Disclaimer: I own nothing still

Author’s Notes: University has well and truly started so time to write is on the decrease. It’s also unfortunate for you lot that I’m now living with friends so writing time has most definitely suffered. But the story needs to be written and shall get written, albeit at a slower rate. I also suffered through over a week of no internet, which didn’t help. As always, thanks to those who reviewed; I will reply to every review, though it may take some time with work and such. I also have to say thanks to Diogenes for the feedback. Oh, and sorry for this rambling note that you really don’t care about. Props to you if you actually read it.

Chapter Thirteen

“You know,” said Alicia as she sidled up next to him, “there’s a Hogsmeade weekend coming up soon. Next week, in fact.”

It was a Friday evening and they were just finishing up Quidditch practice. With their latest victory still feeling recent – they had beaten the Hufflepuff team the weekend before – Angelina had given them a bit more leeway. Their last match against Ravenclaw was scheduled for after the Easter holidays and they all welcomed the break from Angelina’s strenuous training.

“Yeah, I know,” said Harry, slightly dubious about where this was heading.

“So?” Alicia was looking at him expectantly.

“So, what?”

She sighed. “You’re such a boy.”

“Right,” said Harry, giving her a strange look.

Alicia rolled her eyes at him. “So, are you going to be asking anyone to Hogsmeade? A certain Ravenclaw, perhaps?”

He could feel his face heating up and he quickly turned his head towards where the twins were coaxing the Bludgers into the box of Quidditch equipment. “Haven’t really thought about,” he lied. He had in fact been toying with the idea for the last fortnight. Probably a bit longer than that if he was being perfectly honest.

She folded her arms. “Do you really expect me to believe that?”

“No, but you could at least pretend to believe it.”

Alicia chuckled. “Why haven’t you asked her yet? And don’t lie.”

“She might say no,” he told her quietly.

“She might say yes,” retorted Alicia.

“Yeah, but it’s better imagining her saying yes than actually going ahead and her saying no.”

“Rather convoluted of you, don’t you think?”

In the background, the twins had finally managed to strap down the last Bludger. Their ginger hair was flecked with fallen snowflakes as they shut the Quidditch box tight.

“Hey, you two, I need a favour,” shouted Alicia, beckoning them over.

“You called,” said George as they approached where Alicia and Harry were standing.

Harry really didn’t like where this was going and he tried to interrupt the proceedings. “Look, it’s fine. Really. I don’t need any help.”

“Yes, Harry,” said Alicia firmly, “you do.” She then turned towards the twins. “Harry needs advice on how to ask a girl out.”

The twins turned to look at him, identical wicked grins spreading across their faces. “Is ickle Harry interested in a girl, then?”

“Shut up,” moaned Harry, looking anywhere but at the three people beside him.

“So who’s the lucky girl?”

“Padma Patil,” supplied Alicia helpfully. “Fourth year Ravenclaw.”

“Not too bad, not too bad.” Harry glanced at George who was tapping a finger against his chin as he spoke.

“And you want to ask this girl to Hogsmeade, correct?” asked Fred.

Alicia was giving him a pointed look and Harry found himself replying affirmatively. “But, really, I don’t-”

“It’s all about confidence,” interrupted George as though Harry had never spoken.

“Right,” said Harry, his voice holding a distinct amount of scepticism.

Fred shook his head at him. “Confidence, young Harry. That is the secret to success. Don’t talk too fast-”

“-Don’t mumble-” continued George.

“- Nor stutter. Just take a deep breath and play it cool. Oh the stories I could tell.”

Even Alicia gave him a funny look at that.

“And as a guarantee that my oh so very brilliant and superbly excellent method works, I shall give an example.” Fred then turned to face the direction that Angelina was in. “Oi, Angie!”

The black girl looked up from where she was talking with Katie and Jason. “What?”

“Wanna go to Hogsmeade next weekend?”

“With you?”

“No, with Dumbledore,” he told her sarcastically. “Of course, with me.”

Angelina gave him an appraising look. “Alright then.”

Fred winked at him. “See, Harry: piece of cake.”

000

The twins’ advice was still ringing through his head as he made his way up to the Astronomy Tower for the last lesson of the week. It all sounded so easy when Fred was explaining it, but actually getting the nerve to ask was something else altogether.

“And I’m supposed to be a Gryffindor,” he muttered to himself.

