Author's Note: Hi, people, I'm back with another fic. This time, I was inspired by a drama I saw. Hope you like it.
Disclaimer: Don't own HP and I never will. Unless I can somehow morph into J.K. Rowling...hmm...that is an idea...
Bittersweet Coffee
By: Wings of Jade
"You're coming to me with a problem."
"Yes."
"You're coming to me because you have problems in your romantic relationship with Cho Chang of Ravenclaw."
"Yes."
Professor Trelawney closed her eyes. It was quite unusual for anybody to come to her for her advice, especially a student, and even when it was a student, it was usually a girl. But Harry James Potter was a student, who happened to be not female, and he was talking to her about romantic problems.
Talk about weird.
But Harry had explained to her that she was the only one he could go to, because:
1) He wanted to hear someone else's advice besides Hermione's
2) Nobody else would listen to his problems
3) No one else seemed interested in his problems
4) Older witches seemed to know everything about relationships
and 5) He eaten too much sweet, creamy cake for dessert which had made him woozy and insane.
Seemed like good reasons to go to her for help.
"Basically," Harry had explained, "I'm just really confused right now. I mean, I've liked Cho Chang for ages, and maybe I still do, but we keep on fighting and then making up and then wind up fighting again. I don't know what to do. I dunno...Cho Chang seemed like such a nice girl before, but and I guess she still is, you know, and I know I might have been wrong because I didn't understand how she was feeling...but I dunno, I just think that I don't like her anymore. We've separated. Flown apart. I don't know what to do."
Trelawney listened with patience. The typical problem. Boy and girl fights. She could handle it.
With a wave of her wand, a cup of coffee appeared onto the wooden table they were sitting at in the Divination classroom. Trelawney also casually Vanished the empty sherry bottles and loose papers littered onto the floor. Harry stared at the coffee.
"Have a drink, Potter."
"Wh-What?"
"Have a drink. It's not poisoned, I assure you." Harry took the cup hesitantly. The reasons he had told Trelawney he wanted to go to him was actually made up. He had sort of been dared by Ron to go to her for fraud-ish advice. So far, nothing Trelawney said helped. And she was offering him coffee. He had always preferred tea, but it would rude to request something else. Sighing, he drank it. He made a face when the liquid reached his tongue, and coughed and spluttered. Trelawney regarded him closely.
"What's the matter, Potter?"
"Bitter--really--really--bitter--sweet," Harry choked out. "Is this medicine or something?"
Trelawney waved her wand again and a sugar bowl appeared onto the table, full of--DUH--sugar, with a spoon. "Let me add sugar." Trelawney lowered the cup from Harry's lips, and slowly but surely dumped spoonfuls of sugar into his coffee, stirring it until it dissolved. "Try it now."
Harry tasted it again. "It's still bitter. A little," he added hastily, not wanting to be rude.
Trelawney looked at him with huge magnified eyes thoughtfully. "Then maybe you should just end it with Cho Chang of Ravenclaw."
"WHAT?"
"Quiet, dear. Do you know why I gave you this cup of coffee?"
Harry shook his head.
"Because it reflects your relationship with Cho Chang. Even after sugar, you complain that it's bitter. That means that no matter how much sugar you add to a bitter relationship, your relationship will still be bitter. Perhaps you and Cho Chang were just not meant to be. Romance cannot be forced. Maybe you will be happier with another girl."
Trelawney's theory about the coffee and relationships sounded reasonable yet ridiculous at the same time--A drink? A relationship? But Harry's brain was slowly grasping the idea Trelawney was trying to tell him.
No matter how much sugar you add to a bitter relationship, your relationship will still be bitter.
Perhaps you and Cho Chang were just not meant to be.
Romance cannot be forced.
Yes, thought Harry. I suppose she's got a point...our relationship wasn't very sweet in the first place--she still wasn't over Cedric dying, and she was too confused. I was too confused, thinking that we would finally be together or whatever, that we would fit like puzzle pieces. But...it didn't work. Maybe we should both go our separate ways, instead of forcing our relationship...
He chuckled.
And Ron thought she would give bad advice. She's actually right.
Harry glanced at his watch. Five minutes until his next class.
"Sorry, Professor, but I have to get going now." Trelawney nodded.
"Hope your mind's a bit clearer now."
It was.
In sixth year, when Harry had gotten his OWLs back, and Professor Trelawney was restored to teaching position again, Harry was called to Trelawney's office. When he appeared on Trelawney's doorstep, she was slightly surprised to find that Harry was smiling a lot more genuinely than last time.
"Good afternoon, Potter."
"Afternoon, Professor. You wanted me?"
"Oh, nothing really. I won't keep you long. Please, sit down."
Harry sat down.
Trelawney waved her wand. A cup of coffee appeared in front of him. "Have a drink, Potter."
Harry raised his eyebrows. Again? Oh well, he was too happy to be suspicious. (O.o I wonder why? Keep reading!) He drank it all in one gulp, and wiped his mouth against his sleeve.
This time, it was Trelawney's turn to raise her eyebrows.
"How was the coffee, Potter?"
"Not that bad."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"No, really?"
"Really."
Trelawney leaned forward. "Tell me, boy, who are you with now?"
"Ron and Hermione."
"I am referring to your fiancée, Potter."
Harry felt his cheeks heat up. "Um...Luna Lovegood."
Trelawney's eyebrows shot up even higher. "Are you...happy with her?"
Harry's cheeks turned redder. "Well...yeah, I suppose I am. People may call her Loony Lovegood, but I don't think she's loony, just misunderstood. I think she's unique, with her own sense of what's right and what's wrong. She's a really nice girl. She doesn't care about fame, gold, or power, she just wants...sincerity. Yeah, that's it."
"And...are you happier with her than Cho Chang?"
Harry's smile faltered slightly. Feeling guilty, he muttered, "Well...we don't fight, and she knows exactly what she's doing, and...okay, I am happier with her than Cho Chang."
Trelawney leaned back in her chair. "Then, my boy, that explains everything."
"What do you mean, Professor?"
"Remember back in your fifth year, when I invited you to drink coffee?"
Harry nodded.
"Well, exactly how much sugar did I add?"
"Looked like a pound."
"Yes. And you still said it was bitter." Trelawney's eyes wandered to the empty cup, previously filled with coffee. "Do you want to know how much sugar was in that cup?"
"Two pounds?" Harry offered.
"None."
Harry felt a strange feeling somewhere in the pit of his stomach, as if something was slowly being unfolded..."That coffee wasn't bitter, though, and it was sweet...it just...tasted...sort of...natural."
Trelawney nodded. "When your relationship is natural, even the most bitter things can taste sweet. So goes with your relationship with Luna Lovegood. You are happy with her, and you are less confused, unlike your relationship with Cho Chang, which I believe was too sudden, confusing, and bitter even with sugar--making up--added. But once you are clear who you want to be with, why you want to be with them, no matter how much bitter there is, it will always end up--"
"--sweet," finished Harry. Trelawney smiled.
"Now you're getting it."
"Wow, Professor Trelawney," said Harry without thinking, "You really do stink at Divination and predicting and stuff, but you are WICKED when it comes to dealing with romantic relationships."
The smile on Trelawney's face faded, and her face suddenly looked much scarier.
"What did you say?"
"Um...oh, I'm so hungry! Would you look at the time! Two o'clock! Time for dinner!" Then he rushed out of the Divination classroom as fast he could.
Well, I'm done. I know, it was really sucky, but I thought the coffee idea was a good one, so REVIEW!!