DEV MADE HER WAY INTO THE LIBRARY, immediately spotting May at their usual seat in the corner. She drew in a deep breath, knowing this was a moment she could deny no longer. May offered her a warm smile upon seeing her and began to lay out the books that were stacked in front of her.

"What're these?" Dev questioned as she approached.

"Books! Divination, seers, tea-reading, the inner eye, wandlore, all of it," May breathed out, clearly proud of the research she'd gathered.

"Well, where do we start?" Dev pulled out the chair across from May, biting down on her lip.

"We start—," May paused, precisely lining up the textbooks in a row before glancing up at her friend. "With you telling me what it is you see, or feel, and what was up with you this summer."

Dev sighed, knowing she probably should have assumed that was where the girl would go first.

"Honestly? I'm not even sure I can put it into words, but I'll try," Dev admitted. "It's like, sometimes, I just get these feelings. And I just know things. Like, when we were talking to the twins that time two years ago, and Wood started pestering them about getting to practice and I warned him he should cancel. I have no bloody clue why I said that! But then, he got knocked off his broom and spent a week in the hospital wing, and I just had this feeling of I was right."

May nodded her head, thinking back on the interaction. Oliver Wood and the twins had looked at Dev like she had gone bonkers when she warned him to cancel the practice with no real reason as to why. As long as Oliver had been the quidditch captain, he had never once cancelled a practice. It was surely an odd suggestion, and one that left him avoiding Dev every chance he got after waking up.

"But, other times, like in my dreams, and well, sometimes when I'm awake," Dev paused to bite her lip. "I get these flashes of scenes that aren't there. I mean they're never the full view, never anything I can understand. Like, a glimpse of what looks to be a large snake, or an eye spinning rapidly, only to finally land on me."

"An eye? When did you have that one?" May cocked her head to the side. She knew about the snake, Dev having let it slip their fourth year when she thought it was nothing more than a nightmare. But this was the first she was hearing of an eye.

"I guess it started this summer."

"Well, that has to be about Mad-Eye! You predicted him coming!" May deciphered excitedly.

"Yeah, maybe, but it feels like so much more than that. If it were just that he'd be coming, wouldn't the dreams—visions—of the eye have stopped when he arrived?" Dev thought aloud. This was a possibility she had already considered the moment she saw Alastor.

"Well, maybe you're predicting something to do with him," May guessed aloud, tapping her finger on the table. "How about you tell me everything you can remember, and I'll write it all down and we can figure out what we have?"

"Alright," Dev sighed, knowing she probably didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

The remainder of their free period was spent with Dev recalling everything she could while May scribbled furiously with her quill. The textbooks remained untouched, never quite advancing towards cracking one open. Their focus was so set upon Dev's visions that they almost didn't notice that their free period was up.

"Look at the time," Dev glanced down at her wrist watch. "We'd better get going, we can continue this later."

"Wait, we should each check out one of these textbooks and do some studying on the side," May gestured to books she had taken the time to search for. "Any look interesting to you?"

Dev craned her neck to read each of the titles. She was quick to write off the books on tea leaves and wandlore, her attention more piqued by some of the other selections. Her finger lingered over one titled The Dream Oracle. In her Divination class, they had been meant to read this book, before Trelawney switched to one on the art of crystal ball telling last minute.

"Brilliant, an excellent choice!" May beamed. She chose one on the history of seers before stacking the others and hurriedly returning them. "Let's check these out and head to class, shall we?"

Their next class was charms, their first and only, class with both of the twins. Much to Dev's relief, it was also their final class. Early on in their time at Hogwarts, Professor Flitwick had forced the twins to choose other partners, realizing the ruckus they caused when they were together. That meant Dev and Fred were partnered together and had been every year they had the class together. Surprisingly, she really couldn't complain. Charms was by far the twin's strongest subject, meaning she didn't have to pester him too often.

"There they are!" Fred called from his table as the two girls walked in.

"We missed ya after breakfast," George grinned from the table behind his brother.

Dev slid into her seat next to Fred and May took the one behind her next to George. They had just a few minutes before Flitwick would begin his lecture.

"So, Bee, I've heard a rumor," Fred wiggled a finger at her.

"You do know I have a real name, don't you?" Her tone came off more snappy than she had intended, causing the boy to flinch a bit. Immediately, her face dropped and she shook her head. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I—I haven't been sleeping very well."

