Fade into Black ▸ sirius black

35. Symbol of the Heart

Chapter thirty-five.

Once more I sat alone at the Ravenclaw table in the Great-hall, but this time I ate the food on my plate. Herbology class had rushed by and I didn't receive even one dirty look from Aaron which showed William must've got to him somehow.

I glimpsed over at Lara and Beth who remained on the end of the table, both sitting in silence, peering down at their plates. Lara tried to crack a joke, but it died as soon as it left her mouth, and Beth gave her a constrained smile. Give it time, she'll forgive you, eventually. I stopped myself when the impulse to join them struck me. I needed to stand for my actions and live with the consequences. Despite how badly I needed to talk to Lara about the marvelous sex I had yesterday. I had to wait.

Suddenly there was someone tapping my shoulder. I swiveled around in wonder to meet the apologetic face of Remus Lupin staring down at me.

"Can I have a seat?" he asked, his hands hiding in his pockets.

"Of course," I faltered and removed my bag away from my right side to give him room to sit. Normally I wouldn't feel nervous at all to speak to Remus, but after his strange behaviour yesterday I seemed to have forgotten how to act natural.

"Well, first, I'm so sorry that I shoved you like that after potions," he looked at me, guilt written all over his weathered face, "and I also wanted to tell you that we all believe Aaron Dalton can get knotted."

"It's okay, Remus. I was a little shocked that's all."

He nodded in understanding, his wavy curls falling into his sights.

"We all have our bad days, don't we?" He then said, his mouth turning into something I assumed was a smile.

"About that, you're darn right." I murmured, dropping my fork down on my plate, glancing over at Beth once more.

"She'll forgive you," Remus let out as if he had the solutions to all the problems in the world.

"How can you know that?" I glowered at him.

"Because that's what friends do." He returned, his eyes shifting from apologetic to those kind-hearted I was used to, and I believed him. There was something about that man's aura, his whole being that enclosed you with trust.

"Thank you, Remus. I needed to hear those words." I felt the urge to hug him but sensed that was taking things too far. He didn't seem as a hugger, perhaps James Potter was, but not Remus Lupin.

"Anytime, Alissa." was the last thing he said before standing up again, walking off to our next period. Divination.

← ⧫ →

"Good afternoon children," Professor Trelawney spoke in her screeching voice, on the edge to be unpleasant, almost. But her loving and wayward personality always compensated for the ringing in your ears after class, "Today I've prepared tea and cups, and you all know what that means,..." she tested the few students that had chosen her class for their N.E.W.T's.

A tumultuous buzz of protests went off across the round classroom, making the professor wave her hands in irritation.

"I know, I know, 'we've done that a thousand times'," she mimicked us, "but there's no denying the importance of practice for tea leaf reading. Come on, come on. Grab a cup!" She waved us forward where she had prepared ten teacups, and we all filled them up one after one before returning to our seats.

"Drink now," she said and grabbed a cup of her own, looking at it with excitement.

I met Remus sight across the room and a faint giggle escaped my mouth when he rolled his eyes at the woolly but proficient professor. When we all had finished our tea, she nodded her head towards us.

"Now, I want you to read into your own teacup instead of a friend. Sarah, would you like to go first?" She looked at the Hufflepuff girl with wide eyes, and Sarah winced in surprise before grabbing her cup from the table.

"Absolutely professor," she replied and read the symbols that had taken shape in the small cup, "I see a sun, which usually represents a new beginning or success, and next to the sun there's a right turned arrow, meaning,..." she examined the side that laid open in her book. "Greater than."

"Yes, yes! Fantastic Sarah. And is there anything in your life representing these symbols?" Trelawney asked eagerly.

Sarah hesitated before speaking again.

"Well, I've recently entered a new relationship,...and my new partner is in every sense better than my last one." She declared, a smile forming on her lips and her cheeks flushing in light pink.

A smirk settled on my lips as well when Sarah shut her book, she was both happy about what her tea leaves had said but still a bit ashamed she had told the class about her private life.

"Lovely, Sarah. Thank you." Trelawney said as she glanced around the room for the next reader, and I wasn't shocked at all when her eyes landed on me.

"Alissa, do you feel urged to go next?" Her big eyes following my every move and instead of answering I just grabbed my cup and stared down at the leaves on the bottom. In the middle of the cup, there was a clear shape of a heart and at once blood rushed to my cheeks. Surrounding the heart was a vague circle.

"Well, what do you see, love?" The professor was eager to know, and I glimpsed at the book laying on the table.

"There's a circle, often having the meaning of change or evolution," I explained, unwilling to utter what laid inside the circle since people knew about mine and Casper's split. Buying me some time, I opened the book, searching for the symbol of the heart.

"What else?" Trelawney wanted to know, and I shook my head.

"A heart. There's a heart inside of the circle." I stammered.

"And what does the symbol of the heart say, child?"

I leaned over the book and read; The symbol of a heart has several meanings, depending on the reader. The most common meaning is; love and romance. But the heart also has a meaning of betrayal and family relationships. Be careful with how you interpret the meaning of the heart. It can often fool you.

"I'm not sure,..." I answered her. "Is there a possibility the heart can have over one meaning?" I looked at the professor who nodded her head up and down so fast her glasses almost fell off.

"Naturally it can." She stated, and I went back to stare at the little black symbol. It felt as if it mocked me, laughing at me from down there. What in the bloody hell did it mean?