Chapter 4

The Art of Divination….What A Fun Breakfast Conversation

"Could you pass me the marmalade please?"

Paige jerked from the paper she was reading and looked up to see Hermione.

"What, sorry?" she asked, confused.

"The marmalade." Sirius said irritably "She wants you. To. Pass. Her. The. Marmalade." He spoke slowly and carefully as if talking to a small child "That clear enough for you?"

"No actually perhaps you could speak a little slower? I wasn't sure I caught the word in the middle, the one after: 'the'" she retorted passing the marmalade across to Hermione who was staring at the two wide-eyed. She went back to the paper ignoring Sirius, momentarily pausing to sip her coffee and take a bite out of the buttered toast on the plate in front of her. It was the same paper she had borrowed from Remus earlier, and now had the chance to finish, it had been a while since she had read The Prophet cover to cover and was surprised at the amount of rubbish they managed to fit in its pages.

"How do they manage it?" She muttered.

"What?" one of the Weasleys to Sirius's other side asked.

"In just under a hundred pages of script they've managed to talk about everything from the newest broomstick to the drainage problems in Diagon Alley; and yet they've completely avoided talking about anything important. You know - things like the huge evil that's threatening to kill anyone who can't recite their family for more than six generations? It's ludicrous." It seemed everyone had looked up and was slightly startled by her speech. They were now all staring at her and making her feel a little uncomfortable "Just thought I'd mention it" she muttered, looking back down at the table. She looked up and caught Sirius's eye before she was distracted by a conversation taking place across the table.

"Oh come on Hermione," Ron was saying, "we have weeks. How can you be thinking about homework now?"

"Because, unlike you Ron, I have some sense of responsibility and don't think leaving it to the last minute is going to help."

"Fine but would it hurt you to not talk about for five minutes?"

"I don't know Ron; you were the one who brought it up!"

"I was just wondering...wished I hadn't said anything now," he muttered, the last bit under his breath.

"It's only Divination anyway Ron, it's not important," Hermione said assuredly.

"It is if he was stupid enough to take it," one of the redheaded twins put in.

"What are you talking about George? You took Divination," Ron retorted angrily.

"Hermione's the only one who didn't," Ginny put in.

"I did… I just decided to drop it… It was pointless," Hermione said.

"Well not really," Paige interjected. Hermione shot her a startled look.

"It's not that useful," Paige continued, "but it's pretty easy."

"See Hermione, you're the only one who hates divination," George said with a smirk.

"I never said I particularly liked it, I just said it was easy," Paige clarified. Hermione looked a little insulted, and Ron looked like he was having trouble not laughing.

"Possibly the only subject Hermione ever failed at." Ron said.

"I did not fail!" Hermione shouted indignantly "I just didn't see the point in carrying on something so fundamentally flawed!" She aimed the last comment at Paige.

"You may be right," Paige agreed shrugging, "true seers are rare, which makes divination a subject which can seem pointless at first glance. I certainly agreed with you to begin with, until it turned out I was quite good at it." She smiled reminiscently. "I shouldn't have really been surprised, it was all showmanship, deception; make it look like you know what you're talking about and you can make people believe anything. Don't get me wrong I wasn't a prophetess; in fact I had and still have no idea what the future will bring. That doesn't mean I'm not good at divination."

"But…" Hermione started to say.

"What do you get taught in divination?" She asked, with her smile still in place.

"A load or rubbish about tea leaves and lines on your hand," Hermione said hotly.

"Exactly. You can't teach the gift of seeing the future. You can however teach the gift of making people think you can."

To Paige divination had always been lies. Carefully sculpted and cultivated lies, yes, but lies all the same; and she was glad of it. "It is probably a better gift than true prophecy anyway."

"How do you come to that conclusion?" Remus asked inquisitively.

"Well there are several reasons. Of course the most obvious is that actually seeing the future is a rare gift, and certainly not one I lament the lack of. If you could see the future would you change it? Could you change it? Is the future set in stone? It presents so many questions in itself."

