prospicere futurum

"Everyone else is owling home to their parents for moondew and asphodel," Ella rambled, as the three girls stepped slowly through tall grass, wands lit before them. "And here we are at midnight, wandering the Forbidden Forest, like idiots, for a potion that probably doesn't even work."

Corinne bit back a smile at her theatrics, even if she had a point.

"The entire school wouldn't be talking about this potion if it didn't actually work, Ella." Taylor smiled, excitedly, her eyes not leaving the ground.

Another good point. Prospicere Futurum had been all anyone had talked about since returning to Hogwarts. If the whispers and giggles in every hallway was any indication, the potion definitely worked.

"A potion that tells you your actual soulmate can not be real. Or if it is, no way it's easy enough for students to discover." Ella said through a yawn.

"Moondew!" Corinne shouted, cutting off any previous doubts in any of their minds. A few crumpled white flowers on long slender stems poked out from along a tree stump where the girls paused, reaching out to pluck some petals from the plant, eyes widening as the petals grew back once again, good as new.

"Alright, now to find the asphodel-" Taylor scanned the area, as if it would present itself at last.

"Taylor, we'll find it tomorrow, please-" Ella yawned as Corinne tucked the petals into a napkin and stowed it inside her purse gently. "I'm tired, we have class at eight."

"Yeah, come on, Taylor, you've had your fun." Corinne set a hand on the girls shoulders, pulling them both back towards the welcome yellow light of the path not far ahead. Twigs snapped beneath their feet as they drew closer to the school once again, the moon finally visible as they stepped out from the branches.

"Thank Godric," Ella grumbled. "That forest gives me the creeps."

"I'm going to ask the sorting hat if it was really, truly certain about you." Corinne teased.

"Well, well." A new voice rang over the grounds, the three girls whipping around to place it.

"Look who's out and about after curfew, George." The Weasley twins wore matching mischievous smiles as they leaned against the greenhouse.

"And no surprise you two are out." Taylor smirked as they both shrugged.

"The question is, what are three well behaved Gryffindors doing out at this hour?" Fred asked, stepping closer to the girls.

"Oh, come off it, Freddie." George wore a knowing smile. "We know what they're looking for."

"I highly doubt that." Ella laughed, turning back to the school, obviously intent on getting at least a bit of sleep that night.

"See, I think we know exactly what you're looking for." Fred hurried to block Ella's way.

"The same thing everyone's been out here looking for the past week." George continued.

"The little white flowers inside Baker's purse?" Fred pointed a finger towards the bag at the Corinne's hip.

"We do love our midnight gardening, what can we say? Now if you'll excuse us, some of us are very tired." Ella pulled on her friends in one last ditched effort to get back to the castle.

"So you won't be needing some of these, then?" George held out a hand revealing three long stems with orangish striped flowers.

Taylor's jaw dropped. "Where'd you find those!"

"We know every inch of this place, Taylor." He grinned, holding out a flower for her.

"So you guys are making the potion too?" Ella raised a mocking eyebrow.

"Or are we stockpiling ingredients for resale?" Fred grinned now, earning an eye roll from Ella and Corinne.

"If I don't get to bed in the next 30 seconds, I will pass out right here, and you guys can either carry me up or let the thestrals eat me." Ella said sternly now that Taylor has safely pressed the flower into her own bag.

"Come on." Corinne started up to the castle, nodding a goodbye to the red haired pranksters as they pulled the castle door open and hurried up the stairs to the common room.

✵

"Thank Godric it's Taylor's week to sit alone. I swear I always get stuck with some idiot and do everything." Ella grumbled as the girls hurried down the stairs, tightening their ties around their necks as they dove deeper into the school. Why potions, or any class for that matter, should be held in the freezing cold dungeons, Corrine would never understand. It was probably part of the reason that they had stalled in the Great Hall as long as they could, helping themselves to seconds of breakfast and more hot coffee before Taylor had finally persuaded them to head down, not looking forward to Snape's wrath if they were late.

Aside from the temperature, Potions had another serious drawback. The desks were all set up for two students, and two students only, as Fred, George and Lee had discovered early on, losing Gryffindor an absurd amount of points when they tried to squeeze Lee's cauldron in between the twins spots.

