REVISED 7/23/2013.

"I'm sorry."

Kirsten couldn't believe what she was hearing. But then again she could.

He was the one who got slam happy after all.

No way in hell she would ever apologize for being the victim for his asshole behavior.

"What did you say? I can't seem to hear you," she told him, her voice harsh. She leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, watching him fidget nervously.

Now that she thought about it, this was highly entertaining...

Harry's eyes finally met hers. Jet black hair fell into his eyes and Kirsten didn't know if she wanted to roll her eyes or laugh. He looked so...

Sorry.

"I'm sorry."

"Gained a hearing problem when you got all slam happy. Can you repeat that?"

She fought furiously to hide her grin with that remark.

"I'm sorry," he said loudly. Kirsten could hear the remorse behind those two words.

"When did you change your mind? Besides the fact that you're still alive."

"The night he broke into the tower," Harry told her.

"So you've been trying to talk to me for some time," Kirsten mused aloud. "And you even brought up the courage to talk to me alone. Aren't you afraid that I'm conspiring with my old man?"

"No," he replied simply.

"Oh really?" she asked, somewhat surprised. "What if I kill you right now?"

"You won't," he stated, his emerald eyes looking directly at her.

Kirsten couldn't hold her laughter back anymore and let it out. There was no way she could be angry with him anymore. Her laughter echoed throughout the corridor and she threw herself onto Harry in an enormous hug.

"You are such an ass," she muttered into his ear. His arms encircled her and Kirsten couldn't help the smile on her lips.

"I'm s—"

"Shut up. You already apologized."

The sound of a chuckle met her ears and she pulled away from Harry to see him smiling warily at her.

"Friends?" he asked rather unsure.

"No. Mortal enemies," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

The two friends began to walk towards the portrait hole.

"For a moment there, you looked scary," Harry informed her. Kirsten threw him a large grin and bumped her side to his.

"That's the whole point," she told him knowingly. "Kind of sad it really. You grovelling equals good entertainment."

"Why am I not surprised you enjoyed that," he muttered, but was grinning all the same. He gave the password to the portrait swung open.

"Anyways you should know the next time you decide to curse me. I will kick your ass."

Weeks flew by and final exams loomed closer for Kirsten. Cedric had taken it upon himself to give her a study schedule. It helped only slightly seeing as how she would distract Cedric from anything educational whenever they would meet up to study. The only time she had with Remus was during their extra lessons and those were mandatory.

Studying took up her life at the moment and she knew that she couldn't have anyone else around her for most of the time. Or they would prove to distract her. It seemed to be the same for most of the students in the castle. Kirsten even saw Fred and George studying since they were going to be taking their O.W.L's.

Kirsten was currently with Ron, Hermione, and Ron looking over her notes for Charms.

"Hermione?" Ron said cautiously. Kirsten raised an eyebrow at his behavior before looking down at the piece of parchment him and Harry were looking at. "Er— are you sure you've copied these times right?"

Oh she did.

Kirsten didn't want to spoil the surprise for Ron and Harry if they ever found out. It was Hermione's secret after all. She didn't know exactly what Hermione was using but she knew it had something to do with a golden chain and time. Something that could allow her to be in two places at once and retaining all the information she learned. She didn't exactly finish the book she got from the library months ago seeing as how she had so much on her plate already.

"What?" Hermione snapped, picking up the exam schedule. Her eyes traveled down the parchment. "Yes, of course I have."

The black haired witch snorted at Hermione's behavior. The bushy haired girl's eyes narrowed in on Kirsten, who lifted her hands to show defeat.

"Is there any point asking how you're going to sit for two exams at once?" Harry asked confused.

"No," Hermione replied shortly. "Have either of you seen my copy of Numerology and Gramatica?"

"Oh, yeah, I borrowed it for a bit of bedtime reading," Kirsten heard Ron whisper.

What the hell has gotten into everyone?