He spotted Padma setting up the telescope in their spot. As she smiled at him, he suddenly realised just how sweaty his palms were.

“Hey,” she greeted as he sat down.

“Er – hi.” Right, better to just get it over and done with. He opened his mouth to speak and then thought better of it. His mouth slid shut.

Padma was looking at him expectantly now, obviously having noticed the open-mouth/close-mouth routine. “Are you OK?”

“Fine,” he said a little too quickly and a bit more high-pitched than usual. “You?”

She scrunched her nose slightly. “Pretty sleepy, really. I like Astronomy but not staying up till past midnight. I just want to sleep right now.”

Harry mentally noted down that she was tired and so might not be quite on the ball. He figured sleepiness could help his cause. Worst way, if she refused then he could blame it on the fact that she wasn’t totally awake and didn’t know what she was saying. He opened his mouth to speak-

“Can we now crack on with the lesson, please?” Sinistra’s voice rang out and the low murmur of voices that had filled the tower fell into silence. “Thank you. Now tonight...”

His mouth slowly closed as he pretended to pay attention to what Sinistra was droning on about. It all seemed rather pointless in comparison to his own dilemma. Who would have thought asking a girl to Hogsmeade could be such a problem?

The rest of the lesson was spent taking turns at looking through the telescope. Harry wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be looking for but Padma was getting on with it so he wasn’t that concerned.

It was only when Sinistra told them to start packing up that he decided to take some action. It was now or never.

“Do you want to go to Hogsmeade next week?” His voice was quieter than usual since he didn’t want Ron to hear what he was doing.

Padma gave a small nod as she pushed an invisible piece of hair behind her right ear. She was also smiling. “OK, I’d love to.”

“Great! I mean, good; that’s really good.” They both started smiling stupidly at each other. Harry was sure he looked like an idiot but he didn’t care.

They were both still smiling when it became time to say goodnight. Harry really couldn’t remember why he’d been so worried about asking Padma out. It hadn’t been that bad at all.

“So how come you look like the guy who got the veela?”Seamus asked him once the Ravenclaws had disappeared from view.

“What?” said Harry, his concentration focused mostly on the spot where Padma had been waving goodbye from a few seconds before. “Oh, well, I’m sort of going to Hogsmeade with Padma.”

In front of them, Parvati and Lavender suddenly started giggling amongst themselves. More precisely, they looked at Harry, whispered something and then start to giggle. It was more than a little off-putting.  

Dean was rather excessive in his reaction. “You lucky bastard! She’s one of the best looking girls in the year!”

A now frowning Lavender Brown turned round and jabbed the black boy at that. Dean hurriedly added her to the list of most desirable girls in fourth year.

Ron gave him a funny look. “Since when have you been interested in Padma Patil?”

Harry was prevented from answering by Hermione. “Honestly, Ron, how did you not notice? You really are exasperating at times.”

Dean sniggered at that.

“Yeah, well at least I’m not an insufferable know-it-all,” Ron retorted.

Hermione’s face twisted into a mix of hurt and outrage, her eyes boring into Ron’s. She then huffed quite loudly before striding off ahead of the group, only pausing to give the Fat Lady the password (“Mothballs”).

“What did I say?” asked Ron, his palms turned up in question.

Parvati and Lavender gave him a filthy look before quickly following after Hermione.

“What did I say?” repeated Ron, looking at the four Gryffindor boys.

“You called her an insufferable know-it-all is what I think you said,” answered Seamus.

“You’re not helping.” Ron then sighed. “Why do girls have to get all emotional about everything?”

“Hormones,” said Dean sagely, and they all laughed.

000

By the time the next weekend came around, Ron had made up with Hermione and Harry had become slightly worried as to what one did in Hogsmeade when accompanied by a girl.

In growing trepidation, Harry had turned to Hermione. Harry had never known her not to have an answer, and it was a bit of a plus that she happened to be of the female variety. Living up to her knowledgeable reputation, she had sat him down and explained that he ought to do exactly what he did whenever he went into Hogsmeade usually.

Her words – “honestly, Harry, you’re worrying over nothing” – ran through his head as he waited for Padma in the Entrance Hall. His hands had grown increasingly sweaty as he waited and he had to keep brushing them against his jeans. His mouth was also suspiciously dry.

