A/N: yes, I know fortune cookies aren't actually Chinese - but it was Western Muggles who copied off our Ancient Chinese Wizards...
Haha, it will make sense later ;)
BTW - I get a lot of questions about the same things all the time (esp. stuff to do with Katie, and will I write a sequel), and rather than responding to each individually, over and over again, I've decided to compose and extended Author's Note to be released with the last chapter. I won't be posting it on MNFF, but if you want to read it, you can just contact me using my Author's Page and I'll gather all you're emails and either send you a link to the A/N or an e-mail containing the A/N itself when it's released with the last chapter.
Chapter 53: Fortune Cookies
“Harry, wake up!”
Harry opened his eyes with a shake “ his vision came back into focus behind his skewed glasses and he found himself surrounded by Katie, Ginny, Ron and Hermione.
“How did you fall asleep? It’s only seven!” Ron said.
“I… was thinking “ must have drifted off,” Harry said.
“Did you have another vision?” Hermione asked.
“What “ how did you…?”
“We heard you say ‘Ophelia’ “ you sounded angry, too “ like you were…”
“Voldemort,” Ron finished.
“No,” Harry said. “Well, yeah “ but I was Tom, not Voldemort “ and I suppose that’s different, isn’t it?”
“Well…” Hermione asked.
“Well what?” Harry replied.
“Was it a vision?”
“Oh “ yeah, I think so…”
“Did you find out anything?” Ron asked.
“She tried to stop him,” Harry said, still trying to work out what he’d seen himself.
“What?” Ginny asked.
“Ophelia “ she tried to stop him from “ from doing something…”
“What do you mean?” asked Katie.
“She knew it was him who opened the Chamber of Secrets…”
“What?” said Katie.
“Oh yeah “ well, I’ll tell you later “ but yeah, she knew it wasn’t Hagrid. And Tom was going somewhere, he was going to do something; Ophelia told him not to do it, that he might never be able to turn back…” he trailed off.
Suddenly it had all clicked; he looked up at his friends surrounding him “ they all were waiting with bated breath, each staring at him.
“She knew what was going to happen “ she tried to stop him from becoming Voldemort.”
“Harry, I’m not a fool “ there’s something you’re hiding from us…” Hermione said early one morning about a week later.
“Hermione, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Harry replied.
“There’s more to those visions then you’re letting us know,” she said.
“Hermione, if there’s anything that I haven’t told you about the visions, it’s because it’s none of you’re business,” Harry snapped.
Hermione looked at him, highly affronted, but couldn’t seem to gather any words in response. She just pursed her lips in a way that reminded Harry of Mrs. Weasley, and followed him silently into the Potions classroom.
Pettigrew, it seemed, had found a foolproof way of handling Potions classes “ he didn’t teach at all. He would come in at the beginning of class, give them an assignment, and then sit at his desk for the remainder of the time watching them all. This class was no different. He entered the room, waved his wand at the board at the front where directions for an Insomnia Potion appeared, and took his seat behind the desk.
Harry was glad he didn’t have Snape hovering around him while he brewed his Potions, but the mere presence of Pettigrew burned his insides with anger, and it wasn’t much better. He did however, feel he did a satisfactory job concocting his Insomnia Potion, despite the fact that Hermione, who didn’t seem to be speaking to him, kept glancing at his work and making impatient and overly superior ‘tuts’. He was the last person to turn in his flagon of potion at the end of class, and he turned to leave when Pettigrew-Snape stopped him.
“Potter, I need a word,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” Harry said coolly.
“I need you to have your owl deliver this to Nymphadora Tonks,” he said, holding out a scroll of parchment, and eyeing Harry nervously. Harry eyed him suspiciously and was about to oblige to his request when he realized what was going on.
“Nymphadora Tonks?” Harry asked with mild curiosity, and screwed his face up in concentration as though he were trying to recall a piece of information buried in his mind. “Isn’t she an Auror? Why can’t you just send it to her?”
