When she awoke the next morning, it took Sapphy a minute to realize where she was. Her dream had been very real, but upon waking she immediately forgot what it was about. She lay quietly for a moment, still private behind the blue, raw silk drapes of her four poster bed.
"Morag, I hope you're not actually going to wear those socks," came the sound of Mandy's despairing voice.
"Well obviously I am, since I put them on!" came Morag McDougals fierce reply. Sapphy's curiosity got the better of her and she emerged to discover that Morag had accessorized her uniform with blue and grey, knee high, argyle socks. Morag had a no nonsense disposition, chestnut brown hair that was even madder than Artimus's and a passion for tartan patterned clothing.
Stretching sleepily, Sapphy looked out at the spectacular view from their tower and was pleased to see that the weather was good for their first day. The sky was serenely blue, and streaked with wisps of cloud. After getting dressed, Sapphy took the moonstone pendant carefully out of it's box and put it on, admiring in the mirror the way it seemed to emanate a bluish purple glow in the morning light.
"Ahh, the prefect's bathroom really is so soothing," said Padma Patil breezily. She was wrapped in a fluffy white towel and had brought an overpowering smell of violets with her as she re-entered the dormitory. The rest of the Ravenclaw girls left abruptly, coughing as they went.
Sapphy was finishing her breakfast of porridge and fruit when her Nan's great grey owl, Phantom, landed gracefully beside her and deposited a letter. Sapphy stroked her beautiful grey feathers for a moment before Phantom nodded her head and took off again. The letter was addressed in Ocean's flowery script with her favourite lilac ink. But before she could open it, Noah appeared at her elbow.
"Morning," he said, and smiled when he saw the moonstone glinting over her robes. "I was wondering would you like to go for a walk around the lake after dinner?" he asked hopefully.
"I'd love to," Sapphy said, feeling her cheeks redden as Terry and Kevin Entwhistle snickered and made smooching noises at her from across the table. She shot them a dark look.
"Great," said Noah, who had heard but didn't seem to care. "I'll meet you at the door of the Entrance hall?"
She nodded happily and he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "See you then. I can't be late for Herbology. I'm trying to turn over a new leaf," he grinned. "Sorry. That was terrible."
"Puns are pretty much the way to my heart," she blurted out.
He laughed and gave her a quick kiss before darting away.
On either side of her, Lisa and Mandy were bursting with excitement. She put the letter away to read later.
"You are simply too adorable together," gushed Lisa, fingering the moonstone pendant with a dreamy look on her face.
As the hall emptied, the Ravenclaw's along with the other sixth years queued up to speak to Professor Flitwick and get their schedules for the term.
Artimus was ahead of Sapphy and as they reached the top off the queue she couldn't resist eavesdropping in on his discussion with Flitwick. Sapphy had a feeling that his choices of subjects would be interesting.
"Outstanding grade in Charms, glad to be seeing you back in my classroom my boy!" squeaked Flitwick. "And Outstanding in Divination and Arithmancy, so you may keep them on of course. Exceeds Expectations in Potions , I'm sure Professor Slughorn will accept that. And I see you have applied to begin Alchemy. Well, given your results I think you are more than capable. Now, Alchemy is a specialized subject, and the class will be very small as usual. But even so, the theories and principles are notoriously difficult and we always assign the younger students with a tutor from the year above. Professor Bracegirdle will tell you more."
Artimus thanked Professor Flitwick and wandered away, absentmindedly scratching his head with a pheasant feather quill. He waited for Sapphy by the door of the Great Hall; Divination was their first class of the day and everyone knew that was a subject Sapphy would be keeping on.
"Now Sapphire… Exceeds Expectations in Charms, History of Magic and Ancient Runes… all fine to continue. I must say I was very pleased with your Charms mark." He beamed at her. "And of course, with Outstanding's in Divination and Astronomy there are no problems there. Well done, Miss Fancourt," he squeaked, handing her the schedule.
Given her family background it wasn't hard to understand why Divination was her best subject. She penetrated the clouds of a crystal ball effortlessly, distinguished the meaning of tarot card spreads with ease and was often approached when someone found an odd formation of tea leaves in their morning cup. But during her O.W.L year, Firenze had confirmed what she suspected all along; that these were crude methods, barely scratching the surface and concerning the mundane. He had been an inspiring teacher and she was keen to learn more about the divination methods of the Centaurs.