The three of them walked in, very conscious of the little time they had to find a seat before Snape would begin his lecturing. The girls traded off who had to work alone, cycling through the weeks like they did every year.

"We get stuck with bad partners because you two stall us so long every day, we're always the last ones in here!" Taylor pointed out as they scanned over the nearly full classroom, a grin spreading over the girl's face. "Actually, I think I'll be quite alright today."

She offered them a tiny wave goodbye before hurrying towards one of the last empty spots in the room, next to one of the Weasley twins who had his back towards them, taking in the final few minutes he could to finish a hurried conversation with his friends.

"Freddie," She smiled, pausing near the empty seat beside him. "Anyone sitting with you?"

Corrine and Ella shared a slight eye roll, hearing Taylor's voice climb a few octaves higher as she batted her eyelashes down at the tall red-head.

"Now there is." He kicked the chair out beside him and watched her fall into the seat, sliding her bag to the floor and reaching to pull out her quill and ink. "Here to save me from two hours of boredom?"

"Someone has to." She shrugged, biting back a small smile as she dropped her textbook on the table before them.

"Well, I'm glad it's you." Fred Weasley seemed to always be wearing a smirk. It was probably permanently engrained onto his skin by now.

Before she could respond, or Ella could make another dramatic gagging noise for Corinne, the door shut behind them with a bang as Snape started towards the front of the room.

"Our final potion we will be practicing from last year." He started, aiming his wand lazily towards the board behind him as words appeared at once. "The Wit-Sharpening Potion. Hopefully some of you will benefit from this for today's lesson and I won't have to answer a thousand ridiculous questions." He grumbled. "Page 34. Begin."

"Damn." Ella choked back a laugh. "He gets more miserable every week."

Before Corrine could even think of a response, she heard Taylor's familiar giggle from a few rows ahead of them.

"You're going to regret letting me sit with you." Their friend said, lightly. "I'll need a Wit-Sharpening Potion before I'll be of any help."

"Don't sell yourself short, Montgomery." Fred grinned, pushing his own chair back to grab their supplies. "I'm sure you're a great partner."

"I made this with her last year." Ella whispered, "She was not a great partner."

"We're not all potions prodigies, Ella." Corinne whispered back, watching the pink fade from Taylor's cheeks as Fred returned, dropping their supplies to the table.

"I'll start the cauldron if you get the stuff." Ella ignored the compliment, as usual. The brunette really was a natural at potions, not that Snape took notice of it. Or of anything the Gryffindors did unless it was worthy of losing points over.

Corinne hurried towards the now dwindling pack of students with handfuls of ginger root and bottles of yellow bile. She waited only a second before the tall boy in front of her spun around, taking a step backwards with wide eyes.

"Sorry," He shot her a smile, stepping around her. "There's only a few roots left, and they're all bruised up besides that one." He jabbed an elbow towards the corner of the cabinet.

"Thanks," Corinne laughed, keeping her voice low so that Snape wouldn't hear and think that anyone was having any fun in his class without permission. "My partner would skin me if I came back without a good root."

"Well, we don't want that." The sandy haired boy shot her a lopsided smile before starting back to his seat, the dark haired Hufflepuff beside him seeming lost as he waited for his first instruction.

"Done flirting with Pretty Boy Diggory?" Ella smirked as the blonde dropped their ingredients onto the table.

"He's the reason I got you the good root." Corinne bit back with a smile, taking her seat and watching as Ella reached for their knife and the root.

"This is the good root?" She teased, slicing the edges into fine pieces. Corinne leaned against the palm of her hand, watching as Ella began dropping the slices into the cauldron, bubbles reaching the surface and popping as she lowered the flame a bit. Corinne's eyes flickered across the room, watching everyone else's bubbling cauldrons, heads peering over the edges to check the potion's color. Taylor was laughing loudly at something Fred must have just said, Snape thankfully too busy reprimanding a Hufflepuff team near the front row. And two rows behind them, the gray eyes locked with hers, a lazy smile pulling at Cedric's lips.

✵

"Ladies." George greeted as the trio dropped into three empty seats near the back of the classroom.

