Till Forever Falls Apart

Decisions & Discoveries

April 23, 1993

"Everyone's going to say we're taking it because of each other."

    "No they're not!"

    "Neville, if you saw Harry and me in the same class at least four or five times a day, you would say it was because of the match in our electives, correct? It would impact our schedules to coincide more than once, right?"

    Neville timidly looked up from behind his own list of classes for the next school year, glancing back and forth between the two kids. "Well, I suppose so."

    "Thank you," Val slapped a hand on the table. "I claimed Divination."

    "You can't claim a class multiple people will be in," Harry spat. "What if I have a talent for seeing the future, hm? Let me just see something for a second..." He closed his eyes, putting a finger to his temple, pretending to be enlightened by a vision. "Oh! I see it! You're going to be extremely upset once you realize you'll have no one to talk to in that class."

"You're being incredibly disrespectful to those who actually have the gift of prophecy, Potter. Some of us are actually fascinated by Astrology. I'm looking forward to seeing what my horoscope for each month looks like."

    Harry stared at her, dumbfounded. "Your what?"

    "See!" Val looked around as if there were multiple people, but only five others in their year around her. "You won't even like it, and I'm willing to bet on it. And for your information, Neville plans on taking the class. I will be more than happy to talk to him during that time period."

    "You will?" Neville folded his elective sheet in half.

    Val shook his hand. "My favorite Gryffindor."

    "I am not your leftovers, thank you very much," Harry took his list containing the subjects, raised his quill, and checked the box next to Divination, just to spite her for all it was worth. "You're stuck with me."

    Val let out a moan of annoyance. "Fine. But don't come running to me when you need help with your charts and seeing inside the crystal balls."

    She did not know why they were bickering about such a topic. She felt a twinge of insecurity, for the stars she felt had always been her area of expertise, and Harry was intruding on it. He had his own gifts! Like Defense Against the Dark Arts! Why must he come in and wow everyone on her turf?

    That was it. Godric, Val, she reprimanded herself for being self-centered. And the spotlight certainly wasn't hers in the first place. It wasn't Harry's fault that he had been popular because of a crazy supremacist all those years ago.

    She blamed this on those dramatic Sirius Black genes of hers, putting her own mark in the checkbox next to Divination.

    "If you guys are doing it, I'll put that down as well," Ron stuck out his tongue as he searched for the class.

    Hermione frowned. "They're in alphabetical order."

    "I know that," he said sharply, now moving his quill towards the top of the list.

    "I'll put down four and see how it goes," the Gryffindor girl told them firmly. "Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy, and Ancient Runes."

    Val did a double-take. "That's four extra classes! How will you manage?"

    "I will," Hermione held her head high. "Just you watch, Ms. Ravenclaw."

    "One day, the lot of you will understand that I use my intelligence for efforts outside the classroom," she said disdainfully. "Then you'll realize what makes a true Ravenclaw."