Padma was ten minutes late when she finally appeared from the marble staircase with Lisa and Mandy in tow. The other two Ravenclaws whispered something to her before waving her goodbye, smiles glued to their faces. The sight only made Harry that much more nervous.

“Sorry I’m late,” said Padma looking very apologetic.

“It’s fine. Er - you look nice.” Her long hair was loose from its normal plait and fell in a glossy black curtain around her face. She was wearing a dark green coat that stopped just before her knees with a pair of black denim jeans moulding the shape of her legs.

“Thanks.” She smiled at him prettily.

“Should we?”Harry asked, doing a small gesture to the doorway.

She nodded and they made their way out of the castle and into a waiting horseless carriage.

By the time they reached Hogsmeade, any awkwardness Harry had felt had dissipated as they fell into easy and familiar conversation. Remembering Terry’s attempt at creating an ode to Dobby had been particularly amusing, especially with the dubious beginning of:

“Freedom agrees with him in an odd way,

But odder still is his tea cosy hat!”

“I don’t remember that being here before,” said Padma once he had helped her down from the carriage. She was pointing at a wooden bench just outside of the train station’s main body.

“It must be new,” said Harry distractedly. He was remembering the last Hogsmeade visit and Duncan MacTavish’s strange behaviour when questioned about how exactly his associate died.

Padma had now moved in front of the bench and began to read aloud the words on the oval brass plaque in the centre. “In memory of Ernest James Thompson, 1941-94. I wonder who he was.”

“Train driver,” answered Harry who had walked forward so he was now standing beside her. “He died on the night we came to Hogwarts.”

“That’s horrible. How did he die?”

“I don’t know. No one seems to want to answer that question.”

She gave him a curious look at that and Harry soon found himself recounting what he’d seen on September 1st and how Duncan MacTavish had fearfully told Ron, Hermione and him to leave the matter well alone.

“It all sounds a bit strange,” commented Padma as they meandered through the cobbled high street.

“Very,” said Harry. He wondered whether to mention the time when Abravan had suddenly turned up in Myrtle’s bathroom on Halloween. After a slight consideration Harry decided against bringing it up; he didn’t fancy having to explain why he was in a girls’ bathroom.

“So where do you want to go?”

“Honeydukes?” Padma grinned at him.

“Let me guess – you need more sugar quills.”

She tried to look innocent. “Maybe.”

Harry laughed before taking her hand in his and heading towards Honeydukes.

The shop was mobbed with people and they found themselves squeezing through to the row where sugar quills poked out of glass jars. In the row beneath there was a wooden plaque that flashed with the words ‘Brand New’. Taking a closer look they saw delicately thin sheets of white labelled ‘sugar paper’ stacked up. Next to that were small ink pots filled with different coloured liquids. A sign beside them listed them as pots of edible ink and gave an explanation as to which colour was what flavour.

“Banana flavoured really doesn’t look very appetising,” commented Padma as she lifted an ink pot filled with a gooey, pale yellow liquid. Her nose was scrunched in distaste.

“Very nice,” said Harry. “Now I know what to get you for your birthday.”

She elbowed him good-naturedly. “Do you want to get anything?”

“Just some chocolate and a bit of fudge. You can go and pay for your quills and then wait outside since I won’t be long. It’s a bit mad in here.”

“I’ll wait with you,” said Padma, smiling. “Besides, with you in front it means I can protect my precious sugar quills from any breaks.”

“I should have realised there was a reason for you agreeing to come to Hogsmeade with me,” said Harry with a mock sigh.

She laughed and nudged him slightly. “Come on, let’s hurry up and get your chocolate so we can escape this crowd.”

As they squeezed through the swarm of people, Padma suddenly tripped and fell into the back of another girl. She immediately started to apologise when the dark-haired girl turned round.

“Can’t you watch where you’re going?” sneered the pale form of Emily Gerard before she strode off.

Both Padma and Harry looked at each other. “I said I was sorry,” said Padma quietly.

“That’s Slytherins for you,” Harry told her.

She laughed at that. “You and your house stereotypes. I happen to have a friend or two in Slytherin and I can tell you now that neither of them is a Draco Malfoy replica, even if I do sometimes think that Theo might be cheating on our Runes tests.”

“Theo?” questioned Harry, his brows slightly creased.

