Tested In Fire

Chapter Ten : Round the Bend Altogether

This was turning out to be one of the strangest years of Harry Potter's not so normal life. Remus, Sirius, and his newly discovered godmother were all teaching at Hogwarts, and an odder group of people most of the school had never encountered. Remus taught his class calmly, Sirius taught his in almost the same fashion that Mad Eye Moody's imitator had, and Anna was, he'd decided, "round the bend all together", as Seamus put it.

The first ever Divination class of Harry's sixth year had started off strangely. Everyone had arrived precisely on time, except for Neville, who'd stumbled in late, mumbling that he'd lost Trevor again, and then they'd all sat around and waited. And waited. And waited. They'd sat there for almost half an hour, wondering exactly what to do. Just when the Gryffindors were voting someone to try and find the Professor, she'd walked in.

"Oh dear. Have I missed the start of the class?" When they all nodded, she shook her head in dismay. "Just like me. Perfectly horrid and unacceptable. I'm afraid I got caught up in the hospital wing." She dug out a watch from the folds of her cloak and groaned. "Thirty minutes behind. I do wish it would get its act together."

Neville swallowed back his laughter. "THAT'S your godmother, Harry?"

"I suppose so," Harry said. "She seems a bit different than when I saw her last."

"You all will have to forgive me. A good friend of mine is having a rough time, and I was just visiting him. I'm afraid I let the time get away from me. I'm not normally like this."

Anna Black stood all of five feet tall and had wild black hair that flew out from her face. She had blue eyes of the sea, and on her ears she hung the moon and stars. A delicate chain of silver wound around her neck on which she had hung three rings. All Harry could see from where he was sitting was that were two were gold and one was silver. That was the only jewelry she wore. The robes she had on were more eccentric. They were a deep royal purple, and on them astrological patterns danced and winked.

"Now, I wish to say, first of all, that this is not the class you took under Sybil Trelawney. There are a couple of distinct, very important differences between Sybil and myself. The first is the fact that I'm a True Seer. This means that I have made more than two accurate predictions in my life, and it also means that occasionally I'm going to be extremely bipolar. Just depending on what the vibrations of the day are, I could be happy, forgetful, rude and condescending, or gentle. Most of the time I will strive to be moderate in my emotions. The second difference is that I will actually teach this class. It will not do you any good to spend all of your time that you devote to this class inventing new ways to die. Well, it might improve your creative writing skills, but that's beside the point. You will actually do your homework in here. There will be no tealeaves, no crystal ball gazing, and no silly perfumes in this class. You will earn your mark.

"Now, the first activity will be fun. I want to get to know each of you, and as I don't have Cornish pixies, or a Boggart on hand, we'll just have to work on your hands.

"The art of Palmistry is often over-used, and in the same manner is taken too seriously by the general population, both Muggle and wizards alike. There is only so much I can tell about you by gazing at your palm for a few seconds, and most of them are personality traits. I cannot tell you when you are going to die, or in what manner, except in very special cases, none of which should be present in this room, so don't expect a clear and concise version of your life. Now then, I'll just go down the list."

Lavender and Patil were informed that they were "as flighty as birds, and often talked as much," and Seamus and Dean got the same: "maturity hasn't set in yet." Everyone, however, was waiting to see what she would say about Harry Potter's hand.

"Harry Potter." Anna took his hand in a no-nonsense sort of gesture, and bit her bottom lip in concentration. "A very appropriate mix of your parents, Mr. Potter. Nobility, loyalty, friendship, ambition. Oftentimes your ideals and morals get in the way of your true goals, but that's an endearing quality. You don't have to prove yourself, Mr. Potter, and you'd do well to remember that. But there's something else here. Something that isn't too odd, considering the circumstances, yes. Of course, this is just a reading and I could be interpreting this the wrong way, but you are destined for very, very great things. Far beyond what anyone expects of you. Just don't expect more than you can produce from yourself.