"But the time turner…" Hermione put in.

"A valid point. I have little experience with them myself, but if I have the theory correct they prove that the past can be changed. You can go back in time – not far of course – but the principle is still there. This, of course, should disprove prophecy immediately because you should be able to change it." Hermione nodded clearly interested in Paige's theory. Taking another sip of coffee she continued "Then again, of course, with magic nothing is ever that simple. Often prophecy is self-fulfilling - that's the reason I wouldn't like the gift. If the prophecy hadn't been told to begin with then would the events which led up to its occurrence have happened anyway?" She sighed slightly her smile fading "It's an imprecise gift and one which, if I am not mistaken, would be a great burden at best. It's probably a good thing that it's impossible to teach. Still, the art of reading tea leaves, of being vague about someone's future, you can teach."

"But why would you want to?" Hermione asked.

"Because if you can make someone believe it is their future, then perhaps they too will believe it, and, like our self fulfilling prophecies, you could alter the course of someone else's life. Then again without a true gift you have to be either very good at lying to people or very good at lying to yourself. That I believe is probably why you Miss Granger dislike it, and why I have no trouble with it."

"Why? Because you're good at lying to other people or because you're good at lying to yourself." Ron asked with his mouth full.

"Both." She replied simply finishing her coffee and standing up. Anyone who had ever been in Slytherin would understand. Paige herself had spent many years in denial so that if she tried hard enough she could make herself believe everything was ok. Well she used to be able to make herself believe that. Recently, however, the gift had faded, and the ability to live in her little land of denial had gone.

"Well however enlightening that conversation," Sirius said sarcastically, standing up and facing her, "I have things to do."

"Sure you do." She said fake happily "Well if you want to talk you know where to find me." Sirius returned her glare and stalked out of the room. "You ever get the feeling he doesn't like me?" She asked the remaining members of the room before following him out. Paige had really no idea where her good mood had come from. She was still staying in the house of a man who would probably much prefer to throw her out himself then have her under his roof. She was still part of a group of people who were basically the personification of Gryffindor and most of whom hated anyone who had ever worn the colours green and silver. She had betrayed just under thirty years of everything she had ever known for an extremely uncertain future with a side she wasn't even certain were going to win. She had no family, no home, had been insulted by a guy who had been dead for over thirteen years, and still didn't have any shoes. Still, as she walked along the dark corridor still filled with dust; and a smell that the air freshening spell Mrs Weasley had used could not quite cover up; she was in a good mood.

She heard a humming from a room to the left, and smiled as she recognised Sirius's voice.

"Clearly it's catching," She muttered as she walked past. The fact that Sirius probably hated her didn't seem quite so bad this morning. Perhaps it was because despite how much he may dislike her, may absolutely hate her, he had some loyalty to Dumbledore; and he was not like his brother. He may long to hex her, to curse her, to throw her out, but he wouldn't. He wasn't a Slytherin. Paige had never understood before how much of a blessing this could be. Sure these people were prejudiced against her, but they wouldn't do anything about it. They had to take the moral high ground. Well except for Sirius. He was just cleverer about displaying his hatred. She liked the fact that for once she could accept some things at face value. It didn't stop her looking, of course, for hidden motives, or for deceit in others. It just meant she wasn't as likely to find it.

Still unsure of exactly where she was going she took the first door she saw, and opened it. As far as she was concerned the sixth floor had held enough secrets, and dark magic. She doubted that Sirius or any of the aurors or Gryffindors in the house would have let it fester in the ground floor. The room was clearly a library; and Paige was quickly reminded of their own back home. Or not home, but back where she used to live. The one here, however, was grander, bigger, and the books were in better condition. Other than that, though, it looked just as unused as the one back there had. Still, she could see why. Looking at the titles, the dark volumes were hardly bedtime reading. The room had less dust than she would have thought, though; and while the entire air seemed almost dark; it seemed as if someone did actually spend time in here. A chair by the fire had a book half open on it, and an empty glass stood on the small table next to it. Clearly whoever was in here last liked to read. That and they were obviously pretty untidy – or really bored.