"Weasley's." Ella replied, crossing one leg over the other and turning back towards the front of the room, despite Moody not having hobbled in yet.

"Out late again, stockpiling?" Taylor smirked, turning in her seat to face the boys.

"Why? You still missing some?" Fred leaned back in his seat, his eyes scanning over the three girls before him.

"Or have you finished yours and realized that it's me you've been looking for all along, Montgomery?" George grinned as Taylor rolled her eyes, a slight pink coating her cheeks.

"In your dreams, Weasley." She laughed, Ella meeting Corinne's eyes knowingly.

"Certainly in mine." Fred teased, grinning as the pink of Taylor's face deepened to scarlet.

Ella didn't bother to hold back her gag now, throwing both hands over his mouth as if she really might throw up, earning a laugh from all five Gryffindors.

"Oh, Stevens, you love us really." Fred ran his tongue over his teeth, watching Ella with half a smirk, as if waiting for her to realize she was in fact in love with him.

"Not even in your dreams." The brunette scoffed, thankful when Moody clanked through the doorway at last.

"Taylor? Corinne? She's wounding me, really-"

"Shh!" Ella hissed, flinging her book open on the desk as George and Lee bit down on their fists to hold back their laughter.

✵

Corinne had her bag on her lap, a small bag of chocoballs sat near the top so she could easily pop one into her mouth every few minutes on the pretense of a yawn. They were her favorite treat from Honeydukes, and she had made sure to stock up over the summer, knowing her stash wouldn't last her until the first Hogsmeade trip of the year.

Though she had to admit, early morning potions right after breakfast was not an ideal chocoball time, and her stomach was already begging her to drop the bag to the floor.

"Baker, do I just get luckier every week with this class?" Fred grinned, though his eyes seemed tired, even considering the early morning lesson.

"Weasley, another late night detention?" She asked, shutting the top of her bag as he took his seat, the door slamming behind them as Snape began the lesson.

"I do have other hobbies outside of my evenings with the school caretaker." He dropped his voice, though he didn't seem worried that Snape was going to catch him one bit. "Why do you smell like strawberry?"

Her eyes went wide for a second, clamping her mouth shut as his eyebrows furrowed. Slowly, she flipped the top of her bag open again, holding out the candy towards him and biting back a laugh as his eyes lit up.

"9 AM chocoballs? I think we should be great friends, Baker."

"Stop calling everyone by their last names like we're on the Quidditch pitch." She replied, "And shush, before you get us into trouble." She dropped her bag to the floor between the two of them in case he wanted more candy and stood to gather their ingredients as Snape took his seat at the front.

Before she had taken a step away, she heard the chair behind her scrape against the floor, Fred catching her in an instant.

"I would have gotten our stuff, sit back down." He ordered, Corinne looking up into the bright brown eyes, the sparkling grin as they reached the cabinets.

"Oh, so they didn't sort you wrong. Chivalry's not dead." She teased, reaching for the ingredients and tucking them against her arm before realizing the bloodroot wrapped in thick parchment was two shelves up.

"What a shame," Fred muttered, watching as her eyes flickered between the shelves and himself. "Do you need a big, tall man to get that down for you, Corinne?"

"Yes," She pushed her lower lip out in a pout, "Have you seen any?"

Fred clicked his jaw into a smirk, grabbing the root and nodding her back to their shared table, shaking his head as they took their seats again.

"I always thought you were sweet." He hissed, sprawling their ingredients out before them and yanking Corinne's book to the center of the table.

"I am." She smiled to herself, scanning over the first set of instructions.

✵

Corinne sat down the hall from the portrait hole leading into the common room where music had been blaring for nearly half an hour now, a large group of Gryffindor's setting up for Katie Bell's birthday party, singing along to the enchanted record player that someone had dragged down from their room.

She flipped to the next page of the novel she had packed for school, regret clouding her mind for only a second. She was already practically finished, and they hadn't even been back a month. Between sixth year classes and studying for NEWTs, Corinne had assumed she wouldn't have been able to find much time to read, though only a few chapters into the story, she knew she was very wrong.

Now, here she sat, putting off helping to set up a party for her housemate, desperate to get to the ending, yet knowing she would miss it as soon as she finished.

