. "You'll have to bring earplugs with you," Daphne said as Calla snapped the thing shut again.

"Can we-"

"I'm not opening it again," Calla said firmly, glaring at the egg. "It sounds horrid."

Even so, she couldn't stop thinking about it. Her mind was already spinning at a hundred miles an hour as she tried to think what it could be. When she got back to the dorm in the early hours of the morning, the sound of the egg still lingered in the back of her mind; of course it wasn't helped by the fact that all the girls were also talking about it. "Could be a banshee," Sue was saying.

"Or a ghoul," Daphne said, prompting Isobel to do a very bad impression of the Bloody Baron. "The Baron isn't a ghoul, Izzy, he's a ghost."

"Yeah, but he's still freaky. I wouldn't want to fight him."

"I'll think about it in the morning," Calla said tiredly.

"It is morning," Mandy pointed out, and yawned loudly, falling backwards onto her bed. "And I forget we have classes in the morning."

"I haven't finished my Charms essay!" Padma said abruptly, sitting up from under the covers, her eyes wide.

"You can sweet talk Flitwick into an extension," Lisa said, waving her hand. "I just don't think I can bear Moody's class in the afternoon. I'll have to have a nap during lunch."

"Think I might join you," said Isobel, curling up under the covers on her bed. "Anyway... try not to sleep in... I really want pancakes for breakfast."

Calla smiled as she herself burrowed under her covers, Matilda resting by her feet at the end of her bed. Her bright eyes blinked as Lisa turned out the lights, and soon they all fell into deep and comfortable sleeps. She wasn't worrying about a dragon anymore, and despite not knowing what the egg meant, she had time. And her bed was so warm and comfy, she fell asleep within moments, silent and content.

Xx

She didn't truly set about trying to work out the egg until the weekend, having suffered through a nasty Potions essay on antidotes and protective potions, and a whole load of Ancient Runes homework from Professor Babbling. "Don't think just because you can slip past a dragon, you don't need to know your runes anymore," she told Calla mock-sternly, when she and Susan both made loud groans of protest.

Somehow, after the First Task, all the Hufflepuffs had warmed back up to her a lot more. Susan had already invited Calla to join her, Hannah, and Ernie's Transfiguration study group, and even the other girls were being polite to her, with Rachel Harris even waving at her in the corridor when they passed one another. But on Saturday afternoon, she decided to stay inside while her friends were out, feeling rather tired but determined to crack the egg, so to speak.

After finishing her essays and writing to Mairi to let her know how she'd got on in the 'inter-school triathlon' she sat down in the corner of the common room with the golden egg and started observing it. None of its physical features seemed to have changed any in the last few days, but she went to sketching it, so she had something to label and work her notes around. It was rather plain, to be honest, with the most ornate and intricate parts being the three clasps at the top. She didn't want to re-open it in front of everyone else, though, because there were some very anxious-looking seventh years hidden behind a tottering pile of Arithmancy books, and she didn't want to know what they would do to her if she interrupted their studying.

So with a sigh, she tucked her sketchbook and the egg under her arm and headed back up to the dormitory. "I thought that egg was rather interesting," said a misty voice from behind her on the stairs. Calla turned around, seeing Luna Lovegood standing there quite cheerfully.

"Really?" Calla asked, amused. She knew Luna knew an awful lot about magical creatures no one else had ever heard of. "You don't recognise it, do you?"

"Not in particular," said Luna, "though it may be a very large Omblom egg."

"An Omblom?"

"It's a sort of very large puffy fish, with spikes and seventeen antennae." Calla stared at her, nodding faintly. "They live in the Baltic Sea and they can turn you to ice by looking at you."

"Right." She stared down at the egg. "That's what you think I'll have to fight? An Omblom?"

"Oh, no," said Luna, eyes widening. "The Omblom are a very peaceful species, you wouldn't fight one. If it freezes you, you simply wait to thaw out. It's said that it takes an awfully long time, and I think it would be nice to have some peace to think. Many great philosophers are said to have been trapped by Omblom ice."

"Of course," Calla said awkwardly. She smiled at Luna, who if nothing else, did amuse her with facts she'd never have heard otherwise. "Well, thanks, Luna. I'll look into it."

Luna smiled and skipped away down the stairs, humming a merry tune. Calla shook her head, laughing amusedly, and went up into her dormitory. it was deserted, thankfully; Daphne, Padma and Isobel were tending to Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts- mostly at Isobel's request - Mandy and Sue were still writing their Potions essay, and Lisa was somewhere with Michael. It left her free to do as she liked, and so she sat down on the edge of her bed with the windows and door all tightly closed, and re-opened the egg.