“Don’t be a fool, Potter!” Pettigrew-Snape snapped, sweating slightly. “For reasons that are obvious to both of us, I cannot send it to her personally “ but it is very important that she receive it, soon…”
“Professor Snape, I have no idea what you’re talking about...” Harry said, trying his best to look confused. Pettigrew-Snape eyed him tentatively for a moment.
“Fine, Potter “ never mind. Go to class,” he muttered.
Harry turned to pick up his things, throwing a few more bewildered looks over his shoulder for effect, and left the classroom hurriedly.
“So, what “ you think he’s trying to get information on who’s in the Order?” Ron asked later that day, Harry having told both him and Hermione about what happened in Potions. The three of them sat down in a private corner of the common room after getting back from Care of Magical Creatures.
“Yeah “ I reckon he's trying to trick the information out of me, because hasn’t been able to get direct information off Snape because he’s not secret-keeper for the Order…” Harry said.
“Well “ that might explain why Dumbledore thinks it’s safe for Pettigrew to have Snape hostage,” Hermione said in a disapproving tone, still refusing to look at Harry as a result of their exchange that morning.
“Have you told Dumbledore, yet?” Ron asked Harry.
“No “ I told Lupin, though, and he’ll tell Dumbledore of course…”
“Are you going to tell us anymore about the vision?” Hermione asked quickly.
“Drop it, Hermione,” Harry told her.
“What are you talking about?” Ron asked.
“Never mind…” Harry said.
“Apparently Harry thinks it’s none of our business,” Hermione said
“There’s more to the vision?” Ron asked.
“I didn’t say that! I just commented that maybe not everything is Hermione’s business, and apparently she has a problem with that!” Harry snarled.
“Not fighting are we?”
It was Ginny.
“Nothing to worry about,” Ron said nervously. “How’s the studying for your O.W.L.’s coming?” he added, rather keen to change the subject.
“Exhausting,” Ginny said. “Glad it’s not my N.E.W.T’s though… I just came from the library “ Katie was up there checking out an entire stack of books, just for Herbology!”
“Is she coming back to the common room?” Harry asked.
“Yeah, I think so,” Ginny replied, flopping onto the nearby couch with a yawn.
“I’ll go help her with her books,” Harry said, and left them, thinking angrily of Hermione as he left “ and assuming that she was, no doubt, complaining about him to Ron at that very moment.
He was about halfway to the library when he met Katie and Neville, each carrying about four huge books.
“Want some help?” he asked, taking the books from Katie without waiting for an answer.
“Thanks…” Katie said.
“Are those yours, too?” he said, nodding towards the stack Neville was carrying.
“Yeah,” Katie said.
“What do you need all these books for?” Harry asked.
“Studying for my Herbology N.E.W.T “ Neville recommended some of these books, I hadn’t even heard of them…”
“They’re really good, though,” Neville said. “Loads of information on Restoration and Renewal Plants “ which you’ll need if you want to be a Healer.”
“What are planning on doing when you leave Hogwarts?” Katie asked him. “Are you going to do something with Herbology?”
“Actually “ I want to be research magical plants for Restorative Draught ingredients for St. Mungo’s,” Neville said shyly.
“Any particular area of interest?” Katie asked, though Harry felt he already knew the answer.
“Magical Brain Damage,” he muttered sadly.
Katie made to question him further, but Harry shot her a warning look.
“Oh, well in that case “ I hope you do well,” she said just as they re-entered the common room. Harry noticed Ron, Hermione and Ginny immediately cease their conversation as they looked up at Harry. Neville and Katie took seats next to the three of them, and Harry reluctantly followed suit. Before anyone had the chance to say anything, however, Parvati and Lavender came rushing in through the portrait hole, and ran excitedly over to the group.
“Could you all do us a favor?” Parvati asked them.
