Returned From Superstition

Chapter One

"Just explain to me again what we are doing here."

Harry sighed and looked beside him to see Ron looking absolutely wretched.

Of course he would look wretched, thought Harry, it's the fifth time he asks me the same question.

But Harry couldn't answer, because the idea seemed pretty crazy to him as well. Let's face it, who could ever imagine Harry sitting at a small table behind a crystal ball?

And that's exactly where he was - inside a tent placed beside the castle entrance, sat in a small table behind a crystal ball. And let's not forget the fact that he had just predicted Trevor's violent death to a terrified Neville who had already received the "news" his grandmother was not going to live long.

All because of that stupid idea of having an open day so the students could practice their abilities.

Harry and Ron excelled in Divination (thanks to their fake predictions) so that's why Trelawney had indicated them to represent the Divination section along with Parvati and Lavender -which would mean so many points to Gryffindor they couldn't refuse.

Hermione was indicated by all her teachers, but in the end she decided on Transfiguration, and that's why she was now in the tent right in front of theirs transfiguring animals into objects and objects into animals.

A small noise brought Harry back from his thoughts and he remembered Seamus was right in front of him, waiting for his prediction, so Harry tried to focus.

Ron and Harry had discussed a great deal about what they should do not to let show that they were just faking predictions, and in the end they decided to go with Ginny's clever suggestion. "Just as Trelawney loves disasters, people in general love to know that their future is going to be full of romance and adventure. Why don't you just talk to them a little bit and then predict some great trip and a happy marriage?"

And that was working. Now it was two in the afternoon - "Three more hours until the torture is over," as Ron pointed out some minutes ago - and Harry had already convinced several students that they all had a great future ahead of them, with the exception of Longbottom... He had really wanted to tell Neville that Trevor and his grandmother would live forever and that he would excel in Potions in his last year, but the giant insect that was his Divination teacher had been standing behind him and he was afraid she would call on him if he did anything wrong.

Ron was undoubtedly the most popular "diviner" between them. Harry thought it had a lot to do with his friend's ability to dramatize - the exciting trips they had foretold so far had seemed really interesting. As a matter of fact, he had scared the hell out of a third year that was not very thrilled with the idea of fighting off vampires in Greece. "But after you finish your noble task, I can see a beautiful woman in love with you, waiting for you to arrive home safely so you can live together for the rest of your lives!"

"Is she older and have red hair?" the boy asked, excited after Ron's predictions.

"What do you mean 'older'?" Ron's face had instantly flushed; of course he had remembered that the only redhead above the third year was his sister. "Are you talking about someone one year older than you, who has a large family, several brothers, one of them still studying in this school...?"

The boy just nodded, his eyes almost popping out of his head for being so wide opened, a huge smile in his face.

"You son of a-" And those words echoed through the tent while Ron jumped in the boy trying to punch him. Fortunately, Harry's reflexes as a seeker helped him to be faster than his friend and he held him while the little boy ran inside the castle like he had a dragon after him. "I hope those vampires kill you while you're choking on all the water in Greece's seas!"

Well, actually that was the only thing Ron had done wrong so far - the other students had all been satisfied with his predictions.

The noise came again. Seamus was impatient, but Harry couldn't think of anything to say. So he said the first thing that crossed his mind. "I see the girl of your dreams..."

Seamus suddenly flushed and looked down, avoiding Harry's eyes, what made the boy think he had said something wrong. "Because you have that girl... in your dreams... right?"

"Please, don't tell anyone," Seamus muttered.

Now it was time for Harry to flush and look embarrassed. "Of course not," he promptly answered before anything else. But now he felt he had to end it quickly before he made any other mistake. "You'll marry her and live happily ever after. Congrats." What else could he say? "Bye."

"Am I really marrying her?" Seamus seemed suspicious.

"Sure. Big wedding. Everyone will come."

"Wow!" he exclaimed with dreamy eyes, but soon recovered and seemed ready to go. "You won't tell anyone, will you?"

"No! Your secret is safe with me!" Harry was white with fear.

"Thanks mate!" And with that he left with a big smile. As soon as he was out of sight, Ron said, "Great line. Now once more with feeling. No one will buy your predictions if you don't put any emotion in them."

"Seamus bought it."

"That's because he's desperate. Did you see his face? I wonder who this girl is he's been dreaming about." Ron chucked. "It's so weird. I didn't even know he was dreaming about girls. He's always so relaxed about it."

"I can't believe you listened to my talk with Seamus." Harry was indignant.

"It's hardly my fault," the boy grimaced. "I'm very bored."

"Where are the girls, anyway?" Harry was referring to Parvati and Lavender, their fellow diviners.

"They're in the Great Hall, mad because you two are taking all the attention in this tent." Hermione answered while entering and taking a seat in front of Harry. "Your popularity as diviners had spread across the entire school so far. Even I heard about it."

"Hermione, you're in the tent right in front of us." Ron really sounded bored. "That's not so far away."

"Don't be arrogant." She smiled. "I might want you to predict my future."

"That's the easiest thing ever." Ron shrugged. "You're going to finish school top of every class, and then you'll spend the rest of your life wishing school had twenty more years. There. That's the first truthful prediction I've done today."

"The first today? Have you ever predicted anything truthful before?" she taunted, angry at his words, but Harry decided to interrupt that conversation.

"Want to go for a walk? Grab something to eat?" When she nodded, he turned to Ron. "Will you be ok here alone?"

"No. I'll cry and misbehave once you're gone."

The sarcasm in his tone had made clear he couldn't care less about it, so they just left and walked in silence for a while.

They saw Padma Patil walk past them and go in the direction of their tent; Hermione sighed so heavily Harry got worried. "Are you alright?