Hermione's been ridiculously snappy for weeks now. And now Ron reads Hermione's ridiculously large books for a bit of bedtime reading?

Kirsten shook her head the craziness that surrounded her and went back to work. Rustling met her ears and she looked up to see Hedwig fly threw the now opened window, a note clutched tight in her beak.

"It's from Hagrid," Harry said, ripping the note open. "Buckbeak's appeal—it's set for the sixth."

"That's the day we finish our exams," Hermione added, still searching everywhere for her book.

"And they're coming here to do it," Harry continued, his eyes still on the letter. "Someone from the Ministry of Magic and—and an executioner."

Kirsten looked at Harry with narrowed eyes.

"They're bringing the executioner to the appeal! But that sounds as though they've already decided!" Hermione exclaimed.

"It's because they already did, Hermione," Kirsten said.

"They can't!" Ron howled. "I've spent ages reading up on stuff for him; they just can't ignore it all!"

Kirsten was having a hard time trying to study. And now this happened, causing Ron and Hermione to go in panic mode.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked, realizing Kirsten was shoving most of her material in her bag.

"Library," she replied. The three nodded their head in understanding. They knew Kirsten couldn't pay attention for so long. It was surprising to see that she had lasted this long. And now that Hagrid's letter came in, her mind was spinning and she was pissed.

Damn. If she saw Malfoy...

It didn't take long for Kirsten to reach the library and it definitely didn't take long to feel the piercing eyes of Madam Pince on her. Kirsten didn't even care to look in the woman's direction this time around. There were a lot more rambunctious students running around in the library besides her at the moment.

The black haired witch disappeared from the woman's view into the mass of shelves and began on her journey to find an empty table. She turned into another row but stopped in her tracks as she almost ran into someone.

Looking up, Kirsten was met with a handsome face. His dark brown eyes looked down at her from his long black eyelashes. She had seen his face somewhere but couldn't place where exactly.

"Sorry," she apologized, smiling at him. "Name's Kirsten Black."

"I know who you are," he responded. His eyes were piercing as he kept his gaze on her. "Blaise Zabini."

Oh.

Kirsten definitely knew who he was now. Her eyes traveled down to see that there was a blend of green with his robes.

"Zabini," a voice called out.

This had to be her lucky day.

The fourteen year old Gryffindor turned to see the person responsible for Buckbeak's soon-to-be execution walking towards them. The blond stopped in front of her, his lips pulled into a smirk as Crabbe and Goyle stood beside him.

"How's the big oaf? Is he still moping around about that bloody hippogriff?" Malfoy taunted. Kirsten didn't have time to look at him incredulously. Instead she pulled her arm back and swung right at his face. The boy was falling backwards and unfortunately for Kirsten he grabbed a hold of her shirt, dragging her down with him.

Kirsten landed on top of him, her hands on either side of his face and her body oddly angled between his legs.

"You'll be moping soon enough," she told him. Before he could say another word, she rammed her knee into his groin. Groans of pain felt like music to her ears and she grinned cheekily down at him.

"Black!"

Kirsten lifted her head up to see both McGonagall and Snape staring down at her and Malfoy.

Shit.

"What is going on here?" Professor McGonagall said, her face shocked. The black haired witch looked down to realize why McGonagall looked as if there were a scandal before her eyes. And she couldn't help but smile mischievously. Winking down at the boy, she looked up at the professors with no trace of a smile.

"Well, you see," she said, picking herself up. "Malfoy tried to pin me down. In other words: sexual harassment."

The jaws of Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy drop while a smirk tugged on Zabini's lips.

She definitely liked Zabini so far.

"Is this true, Malfoy?" Snape asked. His eyes surprisingly narrowed at the blond.

"No! She punched me!" Malfoy stated, still on the ground.

"If I punched you why would I be on the ground with you?" Kirsten retorted.