"Ronald Weasley."

They spent the rest of the class period working on researching techniques that medieval "Seers" had used to pull the wool over the eyes of their patrons. Professor Black also insisted that they learn to detect frauds. The hour passed quickly, and everyone left the tower in a hurry.

Walking out of the Divination Tower, Ron and Harry took to talking, as they hadn't been allowed to in class.

"Well, what do you think about the new professor?" Harry asked, walking quickly, as they were headed toward lunch, the most important time of the day to Ron's thinking.

"Hermione would like her. Imagine, actually having to work on Divination homework. I'm going to miss inventing ways to kill you, mate."

"We were getting rather desperate there at the end, you know. Being ripped apart by Cornish pixies isn't exactly plausible."

"In my own defense, I would like to say that we were up entirely too late that night."

"I still got full marks for it."

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, could I speak to for a moment?" Professor Black's voice cut through their easy banter.

"Damn. Harry, we're going to be late to lunch," Ron whispered.

"It will only take a minute. Remus, Sirius and I were wondering if you'd join us for tea this Saturday."

"Where?" Harry asked.

"Hagrid's hut, around four."

"All right," Ron said, and began tugging on Harry's arm. He was obviously starved.

"Can Ginny come too?"

Professor Black felt a tug at her heart, but schooled her expression to remain unchanging. "Of course," she said. Harry nodded, and he and Ron took off at an easy jog for the Great Hall and lunch.

As Anna walked down the stone corridor, her heels clicked and echoed throughout the school. Startled, she stopped for a moment. "Seems lonely without all the students running about," she murmured to herself. A smile graced her lips for a moment. "Of course, if we'd been back at school, I could have never relaxed my guard. Remus or Sirius or James or... Peter would have been behind me, without a doubt." She stopped for a moment, looked around. Without the Invisibility Cloak, the Marauders, at least what was left of them, were not as formidable. No one was behind her. "Ah, that's right. Remus and Sirius have classes this hour."

She ran a hand over the wall, testing its texture. "So much has changed, but Hogwarts never does, does it? Listen to me, talking to myself like an old woman. I suppose I am an old woman, to these children."

A shiver ran up and down her spine and she pulled her robes closer to herself. "I'll have to speak to that tailor again. Just because I'm little doesn't mean he can leave on that extra inch I paid him to take off." She watched her feet for a few more steps to avoid tripping over them.

The corridors of Hogwarts hadn't changed much at all, in reality. The hallway that led to the Divination room, her classroom, was now decorated in Gryffindor house colors. She had discreetly changed the tapestries so that no one would notice, except for, of course, the Slytherins.

Surprisingly enough, Anna managed to treat all of her pupils equally. If anything, she was harder on the Gryffindors. Seers weren't generally accepted by the wizarding community, but everyone at Gryffindor House had treated her just like a normal girl, and she expected no less from their descendants.

The cold air that she had been feeling swept around her. "Peeves!"

"Anna banana... where's your Loony loony Lupin? I thought you were going to be the next Loony Lupin... Life never turns out the way we want, does it?"

"Stuff it, Peeves."

"Are you insulting me?"

"I am a teacher now, and I'm asking you to get out of my way before I lose my temper."

"Hit a sore spot, didn't I, Anna banana?"

"Go away, Peeves. This conversation is over with."

"That's what you think."

Suddenly, Anna's eyes snapped. "I will banish you, make no mistake about that. I have no moral qualms about it like I did when I was a sixth year. Perhaps it's time you accepted that I've grown up, Peeves."

"Perhaps its time you accepted that you've grown up, Anna."

Anna shook her head as she walked away from the ghost. To everyone else, he was rude, but for her he seemed to hold a deep resentment. "You should have banished him when he asked you to," the voice inside of her sneered. "Look at the mess you've got yourself into now. Did you really think that you could change things? Virginia Weasley doesn't stand a chance, and you know it."