It emitted only that same wailing sound, and so she snapped it tightly shut again; Matilda let out a yowl and leapt from the bed, glaring at Calla. "Sorry, sorry," she mumbled quickly, huffing. She reached down to scratch behind Matilda's ears, but her cat didn't seem impressed, and went to curl up underneath Daphne's bed instead.

Clearly opening it here wouldn't do anything helpful, but she was sure too that there must be some sort of clue from inside the egg. Mr Bagman had hinted as much, anyway. She frowned down at the egg. "Come on," she muttered. "Won't you do something?"

With a sudden flourish of inspiration, she grabbed her wand and hit the top of the egg enthusiastically. Nothing happened, and when she opened the egg again it made just the same sound as always. "For God's sake," she muttered. "How am I meant to hear what you're telling me?"

If it was something written, then she could have deciphered it, but whatever ridiculous code the clue seemed to be in, Calla did not understand it. But then, maybe there was something inside. Bagman had seemed to say as much. With a grimace, Calla opened the egg again and stuck her hand in the gap inside. Her hand felt suddenly cold, like she had plunged it into icy water, but there was nothing else in there that could be a clue. Pulling her hand out and snapping the egg shut, she paused to think for a moment.

What had Luna said; it could be an Omblom egg. Whatever an Omblom actually was or whether it actually existed or not, Luna had said it looked like one of its eggs, and it was a fish, wasn't it? Calla didn't know very much about marine animals, as Hagrid wasn't a particular fan of water, but it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that fish eggs might have water in them.

Maybe the task would take place in the lake? But she couldn't think how. The first task had been a spectator sport of sorts, with a large crowd, and so attempting anything at the lake would make that tricky to manage. It was in February, though, and perhaps they were counting on it freezing over. She hoped she wouldn't have to skate. She had never learned, and the idea of trying to move and fight in bulky, heavy boots with sharp blades on the bottom just didn't appeal to her. Then again, swimming wouldn't be much better. She sighed.

So, maybe the task was going to happen at the lake. She couldn't swim, or skate, and she doubted it could be underwater - how were they meant to last for any amount of time? Magic, she thought glumly. Perhaps that wasn't such a ridiculous idea.

Still all of her predictions were just guesses based on the egg. She was sure there had to be something more to it, a challenge or piece of magic or enchantment that they had to figure out, or else Bagman wouldn't have given them so long to do it. There had to be another clue.

Maybe the water itself was a clue. What if it had to be opened underwater? Calla bit her lip nervously. It sounded like a silly idea, but she didn't exactly have anything to lose, nor did she have any other ideas. If this worked, she swore that she would never let someone call Luna 'Loony Lovegood' ever again.

She scrambled off her bed and to the bathroom, and filled the sink quickly with cool water. She swirled her hand in it nervously and then plunged the egg in. A little bit of water slipped over the top of the basin, as Calla fumbled for the latch; it was not a wail that came out of the egg this time, but a faint sort of singing sound, a sweet, high melody. But she couldn't actually make out what it was singing, either. She ran back through to the dormitory, picked up a slip of parchment and a drawing pencil, and set them on the sink, as far from the water itself as she could.

Feeling foolish, she pulled her hair over to one side and leaned down to stick her ear in the water. The soft melody drifted through smoothly, and she gasped. It was working. Frowning, she closed the egg and then reopened it again, listening carefully.

Come seek us where our voices sound,

We cannot sing above the ground,

And while you're searching ponder this,

We've taken what you'll sorely miss.

An hour long you'll have to look,

And to recover what we took,

But past an hour the prospect's black,

Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.

She stood up abruptly, shaking the droplets of water from her head so that they sprayed the walls, and the she lifted the egg from the water, jamming it tightly shut again. She replayed those words in her mind and scribbled them down, so that she wouldn't forget. She was just about to put the egg in again, to check that she'd gotten it right, when she heard voices shouting below followed by the slam of her dormitory door.

She jumped, and dropped the egg into the sink, causing water to slosh violently all over her robes. There was a faint sort of sobbing sound from in the dormitory, and apprehensively, she moved to the bathroom door, opening it gently. Lisa was sitting on her bed with her knees curled up to her chest, shoulders shaking. Calla lingered awkwardly in the doorway, not knowing what to do. "Um," she said, and Lisa turned around sharply, rubbing at her red eyes. "Are you - you alright?"