“My Ancient Runes partner,” said Padma as Harry picked up some chocolate. “He had the choice between me, Hermione or Pansy Parkinson back in third year and I was supposedly the best candidate, or so he later told me.”

“Oh,” said Harry, unsure what else to say to that. “Hang on – how come you didn’t sit next to Hermione?”

She looked slightly embarrassed. “Do you want the truth?”

Harry nodded as they made their way over to the counter to collect some fudge and pay for their purchases.

“Well, she’s a bit intimidating. That sounds really horrible, and I know she’s your friend, but, well,” she was struggling to find the right words.

“She’s an insufferable know-it-all who makes you feel like you know absolutely nothing,” said Harry as he paid for his chocolate and fudge.

“I don’t think I would have put it quite like that. I just don’t understand how she knows so much.” Padma handed over a Sickle to Mr Flume, the owner of Honeydukes, to pay for her Sugar Quills.

They continued talking once they squeezed outside. “She wouldn’t be Hermione if she didn’t have all that knowledge. I don’t even know how she knows so much and I’m her best friend. I think it’s one of those things that you just have to accept, like the fact that magic just happens to exist or that all the Weasleys have ginger hair.”

Across the road Harry spotted Neville walking along with a girl Harry recognised as a seventh year Hufflepuff. It was strange seeing the slightly podgy and still rather short Neville walking next to a tall, stick-thin girl. What was even more unusual was seeing the usually quiet Neville jabbering away to his companion.

Harry also found himself surprised when Neville spotted him and Padma and wandered over. “Hi Harry, Padma.”

“Hey,” said Harry, raising a hand in greeting. He couldn’t pick out any other time when Neville had been so chipper and unselfconscious.

“This is Nadia. She’s tutoring me in Potions,” he said, gesturing to his tall companion. She had cropped black hair and heavy make-up outlined her large dark eyes. She didn’t seem totally aware of what was going on and remained quiet when Harry and Padma greeted her.

“We’re heading to the Hog’s Head,” Neville told them excitedly. “I’ve never been but Nadia says it’s quieter than the Three Broomsticks.”

“Right,” said Harry, unsure what else he was supposed to say; he’d always considered the Hog’s Head a place to avoid. That Neville would even venture in there seemed extremely peculiar. “I’ll see you back at Hogwarts later, then.”

Neville smiled cheerfully and quickly departed with the still silent Nadia.

“Was it just me,” said Harry slowly, “or was that really odd?”

Padma nodded. “Yeah, it was a bit. It’s strange to imagine Neville Longbottom going to the Hog’s Head.”

“Let alone with a girl!”

Padma laughed at that. “That’s not a nice thing to say!”

“You’re the one who laughed,” pointed out Harry.

She gave him a half-hearted nudge, smiling all the while. This of course ended up in a battle of who could nudge each other more until Harry suggested that they should maybe get something to eat.

Padma nodded her agreement and with an unspoken consensus they headed for the Three Broomsticks.

The warmth of the pub hit them as they entered bringing a flush of warmth to Harry’s cheeks and he only became redder when he saw the Weasley twins sitting near to the door opening. Opposite them sat Alicia and Angelina. He was treated to a round of greetings that included a wink from Fred and a smug look from Alicia.

More than a little embarrassed, he quickly tugged Padma further into the pub and away from his fellow Quidditch team members. Moving quickly through the cheerfully rowdy crowd of Hogwarts students they managed to find a spare table quite near to the crackling fireplace.

Despite the number of people in the pub they were able to get served rather quickly and were soon munching away on a large bowl of chips with two butterbeers between them.

“Do you think she looked a bit ill?” asked Padma suddenly when there was a brief pause in the conversation.

“Who?” Harry wondered whether he’d missed something; they had just been discussing Charms Club.

“That Slytherin girl – Emily Gerard. She looked really pale thinking back on it.”

“I suppose,” said Harry.

“Wait a minute, wasn’t she the one in the Slytherin common room at Christmas?”

Harry nodded.

“Did you ever figure out who the other person was?” she asked and Harry remembered how he told her that he’d look into it.

“No, but I’ve got a few suggestions.” He didn’t feel the need to mention that the suggestions were actually Sirius’s. “It could have been a ghost, or a portrait or just some object that can speak like a mirror or something.”

Padma took on a thoughtful look. “What about the footsteps? It sounded more like two sets than just one.”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” he admitted.

