Chapter 26: Tea Leaves of Doom

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"Fine!" she repeated, swinging the bag over her shoulder and almost knocking Ron off his chair. "I give up! I'm leaving!"

 [Hermione – P.O.A.]

~*~

Days moved by and term progressed at a less eventful pace. Gryffindor was closer to the cup now and the Slytherin-vs.-Ravenclaw game would determine who they went against in the final match. Most of Harry's nightmares continued as usual though occasionally he had a different kind of dream which he usually managed to lose grasp of. He could remember colors and music and someone telling him something, but never what the something had actually been.

 Harry woke from a regular nightmare that day but then groaned when he realized it was a Thursday and he was about to be subjected to another nightmare. He had divination again today and he knew that he detested that class more than anything now. Ever since their first lesson that year Trelawney had grown more and more gruesome when it came to predicting his future. Crystal Balls, Tarot Cards, Tea Leaves, etc; all of them showed her one thing for him. Today they would be having an exam of sorts.

"Now each pair will choose their favorite way to work with the future. You will be predicting each other's futures and at the end of class we will go over what has been seen," she said in her misty voice. Harry tried not to choke on the perfume as she passed his table.

 Ron and Harry chose tea leaves. The reason for the decision was probably Ron's thirst. Harry would have preferred Tarot Cards which seemed easier to look up and there was less human interpretation involved. So tea it was and Harry went up to collect their supplies. After they had both finished their tea they swirled the dregs and traded cups.

"Ah," said Ron "cheer up mate, if you look at it this way it's the sign of victory. Looks like we'll win the cup then, eh?"

"Ah," said Harry, "but surely in doing so I will take a bludger to the head and fall to my death. It is only fitting you know."

"Hmm," said Ron as he jotted down the predictions, "Trelawney will probably interpret it from this side and see death but if you look at it from here you see the sign for resurrection. Do you think that cancels it out?"

"Here," said Harry, "Let me do yours."

"Okay," said Ron.

"This one looks kind of like the fertility sign," said Harry. "No surprise there then. You will have a large family. Then this is the sign for happiness. Do you wanna trade?"

 Ron was about to reply when Trelawney made her way to their table so that the class could hear their predictions. Trelawney picked up Ron's paper and eyed it in disgust.

"Well," she said airily, "At least you did this half right. The death sign is indeed there but you missed the signs of pain and stress."

"Oh joy," said Harry lowly.

"Now what did you get for Mr. Weasley, Potter?" she inquired as she pulled his notes off the table.

"Happiness, Health, Family," she said with an eyebrow raised. "You are a little ray of optimism aren't you Potter? You've gotten it wrong though. Here's the sign for pain again and a broken heart, ah physical and emotional pain..."

Harry interrupted her before she could continue, "Isn't half of this art personal interpretation?"

"Yes, dear" she replied. "You have to be realistic though."

"What's so unrealistic about happiness," asked Harry, his anger fueled. "What makes you think that someone couldn't have a good life?"

"Mr. Potter your future is already obviously cursed and Mr. Weasley is a close friend," she said. "What makes you think that he will be spared when so involved in your life?"

Harry picked up his bag and stood. "I'm leaving now," he said coldly. "Would you care to predict my death one last time? Maybe I'll fall down your bloody ladder on the way out, hmm?"

 Harry realized he should have done this long ago. He followed Hermione's example to the whole class's amazement; Harry strode over to the trap door, kicked it open, and climbed down the ladder out of sight.

~*~

 When Harry entered the library where he planned to spend the rest of the period studying he was startled by a sound from behind a nearby shelf. He peered through a row of books and was even more shocked to see Draco Malfoy there and he was almost sure the boy had been crying. He returned to his table quickly before the boy could see him and wondered why he was crying. He remembered then Lucius' imprisonment and pondered the idea of Draco mourning his father in a way. The papers had mentioned Narcissa being taken in for questioning and Harry thought that possibly Draco was getting a taste of what it was like to be parentless. If Narcissa was jailed where would he go? Harry realized with a jolt then that he was worrying about Malfoy, and that he had begun calling him Draco in his mind. He went back to studying for DADA. They were going to be reviewing shields today and he wanted to get his right. He had been making progress and could even block most of Hermione's hexes now.

After he finished rereading the chapter he lifted his wrist to check his watch. Then he remembered that he'd finally removed the broken timepiece and placed it in his bedside drawer. He needed to see about a new one though. He packed up his books deciding it was probably time for lunch by now anyway. He wondered how Hermione was reacting to the news. No doubt half the school would have heard by now. His stomach grumbled and he decided he was right. He picked up his bag and walked to lunch, Draco pushed to the back of his mind for now.

 He finally reached the Great Hall and as he sat down the table broke into applause.

"Well done mate," said Fred.

"It's about time you stood up to that dingy old bat," said George.

 Hermione only grinned at him at first. Then she finally spoke, gloating as much as possible.

"I told you so."

**the part where Harry leaves is a bit stolen from book three. Look at chapter 15 if you'd like to see.