"That boy is evil!" Diana complained to Layla the next day as they were walking up to the Divination classroom. "And I can't believe that Professor Kumar would do that on purpose! She actually thinks I'm in love with Lupin, and now she's trying to set us up!"

     "Looks like your Ancient Runes' Professor can play Cupid better than Cupid himself," said Layla, who had found this story more amusing than Diana had hoped.

     "This isn't going to be a game of match-making, Layla! This is torture! For him, too! We both hate each other!"

     "Did he tell you that he hated you?"

     "No. But if he's anything like James Potter and that damn Sirius Black, he hates all Slytherins, including me. Do you have any idea how many times those four idiots have plotted pranks against all of us in the past years?"

     "I know, I know. I still have nightmares from what they did to us back in second year." Layla suppressed a shiver and then shook her head, deciding to press on the matter. "But did Lupin actually tell you that he hates you?"

     "W-well.... no. But that's just because one ever actually says they hate someone to their face."

      "Diana, yesterday you literally told Finn that you loath him more than the dead cockroach in the girls' abandoned bathroom. To his face."

    "Finn's an exception!" Diana retorted, feeling flustered. "That's hardly the point! The point is that — that I don't think I can take four weeks of working with Lupin!"

     "Seems like you don't have an option, Greengrass," said Layla, her grin never fading from her lips.

     Diana glared at her. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

     "Are you kidding?" Layla laughed. "This is the most entertaining thing that has ever happened in my life!"

     "Your life must be really dull."

     The two girls chuckled as they finally reached the Divination class, walking into the large yet gloomy room, the scent of candles and the heat of the fire already making them drowsy.

     Professor Tenebris was already in class, so the two quietly sneaked inside and took their usual seats. They weren't sure if he couldn't see them, or he was just too good at ignoring them.

A Ravenclaw girl with large glasses and messy blonde hair was standing by the professor's desk, asking him a question from her textbook in a hushed yet excited voice. She seemed to be a few years older than Diana and Layla, probably a seventh year student.

Diana watched as Professor Tenebris answered her question. But though Diana couldn't hear what he was saying, she noted that he wasn't looking at the girl while he spoke, gazing at practically nowhere.

This was something everyone always found odd about the Professor. Perhaps even more peculiar than the color of his gold and amber eyes. It was the fact that in all those years that the pupils had studied in his classroom, not once had he looked directly into a student's eyes, as though he couldn't see them standing there, and only feel their presence.

After the Ravenclaw girl had her question answered, she left the classroom, almost tripping down as she went. Everyone sniggered, though they fell quiet once Professor Tenebris started the lesson.

They carried on with Crystal Gazing. Diana could still remember the shape of the illuminating moon she had seen in the orb on their first lesson of the year. But no matter how much she tried to focus in the past few weeks, she wasn't able to see anything beneath the haze of fog inside the crystal orb.

Layla went on writing fake predictions, and Diana copied off her, changing a few parts so they wouldn't look exactly alike. But not once did she give up on trying to see something more than just fog inside it.

Even now, as the two girls sat behind their tables inside the dim-lit room, Diana tried to keep her focus on the Crystal orb. She had always believed that Divination was a useless branch of magic, but there was a feeling in her gut that she couldn't quite shake away. She had even looked into her Divination book to see what a moon meant. She had read,

To see the moon represents some hidden, mysterious aspect of yourself. It indicates cyclic changes, renewal, and movement.

Diana had then closed the book with a snap, rolling her eyes. What a load of rubbish, she'd thought to herself.

But despite this, Diana sat in class that day, her focus on the crystal orb, meanwhile Layla was slowly dozing off with her chin resting on her palm and her elbow fixed on the table.

Diana was just about to give up, tired of gazing into the mist and tired of waiting. But she gulped so she would stop herself from gasping as she saw it again; the glowing moon emerging from the depths of grey clouds.

This time, instead of calling Layla and waking her up, Diana remained quiet and sat still, gaping at the moon as she tried to make more sense of it, doing her best not to lose the connection to it.

Her heart started to beat faster and faster. She felt the heat of the room grow. The scent of rosewood and candles became stronger. The world surrounding her became dimmer, and the orb became more visible to her eyes as though it was the only remaining thing in the world.

Diana stared into the orb in horror. In a split second, she suddenly felt the same dark and cold feeling she had felt in Diagon Alley months ago, when her hand had touched Remus's, their skin brushing against one another.

Diana shut her eyes close in sudden pain. The feeling rushed through her left shoulder as though someone had pushed a blade through her skin.

"Diana! Diana!"

The next moment, as soon as it had happened, the feeling was gone. Diana opened her eyes, her heart pounding against her chest mercilessly. Breathing heavily, she realized that Layla had been calling her in a quiet yet worried voice, glancing at her friend with concern.

"Are you okay?" Layla asked nervously, her almond-shaped brown eyes fixed on her.

"Y-yeah..." Diana whispered, looking back into the orb. The moon was gone. The room seemed lighter again.

Diana leaned back against her chair, trying to ease her breathing. But she suddenly felt a chill rush down her spine as she looked up, only to catch Professor Tenebris gazing deep into her eyes with his amber ones.