"What're you? Locked out?" She blinked, looking to the twins who had just appeared up the stairs, interrupting the previous silence she had been enjoying in the empty hallway.

"No," She couldn't tell which of them had spoken, settling to let her gaze drift between them. "They're all screaming in there, setting up for Katie's birthday." She noted the numerous bottles gathered in each of the Weasley's arms.

"Here," Fred spoke now, shoving his liquor into George's arms without a backwards glance as George offered him an eye roll, strolling in through the portrait hole to great applause.

"You just let him take all the credit." Corinne joked, watching as Fred's shoulders shrugged, dropping to the ground beside her.

"He can have it." He glanced down to the book in her lap, "What are you reading?"

"Oh... It's called Pride and Prejudice."

"What?" He asked, noting the fact that she was only a few pages away from the ending. "That sounds boring."

"Of course it does," She scoffed, pushing the scrap of paper back into place and shutting the book in her lap. "You've got to be able to read to enjoy books."

"I enjoy books!" He protested, his mouth falling open in offense as she laughed.

"It's a muggle book." She explained, pushing it into her bag at her side. Any moment now, Taylor would be rushing out to drag her into the party.

"That makes it even cooler." Fred insisted, "What's it about?"

"It's a romance." She admitted, readying herself for Fred's jokes. "An old fashioned one. You'll hate it."

"Try me." He pressed on, climbing to his feet at last as the cheers inside the common room grew louder. "I'm sure you've heard a great deal about my romances."

Corinne couldn't help but let out a laugh now, letting the red head pull her up to her feet, following him towards the portrait door.

"Believe it or not, that's actually not the sort of thing people say about you."

"No, I'm quite sure you're wrong." He insisted, shooting her a grin. "Let me borrow it. When you've finished. Which looks to me like," He grabbed the book from the bag hanging at her hip, "five minutes after this party ends?"

The room cheered as they stepped in, Fred shooting her a smirk as he handed the book back over and threw a fist into the air, rushing over to the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team which surrounded Katie.

She found her friends easily, Ella watching on as Taylor accepted a drink from one of the seventh year chasers on the quidditch team. Corinne couldn't quite place his name, but that might have been because Lee rarely got to announce any points he earned for their team.

"Where have you been?" Taylor grinned as Corinne reached the girls, taking another sip of what was clearly not her first drink of the night.

"It's a big castle. Too many steps." Corinne joked, saving Ella from watching Taylor flirt with the quidditch boy any longer, the brunette following her up the steps to drop off her bag in their dorm.

"Where were you really?" Ella asked, speaking up to be heard over the music echoing down the spiraling staircase. "Saw you come in with Weasley."

Corinne shot her half a glare and a small shake of her head, flashing her book as she dropped it to the nightstand, hanging her bag on the side of her bed and moving to attempt to fix the mess of her hair before they headed back down.

"You can't keep away from the Weasley's for too long around here." Corinne answered with a chuckle as the girls reached the common room again.

"Try as I might." Ella agreed, smirking towards Taylor as she hurried back over to them, the tall Gryffindor no where to be seen.

"Well, Taylor, who's your friend?" Corinne grinned, Taylor rolling her eyes.

"Jack Hamblin? You know him! He's on the team." Taylor answered after another sip.

"Yeah, that's all I know about him."

"Hamblin blows." A new voice interrupted, a large fifth year appeared behind the girls, a drink in each hand. "Makes sense you don't know his name, Baker."

Corinne hesitated, looking at the new boy and desperately wishing she could read Taylor's mind at the moment. Surely she would know who he was.

"You came late." He went on, obviously not realizing that she didn't recognize him. "Got you a drink."

Corinne snuck a quick glance at both of her friends, Taylor's eyes latched onto the brunette before them, watching every micro-expression between the boy and Corinne.

"Don't," Fred's hand jutted out before her, grabbing the plastic cup from the Gryffindor. "Take that." He had appeared out of no where, even shocking Taylor, who's eyes were wide now.

"What the hell, Weasley?" A livid expression had taken over the boy's face as he looked up to Fred, the usually bright brown eyes were now staring darkly down, taking a step in front of Corinne to block her.