"No. She has a very good chance. She's got me, Remus, Sirius and an ace in the hole. Harry Potter."

**

Ginny Weasley was going to faint, and that was all there was to it. The room had begun to spin uncontrollably, and colors had begun to fade. All she had to do was make to the Gryffindor Common Room, and then she could sit down.

A ruckus behind her made her turn around, almost too quickly. It was Ron, Harry and Hermione, breathless and laughing.

"I won," Harry managed.

"Honestly," Hermione said in between gasps.

"Ginny, are you okay?" Ron was still breathing hard, but he noticed that she looked entirely too pale. He was getting better at that sort of thing since she had got sick the first time.

"I'm fine, thanks."

Harry wasn't going to believe her, she saw. Ron and Hermione pushed ahead of him through the portrait hole, and he relaxed against the wall, hands in his pockets. With his hair mussed and his face red from the race from the greenhouses, he almost took her breath away.

"Be honest with yourself, Virginia Weasley," a voice inside of her head addressed her sternly, "He does take your breath away."

"I did eat today, you know."

Harry grinned at her already defensive tone. His green eyes twinkled, and held her brown ones captive. "Did you really?"

"At breakfast."

He narrowed his eyes, and the smile nearly faded. "Breakfast was--" he checked his watch, "--almost twelve hours ago."

"I haven't been hungry." But standing across from him, she was very hungry, for something entirely different. Then his green eyes snapped, and one corner of his mouth lifted.

"There's only one solution to this problem."

Ginny was interested, despite herself. "Yes?"

"I'm going to ask for complete secrecy on this one, Gin. Still, if it's the only way... Come with me, no. Wait in the Common Room. I'll be back." He turned and gave the Fat Lady the password.

Ginny stood in the Common Room, awkwardly awaiting his return. Around her, everyone was busy. Homework was out at Lavender and Patil's customary position on the couch- Dean and Seamus lounged on the rug beneath them. Students from her year played Exploding Snap or studied for the impending O.W.L.s. Ron and Hermione were sitting on a windowsill, having a rousing discussion on... she listened in for a moment, sugar quills. She grinned as they managed to argue about strawberry versus vanilla, and take it seriously.

Harry thudded down the stairs, and stopped to talk to Ron and Hermione, who looked her direction and then nodded. She saw Ron whisper something to Harry, who in turn punched Ron lightly in the arm.

"Come on, Gin. Let's go."

"Go where?"

"The kitchens, of course. Watch your step," he added mildly as Ginny almost fell flat on her face stepping out of the portrait hole.

"How am I supposed to fit underneath of that?" she asked when Harry brought out the Invisibility Cloak from underneath his robe.

He grinned impishly. "Press close."

Ginny felt her face go red, and as Harry caught the implication of what he had just said, his did too. He cleared his throat. "Shall we go?"

"We're going to the kitchens under that?"

"Well, you're hungry, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"There's only one place to get food in Hogwarts. The kitchens."

"But aren't they supposed to be hidden or something?"

"They're supposed to. Myself and a few others at Hogwarts are privileged to know where the house-elves reside, courtesy of your brothers. Stay close. It would look odd for one foot to be walking down the corridor without a body attached to it."

"All right, Percy."

He stopped dead in his tracks, but he smiled down at her fully so that she could see his teeth. The grin caught her off guard and left her breathless. "That was uncalled for. Five points from Gryffindor."

She promptly stuck her tongue out. "You wouldn't dare."

"You're right," he said with a shrug of his shoulders. Ginny almost burst out laughing, and it was a good thing she caught herself because they almost ran into Snape and Remus.

"You can't trust that woman. I don't care if you are head sick in love with her."

"I can trust her, you stupid bastard. I was only engaged to her for a year and a half."

"But you didn't marry her."

"Because I was a coward, not because she had anything to do with Peter."

"Voldemort is out to recruit her."

