❝ And oh we started
Two hearts in one home
It's hard when we argue
We're both stubborn
I know, but oh
Sweet creature, sweet creature
Wherever I go, you bring me home
Sweet creature, sweet creature
When I run out of road, you bring me hom...
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Emaline takes the final sip of her tea, nearly spitting it back out when a tea leaf hits the back of her throat.
"Done," she coughs, sliding the cup over to her best friend.
"Took you long enough," Cynthia huffs, eagerly peering inside.
"It's not my fault it tasted bad!"
"You're the one who made it," she counters. "Besides, your signs are more accurate if you actually drink the tea instead of pouring it out."
The two girls are seated on a rug in front of the roaring fire in the middle of the Gryffindor common room, one sort of doing her homework while the other does the bare minimum to help.
Cynthia covers the cup with the palm of one hand and shakes it vigorously, followed by a variety of other complicated movements Emaline can't keep up with. Her Divination assignment is to predict someone's future via method they've previously learned.
Emaline doesn't believe a person's fate can be foretold by something as silly as shapes in cups. But Cynthia does, so she's more than happy to play along to support her endeavors. She's merely glad the girl opted for tea leaves and not a crystal ball, for she most certainly would not have been able to keep a straight face if she had to watch Cynthia stare ominously into a cloudy glass.
"That's odd," she comments, her eyebrows furrowing together and piquing Emaline's interest.
"What is?"
"I've never seen a shape this clear before," she explains. "Tea leaves are usually more difficult to decipher."
Cynthia makes no movement to show Emaline, forcing her to crane her neck to see what she's talking about. In the bottom of her cup, arranged so perfectly she'd think someone did it theirself if she hadn't personally witnessed the process, the tea leaves sit in the shape of a downward pointing arrow.
"So what does this mean?"
No answer comes for several moments as Cynthia rapidly flicks through her copy of Unfogging The Future. She snaps through the pages so loudly it nearly drowns out the second-years playing a game of exploding snap only a few feet away. Emaline is beginning to worry she'll give herself a paper cut when the book stills and her finger points at a single paragraph in triumph.
"A downward pointing arrow indicates you're headed in the wrong direction, either literally or metaphorically," Cynthia reads aloud, her voice growing less confident as she realizes the symbol can't be interpreted as anything but a bad omen. "Or that you're not focused enough on the goal you're trying to achieve."
Emaline can't help but to scoff. This alleged sign couldn't be further from the truth; she's doing everything in her power to become a healer after Hogwarts, especially with her extra lessons with Madam Pomfrey every week.