She wandered over and picked up the book keeping hold of the page and reading the title. Wizardry through the ages- an in depth look at the makings of magic. No wonder the book was so long, the history of magic had to span thousands of years, and if they wanted to be in depth; then it had to be tens of thousands of pages. She had no idea how exactly the mysterious reader had managed to even get as far through as they had. The print was tiny; and from reading even the first page Paige was certain it was guaranteed to send even the hardiest of readers to sleep. She took the seat and moved the book to the table. Picking up the glass next to it, she took a sniff. Firewhiskey. Well that ruled out over half the members of the household – they were underage. Then again aside from Hermione she could not imagine any of them even beginning to attempt to force their way through that crime against reading.

She put the glass back down lamenting only slightly the fact that it was empty. She sighed; her good mood dissipating slightly. What exactly was she going to do? If she had been told when she was working that she could basically spend months lounging around a house doing nothing she would have jumped at the chance, but now she wanted something to occupy her. She knew it would be dangerous for her to spend too much time outside; but it wasn't as if she was a wanted criminal like Sirius, and Death Eaters were hardly that desperate to have her killed. Then again Dumbledore had said she probably shouldn't go out alone. It made sense, so that she could have back up and be more assured of safety. Unfortunately the major flaw in that plan was finding someone willing to go out with her.

She was so deep in her own thoughts that she nearly jumped a foot in the air when somebody opened the door. She looked up and saw Sirius standing at the door frowning at her. His hair was wet; and clearly he had just been in the shower.

"Why is it wherever I go in this damned house; you're always there?" He asked, annoyed.

"Believe me it's not intentional. I'm not that much of a glutton for punishment." She told him.

"You're in my seat." He said finally scowl still in place. She looked at the chair she was sitting in and then back to the table with the empty glass and half opened book.

"Ah so you're the one punishing yourself with that book. What did you do, kill someone?" She asked jokingly. However his eyes darkened and she realised quickly that she had touched a nerve.

"It's none of your business!" He said angrily.

"I know. But I'm just an annoying bitchy Slytherin remember," She retorted, still sat in the chair.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" he finally asked tiredly.

It was his tone of the voice that surprised her and made her stand up. Whatever impression she had of Sirius Black this was not it. She had never been all that empathic, but on some levels she and Sirius had more in common than either of them would ever admit. Still she would never have imagined him as someone so resigned and tired. There must have been something important in his past, aside from his brother and his family; but she had only received the basics from Dumbledore – the fact that he had been imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit, and his family troubles (although those she had already known of course – every Slytherin did.) It seemed that as with everything else, there was more to Sirius Black than met the eye. It was disconcerting actually, as Paige would have found it so much easier to hate him if he really was one sided as she had first thought. Then again how could anyone spend twelve years in prison and have it not affect them? A rare flash of insight told her there was something else though – probably something she would never know.

"I already told you it wasn't intentional. But I was being serious about that book," she said her voice deadpan calm.

"I'm sure I'll live," he said, clearly bored.

"I'm not, you might die of boredom. If you're that desperate for something to read you need to shop for some new books," she told him. His face turned bitter and resentful.

"Yes well I'd love to you know, but being a convicted criminal means it's slightly difficult to leave the house," he said angrily. For some reason Paige could not imagine him as someone being that cautious; he seemed the more reckless type, but then again he had friends like Remus and Dumbledore who would all urge him to stay safe and be careful.

"And what a lovely house it is," she muttered sarcastically her mind wandering back to the bathroom.

"Did the bathroom floor really eat your shoes?" He asked, startling Paige with his rapid topic change, clearly this was not someone who was able to concentrate on one thing for more than thirty seconds.

"No I just enjoy walking round in bare feet." She replied. He looked as if he would believe her and she rolled her eyes at the idiocy of most Gryffindors. "Yes it really did eat my shoes along with about four spiders; and probably countless other unfortunate insects and small rodents," she clarified.