"If ya don't like me calling you Bee, that's all ya have to say." His joking nature had not yet returned as he gazed at the girl in confusion.

"No, no, it's fine. I don't know what came over me." She shook her head.

"Alright, if you say so."

"Well?" Dev raised a brow and forced a smile, hoping it would ease the tension.

"Well?" Fred smiled back, causing Dev to silently thank the universe that he was always quick to forgive her.

"You said you'd heard a rumor?" She questioned, giggling when the realization hit him.

"Oh, right!" He chuckled. "I've heard a rumor that you, my dearest Dev, have a date."

Dev's face went pale, her smile faltering slightly before she forced herself to feign her composure. Had word really travelled that fast? She supposed she should have expected that, considering she told Marietta Edgecombe, the biggest gossip of her year.

"I haven't quite heard with who, yet," Fred narrowed his eyes, his cheeky grin never faltering. "Is it the guy that got you all flustered when we were drinking the other night?"

"Quiet, students! Take your seats!" Flitwick demanded as he entered the rooms. Dev had just been about to respond, but wasn't angry about the interruption.

As students made their way to their seats, Roger Davies glanced back from his table at the front. He caught Dev's eye, shooting her a dazzling, confident smile and a small wave. There was no resemblance to the stuttering, shy, boy who had somewhat asked her out the night before. Waving back, she figured he'd heard the rumors of their date and assumed she was excitedly sharing the news. Oh, how far was that from the truth. Fred's eyes glanced between the two, picking up on the way Roger eyed her. He snorted and turned to Dev, seemingly expecting her to look disgusted, rather than to be waving back.

"What was—No," Fred's eyes grew wide as he drew the connection. "No. Devora Bane, you have got to be kidding."

Dev fixed her eyes ahead and kept her expression blank. Flitwick droned on, picking up where he had left off on the previous day's lecture. It was hard to pay attention when she felt the boy's eyes drilling into the side of her head.

"You are not going on a date with Roger Davies," Fred leaned over and whispered, drawling out Roger's name with disgust.

"Is that a question or a command?" Dev snapped, feeling her previous anger flare up again. She felt as though she were having a constant battle within herself. One voice was telling her to stay calm, to not take out her exhaustion and broken heart on Fred. Another was urging her to scream her love for him from the rooftops and let him know just what he was missing out on. The final was telling her to get angry, rightfully angry, at the boy never noticing her in that way. Sadly, the latter was winning.

"What's gotten into you?" Fred questioned, careful to keep his voice down. "This whole year you've been so—" He trailed off.

"I've been so what, Fred? Hm?" She tore her eyes away from the front, glaring into his eyes.

"Miss Bane, is there something you'd like to share with the rest of the class?" Flitwick paused, causing all eyes to fall on her.

"No, Professor Flitwick, I'm sorry," She sighed, drawing her eyes back towards the professor. He nodded, not used to interruptions by the girl. Her partner? Sure. But never her.

"Very well, as I was saying..." Flitwick continued.

The rest of the lecture droned on with Dev never tearing her eyes from the front of the room. Occasionally, she'd feel Roger glance back at her, but she never game him the satisfaction of meeting his eyes. Just like she never gave Fred the satisfaction of glancing over, despite the fact she knew he was staring at her the entire class.

When Flitwick finally dismissed them, Dev stood quickly, preparing to dash out of the room before any of the three of her friends could stop her. It was as if Fred could read her mind, because he immediately took ahold of her elbow to stop her.

"Seriously, Dev," He pleaded. "What's going on with you?"

"Like I said, I haven't been sleeping well," Dev shook her head, writing off the situation.

May and George stood awkwardly a few feet away, having witnessed the entire interaction. Their eyes shot back and forth between the two, posed as if they were ready to intervene in case Dev jumped down his throat.

"It's true," May interjected. Dev shot her a sympathetic look. She would never ask her friend to lie for her outright, but she didn't have to. May would do anything for the girl. "Neither of us have been sleeping well, we're both a bit stressed."

Fred tore his eyes from Dev briefly to glance at May. While Dev was easy to read and he could always tell when she was lying, May was a bit harder. She could lie with a straight face about just about anything, especially when it came to Dev. He knew to take her words with a grain of salt.

"Alright, if you say so," He grumbled, letting go of the hold he had on her arm. "I'm sorry if I upset you about the Davies thing, uh, I'm sure he's a nice guy."

