Where Ron finds that some people are behaving quite strangely. And he doesn't dislike it.

RON IX

Ron felt quite lonely as he climbed the stairs that led to the tower where Professor Trelawney gave her Divination class. Was Hermione still apologizing to Professor Flitwick?

He had to admit that this day had been quite entertaining so far. People were excited and apprehensive at the same time, as only a few days separated them from the match between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. However, they got a class of Care of Magical Creatures in the morning, where Malfoy mocked Hagrid who was in a grim state to say the least. All this only earned Malfoy the most powerful slap across the face Hermione ever made. Now that Ron thought about that, he never saw Hermione slap someone before. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle retreated as if they were facing Buckbeak himself instead of Hermione's fury.

Then there was the Charms lesson, where they experienced Cheering Charms, which Hermione missed. He and Harry found her asleep in the common room right before Divination. When Hermione found out that she missed the lesson, she ran to apologize to Professor Flitwick right away. Now, Ron was shared between the envy to laugh about Hermione's reaction when she found out she missed one lesson out of the hundreds she had this year, and his sincere wish to pity her. She really seemed exhausted these times.

Dean and Seamus were climbing the ladder and Ron was about to follow them when Hermione arrived, out of breath.

"I can't believe I missed Cheering Charms! And I bet they come up in our exams. Professor Flitwick hinted they might!"

"Calm down, Hermione," Ron said, trying to reassure her. "I attend all classes but only listen half of the time. You missed one lesson, but you listen one hundred per cent of the time in each lesson. If I can succeed at my exams, you can too."

He should have expected that Hermione would roll her eyes at his comment. Without further words, he climbed the ladder, Hermione not far behind. The same ambiance reigned in the small room as always, safe for one small detail. Today, on each and every table, a large crystal ball full of white mist had been installed.

"I thought we weren't starting crystal balls until next term," Ron muttered.

"Well, I don't complain. It might be more interesting than palmistry," Hermione commented as she sat down and Ron followed her example. Though he got the clear impression from her tone that she wasn't convinced at all that it would be the case.

"Too bad Harry isn't here. He might have distinguished something in this fog. After all, he's capable of catching the Snitch in the worst conditions."

Except when Dementors are around, Ron added for himself internally. He regretted more each day to have taken this subject. Why didn't he choose Muggle Studies instead? His two best friends grew up among Muggles. If he had any problems, he would only have needed to ask them questions, or even to ask his father.

"Good day to you," the mysterious voice of Professor Trelawney welcomed them. Ron wondered where she hid this time, but hiding places were not scarce in this classroom. "I have decided to introduce the crystal ball a little earlier than I had planned. The fates have informed me that your examination in June will concern the Orb, and I am anxious to give you sufficient practice."

Next to Ron, Hermione snorted. "Well, honestly… The fates have informed her… Who sets the exam? She does!" A few heads turned towards her. "What an amazing prediction!"

Trelawney didn't seem to have heard her. Ron was impressed and scared by Hermione's behavior today.

The instructions Trelawney gave them were as nebulous as the crystal orbs they had to look into. Ron tried for a few minutes to distinguish something, but he quickly switched to observing other people around. Hermione looked as bored and exasperated as he was, and the others looked ridiculous, their faces contracted into various expressions, trying to see something beside white clouds. Ron couldn't refrain himself from giggling, the memories of Hermione's earlier actions today coming back to his mind. Trelawney gave advice that were probably not advice to some students in a voice as clouded as the balls they were supposed to see through. Everything was clouded today, including Ron's mind. He finally noticed something when he spotted a burn on this table, and predicted that it was from someone who spilled his candle there before.

"Well, it's obvious what this means. There's going to be loads of fog tonight," Ron finally whispered.

Hermione burst into laughs. Ron had to admit that he liked it when she laughed. Trelawney, in the meantime, was at Neville's table. Their friend chose Lily Moon as partner today, and she looked just as lost and desperate as Neville was.

"Your future is unclear, even to me, my dear," the professor told him.

"No surprise," Hermione said. If Trelawney heard, she gave her no attention.

"But… I can a see lot of sorrow… Definitely moments of joy too, but definitely, deep, long, huge moments of sorrow."

She didn't say anymore. Then she moved towards Parvati and Lavender. Parvati raised her hand.

"Professor. I think I saw something, but I'm not sure…" she said.

"Show me," Trelawney asked her immediately.

Ron didn't see how Parvati could show the teacher something only she was supposed to see in the orb. Still, she described how she thought she noticed several black lines through the fog, and Trelawney seemed particularly interested. Ron listened to them since there was nothing else more interesting in the classroom.

"Your Inner Eye is struggling, my dead… But it is working. This is the most important. Let me have a look now," Trelawney whispered. She looked at the ball for a few moments, her eyes enlarged by her thick glasses. "I can see something. A thin shape…. Thin but long… And it is growing bigger… It is approaching, my dear…" Ron saw Parvati, who looked almost proud moments ago, grow concerned. "It is getting closer… Closer to you every day… Closer to all of us… Swirling around you… Tightening its grip… The Ba…"

"Oh, leave us alone with that!" Hermione shouted loudly. "You already told us about the Basilisk. Could you change your tune, at least?"