"Of course I am." She flushed, looking attentively to the floor to avoid his gaze, and then saying the words she's been repeating for months now. "I got over it."

Hermione and Ron had dated in their fifth year, but Ron had decided it wasn't doing their friendship any good and they split up. He had said they weren't really in love, they argued too much for a relationship to work and that they were too young to even think about a relationship, but Harry knew that a lot of it was because of him, since Ron was afraid them being a couple would make Harry feel awkward around them.

And it had, but Harry still felt guilty about it. Maybe it was because he actually wanted them to split, to have them as best friends and only friends with him again. The fact that Hermione seemed hurt with Ron's decision didn't help Harry's conscience, either.

Although she insisted that Ron was right and their decision had been mutual, she had seemed very sad when Ron started to date Padma. "She's nice, and she is a Ravenclaw, that will probably help Ron to focus on his studies since Ravenclaws are so keen about it," Hermione had stated back then, but they all knew it was a lie. If Hermione hadn't made Ron be serious about his studying after five years of friendship, how could anyone else?

And that was proving to be the case; it was Padma who had changed, she wasn't studying as much as she used to, and both of them would usually be in trouble for being found doing forbidden things in forbidden places at forbidden times.

But Hermione seemed to feel very strongly about the need to hide her feelings, so she just smiled and made a sarcastic remark every time she would hear a story about Ron and Padma.

"You don't have to lie to me, you know?" Harry finally said.

"I'm over it." She was emphatic. "Really."

"If you say so..."

"Yes, I do." She sighed. "Besides, their relationship is working. They seem happy. She seems happy, and she seems to make him happy."

"No, she just seems not to bore him to death." Harry snorted, thinking about how Ron looked at his girlfriend. "How did he end up with her, anyway?"

"Well, she is considered the second prettiest girl in school... she and Parvati, tied."

They laughed, since the statement was rather obvious, but Harry thought of something else. "Who is the first?"

"Ginny," Hermione answered.

"Ginny? It can't be!" he exclaimed, remembering his best friend's little sister. "She's a little girl."

"She's fifteen, Harry, and growing up while we speak. Did you know there are seventh years inviting her to go to Hogsmeade?"

Harry's mouth dropped opened. How could he miss all that gossip? And since when did Hermione listen to the gossips?

They sat at one of the several tables placed in the Great Hall and watched as muffins and pumpkin juice appeared in front of them. Hermione frowned, certainly thinking about all the work the elf's would be having, but soon took a sip of her juice.

"Isn't it strange how we're growing up? I mean, look at Ginny. It seems like only yesterday she was all shy and clumsy and couldn't even say a word in front of you. But now," she seemed almost proud, like talking about a younger sister, "she's all grown and confident. Since she got over that crush on you, she blossomed."

"She got over what?" Harry was startled.

"Oh, come on, Harry!" Hermione seemed impatient with Harry's ignorance. "Haven't you ever realized she had a crush on you?" He shook his head and she sighed. "Haven't you wondered why she only started talking to you when she was fourteen?"

His confused expression gave away his thoughts and Hermione sneered. "Yes, she only talked to you then because that was when she could talk at all with you around."

"Wow!" And that was all he could find to say.

Hermione smiled, and now Harry understood that the second-year boy that had been careless enough to let Ron know about his crush on his sister. Now it all made sense.

"So the prettiest girl in school had a crush on me and I didn't even know about it?" He smiled teasingly.

"Yes, well, too bad, you missed your chance." Hermione was serious again, and seemed upset. "Besides, she got much better since she gave up on you."

Harry laughed of her tone, and decided to change the subject. "Anyway, shouldn't you be transfiguring something?"

"I'm taking a break, Harry, I'm not a machine!" She was definitely upset.

"Just joking, sorry..." He tried to pacify her, but then a commotion in the entrance of the Great Hall called their attention, and they heard Padma screaming.

"Get off of him, you..." They heard Ron's girlfriend scream as they approached the confusion that was actually happening outside the castle, but it was so loud that was calling everybody's attention.

But she couldn't finish her sentence, for Crabbe had already managed to take her off of Draco's back, and now she was trying to punch the tall boy who was holding her out of the fight.

And then they saw Ron landing a very good punch on Malfoy's mouth, blood covering his and Ron's faces.

Ron was already badly hurt himself. His nose was bleeding, and his left arm was twisted in an unhealthy way. Apparently he didn't care, since he landed on Malfoy and tried to throw several punches at him, while the blond boy would avoid it quickly and finally punched Ron's stomach in a way that made him bounce back and fall beside Draco.

Their fight seemed to be over by the inability of the participants to get up, but the people around them had already been contaminated with the spirit and fights were erupting everywhere, Seamus and Dean were trying to punch Goyle, while Padma was beating the hell out of Crabbe. For an instant, Harry thought that the "never mess with an angry woman" advice that Sirius had given him once was absolutely right.

But soon he followed Hermione to try and help her hold a dizzy Ron who was struggling to get on his feet, while Draco watched, touching his lips and looking at his blood on his fingers, looking rather amused.

"Just let me go, you two, you don't know what happened!" Ron said, trying to catch his breath.

"What happened?" Hermione asked, struggling to keep Ron beside her.

"I saw it!" Ron's eyes dazed off for a moment, and he seemed scary. "I looked in the crystal ball, and I saw it!"

He was getting absolutely out of control, and Draco didn't help by saying mockingly, "Now, now, Weasley, you don't want to ruin the face of your sister's future man, do you?"

"Don't you get anywhere near my sister, Malfoy!" Ron shouted so loudly Harry thought he would go deaf, and with that, he fainted.