“I could be wrong,” said Padma quickly with a slight shrug. “It just all seems a bit odd.”

Harry couldn’t help agreeing with that. There were a number of things that just didn’t add up from the train driver’s mysterious death to the discrepancy on the Marauders’ Map, not to mention Harry’s gut feeling that there was something strange about Professor Abravan.

But the subject was left alone for the rest of the afternoon as they strolled around Hogsmeade. Neither really needed anything so they mainly just window shopped. Harry did at one point have to dissuade Padma from going into Dervish and Banges as he remembered the crotchety Dervish on his last visit.

When the sky began to darken they made the decision to head back to the castle. By unspoken agreement they decided to walk back instead of waiting for a carriage. Walking also had the added bonus that it would take longer to get back.

As they approached the main castle entrance on its cliff top promontory, conversation descended into a comfortable silence. They had just agreed to suggest to the others that they use the Room of Requirements instead of the library for their now regular Thursday morning study sessions and Harry didn’t know what to say next.

When they came to the main doors they came to a stop, neither of them seeming to want to go in just yet.

“I’ve really enjoyed today,” said Padma quietly while she pushed a few strands of hair behind her ear.

“So have I,” he told her. “We should do something like this again.”

Padma smiled. “I’d like that.”

They stared at each other for a moment, both of them unsure as to how to proceed when something flew into Harry, forcing him to stumble back a few paces.

“Sorry,” piped up a squeaky voice. The small, mousy-haired boy only just reached Harry’s eye level and was looking with wide eyes between the startled Padma and Harry. The boy looked familiar but Harry’s mind drew a blank when he searched for a name.

The boy seemed rather frantic as wide brown eyes flickered between Harry and Padma. “Have you seen a teacher?”

“Sorry,” said Padma who looked slightly concerned at the boy’s frenzied behaviour. “We’ve only just got back from Hogsmeade. Is there anything we can help you with?”

“Professor Trelawney’s on top of the North Tower!”

“What?” asked Harry as he wondered whether he’d heard right.

“Colin sent me to find a teacher to get her back in,” the boy rushed on, “so I really need to find a teacher.”

Dennis Creevey – after the mention of Colin, Harry had finally twigged on to who exactly the boy was – moved to open the door before turning back round to face them. “Do either of you happen to know where McGonagall’s office is? It’s just I’ve never been there so...”

“We’ll show you,” said Padma with a kind smile, her eyes hinting at her concern at the situation. She then turned to Harry and quietly asked, “You don’t mind, do you?”

Harry shook his head. His mind was trying to figure out why exactly Trelawney would be standing outside her tower. He half wondered whether the Creevey brothers were suffering from an overactive imagination. But there seemed little time to debate the veracity of the claim considering its serious nature.

“Thanks!” A huge, toothy smile stretched across Dennis’s face before he grew serious. “But we better hurry.”

McGonagall’s office was located on the first floor so they scrambled up the marble staircase and rushed down the hallway. Having knocked on the door, they waited keenly for an answer. When none came Harry became a bit more forceful.

“It seems to me that no matter how hard you hit that door no one will be answering it.” Harry jumped slightly when he heard the new voice. Turning quickly he saw Abravan walking towards them. “Professor McGonagall is at this very moment still in Hogsmeade.”

Harry was about to calmly explain the situation when Dennis jumped in first. “Professor! You’ve got to come quick – Professor Trelawney is on top of the North Tower!”

Abravan’s only reaction was a distinct lifting of his bushy eyebrows and a widening of his big, dark blue eyes. He stared at Dennis for a long time. “And you’re certain of this, lad?”

Dennis nodded his head. “Me and my brother saw her. We were taking some photos of the castle to send home when we suddenly saw someone standing on the tower. Colin’s still out there watching her.”

The Defence professor became thoughtful before he came to a decision. His eyes looked at them each in turn. “We’ll be needing someone to go and inform the headmaster.”

“I’ll do it,” piped up Dennis enthusiastically.

“Right then, lad. His office be on the second floor. Take the second right, then the first left and then a left which will be taking you to an empty corridor. Half-way down there’s a stone gargoyle. Password’s ‘jelly baby’. You be understanding all that now, lad?

Dennis nodded before racing off down the corridor.

Abravan looked closely at Harry and Padma. “You two will be coming with me. I might be needing some help with this.”