Everyone was looking at Hermione, with expressions that varied from amused to scandalized, all accompanied with surprise since Hermione would be the last person anyone would expect to snap at a professor.

Trelawney turned to Hermione. "I am sorry to say that from the moment you have arrived in this class, my dear, it has been apparent that you do not have what the noble art of Divination requires," she declared, obviously angry. Ron never saw this teacher angry like this before, and Hermione was returning her anger in kind through her gaze. "Indeed, I don't remember ever meeting a student whose mind was so hopelessly mundane."

For a moment, no one said a word. Hermione's and Trelawney's eyes were locked to each other, throwing daggers.

Then Hermione stood up so abruptly that she almost toppled the table on which the crystal ball was laid. "Fine! Fine!" she threw her Divination book in her bag, then left the table, almost toppling Ron out of his chair as well in the process. "I give up! I'm leaving!"

A kick in the trapdoor and a few seconds later, Hermione was gone, to Ron's and everyone's bemusement. Ron wondered what was going on with Hermione today. Did she finally crack down? Losing her patience with a professor, even Trelawney, this way?

For a long time, no one said a word. Ron himself was struggling to understand what really just happened. Did Hermione really just snap at a teacher, then left in the middle of a lesson? Something had to be wrong today. This was just such an un-Hermione thing to do.

"Oh!" Ron almost jumped when Lavender made the noise. "Oh, Professor Trelawney, I've just remembered! You saw her leaving, didn't you? Didn't you, Professor? Around Easter, one of our number will leave us forever! You said it ages ago, Professor!"

Ron was really not certain that this was actually what Trelawney had predicted, but the Divination teacher lost no time in claiming this was indeed what she foresaw. Lavender was especially impressed, and a few other students seemed as well. Others just looked stunned like Ron still was, and he hoped that just like him, it was because of Hermione's unnatural behavior, and not because of the prospect that Professor Trelawney could actually have the capacity of predicting the future. The two students whose reactions came out as very different were Parvati and Neville, who looked especially worried, even distressed.

Ron spent the rest of the lesson faking to look into the crystal ball. At the end, he wished it was a Quaffle so he could throw it away, or a Bludger and that it would smash all the other globes in the room.

He went directly to the Great Hall after the lesson. Neville, Dean and Seamus followed him, asking him questions about Hermione.

"What got into her?" Dean asked.

"She wasn't in Charms either before," Neville pointed out, looking worried. "It doesn't look like her."

"Not to mention the smack she gave to Malfoy earlier." So other people had noticed it. "That was brilliant though."

"Yeah, you're right," Ron approved. "Too bad Colin Creevey wasn't there to immortalize that moment. I would have liked to keep a photo of Hermione repeatedly slapping Malfoy across the face," Ron said with a smile. Hell, he thought he might even keep that photo under his pillow.

The four boys burst into laughs, and their mood got better, almost as good as after they practiced Cheering Charms. Once in the Great Hall, Seamus voiced his desire to congratulate Hermione, but they didn't find her. Only Harry was there, his plate full.

"So, who will die this time?" Harry asked them, a regular joke about Trelawney's course.

"No one. Well, aside from Parvati, but she keeps predicting the worst things in the world for her," Dean said.

"Where's Hermione? She already ate?" Ron asked.

"No. She said she had too much work," Harry replied. "By the way, what happened in Divination? Hermione came into the common room early, and she just sat down in her corner and started working. She wouldn't tell me anything."

"What? She didn't tell you?" Dean asked, bewildered.

"She snapped to Trelawney. She left in the middle of the lesson, like that," Seamus said while snapping his fingers.

"She did what?" Harry asked, looking as bewildered as Dean looked just before.

"Yes. I think she abandoned Divination for good," Neville said.

"Well, it's probably a good thing," Ron declared. "She had too much work anyway. Even Hermione cannot follow all the possible courses."

Harry looked contemplative. "I guess that explains why she tore the pages of Unfogging the Future and threw it in the garbage can," he said.

"What?" Neville asked.

"She did what?" Dean asked further.

"Yeah. I never saw her mistreat a book like that," Harry said, with his facial expression showing plainly that he still struggled to believe that Hermione had done all this. "It's fortunate that Madam Pince wasn't around or she would have had a heart attack."

"You mean it is unfortunate," Ron corrected.