“Ummm, sure…” Ron said. “What’s the favor?”
“Well “ we have a Divination project for Trelawney’s class, and we had to make Fortune Cookies…”
“You mean those biscuits with the piece of paper inside them?” Harry asked.
“You are referring to that ridiculous Muggle imitation of an ancient form of Chinese Divination!” Lavender said, highly offended.
“These…” Parvati said, holding out a small paper bag full of what looked like chocolate wafers, “…are real Fortune Cookies. Just eat one and your fortune should appear written across your line of vision.”
“So you want us all to eat one?” Ginny asked.
“Yes “ and then read us your fortune, so we can write it down and turn them in,” Lavender replied, handing Neville, who was closest, a Fortune Cookie. He looked at it reluctantly, but then ate it anyway.
Lavender and Parvati watched him with anticipation. After a few moments, Neville’s eyes moved as though he were reading something right in front of him.
“Someone close to you will be hurt,” he said, sounding frightened.
Parvati scribbled this down excitedly, then handed a cookie to Hermione, who just raised her eyebrow at the two girls.
“This is a load of rubbish,” she said.
“Please, Hermione “ it’s for class, you want us to make a good grade don’t you?” Lavender pleaded.
“Fine…” Hermione sighed, and ate the cookie. A few moments passed, and then she, too, began to read her invisible fortune to them. “You must fight for the one you love, or he will be taken from you forever…” she said dully as though it were no more interesting than the ingredients of a chocolate bar. Parvati scribbled Hermione’s fortune down, and Lavendar handed Ron a cookie.
“A prophet will bear bad news for a loved one; news which you must deliver…” he said, sounding a little more concerned than Hermione had, but trying to hide it.
Parvati and Lavender squealed with delight at each fortune, despite the foreboding messages. Harry convinced himself that, like everything else he had learned in Trelawney’s class, this was exactly what Hermione had said it was: a load of rubbish.
Next was Ginny’s turn.
“A brother’s third intervention will fail and you will unite with the one you long to be with,” she said.
After Ginny was Katie.
“Someone in disguise will attempt to ruin your future.”
Finally, Lavender handed Harry his fortune cookie, which he ate apprehensively. The second he swallowed it, bright red letters wrote themselves across the air in front of his eyes.
“Something you cherish will be stolen, never to be returned,” he read aloud.
Parvati wrote down the last fortune, she and Lavender gave the group their thanks and they shuffled off over to Dean and Seamus, who were sitting nearby.
“Well “ those fortunes were a barrel of laughs…” Harry said sarcastically.
“It’s not like it matters,” Hermione said skeptically. “None of it was true…”
“I certainly hope so…” said Katie, amused. “Not much up for having my future ruined.”
“Well, mine wasn’t bad,” Ginny said. “Perhaps I’ll be ‘united’ with that good-looking Slytherin Chaser…”
“Ginny “ there is no way you’re going to go with any Slytherin!” Ron interjected.
“You have no control over me,” Ginny said.
“There goes your first failed attempt, mate,” Harry joked.
Neville laughed and stood up with his book bag.
“Well, I’m going to bring this upstairs,” he said, accidentally swinging it around and hitting Ginny over the head with it.
“Ow “ Neville watch out!” she said, rubbing the place that he hit her.
Instead of apologizing right away, Neville froze, looking stunned.
“Neville, what “ ” Hermione started. “Oh, honestly, Neville “ you’re not thinking…?”
“What?” Katie asked.
“Someone close to you will be hurt,” Neville said.
“It’s a coincidence Neville…” Hermione said. “And even so, if our fortunes are based on things so trivial, I don’t think we have much to be concerned about…”
“You will play host to a celebration,” they heard Seamus say happily a few feet away.
“Sure hope that one comes true,” Katie commented. “I could use a celebration…”
Everyone nodded in agreement as they each decided to start on their homework for that day, not giving another thought to any of their fortunes.