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A Drop in the Ocean	By : AndreaLorraine Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 3498 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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�Yes!� Potions is
cancelled!� Ron exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air.

�� Yeah, but we still have Divination,� Harry sighed,
stabbing at his hash browns.

�� Do you suppose he was hurt?� Hermione asked.

�� Huh?�

�� Snape.� Do you think something happened?� He�s never cancelled classes before.�

�� He was never running Voldemort�s errands before now,�
Harry pointed out.

�� That�s not the point.�

�� We�d know,� Ron said.�
�You�d be able to see it in their faces.�
They all seem fine.� Even Selena.�

�� I suppose,� Hermione agreed.� �She�d probably be all broken up if he wasn�t
all right.�

�� Who cares if he�s all right,� Harry grumbled.� He was tired of this newfound sympathy that
Hermione expressed.� Snape had it in for
him from the moment he entered Hogwarts and never passed up an opportunity to
vex, insult, and flat-out humiliate him, whether it be privately or in public.� Snape was, to put it simply, a git.

�� Harry, he may very well save your butt someday.� I admit he�s not the most likeable person,
but you have to respect what he�s doing,� Hermione said, casting him a
disapproving glance.

�� He�s not changing the world, Hermione.� He still goes out there and hurts and kills
people in Voldemort�s name.�

�� So what if he can�t do much?� At least he does something,� she shot
back stubbornly.

�� I�ll respect him the day he respects me,� Harry
concluded.� �I don�t understand what�s
gotten into you.� The man�s never said a
single kind word to you or any of us!� As
far as I�m concerned, he deserves whatever he gets.�

�� Stop arguing, you two,� Ron said, standing up as his
finished plate magically cleaned itself and disappeared.� �We have to go to Divination and Hermione has
to go to Arith-whatever.�

�� Arithmancy,� she said peevishly.

�� That�s it,� he said, dragging Harry away and leaving
Hermione glaring after them.

�� Thanks,� Harry said as they made it out into the
hallway.

�� No problem,� Ron replied.� �She can be a real piece of work sometimes.�

�� They climbed the stairs to their Divination classroom in
companionable silence, preparing themselves for
Lavender and Parvati�s squealing and Professor Trelawney�s endless spew of
morbid predictions.� They were, however,
pleasantly surprised to see Professor Trelawney mooning over their
newly-acquired friend when they pushed open the trapdoor to the classroom.

�� Selena noticed their entrance and gave them a
conspiratorial wink.

�� It�s probably in that cabinet somewhere,� Trelawney was
saying, pointing one bony, gaudily bejeweled finger at a little trapdoor on the
ceiling above her desk.� �Let me have a
look�� the impossibly thin woman went on, moving the chair from her desk over
and preparing to climb up onto it.

�� Oh, let me, Professor,� Selena said, brushing the tiny
woman aside.

�� It should be�� the Professor said, her brows knitting in
concentration, �second row, third from right.�

�� Selena climbed up onto the chair fluidly.� She knew that Trelawney would be hovering
nervously beneath her, probably thinking of a hundred highly improbable ways
for her to die or be grievously injured from standing three feet above the
ground on a chair.� She opened the
cabinet, sneezing against the cloud of dust bunnies that rose to greet
her.� Not surprisingly, the stack of
parchments was nowhere near where the shriveled witch had said it was.� It was in the first row to the very left of
the cabinet � number one, if you counted left to right.� But she humored the woman as she always had;
she stuck her arm in as if she were digging behind the first row and bent her
elbow to get at what she really wanted, all the while giving the impression �
to the Professor, at least � that the scroll had been exactly where she said it
was.� She then closed the cabinet tightly
and, much to the horror of the Professor, jumped down off the chair.

�� Yes, well, everyone,� Trelawney drawled, clapping her
hands twice to get their attention.�
�This is Selena.� She was one of
my best students.� Incredibly
talented in all aspects of Divination.�

�� Lavender and Parvati oohed and goggled at the dark-haired
woman, scooting their poufs closer, as if maybe some of Selena�s talent would
diffuse onto them.

