Monday the 3rd of July, 1995.

Hermione was most impressed by my display the night before and had me draw cards from my deck constantly during breakfast. No matter how many cards I drew, no matter who shuffled the deck, I always drew The World. But she also found my peculiar talent deeply troubling. I didn't really care. I was just trying to avoid being distracted from my breakfast, accompanied by coffee, with her nonsense.

"But it makes no sense! How can you be so talented at divination, yet be unable to predict the movements of pieces on a chessboard through their aura?"

"Because divination isn't real, Hermione. I just keep on drawing The World out of chance. It has to happen to someone eventually."

"Humph." She harrumphed. Evidently even she found the odds unbelievable. As did the Headmaster.

"Mister Potter, if you would please desist from terrifying your fellow students with the knowledge that their fates may be set in stone, that would be very kind of you."

And so, I stopped. It's not like it didn't unnerve me just as much. I took pause for a moment to survey my surroundings. It was overcast again, for the fourth day in a row. It was then when the owls swooped in through the Great Hall's stormy portholes with the morning post. I spotted Draco's eagle owl elegantly gliding towards me with missive in hand, its feathers almost shimmering in the candlelight. It was a beautiful bird for a beautiful man.

Draco was watching me intently from the Slytherin table, and his cohort was watching him just as keenly. While his cohort appeared to be suspicious of him, Draco's face had no tells. He was evidently an aristocrat of a different class, instructed from birth to never provide any with leverage over himself. I untied the letter from his owl's leg and unfurled it with not a little bit of apprehension.

Dear Harry,

I would very much appreciate it if you met with me in the study hall after fifth period on Monday the 3rd of July to discuss the letter you sent me and its contents, as it is evident that you put a lot of thought into contacting me about the matter. There is no need to contact me any further until then. I will not ignore you like I did the last time you made this query. I hope you find this arrangement satisfactory.

Yours sincerely, Draco.

His response sounded… diplomatic. Hermione had high hopes, but I didn't want to expect much. He definitely hadn't confirmed that he held feelings for me in return, and such rejections could feel crushing. I tried to divine his response by casting the spell of Delphi on myself. My body was engulfed in its characteristic yellow static, but I couldn't sense what my fate may be.

Ron and I had come up with a way to pass the time until then. While it was truancy, nobody appeared to care as we practiced duelling on the turf outside in a very unique way. I decided to take a pacifist's approach, relying solely on my foresight and that granted to me by the spell of Delphi to predict where Ron would cast his "stingers", which were a sucker-punch spell the twins grew to regret teaching him.

Bolt after bolt of orange light flew through the air, and while some bolts did miss me, it was because Ron's aim was off, or because I had guessed where Ron would be aiming. Hermione claimed it was just a weak prescience, but I knew random chance when I saw it. It was so obvious that even Ron backed me up on the matter. It was honestly shocking to me that my tarot cards had completely flipped her opinions on divination. She could be so stubborn usually, but this rubbish is what she wanted to be open-minded about?

It was nearing my appointment with Draco, so I tried to divine its outcome one final time. Casting the spell on myself, I felt warm, almost feverish. I chalked it up to nerves. I gazed up at the clouds outside. The sun was peeking out of them for once. The sky had never looked so warm and welcoming, yet… it had also never looked so cool and distant. I began to feel dizzy, so I took the spell off myself. That didn't do much to help.

The study hall is what the school referred to the Great Hall as outside of eating hours. Hermione reassured me that Draco will feel the same way as I did, but she hadn't been reassuring at all lately. I made the journey with shaking arms. My heart felt like it was spasming inside my chest. I was sweating, and the humidity only made me feel more feverish. Finally, Draco spotted me.

"Right on time, Ha- …Harry… are you… covered in bruises?" He appeared to turn pale, with what could have possibly been worry.

I couldn't keep it in. I burst out laughing. I always laughed when I was nervous. "Oh, yeah. I was, um… duelling Ron the past few hours."

"Oh, right."

"Right." This was getting pretty awkward.

Draco appeared to take a breath to fortify himself. "My answer is no."

"Oh." Well, that wasn't unexpected… but it still hurt to hear.

"Also, I have a request to make. Please, please, please ask Hermione to stop egging you on to ask me out. I'm not going to change my mind no matter how many times you ask, and no matter how many different ways you come up with to ask me. Your attention is unwanted, your affections are unrequited, and it's almost becoming harassment at this point."

"Sorry."

"Apology accepted. Now get out of my sight."

Hermione was right about one thing. There was no harm in trying, even if it hurt. But it seemed that my judgement was clearer than hers. She would chalk it up to my seer's gift to avoid bruising her ego. I'd chalk it up to all the nutty things she's started to believe in clogging up her brain. Finishing the day on my bed, I drew a final card from my tarot deck to spite her. Maybe this time I'd be "unlucky". I drew The World. Well, shit.