So she was disappointed, but unsurprised, when Ocean's prediction came true and Professor Flitwick told her found that Professor Trelawney would be taking the Sixth years.
Artimus felt the same. "She's as mad as a bag of spiders," he stated matter-of-factly, as they climbed the North Tower to her stuffy little classroom. Privately, Sapphy felt that this was a case of the pot calling the kettle cracked.
It didn't take long after they had entered the too warm, overly fragrant attic class-room for Trelawney to prove Artimus right. "Oh Sapphire, my dear, I'm so glad that the facial deformity I've Seen in your future hasn't befallen you yet," was her dramatic greeting as she blinked deranged behind her oversized spectacles, looking quite deranged. "I assume it will be upon you by the end of the week." Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil looked at Sapphy with expressions of deep sympathy.
A long, dubious lesson on the Zodiac followed. When it finally came to an end, Sapphy got up with some effort from one of the squashy arm chairs, her head spinning from the scent of incense. As she made her way towards the trap door Professor Trelawney called out. "Wait a moment please Sapphire!"
Full of dread, Sapphy turned back to her teacher. She knew what was coming - the usual bi-annual inquisition about Ocean's activities over the summer.
"The tarot cards show that your grandmother is writing a book!" Trelawny probed, her magnified, bulging eyes blinking rapidly at Sapphy from behind her thick glasses.
"Yes," said Sapphy, guessing that the "crystal ball" who had informed of this was probably Cassandra Verblatsky, a friend the two ladies shared who enjoyed igniting arguments between the two for entertainment on particularly boring weeks.
"And this spread included the Seven of Swords, Sapphire," Trelawny said testily, pouring herself the last of her tea into a dinky, willow patterned cup. From the waft of cooking sherry in the air, Sapphy suspected that it wasn't just tea. "Can you recall the meaning of that card, my dear?" Trelawney asked with a slight slur.
"Upright, it means deception, betrayal, the attempt to get away with something undetected," Sapphy said easily.
"It is the card of plagiarism, Sapphire! The card of taking glory that isn't due to you. The card of passing off the brilliance of another, far superior - yet tragically underrated - Seer, as one's own! A lot of my own notes, full of significant predictions, have mysteriously disappeared from my quarters. And don't think for a moment I don't know where they might be!" Trelawney said, gesticulating so wildly that one of the sleeves of her long shawl dipped into the tea cup.
"Your grandmother should take heed of this clear warning that I give you, my dear. She won't get away with it this time! And I do hope you shall pass this message along to her," she cooed, all concern. "Because we all know she can't See past the end of that big nose." This was muttered under her breath.
"The Seven of Swords reversed," Sapphy said as she suppressed a smirk, "means letting go of negative patterns, old ways of thinking and resentments."
"It was upright!" Trelawny squawked, this time upsetting the tea-cup in it's saucer. "Anyway. I congratulate you on your O.W.L. mark, my dear," she said, mopping up the spill with one of her scarves. "At least there is one talented member of that family."
"Thank you, Professor. Er, I really must be getting to my next class." But Trelawny wasn't keen to end the conversation.
"She still hasn't returned my owl about the bet we made on the Quidditch World Cup you know!" These were her final words, as Sapphy finally managed to escape through the trap door.
She was relieved to enter the quiet, peaceful Ancient Runes classroom, where she sat beside Hermione Granger and was given an obscene amount of homework. She found Lisa in the girls bathroom during break. "You should have seen Harry stand up to Snape in Defense Against the Dark Arts," she swooned, attempting a lengthening spell on her eyelashes in the mirror. "He's amazing at Shield Charms."
"Well, I think he probably needs to be," Sapphy mused, thinking of Dumbledore's speech.
"I keep asking Artimus whether Luna Lovegood has told him anything about being at the Ministry of Magic with him, so that he might get so sick of me that he actually asks her," she explained. Artimus and Luna could often be seen practising the art of levitation together in the Ravenclaw common-room. "But you know him, he's never gossiped about anyone in his life. They're probably so busy talking about Alchemy theories or gnargles, or something equally bizarre, that they never get around to it. Elongatio," she said, prodding her eyelashes.