�� In her third year she wrote a continuous log of
everything she foresaw, which � would you say, Selena � has mostly come true?�

�� A good part of it has,� Selena agreed, nodding.� This evoked more sounds of awe from Lavender
and Parvati.� �But a large amount of my
predictions involved people I did not know at the time and would not come to
know for some time afterwards.� Some of
them I still do not know.�

�� Selena is here to go over her predictions once again and
see if any helpful information or insight can be gained for the fight against
He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.� We were going
to continue our work with crystal balls, but in light of Selena�s arrival, we
are instead going to help her analyze her predictions.��

�This
may be the most authentic thing we ever do in this class,� Ron muttered under
his breath.

�� I hope we get a good bit to go over,� Harry said,
finding himself very eager to get inside the mind of a
psychic.� Doubtless there was something
about him in that stack of parchment�

�� As a preliminary exercise,� Selena said, shuffling some
of the papers carefully, �you will work in pairs to decipher a recent or
clearly recognizable event.� You will
present your findings at the end of class, and it will count for a quiz grade,
correct, Professor?�

�� Certainly.�

�� Selena circulated the room, dropping papers where pairs
had formed.

�� Some of it is in verse,� she warned, noticing the
bewildered looks on Lavender and Parvati�s faces when they received their
parchment.� �If you need help with the
symbols or metaphors, ask.� But they
should be fairly clear, if you remember your tea leaves.�

�� Ugh,� Harry shuddered.�
He remembered tea leaves only too well.�
A moment later, Selena reached them and knelt by their table for a
moment.

�� This bit contains some�details best kept secret, if you
know what I mean.� But it pertains to you,
so I thought you might enjoy it.� When
it�s your turn to go, just say whatever � I�ll give you full credit.�

�� I still cannot believe she�s related to Snape,� Ron said
when she moved on, shaking his head.�
�She�s so nice!�

�� She got the good genes,� Harry said, smoothing the
folded paper.

�� Probably,� Ron agreed.�
�So what have we got here?�

They
hunched over the parchment, reading simultaneously.� It was titled, rather simply, �The Dog Star�.

The
moon destroys one kind and gentle.�

�� Ignorance imprisons the one most loyal.

�� Evil engulfs
the one least suspected.

Betrayal ends the fourth in turmoil

Deceive the deceiver

�� Turn time on itself

�� Destroy the believer

�� In truth, there is wealth

Grudges
long cemented

�� Lies long congealed

�� New hate prevented

�� Family healed

�� Move in the alleyways

�� Listen in the shadows

�� Protect the fourth that stays

�� Watchful as the danger grows.

�� They spent a moment staring at it, completely
perplexed.�

�� What the�?� Ron said, frowning.

�� Hey, wait�the dog star.�
Didn�t�� Harry�s brow wrinkled in thought as he trailed off.� A second later he smiled.� �I remember now.� Do you remember the last time we did star
charts in this class?�

�� Yeah,� Ron replied, wrinkling his nose in distaste.

�� And you asked what that one star was?�

�� Uh huh.�

�� And Hermione said it was the Dog Star.�

�� Uh huh.�

�� And what was the proper name of the Dog Star?�

�� Ron blinked, looking bewildered.

�� Um,� he said, frowning and trying to remember.� �Um�oh�oh�OH!� Sirius!�

�� Exactly!� Harry said.� �This is about Sirius, more or less.�

�� The moon destroys one kind and gentle��hey, do you
suppose that means Lupin?� What with him
being a werewolf and all� �

�� Yes, that makes sense.�
And the next line has to be Sirius.�

�� The next one�s Wormtail.�

�� Betrayal ends the fourth in turmoil�� Harry said,
biting his lip.� �My
father.�

�� Wow,� Ron said, glancing at Selena, who was busy helping
Dean and Seamus.� �She�s the real thing.�

�� The rest of it must be about us finding out the
truth�what really happened.� And �Turn
time on itself� � that�s definitely when Hermione and I used the Time Turner to
rescue Sirius.�

�� And the last bit is about Sirius slinking around
Hogsmeade in his animal form.� And
watching out for you,� Ron concluded.

