Three Hallows, Two Weasleys and One Broken Girl

Chapter 15: Saddled with Guilt

"Uh..well not yet." Mumbled George, missing something of his usual energy.
She glanced between them, "you two okay? Some prank flop or something?"
"Or something Miss Fortune teller." Said Fred, loping an arm around her affectionately. "I'm going to ask Angelina. Tomorrow."
George stared at him, clearly giving away that this was a spur of the moment resolution. "Then I'll ask Katie." He replied more as a challenge than anything.
Delphi smiled shrugging Fred off playfully. No need to tell them that the girls would dance with each other at the ball.
"Well then, seems you two have dates to ask. See you round!" She called, slipping over to the Ravenclaw table and trying to ignore the mix of angry and curious stares as she settled at her usual spot.

Luna was at her side within a few moments, her lack of presence could startle others but not Delphi. She was relieved to see her sister.
"I thought you were avoiding him." She murmured lowly, her distant smile in place through her eyes were sharp. "For timey whimey reasons."
Delphi swallowed the lump in her throat and dug into her roast chicken.
"Fate has a dark sense of humour." She muttered bitterly.
Luna hummed, mask still in place. "I'll add it to their profile."

They ate in silence, though Luna's left hand rested between them, an offer of support in its own small way. Since Delphi's 'gift' had developed she had been forced to put distance between them with how many secrets she kept...and Luna had not always been as wise and insightful as she was now. It was nice to have her at her side again, even if they could never truly confide in each other.

Delphi finished her meal and rested her own right hand over her sisters left, the touch filling her with some warmth though her heart felt cold already.

Cho was watching her, like she knew the future she'd been denied, all meek disappointment edged in frustration. The whole hall seemed tense, though perhaps it was just her projecting on them. Why did she treat herself this way, when she knew perfectly well how weak she was.
When would she stop making herself suffer.
She recalled the Mirror of Erised and a coolness filled her blood. She wondered if what she saw in it would be different now. In her heart of hearts she knew it wouldn't be.
She also knew a dark frame of mind when she was in one though, and she knew who she needed to go to.

Patting her sister's hand she rose from the table and left swiftly, breaking into a run once she'd left the hall.

She burst out the main doors into the grounds, and ploughed on, ignoring the rain, and taking huge gulps of air as she sprinted toward the forest, tears burning at the corners of her eyes.

She'd barely taken a few strides into the shadows before strong arms swept her up and Firenze held her close.
"Delphi breathe with me." He murmured softly and she curled into him as he knelt on his forelegs so they could curl on the floor. Her ragged breathing steadied quick enough, she had a lot of practise with panic attacks, and the cloud of safety that engulfed her when she was near Firenze helped a great deal.
"I...I-"
"I know." He rumbled softly, "you have too much kindness in you Delphi," he paused, then added as an after thought, "stupidity too. No wonder you were born under Ara, altar of the gods. You insist on sacrificing your own health and happiness for the sake of others."

He sounded very angry compared to what she'd done, and she faintly wondered what she was going to do to earn a grumpy centaur in the future.
"Firenze, I don't know whether I can bear this." She muttered to get him out of his quiet rant before he gave anything away.
Calloused hands framed her face, and forced her red rimmed eyes to meet his clear ones.
"Everyone dies, my star, and unlike me, you cannot share your knowledge with your loved ones, and feel cursed to bear it alone. But you are not alone, Delphi, you know you can always come here, I know when you will come here, and I can assure you, I am always waiting for you."

Managing to regain some control, she raised her gaze to his. "Death must have death right?"
He narrowed his eyes but nodded.
"If a life must be lost...I think-"
"No!" His snarled response made her flinch, but he calmed a little, shaking his head sternly, "we cannot share each other's futures, but you hold too important a part to dare exchange your role for his."
Delphi pulled away a little, biting her lip. "He's good...and kind. And noble. He doesn't deserve to be used by them like this."
"Neither does the Potter boy." Pointed out Firenze gently, "the gods are many things..."
"...but kind isn't one of them." Finished Delphi reluctantly.

They sat there in silence, Firenze happy to ground her while she settled her mind and re-ordered it. From the first day her parents had discovered her gift, they'd made her live and breathe occlumency.
She was grateful for that often.
When Dumbledore tried to see more than he should.
When her nightmares got too deep ahold of her.
And, like today, when she felt the difficulty of being a bystander most deeply.

Firenze was another thing she was deeply grateful for.
He'd been waiting for her the day she'd arrived at Hogwarts six years ago. Centaurs weren't blind to their own fates like she was, and though she could not know back then the times they would share, Firenze's open arms had felt like home.
He was old enough to be a calming influence but young enough not to have mastered the infuriating detachment from the world the elder centaurs possessed. He could understand.
He was also a great teacher of actual divination practices and aiding her in interpreting her more abstract visions.
That said, his brooding nature could be exhausting in high doses so Delphi didn't visit often in recent years. The centaur had a mate himself and young on the way so her increasing absences hardly bothered him.

"Little one, it will be okay."
She took a deep breath, letting his heart beat stabilise her.
"Come with me, I have some rounds to do. I know you enjoy the forest."
She nodded, allowing him to guide her to settle on his back and wrapping her arms around his waist as he trotted back into the gloom.
It will be okay
Hagrid would fall over in shock hearing a centaur say something so definite.

———

Fred Weasley was absolutely drenched by the time he stumbled to the edge of the forbidden forest. George had seen Delphi leave, but had been cornered by McGonigall (they didn't know anything about the sentient purple slime in the charms corridor honest) so Fred had taken charge, and followed.
He'd been very worried when she'd raced into the rain. He thought she might do herself harm.

When he reached the forest though, it was just in time to see the Lovegood girl move deeper in riding a centaur. She didn't notice him, but the centaur turned to look at him.
The look made the hair on Fred's neck rise.
Such venomous dislike and resentment should never be seen on such a calm creature's face.
"What the hell?" Was all Fred could mutter as the strange duo faded into the forest's shadows.

He wondered vaguely what the seer knew of the future to be so pissed at him. To be fair, Fred had lots of plans to piss people off, but none of them ranged higher than making Minister Fudge turn into a cockatoo mid speech, and eventually breaking into the department of mysteries.
He got the feeling it would take more than that to earn a centaur's ire. Or maybe he was over thinking, he and George did trespass into their forest quite a lot after all.