He didn’t give them time to back out as he strode quickly down the corridor. The two students had little choice but to follow on behind, both having to jog to keep up with the professor.

They raced through corridors while the portraits looked on with vague interest. Tapestries were batted out of the way as Abravan led them up sloping passages and creaking staircases. The Defence professor seemed to have an uncanny knowledge of the castle’s layout as he led them up the spiralling staircase and climbed up the silvery ladder that allowed them to enter the Divination classroom through the ceiling trapdoor.

Dim pools of crimson light from lamps draped in deep red scarves illuminated the empty classroom. Padma was looking around curiously, tracing her fingers across the dusty shelves lining the circular room as she scanned the array of candle stubs, crinkled tarot cards and silvery crystal balls. Her nose was scrunched in obvious distaste as she smelt the sickly perfume that pervaded the room from the still burning fire.

Abravan made his way straight over to the drawn curtains that concealed the tower’s windows. Pulling them open they were able to see that each of the windows was sealed shut.

“Professor?” said Harry, looking at the table nearest to Professor Trelawney’s winged armchair. More precisely, he was looking at the empty bottle of sherry and the two fluted wine glasses that held only the dregs of the deep red beverage.

Abravan took in the items with a frown before turning back towards the windows. Undoing the catch he opened one set and peered out into the evening sky. The Defence professor then drew his head back inside and turned to look at the two students. “It seems the lad was right.”

“Trelawney’s really out there?” Somehow, Harry hadn’t quite believed that his slightly batty Divination teacher was actually wandering around outside of the North Tower. He’d been half-convinced that the Creevey brothers had been imagining things. “Can’t you just summon her?”

Abravan gave him an unimpressed look before turning back to the window.

“You can’t summon people,” Padma told him quietly as she moved to stand next to him. “Flitwick mentioned it briefly. Something to do with a natural resistance or something like that.”

Harry vaguely remembered Flitwick mumbling something like that as they practiced the charm but he’d had such a difficult time grasping it that he’d tuned out most of the dwarf-sized professor’s words. As it was, he’d only gotten the hang of it during Charms Club when Flitwick had gone over the wand motions again with him.

Abravan was still half-leaning out of the window while Padma and Harry stood around, both feeling a bit superfluous. Harry was actually wondering how he’d gone from having an enjoyable day spent in Hogsmeade to being stuck in the North Tower while Trelawney was doing God knows what outside.

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Padma asked.

The Defence professor turned and looked at them. His expression was grim and in the crimson light his face suddenly looked drawn and weary and so very old. “I can’t be thinking of much to do. She’s made her way onto part of the battlements now. Not quite sure how she be managing that. Wonders never cease.”

He moved away from the window then and gestured for them to have a look.

Looking down the first thing Harry noticed was how far up they were. About nine floors, he estimated as he stared down at the darkened ground. Lights from windows in other parts of the school glinted in the dark and provided an outline of the castle structure.

Professor Trelawney stood half a level below them on a thin balcony encircling the tower. It was basically a ledge enclosed with a short, crenellated wall which Trelawney had climbed onto. Her thin, spindly form wavered with the wind as she wobbled along the stone battlements in a dangerous stepping stones-like game. A gauzy shawl was draped loosely over her shoulders and bangles hung limply from her arms that flexed in a half-hearted attempt of keeping balance.

“What’s she doing?” asked Padma aloud. Her dark eyes were wide in shock as she gazed transfixed at the sight below her.

“I don’t know,” said Harry. He turned to ask Abravan what they were going to do when he noticed the newly conjured piece of rope that the Defence professor was securing to one of the wooden beams that stretched across the length of the tower room.

“It’d be easier for me to go down to her,” Harry told his teacher as he looked from Abravan’s sturdy form to the rather small window.

“I know, lad,” Abravan told him. “That was the plan.”

“Oh. Right.” For some reason, knowing that Abravan had been planning to send him down to collect Trelawney made him wish he didn’t have to despite his offer. But it was impossible to back out and Harry soon found himself being lowered down from the window, Abravan’s advice ringing in his ears: maintain eye contact, don’t startle her and keep talking.

“Be careful,” Padma told him quietly, her eyes glinting with concern as he moved out of view of the window.

His feet finally touched solid ground as he came into land just over a metre away from where she stood. “Professor Trelawney?” he said quietly.