"What happened to you?" Lisa asked her sharply, in an almost snarl. "You look like you've fallen in the lake."

"I was, um, figuring out the egg," Calla said awkwardly, flushing. She wiped at the damp front of her robes, going red. She took another few steps into the dormitory, watching Lisa closely. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Lisa said. "Just - just... Michael." She shook her head quickly and let out a loud sob. "He's such a git!"

"Ah," Calla said, glancing at Matilda, who gave her a look as if to say this is a human problem, not a cat problem and licked her hand for good measure. Calla sidled awkwardly to sit by Lisa on her bed, wishing she could be anywhere else. "What - what happened?

"He - he said I'm - I'm annoying and too rude and too argumentative and I just complicate things, and read too much into everything, which is ridiculous! And I'm too - too caught up in myself and he said I'm arrogant! Me, arrogant? Has he ever looked in a bloody mirror?" She shook from something that was between a laugh and a sob.

"What a git," Calla said hollowly, shaking her head. She rubbed Lisa's shoulder awkwardly, wishing there was someone else here to take over; of all the people to comfort Lisa, she was pretty sure she was the last choice, and didn't know what to do with the girl who didn't quite seem to have realised she was pouring out her problems to Calla.

"Yeah." Lisa wiped her eyes. "He just doesn't like that I always win arguments because he's a rubbish debater and he just goes round in circles because the only thing he actually knows about is - is Ancient Runes and Quidditch!"

"People are like that sometimes," Calla told her, nodding along faintly. "I'm sure you'll sort it out."

"Not if he doesn't want to," Lisa muttered. "And he probably doesn't."

"You never know."

Lisa sighed. "I don't know if I want to. Not when he's being such an absolute git."

"Yeah," Calla said immediately. "You can do loads better."

"Mm." Lisa nodded. "You're right." She stood up abruptly, wiping her eyes, and looked rather fierce. "Don't tell anybody I said that, you're still really annoying. And I'm not coming to help you with any of the Tournament spellwork anymore, because he distracts me too much!"

Calla nodded, with a very awkward smile. That was more like Lisa. "To be fair," she said, "I think he only came because you did anyway. You're very persuasive."

"Thanks," Lisa said flatly.

"Anyway, I've still got this egg to figure out."

"If you try and open it right now, Potter, I swear I'll kill you."

Calla grinned; yes, that was definitely more like Lisa. It felt very strange for them to have an almost civil conversation. "I've already opened it, under the water."

"Really?" Lisa looked grudgingly curious. "Did it fix the sound?"

"Yeah, it sang instead of wailed. I thought maybe it had something to do with some sea creature?"

"How did you think of it?" Lisa asked, staring. "That's a ridiculous idea."

"Luna Lovegood gave me the idea actually. She said it looked like a... I think she called it an Omblom egg?"

"What the hell's an Omblom?"

"Some really weird big fish. With antennae."

"Of course. That would be the sort of thing Luna Lovegood tells you about." Lisa snorted. "Well, I hope you can figure it out. I'm going to find Mandy and Sue. Don't get murdered by any dragons if you can help it."

"I'll do my best," Calla muttered, as Lisa left. Once the door was closed behind her, Calla looked to Matilda, who was on the end of Padma's bed and staring at the door. her head turned to Calla, bright eyes blinking as if to say, That was a surprise. Calla nodded, chuckling weakly as she took out her scrap of paper on which the song had been written down. She didn't have the time to dwell on whatever it was that had just happened with Lisa; she had a riddle to figure out now.

Xx

Come Monday evening, Calla was already tired of the fumes from Professor Trelawney's classroom, having spent most of her afternoon there, sweltering. Now that Ron and Harry had made up, they were both annoying her, and Harry seemed to have given up on trying to take the class seriously. "He's such a prat," Calla muttered to Padma, who had nodded soothingly and examined her star chart.

"Your Orion looks a little small," she said, "and I think you've made an ink blotch around about Pluto."

"Great," Calla muttered, glancing down. "I guess I'll write that it's going to explode. What does that mean?"

"Great misery and death," Padma quipped, "most likely."

Calla sighed. After her breakthrough on the egg at the weekend, she'd figured out she had to try and find something in the lake that had been stolen for her, likely by a lake creature. But with no idea what sort of creature, and no idea how she was going to be able to stay in a lake for an hour without drowning, or how she was going to learn how to swim, it was safe to say she was a bit stuck. The only consolation was that Harry didn't seem to have much of an idea what to do either, despite giving her assurances that he was working on it and had mostly gotten the clue solved. He didn't seem to want to talk much about it, but Calla didn't want to discuss her plan either until it was formed, so she respected that even if she was curious about what Harry was going to do.

