Chamber of Love

Chapter 28

  A week went by, turning into a simple memory after Juliette spent her lunch break with Draco in the abandoned classroom. Every morning started with a bright sun and energetic students but for some reason, everything seemed darker and gloomier to Juliette. She's been seeing the world in black and white since she found out about her father being a Death Eater. Again. She found herself having two other nightmares which were unsurprisingly linked to her visions. She saw The Dark Lord and even though his face was never clear to her except for his serpentine eyes, she knew it was him. Of course she knew, how couldn't she? His movements were so heavy yet they held so much power. She'd watch him cautiously, as if he was about to draw a wand out of the dark fog that surrounded him like a shield.

She saw him two times in a week and every time she woke up to her heart beating insanely fast. She believed there was a firm line of continuity between her visions and dreams.

Most of the time, during the soundless and darkest nights, she would watch the ceiling while wondering if the universe was trying to tell her something. She'd quickly dismiss those questions with the thought of being just paranoid.

After a sleepless night and an unsatisfying breakfast at the Great Hall, she found herself sitting in the Divination classroom, inhaling the harmless smoke coming from Trelawney's desk. No one knew what it was but if it were to be a person, it'd be an old lady who lived in a small and clean house full of cats and green plants with a soft blanket sprawled over her lap to keep her legs warm. That's how it smelled like.

Crystal Orbs were sitting in front of every student, as usual. No one looked excited about the class, as usual. The only source of thrill in the room was Trelawney.

"I don't understand why we keep doing this. It's pointless." Neville huffed beside Juliette. It seemed like he quickly picked the habit of sitting next to her whenever they had a class together. "We could just, I don't know, read leaves or something."

Juliette absently glanced at him. "You think leaves are more entertaining than this?"

"No, but at least it's something." He murmured, trying to be quiet while Trelawney talked about the importance of the Inner Eye. "Here we're just watching a swirly fog for minutes and no one can even see a thing."

Juliette silently agreed with him. Trelawney often talked about how some people didn't have the ability to see the future or predict a simple prophecy. It was all about talent actually. If you weren't born with the gift, how were you supposed to absorb it? It wouldn't be like learning how to play the piano, how to draw or how to dance, for the matter. This was looking into the future. The fact that this was a class for every student at Hogwarts didn't even make any sense at all.

"I guess." She murmured while playing with the sleeves of her robe. The colour yellow peeking from inside of the clothing always calmed her in an unexplainable way.

"Now then," Trelawney clapped once. "Let us all look at the crystal orbs. Try to see. Try to make a connection between your mind and your crystal."

"Here we go." She heard someone behind her murmur. It almost put a smile on her lips.

She lazily leaned forward and stared at her orb. The shiny reflective glass was looking right back at her while the pale fog danced around in the small space. It must be frustrating, Juliette thought. Having nowhere else to go. There was a whole big world surrounding it, separated only by a thin glass, yet the fragile fog couldn't escape it. It almost reminded her how trapped she felt while having those visions.

She absentmindedly lifted her hand and touched the glass. Her fingers were delicately feeling the smooth surface. It felt cold against her skin, causing her to retract.