Suddenly a loud group of fourth year Gryffindor girls piled into the bathroom. They were led by Romilda Vane, a girl from the year below. "You know tall, dark and the Chosen One has always been my type," she was telling her friends, walking with a slight swagger. "My aim is to make him my boyfriend by the end of term. Imagine my parent's faces when I bring him home for Christmas dinner!" The girls laughed excitedly as they flocked around Romilda as she preened.
There was a yelp from the other mirror. As she heard Romilda's words, blue sparks had flown out of Lisa's wand and singed her eyelashes. The Gryffindor girls tittered as Sapphy fixed it, trying not to laugh herself. When her eyelashes looked normal, Lisa stormed past a baffled Romilda out of the bathroom.
"You know, sometimes I hate the Gryffindors almost as much as the Slytherins," she fumed as she stomped along the corridor. This seemed like an exaggeration to Sapphy, who was hurrying to keep up. "What about the time in second year when Draco Malfoy and those other cretins all started calling you the "M" word?" she reminded her.
"Ok, they're not in the same league. But still," Lisa spat, throwing a bewildered Neville Longbottom a very nasty look as he passed. "They're so disgustingly extroverted, so obnoxious, so nauseatingly confident..."
Sapphy laughed.
"Except Harry, of course," Lisa chirped, happy again at the mere thought of him. "And Noah," she added generously.
Sapphy and Noah were holding hands and admiring the beautiful sunset that was reflected by the lake. It was a warm evening, but Sapphy was a little shivery from the excitement of being so close to him. Noah was happy to have this excuse to pull her into his arms. They were quiet for a moment.
"I got a letter from my Nan this morning," Sapphy said in a soft voice. Noah looked at her with interest. His parents were both muggles and he was still learning about some facets of the wizarding world. He found Ocean, and her Sight, especially interesting. Sapphy had always been reluctant to talk about the fact that she herself had The Sight. It wasn't exactly a secret, and he knew she was skilled at Divination but she had never fully explained that she was likely to become more and more like Nan over time. Other people - their pasts, fears, secret desires, fates - would become less and less obscured to her.
Among her close friends she was more open - but only Nan, her mother and Perry knew everything. Some of the things she saw weren't the kinds of things people wanted to hear about. And she was afraid that Noah would find her too strange, if she told him the whole truth.
"The letter was about the properties of moonstone," she said, enjoying the look of incredulity on his face. He laughed appreciatively. "I'm guessing you didn't get a chance to tell her about the necklace yet?"
"No," she smiled, and touched the pendant. "Apparently the Romans believed moonstone was solidified rays of moonlight. And she said that if I lay it in a beam of light from the full moon and wear it to bed, I'll have beautiful dreams."
Ocean had also written that if a man gave his lover a moonstone necklace during a full moon, their love would last an eternity. But there was no way she was telling Noah that.
"So when is the next full moon?" he asked, gently pushing her silky hair off her face.
"Not til next week," she smiled.
"You talk about your Nan a lot, and Perry and your Mum. What's your Dad like?" he asked.
"My dad died before I was born," Sapphy said with a sad smile. "I know what he was like from what Nan and Mum have told me. But I wish I had met him so I could know for myself."
"I wish you had too," Noah murmured. He looked very sad for her and squeezed her hand. "What happened?"
"A few months before I was born, Death Eaters came to our house. They were looking for my Nan, and my great aunt Perpetua. They were both brilliant witches and You Know Who wanted to recruit them to his side. There were powerful protective charms and shields around our house, but when they approached, my father went outside to fight them off. There were five of them. It was a man named Mulciber who cast the killing curse. He was sent to Azkaban after You Know Who went into hiding."
Noah shook his head, and she saw how angry he was.
"Your Nan…" Noah began, but seemed uncertain about whether he should ask the question, but she knew what it was, of course.
"Yes, she knows more than most about what's coming. But knowing is different than being able to prevent it."
"I worry everyday about my own Mum and Dad," he admitted. "I know that the last time, a lot of muggles were killed as well as wizards. And I know what I am to them." His jaw jutted out defiantly.
A sudden shout startled them and they looked up to see Argus Filch gesticulating angrily at them from across the lake. It was dusk and they weren't allowed outside the castle after dark. Laughing, they both ran back to the doors of the Entrance Hall as Filch limped after them threatening a month of detentions.