�� I�m really impressed,� Harry said.� �I would really like to have a look at the
rest of her predictions.�

�� Me too.� I bet it would save us a lot of trouble.�

�� I�m sure that�s why Dumbledore asked her to go over them
now.�

�� All right,� Professor Trelawney�s voice cut through
their conversation.� �As I sense that
everyone is ready, it is now time to share your findings.� Lavender and Parvati?�

�� Our entry predicts the victory of Gryffindor in the
House Cup our first year, and even cites Neville as earning the winning points.�

�� Perfect,� Selena said.�
�Dean and Seamus?�

�� Ours foresees the drawing of four champions rather than
three in the Tri-Wizard Tournament.�

�� The familiar burn of guilt clutched in Harry�s chest, and
the muscles in his jaw tensed.� It still
had not passed by the time Selena got to him and Ron.

�� Harry?� Ron?� she
asked, smiling.

�� Ron had obviously expected Harry to do the talking, but
one glance at his friend told him that he was elsewhere.� Ron cleared his throat and spoke up.

�� Our entry predicts the escape of Sirius Black, first
from Azkaban and then from Hogwarts.�

�� She nodded, looking very pleased.

�� You�ve all managed to hit the nail on the head.� I think perhaps next week we can start
analyzing things that are happening now � maybe even things that haven�t
happened yet.�

�� Isn�t Selena perfectly marvelous?� Trelawney cooed,
grasping her by her shoulders.�

�� On second thought,� Harry whispered, �maybe I don�t want
to know what�s in that pile of parchment.�

��

Hermione
was already in the Common Room and sitting before her Arithmancy homework when
Harry and Ron returned.

�� How was Divination?� she asked, unable to keep the
loathing out of her voice.

�� Good, actually.� Selena was there and we got to go over some
of her old predictions.�

�� Oooh, you mean stuff that�s already happened?�

�� Yep.� We got a whole page on Sirius!�

�� Wow!� Did she know
how he escaped?�

�� Yeah, she got everything right.� Freaky, isn�t it?�

�� Very,� Hermione agreed, nodding.� Her glance shifted to Harry, who had been silent
thus far.� He stared back at her for a
moment and then quietly left the room, headed for the dormitory.�

�� What�s got into him?� she asked Ron after watching him
go.

�� One of the predictions was about the Tri-Wizard
Tournament.�

�� Ah.� I wish he wasn�t
so hard on himself about all that�none of it was his fault.�

�� Yes, well, you try telling him that, because he never
listens to me.�

�� He probably needs counseling, or at least someone to
talk to,� she said with a frown.

�� Like he�d do that,� Ron said, shaking his head.� �He won�t even talk to Dumbledore about it.�

�� It must have been so scary�� she trailed off.

�� Neither of them spoke for the next few minutes; there was
nothing left to say.� What had happened
last term had been a tremendous shock and a very painful, frightening blow to
everyone.� But Harry�Harry had seen
everything, forced to watch helplessly while Cedric was killed� and his own blood was used to resurrect Voldemort
- and then thrown into a fight where
he was far, far outclassed.� It was only
luck and the Dark Lord�s pride that had enabled him to escape.

�� Hey,� Hermione said hesitantly a moment later.� �I heard on my way back from class that
afternoon Potions classes are cancelled, too.�

�� Huh.� That�s
really weird.� But I still don�t think
it�s any cause for concern, �Mione.� I�m
sure You-Know-Who loves to slap his minions around.� And besides�Harry�s right, you know.� What do you care about that awful man?�

�� I care, Ron, because a lot of lives may depend on
him.� And I also care because he�s a
genius.� An antisocial one, for sure, but
you couldn�t find a better Potions Master anywhere.�

�� You could find a nicer one.�

�� Well, with people like Voldemort around, niceness really
isn�t the point, is it?� she said.

�� Hermione,� Ron said, sitting down across from her and
taking her by the shoulders.� �There�s no
use in worrying about him.� He wouldn�t
want your pity or your sympathy anyway.�
He got himself the shovel, Hermione, and now he just has to finish
digging his hole.� There�s nothing you or
anyone, not even Dumbledore, can do about it.�

�� And with that, Ron got up and followed Harry�s path into
the boy�s dormitory.
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A Drop in the Ocean