She slowly turned around. Light from the classroom above shone down onto her face. Her eyes held a strange vacancy and Harry had the distinct feeling that she wasn’t really seeing him. Her lips were pulled into an inane smile.

Seeing her expression, Harry felt the first stirrings of panic. Before seeing her he hadn’t entertained the possibility that she might actually jump. His lips felt suspiciously dry.

“Professor, you need to come away from there. It isn’t safe.” He edged towards her, arms part outstretched.

“I was waiting,” she said. Her eyes flicked upwards to the top of the tower. She smiled at him.

“Please, Professor, you need-”

“Goodbye, my dear,” she told him airily, smiling all the while. Then she let herself fall backwards.

“No!” He raced to the side and watched in time to see her descent. Arms thrown up towards him. Wind whipping against her hair. Falling further and further until she disappeared into the dark abyss.

A dull thud echoed upwards disrupting the stillness of the evening. Bile rose up inside him. Turning away from the edge he spewed his lunch over the floor.

“There was nothing you could do, lad,” Abravan told him a few minutes later as he was pulled back into the Divination classroom.

Harry nodded, not meeting the Defence professor’s eyes. He swallowed, still feeling the burn of stomach acid lining his mouth.

He walked over to the pouffe Padma was sitting on. Small tremors riddled her body. She tried to smile at him but failed dismally.”I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I,” Harry told her honestly.

Suddenly she was crying.

“Hey,” said Harry quietly, sitting himself next to her. “It wasn’t your fault.”

She leaned into him, her tears wetting his top. Her body was shaking uncontrollably. Unsure quite what to do, he patted her on the back.

“I see I am too late,” said a familiar voice a few minutes later.

Looking around towards the ceiling entrance, Harry noticed Dumbledore’s presence. The headmaster looked weary as he gazed around the Divination classroom. His lips quirked upwards as he spotted the collection of crystal balls before quickly becoming sombre once again.

Dumbledore glanced in Harry’s direction before making his way over to Abravan. Their lips moved in a short conversation but Harry didn’t hear any sounds. Privacy charm of some sort, he guessed and for a moment wished he could lip-read to be able to understand what they were saying.

The conversation finished abruptly. Dumbledore didn’t look especially pleased while Abravan remained expressionless. The headmaster then sighed and gave Harry a long look before departing the room.

“We better be taking her to the hospital wing,” said Abravan.

“What?” said Harry distractedly; he was still looking at the trapdoor Dumbledore had left through.

“It seems to me she’s in shock. Madame Pomfrey will get her sorted out.”

Harry nodded his agreement and helped a still shaking Padma up from her seat. Together with Abravan he escorted the unresponsive witch out of the north tower and to the hospital wing.

Madame Pomfrey moved out of her office to greet them, frowning as she looked over Padma. She turned to Abravan. “What happened?”

“She’s in shock.”

“I can see that. Can you shed some light as to why?”

“Deal with her first and then I’ll tell you the tale.”

The school nurse didn’t look too pleased by that but she agreed nonetheless and collected a blue vial from a nearby cabinet. “Calming draught,” she informed them as she sat Padma down and forced her to take a large swig.

Madame Pomfrey then turned to look at Harry. “And what about you?”

“The lad’s fine, Poppy,” Abravan said before he could reply. “He’s made of sturdier stuff.”

The school nurse huffed at that but didn’t say anything as she pointedly looked at Abravan. “This better not be another strange occurrence.”

Harry wondered what she was talking about for a moment before remembering the train driver’s body being wheeled into the hospital wing at the beginning of the year.

“Trelawney’s dead,” Abravan told her bluntly.

“Sybil? Sybil’s dead?” She looked horrified. “How?”

“Decided it’d be a good plan to go about jumping from her tower. We saw the whole thing.”

Madame Pomfrey fell on the bed next to Padma. Her eyes belied her shock as she shook her head before covering her mouth with a hand. “I...”

“Dumbledore will be making an announcement and there’s to be a full staff meeting before the students are told. He’s gone off to be getting the proper authorities in.”

“Do you think...?”

“Most likely. She wasn’t to be knowing what was going on.”

Madame Pomfrey shook her head. “Oh, Circe...”

“Dumbledore was wanting you to be staying here with these two. Another will no doubt be coming along soon. He’ll have been watching from the ground.”

