Backfire • Cedric Diggory [✓]

• TWENTY-TWO •

"What are we doing here?" Holland groaned as Hermione proceeded to drag her to Trelawney's classroom. It was a little after 12 in the afternoon, the pair of bright witches roaming around the school freely as other students stayed in the Forbidden forest as they couldn't wait to see what the final task holds. Draco, Pansy, and even Aurora pleaded for her to watch with them, but Holland knew she really couldn't do it. They eventually gave up, promising the girl another round of Catch and Throw once they'd all returned to their common room. Holland, though still seething at the thought of Cedric, was still worried. She didn't know what the task held, all the drama with Cedric not even giving the two a chance to practice any charms. She could only hope that he'd done his time well practicing on his own. Holland knew Harry, Ron, and Hermione were definitely making good use of their free time as they'd always spent it training. So it was actually the first time Holland had seen Hermione in days. It had only been an hour since Holland had been given word on where the final task was. She was dreading it to say the least, but she forced herself to keep it together, snapping out of the pathetic concern and putting on a brave face. Diggory can handle himself, and he'll leave that maze with that annoying grin on his face.

"It's clear that you have no plans on watching the final task. Let's just make good use of our free time," Hermione says, knowing Trelawney was staying in her classroom for some reason. Hermione wanted to watch the last task for Harry, but Holland begged her for a day just for the two of them. Hermione was hesitant, of course. She wanted to see Harry run out of the maze triumphant and tell her how much their training had paid off, but she figured she could rush off to the maze at the last minute. The pair of curly headed witches were now in front of a crystal ball, their loony professor behind it. They'd already spent their morning knitting hats for a dozen more house-elves, but after getting a cramp in the neck, Holland asked if they could do something else. The two were trying to prove to one another about their take on their last year's professor's ability to tell the future. Hermione never seemed to believe a word Trelawney said, Holland on the other hand, saw her as a genius.

"Hello there, my pretties." Trelawney greets in the warm, raspy, drawling voice she had. The two awkwardly say their hellos. "It is the day of the final task, is it not? What brings you two here?" She asks in a smile.

"We want you to read Holland's tea, if that's alright." Hermione says curtly, as if she hadn't stormed off after swatting the hand of the professor's in her class just last year.

"Of course," She says, grabbing Holland's hand, leading the pair to where she kept her cups hanging. But as her hand came in contact with Holland's, she immediately closed her eyes and fell into a silent focus as she felt and stroked around the veins of Holland's hands. Holland smiles excitedly, Hermione giving her a pointed look. She saw through the make-believe psychic nonsense, even McGonagall thought it was utter codswallop. The room then fell into a deafening silence, the professor's eyes still closed. Holland shifted between her feet awkwardly as standing still while the professor held onto her hand was getting uncomfortable, beginning to regret their visit as the moment of silence grew longer. Just then, the professor sucked in a breath, as if the entire time she'd closed her eyes, she'd had the entire life sucked out of her. The two jump in panic, Trelawney's eyes appeared glazed over with a grey sheen as she opened them as she began to rasp out, "An auror's daughter's true love is out there, luminescence of blue will lead to green tonight ... about to vanquish as he meets his demise.. innocent blood shall once again be spilt, and he who was been defeated will rise stronger than before..." Holland's pulse quickens, not understanding. Was George about to die? Who's been defeated? And how is he coming back? "An auror's daughter's true love is out there, luminescence of blue will lead to green tonight .. about to vanquish as he meets his demise.. innocent blood shall once again be spilt, and he who was been defeated will rise stronger than before... An auror's daughter's one true love is out there.." She began saying over and over like a gospel, Hermione's face scrunching up in distaste, clearly still not convinced by the woman before them.