"Severus, I will take Black back to Gryffindor Tower," Professor McGonagall said sternly.

It didn't take long for Kirsten and McGonagall to leave the scene of the crime and they were making their way down the corridor.

"You hit him," Professor McGonagall said suddenly as they reached the portrait hole.

Kirsten's eyes met McGonagall's. She tried to fight off the smile that wanted to break out on her face. She really did. But she couldn't help it.

"Detention tonight at the usual time, Professor?" she asked, after the woman deducted a small number of points away from Gyffindor.

"No."

Kirsten widened her eyes in surprise. "What?"

"Exams are coming around and you need to study. I am only doing this once because these are your first exams, but if you get yourself in trouble again, I assure you that I will not let you go," she warned the Gryffindor. The portrait hole swung open after the woman gave the Fat Lady the password. "I do not want you anywhere near Malfoy, if you continue to attack him."

"Kirsten Black!"

The fourteen year old witch looked up the ladder that led to her first exam at Hogwarts. Harry still hadn't come down and she assumed it was because he was waiting for her to climb up. So she pulled herself up into the classroom to spot the green eyed boy smiling at her.

"IT WILL HAPPEN TONIGHT."

Kirsten looked past Harry as he whirled around and her jaw dropped. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. There sat Professor Trelawney rigid as stone, eyes unfocused, her mouth sagging.

"THE DARK LORD LIES ALONE AND FRIENDLESS, ABANDONED BY HIS FOLLOWERS. HIS SERVANT HAS BEEN CHAINED THESE TWELVE YEARS. TONIGHT, BEFORE MIDNIGHT…THE SERVANT WILL BREAK FREE AND SET OUT TO REJOIN HIS MASTER. HIS MASTER WILL LEARN ABOUT THE SIMURGH. HE WILL USE THE SIMURGH, THE MOST POWERFUL ONE OF ALL, TO RISE MORE POWERFUL THAN HE WAS BEFORE…TONIGHT…BEFORE MIDNIGHT…THE SERVANT… WILL SET OUT…TO REJOIN…HIS MASTER…"

Professor Trelawney's head fell forward onto her chest and a grunt erupted from her lips. A second passed when her head snapped up again.

"I'm so sorry, my dears," she said dreamily, her voice different from the raspy voice she just used. "The heat of the day, you know…I drifted off for a moment."

Kirsten couldn't keep her eyes off the woman.

"Is there anything wrong, dears?"

The woman's got to be shitting in her robes...

"You—you just told us that the—Dark Lord's going to rise again…that his servant's going to go back to him…," Harry said, trailing off. His eyes met Kirsten's but she didn't meet his gaze. Her eyes were trained on the witch.

"And that he'll use a Simurgh to rise more powerful than ever," Kirsten added.

"The Dark Lord? He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? A Simurgh after all these years? There aren't many alive if they are not hidden. My dears, that's hardly something to joke about…Rise again, indeed—"

"You just said that though? Do you not remember?" Kirsten asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I think you two must have dozed off," Trelawney told them. "I would certainly not presume to predict anything quite as farfetched as that!"

"Now, Kirsten, that was a wonderful crystal gaze. How dementors were surrounding Harry! Now both of you go!" she said dreamily, scratching something on scroll of parchment with a quill.

"But I didn't even—"

Kirsten stopped herself as the woman looked up with a small content smile on her face, and nearly palmed her face.

"—say have a wonderful day!" Kirsten exclaimed. With a smile and a cheery wave, Kirsten hurriedly climbed down the ladder and waited for Harry.

Besides feeling extremely accomplished at having received a great mark on her first exam for doing absolutely nothing, Kirsten's mind was racing.

"I think she just predicted something," Harry said, bring her out of her thoughts. Kirsten nodded her head at his assumption and the two made a dash to the Gryffindor common room.

There was no mistaking that she predicted a future event.

And there was definitely no mistaking what her prediction meant.

Voldemort's return.