Chapter 111

Fogging the Future

Sirius climbed into the Divination classroom wanting very much to be back in the common room with James and Peter researching their new animagi book. He'd seriously considered just bunking off but thought it would be suspicious if he skipped when both James and Peter had a break and not a one of them could be found if someone looked. They were already taking so many risks, best not add a few more.

Sirius yawned over-dramatically as he sat down, immediately laying his head on the table.

"If you make me pick up these cards one more time Black Potter won't be the only one with a black eye," Evans growled from the seat opposite him.

"He doesn't have a black eye anymore, he magicked it away. He has experience with healing spells." It wasn't a joke, but she chuckled anyway. Sirius hid his annoyance at that, as far as she knew James was healing things brought on by their own stupidity, she could have never expected that James' healing abilities was the only thing keeping Peter from accidentally killing himself on a regular basis, as well as the reason Sirius still had fingers on his wand-hand.

"Pity."

Sirius looked up resting his head on his fist, "Someone looks like they fell off the happy tree."

"Happy tree? What on Earth are you talking about, Black?" She glared at him, and he thought she looked kind of adorable like that. Like a kitten who'd been refused a treat or something, no wonder James liked making her mad so much.

"How should I know, you're the one who said it to me," Sirius shrugged. The smile on his face probably made her even angrier, but he didn't really care all that much.

"Why would I say something like that? It sounds ridiculous." She had her arms and legs both crossed and her chair was facing the front of the room rather than the table, every once in a while she'd look over at him while she was talking but mostly faced the room that was ever so slowly filling up.

"I figured it was a muggle thing." Sirius picked up the top card from the deck, a reversed Hermit... lovely.

"You and Severus managed to get me kicked out of the library Sunday, so I had to stay up late last night in order to get these stupid cards translated." She accused, not looking at him, his smile didn't fade.

"Me and Severus?" He repeated watching Marline pick up her cards after Frank nearly tipped the table over trying to tie his shoe.

"Yes you, you were just as involved, thank you very much." She glared at him just barely catching him point his wand to Marline's newly sorted pile that promptly exploded everywhere all over again. "Sirius!"

He was still chuckling at Marline's retribution on Frank (assuming he'd done it again) when he turned back to Evans. "Oh I know I was involved, I'm just surprised you blamed Snape for it too."

She didn't reply at first, just glaring at him as though she expected him to feel remorseful for Frank's sake, before giving it up as a bad job and rolling her eyes. "Of course I know Severus was responsible as well. I don't know what his problem is, most people avoid bullies. And yes, you are a bully!" She added again turning her angry kitten eyes on him.

"I know that. It's James that denies it, he's delusional sometimes." Sirius leaned back in his chair, balancing it on the back two legs exactly as his mother hadn't allowed him as a child. It was strange how petty things like that made him feel like a rebel.

"And then of course there's his friends. You know I caught him hanging out with Wilks the other day, Wilks sent Jackson to the hospital wing for a week last term just for being muggleborn. The moment your brother noticed me Severus was terribly eager to shoo them away..." She continued, but Sirius was no longer listening.

Had Snape been spending time with Regulus?

Fury began to well up in Sirius' heart, it was bad enough that Regulus had their parents and cousins to pull him in the wrong direction but now future Death Eaters were trying to do the same. Snivellus of all people was not allowed anywhere near his little brother! Ever!

"I just don't know what's gotten into him, he wasn't like this before." She sighed as the Professor began collecting the essays they'd been assigned.

"You are who you spend time with," Sirius said, his rage coming out in his voice regardless of who it was directed towards.

"I suppose..." She handed her essay to the Professor, it was nice and neat and likely much more thorough than his, but his was guaranteed to be more accurate. "I guess you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?"

"Excuse me?" Sirius didn't bother to hand the essay to the Professor, it was sitting right there, she could grab it herself.

"Well, you're not exactly your typical Black are you? That's because you got sorted with us, isn't it?" Her anger subsided a little and she turned her chair to face the table now that they were getting ready to start class.

"I chose Gryffindor because I was different, not the other way around." Sirius corrected, completely ignoring now teaching professor. They'd been working on tarot cards all month, and practicing with the major arcana for a week now. She didn't have anything to say that she hadn't said before. He handed Evans the deck, preferring to let her shuffle when he read the cards, it didn't feel right to do it himself when it was her future they were predicting.

"You chose? But the Sorting Hat..."

"Let me choose." He answered before she could finish her question. "Some kind of proof I was brave enough, or something. It doesn't really matter."

Sirius took the cards from Evans laid them on the table and let her cut them, she didn't have to ask which style he preferred and cut the cards into three piles.

"That's unusual, isn't it." She asked watching as he flipped the first card, representing the past, over. She was always interested in whatever he predicted since it usually ended up being true.

"Reverse lovers, James'll be glad about that," Sirius said with a smirk.

"Oh, haha, really funny, Sirius Black. I'll have you know I have yet to have a boyfriend. It's probably referring to my sister." Evans rolled her eyes at his teasing.

"James'll be glad about that too." He flipped the next card over, this one representing the present. "Fool, a choice or freedom and innocence."

She seemed to contemplate this, but it led to nowhere from the way she shrugged. He flipped the last card over, the prediction of the future.

"Upright hanged man." He chuckled as she groaned. "Again."

"Every single time." She complained, lifting the card up and glaring at it.

"Perhaps the universe is trying to tell you something, my dear," Professor Adens commented, placing a hand on Evans' shoulder. Sirius attempted to cough down a snort of laughter, it just made him sound like he was choking on something.

"The upright hanged man represents necessary indecision and sacrifice. You must not be hasty in your actions, give your decisions careful thought and planning, rashness leads to ruin. The hanged man does not come next to the fool often, my child, do not take it lightly." She warned, placing the card down again and moving to another table.

Evans giggled as she picked the cards back up and reshuffled them, "I always put thought behind my actions, so I think I'm good. Maybe the universe," she giggled again, unable to keep a straight face, "thought it was talking to you."

Sirius smiled. "Probably, I'm about as rash as a person can get."

Evan's cut the cards herself, still giggling over the absurdity of what they were doing. "This whole class is a little pointless, isn't it."

"More than a little." Sirius agreed, but if he got an upright tower again he was going to throw something.

A/N) I always love playing around with foreshadowing, Divination gives me the perfect chance to do that. ^_^

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