The next day, Sapphy made her way towards the Astronomy tower for her last class. She was tired after a morning of a difficult Charms lesson and catching up on a History of Magic essay. She hadn't meant to lose track of time with Noah last night and it was late by the time she had done enough that she could go to bed.
It had been worth it though, she thought, and drifted dreamily up the stairs before realising she was late and hurrying the rest of the way.
"Sorry, Professor Sinistra," she said, looking around the classroom. She had almost forgotten how stunning it was. It was a huge oval dome, with the heavens depicted on the walls and ceiling. At night, the view was that of the real night's sky, but during the day it was conjured by an enchantment.
"Welcome back, Miss Fancourt," Professor Sinistra greeted her in her warm, deep voice. Though Sapphy was often late, she was one of the Professor's favourite students. She got excellent marks and was always engaged and interested. Being the grand-niece of the inventor of the Lunascope helped too, she supposed. She smiled back. An aura of calm followed Professor Sinistra everywhere, and Sapphy instantly felt more relaxed.
And then she realised that the only free seat was beside Blaise Zabini. He was leaning back languidly, and staring at her with his golden-green coloured eyes. Sapphy's stomach dropped.
She sat down gingerly and was annoyed to find that Zabini was looking at her hair, quite openly too. She glanced at him crossly, expecting him to turn away, but he stared back intensely and without a trace of embarrassment. She couldn't help being struck by those golden eyes and she noticed that he had acquired a tiny silver stud in his nose. As Professor Sinistra began to talk, she felt like she was coming out of a trance. She shook her head and tried to pay attention.
"To begin the term, we will be learning about the planet Venus, also known as "Hesperus" or "the morning star" to the Ancient Greeks, and "Lucifer" or "Light-bringer" to the Romans. The planet's contemporary name is derived from that of the Roman Goddess of love, beauty and femininity. "
With her wand, Professor Sinistra extinguished the candles dotting the walls, and drew a shining, blue circle around a bright star on the domed ceiling.
"To the Greeks, Venus was Aphrodite, a Goddess born from sea foam and the fluid, feminine counterpart to Mars, the God of fire and war…"
Half way through the lecture, Sapphy realized that she was paying more attention to the steady sound of Blaise Zabini's breath than to Professor Sinistra. Was it her imagination, or had he edged nearer since the class began? She was very aware of their closeness. If she looked sideways to the left, without turning her head, she could just about see his profile through the darkness.
He watched Professor Sinistra's movements lazily. The brightness of the stars overhead illuminated his sharp cheek bones, brow bones, his lips. Then, Sapphy felt the warm weight of his hand on the bare space between the hem of her skirt and her stocking. A jolt went through her entire body. She gasped with shock. A split second longer than she should have, she tore her gaze away, pushed his hand off her as forcefully as she could and moved to the very edge of the desk. Professor Sinistra didn't falter and his expression remained unchanged. Unable to concentrate on the lecture, Sapphy tried to get her breathing to return to normal.
The bell rang, and the candles were ablaze again. Furiously, Sapphy packed up her belongings without a glance in Zabini's direction. Suddenly, he had grabbed her wrist. She gasped, and tried to twist it away, but he wouldn't let go. "Look at me," he murmured, and she was forced to meet his golden eyed gaze. She could see that his usually haughty features were gone now. He looked wrong-footed, unhappy… and undeniably gorgeous.
She blushed, unable to speak. Then her anger rushed to her aid.
"How dare you do that, that was-"
He interrupted her and she was glad, because she didn't have the faintest idea of what she was going to say.
"I apologize, Sapphire, sincerely."
He looked it, too. But suddenly she remembered his twelve-year-old face, jeering as Draco Malfoy called Lisa "mudblood". She thought of Noah. She was trembling, with rage, and a kind of exhilaration that disturbed her. She needed to get away, but when she turned he took her arm again. He went to speak and she was terrified at what he might say. "Stop!" she said, glancing around the classroom.
She lowered her voice. "What happened before… near the forest, that was… it was a mistake."
His beautiful face hardened. She leaned towards him to deliver her final blow.
"I'd never be interested in a prejudiced, purist poser like you. So keep your hands to yourself from now on," she hissed.
They were locked together, glaring at each other, when Sapphy became aware of the interested stares of Susan Bones and another Hufflepuff girl, as they ambled out of the classroom. She threw Zabini one last filthy look, and took flight.