There had also been an article published in the Prophet that morning about the Tournament, which had done nothing to improve Calla's mood. Apparently, Fudge was coming under criticism for the handling of the dragons coming into the country, and was under increased strain. Some were saying that he wasn't taking security seriously enough; considering Sirius' escape, the trial and the results of that, and the events of the World Cup, there seemed to be some who were slowly coming to the same conclusion Calla had months ago. That Voldemort was on his way back to power, or that his Death Eaters were gaining strength at least. Of course, Fudge denied it all, saying that panicking was not in the interests of public safety, but Calla couldn't help but think he ought to be doing something. The Auror Department was immense and powerful, with a lot more resources at their disposal than Remus and Sirius - who seemed to be the only people truly concerned with locating Pettigrew - did, and yet they weren't being used because Fudge didn't seem to think this was important, or else was determined to ignore the 'rumours' to spare himself from embarrassment. It all felt rather shambolic.

By the time it came to seven o'clock and she entered the Divination classroom, she was already in a bad mood with the world, and it didn't help that she'd been feeling utterly exhausted and wretched all day. When she got there, Trelawney was huddled over her crystal ball, staring into its depths - Calla made sure to close the door quietly and gently, and sneak around the edge of the room so as not to disturb Trelawney. It was a few minutes before she looked up, appearing startled to find Calla there.

"Ah, my dear, my dear, sit down," she said, and threw a gauzy piece of fabric over her crystal ball, the shadows in it disappearing. She looked rather disturbed.

"I didn't want to interrupt," Calla said as she took a seat opposite her at the table.

"Ah." Trelawney looked down, wrapping her burgundy shawl tightly around her. "I'm afraid my dear, I have not seen positive signs today. Only danger lies ahead for you."

"Yeah?" Calla looked away; she knew that herself, and Trelawney had told her and Harry numerous times over the past few weeks. She was starting to grow weary of it. "Have you seen... anything... specific?"

"Death, my dear." Calla stifled a sigh. "The maze, showing confusion and a lack of direction. The graveyard, a sudden end to a journey." Calla's stomach turned uncomfortably. She'd seen that graveyard too; it still haunted her dreams and visions, like a bad memory. She didn't need Trelawney to remind her of it. "But that is not our focus tonight, no. You have your cards?"

Calla nodded quickly - she wanted Trelawney to stop talking about her imminent death as soon as she could - and took her decks of cards from her pocket, displaying them proudly on the desk. Today she took out her illustrated tarot deck, and at Trelawney's prompting, laid them out in an arc before her, face down. She took her three cards easily, turning them over, keeping down her gasp. The lightning struck tower, the magician, and the hanged man. None of these were good, and Trelawney told her as such. "The lightning struck tower... sudden disruption, the magician... signifies the coming together of life and death, and the hanged man... sacrifice and trial... My dear..."

"I'm in grave danger," Calla said, rather snappishly. Trelawney looked rather affronted, whether at Calla's tone or the fact that she'd taken away her opportunity for dramatics.

"Yes, my dear. And it is coming closer all the time, you cannot continue to avoid it as you have."

"But I don't know what danger," Calla said. "And I don't know what to do about it."

Trelawney gave her a sorrowful look. "My dear," she began again, and Calla wished suddenly that she would stop calling her that, "I fear you shall never know." She reaches over to clasp Calla's hand tightly. "You must try."

"I am trying!"

"Use your mind, dear. Open it to opportunity and dreams."

"And how's that meant to do anything?"

Trelawney frowned at her. "You must believe in it. Believe in the future."

"I do," Calla huffed. "I just don't believe it's a good one."

"Your signs are scary," Trelawney admitted, and there was a sudden seriousness in her voice that was rarely there. "But, child, you must not let your fear overwhelm you. Omens must be believed to be true, it is often the way of Divination. You cannot stop fate, but you can deny it satisfaction."

She smiled suddenly, and seemed to snap right back into her usual mystical way of teaching. But her words had comforted Calla, if only for a moment. Trelawney's rare positivity gave her hope, and by the end of the night she did, by some miracle, find herself smiling.

Author's Note: I just wanted to say thank you so much for all your kind messages on the last chapter. It's a very difficult time but it means a lot that people took the time to leave a message. Hope you enjoy this chapter!