The five of them spent a large part of dinner laughing about the whole thing. When they went back to the common room, Ron wanted to actually congratulate Hermione, but she seemed so focused in her homework, and Ron still remembered what happened the last time he interrupted her that he preferred to not dare his chance. Neither Harry nor any of their friends wished to take the chance either. Harry went to Quidditch practice, and although Ron would have preferred to accompany him there, he went to the library instead to work on Buckbeak's case. They still had the appeal, and Ron was determined to win it. He spent the next few hours alone, going over large volumes detailing all cases that involved hippogriffs. He took notes of everything that could help them save Buckbeak, but he wished he could organize them better. Maybe he could kindly try to ask Hermione about it later tonight, but he wasn't sure if it would be a good idea. He pushed back the idea, and pushed back the idea of asking Harry as well. Both of them were already busy enough.

Ron walked back to the common room, his head filled with details over how hippogriffs were either condemned or saved. When he arrived, darkness had already fallen over the common room. He saw Hermione working furiously in the corner. He thought about saying hello but decided otherwise and let himself slip on a chair. As much as he could hate it, he had homework to do as well. And so, just like Hermione, he settled to work. Harry was nowhere to be seen in the room, and judging by the fact that none of the Quidditch players were there, Ron concluded that Wood kept them late to practice.

Ron was still working on the homework Flitwick gave them over the Cheering Charms when Angelina, Alicia and Katie walked through the entrance. The rest of the team didn't accompany them, so Ron guessed they took some more time to leave the pitch. Fred and George came through not long after, and Ron supposed that Wood held back Harry for another endless discussion on tactics his best friend often complained about. If that was the case though, Harry did not escape Wood to come back immediately to the common room, because the captain arrived first, and without Harry.

"Where's Harry?" he yelled towards Wood.

"No idea," he replied. "He left the pitch not long after me."

Ron shrugged. His friend would probably be here in no time. In fact, if Harry was tired enough, he would go to bed, and Ron wouldn't hesitate to follow him. Dean, Seamus and Neville had already gone to their dormitory, and so were the girls of their year, aside from Hermione, of course.

A while later, the portal finally opened and Harry walked in, along with Parvati.

"Once, when we were eight-years-old, my sister and I tried to fly for the first time," Parvati was saying. "She flew straight into a tree. She just charged it, then slowly fell down the trunk until she landed on her buttocks. Her nose was broken, but my father repaired it in no time. Still, I remind her about this when she seems to think she is better than me at everything. It shuts her up."

"Hi Ron," Harry said when he walked next to him.

"So, how was the practice?" Ron asked.

"They're very good. I'm sure we are going to win against Ravenclaw," Parvati answered before Harry could.

"I think we're ready," Harry shortly said. From the way he said it, Ron could sense something was wrong. "Well, I'll go to the dormitory the come back. I'll do some homework before I go to bed," he said. And with that, he walked away.

Parvati looked at Ron and the parchment in front of him. "Is that your homework for Divination?"

"No. It's the homework for Flitwick. Cheering Charms," Ron replied.

"Oh. Well, it's true that I could do with a Cheering Charm myself. Hey, I didn't start it. I'm coming back with my stuff."

She left for the girls' dormitory. Ron wasn't sure if it would be a good thing to do homework with Parvati. The rare times he did, he got distracted by the many conversations Lavender and Parvati had. This not only slowed his pace of work, but also bothered him because their conversations were always about topics that were at best boring and at worst irritating. Harry came out of the boys' dormitory the moment Parvati was walking into the girls'.

"So, did the practice go really well?" Ron asked.

"Yes. As best as we could. But everyone is on the nerves before the game," Harry said. "Let's just hope we will not be interrupted this time." Harry seemed discouraged at the mention of what happened two weeks ago.

"Yes, like Parvati interrupted you just now," Ron compared.

"Oh, that's nothing. She watched us practice, that's why."

"Oh yeah?" Ron was surprised. "Well, she must be arranging her schedule much better than I do. No one else has time left to watch you practice."

"Well…" Harry looked to Hermione still working, away from them. "Hermione is not the only one Trelawney is annoying. Parvati cannot stand being told that she will die in horrible sufferings any longer. She came to see our practice because she was running away from Lavender."

"What?"

"Yes. Since your Divination class, Lavender is talking all the time about how Professor Trelawney is fantastic since she foresaw Hermione leaving the subject. Parvati couldn't withstand this, so she escaped Lavender and went to the Quidditch pitch because she thought Lavender wouldn't think of looking for her there."

Ron was caught off guard. Definitely, girls were not behaving normally today. First, Hermione slapped Malfoy, missed a class, quarrelled with a teacher, abandoned a subject and destroyed a schoolbook. And now, Parvati ran away from Lavender, when the two girls were as thick as thieves, always giggling about some obscure thing only the two of them seemed to understand.

The day seemed to end in pretty much the same way, because Parvati came to work with Ron and Harry, and despite doing some small talk from time to time, she did work quite decently enough. Seeing Parvati work almost seriously was also something new. Only at the very end of the evening, when Ron decided to go to bed, Parvati suggested that they actually practice their Cheering Charms. And for once, Ron was glad that Parvati was who she was, for they went to bed in quite a good mood, and even Hermione's reproachful stare couldn't ruin it.

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