"I'm sorry," he muttered resentfully.

"No you're not," she told him.

"You're right, I'm not," he replied.

"Why do you hate me?" It was such a stupid question, such a ridiculous thing to ask the man, but for some reason Paige had an urge to know. She wanted to know if he really believed that just because she had once sported the colours silver and green and came from a pureblood family – as he did that it made her evil. She wanted to know if there was something about her personally that he hated, or if there was something she had done that made him hate her for more than just being a Slytherin.

Unfortunately however Sirius was stopped from giving his answer as the door swung open once again. Both Paige and Sirius turned to the intruder on reflex; they saw an extremely worried Remus looking at them both.

"What is it?" Sirius asked before Paige could speak.

"It's Harry." Remus said.

"What's Harry?" Paige asked on reflex. She could have nearly hit herself at the completely derisive look Sirius gave her as if she was just something he had picked up off of his shoe. Remus luckily chose to ignore both Paige's stupid response and Sirius disgusted look.

"There were Dementors," Remus said.

"At Privet Drive?" Sirius said already heading for the door "Is Harry okay?"

"He's fine, but he had to use a patronus to ward off the Dementors," Remus told him.

"But he's underage," Sirius spluttered.

"So what?" Paige put in, "I'm pretty sure if you've got Dementors attacking you, you don't give a damn if you're legally allowed to fight back."

"Well yes," Sirius sneered, "but the ministry are just waiting for an excuse to discredit him even more. He might get arrested."

"That's a pretty harsh punishment for underage magic in a clearly self defensive circumstance," Paige said with a doubtful look.

"Sirius is right. After what happened last year, Fudge wants Harry out of the picture," Remus said his eyes almost angry "It's like you said earlier Paige about The Prophet completely ignoring the important things. The ministry doesn't believe it so they don't want anyone else to either."

"So they're willing to discredit a boy who is a considered a national hero by so many?" Paige asked. "And they're meant to be the good guys," She muttered.

"Fudge isn't evil. He's just blind and afraid," another voice said. Tonks moved through the doorway behind Remus. Her hair was now a shade of purple and was long and curly; she was dressed in muggle fashion but wearing a worried expression.

"Hardly an excuse for dismissing the biggest threat to the wizarding world in years," Paige replied.

"Probably not," Remus admitted "but it's easier to close your eyes to things you don't want to see than to admit they're there and you don't know how to deal with them."

Paige knew every word Remus spoke was true; it was a mantra she had lived by for over twenty years of her life. Close your eyes and pretend you don't see; maybe then it will go away and not be real.

"Unfortunately I know first hand that way of dealing with things like that tends to catch up on you."

"And probably will." Remus said gravely "But whilst it's not the Order are trying to do something about."

"We're holding a meeting now about what to do about Harry," Tonks said "I was told to come get you all."

"What to do about Harry?" Sirius asked, as if he couldn't believe it. All three members of the room turned to look at him "We have to go get him! He's in danger, they might come back!" Sirius almost shouted "Why are you looking at me like that? He needs to be protected."

"And he will be Sirius," Remus said trying to diffuse the situation. Paige however had no time to deal with his attitude.

"Think with your head Sirius, not with your heart," she said harshly.

"Yes because that worked out so well for you," he retorted angrily "no friends, having to stay under the roof of people who can't stand you, oh yes I can see where not having a heart will get me."

"An escaped convict staying in the house of his dead parents, angry at the world because it's not going his way. Thinking with your emotions so blindly on your sleeve could get you killed. It could get someone else killed," she said callously.

Without even a look back at Sirius's fuming face she walked out of the room. To be honest she did slightly agree with Sirius. Having a meeting about the situation wasn't exactly a quick fire course of action. It didn't really give her as much faith as she would have liked in the side that was preparing to fight one of the darkest wizards of all time. "Everything done by committee," she mumbled as she walked into the room and took her seat "I really hate politics."