A/N : Thanks for the review James Birdsong! Again, feedbacks of all kinds are gratefully accepted. My exams have ended, so I'll aim for posting new chapters daily again. Wish me luck!

Chapter 10 : O.W.L.s

Dumbledore was intently searching for the usual black nest of hair at Gryffindor's' table. As unflustered as he might appear to be, he cared a lot for the well-being and happiness of his favorite student, Harry. However, he knew too much about his destiny to believe that ignorance would benefit Harry's future. Nonetheless, he had planned to reveal the terrorizing prophecy to Harry after he sat for his O.W.L.s, not hoping to disturb Harry's focus on the exams. However, Snape's report about Harry's failed attempt in Occlumency and the recurring dreams about a door which Dumbledore knew as the Department of Mysteries pushed him to place the burden upon Harry earlier than he wished. He believed that knowledge about the possible attempts of Voldemort luring him to the Department of Mysteries could minimize risks of any kind of disasters.

Now that he had unmercifully told Harry about the prophecy, he was concerned about how Harry would cope with the stress and burden. If possible, he would not want this piece of news to affect Harry's O.W.L.s which he was bound to sit in the following week. After some scrutinization, Dumbledore let go of a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. At least Harry was studying for his exams with Hermione and Ron, laughing occasionally at some apparently funny jokes made by their friends.

On the other side of the High Table, Snape was also observing Harry's reaction to the breaking news. Unlike Dumbledore, Snape knew exactly how well Harry could conceal his feelings, which was coincidentally an ability that Snape himself painfully possessed. Behind Harry's cover, Snape could see the painstakingly suppressed fear in Harry's eye whenever he looked away from his friends. Again, Snape found his heart clenched at Harry's sufferings and ultimate destiny.

"Oh my, it's the first day for O.W.L.s already! I'm not fully prepared yet!" Hermione's hysterical shrill was heard all around the common room. They were sitting for Charms theory paper after their breakfast, and although Hermione wouldn't admit it, "I'm sure to fail!", Harry was pretty sure that all of them would have at least secured the passing grades.

Breakfast was a weird and silent affair. All the fifth-year students had their heads buried in books, cramming their heads with last minute knowledge about definitions of charms and hexes. The lower grades were unusually silent too, having been snapped by the fifth-years for making noises. The tension was growing and reaching breaking point when the examiners finally came to usher them into the exam halls. Harry breathed out in relief.

"Well, it wasn't too bad, was it?... I'm not sure I did myself justice on Cheering Charms, I just ran out of time. Did you put in the counter-charm for hiccoughs?"

Hermione was going through the exam questions as usual, which unfortunately, no one was listening to. Harry and Ron were frantically revising for Charms practical exams, and was silently annoyed at Hermione's ranting. However, both didn't have the heart to stop her as they both knew this was her way of venting stress. Somehow, they survived the Charms practical exam and Harry thought he did well, although he didn't say that to Ron, who miserably failed to perform a Colour Charm. After having dinner, they trotted back to the Gryffindor common room and resorted to studying again.

Lives of fifth-years were filled with nothing but books and exams for the next two weeks. To be frank, Harry was grateful for that, as Hermione had conveniently forgotten to badger him about the meeting with Dumbledore. Not only so, what with focusing on the exams and enduring Hermione's continuous lecture, the weight he felt on his shoulders after listening to the prophecy was temporarily pushed aside, existing only as a dull ache which would intermittently disturb his sleep.

Time flew and before they knew it, they were at the last day of exams. Harry and Ron were sitting for Divination while it was Arithmancy for Hermione. Both Harry and Ron know full well that they would never scrap a passing grade for Divination. Harry was silently pleading for not getting a Troll, not that he cared, but Hermione would be pissed off if either he or Ron did so badly in exams. Anyhow, he couldn't bring himself to work hard for it, so he and Ron slacked for the day.

He might as well have tried to see moving pictures on the desktop as in the stubbornly blank crystal ball; he lost his head completely during tea-leaf reading, saying it looked to him as though Professor Marchbanks would shortly be meeting a round, dark, soggy stranger, and rounded off the whole fiasco by mixing up the life and head lines on her palm and informing her that she ought to have died the previous Tuesday.

All in all, his Divination exam was undeniably a disaster. However, his mood remained high for the ending of O.W.L.s was definitely out-weighing a mere Divination exam. He was chatting and laughing happily with Ron when a shaggy looking Professor Trelawney stopped him.

"Potter, may I have a word?" she drawled in her unnaturally deep voice. Harry fidgeted a bit, hoping Professor Trelawney wasn't going to tell him off for 'cursing' Professor Marchbanks. He saw Ron shoot him a worried glance before Harry left his eyesight as he followed Professor Trelawney into an empty classroom.

Harry waited for a few seconds in awkwardness before realizing that Professor Trelawney was not preparing to speak first. "Professor, have I done something wrong?" Harry asked meekly. Professor Trelawney's eyes bore into Harry's with unmasked sympathy. "My boy, I regret to tell you this, but you are going to have a very nasty summer."

Harry had almost failed to suppress his overwhelming urge for an eye roll. Well, he should have guessed. Professor Trelawney's dramatic future was not a stranger to him. Instead, he dropped his eyes to the ground dejectedly and thanked Professor Trelawney for this disturbing insight. After Professor Trelawney nodded and wished him good luck, Harry turned to leave, guffaws bubbling in his stomach.

Before he reached the door, he turned back to bid farewell to his professor when he found that she had gone into a trance. A familiar feeling of terror threatened to engulf Harry as he realized what was happening even before Professor Trelawney started to speak.

"The life of our savior lies, in an enemy bound to be kin. Family is not always by blood. It is by heart. A bond of hearts...the life saver...for our savior to be."

References :

Italic parts are taken directly from Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix. All credits to J.K. Rowling.

'Family is not always by blood. It is by heart.' - Soumen Das.