Dev watched as Fred awkwardly rubbed at the back of his neck and found herself feeling awful. Truly awful. Here was her goofy, clueless, best friend making an effort. A real effort. He genuinely wanted to know what was wrong, how he could help, he was prepared to apologize for any ways he had hurt her. And here she was, hurting him in response to her bruised ego and aching heart.

"Don't sweat it," Dev shrugged. She finished gathering her books and turned away from her three friends, leaving them all behind as she exited the classroom.

It wasn't long before May caught up with her, slightly out of breath from jogging to match the girl's pace. Neither said a word, but Dev could feel May's eyes on her.

"Are we going to talk about it?" May finally broke the silence, her eyebrows raised.

"Nope," Dev answered. "We have textbooks to scour."

May pressed her lips into a firm line, not keen on pushing the girl any further. So, they fell back into their silence as they made their way to the Ravenclaw common room. Dev was thankful for two things; 1. That charms was her last class of the day, and 2. That Fred and George couldn't follow them into the common room.

Their night was spent silently reading through the textbooks they each checked out. Occasionally, they'd pause to notate on something they deemed relevant or simply give their eyes a break. When it was time for dinner, Dev opted out of going, assuring May she was fine and to go on without her.

Her concentration wasn't broken again until she felt a hand on her shoulder, causing her to whip around and face the person. She was taken aback when she came eye-to-eye with Roger. She had been so focused she hadn't even heard anyone return from the meal.

"Sorry, did I scare ya?" He questioned sheepishly. It seemed his confident exterior only shined through in the presence of his friends.

"No, don't worry about it," Dev forced a smile.

"I noticed you seemed upset after charms, so I thought I'd bring you something to cheer you up." He lifted his other hand from his side, holding up a small bag.

Dev curiously reached out for the item, opening it front of him. It was a bundle of a few wrapped sugar quills, Dev's favorite candy.

"Thank you Roger, really," She looked up at him with a smile. She realized it was the first she hadn't had to feign all day. "How'd you know sugar quills were my favorite?"

"Lucky guess, I suppose," Roger grinned toothily, pulling out the chair May had formerly sat in. "Or, I pay attention. Look I just want to say—" He seemed to paused, deciding if his next words were worth it. "I know I'm no Weasley. I can't make you laugh the way they do or—well, I think I can do just about anything else they can."

Dev giggled softly, already unwrapping one of the candies he brought her.

"Maybe I can make you laugh like them," Roger's eyes glistened. Dev ignored the voice in the back of her head screaming 'IN YOUR DREAMS, DAVIES.' She couldn't help but notice the voice sounded an awful lot like May's. Was she her conscience personified? "I guess I just wanna say if you give me the chance, I'll never make you as upset as Fred made you today."

Dev smiled sweetly at the boy and offered a soft 'thank you.' With that, Roger nodded his head and raised from his seat before bidding her a goodbye and heading up to his dorm. Once she was finally alone again, she felt the tears beginning to well in her eyes. He was perfectly sweet, and thoughtful, and not half as bad as her friends made him out to be. So why did she feel so slimy in that moment?

The answer, which she knew all along, projected itself in her brain at the same time a strangled sob escaped her lips. He wasn't Fred.

author's note !

oof, this was a hard chapter for me to write.

first, I just wanna say, little is given about seers in the books/movies. we know cassandra trelawney, sybil trelawney, & gellert grindelwald were all seers, by sybils abilities are a little... questionable. so i'm kinda going in blind with my portrayal of seers & just making my own spin on it!

I hope you guys don't hate Dev too much, but I'm gonna go on a small rant in case you do;

whilst none of these things I'm about to say excuse her outbursts, I hope they can put them into perspective. She's a 16 year old girl, who lost both of her parents young, and was raised by her emotionally distant grandma (oop sound familiar neville I—). She's going through something virtually no one she knows can relate to. Something that prohibits her from getting sleep. From wanting to even close her eyes. Something that terrifies the shit out of her. While simultaneously just trying to be a teenage girl and juggle romance and friendships and schoolwork. In other words, dev's got a lot on her plate rn lol. So I'm not saying she's justified to snap at Fred, but I am saying she's not an awful person for it.

ah. I hope I'm portraying them well. anyways, I hope you enjoy. Please hmu with any feedback!

also, what are our thoughts on Roger? >:)

that is all.

rose <3