“Poor child.”

“But I’ll need to be going now. There are things I need to be doing.”

The school nurse nodded in understanding, her professional mask slipping back into place. “Of course. I’ll stay here with the students.”

“I’ll be sure to be letting you know what’s going on,” he told her before making his way out of the hospital wing.

Madame Pomfrey sighed deeply before turning towards Harry and Padma. “Right, well, it seems we might be here for a while.”

Harry smiled weakly at her.

“Right then,” she said briskly, “Miss Patil can have this bed. I imagine that the Draught of Serenity will put her to sleep after everything she’s seen.”

Her prediction was correct and Padma soon drifted off into sleep. She was soon followed by a shaken Colin who entered the hospital wing and unhesitatingly swallowed the calming draught the nurse handed him. He soon collapsed onto a hospital bed, camera still in hand.

Madame Pomfrey soon disappeared into her office leaving Harry to go over her and Abravan’s conversation from earlier. He refused to allow himself to think about Trelawney’s freefalling form.

“Harry?”

“What?” said Harry coming out of his reverie.

The nurse gave him a concerned look. “Professor Dumbledore is calling a meeting in the Great Hall. He hopes that you will go along, but it is entirely up to you. I don’t mind if you want to stay here tonight, considering. In fact, I’d prefer if you stayed here.”

“No, I’ll go,” he told her. He’d never been a great fan of the hospital wing. Probably since every time he’d ended up there it had been for unpleasant reasons.

She didn’t look surprised by his decision but pursed her lips in disapproval nonetheless. “The choice is entirely up to you, of course.”

She then moved to walk back into her office. “Madame Pomfrey?”

She turned back to face him. “Yes, Mr Potter?”

“What did you mean back when you were talking to Professor Abravan?”

At her blank look he expanded. “You know, when you said ‘Do you think?’”

She frowned at him slightly. “Nothing that you need to worry about so put it out of your mind.”

That said, she strode back into her office and Harry could feel her eyes watching him as he walked out of the hospital wing on his way to the Great Hall.

The Great Hall was decorated with black drapes. All the students were also dressed in their black school robes and Harry momentarily felt self-conscious about his casual appearance. The thought didn’t last long as he slid in between Ron and Hermione who were looking at him in curiosity; they obviously didn’t know what this was about. Hermione looked like she wanted to say something but couldn’t as Dumbledore stood up to speak.

He seemed to hone in on Harry before addressing the whole school. “It is my sad and regretful duty that I should be standing here right now telling you what I am about to tell you. I have often felt that Hogwarts is like a community - almost a family, if you will - and it is with the greatest sadness that I must inform you that one of our number has passed away and begun their next great adventure.

“Professor Sybil Trelawney was a witch who strongly believed in her chosen craft of Divination. She dedicated much of her life to studying it and to sharing her subject with her students. Her loss will be greatly felt and her passion for Divination greatly missed.

“I now ask you to join with me in a moment of silence for Professor Trelawney.  For in life she looked to the future, and now I ask you to look back on your memories of her and carry them with you into that undiscovered future that she dedicated her life to uncovering.”

The whole hall fell silent in a mark of respect for the newly deceased. With his head bent Harry glanced around at the shocked faces of the other Gryffindors. Many of them didn’t know what to make of the startling announcement.

“Thank you,” said Dumbledore after a few minutes silence before he sat back down in his chair. It was a clear dismissal.

Part of Harry wished he’d stayed in the hospital wing as they made their way up to Gryffindor tower. Hermione, he knew, would start in on the questions as soon as they entered the common room.

Indeed, as soon as the Fat Lady swung closed Hermione’s mouth opened to speak.

“Can we talk about this tomorrow, or something?” he half-asked. “I just want to go to sleep right now and forget.”

“Oh. OK, then,” said Hermione, blinking slightly.

He hurried up the stairs to his dormitory and after a quick shower and change of clothes he slipped into bed, pulling his curtains closed around him.

Sleep evaded him, however. He lay awake for hours listening as the others came up, shared a few comments about Trelawney and then crawled into their respective beds.

Images of her freefall into the air haunted him until exhaustion finally forced him into Morpheus’s embrace. His last thought before drifting off at last was to wonder how such a good day had turned so bad in just a matter of hours. He really did have the worst luck sometimes.