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.
She put her chin in the palm of her right hand and stared at her orb with disinterest. She was completely sure that no such fortune teller lady was waiting for her inside the glass with open arms. So when the swirling fog started to turn into green flames as if threatening to melt the glass, she felt a breath hitch in her throat.
It was spreading around like a wildfire, taking control of the harmless grey fog and consuming it with hunger.
She tried to take her eyes off the orb so she could call Professor Trelawney over and ask her million questions but she couldn't. It was almost impossible to look away from the green flames as if they had magnetic powers. Her eyes were lit up, reflecting the green blaze.
Juliette leaned forward, her lips parted and brows furrowed with concentration, and watched the flames slowly disappear. She held her breath and waited for the grey fog to come back but it didn't. Instead, it quickly swirled around, turned pitch black and then took the shape of a... human.
She tried to put a distance between her and the crystal but an invisible force grabbed her shoulders, dug its nails into her skin through her clothes and forcefully pulled her in. She didn't realise what was going on, it all happened in the blink of an eye.
Suddenly, the calming presence of the strange smoke coming from Professor Trelawney's desk was gone. She couldn't even smell it. Instead, an eerie fog was surrounding her, slowly moving closer to her imported body as if carrying the heavy presence of death itself.
Juliette shivered and looked around. Numerous questions accompanied by pleas of help were occupying her head, almost giving her a painful headache.
"What is this place?" A voice asked. Existence of confusion and fear were detectable behind the quiet tone.
It took a second for Juliette to realise the voice didn't belong to her, and it was in fact coming from behind.
Her lips parted as she recognised the voice even before turning around to look at him. She could detect that slightly shaky soothing tone anywhere.
Her head turned around and her body hesitantly followed. Her breath hitched in her throat when she saw the exhausted form of her best friend right in front of her.
Cedric, wearing a uniform with his house colours, was nervously holding his wand with both hands. One foot in front of him and arms slightly raised, he looked ready to attack if needed.
Juliette could see the dirt on his face and the shapeless holes in his uniform with cuts peeking through even though it was dark around. But the most confusing thing was the fact that he was looking straight at her, but not really seeing her.
"...Cedric?" Juliette asked with a trembling voice. He didn't react. He didn't hear her. How could he? Even Juliette herself found it difficult to speak louder than an inaudible whisper.
What is this? What is this? She kept asking herself, not being able to form another sentence even in her mind.
"I know this place." Another voice said, startling Juliette and causing her to frantically look around. She couldn't see anything because of the fog and it made her anxious. She couldn't even seek comfort from Cedric because she was somehow invisible. She could see the wind passing through Cedric's hair but she couldn't feel it on her skin.
What is this? What is this?
She took a deep breath in. Was this a vision? But how could it be? She was never physically present in any of her visions. This... this was different. But how? Did it have anything to do with the Crystal Orb? How was she supposed to get out?
"We should leave!" She heard the same voice again, only this time it was coming from afar. It was full of pain, weakness and panic.
Panic. Panic. Panic. Panic.
Juliette looked around, only to see Cedric gone. Taking in a shaky breath, she unwillingly walked towards the source of the voice. A small figure was visible in the distance, growing bigger as she walked closer to it. She didn't dare to take her eyes off of the figure. Everything else except for him was dark and she was afraid of getting lost, falling into an unpredictable abyss.
She slowed down her steps when the unidentifiable figure's head shot up and looked right at her with anger. And fear. And despair. They were all swirling in his bright green eyes.
Juliette gasped, standing motionless under this unfamiliar gaze. She recognised him almost immediately. Hiding behind the round and dirty glasses, his eyes were so familiar yet so distant. She's never seen him like this before. It was Harry Potter, wearing the same uniform as Cedric, only with different colours.
Juliette opened her mouth, but nothing came out except for shaky breaths.
"Run!" Harry shouted suddenly, so suddenly and unexpectedly that Juliette startled, almost jumped like a scared cat.
"What–?" She tried to ask, feeling confused why he would tell her to run. Could he even see her?
"Cedric, run!" He yelled again, this time adding more panic to his voice and fear to his injured, dirty face.
Juliette shivered. She was so confused that she felt like crying. Harry was yelling at Cedric to run for reasons that she couldn't understand but Cedric wasn't even around.
Harry kept shouting. Right in front of Juliette, staring directly at her.
There was no one around but them. Unless–
Juliette hesitantly turned around. She thought, maybe Cedric is behind me. Maybe that's why he's looking at me.
Her movements were slow. So timid and so doubtful. But in the end, she made it. She managed to look back, only to come face to face with something, or rather someone that filled her body with fear. That intense fear quickly conquered her veins, flowing with her blood and surrounding her trembling body with nothing but coldness.
She couldn't hear Harry's voice anymore. She couldn't look back to see if he was still standing there, letting out muted screams. She couldn't dare.
Who was standing in front of her was the pure definition of death and darkness itself. His serpentine eyes were focused on her. It felt like time stopped, the wind that didn't even touch her stopped, her breathing stopped. The only thing that was alive, that could move was his pale, bony hand. It lifted his wand and pointed it at Juliette, and before she could react, his mouth silently moved and spilled out a curse, causing a bright green light to blind Juliette.
"Stop!" She said. No, she screamed. Out of nowhere, a crystal orb fell in front of her feet. It took her a moment to realise that she was standing in the middle of the Divination classroom, her heart beating so loud that it was the only sound in the room.
The first thing she recognised was the smell coming from the smoke that surrounded Trelawney's desk. Next, she saw Neville's wide eyes and concerned face. Next, she noticed her fast breathing and cold sweats running all the way from her neck to her spine.
"Are you okay, dear?" Trelawney asked quietly.
Juliette's hands were trembling. The crystal orb that was harmlessly standing near her feet was empty.
She looked around, only to realise that every single pair of eyes were focused on her, waiting for her to make her next move.
"Is everything all right?" Trelawney asked again, only to receive no response from a very shaken up Juliette. She was paler than usual. Every single part of her body was trembling and she seemed so confused that she couldn't even form a sentence.
So she did the only thing she could do. She grabbed her bag, left her damned orb on the floor and left the classroom without a word.
Her head was pounding, legs barely moving and her vision was blurry. There was no single thought or question that was occupying her mind. She's never felt this weak. This empty. This confused. This scared.
She just walked, and walked, and walked which seemed to take hours. The thing was, she didn't take more than five steps before she collapsed right outside of the classroom with her back leaned against the cold brick wall. Her small hands touched the floor where her school robe was sprawled along.
She could feel the small dirt pecking at her skin, digging into her palm. But it wasn't enough. It wasn't strong enough to pull her back to earth. With her vision blurring and head aching, she had no doubt that she'd faint in no time.
"No, no, no..." Juliette murmured to herself and tried to stand up. "Not here."
She tried to push herself from the ground, using her hands for support but her muscles were apparently weaker than a cooked noodle.
Squeezing her eyes with discomfort, she didn't hear the creaking of the classroom door.
Her eyelids felt heavy even though they were closed.
A pair of black shoes walked towards her. The owner of the mud-covered shoes kneeled in front of Juliette's fragile body. She didn't even notice the uninvited person. She didn't hear him say her name.
"Juliette?"
Darkness welcomed her with open arms as she put an invisible distance between her conscious and the person standing before her.
"Juliette!"
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I'm sosososo sorry for not updating for a while. I was too busy with school work and exams that I didn't have any time to write something properly. But now that school is almost over (thank god) I'm planning on focusing on this story again. I hope you can understand and also thanks for reading!