"Give her yours, then. You're a real peach, McClaggen." His lips pulled into a grin, yet there was no smile in his eyes.

"What are you implying? You think I drugged it?"

"Dunno." Fred shrugged in response, turning to face Corinne. "Baker, you know this guy?"

Corinne's stomach sank, not wanting to answer the question as she looked between her friends. "No... sorry."

"Girls don't take drinks from blokes they don't know." Before he had finished his sentence, he had dumped the pink liquid into a potted plant beside the table and handed the empty cup back to McClaggen. "And at least Hamblin's on the team."

Cormac's face pulled into a scowl, his mouth falling open in protest. "They didn't hold try outs because of this stupid tournament. I'd have tried out this year."

"You'd have tried." Fred grinned, looping an arm over Corinne's shoulder lazily and she held back an eye roll, watching as the boy stormed off to grab a new drink.

"You're so cocky." She laughed, pulling out from Fred's arm. "What makes you think he did anything to that drink?"

"Because he's a twat. People talk about him. Just watching out, Corinne." He replied, "I'll get you a drink if you'd like? Ladies?" He scanned over the girls, nodding for them to follow as they headed towards the now sticky table lined with half empty bottles and laughing students.

✵

"I got it!" Taylor wheezed, apparently having sprinted the entire journey to the kitchens. "A whole bottle! We'll have leftovers." She wriggled her eyebrows towards Ella and Corrine, holding out the bottle.

"Tay, you didn't have to run!" Corinne laughed, taking the wine and passing it to Ella.

"Didn't want to miss the fun!" The blonde gasped out between breaths as she flopped to the floor between her friends.

"And what fun it is." Ella muttered, sarcastically as she added two cups of the wine into the sparkling potion, glancing between the spoon in her hand and the messily scrawled parchment on the floor. The potion was a very complicated one, which had nearly convinced Corinne that it was all fake after all. They had left their potion to simmer in their shared bathroom for exactly twelve days, down to the hour, Taylor thankfully offering to grab them the final ingredient while Ella and Corinne worked.

"You know you're having fun, Ella." Corrine bumped Ella's arm before realizing she might mess with the stirring pattern.

"The Weasley's are definitely making their own potion, by the way." Taylor grinned, sliding her teeth over her bottom lip and looking between the girls.

"Fred and George?" Corrine asked, looking away from the swirling potion at last. "They don't quite seem the type."

"I don't buy for a second that they're stockpiling ingredients to re-sell them." Taylor shrugged, leaning back to watch Ella work. "They want to know who their soulmates are just as much as the rest of us do."

"God bless whoever Godric cursed with that task." Ella grinned, peeking over to Corrine as she laughed.

"I'll volunteer." Taylor replied.

"For which?" Corrine smiled to the blonde, already knowing the answer.

"Either!" She giggled, flopping back to the floor. "Wait! It's happening!" Taylor pointed towards the cauldron between the three of them which was now hardly visible over the white clouds of smoke rising from the potion.

"Taylor!" Ella jumped back, careful not to breathe in the fumes.

"This is what's supposed to happen!" Taylor felt around the floor for a few seconds before pulling the book towards her nose. "Yeah, 'A silver/white mist will appear when the potion is completed. Inside the mist, your soulmate will be revealed to you.'"

The mist was now spreading through the room, the girls no longer being able to see each other or the exit.

"And you barely know the Ravenclaw who gave you this. It could kill us all!" Ella's voice echoed through the room.

"That's why I didn't get it from a Slytherin!" Taylor called back.

Amidst the bickering, Corrine felt an eerie calm take over the room, the girls voices fading into the background as she stared into the mist ahead of her. The Ravenclaw had been right, you could hardly tell what color the fog was.

"Guys-" She mumbled into the mist. "Guys!"

"What?" Ella's voice snapped back.

"Do you see it?"

"See what?"

"Ah!" Taylor screamed. "I see it!"

"What do you see? Oh, shit-" Ella trailed off as the faces swam before the three of them.

"Cedric Diggory." Corrine whispered, watching the brunette in the clouds before her, sat on one of the stone benches in the courtyard, the evening sky surrounding him as he laughed, carelessly, stuffing a textbook into his bag.