"He was out to recruit her fourteen years ago, Snape. She didn't give in."

Snape acknowledged the obvious barb with a sneer. "How much more vulnerable is she going to be with an apprentice under her, Lupin? Voldemort will use that youngest Weasley against her."

"Voldemort is out to get Ginny Weasley, Anna Black or no Anna Black, and there's nothing that Anna, you or I can do about it." Ginny gasped a little, and turned white. Harry took her hand firmly and squeezed.

"We'd know more if we could just find the complete version second branch of that prophecy that your friend calls rubbish."

"Sirius feels that way because the prophecy is what got James and Lily killed, and you and I both know that. I'd give anything to burn it, to destroy any evidence that it ever existed. Then maybe my two best friends would get a shot at their happily ever after, and I'd get a chance to start mine."

Remus stalked off, and Ginny found herself very close to Harry, with one of her hands on his back in a natural show of support, the other still encased in his. Of its own accord, the hand slid up and massaged his shoulder. Harry nodded, and they took off again.

They moved quickly and quietly down through the castle until they were standing in front of a large picture of fruit. Reaching a hand out from underneath of the cloak, Harry tickled the pear, and the door swung open. The portrait creaked just a little, and as they stepped inside, Harry pulled the cloak off of them.

There were hundreds of house-elves in the kitchen, it seemed, and they all had high-pitched, chattering voices. There were homey sounds of clinking pots and boiling water, and Ginny inhaled, smelling the distinct odor of fresh made bread.

Quite suddenly, a piercing voice called out to them. "Harry Potter! Harry Potter has brought another Wheezy!" In front of Ginny stood a house-elf, one that she recognized from her first year.

"Hello, Dobby. This is Ginny."

"You is Harry Potter's Wheezy?"

"I'm his friend, yes," she said and cursed herself as a blush crept over her cheeks. "But not in that way."

Dobby raised his unblinking eyes to Harry's face. Before he could say another word, Harry cut him off. "Could we get some food, Dobby?"

"Oh yes! What would Harry Potter's Wheezy be wanting?"

"Milk, bread, maybe some cheese?" Ginny tried to think of things her mother let her have at this time of night. Ginny found it was easier to feel better if she felt like she was at home sometimes.

Dobby let out a delighted squeal and clapped his hands twice. A large loaf of steaming bread, two mugs of milk and six kinds of cheese were arranged on a tray in front of them.

"Thank you, Dobby," she said shyly.

"You is very welcome, Miss."

"Yes, thank you, Dobby."

"Always a pleasure to serve the great Harry Potter, sir."

Harry blushed and led Ginny to a table in the corner. "Sorry about him."

"I think he's adorable," Ginny said with a shrug, and tore of a bit of the bread. Over and over again her mind she kept hearing bits and pieces of Remus and Snape's conversation. "Voldemort is out to get Ginny Weasley, Anna Black or no Anna Black..."

"This prophecy thing is driving me nuts," Harry muttered under his breath and ran his hands through his hair.

"Me too," Ginny said, though her mouth was full of cheese. "Where is the second branch of the prophecy?" She was trying desperately not to sound worried, or scared, but the look in Harry's eyes when he raised his head told her she hadn't fooled him.

"Well, it sounds to me like they only have part of it. Damn, damn, damn!"

"What is it?"

"I'm so sick of people trying to protect me by withholding information! I'm not an idiot, you know."

"Yes, I know."

"Now he's after you."

"It's not your fault."

"Well, I wish someone would explain to me why! Perhaps this tea thing with them will sort things out. Would you like to come with us?"

"Come with you where?"

"To Hagrid's hut--" he averted his eyes when he said the beloved giant's name "--for tea with Remus, Sirius and Anna, Saturday around four?"

Ginny blushed to the roots of her hair. She was invited to go along with the trio. Not only that, but Harry Potter... She stopped that line of thinking. He was just Harry.

"All right. Why not?"